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Author Topic: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?  (Read 4567 times)

Makkal

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Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« on: 18 Jun 2013, 18:37 »

PCs are creations of the player. Within the limits of what EVE offers, you picked a specific group of traits (faction, gender, ideology, personality) and have likely poured hundreds (some thousands) of hours into that PC.

Why that specific one? What is it about your character that appeals to you?

Why ruthless instead of compassionate? Why loyal instead of self-interested? Why Caldari instead of Minmatar? Why a noble instead of a commoner? Why someone who likes hiking, swimming, and gardening instead of someone who lives out of their pod?

Where there any specific themes or interactions you were drawn to?

Addendum: If you're the type to play more than one character or you have a slew of alts, feel free to chime in as well. When you create an alt, what are you looking for? If you have several mains, why do each of them appeal to you?
« Last Edit: 18 Jun 2013, 18:42 by Makkal »
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Nicoletta Mithra

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #1 on: 18 Jun 2013, 19:15 »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUUB96c6EpY

of course, Nico isn't male, but the point still kind of stands.
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Gwen Ikiryo

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #2 on: 18 Jun 2013, 19:17 »

I picked Achura because I like playing characters who are introspective and clear headed, and also because I have a lot of knowledge of eastern faiths like Shinto and Taoism, which they seem to be all about. Write what you know, as they say! I also liked how they look (because I'm shallow and like characters to passingly resemble me if they're something extremely long term). Her physical design was vaguely based off another fictional character as sort of a reference to them, but saying which would probably be kinda a minor spoiler.

I was drawn to the Caldari State as a faction because I like extremely traditional socities that aren't portrayed as being backwards technologically or rooted in exclusively ancient Western cultue, like the Amarr. Also because I like merchantile roleplay, and I figured there'd be more of that about.

I made Gwen the way she personality-wise is because I wanted to challenge the sort of underlying themes of EVE with her worldview without the clash being paticularly loud or violent. I can't remember where on earth I heard this, but what Eve is supposed to be "all about", centrally, is supposedly power - Having it, the struggle to gain more, imposing it on others, etc. Thus, I made Gwen a character that rejects the value of power as a concept, and is even fearful of the idea of posessing it and holding it over people. This idea has led to some pretty interesting results, and thankfully hasn't just led to her being a goody-two-shoes, but rather being messed up and selfish in a way that's subtle but very distinct from a lot of other Capsuleers.

This also influenced my design of her sect of the Achur faith, if anyone at all remembers one of the few times she's rattled on about that ICly.

Additionally, I made her compassionate and kind because I like characters that start off fairly naive, innocent, and overall good people and are changed (either by those attributes being destroyed or reinforced) by the world around them and what happens in roleplay. Why start off playing a ruthless, jaded and extremist individual? The fun is, in my opinion, in the journey, not the destination - Regardless of where it takes you.

Finally, I play a mostly non-combat character because (In addition to the reasons above) I figured I'd be kinda bored and intimidated by the PvP in this game. I'm feeling more adventurous now, though, so that's probably due to change.
« Last Edit: 18 Jun 2013, 19:26 by Gwen Ikiryo »
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Della Monk

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #3 on: 18 Jun 2013, 19:24 »

I'll preface this by saying that one of the most compelling aspects of EVE's lore, at least with regards to roleplaying and what drew me to that, is the premise of the rampant capsuleer. How all the horrible behavior and disregard for the rest of the universe outside their own 'gameplay' that the average, not-roleplaying player exhibits is still accommodated by that premise of human beings stripped of their mortality and given obscene amounts of influence. Power corrupts and all that, though a bit more nuanced.

That is why I'm comfortable playing Della more as an in-universe extension of myself than as a truly independent entity. Exploring the ramifications and impacts of what is at core my personality on and by this universe.
Her lineage was picked out before I consciously decided to do this, but the contemplative spirituality advertised for the Achura by the character creator just matched.
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Esna Pitoojee

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #4 on: 18 Jun 2013, 19:38 »

Esna's creation fell in several distinct steps, each of which corresponds to me falling deeper into the RP community.

