I Need Some Advice! -wrongchat

[TalkChat]

Advise, something I think everyone needs once and awhile and I feel this community could help me out with a bit of an issue I'm having my own roleplay. So I'm just going to start off by saying I believe roleplay in its core has a bit of a learning curve to it just like everything in life. You could go from a non-lore cannon vampire who jumps rooftops and wears a neon green hoodie to a casual politician or even a member of the government over time, who knows? The point is you grow and change over time, but I think in all my time on MassiveCraft, in the roleplay universe, I've had snarky or otherwise sarcastic characters. And it's not that I have a problem with these characters because I don't, they've given me opportunities to shed some light into roleplay and create great characters like Euan de Santigo and Tanoro, but there is only so far you can get with these types of characters in my opinion. So I want to switch it up a bit and sort of change my attitude IC to something a bit more serious which is more challenging than it sounds for me at least. So this is where you guys come in and give me some ideas on how to go about this. I'm going to list a run-down history of my roleplay life in bullets down below so you can just see where I derived from (which is mostly nobility in the first place ironically.) I'll also tag a few people who I believe to be great models for what I'm going for and who I think is overall pretty chill.

• I started roleplaying straight off the bat about three years ago in a family called the Crawleys
• After the Crawleys died out I left massive for about six months well I focused on school and sports
• After that, I came back to nobility as Godwin Ailemer I believe he was called? It was a small noble family.
• And after that I created I believe what was to be my downfall in this ever running cycle of sarcastic slap-stick roleplayness. Baird Norrvakt, the family was great but the character was practically a comedian.
• And DURING Baird I created Tanoro Viduggla (who I still play now and again) who is also somewhat of a comedian.
• And Euan came in to be the king of all my roleplaying characters as the raging alcoholic ex-fighter. The end.
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(I don't know, guess since this is my thread I'll ask y'all to be kind and give some good criticism on how to improve roleplay, too much drama goes on in this community anyway so we should all just be kind!)

Some tags: @Belgrade @HydraLana @Film_Noir @Deadfoe51 @MonMarty @TyrolleanEagle @JennaLikesCoffee @BeashSlap @BillyTheScroofy @MantaRey @Jugswe @Miss_Confined @Tiber_

Don't have to comment but figured why not tag a couple of people.

 

[Motherland]

okay, so, having a serious character is difficult if you're not an entirely serious person. try to incorporate both funny and serious in roleplay, or atleast know when to be serious. eirain is serious about stuff, but then she's also drinking and dancing with her close friends and able to have a good time. try to find a comfortable medium, and settle with it.

 

[Film_Noir]

One way to commit to a more serious character is possibly for him to have (or want to have) a largish responsibility of some sort. Or some sort of ambition. If your character screws up, they not only screw themselves over but a lot of other people too. Which your character has to believe would be bad. Your character can still know how to have a joke, but also has an underlying sense of what's acceptable and what's not. (PS: The offer is still there if you want to do something with the Blacks in a military or guard sense!)

 

[Wumpatron]

Find a serious objective for the character. If it is something that they truly wish to accomplish then their childish nature will be diminished when they pursue that goal. Humor is fine, but oversaturation of humor creates a memeish character. It's always about timing. I've transferred from some... let's just call it unique characters to something that has a defined objective, set boundaries, and a way of achieving it. Your character's main ambition should be something achievable. Perhaps not easily, but it should be possible. When focusing on that ambition IC, you should take it seriously. This is your characters life blood.

 

[Reaganism]

It may sound weird, but you could try and genderbend in roleplay. All the characters you listed were male, and perhaps you have a less-serious, comedic attitude in real life that influenced your characters. Distancing your character as much as you can from your real self does a great deal to help you play any niche or achetype.

 

[AtticCat]

One way to commit to a more serious character is possibly for him to have (or want to have) a largish responsibility of some sort. Or some sort of ambition. If your character screws up, they not only screw themselves over but a lot of other people too. Which your character has to believe would be bad. Your character can still know how to have a joke, but also has an underlying sense of what's acceptable and what's not. (PS: The offer is still there if you want to do something with the Blacks in a military or guard sense!)

