I personally view online roleplaying as kind of like a combination of writing and improv acting. Writers and actors can get emotionally involved with a character they are in control of, and I believe even JK Rowling said she cried when she killed off one of the major characters in her Harry Potter series of books. So yeah, I guess it's okay for something that happens to your character to tug at your emotional heartstrings.
But the flip side of the coin is that all too often, some roleplayers will take bad stuff that happens to their characters as a personal slight and go off into a fit of histronics, creating a lot of internet drama. As long as you don't take things this far, everything is peachy. 
Strangely enough, I feel as if my characters are part of me, especially Experiment. If something happens to Experiment, or even one of his friends, it seems my mind will make it appear to happen to me, or one of my own friends.
For example, say Blightlord kidnapped Essex. Now, my mind will make it appear that some guy that I don't know/like kidnapped a friend of mine. Hence, why Experiment goes all mad cow disease or something and begins stabifying randomly until said little pink android is safe.
I suppose it is less that I am attached to my character as I AM my character, except without the super powers... And the ability to make things. I mean, the blowing up I can do, but the working/fixing? No. Don't let me near anything you want fixed unless you want it 'fixed' all over the room is all I can say.
I get entirely involved with my characters--I fully immerse myself into their role, acting myself out as them and playing entirely as them. I put music in the background that fits them, I think thoughts that fit them, and I shift my attitude to what they would feel as well. I fully immerse myself into the role of my character, and thus, yes, I feel what they feel.
This is part of the reason why I utterly despise asswads, and will go out of my way to prevent teaming/interacting with one at all costs.
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I get entirely involved with my characters--I fully immerse myself into their role, acting myself out as them and playing entirely as them. I put music in the background that fits them, I think thoughts that fit them, and I shift my attitude to what they would feel as well. I fully immerse myself into the role of my character, and thus, yes, I feel what they feel.
This is part of the reason why I utterly despise asswads, and will go out of my way to prevent teaming/interacting with one at all costs.
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How do i RP?
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For example, say Blightlord kidnapped Essex.
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*Sets down the tiny pink robot* Stupid psychics warning people of my plans....
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
I don't get emotional about my characters. Not in an empathic sort of way, at the very least. I have a story to tell, and in that sotry people will get hurt. It's part of how this thing works. If you're shy about hurting your characters, it shows. A good story always contains something bad happening to the lead characters, so it's unavoidable.
I don't identify with my characters, but I will look through their eyes when I'm writing their actions. It's not always easy, as none of my characters are really "me," so I need to compensate for their quirks and personality. I will get emoitional to the point that I understand what kind of a feeling my writing is portraying, and off that feeling I will base my describtions and character interactions.
I can't sympathise with any one character ever, as I'm always writing several of them simultaniously, and if there is favorism in your mind, it shows in your writing and acting. And favorism usually skewers stories pretty badly very often. I have found that unwillingenss or discomfort about hurting your own characters impedes the telling of a good story. It ends up loaded and unrealistic.
In the end, I don't have feelings for my own characters above the feelings one has toward one's own work. These characters are my creations, and my toys to play with. They're not living people, just figments of my imagination. My job is not to communicate with them but to bring them to life. And if I am to do that, then I cannot spare them the pain.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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If you are normally a empathetic person, and tend to act or write from the exact point of view of the character in question.
Feeling is almost manditory.
There are different kinds of actors, storytellers, and various ways to make these personalities, faces, characters , lives live for us and often Life hurts.
I do agree with the ... let your character get hurt. There is no depth if nothing has been lost or found.
Oh, about that... I don't mind my characters getting hurt. It gives me even more motivation to let them try harder. Hell, if anyone knows Experiment, they will also know he tends to either hurt himself a lot, or just get hurt a lot usually.
Game of Cosmic Chess, for instance, had Experiment die within his first half-hour of being there due to sniper-shot. Second death... I believe that was Khell with the stabifying and 2.0 trying to mutate. Third death was usually harmless pink robot mentioned earlier going all homocidal and cutting the throat of said hero. I just think of it as a way for the character to develop. For instance, if you are fighting somebody and they get a hit, analyze how they did so. Were they faster? Did they hit harder? Fix it!
...Which usually ends up in either a messed up experiment or a lot of explosions.
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(This post is entirely OOC)
My main toon, Naughty Nadya, has been lvl 50 for quite some time. Last I checked, we've spent over 1800 hours together since she was created in March. Now, most will say that 244 hours a month, over 6 hours a day, is alot of time to spend with someone. Now on to the point.
When something bad, as far as an emotional downfall, happens to your toon, is it normal for you to get emotional about it as well? I won't go into details, but something happened to Nadya that, well, I'd never wish upon anyone. I was so upset, it actually made me cry.
Now I know it is just a game, and I might just be over dramatic, but has anyone who's probably spent more time with their toon than their significant others ever had the same thing happen? Guess I am just looking for reassurance I'm not a weirdo, well, at least for this... 
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HHmmm...............Weirdo.
