(no subject)
Aug. 7th, 2012 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Question:
When you're creating a character/writing an app/starting a game, do you consider how they might grow over the course of the game? Not necessarily pre-plotting, or establishing relationships in advance, but maybe more like, establishing where they are in their life at the start, and how they'll grow if things go a certain way? There's no way to control the other characters, so obviously this can change as things happen, but I'm curious - do you apply the idea of a character arc to roleplay, or do you make a character to have fun with and then wing it? Sometimes one or the other? A mix of both?
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 02:53 am (UTC)So in that case, her turning out different was definitely not planned! So when I tried to think about her getting older for NS, I thought about ways she could channel her anger issues which lead to her playing Quidditch!
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 02:59 am (UTC)Re:
As for Anton, he's already grown a great deal more than Jude: he started off shy and mumbling at his feet and totally frightened of all the new people around him, but already he's met a lot of people and started a club and is on his way to becoming the person he as before being disowned and homeless. He'll probably eventually make a good leader, and his arc has taken off a lot more quickly than I'd expected, so who knows where he'll end up.
But uhhhh, TL;DR... pre-planned character arcs: yes. But there is a lot of wiggle room for how fast these arcs happen and what will affect them, and where they'll end up is never set in stone. I'm rambly.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:31 am (UTC)This for me, too. I'm not like "Harlow will do XYZ by Halloween" or anything, I just kind of have a vague idea on the horizon line of how she might react/grow over her time at IVI.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:11 am (UTC)How about you?
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:25 am (UTC)I strongly consider character arcs if the character is meant to be in a period of growth/transition during the course of the game. If I'm playing a canon character who is somewhat established in their life, at a primarily social game, I don't always do it, and kind of roll with the punches.
However, I get much, much more enjoyment from playing a character who I know will have some sort of an arc to them, whether it's specific plots or just a Point A and Point B. And, I'm prone to struggling a bit when playing a character who is content in their marriage/relationship, in their career, and in their home life, because everyone loves writing some measure of conflict. Essentially yeah, I want growth, and I think about it before hand. Even if it's just a maturing (like, I don't intend for Jack to have a radical shift of his beliefs so much as a period of solidifying who he is as a young man), I want to think about how a character might move through the game. I have hopes for Harlow to REALLY get shaken up by some of the much more radical characters, given that she's being forced out of her solitary shell here. She has to think about things of serious import, choose what kind of a woman she wants to become, and assert herself a hell of a lot more than she does now. Her self worth currently isn't very high, but I think as she starts to feel less ashamed of her abilities, and more in control of them, this woman is really going to bloom. And I'm so flipping excited for it, whenever and however it does happen.
Only twice have I written a character that was just for the fun/lols/jokes, and they were both at the same game that was panfandom and kind of crack-ish. Maybe I take RP too seriously, but I really like considering ways to create a solid character, shift their perspective, or ask a hard question, or put something immobile in their way, etc., and examine what happens as a result.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-17 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-17 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-17 01:11 am (UTC)I FORGOT TO RESPOND TO YOUR ABSOLUTELY AMAZING EMAIL BUT when i climb back on the invol horse tonight let's figure something out :D?
no subject
Date: 2012-08-17 01:14 am (UTC)Yes please though, if it means Julieplay, count me in!
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-17 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-17 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:20 am (UTC)actually, not usually. I'm only saying sometimes because I actually thought how the game / course of events would affect Malbec @ The Odds and how I wanted him to grow from what he is.
In Harry Potter games I would say pretty much never.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 03:55 am (UTC)Also, to elaborate: I don't necessarily always have a specific arc in mind, but I usually set my characters up for growth of some kind. And I really like to see them follow through with it. A favorite of mine is the middle aged woman who gets her groove back, one way or another, so.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 05:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 05:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 05:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 05:15 am (UTC)Possibly this is also because I am a twenty-something and still trying to figure out ~who I am~
But there's always room for character growth, I think, and maybe I let their environment have more of an impact on my characters than some people because I expect it to give them an opportunity to learn something about themselves and what they really want.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 04:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 04:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 05:09 am (UTC)If you're familiar with GNS theory at all, I like long-form narrativism, where most narrativists are short-form (they like to force crisis quickly). Long-form for me means seeing what elements keep cropping up and addressing the associated premise/conflicts once they've shaped themselves in play. /gaming theory nerd.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 05:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 05:19 am (UTC)Shipping is the biggest place I get surprised, but I had one character decide he was going to cure lycanthropy (out of game scope, but first steps were definitely in game scope) because of the results of someone else's plot that landed in his lap.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-08 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-09 05:06 am (UTC)That said, I think stuff like that may also depend on how long a game is supposed to last -- obviously, if a game has a short predetermined time, then I'm more likely to come up with a more structured arc with a certain pacing so that the character development I want done actually happens, whereas I may be more hand-wavey about it in a game that's set to go on for a long period of time, if that makes any sense.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-09 05:10 am (UTC)