...I'm pretty sure my bios say "This player is either very lazy or very easily distracted by shiny things." What with the majority of them being blank. Every time I log in with the intention of writing them out, well... I get distracted by the shiny. "Ooh, Frostlings! More defeat badges!"
Though my main has a bio I'm fairly proud of. It's not the usual brief history of the character, since... Her history is pretty bland. What does she look like? Exactly what she looks like. What are her powers? Exactly what /info will tell you. They aren't secret and they're rather obvious.
So I went with a different route: Her bio is a letter written from her to her daughter. A 'If I don't come back' type of thing, since her background is that she spends... pretty much every available moment fighting Rikti. In the warzone. Often times alone.
It's slightly improvised. I wrote it all in one sitting, not thinking too much about making it 'right' so much as what the character would write. After finishing it, I noticed I went slightly over the character limit, so the letter was abruptly cut off. I kept it that way after someone I was playing with brought it up and mentioned something positive about doing that. (I forget what exactly they said.)
...And I'm rambling.
Eh that's all fine and dandy but an opinion at best. Most I can agree with but things such as secrete identities and such, the worry that someone will metagame, kind of depends on what lot you hang out with. My Shepard character is in that bucket, yet everyone I've RPed with on a serious session have asked questions first in OOC to get a better feel. Personally bios that tell me all about their character, I typically don't use that as knowledge for IC but more so OOC as it helps me RP from the perspective of a guy who'd know nothing; suffice to say I, and others I've met, attempt to play the part.
Also:
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That's fine, you admit it which is perfectly legitimate. Me personally I love themesongs because they give you an idea of a scene that character may work best in. For example check out The Battle from Gladiator - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFpZPZ_g4Hw - now listening to that, just listening to it, I can see that entire battle scene play out. That to me is a successful theme. You have the scenery, the conflict, the action; all rolled up into a neat ball of awesomeness. :P
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If Your Bio Contains: A themesong Personally, themesongs don't tell me anything, but then, I'm not very well-versed in music. It's entirely possible someone will look at the line "TS: 'I hate Mondays' - The Thrashing Gnoberts" and go "Wow, I love that song! This seems like a character I'd like to RP with!". I have no idea. |
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Closest I've come to giving a character a theme song is closer to "If they had an iPod, this is what they'd be listening to while busting Skulls." ...Which probably counts, but it's less about having a theme song and more about JRPGs having trained me to expect music when punching stuff...
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Originally Posted by Stryph
Me personally I love themesongs because they give you an idea of a scene that character may work best in.
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I personally blame AMVs and game tributes myself.
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There was a long and rambly intro to this that I ended up not posting, but that basically explained this is a guide for the specific situation of fishing for some new RP in the D. |
Originally Posted by Stryph
Eh that's all fine and dandy but an opinion at best. Most I can agree with but things such as secrete identities and such, the worry that someone will metagame, kind of depends on what lot you hang out with.
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You've only got 1024 characters to make a first impression. There's no point in wasting those characters writing out "he is secretly a ninja/a vampire/heir to the throne of Ruritania, BUT DON'T YOU DARE KNOW THAT."
Character index
I'd like to think most of the OP is kind of common sense, but you know what they say about that...
The whole 'literate RPer' thing was new to me. I wouldn't ever want to play with an illiterate one when the RP medium is entirely text-based personally.
As for theme songs, I'm personally not so much into them as character themes but as music to set the mood to a character. If a character has a very punk attitude, then I can bring that across in the music, even if the character itself is a fallen angel on a quest to find his lost love or whatever. And yes, I have had the occasional contact via the music choices listed in bios.
As a more general comment, I think there's more to be gotten from the way a bio is presented than its contents. Does it contain a lot of typos? Is it a jumbled mess or structured? Is it concise or verbose? Is the information at all useful to someone trying to RP with them? I'm not gonna claim one version is better than another, except that typos are generally not a great idea. I've written stream of consciousness bios, I've written ones that are just extra info that can't be gleaned from an avatar and ones that were external documents. I've had one-liners, I've had song lyrics and just plain old proper bios.
All depends on the character, but my aim with most of those is still simply to convey mood rather than information. No idea how good of a job I do in each case, mind. But that's what's really important to me in writing and reading. Whether they're erotic, mature or literate I don't care as long as I can somehow feel like I might care.
"If you're going through hell, keep going."
