I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (Full Version)

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Starstruck -> I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (5/14/2013 22:58:55)

(They were saved to a computer I don't use much in a folder I haven't thought to check in a long time)

YES.

YES.

YES.

This also has spawned a curious idea for a discussion that I had that is twofold:

First question is: Do you save your bios? Why or why not? Do you consider your bios important? I know some people who think that their bios are basically one interpretation of their character. This has been true for a few of my characters, most particularly Yuxe (my first, constantly being reimagined), but as a whole I subscribe to the idea that a bio is a window into your character's soul. Having a perfectly accurate bio can help you devise new incarnations of the character without needing to write an entirely new bio; I know that I have only written Tiure's appearance twice. Copy + paste = new version of Tiure.

Second question starts with an anecdote: One of my bios that I found was Cyquen.

Oh.

My.

God.

This was the character that took me two months to create. This was the character who had not one, not two, not even four, but FIVE mini-characters stashed inside of his brain. This IS the character that now sits, securely saved, on 8 pages of Microsoft Word on my computer. This was the character where I forgot to save all 3 of the PMs that were sent to Isis and later lost when her old PC asploded. For reference, Cyquen's basic bio was posted in the thread; I sent Isis nothing but the summons. Cyque's exhaustively detailed appearance, skills, and history were in the No Deeper Earth OOC and completely lost during the reformatting.

And now I have him back.

How long do you spend making any character? Cyquen and Tiure were created during a period of astonishing creative energy; Ronin of Dreams and Isis both found themselves on the receiving end of massive blocks of text. Nowadays, I tend to write less, and with a more laid-back attitude. Recently, however, I've been feeling the drive to make something, and who knows where this will lead! How much do you invest yourself into the creation of a character? I'm not talking about the character creation thread, where people talk about how they make their characters. This is more general; how much do you care about making a character, and more specifically making a bio? Are you more towards letting the chips fall where they may, or do you like having the kinks of the character worked out beforehand so you can have a better understanding of who your character is from the very first post?

I tend to prefer a more comprehensive bio, even if YOU don't see it. I tend to write a ton in the History section, and then show the rest of y'all 3 paragraphs from the beginning, middle, and end. Lizzy is so far the one exception to this rather hard and fast rule. Fury died instantly and his bio was totally inaccurate, so he really doesn't count. At all. Ever. Can we forget about him now and move on? (this was when I was young and naive and had a ridiculously skewed understanding of what exactly schizophrenia actually WAS. Fury wasn't schizophrenic, he was just a four year old pretending to be a ninja.)

Apologies for the blab: Isis' blabberings tend to at least follow her thoughts well on paper. Mine skip a bit.

TB;DR (too blabby didn't read):

1.) Do you save bios? Do you reuse bios?
2.) How much time and effort do you spend on your bios?



Ted Zlammy -> RE: I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (5/14/2013 23:52:57)

In response to your TB; DR questions (even though I did read your amusing babble);

1) I sometimes save bios, though I have a bad habit of accidentally saving my newest characters over my old ones. Which totally bums me out, because I like using old ones as references. As for reusing them, I may dig up an old character once in a blue moon, but I like creating new characters. Although, they tend to have similar personalities quite a lot...

2) It varies actually, but I tend to spend quite a bit of time working on a single character. Mostly because it's one of my favorite parts of RPing. RPs I've been in haven't lasted too long due to a mix of inactivity (which I am to blame for sometimes, which makes me feel like a total jerk. ._.) and RPers losing interest. Because of such, the fun part of RPing for me ends up being the process of creating a bio for my character.

So usually after spotting an RP I might join, I'll muse up several potential characters in my mind before focusing on one, which can take like a single day to a few. Once I grab that one, I'll tend to just focus my free time on trying to make a good bio. I probably spend less time typing up my character than musing it up actually I think. When I do start typing up though, I have a character in mind who I proceed to try and make a detailed bio for, but not an overly detailed one. The result tends to be a bio with a history that's about three paragraphs long, and has what I'd like to think decently detailed info on the abilities, personality, appearance and inventory sections.

All and all, I spend a lot of time working on a bio, and quite a bit of effort doing so. Mostly because it's fun. :D



Legendium -> RE: I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (5/15/2013 9:33:30)

quote:

1.) Do you save bios? Do you reuse bios?
2.) How much time and effort do you spend on your bios?


1.) Nope. I've created a Word Document called "Teh General RP Doc" that I'm going to use to start recording all my characters, posts and outlines. And I've even set up a page with all of the RP rules and etiquette. I think I'm prepared for the Dawn of the New RP Boards.

2.) I didn't used to. My previous characters were all made at one sitting, typing the whole thing into the new post box. Nowadays though, I'm putting more thought into my characters. My character in RoP for instance. I haven't updated him yet, but I have some stuff that's corrected and bettered in my RP Doc.



TJByrum -> RE: I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (5/15/2013 12:10:52)

I do not save bios. If a character really sticks out to me then he will leave a permanent imprint on my mind. Zimon, Shadow, and Torik Valgard come to mind at the moment. I remember who they were, what they were like, and their history.

