Help with characters and stuff?
#1
This has been bothering me for a long time. I'm kind of wary of posting this because I have dug myself into a hole with everyone here. I get the feeling that not many people like threading with me anymore and find me just annoying, all for good reason.

All of my characters have fallen through, obviously. Because of depression and other personal things, I have done a great job of ruining every character I have had here, Kansas, Rio, Oak, River, and now Dusk. I'm very embarrassed about this. :/

But, however much I suck, writing is a good outlet for me and I love doing it. I also adore Souls for the talent and creativity I see here. It's inspiring! I would like to continue, but only if you guys want to give me another chance.

I think my favorite character, Kansas, was successful because I began him as a very young puppy without any set personality and let him create himself. I would like to do this again, and hopefully as I take steps to be a better person ooc, I will be able to handle the new character as it matures without completely destroying it.

Does this make sense? I would very much appreciate anyone's honest criticism. I will not get offended or angry, even if you guys feel I should back out of Souls. Smile
#2
I think it makes total sense. I think that you should definitely try and do this, because you don't suck. and also we love you. c: it's hard to deal with things sometime, and I think we all know and respect that sometimes, 'Souls needs to take a back seat to what's going on in real life. I think you should do this and I hope that it all works out for you C:
#3
I for one don't feel any malice towards the issue at hand here, nor towards you.

I know I have been down the same path repeatedly and I've been rather surprised with each return that others haven't outright told me they'd rather not thread with me.. though I'm sure there arethose that don't reply to my threads or requests because this. I feel though that you can't please all.. and while there are probably some that still believe that I will flake off again.. (You never know.. I do have a RL that gets out of control sometimes..) I know there are those that enjoy rping with me and I enjoy coming back and rping with them..

You honestly shouldn't care what the minority thinks.. or the masses. You come here to find peace through writing. You want an outlet and to spend time with friends. Souls gives that to you.. and yet.. just like a rl friendship.. sometimes you have to back away from the rp and just breath.

I love the fact that you have rped Kansas as long as you have. Look at how often I've disappeared with his sisters and brother? But I won't hold it against you if you need to retire him and find a new flame to cling to. That's why I brought Zana in instead of one of my other characters.. sometimes you have to spice it up.. and sometimes it's a gamble with bringing in a new character.

I would love to see what you do with another. Puppy characters are always fun and such a clean slate to start with too.
#4
I think you're being really hard on yourself. o: <3 Character development sometimes does involve building up our characters, but it also involves destroying parts of them, too. Part of making a great character that retains YOUR interest and the interest of your fellow players is a dynamic character who changes and grows. c:

Maybe you've felt you've "ruined" your past characters -- is it possible you just left them a bit unfinished? Maybe you were in the process of changing them up and lost interest, or your change turned out to be less than what you expected? If that's the case, it's not too late to keep building on the character and change them back or take them in an entirely new direction. c:

Hope that helps. <3
#5
This is all very helpful. Smile

I do feel like I'm not done with Kansas just yet. He's the one I really wanted to bring back, when it feels right, so thanks Sie and Shannon for the encouragement there. :3
#6
I can only tell you that I've felt, too, that the characters I have dropped have been "ruined". However I know that most of this is because I lost my muse and found the characters boring personally, hence dropping them. The characters I've dropped have been ruined to me, mostly, seeing as I could no longer post with them. But I don't think others felt the same way about them. Perhaps this is a lack of muse or guilty conscience speaking? I know pressure to post fast, or other aspects of the community, can be tiring, and this could lead to enhance your troubled feelings?

Either way, don't be so hard on yourself Smile I also think that character development is one of the hardest things about roleplay, and I struggle with it frequently. In the end, though, I just have to go with what I think is cool, but brainstorming in RA or the chat has helped me so many times! My favorite part of 'Souls is that everyone here write and get a little better with every post. I learn something new all the time, and looking back on characters and posts I've made embarrasses me because much of it is rubbish to me Tongue When speaking to people, these feelings about their past posts seem to be mirrored by pretty much everyone, so you're not alone here with feelings about past failures. However most of my own "failures" were not noticed much by anyone but myself, so I just try to hink of it as signs of progress Smile
#7
It's definitely guilty conscience. xD Some of the things I've said, OOC and IC, and my horrible activity, broken promises that I'm going to post, yadda yadda, make me gag and hate myself for a bit. I love your ideas and I'll try them out!

Aaand, it's really cool to know that other people have had the same issues. I guess I had a feeling that was true, but it's nice to hear anyway. Smile
#8
<333

I really don't have anything to add as it would just be an echo of what everyone else as said. But I know how you feel. Before I joined up here with Anann I'd joined and vanished from 'souls on three separate occasions. Or well bleeding souls twice and 'souls once xD. StarHowler is the only one likely to be remembered by anyone, as the others were hardly played at all, like only a thread or two.
#9
We've all been there, dude, don't sweat it. I've been through so many characters I can't even remember all of them >> -Cough.- Other than Barry and Anselm, most didn't even last half a year.

I think what helped them stick with me most was:

(1) Lots of onboard relatives (thanks to Mel mostly, for letting me leach off the de le Poer line xD). There's a lot of different people/characters to fall back on for plots, so even if one or two disappear, I don't suffer a major blow to my inspiration because of it.

(2) On a similar note -- personal plots! Obviously the point of RP is to thread with other people, but my garage plot gives me a lot to write about... even in standard meet 'n greet threads when there ain't much else happening.

