37 réponses à ce sujet

[Gibb_Shepard]

There are two main questions i wanted to ask:
1. How do you conceive your character?

Always wondered how others create the basis of their character. Do you make a short backstory and go from there? Do you jot down his/her morals and attempt to abide by them throughout the game?

2. How do you play your character?

Do you view him/her from a director's point of view? Just guiding your character through different scenarios and  handling the character like a puppet master?

Or do you try and get into your character, so to speak. Have his/her thoughts go through your head like you're the one acting it out?

I've always wondered how others do things, and for that matter how involved they get into the roleplaying process.

EDIT: To clarify, i'm talking solely about your ME characters.

Modifié par Gibb_Shepard, 01 février 2012 - 05:02 .

[knightnblu]

If you are speaking of pencil and paper role playing, then yeah, you pretty much have to create the back story with the character when you roll him. If the game is something like Mass Effect, then you go with what they give you. Regarding how I play the character, I treat the character as an avatar of myself. In other words, I use the same morals, judgments, and values in game as I do in real life.

Some folks don't. Some people play a character that is evil because they want to explore that, some play as chaotic because they want to try on that personality. The play style is entirely up to the player and usually based on what you are comfortable with.

The fun of RPGing comes from getting into your character similar to how an actor gets into character. It's just that professional actors have a lot more training, experience, and range than do RPG gamers.

[Starfishsicko]

1. Character conception can be a lengthy process. Thankfully, ME gave us a backstory for shep in ME, I just needed to figure out how and why he would interprut these events. Usually though, I start with the class I want to play and work my way back. Example: Playing a mage -Went to a mage college or was self taught-what is my morality-why? It can take a while sometimes, but Ive always been the dedicated sort
2. Sometimes. Othertimes I hear character concepts and play it to see how it feels.
I always get into the character mysek., In most cases, the job of direction is up to someone like the DM. They give me said scenarios and my character reacts to them.

[The Sarendoctrinator]

The roleplaying opportunities in Mass Effect is the best part of the game for me. I always create my own characters and then add them to the world, after planning out their personality/history/opinions and most of their in-game decisions.

I wouldn't compare it to being a director exactly, and althout it would be kind of fun to think of it as playing puppet master... it's more like being a writer, at least for me. The same way a writer would plan out what their characters do in certain situations is the way that I roleplay. The only difference is, instead of having complete control of the plot and every character in the story, I control one character (Shepard) and see how much the world changes when different Shepards take the lead role. I probably have close to 30 of them planned out. That's just my nature. I play the game the same way I plan a novel. And with so many Shepards in different stages of creation, I have started writing this stuff down so I don't forget it.

I never play the character like I'm the one acting out their actions, but their thoughts are definitely going through my mind as I plan them out or play the game. What they're thinking and how they feel about certain choices is a big part of determining how they will act in that moment.

[Augoeides]

I tend to do a roleplay like play through of these sorts of games either after a non roleplay play through or after amassing all the knowledge I can on the game, then I lay it all before me and seeing all the possibilities I begin to visualize who I want the character to be in relation to other characters and plot decisions. It's a piece meal process where some parts of the character are built around conforming to a certain event or decision, while other parts are constructed based on the dynamic and fluid personality that meshes or contrasts with that of other characters. Finally I then go and fill in the blanks by just looking at other peoples ideas and concepts from other games.

Once I have that I lay it over a thematic mesh which can range from Biologist, to Fire to Hope, to Brawler etc. and that defines the style of play and thus the more niche original elements of the character which may not actually be available to express in the presented options.

Essentially I lay out a meta-game script of what must happen and what must not happen, the character will follow a particular development but the roads to the various stages of these key points are all big question marks, determined only at the time when the decision of what road must be made.

[Verly]

I have several Shepards, not one of them is me, or one I play like me. I guess there will always be a bit of yourself into anything you do, but, I in no way made a Shep to look like me or have them be like I am the one walking around. I have a hard time playing the pure renegade just because some of the choices make little since to me.(and I can't get into the head of a character that is a complete racist biotch) That being said, I don't play pure Paragon either, because I don't find that realistic either.

