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Author Topic: [Character/Concept] Shiroh Yatamii and Roleplaying Non-Roleplayers  (Read 1244 times)

Streya

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Hello everyone. I have a new character that I've been playing on recently, and I'd like to hear you thoughts! This entire post is written from the OOC point of view.

Character




Name: Shiroh Yatamii
Age: 34
Physical Description: Dark-haired Deteis with thin frame. Pale skin and a complete lack of scarring or freckles indicates a life free of physical toil or exposure to much sunlight.

Background: Pre-adult life left intentionally unstated/vague for further development. As an adult, Shiroh was an Ishukone research scientist specializing in biochemistry and cybernetics. He became aware of his genetic compatibility with the pod after analyzing his own DNA as a pet project on the side, but didn't yet act on this information. He later had a falling out with Ishukone due to a disagreement regarding ethics, and upon completing his last proejct he gave in his resignation. Using his savings of corporate scrip, he enrolled in SAK's capsuleer program.

Concept

Roleplaying a non-roleplayer. The majority of EVE's players are not roleplayers, and so engage in activities from a "just a game" mindset. Suicide ganks, casually sparring with each other with nuclear weapons. That sort of thing. When I was intitially playing on Rek, I was not a roleplayer and so engaged in those activities myself. I interacted with the larger playerbase and found that this was the norm. So when I started getting into roleplay I noticed most characters had a conscience and wouldn't do things like that: they were different than the larger playerbase. As I attempted to become an immersionist my feeling of immersion actually decreased. In a universe where Iterons are ganked by Tornadoes in trade hub systems "for the lulz and iskehs", a capsuleer who thinks of each and every crewmember and decants from the pod to have dinner with them is definitely NOT the norm (as seen in the chron "Hands of a Killer", some capsuleers don't even bother to notify next of kin!).

So now I play Shiroh, and with Shiroh I intend to roleplay the "average" capsuleer. Shiroh already uses the slang of the larger EVE community, much as a newbie player begins to embrace the slang of the community during their first few months. The way in which Shiroh begins to accept the crazy capsuleer culture is intended to be whimsical, however. He misconstrues much of capsuleer behavior, much as a wizard from the Harry Potter universe misunderstands Muggle culture (props to Saede for that analogy). For example, he suspects that "lulz" are an underground currency used among gankers, which would provide a semi-rational explanation for the phrase "for the lulz". He also believes the Rush-Ins (Russians) to be a Mafia-like segment of the capsuleer population. In short I use Shiroh to target paint the fourth wall and playfully handwave what we see happening among non-roleplayers.

Thoughts?

Edit: decreased pretentiousness by approximately 10%, reworded some things, improved punctuation.
« Last Edit: 31 Aug 2012, 11:13 by Rek Jaiga »
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Gesakaarin

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I think it's a very interesting concept, the beauty of Eve I've found that it's very easy to plausibly rationalize what might be considered, "OOC" back into "IC" through a variety of methods simply by seeing the actual game through the perspective of the character. The only thing I might add from my own experiences playing a cold-hearted capsuleer and killer is that I think there needs to exist some way to connect with the character, because when they go full sociopath it can be difficult to maintain the facade at times.

I think there needs to be a balance in the ways they're "Normal" human beings and also, "Abnormal" capsuleers. Or perhaps another way, it's not Roleplayers and Non-Roleplayers I think, but rather some people who struggle to maintain some semblance of their former lives before being a capsuleer and others who could care less and explore everything that being a capsuleer offers them - for the lulz.
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Myyona

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This is a very interesting approach. I like it.
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EVE Online Lorebook at eve-inspiracy.com

Streya

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So as I play Shiroh more I find myself gravitating back to somewhat serious roleplay. I still want to keep some aspects of my original concept rolling, however. I'm thinking maybe Shiroh will become more serious and approachable as a roleplay character (read: the community will actually want to interact with Shiroh), but will still be amusing by way of speaking in odd memes and cryptic language in the same style as Gosakumori Noh (if any of you remember her from the IGS). Thoughts?
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