The 'Because.' Phenomenon

[flammos200]

A wee bit of a situation has cropped up in these last months, and I thought I'd give it a piece of my mind. As painful as that sort of aggressive lobotomy might seem, the dilemma is a deceptively simple one: Why do our characters do/are stuff?

Starting with the ending: A world of thanks

It's been... a year and a half or so since someone questioned my actions and those of my characters. The thing is, I want to say thanks. I'm not naming names - even in a positive light - but I will say that sometimes, a kick in the rear is a step taken forward, no matter how bad or mean or unfair it might seem at first.

I promise you, having your motives, your actions, and your characters put into question makes you a better role-player. Try not to be angry when people ask 'Why does/is your character X?'. It will help you and your character immensely to grow.

Another set of thanks go to whatever Gee-Emm read RSP profiles on GMI one mornin' and happened upon one of my own, and proceeded to question - quite politely - why the character had the station that they did. After the issue was resolved(Civilly. The character in question was a Special Profile), I was incredibly glad that somewhere out there, GMs pay attention to the characters that people play still, and that particular bit that made 'Old CoTH' so great and fun was still alive somewhere...

So, yeah. Whoever that was, thanks. And to everyone else listening: Question everything that seems suspicious!

Now that that's over with...

Middling in beginnings: A world of questions

Have any of your characters been racist? If so, why? Racism, in Warcraft, same as hatred, magic, combat and anything, really, has reasons behind it. What are your characters'?

Racism cannot exist without reasons. Hatred cannot exist without reasons:

~Why does your Draenei hate Orcs?
-Because the Orcs slaughtered the Draenei on Draenor. - from here you can build that, maybe, your Draenei lost a loved one/family member there? Or anything, really.
~Why -doesn't- your Draenei hate Orcs?
-Because Orcs have attempted to redeem themselves from a fel-wrought path by slaying Mannoroth and freeing themselves in the process. - from here you might build their view on Blood Elves who've done the same to fix their Sunwell.

~Why does your Blood Elf hate Night Elves?
-Because the Night Elves exiled the Highborne(which the Blood Elves revere) and are still nearly hostile to arcane users. - from here you might build their view on Trolls as feral, or perhaps a dislike of nature in favor of arcane? Or arrogance?
~Why doesn't your Blood Elf hate Night Elves?
-Because the Blood Elves are slowly moving forward from their Arcane/Fel paradigm into a Light-based one. Forgiveness is one lesson of the Light. - from here, you might build the character into a Paladin or Priest, and shape their views of Draenei, in thanks for them restoring the Sunwell with Light.

And so on. You have to remember that you tailor your character, but you must -always- have reasons behind the decisions they make and the views they adopt. Yes, it is possible for people to do uncanny stuff or hold uncanny views, but it is only thanks to reasoning behind such actions and views that they can do it.

'Because.' is not an answer that works in this case. In fact, it's a fairly flippant and rather disrespectful one, whereas discussing one's reasons with the people that ask you to politely explain yourself shows not only respect for your fellow player, but consideration of the Lore-setting in which Warcraft role-play takes place.

And I mean anything out of the ordinary - and even the ordinary things themselves - should have reasons behind them.

The reason for all the reasons - as it were - is because it allows you to flesh out the background of your character, and turn them into a working, thinking person rather than a mere robotic slave that adopts their views to your own, or to a predefined set without actually thinking any.

We've been faced often with the conundrum of the Chaotic character. Chaotic, however, does not mean random. It also does not mean 'crazy' or 'insane' - these terms do not even exist. If you wish to play out a mental illness do so only after researching it, and remember that less than ten percent of mentally ill people are actually violent, and that 'crazy' does not mean random.

A Chaotic character is able to shift their moral code lots 'n lots, sure, but there's always a reason behind it.

Ending with the middle: A world of warcraft

What is Warcraft? A universe at war with an immense demonic force that keeps sending all sorts of minions and enemies into the fray. But Warcraft is also a world of heroes.

Warcraft is based on epic deeds, on holy warriors, and spirit-blessed shamans, on mighty Orcs and Tauren, on spell-slinging Elves and subtle assassins. Warcraft is a world where renegade Warlocks battle fire with fire, and bring about Fel magic against the Legion. Warcraft is a universe of many worlds and many planes, all on which a single thing is constant.

War

The question is, why do you fight? Why do you do the things you do? What makes you who you are? What dark past made your shadow scar Azeroth and beyond? What bright future do you wish to forge in the everburning Light?

Who are you? Have you taken the time to ask yourself? If not, you'd better start soon, because there's a world of cause and effect out there. A world that will change you as much as you change it.

TL;DR: Never say 'IT'S MY PERSONAL CHOICE GAWD' because you don't fit into this picture. Your character does.

[Alykia]

Very wonderful and well written post! Thank you!

[Etmosril]

This. A thousand times, this. Players ultimately determine who their characters are. And as players, it's our duty to make sense of our characters' actions and beliefs.

There's a lot of OOC motive behind playing certain characters over others. The whole purpose of roleplaying is to play what tickles our fancy. But at some point, when things that are only technically possible get a free pass to avoid 'stifling creativity', it seems a little silly to me. Just because it's (technically) possible and suits your tastes only doesn't mean you should do it.

If you're making an atypical character? Give them a legitimate IC reason for it. Don't argue that X or Y trait is your personal preference, and therefore above reproach. We're all playing on the same world. Our characters affect one another.

How often have you formed your opinion of a roleplayer by what sort of characters he/she played? And how can you tell a good character from a mediocre one, if not by how they act? Character traits are telling. Make sure you like what they're telling about you.

/endrant /takesrealismwaytooseriously

[FlyingSquirrel]

/takesrealismwaytooseriously

Ahah. No, that's my job.

But, as you can guess, I have a large problem with this. Thank you.

[Kaghuros]

This is an excellent post, and I hope it gets people thinking about why their characters do what they do (even though most people already know to some degree). Having motivations for a character is one of the core elements that makes a character seem real, and if you can narrow down why whomever does whatever, then it's easy to expand from there into everything else. Paradoxically this is the most necessary part of a character, but it often isn't found until you've spent a bit of time RPing and figuring out your character in practice.

Also just a note, Blood Elves are the descendants of the Highborne. Their ancestors were the ones exiled, which is why some feel spiteful and bitter about it.

[Loxmardin]

Moving to Articles & Guides for general usefulness.

[hiddengecko]

A very well-written post indeed. Were I not a complete slacker, I would herald its virtues the server over--but sadly, I am.

My most hearty approval, none the less.

[ImagenAshyun]

Extremely useful. Thank you for this.

[c0rzilla]

This post is sexy, and I am saddened I am so late in seeing it.