I do play like I am the director to an extent. I choose for my Sheps to do how I feel that character would act. for an example my canon shep is Penny. she is an engineer a spacer and a war hero. she's pretty serious. she was mainly full paragon in ME1 because her of her background as having a family in the alliance and already proving that she can get the job done against all odds. She's a techy too, so she's a bit of a geek, and has no problem admitting it. , but she changed during ME2 where she was a tad more violent. here she is, working with an organization she hates, and for some reason (game plot since she can't just leave) she stays, maybe it is because they are the only ones that believe her about the invasion. some of the violence is her acting out, or it is because project Lazarus wasn't quite the success it was supposed to be. She is now in a relationship with a dying man, but for some reason she fell for him anyway. one quirk I gave her is that she always takes her messages in her cabin instead of the terminal beside Kelly.

The only character in a game I ever made to look like me is my avatar here who is my dwarf from DAO and even then she is not me, because I had her do many things I'd never do if I was in her shoes.  

Modifié par Verly, 01 février 2012 - 05:28 .

[Soccerchic6]

I created this whole backstory for my FShep. She's an Earthborn/War Hero/Soldier. As a paragade, she's a combination of who I am and who I want to be. Her background and experiences are what makes her who she is and determine how she acts in certain situations. I have a set story for her - her past (Earth and Elysium), her personality, her quirks - all of that is going through my head as I play Mass Effect. And I use not only that, but my own personal feelings, to make the decisions in the game.
I think what's wonderful about this character is that I am Shepard. I'm experiencing everything that she's experiencing. The adventure, the romance, the choices...like knightnblue mentioned, she's my avatar. I get to live through her, so to speak.  

[The Sarendoctrinator]

Verly wrote...

I have several Shepards, not one of them is me, or one I play like me. I guess there will always be a bit of yourself into anything you do, but, I in no way made a Shep to look like me or have them be like I am the one walking around. I have a hard time playing the pure renegade just because some of the choices make little since to me.(and I can't get into the head of a character that is a complete racist biotch) That being said, I don't play pure Paragon either, because I don't find that realistic either.

It's the same for me on both points. I never play as myself, and if I was ever so curious to see what my Paragon/Renegade score might be (definitely more Renegade than Paragon, I can tell that much already), then I would create a Shepard who looked nothing like me to play out my choices for science. The thought that I could be running around as a super-soldier in space is just completely unrealistic to me. xD No, I'd be the person who wrote a story about the Reaper invasion when it was all over, after getting very far away from Earth when the best human soldier in the galaxy said giant sentient machines are coming to get us.

And I don't play pure Paragon or Renegade either. Sometimes I just can't see the same character making certain decisions that... kind of contradict each other.

[Gibb_Shepard]

Thanks for the replies. I know i'm having a bit of trouble keeping my character coherent at the moment, mainly because he says and does things that i never intended and really contradict what the character would do. But my mind is very fragile in that respect, as sometimes even the tone of dialogue can break my view of the character. It's a real pain in the ass haha.

[Golden Owl]

I create a fairly lucid background for my Sheps...they are all Earthborn, makes it a bit easier for me...the backgrounds remain fairly sketchy though, just enough for me to find each Sheps motivations and drives and then just try to think like that Shep whilst playing him, always what would this Shep do or say, etc...

[LadyofRivendell]

I only really have one Shep, and I basically play her as an extension of myself (so to speak). What she does in the game is pretty much what I would do/say in the given situation.

As for backstory and such, I don't have much of a solid one. I've got ideas, bits, and pieces, but the majority is just Spacer and War Hero.

The only RPG character I've really developed is my Warden from DA:O.

[jeweledleah]

my first Shepard started out as self insert and then she ended up evolving into her own person. in some ways she's someone I would like to be, but in general, she's her own character now. the rest of the Shepards? i usually start out with a theme and/or a fictional character inspiration (sometimes a real person, but that's pretty rare). at about the same time, i figure out which LI I would like that Shepard to end up with (or whether I want them to be single). and knowing what their underlining theme, motivation is? I let them develop through dialogue. sometimes, they end up developing in a direction that I didn't originally planned on, but that's part of the fun.

I rarely figure out specific backstories, unless they are a direct cause of the underlining motivation. I do however, write up general personality traits.

[OMTING52601]

The Sarendoctrinator wrote...

