BIKINI DAY!!

[Hank McCoy]

This is, Sapphire, categorically not about criticizing those people already on their way. It's about helping those who are having difficulty making their characters work on a day-to-day basis.

And it's a little bit about having fun (sometimes at people's (like Toad's) expense) and bribing people to contribute along the way.

[Panthera]

Yes, and I still need help along the way myself as I would to interact with others. I value you and others opinions as well and welcome criticism to make my character even better. And if I can help others in any way, I am more than willing to try. ;D

[piotr]

I think one of the biggest problems is that people choose a character type who finds it hard to interact with other character types. I myself actually made this mistake. Piotr isn't a front and center person. He isn't the guy you see in the center of a major plot, despite his enormous stature.

Also, Piotr is quiet. Very quiet. He keeps everything in his own thoughts instead of on his tongue. He doesn't really want to talk about anything, and at a point with so few plots really going on, there isn't much to talk about in the first place.

Indeed, what Beast said in the first post about not knowing the characters prior to arrival has ruined me a bit as well. The drama is really starting to unfold with characters who were notably close to canon Piotr (Kitty especially, but also Kurt, Bobby, and Logan/Ororo).

The current state of things could have made a great atmosphere for an angsty Piotr, provided he knew the other characters more intently. As it stands, Piotr is going to become less involved with other characters and more involved with bigger plots (dealing with mutant prisons). That could lead to more canon plots (Acolytes), but it probably won't lead to much interaction on the psychological level (which is really much more fun, IMO).

So, I've certainly made some mistakes that were touched on by Dr. McCoy. Hopefully someone who hasn't joined but is reading this won't make those same mistakes.

[psylocke]

Don't worry, everyone makes those mistakes. Part of it has to do with trepidation. I know starting a here is intimidating. Everyone seems to have something going on, and it can seem difficult to get into any kind of plot.

I might be mistaken, but the Acolytes have it harder in this respect than the X-Men.

(and that picture of Betsy is just so perfect!)

[Kenny Orion]

I'd like to interact with others as well, I've always want someone that i can have friend for good storylines.

[snake]

The character types thing is an excellent point Piotr.

For instance, Adam is honestly a villain, and far more villainous then the misunderstood Brotherhood (they are more people with DIFFERENT ideals then real villains), while Adam, or Stryfe, or anyone along those lines, definately fall into the catagory of "People who will do you harm."

I typically play excellently as a villain, heroes are my thing to, but I tend to lean towards real villains, moreso.

This makes it hard on a large board like Xrevolved.

[Hank McCoy]

piotr said:

I think one of the biggest problems is that people choose a character type who finds it hard to interact with other character types. I myself actually made this mistake. Piotr isn't a front and center person. He isn't the guy you see in the center of a major plot, despite his enormous stature.

Also, Piotr is quiet. Very quiet. He keeps everything in his own thoughts instead of on his tongue. He doesn't really want to talk about anything, and at a point with so few plots really going on, there isn't much to talk about in the first place.

Absolutely. I agree and it's one of the points I tried to make to Adam. I think there are two effective ways I've seen to handle a loner/withdrawn type: One is to make a pseudo-loner like Logan is... He only thinks he's a loner. Classic example of this for the character is the scene in the first X-Men movie where he drives off and leaves Rogue standing in the snow...then stops....probably curses out loud...and comes back. The second is that even with a shy non-interactive *character* you can handle a wealth of information in the narration that clues us in on what the character is thinking and what might be showing in their eyes and on their face. Believe it or not, that's more than enough for a decent RPer to play against and you still have the shy, withdrawn character trait intact.

piotr said:

Indeed, what Beast said in the first post about not knowing the characters prior to arrival has ruined me a bit as well. The drama is really starting to unfold with characters who were notably close to canon Piotr (Kitty especially, but also Kurt, Bobby, and Logan/Ororo).

The current state of things could have made a great atmosphere for an angsty Piotr, provided he knew the other characters more intently. As it stands, Piotr is going to become less involved with other characters and more involved with bigger plots (dealing with mutant prisons). That could lead to more canon plots (Acolytes), but it probably won't lead to much interaction on the psychological level (which is really much more fun, IMO).

So, I've certainly made some mistakes that were touched on by Dr. McCoy. Hopefully someone who hasn't joined but is reading this won't make those same mistakes.

