Jump to content

Character Limits


Recommended Posts

I have a problem.

 

There is someone on this forum who knows very well about this problem.

 

My problem is I have no self control when it comes to making new characters. None. Not even a tiny bit. More specifically I can have upwards of 15-30 characters on a single board if I'm truly putting my all into a forum. You know I'm very much into the setting, people, and play, when I start going buck wild with character creation. 

 

This is also why I -do not- join sites with strict character limitations.I absolutely, one hundred percent, hate to be limited in any way, shape, or form in how many characters I can have. I don't have an issue being told I have to have so many posts on the previous new character, or that they all have to be active to a certain degree, because, usually, all of my characters are active to some degree..yes...even if I have 20 of them. 

 

What is your stand point on this? Do you mind being limited? Do you prefer the limitation? Why?

As a staff member do you prefer to limit your members? What is your reasoning behind this limitation?

W9QVrMj.png

BABOS-A laid back survival roleplay-Coming soon!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No limits, please.  I feel so boxed in by limits.  What if I have five characters and then I have an awesome idea for a sixth, or I want to make a character for someone else, and now I can't?  Bummer.  I won't join sites that have limits, but like @anthrxmilkshake, I'll join sites that require X number of posts before making a new one.

 

Another thing to note is that I won't play my characters evenly.  I have primary characters and secondary characters.  I refuse to join boards where you have to post with all your characters a certain number of days or weeks or months or whatever.  Maybe I made a character for someone else, and I only want to play them with that specific character.  Or maybe I made a character but his opportunity for further development hasn't come upon him.  Or maybe I made characters when I had more time, and now I don't have as much, but I plan on playing him more when I get an extra few minutes.  It doesn't matter.  As long as I'm not actively threading and holding people up, that is; that's another issue.

 

Once I joined a site that had no character limit, and each character was in only one thread at a time.  (It had a very linear plot.)  So I ended up with like 12 characters, and people were freaking out because that was just too many even though I was active with them all.  The administrator put a limit to my characters (and mine alone) privately so I couldn't make more unless I removed one of them.  I had a moderator who, even when I could still have more characters within my limit, refused to approve me.  And ultimately I was blamed for the death of the site because when other people went inactive, guess who happened to be in all the threads?  Me. Despite the fact that I was active and really wanted to post (but couldn't because the other person wasn't active, and I couldn't move my character into a new thread because only one thread at a time), it all fell upon me. [/ramble ramble]

 

(As a side note, I have a million stories about the shit I dealt with on other boards because I wasn't very good at identifying toxic people, so if you're like "Another thread where Uaithne mentions asshole people????" that's why.  Well live and learn.  Or don't.  Live and deal and suffer, and then maybe somewhere down the line, learn.)

  • I read this! 3
  • Agree 1

WoL___dark01.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My only limitation on sites I run is that the extra characters don't get in the way. What I mean by that is, if they're not used often are they preventing from someone else being able to write a character they want to write? I run a star trek game, we have a crew with limited number of positions available, so say if someone is going to take my only infiltration officer spot, they have to be active enough that I can honestly say to someone else that the spot is filled. I can't say that if someone parked a character there, but never writes with them. But if no one is clamoring for that spot? Write as often or not as you like.

 

As for joining a site? I'll happily create character after character if allowed, but I don't mind if I'm not allowed to.

  • I read this! 4
  • Agree 1

Emperor468x60.png.b7bb87f952ee0dcc7a97150c6258c8f9.png

Captain Amelia Waterhouse, Commanding Officer

=/\= Join =/\= Roster & Openings =/\= Rules =/\= Chat =/\=

"It is human nature to yearn to be what we were never intended for. It is singular, but it is so." -Mark Twain

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Uaithne - Yeah I get what you're saying there. The only real activity thing I don't mind is when they require site integrated or canon characters to be relatively active for the sake of others. Otherwise my characters may or may not be the ones I'm posting with right now. I may feel one WAY more than another, and will back to back post with one, while a post for another may wait a few days.

 

Another of my pet peeves are freaking activity checks...but I'll save that rant for another day XD

 

@SithLordOfSnark Holy crap I thought I had a character hording problem. XD

W9QVrMj.png

BABOS-A laid back survival roleplay-Coming soon!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not going to lie.  I just went and clicked through sites in @SithLordOfSnark's signature until I found the character list with 200 characters.  And oh, it is glorious.

  • I read this! 1
  • Love 1
  • LOL 2

WoL___dark01.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, SithLordOfSnark said:

 

OMG. Did you seriously? hahahaha.

 

Heck yes.  And man, I have to question your sanity, buddy.  Five sites with over 200 characters on one site?  You should get some sort of medal for that.

  • Agree 1

WoL___dark01.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Death Kitten said:

My only limitation on sites I run is that the extra characters don't get in the way. What I mean by that is, if they're not used often are they preventing from someone else being able to write a character they want to write? I run a star trek game, we have a crew with limited number of positions available, so say if someone is going to take my only infiltration officer spot, they have to be active enough that I can honestly say to someone else that the spot is filled. I can't say that if someone parked a character there, but never writes with them. But if no one is clamoring for that spot? Write as often or not as you like.

 

As for joining a site? I'll happily create character after character if allowed, but I don't mind if I'm not allowed to.