The roleplaying opportunities in Mass Effect is the best part of the game for me. I always create my own characters and then add them to the world, after planning out their personality/history/opinions and most of their in-game decisions.

I wouldn't compare it to being a director exactly, and althout it would be kind of fun to think of it as playing puppet master... it's more like being a writer, at least for me. The same way a writer would plan out what their characters do in certain situations is the way that I roleplay. The only difference is, instead of having complete control of the plot and every character in the story, I control one character (Shepard) and see how much the world changes when different Shepards take the lead role. I probably have close to 30 of them planned out. That's just my nature. I play the game the same way I plan a novel. And with so many Shepards in different stages of creation, I have started writing this stuff down so I don't forget it.

I never play the character like I'm the one acting out their actions, but their thoughts are definitely going through my mind as I plan them out or play the game. What they're thinking and how they feel about certain choices is a big part of determining how they will act in that moment.

Wow, really? I play them completely the opposite of the way I write a book. With a book, I know those characters inside and out, faults and foibles, motivations, prevarications, and provocations. And though to a degree some of my characters have a bit of me, I don't put myself on the page. I'm telling the characters story, not my own.

When I game, I put myself into the character. All of my Shep's are me, they're how I'd act if I were a spacer who joined the Alliance straight away, or and Earth born orphan who does whatever it takes to get the job done. Each Shep is unique, but I insert myself when I RPG, not when I write. Kind of cool to see an opposite end of the spectrum

[Xeranx]

I don't get many chances to roleplay so I'm still a novice.  At the same time, I do think about some of this stuff just because it's fun to try and see what you can come up with.  So I'll answer as best I can and hope that it suffices.

Gibb_Shepard wrote...

There are two main questions i wanted to ask:
1. How do you conceive your character?

Always wondered how others create the basis of their character. Do you make a short backstory and go from there? Do you jot down his/her morals and attempt to abide by them throughout the game?

My initial run through the first game was a throwaway.  But afterwards I had something in mind everytime I played through a Shepard that I liked.

For Mass Effect, seeing as there's a back history story already, I have to fill in the missing pieces.  For instance I have a Colonist Vanguard.  I imagine she (I predominantly play femshep) had a younger sibling.  Why? Parents dying sucks, but losing a sibling to an attack is a definite kicker.  Even worse if it's a younger sibling.  In my mind that serves the attitudes and behavior of that Shepard going forward.

2. How do you play your character?

Do you view him/her from a director's point of view? Just guiding your character through different scenarios and  handling the character like a puppet master?

Or do you try and get into your character, so to speak. Have his/her thoughts go through your head like you're the one acting it out?

I've always wondered how others do things, and for that matter how involved they get into the roleplaying process.

EDIT: To clarify, i'm talking solely about your ME characters.

I play my characters in accordance to their backstory and how I want to portray them given the options for dialogue in the game.  Going back to my Colonist Vanguard, she hates Batarians with a passion because of what she went through.  They're the only aliens she hates.  Coming across that sick Batarian on Omega, she gave serious thought to letting him die.  She needed information, however, and killing him wouldn't have served her purpose.  She did take out the Batarians who were holding Mordin's assistance at gunpoint keeping in mind that the Batarians likely wouldn't have let her go if the roles were reversed.

On the other side of that, I have a Spacer Shepard who doesn't have siblings and wanted to join up with the Alliance after hearing about Mindoir.  In fact the very odd thing that happened when I was thinking about her was I was wondering how she came to know about the attack on Mindoir and my mind immediately went to 9/11 and watching everything happen in the city which was only maybe 35 minutes from where I live.  She doesn't have the same contempt for Batarians as the first one does, but she's wary of them anytime they're around.  Generally, she's an approachable human being who has her own issues.  

I used her background to deal her a massive blow to her ego.  I made her a part of every background option there was, but made her a focus for Akuze.  Having a military background, being a biotic, and a crack shot with a sniper rifle in addition created quite the cocky character in my mind.  Akuze brought her down to earth quickly.  She's not as good as she thought she was since (at the time) she wasn't able to save anyone from her unit.  And this is where I justify Shepard being a biotic because I think it's the only way she could have managed to get away from that ordeal.

