IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - Printable Version +- Beasts of Beyond (https://beastsofbeyond.com) +-- Forum: OOC Resources (https://beastsofbeyond.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3) +--- Forum: Helpful Hub (https://beastsofbeyond.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=15) +--- Thread: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? (/showthread.php?tid=9062) Pages:
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Re: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - axiom - 01-28-2019 (01-28-2019, 01:33 AM)whirly bird. link Wrote: [align=center]
^^ this is basically why i voted no.
Re: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - COSMIIX - 01-28-2019 (01-28-2019, 01:33 AM)whirly bird. link Wrote: dittoing this cause ain't nobody got time for that Re: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - toboggan - 01-28-2019 here’s my way of seeing things. for one, it would eliminate the characters who want to be vague, and mysterious. how could one write a mini-snapshot about their new character if their character’s traits are supposed to be as bleary as possible? characters like that develop icly, not oocly. it allows the community to learn about the character over time. to force someone to play a character in a way that’s not up to them, such as make a biography for someone if they don’t want to, is a big no-no. bob’s one of those sites where people should come to write their feelings away and express themselves - and even as small as this change would be, it’s just a needless extra-step for everyone’s creativity. this change would not have an effect on me. i love writing bios for my characters. but i know this to be not the case for everyone. and for the sake of that, i’ll be a no. Re: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - Orion - 01-28-2019
Agreeing with all of the statements above in support of no requirement. I’ll keep my post short because I don’t want to just keep repeating what’s already and instead offer some of my own insight. I feel like requiring these puts a block on creativity. Having staff approve characters would seem as gatekeeping and cause people to run, especially when their applications aren’t peered through quick enough. For those of us with a larger amount of characters/OCs, this would be troubling. Writing 1000 essays on why your character is mischievous or about a tragic past might just be beating a dead horse at that point. Sometimes developing things ICly through reveals over time is more developmental like Toboggan mentioned. The mystery aspect is lost. Speaking from my own experience, I had more fun developing a character that was just an idea within my head. This is how I ended with two of my favorite and most well known BoB characters, Stryker and Guru. Along with another OC of mine known as Fragilepast also started out that way.... but what about the character’s that have biographies? I have 13 subaccounts. Two of those are no longer used human roleplay accounts and the other two are the characters I mentioned previously with no biographies. Out of those accounts that have biographies, I have yet to play them. Perseus, Rambeau, Flaw, Abraxas, and more are practically untouched, despite their nicely developed biographies. I don’t know why I lost the appeal, it’s really a mystery to me tbh. Biographies =/= well-made characters. To sum it up, what I’m saying is that not everyone functions the same. While some of us prefer biographies, it’s not idea for others. That is why I’m against required biographies as a whole. [Mobile, please excuse me for any errors] Re: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - Quill - 01-28-2019 (01-27-2019, 11:18 PM)Jiyu Simul Stamus link Wrote: I have a question about issues that could arise dependent on how detailed the biographies have to be. As most places were I have seen biographies required the bios are never updated so players go to plot and get incorrect information because things changed about the character and the bio was never updated to reflect that. Would there be a way to remedy this here? In our perspective, the bios would not have to be very detailed. They're essentially the Tags system that we already have on site, only with a provided code so they're more standardized in information and or slight layout. It wouldn't be a drastic change from what we already have on site. Also, we wouldn't be judging necessarily on quality or depth, only to make sure that the character is legal (ie, has all the powers they say they do, and don't have powers or colorations/mutations that don't exist), and has some sort of personality developed. It wouldn't be that restrictive at all,nor would it limit the creativity of a player. It's the exact same thing we already have, in a sense, just more standardized for the whole site! I would imagine that updating as plots go along would be an essential element of this bios- think of it like a regular plotting thread with an introduction paragraph, for a lack of a better analogy. It wouldn't be anything too drastic. Also briefly (because I'm catching a bus in an hour and don't have a lot of time to go in depth), I don't see how it would limit personalities that are intentionally vague or mysterious- the same platform still exists to write a character how you want to write it- IE, examplefriend doesn't tend to show his emotions on his face. People may get the inclination that he's stone cold or a 'bad boy', but his personality never quite seems to match up with his actions...." and so forth. I realize that this might be a deal breaker for some, and the