Backstage - OOC Forums
EVE-Online RP Discussion and Resources => EVE Character Development => Topic started by: Anabella Rella on 15 Oct 2013, 14:06
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Hello everyone.
I debated for quite a while about just how to write this but, don't seem to be able to come up with the "perfect" post so, I guess I'll just jump right in and attempt to make something approaching a coherent thought or two. I'm in a bit of a dilemma on two fronts and am looking for advice.
Basically I've been playing Eve with an RP character in an RP corp and alliance since early 2008. During that time I've tried to develop Ana as something other than the standard Matari "my parents/loved ones were disappeared/killed/enslaved by the evil Amarr so I took to the stars for revenge" caricature. I like to think that she's got a bit of depth to her with her issues of trying to learn and adopt Minmatar culture (as someone who was raised in the Federation). She's always been played as a bit of an outsider and somewhat of a loner who's passionate, a bit hotheaded at times, fiercely loyal to those she cares about and a strong independent woman. My first dilemma is that I'm not sure what I should do or go with her next. I've kind of run out of ideas and enthusiasm (mainly due to getting a bit burned out on Eve and the whole fallout from CCP's silly Colelie arc). I had a bit of fun with Ana's angst and divided loyalties between her old and new homes but, since nothing's been done with that storyline and it sort of degenerated into Minmatar bashing, it quickly stopped being entertaining.
Ok, second (and maybe third) dilemma: You may know Ana from her IGS posts but, I'm wondering if maybe I haven't made her a little too harsh/angry/hotheaded so that no one likes interacting with her IC? I don't think so but, I'm not certain as people don't tend to engage with her. What do people think of her? Is she liked, disliked, no opinion of her? Does she come across as too abrasive or annoying so that people steer clear? Again, I don't feel that I play her this way but, I'd really like some feedback please.
I haven't RPed with many people outside Gradient/EM over the years and find myself wanting to expand a bit, to get to know a larger circle of folks (and of course for them get to know Ana and me) but, don't seem to be making much progress. I've generally avoided the Summit until recently because in the past when I lurked there the conversations seemed to be a lot of unsatisfying arguing and rehashing of the same old grievances. As a result Ana may be a bit of an unknown quantity even though she's been around nearly six years with a fairly extensive background and IGS posting history. Me as a player am also likely an unknown as I haven't participated in any OOC channels/groups until very recently (I didn't know they existed, tbh). I'm not a real gregarious type so, I tend not to jump into IC or OOC chats as many times they're on topics/events that I'm not familiar with or, I feel it would be rude to insinuate myself into what seem to be semi-private conversations. I also don't like interrupting to ask who/what/where some comment is referencing as again, I feel it's rude and distracting.
Executive summary; I'm having two issues:
a.) Stuck and feeling uninspired for RP direction with Ana and looking for advice.
b.) Wondering what I can do to get more actively involved with the wider community IC and OOC?
I'm trying to follow the advice of a good friend in game and to get out there more (which I agree is the ultimate answer) but, I'd really appreciate whatever advice you all can offer. Looking forward to your input and thanks for reading this mini wall of text!
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a.) Stuck and feeling uninspired for RP direction with Ana and looking for advice.
a1.) Well there's that protest about the Matari guy going on today (I think) who got arrested by the Black Eagles after killing three in self-defense. Stuff like that could help. Maybe make Ana a bit more vocal/active in Minmatar rights and such? There's opportunity everywhere, just gotta look for it. Don't let what Ana is now prevent you from exploring what she could be (even if it isn't 100% in jive with her motivating factors, people change).
b.) Wondering what I can do to get more actively involved with the wider community IC and OOC?
b1.) Damn the torpedos and thinking you shouldn't comment. Comment all day, erryday. You can't get involved if you don't, you know, involve yourself. Jump in head first.
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Before I say anything else, I'd like to state that my methods are my own, and I understand they may not work for everybody.
Personally, I've been where you are before. I had a serious issue with portraying Katrina because I was getting burned and burnt-out on playing a Liberal Caldari. Granted, recent CCP efforts in the events and lore front have made it so we're not seen as bad as we were before, but most of my solution came with changes to my character.
You can read my thread (http://backstage.eve-inspiracy.com/index.php?topic=3289.0) to see how I tackled the initial problem and what the results were. The short story is that I solved Kat's thin-skin by adding more. I gave her a bit of gruff and bite, and threw in some snark for extra flavor. This is similar, but the opposite, of what you could be doing. In my opinion, if playing your character isn't fun, perhaps it's time for some divine intervention (from the player) to catalyze some personality changes? Make them rougher, or softer. Make them happier, or angrier. Make them what they need to be to balance out aspects of their personality that are becoming a burden.