For the first... I'm going to say 10-11 months of my EVE experience, I had little to no interaction with the RP community. I don't even think I really new about it until I started poking my head into the IGS and realised that there was actually a significant amount of posting going on in an RP-dedicated subforum. Already a few choices had been made: Esna was Amarr because I wanted to try out using lasers from the start - the idea of a "no ammo" gun appealed to me - and was True Amarr/Wealth Commoners/Imperial Academy because - for you young newbies - back then your starting choices actually dictated what stats and skills (of about 700k starting SP) you received.

Like a lot of new Amarr RPers, I first was drawn into RP by the slavery issue:  when I looked at the IGS - which I'm sure we all know to a perfectly representative slice of every single faction (lol) - it seemed to me that there were a lot of "abuser" kinds of Amarr characters out there. I'm fairly sure that some of the faces I were seeing were people I'd understand today to be political outliers at best, and downright pirates masquerading as Amarr at worst; nonetheless, I felt like most Amarr were okay with things like forced breeding and treating slaves as disposable property to be abused at a whim.

At that point, I understood a second thing: I did not want to go with that fad, because it just seemed silly. People who want to religiously indoctrinate an entire foreign culture may be brutal or unyielding, I thought, but they would not treat their charges as disposable.

So Esna became a liberal, advocating for softer treatment of slaves as a means to better drive their conversion. I had a hard time working out exactly how he'd stand on a lot of issues until I came across another great RPer by the name of Veron Daerth, who I was inspired by (and, I dare say, shamelessly copied in some places).


At this point I was stuck in RP-lite mode. I visited the Summit, OOC, and ironically The Last Gate quite often - the latter being one of the 'hot' RP venues of the day - but I didn't really have much of story to him besides some views on certain hot-button issues. At some point I decided he should be a Holder, because I felt - correctly or incorrectly - like Holders had more of a chance to be "multipurpose characters", equally at home in backroom machinations, diplomatic deals, or business boardrooms as on the field of battle.

I'd say that this might also have been somewhat formative for Esna as well, simply for having a lack of major RP direction: Because I didn't belong to an RP corp (or even an RP faction, really), I hung out with everyone; thus, Esna had to rationalize hanging out with everyone, which lead to him being extremely open about pirate associations. Then I ran into the Ordo people, who in turn introduced me to Amarr Legio Basilica... and it was all in from there. Esna gained a deeper backstory, greater personality, and began lurking in all kinds of RP channels. He's only been growing from there.

Probably his greatest change in character then was gaining an intense hatred of Blooders and all who'd aid them, resulting from a very long-term RP cycle I had with a Blooder character involving lots of vengeance being taken on both sides. Esna grew to hate them not because they hurt him physically, but because they brought him dangerously close to infecting him with their own bloodlust.


Fun fact of RP history: Esna was at one time heavily hinted to have a home somewhere on the Amarr-Minmatar border in the Bleak Lands. I decided to retcon that because I realized the danger it'd pose to "railroading" his response and greater storyline if war ever did come (it'd only been hinted at for... oh, about 3 years). I am in retrospect very glad I did that; Esna has become a much more interesting character, in my opinion, than if he'd had to turn into a furious GRR ARGH MATARI ATTACK MY HOMEWORLD type after Empyrean Age.
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I like the implications of Gallentians being punched in the face by walking up to a Minmatar as they so freely use another person's culture as a fad.

Gesakaarin

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #5 on: 18 Jun 2013, 19:52 »

I wanted the challenge in portraying a ruthless and pragmatic Deteis Executive while exploring the complexities of Caldari concepts of duty, loyalty, obligation, culture, honour and tradition while at all times seeing how they can be bent in order advantage themselves and the people they work with.
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Karmilla Strife

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #6 on: 18 Jun 2013, 20:05 »

I created Karm because I wanted to try RP and had never played Amarr. I found PIE and over years Karmilla became complex and very fun to play. Sometimes I play other characters or step back from RP, but I always come back to this one.
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Katrina Oniseki

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #7 on: 18 Jun 2013, 20:20 »

I was Caldari to start with, because I thought they looked cool on character select. Didn't really put a whole lot of thought into it. I joined I-RED because John seemed to offer exactly what I was looking for in PvP and RP training without piracy.

