RP Struggles

Mazoth

I've always had issues trying to RP, namely in that I tend to play...myself.  Heck, not even really myself, I play my interwebz self which is really a thinly shadowed veneer of who I am and barely even reflects the slightest modicum of passion or interest.  I find that in most things I over think, and this is no different, but I was wondering if any of you had blocks when starting to RP and if you guys just play as fragments of yourself like myself, if you truly create a completely different persona or if it's more like acting out what you can't do on a normal basis (whoooooo boy, psychology) and yes I'm looking at you @Mhaldor

Trevize

For some, it's more fun to RP what you're familiar with (or easier, letting you focus on other aspects such as combat). For others, it's more enjoyable to RP something different than themselves, or even facets that are in their nature, but that they for whatever reason suppress. That comes down entirely to personal preference.

Related: one of the absolute hardest things to pull off effectively is a character much smarter/better than yourself at something, but it is possible.

Gibbi

I find that consciously exaggerating parts of one's self can help you step out of one's shell a bit.  Just pick a facet of your personality, crank it up to eleven, and if it feels good, build the character around that. 

Caoimhaen

I had some trouble at first. Separating my character from me. But eventually I just picked out traits from my true characters and eventually my character took life of his own. I have also gone the root of playing someone who is nothing like me at all. It can be done. But I prefer to play my original one because it feels more comfortable.

Jiraishin

I started out basically playing myself. Gradually, because it was a 'me' working from a very different background in a very different world than my own, my character's personality naturally diverged from mine. At this point it is quite distinct, though I wouldn't say it is -nothing- like me.
I'm not sure how I would go about creating an entirely new personality.

Silas

Silas is like an exaggerated version of myself with different interests. I have no interest irl in religion or politics, but they're both a huge part of what makes Silas tick. His speech patterns and mannerisms are very similar to my own, if somewhat more refined than my everyday nature to fit in with the Achaean atmosphere, because I always find it jarring to see people who try to flower up their speech for Achaea and end up sounding like a trashy medieval romance novel where nobody speaks like a real person.

The parts I most enjoy about Silas, though, are the parts that push my own boundaries. I really enjoy getting into Achaean theology, politics and philosophy, and studying rituals and things of that nature. These aren't things I do in real life, but I have found that I've developed a hobbyist interest in things of that nature through what I've been doing IG, and that's been a lot of fun for me over the years. Recently, I've been considering going the other way with that and converting my analytical, scientific and mathematical background to Achaean studies and delving into alchemy. Very curious how that will end up going if I find the time to do it.

ETA: God, yes, the absolute most important thing to remember is to allow your character to be flawed. You can and should allow yourself to make mistakes, because nobody is perfect and nobody likes reading about somebody who is. (I am the exception that proves the rule.)

Eiredhel

I honestly find it near impossible to roleplay myself because I hate myself enough already as it is. And I know a lot of people who are like that. However, that's not to say that my characters that I roleplay don't tend to have very key similar aspects that are easier than me to rp than others. 

I think the way I looked at it was, 'What are my favorite characters to read about?' 'What type of character would I love to read about but simply can't find enough of?' 'What sort of internal struggles can you sympathize with?' 'What sorts of flaws do you feel are interesting?' 

It's not the 'best' way to do it, but I found it helped me not make a [Insert Name] 2.0. After that I spent the time that I got writing my character  background for a House req, to write up a lot of back story and list out things for myself before making a final version to turn it. I simplified it a lot after a few failed drafts, and I had to struggle with 'special snowflake syndrome' but once I realized where my weaknesses were, I feel like they only made me stronger and happier with my character.

Even if her personality is much more confrontational and aggressive than I would ever hope to be.

Darktalon

I just started pretending I was a duck (which, oddly, I don't do RL) and went from there. Just pick something random, I found is best. Something you can stick with and separates you from the character. Doesn't have to be major, it will improve the longer you work at it.

Mazoth

Thanks for all the input so far, it really helps. There's a lot I had never even thought of here and will surely help as I attempt to craft something fictional, which I am admittedly terrible at.

Lots of thinking to do, so much good idea-age(new word, fyi)

Melodie

Don't be afraid to try different things, to see what suits you.

