Comments on: Ask Anna – Help for a “boring” character

By: Duerma

Duerma — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:14:07 +0000

Siouxsie sounds like a great character! She just needs a little bit more mileage. As has been suggested, try to seek out other RPers and events to just interact with other people. Check your realm forums and also WoW roleplaying sites such as http://dramatis-personae.com to track stuff down.

Another thing you might try is latching onto a particular quest line and get REALLY into it. Maybe your character was REALLY affected by the Wrathgate. Maybe Siouxsie is questing on the Isle of Quel’Danas and discovers that one of the Wretched she has to kill is a childhood friend. Maybe she is so awed by being in the presence of Alexstrasza that she decides to become a servitor of the Wyrmrest Accord. Maybe when she reaches the end of a Nesingwary chain, instead of feeling relieved, maybe she feels proud of her accomplishments as a hunter. WoW’s lore is incredibly rich and you should be able to find something that piques your interest.

Here’s my example, maybe to get you thinking: My druid was kind of bland, and then I decided that she was really affected by AQ40. She really DID start believing all those things that C’thun whispers to you while you’re in there. This led her to grow discontent and mistrustful of her friends and colleagues, and she eventually ran off to join the Twilight’s Hammer. While among them, she learned arcane magic and was so enthralled with it that she had a hard time letting it go when she came to her senses. What does a pre-Cataclysm aspiring night elf mage do? She decided to go hang out with the Shen’Dralar. Some RP with friends convinced her to return to druidism and rejoin the Alliance. Now she harbors a deep sense of guilt for everything that she did, and she kinda freaks out in Old Kingdom and the end of Ulduar. With the exception of the ending, all of that was solo RP based on in-game content.

Sean’s suggestion of answering basic questions about your character is a good one too. I like using the questionnaire at http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/character_questionnaire.php – it’s retardedly long (ie, 300+ questions), but it asks pretty much anything you might need to know about a character. Scan it over and see if it gets your mind going!

By: Aestiah Firestorm

Aestiah Firestorm — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:11:13 +0000

You have a great character so far with a unique personality that would interest any role player with a bit of interaction. As Anna already said, many times you have to take the initiative of approaching them instead of waiting for them to approach you. If you wait, you’ll end up in situations like the Death Knight and other awkward moments.

Have your character roam various cities where role players are known for hanging and ‘come across’ various scenarios. Join in or watch while offering background commentary. I know a character on my server that receives a ton of role play just by walking around the fountain all day. People approach her wondering if she’s insane and RP starts from there. Role playing by yourself also has a large advantage, too. It shows your character is there and ‘Hey, if you happen to be nearby, feel free to say something!’

If you’re as shy as me, it won’t be easy, but the benefits are worth it in the end.

By: Apple

Apple — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:00:01 +0000

My favourite character that I never RP (*sobs* Why must she be on a non-RP server? I should roll her on my RP server…) is my holy paladin, Lisan. The most notable part of her history is that she was raised by the church. Not because her parents were killed in some horrible tragedy, but because her family was just too poorly off for another child, and their local priest offered to take her to be raised in Stormwind. Other than that… she became a paladin because she wanted to be able to protect people, and a healer because that seems to be her strength. Her backstory is short, plain, and simple. And VERY boring.

But her personality is just so amazing and fun. She can be really cranky sometimes, and she’ll often complain about the idiocy of the people she’s keeping alive, and threaten to stop healing them if they don’t stop being idiotic, but she never does. She comes across, while working, as a crabby, humourless person, but you get her at the pub or relaxing and she’s snarky, fun, and loves to laugh.

Basically, if I were judging my RP quality by how interesting the BACKSTORY for Lisan is, I would be a seriously crappy RPer. But she really is an interesting, fun, layered character – it’s just in the playing of her, not in her history. So take heart! Siouxie sounds like she’d be a fun, interesting character to get to RP with.

By: Tsani

Tsani — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:17:01 +0000

Take a look at Anna’s Friday Five lists. It will take a lot of time, but you don’t have to do them all. They help a lot to get a feel for your character because they make you think about how your character would react -before- it happens ingame. Even something as simple as “What drink can I buy for you?” had me puzzled behind the keyboard once. What was my character’s favourite drink? Hurray for being a Draenei on Azeroth soil, which made a complete cluelessness about Azeroth foods and drinks believable.
Siouxie’s background and personality sound absolutely fine for a character that is just starting on her path to adventure. She has a very solid template with lots of room to grow. Sure, she may not know much about the other races in the Horde yet, but when she learns more about them that may change a lot. My view of the Forsaken went all over the spectrum on my Horde toons as I did quests for them. She has her perks (hairdresser’s most favourite customer, sweet tooth) and it looks like you did your best to avoid Mary Sue City.
Just a hint of advice: when someone comes along who talks about marriage or spending the night after barely getting to know your name… grab the nearest mage by his or her robes and ask for a portal to as far away as you can! Even mom’s romance novels should be better than that. *shudder*

By: Sean Riley

Sean Riley — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:35:15 +0000

Here’s an old trick I learned from my tabletop role-playing days to get a head for a character and develop their voice.

What angers your character more than anything?
What frightens your character more than anything?
What brings out your character’s most noble side?

Be specific, not general. Choose well-defined triggers than can come up in gameplay. You want to USE these.