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Find a serious objective for the character. If it is something that they truly wish to accomplish then their childish nature will be diminished when they pursue that goal. Humor is fine, but oversaturation of humor creates a memeish character. It's always about timing. I've transferred from some... let's just call it unique characters to something that has a defined objective, set boundaries, and a way of achieving it. Your character's main ambition should be something achievable. Perhaps not easily, but it should be possible. When focusing on that ambition IC, you should take it seriously. This is your characters life blood.

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Like what both of them said, try giving your character an ambition that is a bit more serious, I'll give an example that at least you, @WrongChat, will understand since Juliette and Tanoro have know each other for like a year OOC:

Juliette use to just a bit an irrelevant mess that caused issues when I first made her, she didn't really have a goal that was reachable at her age (which was to be an explorer, originally)- but then I switched up her ambition due to the Lo arch, which was she wanted to be a military figure. Since then, she's been trying to get involved with charters which are 'serious' rp, can't joke around during work if you want to excel.

But she is also friendly and a bit of a joke around her friends (like Tanoro), because despite the fact that she might be a serious worker, she isn't really a serious person.

It's okay to have a character that isn't always a jokester, while they might be one in general, being serious to achieve what you want to get to in RP is necessary.

 

[fuithlug]

If you want serious roleplay, it doesn't have to come from the character's profession or training, or even their (or your) goal for them. If anything, it's how you interact with your character as a story teller and your creation.

You need to treat said character as an individual and take into consideration the smallest parts of their personality or upbringing. I know it's easy for someone to say they do this but I often see player's characters relying on rather two dimensional tropes and aspects of their life that the player perceives to be the be all and end all of said characters personality. It comes even with how people describe their characters - I can't speak for many of your characters bar Euan and Baird, but I know that both of them had/have an amazing potential for character growth, and then following from that, challenging or serious roleplay.

You described Euan as a raging alcoholic and ex-fighter, it's almost like describing myself in real life as a longboarder and photographer without explaining how or why I do those things even though there are obviously a lot of complexities and reasons people take up hobbies, etc.

So I would suggest drawing up a story arc for Euan which involves him trying to kick his alcoholism or anger issues, trying to break his negative stigma with the guard, or trying to use his experience as a wrestler to start a gym to train other characters and provide a stable source of legal income. That in itself could provide ridiculous amounts of character growth and could even see his personality mature given his lack of a stable life thus far.


Or make a new character and do those things anyway - lov u hun xoxoxo

@WrongChat

 

[Magivore]

I've a couple suggestions, but so as to hopefully not overload the thread given everyone else also wants to say they helped, I'll try and keep it as direct as possible. I've looked back on some of your previous characters, and I'm hoping my criticisms will help you find what you're looking for! Keep in mind that I have no intent to insult you, and that all I want to do is assist you.

What seems to separate your first characters from your late characters is what they have. When you first joined Massive, you immediately became a part of some larger family, which gave you a base to stand on pretty securely. As a new player, you want to try everything and earn everything, so you already have most of your goals handed out to you like most other players do. As you age, your goals slowly wear down since most of them are now easily achievable. You can simply select 'expert' on applications or apply for yet another noble family with some pretty damn good chances of being accepted. I've noticed that, while your newer characters are rather interesting on the outside, they're already experts with sufficient body builds and wages to do what they want. You've made a lot of lovely characters that can fill in the faults of others, but accidentally have no faults of their own. There always has been an epidemic of professionals that now have nothing to do because they've gotten what they want, and therefore have to make their main ambition a goal that's statistically almost impossible to achieve for someone of their stature. I would even dare to say that their personality might not even be the problem at all in this case (although having a fresh personality might help you feel more motivated in the long-run). By making a character with noticeable flaws and holes, such as a Fighter who wants to become a great soldier or an Alchemist that's suddenly decided he wants to be an adventurer, other characters will essentially provide to you progression just by your mere existence. What's so interesting about having experts is that your character has the opportunity to help students reach their goal and will fill in the missing links for others, but overall can do little other than that.

If I were to sum up what you've gotten yourself into with one sentence: you have fallen into a trap of making characters that will support everyone else's story, but has no story of their own that others can help write. An expert Blackmark, an expert alchemist, multiple nobles, so on. If you notice something with those characters, they're all very interesting (and actually are still pretty damn good), but they're all professionals and have no goal they can reach without OOC assistance (collaboration with staff, collaboration with 5+ friends, lucky world progressions, et cetera). As such, their story has already happened, and the results can only help others reach their own climax.

