Aadora?

[Jester]

Yeah.. I like her too. Till now, you have made a success on making her "innocent".

(Though not when you're playing BF3 while you're RPing)

But you give out that picture of your character, stay with it.

Though the Big Bang would come out, if you turn her to a evil one. And suddenly she starts thinking on another way. -That- would be badass.

I did that with one of my characters once. She was sweet and pretty innocent, but it turned out she had been pretending all along and she was, in fact, cruel and heartless. It was awesome. It's also got a lot of storyline potential.

Yeah, that rocks!

Then.. While you've done that already, you should just try to find something else..

[Xigo]

And then she got a redemption to the face. And... was redeemed!

It was a pretty fun storyline, being one of the few ones my namesake really tried to get involved in.

[c0rzilla]

I actually suggested that layer under the bubbliness on her profile! Woo.

Surely there is more to a character that has lived a century? One can only keep up childish innocence for so long, and it is a tad eerie. She still seems to be just Stepford Smiler nice. It also sort of doesn't speak well when all her powers have a longer description then who she is.

Can you show us anything beneath the pure veneer, or is she really perfect? Two lines just don't cut it.

If it is all a mask (which would be awesome), why? I know you stated something about a secret earlier, but you do sort of have to expand on everything in a profile. Even the secrets. It's why amnesia doesn't fly.

I hope I did not offend with my TVTropes example. Some people get touchy, but I find they're quite concise, and can provide a laugh.

[Roxas65]

And then she got a redemption to the face. And... was redeemed!

It was a pretty fun storyline, being one of the few ones my namesake really tried to get involved in.

Yes. Yes it was.


Anyways, about Aadora, at least one reason to why she can be a bit bubbly and naive has been listed in this thread, there's probably more, though. However, speaking from personal experience, taking a (sometimes just seemingly) pure and innocent and causing her to turn her whole personality around is a very rewarding storyline.


Admittedly, though, a nice and bubbly character can fit into such a dark universe and -should- be there to lift the spirits of the overall mood. An -excellent- example of a similar character is Augustus "Cole Train" Cole from Gears of War. Pretty much -every- single character in that game are depressed and/or melancholy, everybody has lost family, humanity is on the brink of extinction etc etc. Cole is no exception, yet he maintains a positive attitude at all times because he feels there's no need for excessive negativity as well as, and I quote, "My mother just raised me right, son." Despite his vastly different personality from most in the main cast, he fits in perfectly and actually lifts the mood of the game a whole deal. Aadora can totally be that kind of character.

[c0rzilla]

If you don't mind, I will also use my main Annabelle as an example. She tends to be the bit of sparkle in dark places. But, she won't revert to childish naivete or "innocence". She works on pure joy, and tries to spread it. But, this joy isn't shallow or naive. It comes from knowing her pain and the pain of others. Not in a sadistic way, but a relative way. Like Cole up there! There is already so much dark. Why add to it? She is scuffed, bruised, bloodied, but she knows she has that choice whether to laugh or not. And she laughs, and tries to make others laugh.

Go for something like that rather than just shallow, ignorant innocence. Not to call you or your character ignorant but...yeah. Something like that.

[ImagenAshyun]

This is Kapre (the aforementioned "sweet and innocent" -male- Draenei) and Dino (the doctor Nerethor warned you about). Despite having perhaps only about two RP sessions with you, I do have a lot to say about Aadora.

I love sweet and innocent characters: that's why I main as one. However, there are right ways and wrong ways to RP as one. Aadora strikes me as cute... and that's it. She otherwise does not draw me in as as character, and instead comes off as Draenei Female #452. And I'll tell you why.

Young as she is, I anticipated her to not only be naive, but to be slightly xenophobic. Openness is a learned trait, not an inherent one, and given how young she was, it is not a virtue the Draenei would teach young ones as they struggle to survive in Outland prior to the Crash. Consider this scenario: An American freshman in high school suddenly forced to study in Japan. Suddenly she has to make it a habit to leave her shoes outside the home. Suddenly she has to learn to bow to greet people. Suddenly she has to understand that it's okay for people below 18 to date far much older men. As Aadora is a 112 year old Draenei, I would have anticipated a far greater culture shock in Aadora AS a "sweet and innocent" person, but she never seemed to present that to me. She seemed more to me like... a sweet and innocent -human- who just happens to know Draenei culture.

This is coming from me, a person who rolled a kind-hearted but naive Draenei upon entering COTH and someone who had very little knowledge of -any- WoW lore (and still has little). Regardless of her amount of experience in any part of the world, Aadora would have to exhibit some kind of shock from just visiting Booty Bay alone. Goblins aren't exactly good people in Draenei's eyes, for example: everything of life is ruled by the coin, machinery that hardly works, breeding like rabbits, and generally being slimy and sleazy. Criminals (like Dino) and other shady folk take shelter in this town as well. All in all, constant visiting of this place would -jade- an innocent person, as Booty Bay is a place where the worst kind of people gather.

