The simple answer would be "Because I enjoy." That's nice and all, but why do ya enjoy it? Why do you enjoy being a lumbering troll instead of a nimble elf? Why an honorable paladin instead of a decietful necromancer? Or, in my case, why play a girl when you're a guy?
To answer that, I'll say I enjoy it because it forces me to think inna completely different mind set. When I RP a guy charactor, especially a good one, it's too easy for me to fall into just 'being myself' and not the charactor.
I'm capable In Charactor of doing some pretty destructive things. Yes, it may say 4 for her lvl, but I was my player's charactor long before going into EverQuest. Again, it's easy t'have near god like powers of mass destruction and use them freely, but where's the real fun in that?
I've got numerous quirks that make me a more interesting charactor to play:
All these make me fun for my player to Role Play.
So, what's YOUR reasons fer RPing what you do?
NOTE: If ya think it's odd seein' this post in first person, well, this is an In Charactor charactor, so 
I'm an individual. Just like everyone else!
quote:
Kitudo had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
Because I am.
I'm an individual. Just like everyone else!
no i RP a monkey caue poepel used to call me monkey in school... and monkeys are cool... plsu its better than being a dragon like everyone else ;p
Ozius.
I play Ozius because he is an extension of myself. When I am sad, so is Ozius and it's easier to roleplay when I feel those emotions in RL. I also like magic. I honestly try to preform magic in RL, hehe. Ozius is also a very bumbuling type of person, like me. He works hard. Like me. It's an extension of myself and it's fun to play. His reason for being a Were-Raven is also because I really want to fly.
Then, my other major character is a very pale, worried fellow. Sirus Lovecraft. He is sorta like Ozzy, but just a tad. He suffers from a deadly illness, and he constantly sees shadows, demons from other planes and stuff. He's a real weak wimp and I like to play those, to try and survive, as a very small person, with no hope. I have a very relaxed life, for the most part and I like to roleplay those that would be less fortunate then me.
I love to play everything I am not too. Which is why I play trolls, ogers, halflings and the like. But my favorite type to play is like Ozius:
A clumsy fool who is just trying to get through life the best he can, with the elast ammount of pain, and along the way, help as many people as he can. Make them smile.
And if you changed the robes and wizard's conical hat for a pair of jeans, a t-shirt tucked in, some ol' sneakers and a pair of dirty glasses, you got me.
Ozius
That is a Damn good question.
I know I roleplay my Zintii (Read: Huge were cat in the middle form) warrior Because I can just picture myself in the character's shoes. Even scared my DM a few weeks ago because I got a little too and almost started growling and swiping at the other people. 
I think I do it because it lets me slip away from what I'm used to. It's fun to picture myself furry with claws leaping around cleaving gnolls apart, but it's also fun to imagine myself trying to retain absolute focus and conviction when trying to be ac caster/priest.
Solstyce is not.
She started as a simple characature, elf enchantress who likes to play, have fun with her knowledge and powers instead of use them for some lofty goal, chaotic. Could say the character transformed when she physically did -- Solstyce as an elf had a whooooole lotta mental issues, for example, despite her age acted in a very childlike manner, concerned first and formost with how much fun she'd have, but it's all a shell to hide a very slsowly growing and devellopping adult woman inside, who comes out randomly, suddenly, when some mental trigger is tripped, when she experiences extreme horror, anger, sadness... that's when she grows up for a short while and does what women do. But it never lasts, she'd rather be a child, and when she transformed herself into a pixie, this cemented that in her mind, and that locked woman inside was virtually inaccessable. She was a tiny, perfect, eternal child, with immense power.
This was brought up an examined, and finally shattered, when Geeorn "died". This was a trigger that would cause the woman from before to come out, but it had been so expertly hidden and buried that it COULDN'T anymore, and the experience of someone she cared so very much about dying was more than that childlike persona could handle. It snapped. Caused an immense shattering of both mental image AND physical and magical power. She didn't just act like a child, she was one. The world to her didn't have any badness in it, it would not be hideous, not be horrible, and she'd dance on bloody skeletons and twine flowers in the bones just as soon as she'd do it to a live person. And her powers changed as well, became less a magical, learned thing and more of a mental. Her magic was tied directly into her mind, working in illusion or reality what the mad Solstyce perceived. It was not uncommon for there to be a sudden shower of numbers around her, or a field of roses to bloom in midair. So when this madness, eventually, dispersed, it left her a magically superior being, but with her magic subject to the whims of her mind. Fear, anger, could all alter a potential "spell" and make it something else.