concerns around biographies daunting creativity may be valid for some, but this is also more or less a trial run. We can enact it for a time, and if something doesn't work, we can fix it as we go- this wouldn't be a one and done deal. When considering the idea of 'staff approved', It's more in the sense that we're making sure that characters are legal and nothing more, as well as getting a better sense of what sort of characters are already on-site so we can better develop plots and ideas! Re: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - toboggan - 01-28-2019 in my honest opinion, if someone is unsure if something is legal or not, they should just ask. if someone is unsure of someone else’s legality, they should just ask staff. it saves a lot more time and resources in being a responsible person, rather than instating a forced “staff approved” system. in my eyes, the proposed system isn’t the exact same thing that’s currently on the site. right now, nobody is forced to write tags for their characters. the tags from premade shops are a luxury available for our use if we want to, and i’d feel much more comfortable if this was kept at a “if we want to” level. i understand where this concern is arising from. you don’t want stuff to get out of hand power-wise, and you want everybody to understand everyone else for plot convenience. but honestly, it’s just unnecessary. i’ve never experience trouble plot-wise when roleplaying with a character that didn’t have a bio. and i have never thought little of someone for not having a bio. when i’m in doubt about my characters (such as the use of a power), i just ask instead of implementing whatever i’ve thought up into my character. maybe just remind people. remind them that, when in doubt, ask. easy. Re: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - pallid-i - 01-28-2019
What tobo said, and if it's like the tag system that's on the site, then why even implement the feature? Most people write tags for their characters already, it's just a small percentage of the community that doesn't. It seems kind of redundant. Re: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - Jiyu Simul Stamus - 01-28-2019 There is also the high chance that required personality doesn't work without enforced punishment for not keeping it updated or playing different than is written. Plus like some other's mentioned OOC focus can take away from a game like this one, for instance Jiyu's crush on Rosemary started out as a completely IC thing that I may not have explored otherwise, something amazing that could have been lost had I been strolling through plot threads for a romance for her instead of happening to find she IC found rose attractive and that rose was persistent enough to break through her barriers enough for Jiyu to fall in love. Plus Jiyu is literally the only character I've ever had who legit had a developed personality I could write down when I started playing them. So this system would completely eliminate the player base who don't like to go through setting the character's persona in stone before playing them, which is a massive limit on creativity in my opinion. I wouldn't have made Masie if this was a thing when I made her. Re: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - spacexual - 01-28-2019 basically dittoing everything said before me about why i voted no + a little addition from myself (which i know some points have been touched on but i tried to make mine still different) people roleplay in different ways. there will be people who make bios for their characters before playing them because that's how they work. if someone feels better planning out their character(s) before beginning to write them, then that's on them. that's how they function and that's how they WILL function, whether there is a system enforcing them to make biographies or not. the same can be said for the other side - the people who feel better jumping in with characters without too much planning or thought behind them. they will post with the character and develop them based off of that, because this is how they function. making them create biographies will, i believe, just make it harder for them to create characters they can stick with. i actually function better this way - figuring out a character as i write them. i always have VERY basic ideas before i begin, but they change based off how things go. the ONLY time i've ever stuck to a planned character was with goldenluxury - one time. i've tried to many times plan out characters for roleplay, even after sticking with goldenluxury, and this is the first and only time i have ever been able to keep at it. forcing people to function in a way they normally cannot will harm the site. i absolutely see where this idea is coming from. i know it is just an idea to hopefully help the site, but in my eyes, it will do more harm than good. i understand entirely that these biographies can be vague, have incredibly little detail; maybe not even have a personality attached, but this does not change the fact that they can prove to be a problem. plus, it feels a bit redundant to require biographies but then only have people write out very limited details. that isn't planning (which, from what i understand, is a big part of why this idea is brought up), that's describing the very basics of a character and it only wastes time both for the staff and for the roleplayers, in my opinion. Re: IMPORTANT: Should we require biographies? - Orion - 01-30-2019
This poll is now CLOSED. Thank you for voting! We will continue on as per usual and not require any biographies, especially to the overwhelming vote against it. |