If you want her to maintain a cheerful, bubbly spirit, you'll have to take her to places that are far more pleasant, like Stormwind or Ironforge. Otherwise, until I see genuine flaws in her besides naivete (which is a neutral trait, btw), Aadora does not interest me in particular. I hope you can improve her character by introducing something that is far more intriguing besides the bubbly persona without resorting to just her powers.

ADDED: Since people are comparing their characters, and Kapre and Aadora do have a lot in common (Kapre is also very young, 306 years old), I can sample you so you can have something of a reference. When Kapre arrived in Azeroth as a new traveler from the Exodar, while he was cheerful, friendly, and ignorant of other cultures (to justify my OOC lack of knowledge in WoW lore), he kept the secret that he's a widower who lost his only child to fel corruption as a Lost One and to the Crash, respectively. He also, while was very anxious towards the Orcs for the Bloodlust, he wishes he could be friends with them again, believing them to be victims of deception to the Burning Legion (a view that is not at ALL popular among Draenei. Even his sister, Diwaata, chastised him for this view).

In spite of all this, Kapre maintains the Draenei ways of compassion and openness to other people... while, at the same time, experiences some culture shock because of his manner of speech (it would take him 10 sentences to say something a human would take only 10 words to say), inability to understand common slang, the general history and political affairs of Azeroth, and hostilities and complexes of the younger races despite their short years. In order for him to really learn about other cultures, he'd have to get out of Booty Bay (where I started him for the first few weeks of COTH) and go to places like Stormwind. It would be through RP -outside- the tavern people get to know him past the cheerful facade.

As already deliberated above, cheerful characters are welcomed in dark settings, but their smiles have to bring more than just lifted corners of the mouth. Cheerful characters are loved because they endured the harsh realities of life, not avoided it altogether. I urge Aadora that you develop her in ways that "break" her a little so her bubbly nature can be appreciated more. If this is your aim for why Aadora is stuck in the Bay instead of the Exodar or Stormwind, then I anticipate this change.

[Rowgen]

May I come with the suggestion you guys wait with continuing the discussion until Aadora can actually answer for herself? Currently, she is offline.

EDIT: Also worth to note that the character is currently in Stormwind :P

[Roxas65]

I just wanna add that c0rzilla is right with her example, and it's also never too late to add depth to one's characters. Hell, if your character don't gain more depth the more they're played, you're probably doing it wrong. And that was not a personal accusation, that's an overall fact.

And Rowgen is also probably right.

Finally, I'll add that I'd probably be more help if I actually knew more about the character in question, I'm just doing the best I can here.

[c0rzilla]

Apologies, don't mean to swamp. But, ideas come as they come.

[Holynexus]

Jester - That's my own Draenei's concept ^^

[Aadora]

I just consider why is she naive? Is it a preference of yours? I actually don't really think there's been an "eye candy" problem but I think you should consider why someone who is over 100 would be so naive to begin with, and have the mentality that is more fitting for little children.

Some here have pretty much gotten it. She stays happy trying to completely forget her past, and is reminded of it every time she sees an Orc or Blood Elf. And while for you it maybe a stereotype that women act all bubbly and innocent. But around where I live, the stereotype is quite literally the opposite.

Perhaps she forcefully tries to be innocent IN LIGHT of these horrible happenings? Could've become an almost subconscious thing.

/2 cents

That's actually pretty much it.

And Rowgen is right in one big point. Not many have RP'd with her outside a casual sit in a tavern and talk about random things, or do the same at the arena or Park in Stormwind. As Holynexus saw yesterday, my other characters that happen to be friends of Aadora's from the Exodar, will tell you IC that Aadora cries a lot. She is not a happy camper 24/7 at all. She wears the face of innocence and happiness all day and then slams the door in her room and cries herself to sleep. Perhaps not literally but I think you get the point.

Sorry to let you guys down, but I am not going to turn her into an Evil character. Saying that seems to me saying that nice/innocent characters are so out of place, that evil ruling over the server is what people want. That's just my opinion though.

She is actually as nice as she acts, but yes, being so nice to the races that almost destroyed her people, mentally and physically hurts her.

She is not the completely innocent, forgive all injustice in the world no matter how cruel or evil kind of person. As said in her profile. She has to force herself to be nice to Orcs and Sin'Dorei. Not because she has to, but because she wants to.

---

Zarquon does have a strong point, but so does Rowgen. It is -extremely- common for people who have been heavily traumatized to act positive and bubbly etc to try and forget as well as fool themselves that the world is a better place than it is. Inside, though, they're suffering.

Secondly, I'd like to point out that a RP universe where all characters are brooding and tragic just isn't that interesting. Quite frankly, I would -not- want to RP in a universe like that, just sayin.'

And of course I completely agree with this.

---

And as one more addition to this post...

With Kreeva returning, and Aadora having just moved on to a new mate, she is going to have a whole new set or problems.

Depending on how it all goes, Aadora may very well crack in the near future. but since she really is a nice innocent person, she will return to that state of mind.

All her current pain and frustration, she puts all her effort into hiding it.