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In-Game Biographies
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:00 am
by *cdnspr
For your consideration;
I know the subject of in-game biographies can be a bit controversial. Some people don't use them outa fear of being meta-gamed. I see alot of blank, generic, or 'RP for info' biographies around. But I wanted to make a request that people start using them.
No need to write down your whole back-story, that's what RP is for.
But I find it helpful to have a brief physical description of the PCs I meet. For one, it helps to set you apart from everyone else who happens to have almost the same sprite as you. It also makes your character more memorable the next time I meet them.
Some things I personally like to write in my biographies:
- Basic physical description (especially details the game engine doesn't represent)
- Posture and bearing
- Any obvious equipment they're carrying
- Any predominant facial expression they have (my guy is always scowling)
Further, these things, all of which are visible to the naked eye, give clues about your character's profession, his personality, etc, without your having to RP every little detail of minutiae. Example: having a character described as having long greasy hair and un-maintained equipment says volumes about him.
flame on!
In-Game Biographies
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:00 am
by *Lost and not Found
I agree, but can we edit those at the moment? There are few things I'd like to add to mine, if not completly erase the current bit of generic information.
In-Game Biographies
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:00 am
by *cryptc
No ingame way of editing it currently, but you can send new description to me and I'll change it for you... if I start getting tons of requests it might take a while though.
In-Game Biographies
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:00 am
by *Aidelynn
I agree. The number of blank descriptions drives me crazy, but that's 'cause I'm a cranky old man! :P
wrote:Some things I personally like to write in my biographies:
- Basic physical description (especially details the game engine doesn't represent)
- Posture and bearing
- Any obvious equipment they're carrying
- Any predominant facial expression they have (my guy is always scowling)
Further, these things, all of which are visible to the naked eye, give clues about your character's profession, his personality, etc, without your having to RP every little detail of minutiae. Example: having a character described as having long greasy hair and un-maintained equipment says volumes about him.
I always think of this as things you would know (or suspect) about a person just by looking at them. Keep in mind that they can be deceiving, too, so you can describe the blank eyes and vapid expression of your super-genius wizard, for example, or the size, scars, and tattoos of your intimidating-looking pussycat.
The other thing I like to put in there is anything about the character's voice that a player would notice: pitch, timbre, accent, impediments...the sorts of things you unconsciously take in the first time you talk to a person.
Smells are great there, as well. Perfumes or body odors will also make your character stand out, or will paint a picture of who I am meeting without your having to emote it all.
In-Game Biographies
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 12:00 am
by *Greenflower
cdnspr,Sep 4 2009 wrote: For your consideration;
I know the subject of in-game biographies can be a bit controversial. Some people don't use them outa fear of being meta-gamed. I see alot of blank, generic, or 'RP for info' biographies around. But I wanted to make a request that people start using them.
No need to write down your whole back-story, that's what RP is for.
But I find it helpful to have a brief physical description of the PCs I meet. For one, it helps to set you apart from everyone else who happens to have almost the same sprite as you. It also makes your character more memorable the next time I meet them.
Some things I personally like to write in my biographies:
- Basic physical description (especially details the game engine doesn't represent)
- Posture and bearing
- Any obvious equipment they're carrying
- Any predominant facial expression they have (my guy is always scowling)
Further, these things, all of which are visible to the naked eye, give clues about your character's profession, his personality, etc, without your having to RP every little detail of minutiae. Example: having a character described as having long greasy hair and un-maintained equipment says volumes about him.
flame on!
The problem is that things change. Alright, height and weight might be static, but posture, facial expression, mood, clothing, equipment, etc might change over time.
Hence I leave it blank. And I think my reasons are valid.
:ph43r:
In-Game Biographies
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 12:00 am
by *Raneguin
True, things change with a character, thus so should their description when some major change happens. It's not impossible to change a chracter's description... of course, we don't want to bog down our wonderful staff, so we can't update it with our new wardrobe every time it changes.
But if there's any major changes the description can be changed. Like, if your character loses their eyes, and now they just have white orbs in their place... KIND OF something you'd want to make note of.