^Lol, Melda, I've done that too.

1. What has been your favorite RPG so far? Oh, that's a toughie... I'd say the one we have going right now - Silver and Gold. Another PotC RP. It's turning out pretty good.

2. Which character has been your favorite, and in which RPG? If it can be other people, Pippin's portrayals of Jack Sparrow... she's so good at it!

3. Which character has been the hardest to write as/for? Elizabeth Swann... I tried to play her once in "Secrets Unveiled".. it was definitely a challenge but she came out pretty good!

4. Which character has been the easiest to write as/for? My character, Varianna Pierce. I use her only in PotC Roleplays, and she can be pretty sly, something I can relate to. LOL.

5. Which RPG do you most wish had succeeded? "Chains of Captivity." It was an old PotC RP and everyone had things going on in their life at that time, so it all just fell apart. Meldawen, you probably remember that RP... I think it was our first time Rping together...

Yeah, that one got pretty long. I don't think it was really that people got busy, we just kinda lacked any sort of coherent plot. Always important to an rpg. So who's your favorite character of yours, then?

Strangely enough, I find Elizabeth easy It's Will that causes me to obsess, mostly. He's got so many subtleties to him that he's difficult to capture. Haven't ever tried Jack

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You're making me choose, Meldawen? That's like picking between your children; they're all great!

But Varianna is my favorite since she's so easy to write [and is a pirate ] and I can put a lot of myself into her. I think that RP characters eventually form an inner connection with you after playing them for so long and she's been my main char for two years..

Sorry if that sounded hippie-ish. Hug a tree everyone! J/K.

I've never tried Jack either... or Will. I might be able to do Jack from reading Pip's stuff and watching the movies, but you're right about Will - he's a very complex character (to RP, at least ) and I'm not that great with playing guys to begin with, so...

Your new comp crashed the day after you got it, Aerlinn?

....the 'Aer' names are still the best, even if Eäryendë means Daughter of the Sea.

Lol, Melda. Haha. We all know how well the general opinion (well, the one that stuck, anyway) on the pronunciation of 'Aerandir' went.

Still....Eledhe. *thinks of where name is from* If it's Elvish, which it sounds to be, it should be Ehl-eh-th-eh. Hahahahah. Ph34r my l33t knowledge of the Elder tongue(s).

Lol. It's kind of weird, but unless I can think of how to pronounce the name (which I do in my mind, not vocally), I can't remember it, or the character/person to whom the name belongs. It's....unusual.

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<b>1. What has been your favorite RPG so far?</b> Hm... I really liked A Rift in Time and some of the fantasy ones I've been in.
<b>2. Which character has been your favorite, and in which RPG?</b> I liked Carson in A Rift in Time, Cu'scath in... can't remember the RP, but he was a different sort than I'd been playing. I'm liking Garvan Breen in What Night Brings, too. *thinks* I think he may be the first character who's married at the time of the RP.
3. Which character has been the hardest to write as/for? I have trouble with cannon charries... any cannon charries. lol Garvan's been a bit difficult too, could be because I've just started using him.
4. Which character has been the easiest to write as/for? Carson in the Rift in Time came pretty easily- I think partly because his personality was based on a character from a tv show. "Modern day" charries usually come pretty easy for me too.
5. Which RPG do you most wish had succeeded? A Rift in Time. Dang, I liked that one! lol

1. What has been your favorite RPG so far? Oh geez...I have no idea! lol Um...right now, it would have to be Flight of the Chosen or the very first RPG I joined, but the name slips me at the moment.
2. Which character has been your favorite, and in which RPG? Airithnu from Flight of the Chosen. I love her charactor and her race. Shapeshifters are amazing.
3. Which character has been the hardest to write as/for? Turwaithiel because she is so complex and she contiunes to grow and become more complete.
4. Which character has been the easiest to write as/for? I would have to say Airithnu again, from Flight of the Chosen, because she seems to come so naturally, and the other RPers are amazing writers with great charactors, so it is amazing.
5. Which RPG do you most wish had succeeded? The very first one I was ever in and Harry Potter: The Next Generation by Raven Sparrow.

There, I got it done! And yes, Aerandir, I like L's and Y's. lol

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

'kay, I know we have another topic going, but I'm really curious about something, and y'all are pretty much the best people to ask What do you consider a Mary Sue, will you admit to any of your characters as being MSs, and does it tend to be a problem for you?

