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What do you guys think of making a character somewhat based off of yourself? Making that character react to events as you would if you were them?

Posted on el telefono
Usually, this is looked down upon in standard quality role-play. It shows no creativity to import yourself or another well known character onto a blank slate. Personally, I don't care though as I am usually not one to judge.
(09-13-2013, 06:44 PM)Nymus Wrote: [ -> ]What do you guys think of making a character somewhat based off of yourself? Making that character react to events as you would if you were them?

Posted on el telefono

I'd play a Tauren who's idea of adventuring would be to play on his gnomish computation device rather than actually doing stuff. He'd awkwardly talk about his conquests from time to time, but it'd secretly be stuff he did on this computation device.

He'd have a liking for many foods, beer, and those delicious goblin sodas.
(09-13-2013, 06:48 PM)QuantumLegacy Wrote: [ -> ]Usually this is looked down upon in standard quality role-play. It shows no creativity to import yourself or another well known character onto a blank slate. Personally, I don't care though as I am usually not one to judge.

I'd beg to differ. Accurately depicting one's own persona through a fictional medium takes an incredible amount of skill. People often claim that they dislike when people RP as themselves, but what they really hate is when people use roleplay as wish-fulfillment, often at the cost of the quality of the experience of others.

Of a wow character that would fit me... Well, my circumstance would suggest I'd play a high elf whose family was torn by Kael'Thas nomming on the Fel. She'd be something light-based, prolly a variant, as priest/paladins tend to involve too much social organization.

Though high elves aren't a thing on CotH, and belves don't suit me.

Maybe a draenei artisan of some sort..?
I would also disagree with the lack of creativity, as I don't live in the world of Warcraft. But what if I did? It is fun to think about what I would do if I were face a demon. What if I had shamanistic powers, what would I do with them? I think you would have to put a lot of thought and introspection in to the RP to choose what you would really do and not what you wish you would do.

I am not sure what I would be I will think about it and get back to you.

Sent from my little friend
I guess it depends on how you look at it. Usually, what I see when people do this is as you previous mentioned. Wish-fulfillment. I have taken traits from my own personality and added them into characters before but I mean who hasn't? I do not usually try to create a mirror image of myself though as even in fantastically situations it seems unimaginative to me.

But if I were to reassess the question and put myself into WoW. I think I'd probably end up has some brigand human trying to survive or some soon to be forgotten Orc.
(09-13-2013, 07:48 PM)Dae Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe a draenei artisan of some sort..?

ALL MY FAMILY

ARE EREDAR

would be legit sad
(09-13-2013, 07:48 PM)Dae Wrote: [ -> ]Accurately depicting one's own persona through a fictional medium takes an incredible amount of skill. People often claim that they dislike when people RP as themselves, but what they really hate is when people use roleplay as wish-fulfillment, often at the cost of the quality of the experience of others.

This.

I am of the belief that it's very difficult to not place yourself into the character since you cannot imagine any other way of perception other than your own. And if you're able to imagine an altered perception and think about how it could be shaped differently through the character's history, then sure, you can. But it's not something that's easily done, and requires a lot of thought and attention.

And is it all that bad to place other aspects of the self into the other (the character)? I don't think so. In fact, I think that for many people, it can therapeutically escapist. I myself often sneak in my own inner conflicts into my characters and I think that it's an interesting thing to watch unfold through the roleplay. Kind of makes me discover new things about myself. And what could be better, really?
I tend to add maybe one personality trait of mine into a few of my characters because A) It allows me to fit in their shoes and understand them better and B) Makes them more believable to others because I know how they think.
I do have a character based on myself, partially. Celen is mixture of myself and the wanna-be myself, she is the girl that when I was little I actually looked up too and had day-dreams about. She wasn't Celen back then though. It was more of a He than a she, and he was a male elf who guarded the woods and was super cool and stealthy like, after I grew up so my fantasies did, thus creating my little Celen.

So yes, if you meet me IRL... prepare to meet a male Celen.(Though not entirely, I do have some qualities she lacks, like not headbutting the wall and.. me being male and her not.)
Ah, self-insertion and wish fulfillment. Both are usually bad. Sometimes they can be fine and fun. In fact, I'd roll the dice that every roleplayer has done, and does do, both. Moderation and context are keys to making it work.

