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[Saede Riordan]

I'll echo the sentiments who have said OOC fun trumps character desires. More to the point, if you wouldn't have any fun doing something, why would you roleplay it? For an extreme example of this, if you think bestiality is creepy and disturbing (I hope you do), then it makes no sense for you to make your character do that. Why would you play a character that does things you as a player dislikes?

You may want to be careful with that train of thought, because it suggests that players enjoy murder, blood rituals, racism, enslavement of 'inferior' cultures, kidnapping, torture, and probably lots of horrific things that characters in the EVE universe do. I am fairly certain that players do enjoy getting into character and exploring other personalities than their own. I think some of the thrill in this is acting out in manner that the player wouldn't consider ever doing in the real world.

Plenty of people watch horror movies without having any desire to be a murderer or a murderee. Its all fantasy at the end of the day. Some people enjoy stories with those things, some don't. But RPing something you don't enjoy...thats like reading a book you don't like for the sake of the characters in the book. It seems kind of backward to me.

[Safai]

What Mercy said. It's entirely possible a dislikable element loans itself to a fuller character that one does enjoy playing. To play an Amarrian hardliner, for example. Understandably if an aspect of your character is rather ugly you don't have to go into great detail with it, but some things should remain so the broader picture has context, no?

Still, I come across this balancing act often. I've got a healthy respect for players who are able to maintain a strong IC presence without showing any, let alone a lot, of OOC personality. Off the top of my head, players such as Rodj or John or Crow, even Mitara's snooty (but realistic so!) attitude in the Summit, and I'll admit to taking a bit of inspiration from such. I wonder how much of a balancing act they do?

But I am not my character, and I damn sure don't let my character lead in front so-to-speak, so I still find myself doing a bit of give and take here. Strive for an entirely pure character presence, but making concessions so you don't stop enjoying the game makes perfect sense too.

[Jev North]

Rather, yes; I think that's an element most people understand, but don't express very precisely. You don't have to personally enjoy the things your character does, you just have to enjoy acting out your character doing them. (Lest by logical extension, your characters spend all day playing space MMORPGs. EVEception.)

[Safai]

Yeah, well put!

[Katrina Oniseki]

I generally let my character lead, until it starts to threaten the OOC RP.

For example, let's take a private relationship RP. Her significant other does something that upsets Katrina. I allow Kat to get upset and RP it accordingly. Due to continued organic RP, the situation begins to escalate just like in real life, turning into a fight with hurt feelings. If this were real life, the two would be in danger of breaking up because of this sort of escalation.

I do not enjoy that sort of RP, so I agree with the other person OOC to calm our characters down. By interfering with them, the two are 'magically' open to negotiation and apology now, and they resolve the issue. Divine intervention, so to speak.

So... in the end, I let Kat lead until I feel it threatens my OOC enjoyment.

[Anslol]

Anslo's a nutter. He does what he wants, he has his reasons. I just let him roll with it and munch popcorn.

I don't know why, but I'm good at detaching my personal feelings from his situations.

[Ciarente]

I'll echo the sentiments who have said OOC fun trumps character desires. More to the point, if you wouldn't have any fun doing something, why would you roleplay it? For an extreme example of this, if you think bestiality is creepy and disturbing (I hope you do), then it makes no sense for you to make your character do that. Why would you play a character that does things you as a player dislikes?

You may want to be careful with that train of thought, because it suggests that players enjoy murder, blood rituals, racism, enslavement of 'inferior' cultures, kidnapping, torture, and probably lots of horrific things that characters in the EVE universe do. I am fairly certain that players do enjoy getting into character and exploring other personalities than their own. I think some of the thrill in this is acting out in manner that the player wouldn't consider ever doing in the real world.

Plenty of people watch horror movies without having any desire to be a murderer or a murderee. Its all fantasy at the end of the day. Some people enjoy stories with those things, some don't. But RPing something you don't enjoy...thats like reading a book you don't like for the sake of the characters in the book. It seems kind of backward to me.

A lot of actors leap at the opportunity to play the bad guy, remember! And a lot of authors enjoy writing them. RPing your character doing something you don't like and wouldn't do in RL can be the same.

[Saede Riordan]

Oh I agree Cia definitely. Its very much along the same vein. At the same time, if you're someone who DOESN'T enjoy playing the bad guy, you shouldn't try to force yourself in that direction. The inverse is also true.

[Arnulf Ogunkoya]

Oh I agree Cia definitely. Its very much along the same vein. At the same time, if you're someone who DOESN'T enjoy playing the bad guy, you shouldn't try to force yourself in that direction. The inverse is also true.