I'll provide an example of my own characters: Wilfre, an expert anti-mage (at the time), specifically went around the sewers to try and pry magical material away from mages and provide people opportunities to have a nemesis. Occasionally, he would drop something valuable or would win in a significant battle that provided a character with a reason to keep this item or remember this fight, which would have them gather up friends to either identify this item or come back to beat up Wilfre. However, Nikkidroth, a Dwarvish sapper who doesn't yet grasp Regalian customs, is constantly surrounded by people who are so frustrated with his taboo behavior who keep trying to help him improve as a proud citizen of the holy city. There are also a couple rich men who, upon hearing there's a fierce Dwarf who has no job but a lot of scrap and muscle, offer him a job with the request that he get back to them.

There are distinct differences between the two, even beyond their obvious racial differences and backgrounds. I'll sum it up in a few sentences: Wilfre has everything he needs, and therefore, has no reason to exist except to lose them. Nikkidroth doesn't have anything that he needs, and therefore, anything that happens to him will literally only benefit him. Wilfre can't be a main character of any kind because he already has been one in his backstory and in his special abilities. Nikkidroth has endless opportunities to be one because he can both fill in other's flaws (as a soldier and smithy) while also needing his own things that others must either help him complete or he can complete over time.

TL;DR - Your characters are being given too much from the start. Make your characters start lower down the pyramid (perhaps as fighters or even as complete beginners of their field), and you'll find that almost every interaction with benefit your character as progression. If you want my own examples and my direct criticism, simply read the bold text above. I hope this helps, and I hope to see you in Regalia with a smile on your face and a story in your mind! @WrongChat

 

[SpunSugar]

My advice is try to make them as real as possible. Keep a small notebook next to you when you roleplay. I specifically keep one full of quotes, songs, words, phrases that I think really speak to who my character is. (Currently only two of those books running: One for Sigurna and one for Donata.) But fill them with words, actions, even movies that remind you of either what your character is or what they want to be. Then try to imagine what they want for themselves when they're old. Riches? Family? Land? Title? Or maybe just being far away from wherever they are now. Think about what your character daydreams about. What do they long for but think they cannot have? Squirrel all this information away. And next time you roleplay the character, try to bring just one of those facts with you into the roleplay. Even if it's never mentioned, maybe have your character thinking about it, and see how it affects your decisions in roleplay.

You've never had a problem being a dynamic part of the conversation, at least what I've seen. So perhaps you need to have an end-point to your drive. Give yourself small goals, and overreaching goals, and revisit once a week. Sounds like a lot of work, but eventually it will become so ingrained that you won't even notice! Good luck!

 

[MonMarty]

Some of this is going to sound super accusatory or offensive, but try not to take it personal, it's an unsweetened assessment. None of this is intended as a personal attack on anyone, just a means of brashly proposing a view, and then using said view to support a conclusion which I think will help you get out of the problem with a more clear cut solution, instead of a bandaid.

I've had snarky or otherwise sarcastic characters

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Snarky and Sarcastic characters are irritating and just make people want to avoid you. They don't offer rewarding dialogue in any way.

Euan de Santigo and Tanoro

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Tanoro was a name joke, just like Lautoro Wodenstaff or w/e his name was. Characters who are not remembered for anything but how ludicrous their name sounds, and are then turned into a meme. Note I've never interacted with either of these characters so I don't actually know the characters at all, but I know the name screeching memes all too well because they get called out over skype/teamspeak/discord every time either of those characters show up and they end up being mocked as one dimensional romance characters that have no other substory than their cookie cutter romance rp. Euan was just a background character, but that may also have been related to the overbearing personalities in the family.

something a bit more serious

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Look up Channing Tantrum's thread. I forget the name or the section but it describes setting per-character goals. That helps setting a tone for your roleplay where you're actually invested others instead of. "Snarky and Sarcastic characters" pretending they don't need anyone and just pushing them away as inferior.

Crawleys

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Family that went nowhere because 80% of their roleplay was having catfights with equally un-memorable baronial families whose names I dont even remember. There was also a pretty nasty ERP rumor about the crawleys if I remember correctly.

Ailemer

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Equally meme tier baronial family where the patriarch only became infamous because he kept talking about how his favorite potatoes were ovened in the Noble Lounge.