I mostly roleplay characters of evil alignment. But I have little in common with those characters, in action or thought. I play them because their psychology and development interests me. I don't know about other players but after my first character (another game), I stopped self-inserting.

The question of 'what you would do if you were them?' is nonsensical, I think. If were them, then I would do as if I were them. I cannot do as others if I am me. Suffice to say, I create a character based on what's interesting to me and then roleplay it according to a basic outline. To say that I make my characters based on what I would do is incorrect. I instead do as I think such a person would (based on the facets of their personhood).
See, I love the way I work with characters because I RP them at first in a way I think they would respond but over time they become their own person with their own thoughts and feelings. It's quite an amazing process to watch and create.
Every character of mine is me. But it isn't at the same time. To take all my characters together, you might find myself as a whole in them, but separate you'd probably never guess with half of them. But making a character solely based off of yourself isn't the best idea. It's you after all. How the character reacts is how you react. And.. That makes it pretty hard to separate the character from yourself. I mean, if you can keep it separate do it.
I'm with the majority in that I frown upon self-inserts. It's almost like a litmus test of how experienced or mature a roleplayer is. I say this because the first thing a new roleplayer or fan-fiction writer does is insert themself into the setting through a self-insert; a character that is themselves. There's little to no challenge in inserting your personality as a whole into a character and loosely basing its history off of your own or what you wish your own was, or simply what you think would be cool. It's a... well, less than classy crutch, is how I consider it. It really does come down to wish fulfillment through a character, I suppose!

Additionally, when people place themselves into an avatar to run amuck and roleplay with, they tend to be unnaturally attached to the character. When their character goofs up, they want to retcon it or leave. When someone doesn't like their character, they snap at the player of the other character or, just in general, get OOCly offended. Although people who play self-inserts say this doesn't happen, nine times out of ten, it does; I've seen it happen more times than I can count on fingers and toes between retail and Conquest of the Horde.

OOC should be separated from IC at all times. I myself roleplay an aspect of myself into my character, though generally just a small one magnified and evolved into an entirely different person to better understand how this character thinks, interacts, and works as a whole. It's a bit of a crutch, perhaps, but it's what I am comfortable with while still being able to separate myself from my character and not be offended by what happens to the character. In a roleplay where the mass is roleplaying self-inserts in a mutually agreed upon setting, however? That could turn out fine. Perfectly fine, in fact; I'm a firm believer of "there's a time and a place for everything"! But when you're roleplaying with folks that carefully disattach themselves from their characters and you have a self-insert of your own you're unusually attached to, you'll get a lot of looks from others that will be less than favourable, and with good reason, I believe.

Last minute edit: This can also lead to people playing characters that don't fit the setting or the racial traits, but not always. That's usually based upon the disregard of the roleplayer who plays the self-insert. Thankfully, we don't have too many characters like that on Conquest of the Horde, but there's still more than I'm comfortable with, in high and low places. It's generally just not a good idea!
(09-14-2013, 01:31 AM)Kull Wrote: [ -> ]The question of 'what you would do if you were them?' is nonsensical, I think. If were them, then I would do as if I were them. I cannot do as others if I am me. Suffice to say, I create a character based on what's interesting to me and then roleplay it according to a basic outline. To say that I make my characters based on what I would do is incorrect. I instead do as I think such a person would (based on the facets of their personhood).

See, that's the part I'm interested in. I want to create a character based on me (not 100% me, down to the internal organs and stuff) but... say this happened.

Examplus: Hey!
Me: Hey Examplus.
Examplus: You want to go kill Kobolds / harass some Defias buttholes?

Now, with self-preservation and rationality, if it were actually me I'd say no and ask him to ask the Defias to return his corpse so I can give it a proper burial after a "I told you so". However, if I were to say yes...

Examplus: Oh crap, the Defias captured us!
Me: This is all your fault, Examplus!

I'd probably be bargaining for me and Examplus' life - because that's what I personally would do, not cast a hadouken and break out of the cage and fly away on a dragon to freedom.

I wouldn't base the history of the character off of me (that'd be rather uneventful). But his personality, somewhat. Can become extremely irritated and angry at the smallest of things? Yes.

Is somewhat of a joker but if anyone else overdoes their jokeriness, he gets pissed off? Yes.

Is often lazy and apathetic? Yes (sadly, but the sweet hum of my PC is much more soothing than the Censored ing wasps flying around me every second.).

EDIT: Also terrible at math.
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