Mentally, she had grown somewhat. That woman inside was let out, and although she was battered and beaten, she was there, and helped Solstyce develop as she should. She's still childlike, still innocent, but not completely anymore.
Why do you Role Play the charactor that you do here?
[ 12-06-2001: Message edited by: Rhiannah Majiss ]
I'm an individual. Just like everyone else!
Trill is free spirited. Wild, well untill she was married, and had a son. That sort of calmed her down a bit
Durga is, for the most part, responcible. She raised her sister (Trill) since she was 12 (Trill was 9) because their parents were murdered. And being a paladin. However, more relaxed since being "retired"
Aani, well, Aani if played right, is a 6 year old trapped in an adult body. And was a work/cleaning slave in Crushbone. But overly curious, and friendly. Since being freed, very rambunctious.
why do I play them like they are? More of an exstension of myself. I get to enunsiate qualities I like. *shrugs* I like being free spirited, motherly, and being with a romantic husband. I also like being (or atleast trying to be) responcible, and honorable, protecting people. And Aani reminds me to be a kid at times (along with my job =P)
i've even recreated his charachter as a demi-god 40th lvl mage who roams the world doing whatever, creating dire-sharks in castle courtyards, summoning dire-bears off the side of ships. Smoking lots and lots of opium (the main hallucenogen in Quaegran)
Dugoll is a rogue who has the devotion of a cleric, (DE, Innoruuk), he's the lawful side of me, he believes that all good things that happen to him are from innoruuk, if a dark elf were to ask him he would admit he always wanted to be a cleric, but did not possess the power to be one, so he decided to be a scout/assasin for innoruuk, he kills whomever stands in innoruuks way, and he kills without regard. he's also my evil side bwahahahaha
quote:
Rhiannah Majiss had this to say about dark elf butts:
Maybe I should elaborate my question somewhat...Why do you Role Play the charactor that you do here?
Oh.
...
Dunno, it's just...me.
quote:
Why do you RolePlay what you are?
I honestly have no idea, and I've come to a point where I don't question my actions. If I do something, IC or not, I assume I had a reason.
quote:*snuggles the cute little ferret*
Ferret had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
Oh....
Dunno, it's just...me.
I'm an individual. Just like everyone else!
I played Sentow because he was a bungler; the victim of a bizarre upbringing.
My theory was thus. At the wee age of 18, Sent was already hopelessly directionless. He was clever and creative, but not really apt at... anything.
His love for stories one day led him into the Wind Spirit's Song. Fascinated by the tales of exotic locales, grand adventures, and beautiful women, he signed on with the League.
In just a few years, Sent's time with the League had sent him around the world. Twice. Both ways! Now, in his early twenties, he possesses both a childish preoccupation with adventure, and a lifetime's worth of the very stuff. He was loosely inspired by an amusing scene from the Transformers movie ("Well, the dust was really thick. Then suddenly, this gigantic Ik-Yak came tromping and stomping down the mountain, and I thought for SURE..."). It turned him into an awkward person, always prattling on about his harrowing adventures ("I dove into the river headfirst, but the beast never slowed its pace; I had never seen a Kobold move like that!"), his near escapes ("So what did you do, Mister?!" "I threw a ROCK at it!" "..." "It was a big rock..."), his stunning victories ("Did I ever tell you about the time I campaigned with General Veredeth?") with the same exuberance that he once daydreamed about such things.
Basically, he was an overgrown kid.
Sadly, by the time I was beginning to solidify his personality, I had lost all interest in EQ. But with SoL out, I plan to jump back in with a new character. Or three
Comic relief is one of my favorite character facets, y'see. And, it's the easiest facet to play in EQ. There just isn't much room for a cold-hearted master assassin, or a violent Shaman charging headlong in the fray, or a Paladin whose faith borders on fanatacism, or... well, you get the idea.
