Our connections to our characters

crystalpink

^ Trying to appear to be a nice person now after saying the "B" and "F" word, huh?


Nice try, bro.


Next?

Desdi - Sanctuary

That's a very interesting thread. It was nice reading everyone posts.

My characters in PWI are all based on characters from one of my stories (intended as graphic novel but might just turn into a novel because I don't have enough time, already working on a graphic novel at the moment x.x). Desdi, in the story, is also a kemonomimi hence I based my venomancer on her. Aryami, is an elf, so I made my cleric based on her and so on.

At first I didn't have any attachment to them besides the fact that "wee! I can see my fictional characters in action~!" or something. They eventually deviated from the fictional characters and turned into characters on their own right. I mostly feel attached to my main 3 toons because I've worked hard to accomplish things with them, most of it was farmed and through hard work as well as help from friends and faction. The fact that there is a great customization system helps a lot, as well.

I also feel like I have a slightly different personality depending on what toon I'm using. As a cleric I tend to be sweeter and more patient, as a psychic I tend to be more joyful and reckless and as a veno I tend to be more serious and cool. (that does not apply among friends though b:chuckle)

Knownase - Heavens Tear

As an aspiring digital artist, my Barb is, at this point, going to be an original character of mine.

inb4Igetcalledafurry.b:shutup

Typhyse - Sanctuary

crystalpink wrote: »

^ Trying to appear to be a nice person now after saying the "B" and "F" word, huh?


Nice try, bro.


Next?

Next? Nothing. I'm done with you; you're impossible. In no way does it benefit me to make nice with you, so why should I bother? Enjoy your cynicism. b:bye

Knownase - Heavens Tear wrote: »

As an aspiring digital artist, my Barb is, at this point, going to be an original character of mine.

inb4Igetcalledafurry.b:shutup

You, sir, are a furry and I, sir, approve

crystalpink

Typhyse - Sanctuary wrote: »

In no way does it benefit me to make nice with you, so why should I bother? Enjoy your cynicism. b:bye

Of course, it doesn't benefit you to make nice with me.
You had more fun to insult and belittle my interest, anyways.


Good luck trying to insult other people with your sarcasm next time. b:bye

VenusArmani - Dreamweaver

My toons are kinda of an outlet to express my creativity. I love changing the outfits, taking screenshots of them and then editing those screenshots, and trying my best to get interesting actions shots. I've also drawn them a few times, which is where their "personality" comes from although it has no bearing on the way I play or dress them.

Michael_Dark - Lost City

This is a worthy thread. I'm an observer/pscyhologist by nature and that's a great question, one of maybe a half dozen within the last year. There are some really deeply disturbing and interesting responses. I'll not comment on that. :P


I tried to model my main after myself. When that failed I just went for an anglo-saxon dark haired English knight stereotype... like someone you'd see on Merlin, Game of Thrones, or whatever. Actually, for some reason some english guy from Babylon 5 was what I pictured, but you could easily put Jon Snow of Game of Thrones in there. My main is kind of ugly compared to most of the babyface or anime-toon style characters out there. It evolved a little from when I first rolled him, but not by much. The biggest change was when they changed hair models when TB was released.

It's interesting to note how many people have called my character ugly and how it's actually affected interacting with others, nearly identically to real life. Not much different than when I've been working all day in sweats and a dirty t-shirt or when wearing really nice formal clothing, or when I'm just dressed to go out.

On my female alts, yeah, they're dressed provocatively and attractive. Enough to where they were always hit-on and even stalked. I did not pretend to be a girl, nor did I even flirt. Sometimes guys would refuse to believe I'm a guy when I've never done anything to lead them to believe otherwise. One thing I noticed is this game is really filled with crazy freaks. Moreso compared to most non-MMO internet communities. I forget who I styled my Veno after, the redhead from Buffy, I think.

I don't have an "internet" persona. I'm the same person here as I am sitting across the table as I am in-game or on vent. I've done a lot of internet related work with customers that I would see on a regular basis in person from 2000-2006. I've never really pretended to be anyone but myself. A lot of people think I'm an a**hole. In a sense, they're right. I'm mostly just blunt and honest, and critically fair. A lot of people don't take that well. I don't care. My friends, they know I subconciously use my attitude to reward good behavior and to be strictly honest when it matters.

So it's not that I have a connection with my avatar in-game, and that's exactly what I think of my character as, it's that my main is just an extension of myself.