I guess that's a long way of saying that I do get into character.  I try to imagine what Shepard is feeling at any point during dialogue scenes.  As a result some of my Shepards don't have love interests because there's nothing that sparks interest.  Now I'll admit that most of that is me, but I've been asking myself who would actually catch her eye or intrigue her.  I haven't come across anything or anyone that would so far.

[The Sarendoctrinator]

OMTING52601 wrote...

Wow, really? I play them completely the opposite of the way I write a book. With a book, I know those characters inside and out, faults and foibles, motivations, prevarications, and provocations. And though to a degree some of my characters have a bit of me, I don't put myself on the page. I'm telling the characters story, not my own.

When I game, I put myself into the character. All of my Shep's are me, they're how I'd act if I were a spacer who joined the Alliance straight away, or and Earth born orphan who does whatever it takes to get the job done. Each Shep is unique, but I insert myself when I RPG, not when I write. Kind of cool to see an opposite end of the spectrum

Yeah, the way you describe writing characters for a book is pretty much how I play my Shepards. Like I said in my other post, I can't even imagine myself as a super-soldier in Mass Effect, a Warden in Dragon Age, or anything like that. I'm just not that type of person, so it wouldn't really be me anymore. I can see how it could be more realistic for others though.

It is interesting to see how other people roleplay their Shepards. There are so many different ways to go about it.

[mineralica]

1. Usually it's a single idea or phrase which prompts creating. Then I develop character's personality from that, taking possible events of ME into account.

For example, "sniper should be phlegmatic" was the initial idea. Then I chose from available backgrounds - Earthborn is unsuitable for quiet and thoughtful Shepards, Colonist had rather big problem with batarians which might create emotional bias while Shepard deals with them, so I rolled with Spacer. Spacer contains two officer parents, so authoritary parents and overcaring mom in particular (remember letter to Spacer from Hannah in ME2?) were easy decisions. So we have mom's sweet boy who keeps calm in all situations. This implies that only possible notable event was Akuze - and we have traumatised mom's sweet boy, whose "be respectful to everyone and trust to Alliance" got him witnessing death of entire squad, and he has no one but natural forces to blame. He got closed in himself after that, but external reaction will be "I'm fine" (to not disappoint mom)- so we have person who jokes his way around the problems Jeff Moreau style. Add jokes like "Why are you doing this? - Because my momma said so".


2. Definitely acting, more even like interviewing Shepard.

"Hey Max, what do you think about working with Cerberus?" - "Well, they are responsible for Akuze, so I hate them; but I've never followed a path of open resistance, and I have a gut feeling that quitting from Cerberus will end in my death and saying openly that I think will only lead to more suspicion from them. So I'll pretend that I work for them, but will try to sabotage this organisation at every possibility".

[hawat333]

It's very much like writing a major character for a novel.
First off, you determine the concept of the story itself. What do you want to achieve. Do you want to achieve a heroic story, do you want to achieve a dramatic one, etc.
Then you move on to the actual character concept. What and who he/she is? You have to have a hardline, an archetype, if you will. Is the character a hard-ass soldier, is he/she a total jerk, is he/she idealistic, that kind of stuff. When that's done, you outline the personality traits. Is he/she loyal to the Alliance, does she/he care about the people, is she/he forgiving, xenophibic, a ladies man, how does she/he treat the enemies, is he/she the end justifies the means type of guy. Once you have that, the little things shape themselves.
Playing the character is again very much like writing one. You have to keep the concept in mind. But beyond that, it's up to the character to act. For example, if I want to keep Zaeed alive and get his loyalty, that's one thing. If my Shepard pursues the preservation of life, he/she will be sure to go after saving the hostages, no quation about that. So I will delay the mission until I have a high enough paragon rating to take that persuasion option.
Or if I want to achieve a heroic victory in ME3, and know that Cerberus will be a major antagonist... well, my hands are tied, as Shepard trusts Cerberus and The Illusive Man, so he will hand the Collector base over. What I can do however, is maintain a certain distrust at the beginning a game, and keep that compromising data to myself on that N7 mission.

Something like that.

[Gibb_Shepard]

hawat333 wrote...

