Just Something I Noticed About Rp

[_SemS_]

Rp is absolutely great in MassiveCraft and I have like, 5 characters now that I rp as who all have unique personalities and motivations and it's fun to switch between them, but something that I've began to notice a lot (only really among new rp'ers) is that many people's characters have hardcore protagonist syndrome.

By that I mean that these characters are the heroes of their own stories, they are morally incorruptible icons of good and are often ridiculously suave or well spoken, and often do what EXACTLY the right thing seems to be in any situation. These characters often seem to have no weaknesses or flaws and when they do have problems in the characters, they are often strengths that are just disguised to look like weaknessess like "overly passionate" or "too kind" or something (not that most of these characters even have sheets but 8I).

And then you get in situations where multiple protagonists are together in one situation and they are all perfect heroes who perfectly act in unison and never bicker or argue, it's not interesting xD

idk that was just my little ramble about something I notice in rp please don't think I'm having a go at anyone in particular because I'm not it's just a thing but please leave your thoughts on the subject

 

[Wumpatron]

I can see your point. Lots of people like to be the hero of their own stories. Its why the applications have life goals in them. Every interaction is another part of the larger story of achieving that goal. I know that the whole perfect thing can be bland looking at it, but honestly all that matters is if everyone involved in the rp is having a good time. Id be lying if I said I haven't seen the perfect interactions and rolled my eyes, but that's none of my business. If people are enjoying themselves good on them. I could make a long point about people wanting to be the best they can and personifying themselves, but that's been brought up on so many threads that its pointless to bring up now.
Best thing I can say about this is if everyone is having a good time then is there really a problem? I know it can appear boring when observing it, but everyone has there own way of getting joy out of rp. If some people do the good guy, good time option I can't blame them.
Just going to close with this final remark of sometimes the least interesting interactions are the most enjoyable. I work in a tattoo shop, people come in, I give a tattoo and they leave. Probably won't hear from them until they want another one. It's not interesting, but I enjoy it.

 

[Miss_Confined]

Aaaah. I love this topic, let me tell you sugarbean! I am the queen of Mary-Sues. In fact, it's a terrible thing. And it's really annoying. By now it's just like "hide my face in shameeee" but no one really remembers me anyway PSHFTT.
I can explain to you the appeal in making such characters but no one really wants to hear me babble on about justifications of why when I began to get into roleplaying for the first time that I had such Mary-Sue characters.
In a way you're not wrong... They are definitely annoying at times...

However, Mr._SemS_, my question for you is Did you ever ask them if they wanted help fleshing out their character? Did you ever talk to them in Direct chat (excuse me if this is wrong I haven't been on the server in about a year) and say something like: "Hey, *person's name* your character may be really cool now, but guess what? It could be even better." Because you want to entice them in, you want to make them feel special. Maybe they don't have any friends. Maybe they are new to roleplaying and just needs some help.

Confy story-time!
When I first joined this server after getting a Minecraft account and begging my sister to let me join, A) I didn't know how to play Minecraft and sucked at videogames, B) I was really shy and clinging to my sister who then didn't want me and then I was on my own.
C) I didn't know anyone and all I met was the "noobs" or "newbies" who didn't want to go by the lore and were vampire hoodie kids with headphones.

I was scared, excited, confused. and didn't know what to do.

Once I stepped out into the confusing world of RP out from under my sister's wing, (because she wouldn't let me do anything -glares-)
I made a blonde werewolf character named Seraphina
Then I RPed and growled my way all throughout Regalia.
It was treacherous.
"RRRRrrrrrrRRRRRrrrr!" The chat bar shrieked as my furry girl with ears and a "wolf" tail walked around in some sort of "medieval" dress/toga of sorts because I also sucked at skinning.
She had purple eyes. Like I said: TERRIBLE.

Next I had the "beloved" Ebony Tezari. Originally she was just Ebony, but I got taken under the wing of the famous and gorgeous @Omnomivore And then totally ended up massacring her family. Woops. But Ebony was my favorite of all time, and still sorta is... Because she was flawed, she was tragic, dramatic, over-the-top, fun to play as, and a trainwreck. I still feel embarrassed for all the staff I roleplayed with.
Especially @MonMarty and the thing is... I still look up to Mon because even though I'm still a newbie trainwreck, the words that he told me at the time and I took as "harsh" weren't "harsh" in the end because he made me get my sugarplums together and I became a better roleplayer, writer, artist, and overall person in the creative arena because of it.

So basically my message is: Yes, they are annoying. But reach out! Try and help them! But if they don't accept the help? Then that's their mistake.

 

[Miss_Confined]

Aaaaaaah! My apologies if that came off as really demanding >////< You do you, y'know?

P.S: If you do meet some newbies and don't want to help/deal with them... Send them to me on the forums, I'll totally help. <3 I love teaching people some things.

 

[Lithiel]

Sometimes people play nice, wonderful heroic people- because in real life, everything is cruel, grimmy, depressing and stressful and this is how they can just get away from it all. Sometimes people want to embody something other then what they are the rest of the day. Maybe they're used to being overlooked, ignored, always in the background where nobody cares if they fell off the face of the earth- but not here, not for a few hours where they can be whatever they want to be.

