Membership Character Creation and Apps

[Morrigan 1,826]

So something that is huge for me, I hate apps! I hate looking at them. Thinking about them. Maneuvering through them to find what bits go where. I blame it on laziness but really I just want to jump in and PLAY!

 

That being said I know that I have a basic formula for creating apps. From personality to appearance it's almost like it's math but with words.

Character name is XX tall with a blank figure.....

 

It's not always the same per character but the same details come across in every character in very similar ways.

 

My question for you is, do you have a method to your madness? Do you have a specific way that you write your apps especially when you're tired of writing them? Do you always write your apps in the same way or are they unique to each character?

 

For me they are all very similar for each character. The character themselves, the way they are played and think are unique but their resume is basically the same for all of them.

[Jacob 58]

My characters are always boys, prepubescent or adolescent, whose backgrounds are structured around the titular figure of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist.  I simply return to that principle and hack off the elements from where I last played my lad(die).  To me, their dead selves becomes staff' properties.  

 

Applications are a deal-breaker in my sparse game hunts.  Yet, by employing the switcheroo technique, I am able to draw up my fellows more quickly than expected.  Many owners do find the composition style archaic, but how I write is how I write.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Jacob

[Elena 546]

I have been writing bios for main and secondary characters in my stories long before knowing that RPGs exist and long before knowing that creative writing articles recommend them. I love bios, because they give the opportunity to get acquainted with the character, to understand him, and therefore to be able to write him consistently, without incoherences and... exactly how he is designed to be. Without a bio, I'd be stuck because I wouldn't know the character.

 

My characters' bios must have lots of details: appearance (well, not very detailed, but height, build, complexion, eye colour and hair colour), personality, including strengths and weaknesses and motivations, weapon training (since I am writing in a time where weapons were common) and favourite weapon, or, for those who play an instrument, which one. Foreign languages spoken (again, my stories have most of them an international component) and personal history (including names of family members, because he might remember some day something about his childhood and I don't want his sister to be named once Ana, another time Maria, then to tell someone that he is an only child). 

 

I think history is prominent in shaping personality and in making the character grow. When I write the personality and history I don't write them in order, but in a sort of shuttle, asking "why, how, when, where, how, with whom" questions. If the character needs a certain personality trait or piece of knowledge/ skill, I am asking how he has acquired it. If I say something had happened in his history (usually inspired by the historical circumstances of the moment), then I am asking how has it shaped him.

[Death Kitten 200]

I like writing a bio because it gives me a frame to stretch my idea on. Most of my characters start one of two ways: I have a crazy idea that I want you see happen (i.e. Tiny Ferengi woman in Starfleet), or there's a spot in a crew needs filling (i.e. This crew needs a pilot, and I haven't played an Andorian much. How can she be interesting? She likes waffles and botches human metaphor pretty bad).

 

The bio gives me a bunch of questions to answer, which makes me think about what the character is like. It makes me think about family, does the character get along with theirs? What skills got them where they are, what hobbies fill their down time, what big things happened in their life.

[Kit the Human 758]

I loathe apps so there must be something about the site that draws me to make me sit down and write an app.

 

My plan of attack is to read other accepted apps and hit the same kind of detail and tone they do.

 

How I tackle it is: roughly sketch the personality and then nut out the history. Then I revisit the personality. Back and forth a little because I have a particular character idea I want to develop but that hinges heavily on the history.

[Rune 1,099]

Not having an app makes the lorenut in me nervous. Given that with apps I've gotten some crazy stuff that makes no sense in the world, I generally assume that without them, there's insanity and no continuity. 

 

That said, I tend to do about 10 year chunks in my older characters. Childhood, how was it, teenage years, how was it, 20s, 30s, etc. Drawing it out longer depending on how old the character is. Younger ones, 20s and less, get a more simplistic history, focusing on relationships, etc. 

 

Descriptions are always vague if there's a faceclaim.

[EmCrisis 0]

Oh i know!  I hate apps too. some of these sites require to write a novel. to me that's ridiculous! We have a no app on my site--only a register thread where you are moved into a group once you post in the thread. i find its easier and people get into roleplaying faster.

[Verridith 66]

I am guilty of having way too much fun with my character apps. I tend to make custom-coded pages and get custom art for each one, haha! It takes a long time, and I haven't done it in a while, but the final effect is totally worth it.

[Indio 11]

On 12/24/2016 at 7:25 PM, Rune said:

Not having an app makes the lorenut in me nervous. Given that with apps I've gotten some crazy stuff that makes no sense in the world, I generally assume that without them, there's insanity and no continuity. 

 

100% agree with you there. In the last few years of being an admin I've come across some insane applications that had me asking where in the world this member gleaned their information from. Without an application to go over some basic information about the character, we would end up with some seriously overpowered wingnut characters running around.

 

I don't like applications that ask for appearance and I seem to get hung up on that the most, so I try and stay away from super specific applications. Also, application word counts are a no. I tend to write free form in first person, make a basic outline from childhood, schooling, and finally present times and then ramble through the rest. 

[Ferret 1]

Long applications are a turn off for me. I like to have the option of starting mostly blank (appearance, basics) because sometimes the character is still forming in my head and I need to thread with it to see how it will actually turn out. Sometimes I have a more concrete idea and will add that to the profile, but I often don't. I don't generally roleplay on complex sites where a detailed application is needed for screening out inappropriate characters.

[CovertSphinx 710]

I firmly believe that every character on the site needs a profile. This allows both staff and other members to get a quick feel for your character before threading with you. Also, in cases of "special abilities", keeps the making OP stuff on the fly to a minimum. I don't ask for tons of detail or 1,000 word count history fleshed out or anything like that, but I refuse anything less than the basic information necessary for the core of your character.

[Guest Archaic Cyborg]

My apps are written differently when it comes to tone; some are more 'serious', while others are light-hearted, but all contain the necessary details. I avoid passing things off as if it's no big deal, but if it really suits a character, I have a certain style for that. I have to set a standard for my games, so I wouldn't write a silly-toned app because I would require clearer facts rather than 'oh, he's awesome at killing monsters'. o rly? XD lmao.