It's very much like writing a major character for a novel.
First off, you determine the concept of the story itself. What do you want to achieve. Do you want to achieve a heroic story, do you want to achieve a dramatic one, etc.
Then you move on to the actual character concept. What and who he/she is? You have to have a hardline, an archetype, if you will. Is the character a hard-ass soldier, is he/she a total jerk, is he/she idealistic, that kind of stuff. When that's done, you outline the personality traits. Is he/she loyal to the Alliance, does she/he care about the people, is she/he forgiving, xenophibic, a ladies man, how does she/he treat the enemies, is he/she the end justifies the means type of guy. Once you have that, the little things shape themselves.
Playing the character is again very much like writing one. You have to keep the concept in mind. But beyond that, it's up to the character to act. For example, if I want to keep Zaeed alive and get his loyalty, that's one thing. If my Shepard pursues the preservation of life, he/she will be sure to go after saving the hostages, no quation about that. So I will delay the mission until I have a high enough paragon rating to take that persuasion option.
Or if I want to achieve a heroic victory in ME3, and know that Cerberus will be a major antagonist... well, my hands are tied, as Shepard trusts Cerberus and The Illusive Man, so he will hand the Collector base over. What I can do however, is maintain a certain distrust at the beginning a game, and keep that compromising data to myself on that N7 mission.

Something like that.

I have tried that approach, and while it works with  silent protag, i don't find it does with Shepard.

That's mainly because of the restriction the voice has on your character concept. My original idea for Shepard was your typical stoic character, always keeping his emotions in check. The problem is, Shepard always shows his emotions. Sometimes, no matter what option you choose he'll be aggressive for no reason.

This is why i've found the best way to not get frustrated with constant OOC moments is to not define his personality too much.

[The Sarendoctrinator]

I can always play Shepards with a bunch of different personalities, and when one of the dialogue options that I choose doesn't sound right for their character, I just reload until I find one that does. I'm not sure how you got Shepard to sound aggressive with every option, unless you're not playing the game with the English voices.

[jeweledleah]

Arcian wrote...

Shepard is too iconic and established to be molded from a roleplaying perspective. That is why I get pissed off when I see people use the phrase "MY Shepard". Trying to change Shepard's characteristics would be much like trying to change Nathan Drake, giving him a different face and a different backstory. It just feels like a systematic character defilement, much like what can be found daily in bad fan fiction.

Same issue with Hawke. The Warden, on the other hand, was just a blank slate, which is perfect for roleplaying purposes.

eh?

concidering that Shepard gets multiple dialogue options, ability to have or not to have LI's and variety of outcomes depending on player choices and can be male OR female... where do you get iconic comparison with Nathan Drake i'm not exactly sure of.

there is no canon Shepard, only default used in advertisements.

the only thing that makes Shepard and Hawke different from warden is the fact that Warden is not voiced in game.  but there's a default male warden advertisement model.  that's even voiced in some of the trailers.

so you are wrong.  very wrong

[Scouren]

It seems more of a subjective issue, but with the way Mass Effect has been marketed and advertised, I agree with Arcian.

And for a contribution to the topic, the most fun I've ever had with Shepard was playing as Barack Obama. Because yes we can defeat the reapers.

[The Sarendoctrinator]

I've never understood why people feel that way about Shepard. The game was made for people to be able to create their own Shepard and play however they want, even though most people probably stick with pure Paragon or Renegade. That's why there are options, different ways to interact with the characters, and several love interests for Shepard to choose from. Nathan Drake is much more of a defined character than Shepard is. There are a few facts about Shepard's character that never change, but there are so many possible variations. Shepard is more like a creation of both BioWare and the player.

But I guess it doesn't really matter. People will play Shepard however they want. I certainly don't care if others think it's "not possible" to roleplay Shepard. Because I can, and I will.

[Gibb_Shepard]

The Sarendoctrinator wrote...

I can always play Shepards with a bunch of different personalities, and when one of the dialogue options that I choose doesn't sound right for their character, I just reload until I find one that does. I'm not sure how you got Shepard to sound aggressive with every option, unless you're not playing the game with the English voices.

Well considering in ME1 the majority of responses are just copies of the options above, it is quite possible. Sometimes there is only one voiced delivery for all 3 options. Happens frequently.