Ah, but here's the beauty of what we're doing here. Nothing's set in stone. If you want to change it....change it. Reinvent what isn't working and clue somebody in. It's no different than if you left in defeat and someone else took over the character. This isn't about rigid continuity. It's about people who enjoy the X-Men getting together and having fun writing stuff in a collaborative medium. Christine had a very strong place and history here and recently chose to reinvent herself anyway. If you look at the Light Workout (2) thread we explained it away in just a couple of posts. Now, it's a whole new ballgame.

[Hank McCoy]

psylocke said:

Don't worry, everyone makes those mistakes. Part of it has to do with trepidation. I know starting a here is intimidating. Everyone seems to have something going on, and it can seem difficult to get into any kind of plot.

Yeah, that's why I'm doing this and bribing people to come along. If we talk about it, we can fix it. If we don't....it stays the way it is.

[Hank McCoy]

snake said:

The character types thing is an excellent point Piotr.

For instance, Adam is honestly a villain, and far more villainous then the misunderstood Brotherhood (they are more people with DIFFERENT ideals then real villains), while Adam, or Stryfe, or anyone along those lines, definately fall into the catagory of "People who will do you harm."

I typically play excellently as a villain, heroes are my thing to, but I tend to lean towards real villains, moreso.

This makes it hard on a large board like Xrevolved.

Once again...it's not entirely the character type's fault - nor the size of the board. It's how you choose to implement villainy. Truth is...everyone needs someone to play against or no one (literally) will read your scenes. There is no reason for them to. Being a villain is fine but being a villain alone is simply ...alone. Literally and literarily.

You're right about the fact that many of the characters here aren't true evil-for-evil's sake villains...but some of them have the same traits. Personally, I think the characters who aren't strictly villains or who have understandable motivations are a lot more interesting. Magneto, for instance, operates as a brooding withdrawn loner but he is surrounded by others. At this point, he's actually more of a forgotten presence than an active character but that's going to change and the point remains in any case. Sabretooth has gone from straight villain on a journey toward something more human and with connections to several of the other characters...and now he's back on a more savage path. Without the process the character has been through he's simply "that guy that fights Logan". That kind of goes nowhere fast after a while without something more. As it stands, it makes me wonder what will happen with him next because it seems like several options are open.

I love the way Wanda has played with my mind a few times, making me wonder in her observations and internal thoughts what she's really up to. It creates a suspense about what she's capable of and the sense that when Callie's innocently showing her around I as the reader know something Callie doesn't. Whether or not it's villainy, it's dark and it plays really, really well.

[slim]

I thought I was the guy that fights Logan!

I find playing Scott a bit difficult because I'm a bit of a perfectionist and want to know exactly what my character is supposed to know about... everything. I don't want to hurt someone's feeling by not having Scott know that the person is is cousin's sister's former lover's dogwalker. (Exaggeration.) Actually, I found people asking Scott "Where were you!" a bit frustrating, cause he wasn't me when he disappeared! Therefore I turned around and asked Xavier the same question just for revenge! Mwuahaha!

All this is too say that playing a major character is quite a bit intimidating! But I'm glad for the chance.

[Hank McCoy]

Definitely stepping into someone else's shoes is not easy. Especially when the player before had specific (and maybe very good) ideas about the character and they're not necessarily the way you see them or are able to play them. Kitty, Nightcrawler, Jean, Professor X, Colossus, Magneto...all of those characters (and maybe more) have had to go through the very same thing and make choices about what the characters remember and what they don't.

I think trying to step in as if nothing has ever happened is probably the toughest way to go about it.

I know what you mean when you said "major character". Of course taking on the role of a more recognizable character is more intimidating. But, philosophically the notion that any character is more major than another is something I think I disagree with. It's only a matter of how much chance they've been given to tell their story. Someone said to me something about being surprised I would make a picture of a minor character and I told them (as I believe) that none of the characters are minor. They are all as interesting and vital as we choose to make them here. We just have to figure out how.

[scarletwitch]

beast said:

Once again...it's not entirely the character type's fault - nor the size of the board. It's how you choose to implement villainy. Truth is...everyone needs someone to play against or no one (literally) will read your scenes. There is no reason for them to. Being a villain is fine but being a villain alone is simply ...alone. Literally and literarily.

You're right about the fact that many of the characters here aren't true evil-for-evil's sake villains...but some of them have the same traits. Personally, I think the characters who aren't strictly villains or who have understandable motivations are a lot more interesting. Magneto, for instance, operates as a brooding withdrawn loner but he is surrounded by others. At this point, he's actually more of a forgotten presence than an active character but that's going to change and the point remains in any case. Sabretooth has gone from straight villain on a journey toward something more human and with connections to several of the other characters...and now he's back on a more savage path. Without the process the character has been through he's simply "that guy that fights Logan". That kind of goes nowhere fast after a while without something more. As it stands, it makes me wonder what will happen with him next because it seems like several options are open.