Melodie started out very much as just a slightly different me, because I began playing as a fifteen year old with not much of a clue. Over the years, though, certain parts of her have evolved and changed as she grew more distinct from who I am. Like Silas, irl I have no interest in either religion or politics, but Melodie got quite involved with both. Melodie is (usually) very formal, prim, and proper, as well as careful where she steps, which I'm much more relaxed and have no problem letting you know I think you're a <insert impolite insult here>.

You'll find as your character grows, so it will probably grow away from you, while retaining certain qualities of you. While I certainly would -never- cut off one of my own appendages (not that I have wings of course), Melodie did. Melodie and I are both very patient and both have a base desire to be helpful, though. Probably the hardest thing for me is learning to know when to react as my character and when to react as myself, as the two can be difficult to seperate.

Also, don't be afraid to try -new- things. Achaea is the first place I ever had a leadership role in any form, and it's taught me a lot about how leadership works, and has even translated into my real life, where I'm more able to handle a group of people (children, in this instance). Achaea can and will teach you many skills if you try out new things, so I highly encourage that. I'm much better at quite a few odd and random abilities (not to mention typing) thanks to Achaea.

Find what suits you. Start with qualities of yourself and build up from there, or make an entirely different personality and go crazy with it. I've done both, and both have their pros and cons, so it's whatever suits you, in the end. Have fun, don't be (too) afraid to make mistakes, and enjoy those moments where it all loses you in the depth of your story.

Hasar

Whatever you do, starting out, I recommend avoiding OOC clans for awhile at the least. Immerse yourself in the Game. ooc clans are good and all but sometimes I miss just associating everyone (mostly) by IC interactions

Katzchen

Definitely agree with @Silas on 'allow your character to be flawed.' It's nice to let your character make mistakes, and then grow and learn from them, and leaves you with a more realistic character.

I sometimes like throwing curve balls at Katzchen, just to see how she'll react. Have almost always gotten some interesting RP out of it.

Caoimhaen

Yeees. Make mistakes like a regular person. And if I were you. Don't over think things. Let your character develop naturally. You may find later that your character develops a life of it's own. And later playing him will feel as natural as breathing. At first it will take some thought, yeah. But don't be afraid to write a back ground story. Don't be afraid to interact with people. And don't be afraid if your character ends up being someone you don't expect. Caoi started out a true blue, white knight sort of character. Essentially good. He could have been shallomese. Seriously. But now he is this twisted ball of rebellion and confusion. Nooot what I thought would happen. But hey! It's rp! Have fun with it!

Synbios

My character tried to be myself once, but then I realize that there's no such thing a Shoggoth-esque abomination as a player race or class(Occultists don't count), so I decided to go Paladin-then-Blademaster. Saying that adjusting to a four-limb bodily system is horrendously difficult is an understatement, to say the least.

Anedhel

One of the things I've had to really work on is not reprising unendingly for things. Anedhel's personality is very dogged, and it's very natural (the way I see him) of him to continue to attempt to avenge a wrong until he gets the result he wants. Learning to let that go, and accepting that when you lose, you lose- not to mention the idea that making it fun for the other person is important, too, was maybe the toughest part of my Achaean experience. It's real easy to let the drive to 'win' bleed over from one side to the other (OOC-IC), and it rarely ever leads anywhere good.

Mazoth

Hasar said:

Whatever you do, starting out, I recommend avoiding OOC clans for awhile at the least. Immerse yourself in the Game. ooc clans are good and all but sometimes I miss just associating everyone (mostly) by IC interactions

Truth be told, I have zero interest in OOC clans atm.  Granted as I develop relationships with people I'm sure that'll change somewhat but I rather like the line being there

Great great ideas guys, I'm definitely looking at relaxing it some, it seems to be a general consensus to make mistakes, let it roll and have fun(what? games are for fun?)  I'm hoping to break some ice tonight with a move I made to a different city, baby steps incoming

Averi

Originally, I think... I tried to play someone a bit more different from myself but then I couldn't maintain it. She was supposed to be MUCH more bold/ mean/ judgemental/ carefree than she is now but that just caused a bit too much drama than I would have liked. Therefore, in order to actually stay in this game, I adjusted her towards my own personality a bit because I absolutely hate drama. So she got a bit more considerate and politically correct.  I'd still say she's a zillion times more bolder and carefree than I am but I'm not sure if that's because it doesn't affect her career goals or because I'm not like that in real life. 