From what I've seen of Ana IC, and from what Kat has seen, she's quite normal by any standard already. Her 'hot-button' is Colelie lately, and she's not shy of expressing her distaste for the topic, but that doesn't mean she's off her friggin' rocker. On the contrary, Kat has seen that Ana seems quite well adjusted. Both IC and OOC, I think Ana's only real problem is that she's stuck in the same circle of news and friends. There isn't anything else going on around her except "The War".
So, rather than changing her personality as I did, you might consider following your instinct as you've hinted at already. Change her environment. Start spending time with a faction that she hasn't spent time with before. Obviously it can't be the Amarr, but Gallente and Caldari might be an option, or a possibly unaffiliated faction like Mordu or Intaki Syndicate. Find some roleplayers and characters who Ana can get along with and work with them more often.
I could volunteer Katrina in her 'neutral' state, if you are willing to expose her to Caldari more often. Outside the office, Kat is just a woman. She's not a big bad Vice-Admiral and Ishukone Representative. She's just some Deteis who likes good food and cold weather. I think, non-politically, there would be room for Ana to experience a multi-cultural friendship that she normally doesn't.
I don't know what most of your RP is spent doing - but the basic idea is that you ought to try something new. Try someone new. New friends and new enemies. New activities and goals. Hook up with Steffanie and work with her on the orphanage thing. Or put together a bar-hopping crowd and crash a new joint every evening together.
You'll see that if you step outside your typical flow of things, you may be surprised what you'll find. The most important thing of all though for Ana, in my opinion, is that you have to be willing to stifle her political habits a little. The more you over-justify not hanging out with someone of a particular faction because of politics, the more you will put yourself in this exact dilemma. If someone is an obvious bad fit for obvious reasons, by all means stay true to her character and keep away. But you ought to consider offering a decent chance to those only incidentally or indirectly related to some Minmatar-harming part of EVE lore. Not all Caldari/Amarr/Gallente/etc are out to hurt the Minmatar people - but almost ALL of them can somehow be linked to harming the Minmatar people. You just need to differentiate for Ana who is who.
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Confirming Kat is a fun Caldari to hang out with. Stitcher and Jude are also interesting to talk to.
Morwen and Reppy are excellent choices if Ana is able to mentally block a little bit of light-hearted slavery >_> In fact, considering backgrounds, it's possible Ana and Morwen might really hit it off.
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They all end up like that :P
More seriously I can't really help for a) other than what has already been said. I guess there is also a lot of a personal path to follow, something that will be very specific and unique to every player, and you eventually will have to find the answer yourself. And no, it might sound very Zen said like that - follow thy path, and thou shall find the wayyyyy - but that's true... But anyway, go visit some channels and attend to various events/parties when possible and fitting to the character. You usually meet a lot of people in parties. Or ask Aldy for a dance, I hear he is a gentleman.
So, Ana works as a character and I don't see what I could say on the matter other than continue the good work.
Well I could offer to get Lyn back to inflammable potshots with Ana but there is a reason why those have mostly stopped. She has changed, left the war, and does not see Ana the same way. Maybe because Ana may have changed too, she already seems more composed than she was a few years back. The only thing I can offer considering that history of bad blood is OOC support, but considering that resentment directed at specific individuals is something rather alien to Lyn, she is rather fine going along very well with anyone that is not going directly against what she believes in... Even old enemies. Best example is her relationship with Ava, not always sunny cause Ava is another hothead like Ana, but Lyn secretly admires her strength and overt kindness, with feelings oscillating between admiration and "love" (or something, maybe she is looking for an older sister she didnt have lolwut). So yes, all in all, Lyn never really had a lot of love for the Minmatar cause, but that's more of some parts of it, like with all factions. Actually I think she is rather relaxed at going along nicely with anyone outside of the IGS. Oh well, she always has her fickle IGS annoyance at any time, maybe in the past it was Ana for a while, now it's mostly Stitcher... It varies. But she doesn't like PIE also ! That's some common ground, oh well that could be fun... Or lead to drama.
Not sure where I am going with all this incoherent ramblings... I don't play much. :/
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I love interacting with Ana IC, and wish I had more opportunity to do so. Samira is rather scared of her.