There aren't many opportunities to roleplay true depth in a character. Only the overt personality.
Ruvyen:
Perhaps one of my greatest. His job as a mercenary suits him well: He makes a considerable amount of cash, he makes a name for himself, and most important, he helps people. His goals in life.
Externally, he's actually quite the strange character. You don't see blue-haired, 6'1" tall Half-Elves with orange and black striped tails everyday.
Also, for the extremely obvious reason... I. LIKE. SWORDS.
Koric:
Hmm... Not really sure how to describe him... Remember that "What Quake monster are you?" test? If Koric took that, he'd be a Knight. Cold, hard exterior, but great when you get to know him well. He tries to get along with people, and help them out, but his size (7 feet tall), frame (HUGE), and scars (from battles. Lots, and lots, of battles.) tend to scare people. The fact that he's a barbarian might have something to do with it.
Khazmon:
A weird Dwarf. Most dwarves are slow to laugh and make a joke. Khazmon is almost the exact opposite. He was born with natural ambidexterity, and makes use of it with two weapons. He doesn't have any real use for laws, he'll do whatever he wants to, just as long as it's seen as good. Whether it's guard duty (He hates this, but is willing to do it) or brutally murdering the villain that has successfully made himself look good.
He isn't 100% chaotic good, however. He's a little bit off to the side of chaotic neutral. He's... A little crazy. A good idea: Do not give him explosives.
quote:*snuggles the cute little ferret*[/QB][/QUOTE]
Rhiannah Majiss stumbled drunkenly to the keyboard and typed:
[QUOTE]Ferret had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
[qb]Oh....
Dunno, it's just...me.
*smiles and hugs Rhiannah*
I play StormFox, for a couple reasons, I guess.
First reason is, foxes are by far my favourite animal. Someone else mentioned being something different...well, being a quadruped has it's own charms, in that respect, it's very different. Also, I talk in thought bubbles due to the fact that as a fox I can't speak English...Nobody's ever complained, I hope it's not irritating.
Originally, I adopted that form when I was ill, and I just wanted to curl up in a little ball, but I liked it so much, it just stuck.
Deth reflects my id, in a lot of ways. Intelligent, smart-mouthed, arrogant, and most of all free. Deth is free to indulge in things I can't indulge in, and can do things I can't. I am, to quote Terry Pratchett in the Discworld novels, "Not really intelligent; I just talk as if I am". So with Deth I get to bullshit a lot. I find it devilishly ironic that in real life, I'm the easy going contemplative sort, and Lyinar is the scientist, but in roleplay the situations are reversed. Deth's life was shaped largely by people putting purpose upon him. Growing up he was largely motivated by his sister Jania. She was either acting too big for her britches and needed a little deflating of the ego, or she was after him for some stupid stunt or another. After that he was shaped by his father telling him he couldn't be a wizard, which Deth rebelled against, and after that he was shaped by the death of the Ancestor at the hands of the madman Corrozhen.
Left to his own devices, Deth is actually more or less generally harmless. If something interests him, he gets involved in it, be it through reading or tinkering or just observing. Largely, after the world-shaping events of his adventuring days, I think Deth is sort of worn out on the idea of adventuring for a while. While he's more than willing to go on adventures if necessary, he no longer goes just to go.
Likewise, there's a strong element of familial ties to Deth. A lot of my characters are like that, because family is important to me. Deth, like me, likes being a dad. He likes kids, and likes being around kids.
As for his race...born a high elf, I didn't really have a choice as to what Deth was. Originally the triplets were twins, Jania and Jayzon, played by Lyinar and our friend Karl. When they decided to revamp the characters, they invited me to play the third sibling. We puttered with them a few times (they were Rengirian elves who'd been on Earth a while. Deth was a biker type, Jay was sort of a gunslinger, and Jan was an urban huntress) but then started a D&D game with them, which is where they really started to take shape. As for the odd situation with Deth and the Dark Elf/Light Elf thing, most of the characters from the triplets' story had their races shifted when they came to Norrath.