 

[Graysworn]

It could just be situational as well. Some people require certain situations in order to reveal the darker side of them. I mean, The Traveler killed his own father, and that's something that haunts him to this day. He hides it well because years have passed since then, but it's still there.

Try asking other characters simple things, like their favorite color or if they have any family. Then build on that conversation, pry deep into the core of a character. Sometimes you have to come up with things on the fly, you never know.

 

[_SemS_]

@Rogue_Blade
WAOW SPOILERS

 

[BittaBoBittoBa]

And then you get in situations where multiple protagonists are together in one situation and they are all perfect heroes who perfectly act in unison and never bicker or argue, it's not interesting

Click to shrink...

To be honest not every roleplay has to be driven by drama,

I actually really enjoy roleplays that are driven by comedy are just a slice-of-life.

No, the truly uninteresting RPs are ones with people who keep worrying about their character status-quo,

As in, they just get absolutely livid if anything messes with their character's status or roleplay just doesn't go their way.

They're the kind of people who try to Win at roleplaying, they try to dominate everyone else's roleplaying with their own.

I absolutely cannot stand it when roleplays devolve into excessive OOC arguments.

I believe roleplays should just be fun for everyone involved, nobody should try to beat another person at it.

Even if its combat roleplay, both people should be able to get their hits and quips in;

meaning don't try to one-hit-KO another (As in, maybe not try to Impale/lacerate/strangle at the drop of a feather: The most entertaining fights are a nice rhythmic struggles that leave both participants battered and bruised)

If people aren't having fun in an RP, just no point in continuing it.
---------------------------------------

I kinda went offtopic but ehm, hey if it helps: If you want some conflict, just talk bad about Anya Vicki (Flossyberry) or Mino Keikila'Ulani (My char) with the other present, they will both work together to roast the ever living shit out of you.

 

[Graysworn]

@Rogue_Blade
WAOW SPOILERS

Click to shrink...

Not really, it's in his Life Story. But IC, yes, it is a secret. Shhh.....

 

[Gumee]

I have two characters.
One is a character whom I made when I first joined the server. When I wrote his character app, I liked him in theory. However, when I started to rp as him, I soon found that I didn't like how flat of a character he was.
So my second character, whom I am much more fond of, I tried to give a bit more flavor. He has internal demons which he struggles with and his morales dont always line up with the morale values of society. So only characters whom share a sense of altered morales seem to agree with actions. Unfortunately, I agree, there are very few whom embrace that level of imperfection.

What I find most common in the RP that I've engaged in, characters are skewed towards extreme senses of right or wrong. They're either good, law abiding citizens or they're the cliche "dark and mysterious villian who's inherently evil".

 

[_SemS_]

@Gobian
Thank you, that is so true, I didn't mean that every rp interaction has to be a DRAMATIC PSYCHOLOGICAL MIND GAME WITH BITTER DEPRESSING CHARACTERS I'm just saying that it's boring when there are characters who are just perfect and never end up in any at least slightly imperfect situation.

But yeah, if they enjoy it, they can do it

 

[Miss_Confined]

@Gobian
Thank you, that is so true, I didn't mean that every rp interaction has to be a DRAMATIC PSYCHOLOGICAL MIND GAME WITH BITTER DEPRESSING CHARACTERS I'm just saying that it's boring when there are characters who are just perfect and never end up in any at least slightly imperfect situation.

But yeah, if they enjoy it, they can do it

Click to shrink...

Psssht? You never answered my question...? Did you or didn't you? Will you do so next time?

 

[_SemS_]

@Miss_Confined
it's not that I don't like rp'ing with new players, I don't care how experienced you are just that your fun and interesting to rp with

And I'm not that confident to go out of my way to help people design a character and it shouldn't be my responsibility to develops someone character because their character is white bread.

I sound like a massive asshole there but I don't mean it a selfish or nasty way :/

 

[Graysworn]

We're not RPing gods, we're RPing people. Look at Batman, for example: he's able to figure out each member of the Justice League's weaknesses, while having the skill and money to do it, and yet one mention of his parents will give him pause. It doesn't matter how strong or dexterous or intelligent one is, they WILL have some sort of Achilles' Heel.

 

[_SemS_]

@Rogue_Blade
I definitely wasn't referring to your character dude xD, your character has clear flaws and and an interesting character and motivations, its the characters who DON'T have those Achilles heels that I'm referring to

 

[Graysworn]

@Rogue_Blade
I definitely wasn't referring to your character dude xD, your character has clear flaws and and an interesting character and motivations, its the characters who DON'T have those Achilles heels that I'm referring to

Click to shrink...

I figured you didn't mean Arion, but I just wanted to put that out there regardless. Seemed like a good comparison that sums up the point you're trying to make, so I decided "why not?"