Most of my IC decisions tend to be OOC ones, with Katrina being a mere extension of myself. Most people give me all this credit for playing a really believable character, but tbh... I cheated. I'd give more credit to Silas or Rodj.
« Last Edit: 18 Jun 2013, 20:25 by Katrina Oniseki »
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Creep

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #8 on: 18 Jun 2013, 21:24 »

Because being a complete and utter bastard OOC is far more fun with RP flavor, dialogue and rationalization.
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Avio Yaken

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #9 on: 18 Jun 2013, 21:24 »

Foley Jones is actually what most people would call a "Alt ego"  to me

Why caldari? kinda the same reason kat said

i was originally Kane mercer in the 1st build of DUST (before the character wipe in the "E3" build THEN i became Foley Jones) , i choicen caldari because once i knew this was a FPS with a spec system i knew exactly what i wanted

Assualt rifles, Assualt Suits, Assualt salt, Assualt vehicles, Assualt pancakes

and at the time there were only 4 different suits
Gall scout
Amarr Heavy
Minmatar  logistic
and Caldari Assualt
so i went & sided with caldari hoping i got bonus points or something (HERP A DERP)
& today still even with every race having a Assualt Suit i still stay loyal with the classic caldari suit

never thought i end up joining the EVE RP community so.....im happy to be here still!
another thing i like to say is that i gave Foley "amnesia" so it can be a excuse to ask PF questions on the fly because honestly i dont know much about EVE lore
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Ghost Hunter

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #10 on: 18 Jun 2013, 21:58 »

Ghost evolved from a self-insert, boyish fantasy into a product of intentional design and purpose as I played EVE.

My move into making him Sansha originated from how much I aesthetically enjoyed the faction. As I explored their backstory, I also came to adore their design and message. Unlike their contemporary of the time, the Borg, I felt the Sansha had a great deal more depth and potential to them. I was very curious how the dynamic of Sansha Kuvakei would play in their hive mind. The Borg already answered the question of what 'one collective will' can do. What would a collective will + another do? So on, so forth. When I made the move to play EVE as a full time roleplayer, I redesigned Ghost from an insert into something that would 'fit' the Sansha.

He's done supremely well in this role, even though 90% of his backstory remains unpublished.
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Ghost > So yes, she was Ghost's husband-
Ashar > So Ghost was a gay Caldari and she went through tranny surgery
Ghost > Wait what?
Ashar > Ghosts husband.
Ghost > No she was - Oh god damnit.

He ate all of them
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Gottii

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #11 on: 18 Jun 2013, 22:05 »

.........Wait, sansha aren't borg???? 
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hellgremlin

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #12 on: 18 Jun 2013, 23:13 »

To be honest... I don't play a character. Istvaan is me. I think the first few years certainly were playing a character, trying different things my own character wouldn't want to attempt, like socializing with bunches of people, but I just fell back on the default: me. Istvaan is criminal scum, I am criminal scum. Istvaan is self-preservational, so am I. Introvert:introvert. Istvaan is selfish; as am I. I even modeled Istvaan's face after my own - there can be no greater height of egomania. The face is hardly important - both Istvaan and I wear masks with ease, and lie with nary a twitch of the crow's foot while smiling. Both Istvaan and I fuck supermodels and sniff powders from their bosoms. Both Istvaan and I succeed at everything they put their mind to, yet are plagued by an ever-present Other that colours their thoughts, and masquerades its inserted suggestions as the thoughts of its originator. Both of us suffer from the Jovian disease. Both of us are trusted whenever we want to be, even though we never should be, ever. Both of us are completely, utterly without anything the rest of you would call morals. We have our own morals, but they work differently from yours, and you'd find yourself filled with distaste if I ever fully explained them, because to both of us, you're just one of billions. Disposable. There's about three, maybe four people on this planet I wouldn't kill for a Twix.