Personally I think it's a term applicable depending on what your definition is. It's almost impossible to create a character with no features whatsoever that are MSish. For example, I would say an MS is a female (or maybe even male, if we're talking Marty-Sams) character who is all at once beautiful ALL the time, can fight, is talented at pretty much everything, never fails at anything, is extremely important to the main plot of something and/or has some special ability, has a witty and/or emo-ish personality, and generally is either royalty or has a 'dark past'. So I have Raign, for example, who is a) female, b) used to be a princess, c) can fight (though not as well as someone stronger than her, and has to train harder than they do) but isn't beautiful or extremely likable. I also have Merrin, who has special gods-given powers and is a 'Chosen One', but isn't overly beautiful, talented, witty, self-confident, and has no prestigious relations or an unhappy childhood. Out of those two, Raign is the closer to being an MS. So, for a minute, pretend she was MS - if I could play her well enough to make her personality seem real, would she still be MS? Is it dependent on personality or features?

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I agree that MS-ness depends on the situation.

Here are some traits that I consider to be MS-ish if several of them are combined into one charrie:
Incredibly beautiful- sorta cute or pretty is fine. It bugs me especially when the person's good looks are described over and over, or when other charries fall over themselves to watch the beautiful one.

Some sort of standout personality- usually temper, sarcasm, depression, spitfire or some combination of the above done to an extreme.

Central to the plot, maybe a chosen one, reincarnated hero, etc.

Has one or more love interests, or several people fight over the character.

A dark past, which they don't like to reveal. Royalty is a big one too.

Very good at... everything. Weapons, tracking, very intelligent, etc.

Those are the ones that spring to mind. Now, I don't think any one of those by themselves create a MS. It's when several are combined that MS-ish-ness comes about.

I don't know about Merrin, but I don't think Raign sounds like a MS. Yes, she has some MS-ish ... uh- oh- characteristics! (sorry, my brain took a holiday.), but I think a lot of the MS-ish is in how the character is played. If a person is constantly trying to make readers feel sorry for the character, or "relate" to him/her, it can become MS-ish very quickly. If the RP posts are written more objectively, it actually becomes easier to relate to the character, and the reader is able to form their own opinion about him/her.

I'm not sure if any of the charries I'm currently playing would be considered MS-ish. I know I've had MS-ish ones in the past, though!

I hope my post made sense- my brain wasn't helping me out very much. lol

Raign is appearing to lean towards MS, Meldawen, so you'd best be careful... But Merrin sounds fine from what I've heard. It's also how you portray them; what you make them say, think, do... that can effect how the character turns out.

^I don't think she's too MS-ish. With that list I posted above, to me, those traits combined make a MS. A few by themselves are fine, I think, and can help make a character more interesting.

Hm... yeah, just one or two features are fine... but more than that is Mary-Suish!

Hm... my character for "What Night Bring" Laraina Endymion.

She's not the most beautiful girl... infact, not really at all. She's got more of a masculine face... you can still tell shes female, but she hasn't go the prettiest feminine face in the world.

She's not the best at everything. She can track deer, but what deer hunter can't? And that's what she is. She can sword fight, but taught herself, so she isn't that good. She does have the aye and aim for a bow... but she misses the target now and again.

for persionality... she seems quiet so far... but, so is everyone else in the rpg because it's only just begun!

She's not royalty... she come from a small unknown village. Yeah, it was destroyed, but she'll talk about it if asked... it's not exactly a "dark" past. and she might not be the only one alive from the village...

she's not a certral character.

she doesn't have any love intrests at all...

that's filling out the list... so, I don't see her as very mary-suish... Now I know I've had a super MS character... but I can't think of him/her/it right now...

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

Hm... yeah, just one or two features are fine... but more than that is Mary-Suish!

Hm... my character for "What Night Bring" Laraina Endymion.

She's not the most beautiful girl... infact, not really at all. She's got more of a masculine face... you can still tell shes female, but she hasn't go the prettiest feminine face in the world.

She's not the best at everything. She can track deer, but what deer hunter can't? And that's what she is. She can sword fight, but taught herself, so she isn't that good. She does have the aye and aim for a bow... but she misses the target now and again.

for persionality... she seems quiet so far... but, so is everyone else in the rpg because it's only just begun!

She's not royalty... she come from a small unknown village. Yeah, it was destroyed, but she'll talk about it if asked... it's not exactly a "dark" past. and she might not be the only one alive from the village...

she's not a certral character.

she doesn't have any love intrests at all...

that's filling out the list... so, I don't see her as very mary-suish... Now I know I've had a super MS character... but I can't think of him/her/it right now...

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

One of my favorite resources for RP and story characters- The Mary-Sue litmus test! Here's the link- http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm

Lol, Elenya, I love that thing too.

And like I said, a character with none of the qualities an MS has had or ever will have would be a pretty boring characters. I think it says this on the quiz - they're the symptoms, not the disease. A couple is just fine and maybe even preferable, but even so, I think that even a very MSish character played well isn't an MS as much. Personality has something to do with it, too.