I don't know if Averi was originally a suppressed fragment of myself or not because I don't have a strong sense of self.  I guess she is?  

In my opinion, even though our characters may have a different personality than us, it's never entirely different because we don't have the real life background to know how someone entirely different would think. We can try but it falls flat a lot of the time and becomes stereotypical/cliche. But sometimes, a bit of fragmenting in addition to some exaggerating can make someone different from yourself. 

And besides, at least half of a person's personality is shaped by their environment/ interests/ hobbies/ reputation/ how other people see you and not who you really are. For example, when people see me, they think: scientist, smart person, studies a lot, introvert but when they see Averi they think: Artistic, Creative, Partier, Friendly, Open just because of what we do not who we are. Averi performs for a living whereas I do research. Therefore, even if you do end up playing your web persona, just by changing what you do you can make yourself someone different.

Edit: Just do things and have fun!  I think the main part of being IC instead of OOC and be a good roleplayer is that it is require that you have an IC, believable explanation for everything. You can't be like oh I changed classes cause BM was getting boring. Instead say something like <random character> inspired me and I've always seen him as a hero or something so I changed to follow him or like I spend <x> amount of time with <sect> and was inspired to class change. Once I quit my city because certain aspects of it was annoying me.  But instead of saying that, I said that I quit in order to follow my ex-husband as he was planning to join mhaldor. And I was able to do a lot of heart-broken/weird relationship rp following. 

Tarkanian

another good thing you could do is to not get too attached or involved in any one faction -yet-. let the game sorta come to you, and if you like it and think you'll thrive in it, then good. if not, you can always look for it in a different place in the game.

you'd be surprised at how just being relaxed in the game is actually the best avenue to find the kind of RP you're looking for.

Coeur

I think it's perfectly normal to have blocks in RP. Not everyone is willing to RP when you are (busy doing something else, irritable at all young people, grouchy and not your friend-to-be etc), and the situation might make you uncomfortable, which is not the point of playing a game, in my mind. I walked away from the game at several points because I just wasn't feeling right with my characters, and when I come back, it's an (almost) fresh start. As you begin to talk to people and form relationships (say, your mentor), it might get easier.

Perhaps it's easiest to start with one thing, like a mannerism, or a certain way of thinking, or a certain behavior. Also, don't be afraid to initiate RP! You never know who might be willing to play along, regardless of the situation. It might even be as simple as taking someone out to tea, talking to them about different swords, runes, or whatever. 

Good luck!

Skye

Having fun is definitely the most important part, but also remember the world isn't just something you bounce ideas off, it also bounces back at you with consequences. Learning to roll with those consequences isn't necessarily 100% enjoyable, and I wouldn't expect you to, but it's all part of the experience.

Mazoth

Skye said:

Having fun is definitely the most important part, but also remember the world isn't just something you bounce ideas off, it also bounces back at you with consequences. Learning to roll with those consequences isn't necessarily 100% enjoyable, and I wouldn't expect you to, but it's all part of the experience.

I think the idea of repercussions has a draw all it's own, least that's my opinion.  I wouldn't expect there to be no consequences if I snap irritably at the Seneschal or something to that effect

Nice thing about driving for about 6 hours a day for work is I can think a lot, so I've been reviewing how I want to set myself up as Mazoth.  Funny thing is @Coeur I was just looking at something simple like that, tea or something to that effect, sounds like an affirming coincidence.

Balynne

Tarkanian said:

 let the game sorta come to you, and if you like it and think you'll thrive in it, then good. if not, you can always look for it in a different place in the game. you'd be surprised at how just being relaxed in the game is actually the best avenue to find the kind of RP you're looking for.

This. A hundred times this. The best characters I've ever made are the ones who roll with the experiences they are given (or not given for that matter). Let things happen. Make choices. And then use those choices as the foundation for what this persona believes in. It adds up very quickly!

Jiraishin

:O It's @Balynne! OhmygodIhaven'theardfromyouinforever.

Tarkanian

I also might add that, in the future, if you think you need to take a break from the game, you probably should.

Kafziel

I read this thread title as 'RP snuggles' and thought we were going to get some awesome snuggle logs. Disappointed.

Mazoth

Yep, post yer mudsex snuggle logs here

Mazoth

Thanks everyone for the help, really helped me get past the block and provided a good many ideas for future development once I'm able