Empress_NA

its probably been a while ;p

actually, none of those "facts" would have turned me off as a roleplayer. I refer to the skill used in writing it, the depth of thought and caring shown in the character.
ask yourself this question...
are those facts IMPORTANT?
if they arent "who you character is"... and are merely "what she's done.." then they arent relavent.
if it DEFINES your character, that she killed a busload of kids, if it makes her who she is today... then its important.
if its just an episode in her life... then it would be up to her to tell it.

a backstory, especially with the limitations we have in the game, is NOT a running tally of every event a character has participated in.. rather, its an expose on those events which shaped him/her into a hero, into the person we see before us.
as the character changes, and evolves... facts that were so very important, once, no longer hold the same significance.
where once, there was a hero, fighting to avenge the death of his sister... now that hero fights to protect his young wife.
so, the background drops that sense of vengance. yes the sister died, and yes it mattered once... but now there is something more important, more "self defining" than his previous aims.

this is just conjecture.
a new character could have just as much, if not MORE information and story about their life "before" than a character you've played with for four years.
its up to the individual.
I have what amounts to a 600 page "backstory" for a character I only just reciently made in game.
there's no way I could put even an 8th of that character into the bio-space...
not because the character is new or old, but because i CARE about that character.


mhm, like i said, I can understand your reasoning... not to mention the fact that your RP regularly with a specific group of people...
they dont need to "get to know" your character. they know it. they just need the facts, to make sure they keep their RP straight.

I can understand that on some levels.... something like an accent, i'd just RP.. something like a peircing, to me, seems totally arbitrary and unless its "the belly peircing of the gods!" I wouldnt even mention it, outside of a roleplay chat "have you seen my new peircing?!" *shows off the belly peircing*

but I can see the need to express something like "cant be mind read" or "has no soul", but in saying that, I like the challange and ingenuity of encorporating such information into an actual "story", in that confining little box.

to me.... there is a firm distinction between IC and OOC information. My character knows nothing about yours, but what they can immediatly sense. but the reason I want to talk to you at ALL is because of either:
A) i personally experenced your RP, and think its worth my time.
or
B) Your backstory interests me.


now, the sort of backstory you include, from my perspective, is "useful" when I am roleplaying with you... but it doesnt help me decide if I "should".
so, unless Im already around you roleplaying, I have no way of really knowing if you're someone I'd be interested in roleplaying with. (which, imo, is the whole point of the backstory... to get an idea/feeling for the character and player in a passive, unintrusive manner.)