What does your Bio say about you?

Bios are a funny thing. I put effort into them, some more than others. I'm usually pretty proud of my work.

My most recent and currently most active character is named Hellgirl. When it came time to write her up a bio I decided I'd just fill the box with nonsense until I thought to write something better and more descriptive/relevant. So I did. Here is what I'd come up with, more or less typed in five minutes.

Description: (RP)

"Hellgirl, apply directly to forehead."
"Hellgirl. Melts in your mouth, not in your hand."
"Like a good neighbor, Hellgirl is there."
"You can do it. Hellgirl can help."
"Hellgirl. So easy, a caveman can do it."
"There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Hellgirl."
"When you say Hellgirl, you've said it all."
"Hellgirl - I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"
"Doesn't your dog deserve Hellgirl?"
"Hellgirl: Have it your way."
"Bring out the Hellgirl, and bring out the best!"
"Keep that Hellgirl complexion."
"Hellgirl: Breakfast of Champions."
"The best tires in the world have Hellgirl written all over them."
"Hellgirl - don't leave home without it!"
"Easy, breasy, beautiful Hellgirl." "Hellgirl kills bugs dead."
"Hellgirl: Made from the best stuff on earth."
"I can't believe it's not Hellgirl."
"Hellgirl. Think outside the bun."
"You've got questions, we've got Hellgirl."
"Hellgirl, the other white meat."
"Don't get mad, get Hellgirl."

(The last six or so were added later at suggestions of others. I can't take credit for the whole list, not that the slogans are original. >.>)

Now, I know this bio is silly as all hell. (lol, pun) It wasn't supposed to be permanent. It was just to fill the space. But within two days of making it I'd received more comments on it than any other bio I've written in the past. And it's not like all my other bios were ignored, but it really seemed like once an hour I had someone complimenting this, or suggesting more for it. At first I was actually a little offended that stuff I put time into wasn't liked as much as this simple thing, but I pretty quickly moved passed that and realized this was perfect for my character's personality, and while not directly so, described her quite well. In other words, this five minute blurb was as perfect as anything else I could have written no matter how long I spent.

I guess what I'm saying is sometimes its best not to follow any format and just put up something that will draw attention. As long as it fits your character, in the end, that's the point of the bio in the first place. To show people who you are, and then bring people to you.

It really depends with me, when a character first starts out, I might just put down some basic stuff that has come to mind, more to help me remember an idea than anything else, and then flesh the bio out a bit more when the character has developed somewhat.

My finished bios tend to be a little bit of description or background in either a story form or like a file/dossier, kind of like the info you would get on a character in the first page of a comic book. And then I will usually add a few OOC/detail bullets for anything that could be noticeable or pertinent, but that you can't just show on the character model.

Honestly though, much of that is for my own use as I tend to be forgetful of details, and that helps me keep multiple characters sorted :P


As for the vampire bit, I do RP my scrapper as a vampire and she is based loosely on the WoD setting because I liked the concept. However, I do not use WoD "rules"(no idea what those are either, and the game has the mechanics in place to settle disputes anyway) nor do I adhere to the WoD lore, or even use WoD terminology in her description. Because, as has been mentioned, the secrecy and "hidden monsters" idea is kind of silly when you take into account everything else in the actual game lore. So, I borrow the concepts and ideas from WoD that I like and that can fit into City of without any real conflict of lore and go from there. And any powers/disciplines/abilities the character would have from the WoD concept, I make sure that I have an actual IN GAME power to replicate, instead of some assortment of additional "I can do this, and this and this too!" list.

Oh wow. This is good stuff, Gale. It should be stickied.

Also, I see I'll have to update a few bios, now.

A married character does not say that the player is into ERP. Or even if they do venture into ERP, that they're going to jump all over everyone on the team.

I have a married character. I don't say so in the bio because, frankly, it doesn't affect anyone I team with in a fighting situation. But, even if I did mention it in her bio don't get the idea that she's going to wink saucily at RandomHeroGuy and offer to do him behind the tram.

I vehemently disagree with married character = ERP assertion.

(Foghorn Leghorn voice: "Vehemently, I say, vehemently!")

Yes. But again, the claim is not that putting "Married" in your bio means that you want to play Uno. It's that putting "Married" in your bio will be interpreted by some people as meaning that you want to play Uno.

Which it will.

Don't blame the OP, blame those people.

I'm not going to be drawn into an argument about whether or not the OP assumes this or that.

I'm saying, in my opinion, that thinking a player is an ERPer based on a blurb in their bio saying the character is married is ridiculous. It's reaching at the very least. I disagree with this viewpoint.

Married means married, nothing more and nothing less.

I've got nothing more to add. This is just my opinion just as the list of bio etiquette is the OPs.

This should be moved into the Roleplaying forum and stickied!