From alt.pub.dragons-inn Wed Dec 14 17:04:12 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:7966 Path: netcom.com!ix.netcom.com!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!uhog.mit.edu!news.mtholyoke.edu!mhc.mtholyoke.edu!overholt From: Liana Elandrian Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: Re: 'nother newbie Date: Wed, 14 Dec 1994 10:40:37 -0500 Organization: Mount Holyoke College Lines: 66 Message-ID: References: <3bqeji$ll@mudraker.mtholyoke.edu> <3chs91$4qd@hippo.shef.ac.uk> <1994Dec13.175500.1@wharton.upenn.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: mhc.mtholyoke.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII In-Reply-To: <1994Dec13.175500.1@wharton.upenn.edu> > I'm a little bit confused by the 'official' policy on this. I don't *know* the official policy, but I don't like my characters doing things that I don't think they'd do. And how can anyone else know what I've got in mind when I write about this character I've created? *Especially* when I've given very little information about her. > For my part, I don't mind people writing my character. In fact, I > think it is a bit of challenge to work what others write into the > overall character conception. However, that is just MHO. Well, not everyone likes a challenge. *shrug* Every character I come up with has his/her own personality and his/her little idiosyncrasies--and when someone else writes something that *totally* deviates with my characters' personalities, then that's a bit more challenge than I like to deal with. Okay, so it wasn't a big deal--it *was* pretty much in-character this time. I just want to make sure that people realize--before anything else happens--that I don't want my characters to have major personality changes which I'm not prepared to give them. > Keep in mind that I bring a considerable bias to this forum, given my > experience on alt.starfleet.rpg. There, we routinely write each others > characters. Personally, I've always thought that an unique asset to > interactive role play. Well, I'm not a role-player--I'm a writer. There's a difference. I have never played a role-playing game; I know nothing of role-playing etiquette. I only know what I write. And besides, I came here after spending almost a year over on a.d-i, where we tend to do things a little differently. So I guess I'm bringing a bit of a bias here, too. > I do understand that this is not a game, while a.s.r. is in its conception > one. Also, I am -not- trying to make this forum over in my own image. > However, I would like to advocate some tolerance on this score. My characters are my own personal creations. They're all a part of me, in some way or another. So how can I allow someone else to just jump in and alter what is part of me? My thoughts and my feelings are tied up in these characters, and I *don't* like others telling me what to think and feel. And before you say that I'm a bit too possessive, or that I'm too involved with my characters... I'm a writer. I plan to do this for a living once I graduate. I *have* to get involved with my characters if I'm going to portray them so that they seem real to the reader. Right now I'm doing this for practice. Okay, maybe it *is* a bit silly to get so involved with characters which I'll never use again...and maybe it *is* a bit too much to ask that they remain my own personal characters when I've thrown them onto a public forum. But I'd still like to keep them as much mine as possible for as long as I can. > For new players, it is confusing where to draw the line. Which is why I attempted to establish my own personal boundary while I still could. But if some people don't mind having their characters used while others *do*, wouldn't it be a bit safer to draw the line at *not* sharing characters? I don't know how y'all do things over here...but as long as I'm here I'll ask that my characters remain mine. If there's a problem with that--if it's against the official policy or whatever--I'll just take my character back to a.d-i and stay there from now on. *shrug* --Liana Elandrian