Do your characters reflect you in real life at all or are they always different?

[Sroth]

My characters have been nothing like me. I would say my character became my online personality, actually. I'm not a grumpy person. But I come across as one on the boards.

I've played RPGs since '86. But I was rarely the player and usually the DM.

Some times it's scary how much you remind me of me. I'd say you were my past life but, well you're not dead. 


As a writer, I view characters and RP as a creative exercise. I try to come up with interesting characters, give them fun stories to explore IC, and give others an opportunity to go on these stories. It really makes me wish we had better tools for creating content in MMOs; sometimes coming up with a cool story results in me going, "Wait, you can't do that. Maybe... no, can't do that either. What if... nah, it's not quite what I had in mind." I have a handful of characters that I like to pull out again and again in various games, MMOs or other wise (Ilari is going to have such a layer of dust when EQN finally rolls around). Some of them do share some elements of personality with me, but generally speaking I don't do that consciously. My characters are typically conceived the same way I would come up with characters for a story, and in a few cases were basically conceived specifically for a story.

If I had one wish from future MMOs, it's that we have more freedom in character customization. Not every hero is beautiful and fit. Not everyone is between the age of 15 and 30. I've had some pretty cool character concepts that I've just never been able to explore in games because I've never been able to make them.

[Lyrima]

Me: dirty blonde (dye job--really grey/white--attractive, I know! ) brown eyes, used to be decent weight/height ratio but that's changed with marriage and happiness.  Nothing like loneliness to keep a gal thin!  that said...

Lyrima: always black hair/green eyes, wood elf, preferably.  She arrived for EQ2.  She's hilarious.  I never, ever know what she's going to do next.  I swear I log in, adopt the southern drawl and run with it.  It's almost like she takes me over.  She's brash, unaware of sexual connotations of any sort, clumsy, kinda dumb and extremely well meaning.  And very, very good at being a ranger.  Good to meetcha. Lyrima Vakhar, Ranger of 39 seasons an' veteran of Saga! --thrusts grimy hand at newcomer, allowing it to dangle a moment--

Kiaria:  always green eyes, blonde. Lots of curls and perfectly coiffed.  Again, adopt the thee and thou and tis and I'm off.  Again, never know what she's going to do.  She's 'healer of all!' and will go out of her way to heal anyone anywhere.  As long as she doesn't have to carry her own bags or get dirty --delicate shudder-  --dabs at her brow with a linen cloth--  She's book smart, yet utterly clueless about her effect on others.  And she must, always, be clean, beautiful and a little flirty.

I bring both of those characters to life in every game because it's easier to learn a new game using a very comfortable personality.  Lyrima has changed given the folks around her and their reactions to her.  I think I aim to shock with both characters but in vastly different ways.

Tira l'Arc:  Created for Horizons and the character that met Saga.  Her name translates from French for archery.  Sheer genius for a name if I do say so myself. Always an archer (not a ranger) high elf, gorgeous, long white blonde hair and ...you guessed it... green eyes.  She's an all time favorite of mine and my first attempt at RP.  She was quiet, very very quiet.  And formal, All. The. Time.  The formality stems from her total lack of using contractions of any sort.  And she hated to make any mistakes. Ever.  She had a very negative inner voice that would rip her to shreds for any misconduct or mistake.  She was controlled in all things.

I created her while on medication for anxiety when I was in the process of leaving my then husband.  I swear she's the product of that medication because I have never, ever successfully recreated her.  I looooved her.  She was patient, willing to listen to others, rarely speaking of herself.  Loyal, generous of nature... I think she is who my daughter is now. Heh.

Zhapaja: Omg, she was a creation of circumstance.  Her name is a magical word from Call of Asheron (my first game) and she is a mage...healer.  She doesn't really heal, although she'll beat you to a pulp claiming to be healing you up just fine.   She is a bit of a spin off from Dr. Wiffle, whom she idolized.  She also has the only back story I've ever thought through or written about.  She's a fae from EQII and she was a HOOT to play.  And her looks --green hair, purple eyes-- are my little avatar here on the boards.

Are any of these ladies me?

No?

Corsair! You tell me

The creation of my characters is usually based on language.  Southern drawl (Lyrima); Shakespeare (Kiaria); broken English (Zhapaja) and a total lack of contractions and the elven language--Tel'Mithrim (Tira l'Arc.)  Each of these manners of language are thoroughly researched by me with pages and pages of phrases and grammar for me to use while RPing.

If anything, given my current job and accidental hobby, language is the only thing that ties me directly to my characters.

[Corsair]

How the heck am I supposed to know Lyri?   

As of this moment, my next character is likely as not to be loosely based on Bob and Doug McKenzie. Emphasis on Doug. And if that's really me...well...dang. I may be worse off than I thought.



I will however claim to have converted you into a pro bread-pudding person, from being an anti bread-pudding person. That's really enough for me to be fulfilled.