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(This post is entirely OOC)
My main toon, Naughty Nadya, has been lvl 50 for quite some time. Last I checked, we've spent over 1800 hours together since she was created in March. Now, most will say that 244 hours a month, over 6 hours a day, is alot of time to spend with someone. Now on to the point.
When something bad, as far as an emotional downfall, happens to your toon, is it normal for you to get emotional about it as well? I won't go into details, but something happened to Nadya that, well, I'd never wish upon anyone. I was so upset, it actually made me cry.
Now I know it is just a game, and I might just be over dramatic, but has anyone who's probably spent more time with their toon than their significant others ever had the same thing happen? Guess I am just looking for reassurance I'm not a weirdo, well, at least for this...
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HHmmm...............Weirdo.
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oh ok i was kidding. Crying is abit much but I kind of see where you are coming from? Save being deleted Im not sure what else would make me cry about my toon though!?
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(This post is entirely OOC)
My main toon, Naughty Nadya, has been lvl 50 for quite some time. Last I checked, we've spent over 1800 hours together since she was created in March. Now, most will say that 244 hours a month, over 6 hours a day, is alot of time to spend with someone. Now on to the point.
When something bad, as far as an emotional downfall, happens to your toon, is it normal for you to get emotional about it as well? I won't go into details, but something happened to Nadya that, well, I'd never wish upon anyone. I was so upset, it actually made me cry.
Now I know it is just a game, and I might just be over dramatic, but has anyone who's probably spent more time with their toon than their significant others ever had the same thing happen? Guess I am just looking for reassurance I'm not a weirdo, well, at least for this...
[/ QUOTE ]
HHmmm...............Weirdo.
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oh ok i was kidding. Crying is abit much but I kind of see where you are coming from? Save being deleted Im not sure what else would make me cry about my toon though!?
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I agree - losing any character over lvl 30 would make me cry... or throw my computer through a window... or both.
I roleplay my characters in an odd way. I almost think like them. I'm posting a story about one of them after I get done writing this post. In any case... I more or less have my characters' storylines in mind already, but traumatic moments do cause me to have "heart-jerk" moments if you will. For instance, my character Kipland Durj was having so many problems in his mid-20s (and I had a REALLY hard time getting him through those levels) I was seriously considering deleting and starting over.
At that time I hadn't heard of respeccing (I've been playing for under a year, I learn new things every day), so I was planning on making it a huge story in the back of my head. Now that I'm chronicling my heroes' stories under Grey's Army, the rest of you can know that story, so it's a moot point.
But the thing is, this character is very rela to me. He's an aspect of me made into a whole person. When I play as him, I AM him. I talk like him, act like him (which is typically PO'd and loud, sometimes a bit much of a smartmouth)... When I'm my main tanker, I'm someone else entirely (gruff and thuggish, but with a heart, like Marv on Sin City)... And when I'm my main blaster, I'm exceptionally polite and proper.
You're right, it is an odd phenomenon, but we're being creative with something that is essentially a part of us. We work hard on these characters, and when bad things happen to them, its like bad things happening to us. It's perfectly understandable. Heck, when I conceived Kip's Obsidian Blight story arc, I would lay awake at nights, wide-eyed with worry.
I was seriously pondering having to "kill" an important character in my head, and such a thing can be very disconcerting.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Really the only time I ever got anything like emotional attachment with my MMO characters, it was with their pets and not with them.
In SWG, my MCH's pets were like my pets and I would get sad when they fell in combat and happy when I could save them in the nick of time and heal them. One time I had my new baby rancor running around an empty newbie zone late at night killing the little low level monsters. I was very happy and sort of bouncing around. Then out of nowhere, the city guard kill him. Oh I was mad; so mad that I went around killing every city guard in sight. Not the best idea because in the end, they were swarming me and I couldn't cope with the damage. I died on top of my poor little rancor.
I guess it's because after my dog was killed, I sort of got overly attached to my little in game critters. I still miss them and feel sad that I can't play with them anymore. 
Aah... SWG Creature Handlers... I used to have a Carrion Spat called Pauly that followed me everywhere... We were best buds...
...I miss my giant turkey... Dodo... Crossbreed.
*Glances up from cooking the Psycho Fear*
"Eh...I love the critters as well...I HATE it when they die..."
*Kills five billion henchmen via their kill rigs.*
But anyways...Hmmm...I really don't get too emotionally attached to many characters...
(This post is entirely OOC)
My main toon, Naughty Nadya, has been lvl 50 for quite some time. Last I checked, we've spent over 1800 hours together since she was created in March. Now, most will say that 244 hours a month, over 6 hours a day, is alot of time to spend with someone. Now on to the point.
When something bad, as far as an emotional downfall, happens to your toon, is it normal for you to get emotional about it as well? I won't go into details, but something happened to Nadya that, well, I'd never wish upon anyone. I was so upset, it actually made me cry.
Now I know it is just a game, and I might just be over dramatic, but has anyone who's probably spent more time with their toon than their significant others ever had the same thing happen? Guess I am just looking for reassurance I'm not a weirdo, well, at least for this...