Recently when restarting the game, the decision was made that Deth was going to go from being a weredragon (a story element in the Triplets game) to changing into a full-fledged dragon. It was, for Deth, a matter of an arms race. Corrozhen was a half-dragon, bent on using an arcane and bloody unholy process to change himself first into a dragon, and then into a dracolich. Deth was the only one of the Triplets versed in arcane lore, and was thus the only one really able to take the necessary path...sooooo he jumped on the same bandwagon Corrozhen was on, using a purified version of the transformation rites.
Ultimately, though, Deth is really an elf in a dragon's body. He doesn't parade around as a scaly lizard, he doesn't horde gold (that's more of an Arrenn thing), and he definitely doesn't sleep on piles of coins (Lyinar wouldn't go for it). He is a connosieur of knowledge...and his lab is sort of his equivalent of a Horde.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
Disclaimer: I'm just kidding, I love all living things.
The fastest draw in the Crest.
"The Internet is MY critical thinking course." -Maradon
"Gambling for the husband, an abortion for the wife and fireworks for the kids they chose to keep? Fuck you, Disneyland. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is the happiest place on Earth." -JooJooFlop
Geeorn is a shape-shifter (sorta) because i use him to fit my moods. Celestial Geeorn is generally who he is whenever i'm in a generally "good" mood. he's rightous, virtuous (no, he doesn't booze and whore, that's what Geem is for ), and all around a guy who will do anything for a loved one. overall alignment would be Lawful good.
The OTHER Geeorn is the big badass with muscles almost as big as his dong (refer to the pic Deth drew ). He's solidly Lawful neutral with the occasional "less than good" act (or two or three....). Like Celestial Geeorn he still sticks by his guns, even though they use different ammo.
Recently though i've been feeling wierd about Geeorn. he has become such a strong part of my actual self that i can't really RP him any more. he's gotten so close that i've lost touch. so, i just use him now and then
i've been thinking of moving on from him as my main. the only thing is that i don't know WHAT my "main" would be any more. i've changed ALOT since i first developed Geeorn. more than he has. so i think it might be time to let him slide into the wayside. time will tell.
i
AM
CADGA
I dunno. I know some people can be assholes, but I think deep down I still have this whole "Don't judge a book by its cover" thing going on.
This, of course, generally bites me in the ass because my judgement of people sucks. Or something.
I don't know.
I also like Arrenn's theory. [ 12-06-2001: Message edited by: Kloie ]
Saffron Sienna. She originally started out as a wild elf brought into the cities, but never fully citified... she was born and raised in an elfin village in a valley, wild and happy there, finally dragged off to the big city to study there and learn to be a sorceress. She took her work VERY seriously, not because it was engaging or interesting, but because of what she could do with it. She was passionate, playful, and above all power-hungry, using things and men to her own devices. So, naturally, she's incredibly attractive, posessing a strangely non-elf-like dusky skin tone and exotic almond eyes, and a wicked hourglass figure. She seems to be the embodiment of the word "exotic". Or was.
It was a random occurence. A star streaking from the heavens finally crashed into earth... with scary precision directly into the town square of her home village. It utterly devastated the place, and left the things, the people she'd known from birth as dead horrors walking the streets, and odd, faceless spectres that haunt the ruins of her old home. This tears at her, throws her into an eternal, neverending state of mourning that manifests in a very odd way.
Her hunger for power is still there. But while before she found her studies useful, now she's empassioned with it all. She's on a desperate search to comprehend and bring to end the events that happened in her hometown, and as such, is delving further and further into the dark arts. She's not evil. She's motivated by deep passions and loves for others, but these loves make her a black, depressed person, desperately searching for some answer, some key, not powerful enough to find it but powerful enough to destroy anyone who tries to crack her psyche.
I'm having fun with her.
I am very outgoing and talkative, and very joking like.
Esear Kuin, who's life has basically sucked ass, has a personality VERY similiar to Aoshi from RK, meaning, he rarely shows weakness or emotion, and everyone else is always trying to make him show SOME kind of emotion. Esear usually tends to stay away from the group, probably wishing he was in it, but in RL, I am always in the group.
I guess a part of me wants to play someone completely different
) but someone who is very free and open with their views, not really afraid too much to express themself. Some one able to cope for the most part with things dispite what's happened to her in the past. The more I play her, the more I enjoy myself.I'm an individual. Just like everyone else!