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
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No, but it's everybody's choice as to what to do with their 1024 characters. If this is important to them, leave them be. Maybe a fellow Ruritanian will comment on how the character's nose bears the distinctive shape of that country's royal line. How queer to find such beauty on these barbarous shores. Or just ignore it and, yes, consider it wasted space.|
Originally Posted by Silver Gale
You've only got 1024 characters to make a first impression. There's no point in wasting those characters writing out "he is secretly a ninja/a vampire/heir to the throne of Ruritania, BUT DON'T YOU DARE KNOW THAT."
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Of course we all have our little likes and dislikes, but at the end of the day I can only recommend my own mood-based approach. If the mood is right, who cares how many characters got wasted on fluff?
"If you're going through hell, keep going."
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
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And then the first RPer throws a fit about the other Ruritanian's player being a dirty metagamer, and puts them on ignore.|
Originally Posted by Eisregen_NA
No, but it's everybody's choice as to what to do with their 1024 characters. If this is important to them, leave them be. Maybe a fellow Ruritanian will comment on how the character's nose bears the distinctive shape of that country's royal line. How queer to find such beauty on these barbarous shores.
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Like I said, I'm not trying to force anyone into some platonic ideal of character description, but if you're going to trawl for random RP, it's good to consider these things.
Character index
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Not saying you're totally wrong. Or right. But especially when you're just looking for 'any'/'random' RP, I don't really set my standards that high. Sometimes it's a whole lotta fun, sometimes a bit of a letdown... and sometimes I'd actually like to RP with that person again but can't find them anymore and then it really pisses me off. But I'm always entertained.
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Originally Posted by Silver Gale
Like I said, I'm not trying to force anyone into some platonic ideal of character description, but if you're going to trawl for random RP, it's good to consider these things.
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"If you're going through hell, keep going."
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
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Lol wut?|
Originally Posted by Silver Gale
If Your Bio Contains: Orientation and status (single/taken/engaged/married)
You will be assumed to be an ERPer unless stated otherwise. You will get invites to play Uno. Yes, even if your character's married. |
So because one of my characters is married, and her bio states that she wears a discreet wedding band I'm assumed to be a ERPer?
Uh, no.
I tend to try and keep my character Bios as a brief history description and note anything special about them then include their VV page link for more information. Example of said character mentioned above:
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[Mature RP'er] [Recognizable Public Figured - First Rikti War Survivor, Up and Coming Businesswoman] [Wears a Modest Wedding Band] Sic vis pacem, para bellum. (If you want peace, prepare for war.) "In certain extreme situations, the law is inadequate. In order to shame its inadequacy, it is necessary to act outside the law. To pursue... natural justice. This is not vengeance. Revenge is not a valid motive, it's an emotional response. No. Not vegeance, punishment." - The Punisher Genetically bred as the perfect super strong soldier in a Crey experiment, Ava has been treated to the school of hard knocks. She came to the Isles, started her own business and unbeknownst to most began supporting and participating in vigilante operations in the isles. All in her quest to find the doctor responsible for the program that created her, and stop her from propagating those results for the 5th. [More Info: RP or http://www.virtueverse.net/wiki/Ava_Mannheim] |
I think the idea in the OP is that if your character is in a relationship or married that at least implies that you're open to RPing these things. And to a certain crowd, relationship equals regular tinysex. Not that there's anything wrong with that either unless they're humping the legs of people who put these things into their bios especially to keep that kind of RP at a distance.
"If you're going through hell, keep going."
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
I *don't* RP. However, I insist on good bios, because the character concept is central to the enjoyment I get out of this game.
So all my info blocks contain either A) Information told in first person POV that describes my character, as if you walked up to them and asked 'Tell me about yourself'. Example (the real bio is much longer, but this is the gist of it):
"I'm the daughter of a Tsoo shogun, whose mutant powers marked me as destined for greatness. Feh. I renounced his criminal life, and I will find my own."
...or B) Information told in third person that could be found by a cursory web search or asking the appropriate authorities in Paragon. Example:
"If you want a job done, call a professional. If you want a job done with as much property damage and innocents maimed as possible, call Agent Cyclone."
In both cases, there is some explanation of why my character is a hero/villain/vig/rogue.
I have two characters whose bios are just their theme song. Not the name of a song; the actual lyrics to a new song that would be their theme.
So. What does this say about *me*? 
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New Webcomic -- Genocide Man
Life is funny. Death is funnier. Mass slaughter can be hilarious.
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To me it says you're a closet RPer. Come out and play.
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Originally Posted by RemusShepherd
So. What does this say about *me*?