Thank you for the interesting topic. I don't see much of a reason to log into the forums anymore and usually only stop here once or twice a week if I remember.

Nael - Dreamweaver

My toon is the group of pixels that I see the most in game so naturally I try to make them pleasant to the eyes. There's honestly not much else to them since PWI doesn't really have coherent character storyline (I mean it can't even bother to separate quest texts based on gender).

However, in my opinion PWI by far has the best character customization of any MMO's to date and I reckon it will continue to hold the crown in the near future, although it's about the only thing I'll miss about this game.

laloner

If I really thought of my toons as extensions of myself I wouldn't be so cheap with their gear.

At the same time I can't stand the idea of wearing a commonly worn outfit and being a cookie cutter seeming player. And I have trouble enjoying my toons until I get fashion for them because I hate seeing them look generic.

FaIIyn - Lost City

Interesting question and like Michael said a few of the responses so far have been a little disturbing.

I can see how some people can get attached to their toon for various reasons although the level of attachment that some people have is borderline insanity. I personally have zero attachment to any character on any game. When this game shuts down I will not care at all that all the characters that I leveled/geared are gone. The woman on the other hand falls under the disturbing attachment/borderline insanity category. Extreme OCD with everything on here.

Euthymius - Heavens Tear

I view my characters the same way a few others have said already - as actual entities with their own stories. Each one has their own personality (one has two), goal(s), strengths, weaknesses, and reasons for fighting in the war against the Wraiths. Other (memorable) players that they encounter also become a part of their tale too.

Sometimes RPing with them can be interesting too, but it usually ends up not being worth the effort...

Maelael - Heavens Tear

The best analogy I can give, is my toon is a racecar.

I love working to improve my car, and improve the way I race.

But...its just a car. It's a machine for me to work with in my hobby. There is other cars, other racetracks, and etc. Currently, I like this car and this racetrack.

Phoenix_Eye - Heavens Tear

Now these are threads worth keeping alive.

In any game that i play (where i can customise my Characters) i never treat my personal creations as simple data.

For example in Pokemon (yes i have my weak points , still a kid inside me) I dont raise them to perfection , i like them the way they are , give them unique movesets. Also in each playtrough , i raise different pokemon , trying to give my avatar a sense of personal sense of trainer.

in WoW Archetype MMOs like PWI , they only thing i can do is customise the appearance. I try to make my characters look like real people (not known). I avoid too much magic thingies , picking up fashion that resembles normal daily clothes. I try to create a pleasant avatar to interact with others , using a "mask" that express my real personality.

in RPGs where u can also customise the personality or actions (like Skyrim for example) , i try to create unique characters whose personality is completely different than mine in real life. It's like i want to explore different sides of human bahaviour that i wont be able to experience in my life
(well not bashing people's heads with maces). I respect them and bond with them not in the regular way , but in a different , not that i can explain it.

XScootaloo - Dreamweaver

Krisnda wrote: »

Your question reminded me of the show Digimon Tamers.

I've been re-watching the show, and they've been talking about the digimon just being more than data, but being their friends. This is how I feel about Kris...

Where will our characters go when this game really "dies"? Sure they'll be in our minds and in our screenshots that we've taken over the years, but they are kinda dead for the most part... I've yet to see another free to play mmo that supports this kind of character customization, and I for one would love to take Kris to any game I would move on to because I love how I made her, and the adventures/stories that have been made. b:sadb:surrender

But to your question... Who is Krisnda to me?

She is a alternative personality at this point. She is the part of me that isn't afraid to take charge of a situation, who doesn't take any kind of dumb **** from anyone (for the most part), and is the person to take risks. She is the part of me that can also be sincere and empethic (or "Feminine" I guess you can put it) lol.

May sound crazy, but like I say: Everyone talks to themselves, either out loud or in their minds.

i have most of my toons and several sets of fash i've had on them at one point or another saved as texture packs. so when the day comes and all the servers are empty except for a few players who just discovered this game and vets, wandering around a hauntingly quiet arch aimlessly, trying to keep the memories they made from slipping out of there fingers even though they know its in vain.

when the dreaded grey text begins counting down the seconds until server shut down for the vary last time, ill be there.

right before the alert window pops up saying disconnected from server ill use my last horn so i can say goodbye to everypony still online all at once. ive met a lot of awesome ponies here and rustled just as many jimmies too.

for that to all just end?