Most of all, Istvaan and I have figured out something in common. Everything we strive toward is meaningless, even though we can achieve everything. Every asset we earn means nothing, even though by the sum of the average, we're rich. Every person we meet is just a self-interested adversary, nothing more - they can be counted on to be selfish, just as reliably as you can, and they can be counted on to keep being selfish long after you've stopped, however predictable that makes them.

Of course, the only reason we've stopped... and that is to say, stopped caring about most things, in this world or the world of our fictional counterpart, whichever that may be... is that we both see the same conclusion to this story. We've predicted the end, because we've seen the plot elements that lead up to the end. We can't see anything but the end. We've always been able to perceive patterns and consequences, and make extremely lucky guesses as to how events would unfold.

Istvaan Shogaatsu firmly believes he will witness the end of his world.

The player behind him... is concerned about the developments of the previous three decades.

edit: correction - "I wouldn't kill for a Twix." - The candy I meant to refer to was a Klondike Bar.
« Last Edit: 19 Jun 2013, 01:30 by hellgremlin »
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Sakura Nihil

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #13 on: 18 Jun 2013, 23:26 »

I didn't create Sak with anything specific in mind.  I was torn between Gallente and Civire at the start, but went for Civire due to the whole "militaristic" description in their bio.  Also, you know, I didn't want her to be space French~.  The male Civire looked like roid ragers, whereas the female Civire looked fairly nice while still possessing a militaristic stance to them.  Hence, Sak's background as a female Civire.

Her personality was not "created" by me, it's the natural extension of 8 years in-game.  I am not Sak, nor is she myself.  When she first started doing RP, she was actually quite reserved and polite, with a lot of freespace ideology driving her as to "why" she fought people.  Over time, the world's just naturally corrupted her point of view, making her far more crass and arrogant, but understandably considering she's killed hundreds of thousands of people in her life (that's not an RP handwave, those are actual player ships with their crews).  So, she doesn't quite care what someone's background is or how they're perceived, unless they can back up their words in space.  She also detests titles unless they're earned, especially ones like the FW ranks.

As for what I like about Sak, she's in many ways the kind of woman that I like in real life, in that she's intelligent, doesn't take bullshit, and is capable of protecting herself.  Her ability to strategize and make an educated guess about the future is probably another trait I really admire, there are too many people that focus on the present and lack imagination for my liking IRL.  There's also a softer side to her that's often overlooked that I think can be quite endearing as well, but most people won't get to see it, especially if they typecast her as some nullsec pirate bitch, or something along those lines.

There's also her four sisters...  I feel a bit bad, in that I don't have enough time in real life to devote to them to flesh out their stories, their experiences.  In many ways, they're unfortunately riding the coattails of their eldest sister, bouncing from one thing in life to another, trying to find purpose but inevitably being compared to someone else.  In that respect, I think they resemble a lot of sibling relationships, especially where one member of the family is very successful, and the rest are working retail or fast-food or the like, just trying to get by in life.

With them, though, they're still discovering what they want to do with their life.  Ereka's probably the most far down the road, I think, mostly due to her hatred for Heth and what he represents about the Caldari people, making them all look like a bunch of racist, genocidal idiots.  She's always had a bit of a crush, for lack of better word, on the Fed, and has flirted with the Fed militia in the past.  However, I think what it comes down to is the four need more interaction with others to really develop their personalities, their motivations, etc., and that can only come about with time and things like friendships.

PS: I'm really, really exhausted atm, sleep time.
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Sakura Nihil

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Re: Why Do You Play the Character You Play?
« Reply #14 on: 18 Jun 2013, 23:28 »

Also, note to self - do not invite Istavaan to east coast barbeques.  He will steal your stuff.
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