Concerning Character Bios.

[b1brigade]

It seems there has been some issues concerning character back ground as of late. For those who are interested, this is my take.

When creating character bios it seems the staff are looking for in depth characters with history, personality, previous adventure, etc. Of course much of this is to expected when developing a character bio. However, I believe that the degree to which the staff is expecting all bios to be rather strict, in that they expect a personal history of a character that pre-defines the character and what they would do. This is too much confinement. Many of you have probally heard this phrase if not a similiar one: "You do not let who you are define your life, but let your life define who you are". That is a phrase that I personally live by, the greatest constraint to one's self is one's self.
For the older Character bios an in-depth bio is to be expected and the character should be pretty straight forward in his motives. A young character, or even a middle aged character, however, should be less restricted by his (or her) past. I believe in some cases characters with open ended bios should be considered and accepted for the sake of allowing a character to develope within the rp.
Personally I find that the most fun characters are the one's defined within the rp, a growing character learns, makes mistakes, and lives. In conclusion I hope the staff would consider altering their current policy on character bios to allow for more open ended Characters to be accepted.

(This was written on the spot with out review, please excuse any and all gramatical errors, thank you.)

[Brindale]

One of the reasons why RP Bios are here is to determine whether the person is willing to sacrifice some time to create a character to "live" in this world, and to determine how far they are willing to go to actually partake on the server. That is the reason why RP Bios must be in-depth, as many attempt to get by just by stating a name, hair color, eye color, status *Cough* orphan, you see what I mean.
A character must have a purpose, much more than a goal, as it is around the 1800s, so people will still die pretty quickly, but PURPOSE is the whole points of a character, it defines them, and all of their goals, and gives an interesting story to all of us readers.

Rant Done.

[scheyst]

I think a well written bio allows for character growth and development. The question of a bio is who your character is, not who your character will be. Characters that are initially violent may find peace, or characters that start pure capitalist may feel a call to charity as a result of their interactions on the server. However, by the time an RP bio is written, the character generally has lived a life of non-insignificant length and has already evolved.

Also, no amount of character development can change you from a dwarf to an elf or something like that so open-ended bios still need some degree of limits which is why that status quo is probably sufficient to allow flexibility within reason.

[deltajesus]

Bios don't have to have a fully defined character to be accepted, however from what I've seen people generally find it easier to make a more lengthy bio using a character that has already had some development.

[b1brigade]

I see where you all are coming from and what angle you are approaching from.When I say open ended I do not mean with out any background what so ever. Please remember this is just my personal take ok bios, I do not seek to create an excuse for poor bios. What I was intending for those who read this to walk away with is this: In depth bios with history a list of of adventures,child hood expierances,, and the works, is great! However, That is not the only way to approach a bio. In some ways it would take a more skilled and experienced story writer to create a good character with an open ended bio. Please also mind when I say open ended I do not mean with out any constraints what so ever, I just mean that there is more mystery surounding some aspects of that characters' past. Obviously there is need for alot of details to help start off a character that just cant be missing. All in all, What I am trying to say it that there are alternative ways of creating a good character while leaving room for alot of growth.