[Jasyn]

So for example, if you are talking to a Canadian person, and they say it is like, 5 degrees outside, it's not really that cold eh? All you have to do to know the regular temperature is double it and add 30...so, like, it's really 40 outside, and not that cold.

Unless you live in The South.  40 outside means it's time to turn up the heat, throw a log on the fire, crack out the earmuffs, gloves, scarves, sweaters, and winter coats.  It'll be 30 degrees warmer the next day, though, so all that stuff will get packed right back into the closet until next year.

[Sroth]

So for example, if you are talking to a Canadian person, and they say it is like, 5 degrees outside, it's not really that cold eh? All you have to do to know the regular temperature is double it and add 30...so, like, it's really 40 outside, and not that cold.

Unless you live in The South.  40 outside means it's time to turn up the heat, throw a log on the fire, crack out the earmuffs, gloves, scarves, sweaters, and winter coats.  It'll be 30 degrees warmer the next day, though, so all that stuff will get packed right back into the closet until next year.

Yup, Virginia does the exact same thing. Drives me insane. Especially since it never rains while it's cold enough for snow. It'll be 30 degrees out, clear and sunny. A few days later it'll be back to 60 degrees again, constant rain. Back to freezing, barely a cloud in the sky....

What are we talking about again?

[Jasyn]

Tira l'Arc:  ... my first attempt at RP. 

Wow.  All these years, and I never knew this nor ever even suspected it. 

[Catri]

Me: female,  brown hair, green eyes, 5'3", weight undisclosed but too much.

When I make my characters I usually don't make them look like me except for their height. Nearly all of my human or human like characters are 5'3". 

As for personality I don't usually purposefully make my characters like me, but some of my personality bleeds in eventually anyway. For this reason I find it easier to play Neutral Good or Chaotic Good characters most of the time. I have gotten into the heads of evil characters before (mostly as a GM). It can be done, but it frightens me so I don't like to use them as my long term PCs.

Some of my tabletop characters have been deliberately rolled as what my friend calls "therapy characters." I included elements in their backstories that would prompt emotions or personal struggles similar to some of the things I was facing in my own life at the time as a catharsis and trial run for dealing with the issues myself IRL. These were all in games with a GM who I knew well and who knew why I was rolling the characters.

I do often reuse characters or character elements because it is easier to figure out how a familiar character will fit in a new world than to crawl into a new girl's head (my characters are nearly all female). Catri Sage started out in a Star Wars tabletop game. The fact that I could import her almost exactly into SWTOR was the only reason I decided to try out RP in an MMO setting. I knew it would be easier to get the hang of a new RP medium if I already had a good grasp on my character. She also slipped into GW2 as an Asura engineer, although her personality changed a bit. Glynna, my ranger in GW2, is based off of a Dwarf Hunter I played in WOW.  I didn't RP in WOW, but I had a narrative running in my head for Glynna as I quested including a search for a missing friend.

I've found that even the characters I don't directly copy often end up in one or more of a few archetype categories that examination and too much daydreaming prompted me to identify. At first I didn't intend to roll so many similar characters. It likely happened because familiar archetypes, like imported characters, are things I am already comfortable playing. Now it has become a bit more deliberae.

Sci- fi/Fantasy Girl Next Door: Easy going, friendly, wisecracking, often getting into scrapes. If you meet her in the local tavern/cantina channces are she'll have a story of some bizarre setback she just faced. Examples: Catri (SWTOR, GW2, and tabletop), Glynna (WOW Dwarf Hunter), Glynna Vegeirdottir (GW2 Norn Ranger), Charity ( an elf shaman I played briefly in Shadowrun), Adelaide Fisk (a paranormal investigator from a Dresden Files tabletop), Zoe Randall ( a Gangrel horror/thriller novelist from a Vampire: The Masquerade LARP), Nessa Herjadottir (a "human thief" in GW2 who I RP as the ten year old daughter of my Norn Necromancer)

Badass Warrior Woman: Her personality can vary (often blending with the Sci-fi Fantasy Girl Next Door). She comes from a culture that values honorable combat, and she has wholeheartedly embraced the life of a warrior. She often has a short fuse. Example: Glynna Vegeirdottir (GW2), Kelda Vegeirdottir (Norn Elementalist in GW2), Glynnis Var (an Echani I played in a tabletop game, and briefly in SWTOR)

Fluffy Bunny Anime Girl: She's basically the sugary sweet, bubbly, anime girl stereotype. She perseveres through sheer force of will and an undying belief in the power of love and rainbows and unicorns. I don't think any of you have met any of my characters in this category yet. Examples: Noriko Ishikawa (a sweet, innocent Tiefling Monk I played in my brother's D&D 4E campaign whose desire to find the good in everyone led her into a borderline abusive teacher/student relationship with another PC), Trilli (A ditzy, bubbly Gnome Bard I use as my "GM hidden in the crowd" character in a Pathfinder game I'm running for some friends)

Freaked Out Magical Girl: She just discovered/acquired super powers or magical powers or underwent some other life changing Bilbo-finds-a-magic-ring occurrence and it's scaring the $&#@ out of her as she tries to adjust to life with the new normal. I don't think you guys have met any of these either. Example: Tabletop Catri for a brief time after she began to manifest low level Force Powers.