i don't know how i will feel then. my eyes begin to tear up just thinking about it.

but i know that whatever game i decide to move on to, if i decide to find one to move on too, i know Brocktree, xLeetSauce, xScootaloo, ******Batman and PinkaminaPie will get to join me in my new adventures.

even though ill be the only one who would be aware there's a dark blue fish man and a plant monster that looks suspiciously like Christian Bale running around there still there and i like to think that we all put a lot of our selves into these toons. i also like to think that this gives them personality, soul and that if they could talk they would thank me for caring enough to bring them with me.

that's how i've connected to my toon. i consider them to be living (for lack of a better term.) ponies who i adventured with. my creations who I gave life to and I raised from foal to stallion/mare. my friends who will never just up and abandon me. friends who will never tell me no and are always up for hanging out. its like im there (again, for lack of a better term) god.

excuse me... i've got a feel in my eye.

ramonpragt

XScootaloo - Dreamweaver wrote: »

i have most of my toons and several sets of fash i've had on them at one point or another saved as texture packs. so when the day comes and all the servers are empty except for a few players who just discovered this game and vets, wandering around a hauntingly quiet arch aimlessly, trying to keep the memories they made from slipping out of there fingers even though they know its in vain.

when the dreaded grey text begins counting down the seconds until server shut down for the vary last time, ill be there.

right before the alert window pops up saying disconnected from server ill use my last horn so i can say goodbye to everypony still online all at once. ive met a lot of awesome ponies here and rustled just as many jimmies too.

for that to all just end?

i don't know how i will feel then. my eyes begin to tear up just thinking about it.

but i know that whatever game i decide to move on to, if i decide to find one to move on too, i know Brocktree, xLeetSauce, xScootaloo, ******Batman and PinkaminaPie will get to join me in my new adventures.

even though ill be the only one who would be aware there's a dark blue fish man and a plant monster that looks suspiciously like Christian Bale running around there still there and i like to think that we all put a lot of our selves into these toons. i also like to think that this gives them personality, soul and that if they could talk they would thank me for caring enough to bring them with me.

that's how i've connected to my toon. i consider them to be living (for lack of a better term.) ponies who i adventured with. my creations who I gave life to and I raised from foal to stallion/mare. my friends who will never just up and abandon me. friends who will never tell me no and are always up for hanging out. its like im there (again, for lack of a better term) god.

excuse me... i've got a feel in my eye.

Very nicely said

Currant - Dreamweaver

Hey all! OP here. I have to say that I'm really enjoying reading through all of these answers. Certain ones caught my eye and I thought I'd inquire further about them...

CheetahWoods - Raging Tide wrote: »

i played D1 and D2 pretty exclusively forever. you got assigned one character type/sex for each class. this broke any association with the toon itself. also it got me into a habit of like caster and archers are female and like tank classes , melee classes and assassins are male etc.

i kind of stuck with that

veno =female(i would have made them female anyway so it's all good) have 2 of those
barb = male, see above, have 2 of those including yours truly 8D.
blademaster = male, have 1
cleric = female, have 3
seeker = male have one
mystic=female., have 1
wiz = female, have 1

will start an assassin at some point and it will be male

and so on..and i absolutely do not associate myself with any of those piles of pixels.

You've piqued my curiosity about another subject that will be covered in a separate post...also, I believe you're not allowed to mention other MMOs.

Era_Saga - Archosaur wrote: »

All of my toons have a story line. I'm a writer and I base an in depth story around each of them before I even make them. Once I have the plot finished then I create the toon and edited it to match their personality or role they play in the story. Once I have the toon made I go back to working on the story and each cultivation they complete is a new chapter. So I currently have a collection of chronicles around all my PW toons.

You should post some of your writing! I'm sure we'd all love to read about your adventures! b:cute

Maelael - Heavens Tear wrote: »

The best analogy I can give, is my toon is a racecar.

I love working to improve my car, and improve the way I race.

But...its just a car. It's a machine for me to work with in my hobby. There is other cars, other racetracks, and etc. Currently, I like this car and this racetrack.

This also caught my eye. I can understand the parallel between the competition in racing and in MMOs. I was hoping you could maybe say a little bit more about what the "race" in PWI is exactly?