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1. What has been your favorite RPG so far? *ponders that for quite a bit* what do you think?
2. Which character has been your favorite, and in which RPG? my evil elf mage Denaris Erydera. mostly on my old forum, some of Curunir's take-over-the-world rpgs here.
3. Which character has been the hardest to write as/for? Jais, from Phantom Grey
4. Which character has been the easiest to write as/for? Kendath, Falch'nus, Ghyreian, or Tlenes. hard to pick.
5. Which RPG do you most wish had succeeded? Ellie's guns and explosions one, A Rift in Time. or both one-on-ones with Curunir, Dragonlance and the ancient Forgotten Realms one.

On MS, there are the blatant qualities like Elenya mentioned. I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned youth yet, but it's one of them. You can't have a 16 year old skilled ranger/warrior/shapeshifter. You just can't. It might work in a book, but not in an rpg, because there's more than just your character with the spotlight here. Otherwise, it depends mostly on how you portray them. A realistic, fleshed out character and a skillful writing style can pull anything off. Take my character Tlenes, for instance. Suicidal lunatic. Tortured, depressed, apathetic, experienced, and quite skilled. Oh, and in his first rpg, he's an exile. AND he has this giant eagle thing (though granted, so did everyone else). Ring any Marty-Sam bells? Uh... I'm pretty sure... he won best male fantasy in the rpg awards. A few other of my blatant MS (like Ghyreian the beautiful, haughty elf woman and Kendath the emo assassin) were nominated as well.

So it depends largely on how you make the readers perceive them. Show, not tell. I suggest you not get too detailed in the bio. So my character has alabaster skin, flowing black hair, eyes the color of a stormy sea with little gold flecks, and this is what she wears when she's going to a party [link] and this is what she wears when she's going into battle [link]. History: Her mother died at childbirth. Her village was burned down by a dragon, so she taught herself how to wield a sword. She has this unknown sister who happens to be the antagonist. Now she wanders the world as a mercenary, disdained by all because she's poor and a woman.

No, no, and NO.

Okay, so the character itself isn't THAT bad. I've seen worse. The problem is, the bio is formatted to tell, not show. I've heard way too much about this character and her mary sue qualities. I haven't even gotten to know her, and already I don't like her. Keep appearance and history to a minimum. Pale skin, long black hair, gray-blue eyes. That's it. No comparisons to the moon or night or stormy seas or sunlight or whatever. This is a bio, not poetry. As for history, I can't speak for anyone else, but at the beginning of an rpg, I at least don't care enough about your character to want to know his/her life timeline. Sprinkle appearance and history throughout your actual posts. Add history where it's necessary, to explain your character's thoughts or actions. I will use Valera's character Arielle from the new Forgotten Realms as an example.
http://arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtop ... &start=144
Valera's first post of the page. Page 10 of the rpg, and she's just now handing us this crucial information about her character. Brilliant. Because by now, the other rpers are interested enough in her character to care about her past.

Going back to the beauty thing. Take Melda's character Merrin from Star Crystal. Her bio took all of five seconds. No mention of beauty or super powers. And what do you know... fifty or so pages into the rpg, Melda and I are having one of our Crystal philosophy talks, and she mentions that Merrin's not pretty at all. Pretty plain-looking, actually. My reaction: huh? Because in personality, Merrin isn't clumsy or weak at all. She's compassionate and timid, but stands up for her beliefs. Thus I'd already begun to form this mental image of her... petite but in fact quite pretty, though she might not acknowledge it.

It's your posts that count, not your character bios. Your characters shine through from the quality of your posts, how much you stay in-character, and how strongly/realistically you portray certain traits. You can have this amazing character bio with posts that suck, and no one will like your character. When other rpers come to expect quality posts from you, your character will automatically be liked/empathized with too. Quality posts means not just taking up 5 paragraphs describing your character's personality/appearance/past, but with some contribution to the plot as well.

[/speech]

Oh, and one last thing. NO ONE can teach him/herself how to skillfully wield a sword. Possible for clubs or if you're simply whacking orcs, but real swordplay's an intricate art that takes discipline/instruction to master.

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Yay! An LDM post!!! Pirates to you, LDM!

Lol, yeah, Aerlinniel--that's how I became 'A Reindeer'. A further continuation of that is that the 'A' stands for 'Aiel', since 'Aiel Reindeer' sounds wickedly awesome.

I can totally see how Jais would be hard to write, LDM--after all, Dafyd Winter in A Rift in Time was really hard, too.

O_o I just ran Arren Frondhaven through that MS quiz, and he got the lowest score of any of my characters so far-- He got a score of -3. That's really ridiculously low, and I'm not sure how a character can be in the negatives on a MS test.

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