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"If you're going through hell, keep going."
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
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You will note that's under the "stat block" section. It means if your bio contains a stat block, like this:|
Originally Posted by ransim
Lol wut?
So because one of my characters is married, and her bio states that she wears a discreet wedding band I'm assumed to be a ERPer? Uh, no. |
Eye: blue
Hair: blonde
Weight: not tellin :P
Orientation: straight
Status: married (sorry fellas
And it doesn't specifically say anywhere that you don't ERP, I would assume you ERP.
Character index
My bio's are brief origin stories. *shrug* That's it.
@bpphantom
The Defenders of Paragon
KGB Special Section 8
This is actually a really, really interesting thread.
I do constantly look at the bios of other people, especially if I'm not in the middle of RP. (And sometimes even then I do if my character's just listening.) Some of this is for IC reasons because I have one or two characters who would literally be scrutinizing those around them to get a better understanding of them. Otherwise, the rest of the time it's purely for my own curiosity and - as seems to be a lot of the point of this thread - to find people interesting (subjective, I know) to interact with.
I'm not going to go into a list of what I do or do not agree with. I just think this was a really interesting thread, an interesting thing to bring up, and kudos for turning "playing Uno" into a euphemism for ERP.
(That euphemism was actually my favourite part. Cannot unsee.)
Home of the Following (And about eleven other alts.):
[Agenla Kedair] - 50 :: Magic / Corruptor
[Eli Fresca] - 50 :: Magic / Scrapper
[Marcasite] - 50 :: Technology / Defender
[Xan Trine] - 50 :: Natural / Tanker
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I'm so far in the closet, I do my RP on Tapestries MUCK. |
Originally Posted by Eisregen_NA
To me it says you're a closet RPer. Come out and play.
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I don't feel the need to RP in City of Heroes. I want you people to like me.
...
New Webcomic -- Genocide Man
Life is funny. Death is funnier. Mass slaughter can be hilarious.
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Meh. I always thought it was better to be spoken ill of than in dulcet tones.
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Originally Posted by RemusShepherd
I don't feel the need to RP in City of Heroes. I want you people to like me.
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"If you're going through hell, keep going."
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
This is super awesome, and should be in Player Guides or something.
My backgrounds are nearly always origin stories or something similar. I write them because they're a way for me to get a handle on what the character is like, and I figure maybe people read about me in the newspaper when I registered as a super hero.
Most of my characters are at least a little silly, and no one who sees Aunt Millie's bio with "putting the aunt back in taunt aura" is going to be surprised when she starts complaining about the Freakshow being less respectful than they were when she was a little girl.
As you note, it's very important not only to hook people who may be interested, but to help people who won't be disqualify you as quickly as possible.
Oh, and don't forget "WoD Rules Only."
To me, nothing says "avoid that character like the ******* PLAGUE" like knowing I'll be slapped with a rulebook should I try to interact with them.
My guides:Dark Melee/Dark Armor/Soul Mastery, Illusion Control/Kinetics/Primal Forces Mastery, Electric Armor
"Dark Armor is a complete waste as a tanking set."
For me, I just... I don't like to just tell people a character's personality. Not if I can help it, anyway. That's why the letter for her daughter struck me as such a good idea.
First, it gives some insight into the character's life: She fights a lot of Rikti, spends far too much time out in the War Zone and clearly has at least a small obsession with them. (Really, she can't leave fighting the Rikti for a week to spend time with her kid? Vanguard exists for a reason!)
It also lets you know that she has a daughter and doesn't see her daughter very often. It's also supposed to imply that she's torn between being a good mother (being there for her child) and being a good super hero (fighting off a major threat.)
And it gives a bit of her personality. She takes the fight seriously, has a tendency to be somber when really thinking about it... Especially since she's a Regen who still worries about dying and leaving her daughter alone.
Though, with recent character development, I've been thinking of rewriting it. Her brother has come back and can watch out for her daughter while she's gone. Her daughter has started working as a super hero, too, proving that she's capable of taking care of herself. The character in question is still likely to worry about missing out on, y'know, being a parent, but isn't as likely to worry about her daughter being in serious danger without her around.
...Note to self: Do not post at 1am. I ramble too much.
I disagree with a number of the assumptions made by the OP and am using them as affirmation of my opinion that Pocket D is a horrible place to visit. 
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Most of the time, yeah.
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Originally Posted by Celica
I disagree with a number of the assumptions made by the OP and am using them as affirmation of my opinion that Pocket D is a horrible place to visit.