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Sort of stream of consciousness, so I'll be just talking at first about my initial impressions of Ana. This isn't a riff on the player or anything, just my initial impressions, ideas, and suggestions.
It seems like Anabella has an anger issue, but seems to reserve it especially against the Amarr. Which, as a defining characteristic, is something I like to call the CAPSLOCK paradox. It's taking something UAD from the lore of a certain people and making it louder and more important. The problem with the paradox is that by making the letters bigger, it sort of makes it more important without making the substance any different. Therefore, Anabella is doing the Matari thing exactly as we'd expect a Matari thing to be, just moreso. Which is probably giving you the problem that, on the one hand, it makes her "Matari" the person and thus subject to every racist comment from a member of the IGS, but also doesn't give you a lot of fuel because she doesn't stand out enough by manner.
There probably is a lot more going on behind the curtains for her, but it doesn't come off that way because the IGS is extremely heavily weighted towards the PVP community. That means our characters' races and cultures get pretty immediately slotted into a set of easily-defined categories. In other words, the CAPSLOCK paradox Bella seems to have isn't necessarily your fault. It's just happening because as complex as her control panel might be, all you've ever had much cause to hit has been the red button that comments on certain subjects. It's Hell trying to get the IGS onto another subject and keep it there so that we can process some character development.
I've been trying to engage Bella on a more human level so that she has a bit more room to breathe, since it's obvious you're really trying to push another dimension in on her. It's just fairly difficult, especially considering Constantin's race is going to be constantly getting in the way. That might be why there's a fairly noticeable RP burnout I've seen so far. It just gets so calcified that people literally have nowhere to go. When they try to go somewhere new, they start dragging baggage.
So, that said, if you want to give her another angle, I would step completely out of that factional mindset. I don't think Bella is going to be able to showcase any other sides if everything she is ever involved with is going to rotate around her faction and trying to branch out. You've basically got two options:
1: Additive. Add a quirk to her personality that breaks up the monotony. Give her a reason why she dislikes the certain things she dislikes more than just because she has to. Give her reasons and then look for breaks in that armor that allows her to treat individuals on more of a case-by-case basis. That will give Anabella a reason to interact more flexibly with other characters she might not have interacted with before. It will also, probably more helpfully, let her interact more idiosyncratically with people she already interacts with. The problem will be working that angle in, as the IGS isn't exactly a good place for people to see a lot of angles. It's worth a shot though.
2. Subtractive. Have a major event that causes Anabella to rethink her life. That's a way to sort of roll back certain things you think might be pigeonholing your character. If you think the problem is that the direction you're going is just too far from where you want to be, you can always introduce a plot element that causes Bella to alter course and affect her worldview. This is a little harder to do convincingly and takes a while to do organically, since as most people know it's very difficult to change your mindset in real life, let alone when you're essentially an immortal god-being who doesn't necessarily have to worry about personal danger. It's also a more drastic option, but it might be the only way forward with the character. It'll at least get people talking if you pick something worth commenting on.
Either of these two options or a combination of both can get you back on track. Your goal is to make Bella stand out not as a character that you can sort of summarize in a few words, but someone that stands out from everything she's a part of. If she's just a particularly loud part of the background noise at IGS, you'll probably find personal interaction with her difficult. To make her stand out, though, you have to be working towards making Bella very human and very understandable in real terms. That way, we don't just see her as a fan wearing the team colors, but as a person with legitimate gripes, beliefs, and rationality.
If you need me to, I can probably write a post to give you a canvas, though she doesn't seem to be fond of any Amarr, including Constantin. Still, if I can help, let me know.
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Confirming Kat is a fun Caldari to hang out with. Stitcher and Jude are also interesting to talk to.
Morwen and Reppy are excellent choices if Ana is able to mentally block a little bit of light-hearted slavery >_> In fact, considering backgrounds, it's possible Ana and Morwen might really hit it off.
I was actually going to post to say that I'm going to need one or two people from EM to help me wrap up some stuff that's been kinda in the works for over a year but got held up a couple times - first when Matariki and Ulf took an extended break from EVE, and then when it got brought up again I got told to get in contact with Ston Momaki's alt. Grab Ava and we might be able to get it going.