Mystical Combat Librarian: This more often reflects a character's life situation than her personality, but many of the characters have a calm, contemplative personality with a sharp wit. These characters can usually handle themselves in a fight, but they primarily believe that knowledge is power. They have devoted their lives to study in some form or another. They are usually a caster of some sort. In some cases they are of noble birth or high status in their communities. Examples: Herja Vegeirdottir (Norn Necromancer I  RP as a shaman healer and a medium in GW2), Al'ara Khan (Mirialan Jedi Investigator in SWTOR), Shandra Ivari (Miraluka Jedi Consular in SWTOR), Adelaide Fisk (Paranormal investigator in a Dresden Files Tabletop, pertains to her occupation more than her personality), Priya Kapoor (a Gangrel Religious Studies professor in a Vampire: The Masquerade LARP)

[Mixxi]

Most of you have seen me or at least pictures of me. Currently I'm 5'5" (I stand 1/2-inch taller now, according to my doctor, thanks to yoga!) and 130 pounds. Female. Straight, light-brown hair with a healthy sprinkling of grey, blue/grey eyes. Old (52). None of my characters look like I do in RL.

Do they reflect who I am in real-life, though? Absolutely.

Mixxi was based on Vimes. I was reading Guards! Guards! at the time, at Oakmist's recommendation, I believe. I have a very strong Vimes thread to my personality.

But the closest to me in RL have been Rafe and--most definitely--Keyes. Keyes is who I am inside. Talon may be the only person who has seen this in operation in person. The first day of his visit, we were exploring the grounds of a mansion in Los Angeles. I make a lot of noise with my boot heels when I walk (I'm a vigorous strider), so I simply pulled my boots off and walked around on the stones in my stocking feet like I often do. I looked over when I pulled off my boots and saw Talon's expression, not realizing until then that even this bit is something that Keyes got from me. Keyes' addictive nature is something I share with him, a reason I've never let myself get involved in drugs or alcohol much, since I know I'd probably have trouble. I also prefer to get things done but not stand out. I can also be a social chameleon when I want to be.

After the shear pleasure of playing Rafe and Keyes and being myself, I suspect I will stick to male characters primarily since I am more comfortable in that skin. It's been a ton of fun and very relaxing.

[Jasyn]

As for me, before Fironia Vie server opened I had a few characters on the Tunare server that were more or less 'me in a fantasy videogame' but that didn't make me many friends, sadly.

Some people just don't recognize awesomeness when they see it. 

[Gith]

Iunno about you guys but I am happy to see a game with 8 foot tall massive men made out of stone so I can finally play something that looks like me ...

[Namae Nai]

Some people just don't recognize awesomeness when they see it. 

Aww.. thanks! You're very kind, Jasyn!

Though, to be completely fair to the people of the not-so-distant past, remember this was like 12ish years ago and I was still getting over being an angsty teenager in need of stress relief. I can't discount my own share of culpability.

 

Iunno about you guys but I am happy to see a game with 8 foot tall massive men made out of stone so I can finally play something that looks like me ...

You um... might wanna have that skin thing looked at. 

[Talon]

It can vary with my characters.

In appearance, sometimes a character will look like me, or start out that way and then become their own person (depending on the generation process). My Dragon Age: Origins character, I have been told, looks very much like a crude, animated 3D rendition of me but that is the only one that really was modeled after me. I enjoy giving my characters their own identity and not just copying myself.

Speaking of identity, when it comes to personality, it again varies. Depending on the character, they are usually the opposite of me or possess a trait I wish I had rather than mimicking me.

Ewin (in Guild Wars 2) has a couple of my interests and maybe a few traits but there are many things about him that are uniquely his own.

On the whole, my characters are both their own people and also fragments of myself. Each character would have only one or two little things that come from me and that's just to get them started. I take that little bit of myself and put it down then step back. That tiny start then lets them write themselves and they grow without my intervention. Sometimes I am entirely surprised by the results.

[Dicey Reilly]

My characters all come from a story idea.  The history comes first or I can not RP them.  With that history comes a dialect, and like Lyrima I need that clear understanding of how they speak to RP.

Do I borrow some of myself?  Sometimes .  I tend to play the straight woman to the husband's comedic characters (Cobble's for those who know him).  He tends to pick a class, research the best duo class for his and then throw me into that role.  But something of me can creep in.  For example, I am Roman Catholic.  Monks and monasteries are part of my childhood.  I still go to an abbey for Christmas Eve vigil mass filled with incense and chanting and rituals.  Jystana's character takes all that as her base but as a follower of an evil god.  So me, and yet very much not me at the same time.