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Do you disagree in the sense that "actually, if I saw this in someone's bio, I would think...", or in the sense that "I have that in my bio and I'm not..." ?|
Originally Posted by Celica
I disagree with a number of the assumptions made by the OP and am using them as affirmation of my opinion that Pocket D is a horrible place to visit.
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And yes, the D is a horrible place to visit if your sanity hinges on the belief that nobody in this game ever RPs in a way you don't like.
Character index
((Note: Since these boards are rated PG-13, all references the sort of things that come up during ERP will be replaced with "playing Uno".))
So nobody in your RP SG has been online today, and you feel a RP itch. Or you're feeling adventurous and want to meet some new people. Or you want to see for yourself how bad Pocket D is. Either way, you have your character standing around the bar, doing /em sitstool or /em drink, trying to follow the chatscroll, and you're wondering why nobody's talking to you. Or people keep approaching you, IC or OOC, with exactly the sort of RP you don't want. Or you keep getting /tells about what a bad RPer you are, and you haven't even *said* anything.
Perhaps it's time to look at your character description, and see what exactly that says about you as a RPer.
Explanatory edit: This is a guide to tailoring your bio with the goal of finding like-minded RPers in Pocket D. It is based mostly around my observations and my own opinions. For entertainment purposes only. Do not take seriously. If your RP scene persists for longer than 4 hours, get up and stretch your back and eat a piece of fruit or something.
Now, some people might say there are good bios and bad bios. There are many threads and entire blogs dedicated to showcasing the bad ones. Let's look at an example that will probably land there. (Actual bio seen in the D, name has been changed.)
Description:
master: none
But if you think about it, that bio actually carries a whole lot of information about the sort of RP the player is interested in.
1) They want to play Uno, with a particular set of house rules.
2) They would like to get to the Uno playing as soon as possible.
3) They do not want to give the character any more depth beyond what is required to play Uno.
4) They do not particularly care about correct spelling or grammar.
So, an RPer who likes the same style of play (we all know those exist, and there's really nothing wrong with it) immediately knows this is someone they would like to RP with. Morever, people who are *not* interested in that sort of RP immediately know this is someone they can safely ignore. From the point of view of finding someone to RP with, this is an *excellent* bio.
That's why I've compiled this guide, not in the form of "what to do" and "what not to do", but in the form of "if your bio says" then "you will get". Now, even if I don't consider it wrong to have a bio riddled with typos or lore errors or declaring the character to be the King Of Everything Ever, some things are going to draw derisive comments (private or public) from other players, and I've tried to note those where necessary. I personally never do that, if there's something I don't like about someone's bio, I just don't RP with them.
Part 1. What's your flavour?
The most basic thing your bio needs to convey is that you're interested in RP in the first place. The second thing is the particular flavor of RP you enjoy. If you're looking for a particular sort of story for your character (relationship/romance, fall to the Dark Side, an SG to take them in), consider adding that to the bio.
If Your Bio Contains: ((RP)) or [RPer] or (RP Character)
You are a roleplayer! Other players know they can adress your character IC if they wish, and you will respond in kind. Not much to say here.
If Your Bio Contains: ((MRP))
This could mean that RP with your character will explore some more mature themes, or it could mean you like playing Uno. If you're getting too many unwanted invitations to play Uno, consider clarifying with "MRP, no ERP" or "rated M for violence and dark themes", or something like that.
If Your Bio Contains: ((ERP))
You would like to play Uno. Not much to say here, either. Depending on the house rules you want, you could clarify with "Romantic storylines/ERP", or "dark ERP", or by any mentions of the character being dominant or submissive.
If Your Bio Contains: ((All RP))
You're interested in a wide variety of RP. People who do not wish to play Uno can RP with you safely. People who wish to play Uno can try chatting you up once they've exhausted their supply of characters marked ERP.
If Your Bio Contains: Literate/advanced/elite RPer
As far as I can tell, the expressions "literate RP" and "advanced literate RP" come from Gaia, where they're ostensibly meant to distinguish those RPers who insist on good spelling and grammar, but in practice come down to writing multiple paragraphs of needlessly elaborate descriptions, replacing normal words with "fancier" sounding ones (eyes -> "oculars", legs -> "pillars", hair -> "tresses". I am not making this up), and putting the entire thing in very small font and various interesting colors. If that's not your idea of good RP, consider using "proper English" or "good grammar & spelling" instead.