 

I wholeheartedly agree.

 

I am for no limits, but keep your characters active when they are needed in the story! You have a character on an island which isn't highlighted right now in our story? No problem if she is inactive as long as the story doesn't need her. You have a pirate, and it's a battle and your pirate is nowhere written? WHere could he hide when the battle is roaring, shouldn't he be at duty? Worse, do you have a leader? Bring him to give the needed orders! 

 

You have a character who is in a few threads? Keep him active until finishing those threads. If he isn't needed afterwards, he can rest for a while...

  • I read this! 1
  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not a fan of limits either. I have almost 25 on my site and I keep them all active! that's really the only rule we have on my site, that if you make a character you're expected to keep it active so you're not just hoarding faces/abilities/important positions, because that's just not fair on other people who may want them. If you're posting at least once with each character between our Activity Checks (which are only once every 3 months) then you're safe.

 

I don't like to limit anyone's creativity, hence the no limit.

  • I read this! 1
Find me on my sites!
The Next Incantation :: The Last Island
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Archaic Cyborg

I used limits and never ran into any issues; in my usual haunts a limit or fandom cap is used so a single player can't hog multiple main canons. There are always players who want to claim the main cast of fandom X, either for bragging rights or for selfish plots (writing slash between the two main heroes). Secondly, it gives other players a bigger part in the game, because if one person had 5 main canons and goes AFK... the game stalls. (note that staff NPCing said roles isn't a thing here)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made a character limit once. Well, I was part of a 6 man staff team at that point and they were all in agreement. We set a rule of 7 chars max, unless you have all of them in at least one recent thread. This was set entirely because of a single person, who created characters prolifically, did one thread with them, and then never touched the character again. The fact that there were several members with almost a dozen characters who were also starting to get a little ADD (including myself to an extent) and only posting with, say, 2 of them at all in several months was just a comfort buffer for the decision.

 

We had also set up "activity" checks where every three months staff (okay okay, I) would poke the character name into search and see when the last use of the character was. If it was more than three or four months, I would PM the member and ask if they still wanted to keep the character, or if I could move it to the inactive board and free up one of their slots. If the member themselves were absentee, I just auto-moved the profile.

 

 

 

Eventually we all decided that neither of these options really worked as they were intended, and disbanded those rules. And I'll never impose char limits or a char checks ever again.

 

OnyxSiggy1.jpg.c76f2c1acc64a865bdf5164f4c085020.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I pretty much agree with @Uaithne and @Elena

 

I trust we're all adults and know how many characters we can handle. If you're unable to keep up with all your plots, I trust you to work out how to wrap things up or bow out. I also don't think all characters should always be active. If some are on the side lines for reasons, that's fine.

 

@Blackjack Bart my opinion on character limits changes with canons for the reason you mentioned. I haven't really come up with a solution that I'm comfortable with.

 

But I don't do claims. I can't help but wonder if there's a correlation between your feelings on character limits and your feelings on face claims.

  • I read this! 2

 

sig.png.30b42565d04d922988370bf14e1447bc.png

PSI: an Occult Investigations RP

Roleplay Architects: Grab a friend (or many friends!) and just write.

You can also find me at:

static-historicalrp.jpg  B8CB4x.png rpabutton.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah... I have 75 characters on my own site - it's crazy, I know. Therefore I'd be a hypocrite if I limit others! I also don't see the problem with having a character "in the wings" and ready to put into play when the right opportunity comes around. So I don't like limitations, not even the "x amount of posts" per character thing. 

  • I read this! 1

[Image: 596681d458799_NewLogo.png.581b0fb709d0e4...420b58.png]

An established, non canon, Dragon Age RP
Avatar art by
coupleofkooks

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My problem is sometimes I'm not feeling a storyline, or a personality, or the personalities around it, which may leave me feeling bored, and not sure what to do, so I make a new character with a new personality, and it gives me a new branch to play on. In most cases this kickstarts my creativity and I end up RPing all around again. I've never had so many characters I didn't post some of them. Once in a while I have a character just made for someone else, or in a specific story, or just not in my head much, and I won't post them for a while...but everyone I RP with knows I "Follow my muse", as I put it, which means I bounce from charrie to charrie following who speaks to me. I hate having to force posts because than it comes out crappy.

  • Love 1

W9QVrMj.png

BABOS-A laid back survival roleplay-Coming soon!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, anthrxmilkshake said:

Once in a while I have a character just made for someone else, or in a specific story,

I do this all the time! And not just because I am an admin, I do it at other sites too. ^^

 

1 hour ago, anthrxmilkshake said:

and I won't post them for a while...but everyone I RP with knows I "Follow my muse", as I put it, which means I bounce from charrie to charrie following who speaks to me. I hate having to force posts because than it comes out crappy.

This too! Sometimes it just needs to be out of your head, then when it's right you toss them in the RP mix. ^^ I also bench some of mine, sometimes to wait for others to catch up in the plot and sometimes because I need a break from them (am thinking of the intense characters, mostly the murderers and rapists...)

[Image: 596681d458799_NewLogo.png.581b0fb709d0e4...420b58.png]

An established, non canon, Dragon Age RP
Avatar art by
coupleofkooks

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Guidelines and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.