I love the way Wanda has played with my mind a few times, making me wonder in her observations and internal thoughts what she's really up to. It creates a suspense about what she's capable of and the sense that when Callie's innocently showing her around I as the reader know something Callie doesn't. Whether or not it's villainy, it's dark and it plays really, really well.

Flattery so is the way to a girl's heart.

If I might say something on all of this....as if I were really asking for permission.

I came into this new, like I don't do the whole "RP" thing, let alone on the internet, but I get how it works and I also write. So how I plan all of it out is just like that...I get an idea in my head and then I PM the person/persons I want involved in it to run it by them.

Sometimes things don't work out, and hopefully their involvement will change how things turn out so that it is a joint effort, but I have noticed huge differences in my posts when I know where I want it to go....and when I'm just going with the flow.

So that's my advice, know what you want to say. And then you can tweak it, maybe even conceal it, since there is nothing more intriguing than not saying something but leaving clues for the reader to find. But you have to know what that thing is before you start the trail of crumbs!!!

Thanks for listening...err reading, this rant.

[Hank McCoy]

scarletwitch said:

Sometimes things don't work out, and hopefully their involvement will change how things turn out so that it is a joint effort, but I have noticed huge differences in my posts when I know where I want it to go....and when I'm just going with the flow.

I think I only started plotting (this being my first game of this sort and me being really intimidated at the start) when it became clear that nobody else in a succession of scenes was plotting. Somebody had to get us out of that mess.

scarletwitch said:

So that's my advice, know what you want to say. And then you can tweak it, maybe even conceal it, since there is nothing more intriguing than not saying something but leaving clues for the reader to find. But you have to know what that thing is before you start the trail of crumbs!!!

Thanks for listening...err reading, this rant.

There is one thing possibly more intriguing to me....and that's having the character say one thing and having their body language and internal monologue say something entirely different. Guess why I like your posts? But still, having a decent idea of who your character is becomes pretty essential.

And that's the big trouble with some OCs. Bad enough if the rest of us don't know 'em...but if the creator doesn't either....BIG TROUBLE.

[Callie]

hee, Callie pic rocks, thanks hon!

I definitely agree, you need to know your character before you do anything - maybe there are some things that you, along with everyone else, will discover as you go along - I know I know far more about Callie now then I did when I first started playing her (that was about three years ago mind), because characters sometimes expand themselves.
But, if you don't know enough about your character to know why they do what they're doing, things just aren't going to go well.
It's a bit lengthy, but filling out this character form can really expand your character, really fleshes them out because it makes you think about all the details, past, present, preferences - everything.

For example, say I'd just brought Callie in, and I wanted to join in a scene at a library. Seems all fine and dandy on paper and I can just bring her on in.
But, here's the issue - Callie doesn't read, she's never finished a book in her life, she's not even very good at it, there is no reason for her to be in a library.
If I later turn around and show that Callie hates books, it's going to mess that up, and people aren't going to want to play with you - you have to know your character.
Obviously this is a small example, but it could be something much bigger.

Secondly, a key might be to band together. Say you're a newbie and you're all alone waiting for someone to play against, another new character comes along and posts a thread that's waiting for anyone to join, and it's a situation your character might be involved in, maybe you ought to join them - you won't get anywhere just waiting for the 'major characters' to join your thread - especially as I agree with Beast, there are no major/minor characters, it's all in how you play.
Thinking small makes it easier, you don't have to make lots of big extravagent gestures to get noticed, start small and work your way up. I've seen people try the 'omg I'm dying someone help me *collapses on X-men's front porch in big show of drama and leaves a trail of OMG!blood*' tactic and it never works, because people go 'damn dramawhores' and step around them because it's just too much of a 'TADA LOOK AT ME' opening, which isn't always the way to go.
We've already said though, that a big gesture can sometimes work, so why am I now saying it's not? Because directness is the key, or the anti-key, if you will.
If you go for a big dramatic attack/death/tada right in front of whatever hero/villain you want to impress, they're less likely to pay attention. However, the ways we've suggested before (stuff to get on the news/get noticed in general/etc) are less direct, they're less in-your-face and obnoxious I suppose.

again I say, did that even make sense?

[Hank McCoy]

I gave Piotr the option to choose the next victim and the choices were too overwhelming. Guess that leaves the choice up to me.