Influence of other player's background stories.

[mojom]

When in game, first thing I like to do when encountering a new pc is hit the examine button and read their background story. I'm not much of a writer myself but do like to read a good story.

I recently came to wonder in how far other players allow their characters to be influenced by these stories cause some tend to guide you to a certain reaction or impression. I'll give a simple example to illustrate :

Karisma Goldeneye's background:

"You see a stunningly radiant female elf standing before you and cannot help to feel intimidated by her beauty"

Personally, for this one I'd consider my own char's skills, background and motivations. If she/he's as well very beautifull and charismatic or if she/he was an orc with only battle on his mind I would not be intimidated. But if I was to play an uncertain timid kind of character I'd perhaps pick up on this background and react as the writer intended me to do. Another factor that is important for me in how well the story is written, if the writer put obvious effort in it I will more easely go along with it.

Any one else thoughts on the matter ?

[Vaelek]

"You see a stunningly radiant female elf standing before you and cannot help to feel intimidated by her beauty"

I generally don't appreciate those types of descriptions, as I'd prefer someone aiming to describe their character avoids adding my character's reaction.
As if I were a good natured enough fellow to follow along, it would take something away from my own role play.


As it is, however, I don't follow along and typically ignore the latter half of that written description.
Others that simply state the basic all around facts of the character in question are always interesting, and sure, if theres a point to be taken notice of somewhere in there, I'll keep it in mind IC.

There are limits to that of course.
I've added descriptions to the likeness of "This guy just smells really, really bad."
And that's entirely okay, to me at least. I'm stating a fact, and I'm not stating a person's reaction to it.
For all I know, you may love questionable smells..

So yes and no, I don't let someones few lines of character beautification sway my own role play to match their want.
But I'm not against taking notice of someones clarification of a character's identity, and responding to it.

[Doubtful]

Ah, the wonders of the examine window - it's a really great little tool for giving hooks and ideas to other players.

Personally I always look for a nice concise description of how the character looks, possibly a little mention of mannerisms if there are any strong and repetitive ones.

I tend to dislike anything that implies a specific reaction in the description, or things that you couldn't tell from a quick look.

So;

Emily McGinger - Emily is a pretty and petite young woman with a a curvy hourglass figure and blemish-free skin. Her face is framed by her thick russet curls that spill down over her shoulders, her bottle green eyes glitter like broken glass. Her laughter is quite filthy.

Would be fine, while;

Ugly McFugly - Ugly, or Ug to his friends (No-one has ever called him Ug. Ever.) is one of the ugliest creatures you have ever seen. Even looking at his ugly face makes your stomach clench and bottom loosen, endangering your britches.
Ugly may not have been christened ugly, mostly due to the lack of Christ in FR, but adopted it as a second name (He rarely uses what he assumes is his first name, as it's a guttural scream, or effeminate shriek in elven).
Ugly sees you looking at him and smiles at you, forcing some of your pee to leak out.

would not be fine - It implies that another player must react in a certain way and contains a lot of information that wouldn't be gathered from a glance.

It can be a fun little challenge - sum up your character in one quick look.

[RPMike17]

I usually update mine based on weapons carried, outfit worn, things that can't be seen graphically... "...a finely crafted bow, well worn boots, and an overstuffed pack round out this elf's appearance."

So I always check when meeting new characters to help me with my reactions or first impression. I find it much harder when others are blank, or the "default - Little is known about..."

[DM_Equinox]

I say any description at all (or none!) is better than leaving the default in.

Other than that, I agree; my favorites as well are brief descriptions of what you see when you look at the char, how (s)he carries him or herself, what the voice might sound like, that sort of thing.

It's a good thing that we can now modify those descriptions, that way they can always reflect changes in stance, mood, clothing, and whatnot.

[RPMike17]

It's a good thing that we can now modify those descriptions, that way they can always reflect changes in stance, mood, clothing, and whatnot.

I remember when you could not change them, sooooo much better that you can. Kudos to the DEV's for this! And it is an easy tool to help with everyone's RP, IMHO. DM's should smite those that do not use it!

[Nwilmen]

Personally I've been tempted to update my description once or twice a week depending on my character's development, mood, new hairstyle, whatever, but I wonder how often people check descriptions of characters they've already met? Do you check it the first time you meet and then never look again? Occasionally I will re-examine to refresh the character's image in my mind, but I suppose with the ability to change our descriptions with the tool, it may be worth it to check every time we meet.