And yes, we did host a Kalalalalala at the Tyrathlion estates for several months without incident. By all reports from the Fishtiri, she thoroughly enjoyed herself. :P
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With regards to point one: I frankly sympathize with your issues regarding ideas and enthusiasm; I've struck this rock in the past, though fortunately I had a small circle of friends who I could continue to RP with in 'lighter' RP until I got my hunger for srsbzns RP up again. I don't know if Ana has some similar group, but just looking at them for RP for a while might not be a bad idea; it might also give you the grounds to work at some fundamental change to her concepts as others have been suggesting.
Regarding point two - whether she seems harsh/angry/hotheaded - this is a complex answer.
Esna spoke to Anabella along time ago at The Last Gate on calm (if not neccessarily warm) terms, so on the one hand he knows from past interaction that she isn't always grr argh die amarr grr and seemed willing to accept a mutual peace between the Empire and Republic. I don't know if you remember that all, as it was well over a year, maybe two years ago, but Esna knows IC that there was more to her than that single confrontational dynamic.
Lately, however, it has been difficult to see her as anything but ultra-confrontational IC. This is quite possibly a figment of how the IGS encourages straight-up arguments instead of discussions, but looking at her recent posts she comes across as a lot more all-out aggressive - denying that the Empire ever engaged in negotiations with the Republic, denying that the Elder Invasion broke a standing peace, seeming to attack even peaceful practice of the Amarr faith, etc.
It doesn't make her seem particularly "evil", "contrived" or anything like that, so much as it makes it... well, IC it seems kind of pointless to try to talk to her. I'm certainly not attacking you here - I rather like a character willing to rationalize their aggression for other reasons than "slavers did X" - but at the same time if the result of any communication, even peaceful outreach, can be expected to be met with the same pallet of hostility and anger... well, it just doesn't seem worth it to try IC?
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Steff-p likes Ana as does Steff-c, though Steff-c isn't sure how to approach her...mind you, Steff doesn't really know how to approach people in the first place. Most of her interactions have been started by another character. That said, she has slowly started getting more outgoing...not sure if it is a combination of getting used to the environment, or just some of the things that have gone on with her.
As to what to do? I ran into that problem with Steff, trying to come up with some sort of idea as to where to go since up till the whole orphanage thing, I was reacting to other people and touching the fringe of other people's stories. The whole orphanage thing wasn't even that really thought-out. I posted something, made a couple little plans and was going to leave it at that...then people started to react to what I did and now I'm trying to figure out how best to get this sorted out and 'finalized'. Also, there's the masquerade event...I've always been partial to doing something thematic around Halloween and thought a ball would be cool...I probably should have been planning it much earlier etc as now I'm rushing to get information thrown together and feeling like I'm running around in circles...which oddly enough I'm enjoying.
Speaking of which, if you can, come to the masquerade, wear a mask (I know, technically speaking, we'll know who everyone is, but it's fun to pretend :D) and have a little bit of fun...put the politics and other stuff aside for one night, hang out with (hopefully) a bunch of people and party.
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Join that new STORMCROW merc corp! Disillusioned pilots from all walks of life would likely be perfect members.
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Stormcrows is fun :D
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I would be loathe to lose one of S's favorite and reliable IGS antagonists.
A. turning over a new leaf or going in a new direction would certainly be interesting though.
You really wanna freak people out embrace the faith of the Empire.
Maybe retreat to a monastery for 6 months and return converted to the Amarr faith and really freak people out :P
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Or grab a camera, duct tape it to an autocannon and become a scope journalist \o/
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Ana is very different in person than she is on the IGS.
That's about all Ari knows about her. As a sort of weird outsider looking in on every group (including Imperial Amarr) I can see why you'd have issues finding a *reason* to do anything else.
The thing that it seems a lot of people have been missing since this summer are proper catalysts for their characters to move in another direction.
As a bit if a trope I'm sure, most of us revert to alcohol IC ;) Because a bunch of drunk capsuleers who would normally be shooting each other in space sitting in the same room playing 'keep-away' with a hat or a booze bottle or something is something I've noticed RPing with people here that tends to crack the "IGS" shell of characters to show their humanity, as opposed to their murderous capsuleer raginess, and forms up odd friendships and associations.
Since I'm not in FW, the PvP angle of it doesn't hit me though, so I can see that there'd be issues, say, with Ana making friends with a Caldari or Amarr FW pilot who the next day she may be shooting up. Flying 'independent capsuleer' calms the waters for nonviolent IC interactions, but well, then you lose the violent ones.