Evil is a much greater challenge to roleplay then you might think, if you are set on creating actual evil, not just the homocidal lunatic type.
He's also changed alot over time, from being a tiny imp, to pure evil demon, to demon with a human side.
And well...
He's 
!
quote:
Rhiannah Majiss had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
Maybe I should elaborate my question somewhat...Why do you Role Play the charactor that you do here?
Why do I play Palador? Hummm.
Palador is, in many ways, the ideal me.
The character that became Palador (long story) was directly based off of me. When the shapechange/reincarnation happened, it messed with his/my mind. Personality stayed, knowledges stayed, but general memories and certanty of who/what I was were lost. To play this, I started having to "crawl around inside my head", and really LOOK at how I worked. Palador spent alot of time questioning WHY he acted the way he did, because he had a personality with no memories to explain/excuse it.
Doing this, I came to several realizations about myself. Lots of little things in the back of my head got pulled out and looked at. Some were good. Some were bad, and got fixed. Some were bad, but I realized that I didn't want to fix them, so I left them alone. As I played this character, I myself became more like the wide eyed, young psudodragon I was playing. Mentally speaking, I grew alot playing as Palador, and became a mirror image of him.
Physically, Palador started off small and inoffensive. Eventually (from crawling around in my head), I realized that wasn't something I really wanted at all. So, when the time came, Palador became bigger than normal people (which is what I would really be more comfortable with). He's not human in any form, because I am not comfortable with my human body. As a kid, I looked, studied, and figured out what kind of build I would have when I grew up. Needless to say, it didn't work like that. So, I've allways felt like I'm wearing a missized body, it just doesn't fit right. Palador's alternate form of an overly tall, overly thin cat person is more in keeping with my childhood expectations of my final build.
Palador is a healer, because if I had a chance to grab for power, healing would be mroe important to me than the ability to destroy/rule/ect. That's the same reason Palador has trouble with "blow shit up" spells. I have a nasty streak, but I honestly don't like hurting people. I would rather heal them and help them.
So, I RP as Palador. Because he's more me than I am (so to speak).
Lyinar is my fun-loving, maternal, energetic and protective self. Jania is my evil demon bitch. Lynora is my wacky side. All my characters (all 110+ of them ) are some part of me, in some way, yet they're all different. I just chose those because they fit how I was the best at the time.
Lyinar Ka`Bael, Piney Fresh Druidess - Luclin
quote:
Rhiannah Majiss stumbled drunkenly to the keyboard and typed:
Maybe I should elaborate my question somewhat...Why do you Role Play the charactor that you do here?
I don't RP here.
Gydyon is very much the me I want to be, and usually am. He is funny, irreverent, and ruggedly handsome (OK maybe I am not that part). He has handled the tragedy of his life (his parents were slaughtered as vengeance because he fought in a battle, he has a half-brother who hates him and wants him dead, and his fiancee vanished in the wilderness never to return) relatively well, and values his honor and the people around him above all things.
He is an unassuming hero, and as I work with kids fairly regularly, I hope that I am that at times, as well.
Gydyon's stories, if you're interested:
Thinking about your posts
(and billing you for it) since 2001
quote:
Mortious Shadowstalker had this to say about John Romero:
Mort gets to be an evil bastard, yet in a witty and comical way. Why would I want to play anything else?
Amen brotha!
So my iksar monk, from a very enclosed xenophobic society, enjoys try to get on the friendly side with other races, building up faction, learning thei languages, learning about them and travelling to their cities.
My dark elf enchanter enjoys being manipulative, but serves nobody but himself. Completely amoral and capricious, he may save your life one day just to laugh at you dying the next. Not dedicated to any cause whatsoever, extremely disorderly, just does everything at a whim. His favorite hobby is messing with people's minds, perfect for an enchanter.
Can't wait until I get SoL. Have some fun ideas on how to play a troll beastlord...
Khasmir...err...I'm not too sure what brought him on. I just sorta thought there was too much "BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!" evil in the world, and there needed to be a more subtler evil.
Though, as of late, I'm thinking of working him through again...