Deceptistar - Sanctuary

i consider the characters to be my pieces of art. This is cause some of us made the character faces back in the day where every nook and cranny of the face, was dependent on how well you molded 3D. (no i dont consider post-tideborn characters art cause its super easy, as well as using pre-made ini files) my side face line has been perfect since 2008 b:cool

Era_Saga - Archosaur

Currant - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Hey all! OP here. I have to say that I'm really enjoying reading through all of these answers. Certain ones caught my eye and I thought I'd inquire further about them...

You should post some of your writing! I'm sure we'd all love to read about your adventures! b:cute

Actually I will be posting them. Right now I have some other writing projects I'm working on, but once those are finished and I am able to go over my PW stories for final editing I will be posting them on my deviant art account. Though the plot I have for each character in no way follows the PW story, I do incorporate some things that happened while leveling the character into it.

Wrecktor_nl - Heavens Tear

I only got 1character actually, my main seeker. He basically is me and im him if i need to escape from all the ...... going on in life. I see my character as a representation of myself in this game and who interacts with others.
Hope you guys understand eventhough my bad writing b:shutup im on a tablet and its almost 3am lol

Baby_pho - Heavens Tear

they're dolls created by me. meant to played by me and noone else. b:cute. all of them resemble me a little b:chuckle. by little i mean very very little resemble.

crystalpink

Baby_pho - Heavens Tear wrote: »

they're dolls created by me.

Be careful with that statement, dear.
Some people here might throw sarcasm at you and insult you based on that statement even if you're only joking when mentioning that statement about "characters = dolls."

Jeremied - Sanctuary

b:chuckle What an interesting thread!

My many toons are each their own characters, now that I think about it. The only real exception is my Cleric, as I tried to base his look off myself as much as possible, but even then he tends to have his own calm, stoic personality. This is contrasted by my normally hot tempered and obnoxious self.

Then there's my mischievous venomancer, who I could see being the kind of person that would put scorpions in your boots and dunk your hand in warm water while you're sleeping.

My sin tends to show an obnoxious, prideful persona (despite his lack of art), and Fondlemore thinks he's a total pimpwizard because he's got the Narnia faction's bank in his pocket.

I guess as an artist, I'm doomed to always create little personalities for each of my many toons. I could even see them living on long after this game is gone.

Pressa - Heavens Tear

b:chuckle Well then a diamond in the rough says I

What do I think of my character? Well my opinion has had a long and varied history to come to what I think of it today. Originally I made the character there was no attachment there was no story she didn't have a history she popped into the world all on her own. Put simply she was just a game and I her player I enjoyed playing her and found out about people because quite simply I was a bit sheltered and oblivious as a kid.

I found myself in a guild and I watched it grow and the people inside it turn sour, sweet, bitter, and hehe salty I suppose. I always grew up thinking life was awesome and it should be cherished but I couldn't figure out why everyone said that. So I desperately looked for those moments memories were made in. As my first year went by I started to find out people were referring to things eariler as good memories things I found I was rather indifferent about. So I started to play along I talked and ranted and laughed with the first members of my guild and I grew.

Fast forward though several hundred things happened and my opinion went from Pressa is her own character with her own opinion I was merely a channel to she has a spunky personality and is not afraid of speaking her mind when she is bothered. Little did I know I wasn't giving her a personality I was developing my own. All the things that I did on her they didn't exactly transfer seamlessly to myself but her diehard spirit and good will became my own. So I went from viewing her as her own entity of sorts(as a logic minded person I never really believed it) and began to channel her back into me and instead of them talking to Pressa they were suddenly talking to me. I'd like to say it was a mask I needed but really I just found out what I was really like on Pressa.

In short I view Pressa as art just as I craft how she looks I craft how she acts and by extension craft myself. I make sure to wear fashion to remind me of who she is perky, nice and a constant supporter of all sides of an argument. Pressa is me and I have a bond with my character in the form of sweet memories I created using her.

Knownase - Heavens Tear

Krisnda wrote: »

Your question reminded me of the show Digimon Tamers.

I've been re-watching the show, and they've been talking about the digimon just being more than data, but being their friends. This is how I feel about Kris...

+1000 coolness points.

Castgurl - Raging Tide

b:chuckle

I was viewing this thread on my touchpad and thought..."Damn it would take too long to type out what I wanna type out lmao!"

-Rushes to computer-

But right.