Norrvakt

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Family that set the tone for "Northern Screamer"

Viduggla

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Family that never really achieves anything because HydraLana does (excellent, like, above excellent) work for the Lore department more than he has time to dedicate to nobility projection.

Euan

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Of a family that eventually pulled out nobility for dubious and commonly considered illigitimate reasons, who even during their stay tried to play the anti-noble so desperately it turned into a whorehouse slapstick.

I think the more consistent trend is that you've been joining families, or engaging with, people who either have no desire to or lack the ability to drive ambition to achieve something relevant in roleplay, or to become a central figure in the community. If your aim is to be more serious, you should endeavor to make yourself surrounded by people who are serious, while also ensuring you don't fall down the trap of sarcastic sassy or otherwise back-talky characters. Characters that constantly make others feel like they are inferior eventually get rejected by the majority and then turn into a meme.

 

[TalkChat]

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Some of this is going to sound super accusatory or offensive, but try not to take it personal, it's an unsweetened assessment. None of this is intended as a personal attack on anyone, just a means of brashly proposing a view, and then using said view to support a conclusion which I think will help you get out of the problem with a more clear cut solution, instead of a bandaid.


Snarky and Sarcastic characters are irritating and just make people want to avoid you. They don't offer rewarding dialogue in any way.


Tanoro was a name joke, just like Lautoro Wodenstaff or w/e his name was. Characters who are not remembered for anything but how ludicrous their name sounds, and are then turned into a meme. Note I've never interacted with either of these characters so I don't actually know the characters at all, but I know the name screeching memes all too well because they get called out over skype/teamspeak/discord every time either of those characters show up and they end up being mocked as one dimensional romance characters that have no other substory than their cookie cutter romance rp. Euan was just a background character, but that may also have been related to the overbearing personalities in the family.


Look up Channing Tantrum's thread. I forget the name or the section but it describes setting per-character goals. That helps setting a tone for your roleplay where you're actually invested others instead of. "Snarky and Sarcastic characters" pretending they don't need anyone and just pushing them away as inferior.


Family that went nowhere because 80% of their roleplay was having catfights with equally un-memorable baronial families whose names I dont even remember. There was also a pretty nasty ERP rumor about the crawleys if I remember correctly.

Equally meme tier baronial family where the patriarch only became infamous because he kept talking about how his favorite potatoes were ovened in the Noble Lounge.

Family that set the tone for "Northern Screamer"

Family that never really achieves anything because HydraLana does (excellent, like, above excellent) work for the Lore department more than he has time to dedicate to nobility projection.

Of a family that eventually pulled out nobility for dubious and commonly considered illigitimate reasons, who even during their stay tried to play the anti-noble so desperately it turned into a whorehouse slapstick.

I think the more consistent trend is that you've been joining families, or engaging with, people who either have no desire to or lack the ability to drive ambition to achieve something relevant in roleplay, or to become a central figure in the community. If your aim is to be more serious, you should endeavor to make yourself surrounded by people who are serious, while also ensuring you don't fall down the trap of sarcastic sassy or otherwise back-talky characters. Characters that constantly make others feel like they are inferior eventually get rejected by the majority and then turn into a meme.

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To be honest with you, I found this informitive. Don't think anyone else would have told me the majority of what you stated, overall thank you for being blunt with me.

 

[fuithlug]

oi nah, we didn't have any whore houses

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

Ailemer

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-shudders-
EDIT: Wasn't thinking and am currently writing something constructive to add to the thread.

Response:
I have a couple ideas to add. Take my opinion lightly since I'm rusty and am a lot less knowledgeable than a lot of the people who've already added advice.
1) Try having a side character who you play casually to kinda unwind and get the silly out of your system before or during a break from the important, serious character. It helped me to have my ridiculous clown to play when I wanted to have fun and RP but didn't want to invest with someone like Phillip (RIP) or Alex (Also RIP).

2) I'm not saying your characters all have to be majorly tragic to make them serious, just to clear that up but, I think playing a "tragic" or otherwise very unhappy or hurt character can help get you in the habit of not making jokes or screwing around. Once you feel like you've gotten used to it, either the character can recover from the tragedy or make a new one.

Again, don't take these too seriously but I thought I'd offer some stuff I've used that helps remain serious and not goof off during RP ^^