[Verrath]

I examine ALL the time. Which is why I appreciate any and all who take time to put in something meaningful

[BedlamX]

I like to keep my "examine" descriptions short and to the point. Personally, I never put stats in it or anything about history unless it is a mention of a possible homeland based on looks. I have been known to make notes about a toon's looks being "creepy" or "eerie", so I guess that could be pushing it as far as putting a reaction on another character, but it just seems to me like another way to describe the guy's look. How you react is entirely up to you (and I do try to explain what makes them creepy or whatever).

I know it's not always in good form, but I have a habit of ignoring people that I see writing so much about how wonderful their character is and that everyone loves him/her. I try to do this ICly, but sometimes I don't get it out just right. I love descriptions that make mention of little traits like scars, prominent symbols/tattoos, or the occassional odd crackhead-like tic. Gives me something to go off of rather than the limited models the game has.

My pet peeve when dealing with descriptions: "RP for more". I absolutely HATE this line. I only play on RP servers. Of course I'm gonna RP if I want to learn something about your toon. If I don't RP, my toon simply doesn't care enough about yours to talk to you. I find this the same as logging on, clicking the shout button, and telling the entire server that they must RP with you to get even a slight glimpse of your character's attitudes. In real life, I can watch someone for a couple minutes and know if I even want to bother speaking to them. If all you put in your description is "RP for more" or even worse "RP for description", you might as well leave it blank as far as I am concerned. I can't help but take it as an insult when told to RP on an RP server. Sorry...just my "examine" pet peeve :P

EDIT: Oh...forgot one thing. While my "examine" notes are short and to the point, I love writing extensive back stories for characters I really like the concept of. The wiki page with character bios is a great read. Mine always seem to go on forever and become little novellas, but I just can't help myself when I start writing (never would have guessed that from this post, wouldja? :P ).

[roguethree]

I examine everyone frequently, just in case.

[AsuraKing]

Yeah, i also never put too much in my characters examine other than a short physical description that separates them from a random commoner NPC. My personal pet peeve is when people try to make their characters seem like greek gods or goddesses being super beautiful or handsome (of course there are exceptions if a background or something RP wise supports that).

The ones i pay the most attention to and actually have my toons react to are the ones that are just saying a little description such as scars or them wearing symbols like a faction symbol or holy symbol (expecially looking for RedKnight/Red Blades fools cause then your instantly on Cruven's bad side :P )

[grant]

Built like a weight lifter, moves like a cat/dancer/acrobat, has a presence that draws/repels you, a sharp mind, a pious demeanour... all are better than a number.

There are exceptions though, some characters have stats. that are god like (at least in First Ed. terms.) Its hard to describe something that is beyond the human experience on earth anyway.

Character backgrounds as are also relevant beyond their skill modifiers. Radda is a Wild Child, and I try and play her as an adult who has learned more appropriate times to be wild. Nati is Devout and takes time for prayer at the approximately appropriate time of day, when possible, yet does not display a symbol which could be used against her to identify her faith. Of course an appropriate counter example/excuse is ready on her lips, but if given enough observation can also be seen through. I have seen other players who take the time to be a Veteran, or Flirt in RP and description.

My female characters usually have decent IC reasons not to fawn over the high CHR male characters. I am sure players who have read "A Black Diary" do not want THAT character fawning over their male characters anyway.

[Fezzik]

I'm all for sure, if reasonable. I like to give people an idea of what my char looks like or what they might be going through at this particular time of their life. Those the have been around with Cybil's escapades might remember the myriad of different descriptions she went through during her various adventures.

I try to examine and reexamine when I think it's appropriate (they just said they were hit by a tree falling down a mountain... so, what do they look like now? "No one knows about your past.... " .... as RPM suggested, people that just leave the default in should be shot .. ok, maybe I'm putting in my own feelings in his general comment -- the only thing more annoying than that sometimes is " " )

[Captain Caveman]

I examine everyone. In fact, with Plutarch, he often follows/trails/names people based solely on something in the examine window. I will also sometimes make a decision to approach or avoid someone based on what the examine window tells me.

I also re-examine everyone and always appreciate a good update even if I never interact with your toon. I try and change my examine windows every couple months. Rest assured as I scamper past you, I'm checking you out.

I avoid people who tell me how I should feel with their examine windows. It's a pet peeve. After all, are you really going to intimidate a 20 level mayhem machine who has been known/rumoured to eat people or should it be the other way around ? Scare me with with your RP

I'm pretty much with Bedlam on the " RP for more " line as well. It actually has the opposite effect in my case.

[Spacedog]

"Catching your gaze, she throws a wink and whispers 'RP for more...'."

I actually almost never read examine windows, and never write anything in mine. Habits born of playing nwn2 so long and not being able to change the descriptions. I suppose it's a habit I should break.