My veno Castgurl to me, is not just pixels. She is more of an "in-game self" to me.
The very name itself has a strong connection to me in real life. Granted, I have used that nickname since the dawn of freaking yahoo and when myspace was everyone's facebook back in the day. That was also the name that I have chosen to give myself as an individual and an Artist as well.
I've always been captivated by fantasy games. They help me escape and open my mind more.
So when I saw pwi back in 2009, I was like "Wow, this is it."
For some reason I couldn't think of another name. The way I made my toon...I just couldn't think of another name that would suit her. In a way, I still wanted my toon to be, well the toon...but at the same time, I wanted my toon to somehow, truly represent me, either by looks, name or just certain items that she may carry...she has all three.
The way I have leveled my toon is somewhat the same way I have grown as a person outside of the game. There were conflicts in game that just stunned me (pretty much a dumbass being racist/complete slime-ball but meh.) because it is the same thing that I go through myself outside of it.
I've always done things my way and have always somehow do them the hard way. Majority of the things I have accomplished in-game was done in this manner.

Castgurl doesn't have a different personality or just "one" out of the "many" that we may have or even created to infuse into the toon. If I get upset over what someone has typed/said, the toon will be the same. There's no "Well, we have jdkfhdkfh_IV here, he'll be purrrrty and have all kinds of op shtz and have the girls and OFG" here. There's no "this is my more outgoing/adventure seeking toon and the other more shy" stuff here either.

-I may be considered weird for this lol-

But my toon - is basically me. What I would envision myself to be like in this virtual environment. How I would portray myself to others. How I would deal with certain circumstances - how I am in real life, my character is as well. No one can't change the way I am and therefore - no one can change me here in pwi. I am simply yet a castaway in a virtual realm...no planned or hashed out customizations, no planned character plots or story lines.
Tis me. How I want it to play it out - as myself.

When the game dies, of course 'Casty' will still be around - on my very website. And even else where if my skills as an artist allow me..

-End long a$$ paragraph-

b:victory Awesome thread is awesome.

Time for me to go *POOF!* And start working on my stuff for the day. b:bye

Michael_Dark - Lost City

crystalpink wrote: »

Be careful with that statement, dear.

I have no idea why you would say that to them. That was one of the mentally healthier responses in this thread.

PS, you're using Comic Sans in pink. If anyone should be careful, it should probably be you. lol


The only people left using Comic Sans are secretaries nearing retirement age. Just sayin...

crystalpink

Michael_Dark - Lost City wrote: »

I have no idea why you would say that to them. That was one of the mentally healthier responses in this thread.

PS, you're using Comic Sans in pink. If anyone should be careful, it should probably be you. lol


The only people left using Comic Sans are secretaries nearing retirement age. Just sayin...

Mentally healthier responses? It's sad to see some people here didn't know which one was a joke response and which one was not.


You have just made a perfect example of a troll here by insulting something else irrelevant to the topic, regarding of the font choice and font color. Just saying.
Besides, I chose Comic Sans just for fun since there is no other fancier font type.
Now, here is "Times New Roman" for you. Would you say "The only people left using Times New Roman are students at the colleges and schools writing their essays and thesis"? lol...


PS:
Any other troll and insult you have?
Bring it on, bro.

Phoenix_Eye - Heavens Tear

yeah right , now both shut it and dont derail the thread. b:angryb:angryb:angry

Kiyoshi - Heavens Tear

Currant - Dreamweaver wrote: »

I was feeling particularly philosophical this evening and was pondering the relationship between MMO-players and their characters. I imagine that more intense feelings would be invested in a character you can create and customize (like the ones in PWI), rather than a pre-made character that you cannot change (like in some single-player titles...none of which can be mentioned on the forums...but you get the drift).

So I the question I pose to you all this evening is:
What are your characters to you? That is, what do they mean to you? Are they just bits of data and code? Are they a digital representation of you or what you wish you could be? Are they an alter-ego with which you engage in some form of "identity tourism"? These are by no means the only categories in which to put yourself...these are just to get the ball rolling. I imagine the answer differs from player to player and that some people might fall into multiple categories, but that's kind of what I'm hoping...makes the discussion far more interesting when everyone has their own take on things.

If PWI would pay me a quarter of the cost that went in to making my characters... I won't even wave good bye.

Xx_BeLLa_xX - Harshlands

It's a char, but since it's a mmo many people build relations.

And yes for some people it's like playing dolls, they marry, they dress than with pretty clothes, they ghet angry and bl people, it's like playing barbie for some people.

My char is just a char in a game, i enjoy playing it, i would not make a char of a class i don't like just to farm.