Absofragginlutely!

I prefer playing characters that are ordinary for the setting I am in, or outsiders who are learning about a culture, or outright heroic types. But in a game like this I need folks to be the antagonist and wouldn't dream of trying to discourage them if it floats their boat to do so. What I find personally alarming is people who seem to have so immersed themselves in their chosen role that they can't bring themselves to believe they are playing a bad person at all.

[Saede Riordan]

Oh I agree Cia definitely. Its very much along the same vein. At the same time, if you're someone who DOESN'T enjoy playing the bad guy, you shouldn't try to force yourself in that direction. The inverse is also true.

Absofragginlutely!

I prefer playing characters that are ordinary for the setting I am in, or outsiders who are learning about a culture, or outright heroic types. But in a game like this I need folks to be the antagonist and wouldn't dream of trying to discourage them if it floats their boat to do so. What I find personally alarming is people who seem to have so immersed themselves in their chosen role that they can't bring themselves to believe they are playing a bad person at all.

Or think that the bad guys must be bad people IRL and should be locked up in prison because they bumped someone's mining ship.

[Silas Vitalia]

I'm a big fan of letting your character lead and staying true to whatever they would do.

This has caused me to miss plenty of fun things, chats, events, etc, and have some bad blood with people, but I like having having that bit of purity whenever I can and let it go where it takes me.

[Khloe]

What I find personally alarming is people who seem to have so immersed themselves in their chosen role that they can't bring themselves to believe they are playing a bad person at all.

I don't find that alarming at all. Bad is a subjective term, dictated by our own morality or one generally accepted by a society. Part of roleplaying is immersing ourselves in characters in vastly different circumstances, cultural identity, and value system. The best villains, in my book, are those who we, the viewer/reader, can identify with and understand their reasoning for what they do, even if by real world standards is considered barbaric. Some people who do terrible things for (in their minds) a greater good and have suppressed a conflicting emotion realizing what they might be doing is wrong, while others may simply see their behavior as a positive act, even if others disagree.

Personally, I don't like the term good or bad, as it denotes a two-dimensional thought process to complex issues.

[Safai]

QFT, but there's also a distinction between your character's viewpoint and your own as a player. It may be more or less prevalent for different players, but it ties into the topic and is worth identifying.

Safai could never admit to being evil, not ever, but I often find myself stepping back and saying "wow, she is really wretched" and that's alright.

[lallara zhuul]

Character comes first, the character dictates the actions.

For the player to stay sane there is the need for IC/OOC divide.

There are plenty of places in EVE where you can go as the player and stay fully OOC and never mix the IC life with the OOC one.

Yes, it is a handicap. But handicaps just make all the small victories that much sweeter.

There is a big downside to it as well, it may drive you out of EVE.

[Sakura Nihil]

Very tough question.

The best answer I can give is that it's a constant battle between "what would I do?" and "what would ____ Nihil do?".  I almost always defer to how they would behave in a given situation, unless I don't have a good feeling for how they would react, or unless there's a very good reason.  Thankfully, a lot of their character traits tend to be compatible with mine, so we would think alike (for instance, Sakura's strategic outlook on the wars of the cluster) in a fair number of instances.

I understand that this is "RP on easy mode" to some degree, in that it doesn't push me too hard to understand how they think.  However, I live for combat in this game, that's what I joined for, RPing only came as an add-on when Sak joined Star Fraction a long time ago, and I found it was a nice addition to help distinguish my characters from one another.

I try my best to stay away from staged or planned events, preferring not to delve super-deep into the plot and setting, but rather focusing on person-to-person interaction for my enjoyment.  I try and be spontaneous and reactionary as possible, figuring out opinions on current events and conversations as I go without a pre-planned, high-level script for how I want the character to develop.

In short, whatever happens, happens.  Sakura went from essentially a mining corporation's security guard in a Ferox to pirate due to being backstabbed by "friends", and over time she's gone down that path further and further.  Her sisters are still somewhat blank slates, but only really due to lack of RL time on my end, or circumstances shaping their growth as individuals.  I don't know what's in store for any of them - case in point, the one up in Caldari space, Akusa, was put in an interesting position when all the ground attacks started happening in the State, and the Guristas raid occurred.  But because it didn't affect her personally, and she was too busy, it didn't give her a reason to change.

Had this occured during the time she (and I) would have been logged into the game, and she would have heard about this, she would have participated in the live event.  Whether she would have assisted the State, tried to prevent or stop a fight, or backstabbed the other Caldari there and gone rogue for the Guristas, I don't know.

Whatever happens, happens.