(3) Learning when to say no. There's two parts to this: one is not bending my character to fit into others' plots; the other is not overloading myself on threads. Both just kill inspiration. I set a max number of threads I'm willing to take at any given time and try not to deviate from it. If I find myself with more or less time, I adjust the number. On the other point, I used to feel like I'd be disappointing people if I said no to a plot they suggested, even if it didn't really make sense for my character. Unfortunately, forcing it never felt *right* and I learned it's best to just put my foot down. Nobody really gets upset; they either adapt their original idea into something you can both work with or look elsewhere. -Shrug.-

(4) Giving them my all. It took me WAY longer than it should've to realise I ALWAYS fail with multiple characters -- even two. Eventually, I'd lose inspiration for one in favour of the other, feel guilty about not posting with the former, and inevitably wind up posting with neither. I've hit plenty of slow points with my boys, but I've found it's better to muscle through them than try and rekindle inspiration elsewhere. To me it's like failing in a relationship and deciding to get it back by going out with someone else. It just doesn't make sense. (Kudos to all y'all who can swing several at once tho, I dunno how you do it!)

Anyway, these are just things that have helped me -- obviously everyone's different and your mileage may vary xD Just figured I'd throw it out there in case anything helps ^^
#10
Omg, thanks, Zero! I am especially bad about having the right number of threads. I'll have like ten when I only have time for MAYBE three. Tongue
#11
+1! Super helpful post Zero! :O I still struggle with some of these things. @__@ My thread numbers are pretty low atm, which is what is manageable for me right now with 3 characters.

Pretty much it boils down to doing exactly what you want to do with your character and your time. Otherwise, it won't be fun; it'll be stressful, and that is not what 'Souls is about! Tongue
#12
I have a tip!! To go alone with keeping a thread count low, I think it helps to have a handy list of what threads you do have...

Many people use a post log to keep themselves straight on what needs a reply and what doesn't. I found that i wouldn't edit often enough, since it took a few steps and i tend to be lazy once my writing is done.

Then I would get too many threads or forget more things then i do already lol.... so i set up the sticky system. The handy application that my mac (think windows has it too) lets me stick my postlog right to my desk top, all the threads I have are there, under the name of the character I'm threading with, hyper-linked. I add threads I want to the list as well and when I need to reply the name is bolded.

I also put my post counts on the top so I can easily look to see how many posts i've made with both my characters.

Color coded, and stacked in according to order of auxiliary. I find it helpful in keeping things organized, so its easy and easy things are fun things! Big Grin

[Image: jW9PM.png]
#13
As an extra tip when it comes to post logs: I keep forgetting to edit mine when I am a bit busy at times, so I started just using the "track topic" function instead. Now I get an email when people reply, and it's easy to see in "My controls" which threads I need to reply to, instead of having to open all my threads from the post log first. It's brilliant!
#14
That's a good idea, Alli. I use the stickies on my laptop to keep track of appointments at work... and it helps tremendously. I don't see would it wouldn't be beneficial when it comes to keeping track of threads. :3 Mac and Windows 7 have the program integrated by default... if you don't have those platforms, there's always stickie programs you can find/download rather easily on the internet.

And what Zero said is entirely true. I am just now learning that I don't have to say yes to every thread request flung my way. I plan on only RPing Lilin for long time, or at least until I feel comfortable enough with her. I'm making sure to keep a low amount of threads just so I can focus on what I currently have going on with her instead of getting overwhelmed. If I don't do that, roleplaying ultimately ends up feeling like a chore for me. :<

I find keeping a timeline does help too. It's great for personal reference.

Annnnnd... try to find an OOC ending for all your unfinished threads. It'll give you a sense of closure and you'll be able to write more detailed information as to what exactly happened that day instead of playing it safe and going with something vague/not mentioning it at all.


<3
#15
QUOTE (Ulilohi Ehn @ Dec 22 2011, 08:32 AM)
Topic tracking[/quote]
Man, I only discovered this feature within the past half a year. -Derp.- But it has been a godsend. I still keep a post log for record keeping purposes (timeline, location data, etc.), but as far as knowing which threads require attention *now* the topic tracker is the only way I can keep it all together. XD Since I try to reply to things in the order posts were received, it also helps seeing the time stamps all in one place. (If only there was a way to sort by time stamp instead of just forum! Minor quibble.)

Kinda related to what Jess said about OOC endings, I think it also helps me to limit the length of threads in general. I like having some sort of objective for each thread, however minor. I guess if you're into spontaneity it could take the fun out of it, but knowing (even vaguely) what both players want to accomplish helps me "cut to the chase." Even in all welcome threads, I try to let other people know what direction I'd like to go in the first post.

Thus, most of my threads wind up being maybe 8-12 posts total (more if there are more than two players, 'course, or if it's something where a lot of quick, shorter posts make more sense, i.e. sparring, fighting, sex). I think that's all you need to have something interesting happen. I would rather have two 10 post threads with the same person than one 20 post thread, too, since I think repeat encounters are more interesting. You can develop more complex relationships over several interactions/conversations rather than one giant one; and realistically, most people don't sit down for an hour long chat with somebody they just met.

Along the same vein, really drawn out introductions or conclusions get exhausting to me quick; even more basic interactions needn't be played out in excessive detail. "Fade to black" endings = win if you want to wrap things up quickly. I've found doing this (a) helps keep threads from getting super outdated and (b) cuts away all the "fat" where you're struggling to come up with something to write about (y'know, the stuff that usually gets redundant anyway... I can only describe the weather/scenery/whatever so many times in one thread Tongue).


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