If Your Bio Contains: "WoD RPer", or any of the various V:tM clan names
Your character is a vampire. You are interested in playing a particular kind of vampire story, which includes the assumption that there exist a worldwide consipracy that keeps the existence of vampires secret from the common man. Leaving aside the discussion of how much this makes sense in the CoH setting, it basically means you don't want your character to be recognised as a vampire on sight, except by other vampires. You'll find fellow WoD players quite easily, but people playing under non-WoD systems (vampires, hunters or neither) may loudly declare you to be a vampire, or go "avampiresayswhat?", or make constant references to Twilight. (See also part 4.)
Part 2. Sir Not Appearing In This Bio
The things that are *not* in your bio speak as loudly as the things that are.
If Your Bio Contains: Nothing, or a "work in progress" note, or just "RP to find out"...
You're not giving other people a whole lot to work with. They have a name and a costume, and that's about it. You're not even giving them a "hook" to start a conversation on. Why should their character be interested in yours? Some will give it a whirl just to see if your characters click, others will avoid you. You'll get a very mixed bag of RP.
I'd also avoid things like "If you want to know about him, RP it out" or "There isn't a novel attached to my chest". In real life, there's a lot of information you can glean from a person, the way they sit, the quality of their clothes, the way they seek out or avoid eye contact. You don't need to give me your character's entire life story, but at least tell me what makes them *interesting*.
If Your Bio Contains: Poor spelling and grammar
You're saying that you don't particularly care about poses in RP being written well. This is good news for those people who don't care themselves. They know they can RP with you and you won't spend time nitpicking their typos. On the other hand, people who value correct English know to avoid playing with you if they want to spare themselves a headache. You may get messaged corrections.
If Your Bio Contains: Things that don't fit in the lore
The game is just a background for you to play your character in. You'll drop a canon name here or there, but you care more about playing the character you like than making them fit into the lore. People who similarly don't care about the lore will chat your character up, whereas players who insist on basing everything in lore will either avoid you or send you OOC messages explaining how you can't be a "princess of a Warshade planet" or a "former queen of the Crey".
Part 3. The dreaded stat block
Section: Stat block
Labels: random
Descriptions: short
Saves: space
Resembles: Rikti speak
If Your Bio Contains: Eye color
A good idea. Skin and hair color are pretty obvious from the character model, so there's no real point in putting them in the bio as well. Eye color, on the other hand, is not very visible, and sometimes the face that's ideal for the character has the wrong eye color. Use the right face, describe the eye color in the bio.
If Your Bio Contains: Weight and Height
Those are only really necessary if they give some additional information - if you have a really clear idea of what the character's body looks like, but can't represent it using the ingame sliders. Make sure you check the Photographic height/weight chart and see that the numbers you use correspond to the figure you have in mind.
These two fields are not mandatory. If you don't want to give your character a specific height and weight, just don't use them. Putting in something like "Height: as tall as she looks Weight: none of your damn business :P" is just kind of pointless.
If Your Bio Contains: Orientation and status (single/taken/engaged/married)
You will be assumed to be an ERPer unless stated otherwise. You will get invites to play Uno. Yes, even if your character's married.
If Your Bio Contains: Measurements or cup size
*Really* going to be assumed ERP unless stated otherwise.
If Your Bio Contains: A themesong
Personally, themesongs don't tell me anything, but then, I'm not very well-versed in music. It's entirely possible someone will look at the line "TS: 'I hate Mondays' - The Thrashing Gnoberts" and go "Wow, I love that song! This seems like a character I'd like to RP with!". I have no idea.
Part 4. Information and special abilities
I've lumped these two together, because there's a close relationship between important information about your character that you may or may not want to keep secret ("she's actually a vampire", "he pretends to be a hero but is actually a villain in disguise") and special abilities that aren't covered by the ingame powersets ("he's a vampire hunter who can tell who's a vampire", "she can read minds and discover who people really are").
In general, whether your character's abilities will figure into the RP is 100% up to the other player to decide.
A lot of special abilities seem to be a precautionnary measure against the sort of RP you don't want, for example giving your character complete immunity to mind control because you're not interested in mind control plots. This works well, but it also gives the impression you don't want your character to lose or be threatened in *any* way, and discourage people from coming up to you with *any* sort of conflict plot, not just mind-control. If the main reason you're giving your character mind-control immunity is to not let them be mind-controlled, consider just using an OOC note about "no mind control plots". Likewise, instead of "can sense demons and vampires, no matter how well-disguised", try "not interested in 'gotcha! I'm actually a demon/vampire!' type RP".
