My solution, take with a grain of salt.
Don't give into apathy. Don't play it safe. Stay uncomfortable as much as you possibly can.
I design characters that I can't relate to, and personally feel that the less I truly understand a character and their motives, the more fun they are to play. Writing is about having fun, capturing (or defying) realism, but most importantly, its about exploring the human condition, in all its many facets. Your number one duty from an academic perspective is to follow your consciousness wherever it may lead you, even if that might not necessarily be places you want to go. We all have darkness inside of us. Learning to diminish and control it comes from understanding, not ignorance. Of course, you also have duties to yourself and your others, and all these variables must be weighed equally during character development and RP.
I designed Z-ARK to be an oddity, confusing, annoying, infinitely wise and unimaginably naive. I have no idea what its like to be Z-ARK, I can only guess through metaphor and allegory. But he is relatable to me in very real ways. He is curious, he is non-partisan, he has faith in something more but not blind faith, and most importantly he fundamentally believes that being human is something to aspire to, not hate. Yes, he is a total Data ripoff. But cliches become cliches for a reason.
Felix, on the other hand, I can relate to in more ways but in so many circumstances I find his motivations to be utterly alien to me. Although I believe in a higher power, I am not religious. Felix, however, is fervent in his faith to the point of fanatical. And even though he is a heretic, a conscious choice to help me better understand his motivations and play him well, he does not second guess himself or question his resolve. He has many things I lack that I envy. He is brave, moral, fierce, and flawed. He is also a prisoner in a culture that is fundamentally at odds with his principles, and he is too much of a coward to fight back or reassess his values. This is perhaps the most relatable and alien part of his character, either and both because of the other.
Is boredom a risk? Always. Writing is all about taking risks. Not all of them pan out. Maybe Makkal will come to better appreciate her character in time, maybe she will scrap the concept. I hope, for all our sakes, for the former outcome. But her problem is a very real one and not uncommon in writers' circles. At what point is it appropriate, if ever, to violate the integrity of your character dedication for the sake of fun or personal gain?
There's no right or wrong answer, obviously, but here is what has worked for me. Fuck complacency. Is your character boring you? Write a RP or short story about something extremely important occuring in their life that becomes integral to their storyline. This can be traumatic or miraculous, subtle or grandiose. Whatever it takes to get you back in a place where you feel as if you can do your character the best service possible.
This might be a semantic difference of opinion, but your capacity for writing a well-rounded, human character is always a priority, even over fun. That may seem counter-intuitive or just plain wrong, but here's a thought experiment. You are RPing a character that you love and everyone else despises. And not just their personality, everything about them and the way that you RP them. Is that fun for the community? Is that what is best? How long do you think you'll have fun before everyone just ignores you, or kicks you from the channel?
Here's a particularly relevant example. When I first debuted Z-ARK in Summit, the response was overwhelmingly critical. Many experienced RPers warned me that Z-ARK's uniquely mechanical way of interaction could be intimidating for many people to interact with on a level that was true to their characters. Some people flat out told me he was annoying and that their character would just ignore him. That's okay, I can take the heat.
So I had a choice: scrap Z-ARK completely, or tweak his personality in subtle enough ways to make him both enjoyable to write and enjoyable to interact with. Obviously I'm not quite there yet, but I have a specific flashpoint in mind to make that problem go away for the most part, just waiting for the right time. Whatever that is.
Writing is art. I think we're all in agreement here, so maybe I'm preaching to the choir, but throughout the history of literature it has been relegated to pulp fair and written off as a basic comfort of the proletariat. If you disagree, ask yourself why there are no creative writing programs in most Fine Art colleges.
Even the term "novel", though it has grown to mean something so much more both culturally and artistically, at first meant how it sounds. It was a derogatory term, meant to belittle the art form. Good for some cheap laughs and maybe a nice cry, but otherwise an utterly novel experience. These are the same people who believed the poetic epic was the highest form of writing and could never be supplanted. How many epics do you see getting published these days?
Above all else, hold no fear of change. Stability is a writer's worst enemy. I know the popular opinion is that writers live in abject poverty and are forced to struggle through a society that cares nothing for them, and that is true, but do not mistake that for the only reason.
The best artists have a high probability of being the tortured ones. There are always outliers, but the fact is that poverty and failure lead to a rapidly changing life, from circumstances to wealth to friends to beliefs. It is in this state that some of the best art in the history of the world has been crafted, it is in this chaos that we thrive as prosaic composers.
This is true, both for us, and for our characters. But remember, everything in moderation. Even tears. Especially tears.
Author
Topic: Balancing player desires against character desires (Read 6702 times)