Staying In Character

[Gwenadrael]

I have just thought of something. In several RPs (different games) I have been and have seen others chastised about keeping to their character's personality. Someone does something out of the norm, or perhaps has been playing the character a different way. But a lot of people have to remember: people change. They interact with others and their views on things change, sometimes become more defined, or perhaps less so, causing them confusion. And confused people often do very -random- or radical things. As well, take for example my character Yinafae. She started off on this server almost totally feral, only being in elf form to speak, if then.

However, lately Yina has been in elf form more than usual, speaking to people, approaching strangers, even going into cities. Her speech has improved somewhat. Her views on the common prejudices are changing slowly as she interacts with more people. Yinafae, in a short time, has changed quite a bit simply due to her actions and interactions with other people.

These kind of changes are very real, but I have seen people get chastised that something is out of character or that they've changed their character to fit situations, which is entirely untrue. The character changes ICly -because- of these changes. Now, I'm not saying this happens here, though it might, I am just posting this as a sort of warning against the thinking that a character stays the same except when something 'big' happens to them.

People may feel this thread is a waste of time, but this can be a serious source of RP restriction. Let your characters change was they meet people, let other characters affect your own.

Feel free to share if you have ever had a situation where you were chastised (OOCly) for your character's changes of personality, or perhaps just tell moments where your character's personality has been affected by interactions with other players.

[Nostra]

It´s hard to know what is "In Character" for another´s character, so I suggest that if you feel that someone is acting OOC, you either break off the RP and do something else, or PMs a GM with your concern. Remember to attach screenshots!

[Gwenadrael]

Yah, like, if you have a druid going setting fires to Moonglade, might wanna draw the line there @.@

[Qaza]

I know it is fairly common to have your character rather quickly grow in a more "social" direction. As a example, a character's profile may describe them as a loner, antisocial, and aloof (the "James Dean/lone wolf" character, which is quite popular). But, as the player attempts to RP with them they find out that it is very difficult to find RP, which generally requires other people, when their character is supposed to dislike people in general. So soon they have their character grow into someone who likes to hang out in major cities and has found the true meaning of friendship, melting the icy exterior of their heart but only for those close to them and so on.

I'm not saying this is a horrible, naughty thing to do. It's totally understandable, because certain character types are very appealing even though they work better in a book or movie than on a social server, and people may find they have to adjust for that. But it may be a good idea to take it into account in the first place, and make a believable reason for your character to explore and seek out new people from the beginning, rather than trying to work it out later when you're bored out of your skull.

[Harmonic]

As for the language thing, I love to do the opposite; dialect degradation. Rensin, before the reroll, was pretty good with his speech when he lived in Stormwind. After he set out to Ratchet... yeah, you couldn't understand what he was saying after a couple months. And his interactions with many Dwarves and other psychotics didn't help either.