Remember that you are always within your rights to stop an RP if you don't like the way it's going. Trying to resolve a mind-control attempt IC with "blocks" or "it doesn't work on him" can spiral into mutual god-modding accusations. Just saying OOC "I'm not playing anymore, mind control is not fun" lets you establish your boundaries without escalating the conflict.
If Your Bio Contains: A description of special abilities
The stronger you make the abilities, the fewer people will want to RP with you and acknowledge them. If you are the strongest, the richest, or the smartest man in the world, any character who is strong, rich or smart will either have to acknowledge your character's superiority, or get into an imaginary one-upmanship match. *Very* few people in the D will want to acknowledge your character's superiority, especially if the trait is a key one for their characters.
Instead, why not try "one of the strongest/richest/smartest people in the world"? Other strong/rich/smart characters no longer feel threatened, and may in fact recognise yours from a weight lifting competition/cocktail party/lecture.You've changed an obstacle to RP into a RP hook.
For similar reasons, being "the queen of all demons" or "the leader of all Kheldians" or "the commander of all Arachnos" will get you less RP and more angry /tells. Being the leader of a particular division (especially if that division is also the SG you're leading) will get you more RP and interested recruits.
If your character's power affects others (skin is covered in a deadly toxin, appearance changes depending on who's looking, anything to do with pheromones), you'll get best results if you describe the power's effect on a regular human, and let other players figure out how exactly the power will work on their character. Engaging other people's imaginations will make them more likely to try RPing with you. Telling them exactly how you want your character to affect theirs will drive many away, and some will RP with you and make their character be completely unaffacted, just to be contrary.
It should be pretty obvious that any ability that would require another player to stop RPing their character when it's used successfully (instakill poison, taking the soul of anyone they play Uno with) is not going to be successfully used very often. Consider a milder, non-permament version (sickness, draining away quite a lot of strength) that a good RPer can turn into a mini-storyline.
If Your Bio Contains: Something you want to keep a secret
This is useless to good RPers, and a goldmine to metagamers. I'd suggest not putting anything about your character in the bio that you wouldn't expect to come up during a casual interaction with another character. If they are secretly the lost heir of a small European country, which you are planning on revealing in a suitably dramatic fashion in an upcoming storyline? Don't put in the bio. The best thing that happens is that everyone who RPs with you will ignore it. The worst thing is that a character with connections in the international intelligence community will make a few phone calls and hack into a database, and announce their "discovery" to the entire bar.
The exception is those things that will directly impact storylines, even if characters would not be aware of them. If your charming rich guy with no day job is actually a demon looking for more slaves for his harem, you need to let the other player know OOC. If they use the knowledge ingame, well, that makes them the bad RPer. If you lead them on with a whole romantic dating and engagement storyline before springing the reveal on them, that makes *you* the bad RPer.
If Your Bio Contains: Special perception powers
Superhuman smell, psi powers, magic sense, access to classified databases - those are all ways people can find out more about your character, and they make *great* RP hooks. Writing down how your character would be percieved by various senses can be a great way of developping them, and encourage others to approach them for a chat. Putting in vague or elusive answers is no better than "RP to find out more". If you find it gets too wordy (curse that 1024 character limit...) put in "send tell to find out things using smell/psi/magic/research skills". It does add a barrier of entry to people who want to get a non-visual impression of your character, but it shows you're willing to hand out RP hooks.
Also note in your bio which perception powers your character has, and at what strength. For my own characters, I generally tend to go for one of psi/magic/smell/databases, or two at a weaker level (faint empathy and also a moderately good sense of smell, or low ability to percieve magic and a knack for looking through newspaper archives). Any more than that and you basically have no reason to RP with anyone since your character knows all about them already.
If Your Bio Contains: Invisibility
For some reason, you want your character to be invisible. Maybe you like spying on other characters. Or maybe you're a stalker and are just RPing your ability to go undetected by most enemies in the game. You'd also like for your character to be undetectable by other means, either pre-emtively, or as part of an ongoing arms race with people who want their character to know your character is there.
You don't need to spend several paragraphs explaining how exactly your character is able to go completely unnoticed in all situations. Just note that your character *can* become undetectable, and leave it at that. Some people like to run plots where an invisble spy overhears important information, and will happily work you into the plot without any need for making your character specifically undetectable to them. Other players want to give their characters some real privacy, for any reason, and those players do not want you there anyway, no matter how much you insist that your character *can* sneak by.
Character index