I'll be honest, I don't envy any FW rper. half the world is locked away to you. :(
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Anabella is one of Ava's best friends, and on both toons, I have always thoroughly enjoyed my interaction with her. I can understand the "painted in a corner" mindset: if you remember, I went through the same thing a while ago on Ava. That I had no one to talk to, because I wouldnt talk to enemies, and I had no friends to RP with, so Ava was just in limbo. It sucks.
It also looks to me like you are in little danger of that; lots of people here giving awesome advice and ideas if you wanna make any tweaks! Though, from the responses here, and in my opinion, she's pretty awesome as is; back off a bit on the "grr" with people in other factions if you want a few more RP opportunities (Pieter, Jude, Steff, Morwen, and co are all great peeps, and all compatible with Ava, in an example) or just keep on as you are!
Ava
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Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to reply so far. There's a lot of very solid advice here and a lot for me to consider. Your thoughts are very much appreciated and I'm going to take some time to work out how I want to proceed. In the meantime I'll be working to step more outside of my RP comfort zone, to have Ana behave in a slightly less knee-jerk way and to be more engaged with people. I'm glad to know that people are overall ok with Ana both IC and OOC. I didn't think I'd made her into a jerk but, it's always good to check your assumptions.
Please feel free to add any other ideas or observations you may have.
P.S. please let me know if Ana in her current "midlife crisis" phase while I'm working things out gets annoying. I promise to keep the angst down to a very dull roar, though! ;)
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Come home (to the Federation), Anabella. We could always do with a few good... Minmatar expatriots who don't really like us that much. :bash:
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^What he said. I literally have 22 Thrashers and 16 Talwars fitted for you : DDDDD
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^What he said. I literally have 22 Thrashers and 16 Talwars fitted for you : DDDDD
She can't even join The Scope though.
Damned Gallentean employer racism.
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^What he said. I literally have 22 Thrashers and 16 Talwars fitted for you : DDDDD
She can't even join The Scope though.
Damned Gallentean employer racism.
Anslo does not care about such silly things as game mechanics. He was trying to get me to join last night.
Okay, in all seriousness Ana - sounds good to me. I'll see if I can get Esna to approach her less confrontationally as well, since their last discussions were so interesting.
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What Esna said. We have multiple corps roaming with us. Honestly, it's a really great way to vent steam, let loose, and have fun.
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Like a good shitposter, I am going to ignore all other posts after the OP.
Seems to me you've been stuck in one corner of the playground for five years doing the same shit over and over. Time to branch out, look for something new and exciting to do. I'm not saying fuck everything and go pirate ( piracy is dead™) but search for new refreshing view points and playstyles. This might mean leaving your current corp or alternatively trying to convince them to try something completely new and different from their usual routine. Which in EVE is about as easy and pleasant as trying masturbate with sandpaper.
You might encounter the roleplayers dilemma in searching for new and fun to do "But my RP!" Well, fuck your RP. Bend it to suit your OOC needs, surprisingly easy to do as well. You do not necessarily have to go full on turncoat to try something different.
As for being a firebrand, yeah it's something that's come to be a bit defining characteristic of Ana. Sometimes it's good to mellow out and find common ground even with people you are diametrically opposed to. However, it doesn't have to devolve into the useless cuddleslsut snugglefest that The Summit quite often is. I think interacting with Ana was quite fun at Steff's Masquerade. What was made more of an impact was things left unsaid than said when Vincent and Anabella were standing no more than three feet apart while people were talking about slaves and Havo's experiment.
Sometimes it's also nice to have a civilized conversation to see the motives behind the smile of an adversary. So if you want to do some of that, Vince is available for Adversary duties. Anyhow, now I'm rambling on.
PS. Join Stormcrows. We need more good guys to balance out the bastards... well, currently, me :yar:
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Update
Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. I've read and re-read your posts and wanted to let you know how things are going and what direction I decided to go with Ana.
I've climbed out of my Eve malaise somewhat by doing some new things, associating with new people and (trying) to dial down Ana's level of passion on certain things. I know that all one thing all the time is boring and I really don't want Ana defined by being an argumentative loudmouth. She'll still have her strong opinions and she's not suddenly going to become an Amarrian religious zealot but, she will be less thorny overall.
I'm looking forward to many more years of RP with you all as I attempt to craft Ana's personality and develop her as a believable and fun to interact with character. Thanks again for the great advice.
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\o/
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Ana, if you want some out of faction rp could you look me up OOC? Luna has a mini rp arc I need help from minnie rp'ers with that I am hoping to put into motion. I've already talked to one person from Gradient OOC who is interested. - Luna