I spend as much time as necessary, but I admit I feel I spend to little. I notice I rush through history and other things and never really think it out, which would probably help me out if I did.

Then again, none of my characters have ever really seen much action. I've never finished a roleplay, and even then I have never been in a roleplay for more than 2 or so weeks. A sad count... but I just have bad experiences with RPing I guess. Been RPing for well over 3-4 years now and never finished a RP in my life. Wow.

But there were reasons of such happenings, and I expect to start over now that everything is straightened out.



Vanir -> RE: I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (5/15/2013 22:42:02)

quote:

1.) Do you save bios? Do you reuse bios?
2.) How much time and effort do you spend on your bios?

Yes, I save all of my bios. At first, I only did them in Microsoft Word for the spellcheck (My new favorite thing about Word 2010 is that there's a thesaurus inside!), but now I'm a byte hoarder and archive everything. I don't save IC posts, but I keep all of the bios that I've created. I have a Word Template for bios so I don't have to type in the code [][][][][][][][][][] blah everytime.

I wouldn't directly reuse a bio, but I may reuse a character. I change him/her up a bit, to make him fit in better with the new RP and the other players characters.

When a new RP arises that grabs my interest and won't let go until I pay ransom, I spend many nights pondering over a character. I also think about who I can interact with within the RolePlay, and where I want to go with a character. Then, when I settle on a theme for the character, I research about the things the character is involved in. For Example: My bio for graduating the RPA. I began researching Celtic Druid rituals and culture, and Native American (specifically Lakota) culture, spirituality, and language. If I am going to take and adapt things form real world cultures, I want to respect them and accurately play the character. I want a real, solid base (especially for Bear In Shade) before I throw in all of the elements of a fantastical, magical world.

Anyways, after I spend time summoning the character from the inner most depths of my creative thought, I have to write a bio. Writing bios is difficult for me. I have this great idea of a character, but that's all it is, just an idea. Translating the idea into a real character that other people can understand and see and interact with, that is the challenging part. It is easy for me to imagine grand characters, but I feel my bios don't do justice to the sumptuous idea I conjured.

To actually answer the question: It takes me roughly a week to two weeks to produce a bio. This depends on my free time, and how fast the other people in the Rp are moving. I don't want to get left behind.



demonhunter -> RE: I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (5/16/2013 0:26:20)

I sometimes save a bio, if I'm particularly happy with how a character turns out, or if I intend to make adjustments to the character for later use. Most of the characters I use, however, stick with me as concepts in my brain (Crystal Gemblade, the ice/water spellsword, being the biggest offender)

Generally, I can knock out a bio in less than an hour. It's the history that usually takes me the longest.



Alexandria Serthes -> RE: I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (5/30/2013 13:36:54)

I don't save my bios usually. The way I generally construct mine tends towards being really open for development and additions, so by the time I've firmly lodged a character into an RP, the bio only scratches the surface of the character (i.e. my first bio for Nightshade). While I'll sometimes rewrite bios, I generally just remember the basics about the character's looks and such, and the history, and then if I want to bring that character back, I just write a new bio. Usually I need to anyhow, because of how much character growth goes on. Even if I don't bring everything about the character back, I'll usually bring enough back to warrant a brand new bio.
I don't expend a lot of effort on bios (but I'm not sure if it's because I'm used to writing them, or I just value bios as much as is normal). I tend towards looking at bios more as a quick reference sheet for people to use when they first meet other characters, and in case they have questions on a particular history reference or weapon. Once the character's been around for a little while, the bio becomes less important than previous IC posts with the character. I usually only take about half an hour to an hour working on it, and about a quarter of that time is spent on minor revisions or triple-checking for spelling and grammar mistakes, and typos.



Riprose123 -> RE: I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (6/1/2013 10:14:41)

I only save a bio if I really want to do something with them later(Which is most of my characters mind you) I call it "Beautiful Hills Condos, for the Pyroly Inclined and Magically Gifted"

I'm a freak I know, but I liked the name.

Oh god effort, I can't say. Sometimes it takes me half an hour, or days on end. Some of my best only took three hours at the best. Sometimes bios that take me longer are just me procrastinating though, so.



black knight 1234567 -> RE: I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (6/3/2013 13:08:39)

Never saved a bio.
As for effort put in? i'd usually do it in one sitting, type it all in to the quick reply box, click post. I share the same sentiment with Ghost, to be honest. Most RP's i've ever participated in here, have never lasted long. Which makes it seem like lost time and effort if I put SOOO much into a character for momentary use.



TJByrum -> RE: I just found two bios that I thought had been lost in the new format (6/3/2013 14:17:19)

I normally write up something quick at first. You know, a name, appearance, and some equipment. After that I'll come back and edit the post, change some stuff around and write a history. If I feel satisfied, I am ready to go, but if not I will edit it again later.

Do I save my bios? No. Most certainly not. Why? I don't know, I feel no reason to. However I do have a website of my own that I visit from time to time and post a bio or two. You know, just to have an idea or something. But if I go to a RP and make a bio, no I do NOT save that bio. I work on them, might delete them later, etc.

Longest I have spent on a character was about 4 hours perhaps, on a man named Guy on another forum.



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