 

[MonMarty]

I'm less bothered by the "protagonist syndrome" as of late. Ultimately people roleplay or jump on Massive RP to get away from shit IRL or to have fun, and in most cases people don't want to feel like a mundane cog in a bigger machine but the central wheel. That's absolutely fine, and whatever result it has in roleplay I'm also fine with. The only problem I start having is when those people complain the server doesn't help them feel like protagonists or don't get enough attention compared to other characters. I'm not going to call myself so conceivably anti-fun that I'd get in the way of people roleplaying unless it actually hurt someone.

Everyone is their own protagonist, which is totally fine, as long as everyone respects the fact that being in the spotlights is not a right but a privilege that is earned.

 

[InDogsWeTrust]

Disclaimer

Spoiler

I'm not saying I don't suffer from protagonist syndrome. I totally do. I can be a total attention hog and bend the limits of a character's personality to fit a situation if I have trouble reacting (for whatever reason) as they really would. However, as somebody who plays a character who's been termed something of an anti-sue, it's actually a bit more complex than you might think.

First of all, what makes an a good anti-sue? Firstly, an anti-sue isn't just a rejection of a perfect life in exchange for an orphaned, hard-core assassin, or something else that might be termed edgy. A good anti-sue is well-rounded. They have facets which keep them sustainable as individuals, but also a darker layer, or multiple layers, which help round out their personality.

For the sake of time and readability, I'm going to use a personal example.

Rosathine Crawley Heinrich is a 26 year old Ithanian aristocrat, seemingly without a care in the world. Her material needs are easily serviced, and she appears to have fulfilled Maslow's hierarchy of needs almost perfectly. Well... at least up to love/belonging. But at the same time, she seems to have access to a select (albeit rickety) amount of resources from the top tier of the pyramid. What is keeping her back from an essential part of acting as a functional human in society?

Simple.

The answer is a personality flaw of submissive behavior, leaving her vulnerable to harmful, codependent relationships. She carries a secret which isolates her from her family (find out in-character, or, if you're that curious, here's a link to her application: https://forums.massivecraft.com/threads/rosathine-heinrich.35726/) Her self esteem was repeatedly decimated as a child, and it's haunted her ever since. Suddenly, this sweet, harmless little Barbie doll seems to have a slightly less than charmed life. Forced to contend with a swarm of crippling opposition when she makes a self oriented decision, or makes an immoral choice, her personality seems to lend itself to nice.

In short, a good anti-sue has a rich, layered personality. It's possible for a character to be both nice, and complex. It's possible for a character to be cruel, ruthless, and power-hungry, but simultaneously deeply entrenched in trying to make positive social changes, like Andreiu Anahera.

A good character need not have one, simple Achilles heel, or a single trigger, or a defining weakness. Their debilitation can be subtle, and encompass their entire personality, bleeding into it a bit more insidiously. The way you create a balanced character is your decision. This is just my take on the anti-sue and how having a complex character can help avoid protagonist syndrome.

 

[Medvekoma]

There's been another thread where this issue/observation/opinion was partially dissected / touched a few months ago with differing answers.

Escapism is fine, yet I observed a habit of people either RPing for escapism or drama/story (drama includes both tragedy and comedy). People with the same RP goals stick together, which is also completely fine. Most issues arise when the two 'camps' meet. This is why I picked the habit to just generally try and avoid self-insert roleplayers.

It's not because they are 'bad' at roleplay. It's simply because mary suism and author insertion ruin storytelling (which is the reason they are present on the roleplay rules page). Mary sue characters are resolvers in a story. In fact, the word 'Mary Sue' first appeared in a Star Trek fan fiction where this certain woman acted as the /perfect/ resolver for a story conflict.

And it's fine as long as they have things to resolve. But sooner or later resolvers run out of such. They'll want to resolve anything they find, and magnify problems that are tiny in order to 'resolve' them. Or they turn towards OOC issues to resolve, or simply get bored and abandon the ship. Without conflict of their own they are dependent on others to provide it.

The only problem I start having is when those people complain the server doesn't help them feel like protagonists or don't get enough attention compared to other characters.

Click to shrink...

That's where this part gets into play.

I'd wait for someone to argue a bit for the escapists'/Mary sues' side before I reply more.

 

[Miss_Confined]

@Miss_Confined
it's not that I don't like rp'ing with new players, I don't care how experienced you are just that your fun and interesting to rp with

And I'm not that confident to go out of my way to help people design a character and it shouldn't be my responsibility to develops someone character because their character is white bread.

I sound like a massive asshole there but I don't mean it a selfish or nasty way :/

Click to shrink...

No no.. You don't. I understand completely. I spent 30+ hours on "teaching" someone how to "properly" roleplay once. She was really grateful for it in the end but it appears that she left the server a while ago.
See, I didn't expect you to go out of your way, I just thought that it wouldn't be so difficult to at least direct them to the forums or ask one of your other "more confident" or even possibly "more experienced" if you don't feel very comfortable.

But in the end I know it's a nuisance... It is a pain in the butt. However the rewards of making a new friend and having more balanced characters definitely outweighs the cons.

However this is just my opinion.
Sincerely, Confined