Forums » RP Discussion » A stream of consciousness about character profiles

What are some things that attract you to a character bio, that make you look and say "I want to roleplay with them"? What are some turn-offs?

Details are good, and lots of details are better, but can there be a point when a character profile is too long, and if so, what? How little information is still enough for you to go on?

What's something you wish more profiles had that most don't? What's something you find a lot of profiles have that doesn't help you (favorably) judge the character or their player?

How well can you judge a book by their cover?

Graphology plays a huge part for me.

As much as art is alluring but it's not something I favour when looking for RP partners, what draws me in how well the character is presented. When information is slung together in a huge consistent block with no gaps I get turned off really, really quickly.

My brain literally refuses to process it, tl;dr's, even if the character seems an ideal partner for a tussle ICly, I can't.

However, when the information is accessible and easy on the eyes, I'm far more likely to read and far more likely to contact you for roleplay.

I would have to agree with Hag.

A bunch of well done pieces of artwork and paragraph formations of information are not exactly what I look for when seeking a partner to progress in a character's plot or just over all. I mean it is nice, but it is not a requirement. And often times when information is displayed in a paragraph, I tend to loose interest and get rather bored.

And I honestly could care less about a character's personal diary or quibbling on what happened to them during a session of role playing or how they feel about so and so's character.



Instead I prefer well laid out rpr's where you have the basic information on it's own page then on a secondary page/drop down option there is more details about the character. Such as what they smell like, clothing, personality and etc etc etc.

As well, I really like characters that are.......well-researched or put together? To explain, when some one plays a supernatural character like a kitsune or werewolf - they have a bit more than just an inkling about what their species or lore is about plus having them realistically played - i.e strengths and weaknesses and little foibles that make them 'human' in a sense. Rather than making some magically 20 ft werebeast/kitsunesexpot that has no weaknesses and can sing with all the colors of the wind.

*quietly removes singing with all the colors of the wind from Bolsh's unique talents*


This is more or less what really kicks me into gear with RP. I will say that for me, there is no such thing as too much information. When first encountering someone or their character I may not read it all, and I'll probably only look for information that's relevant to the current plot or upcoming post, but as I get to know someone or RP more consistently with their character I'll dive into their profiles and read everything.

As long as all the information is organized and presented in a manner that's more or less aesthetically pleasing. I will admit that when the layout of a profile is generic or lacks decoration unless it's obviously representative of the character to be very minimalistic, I tend to get the impression that the RPer doesn't "care" about their character. On the other end of the spectrum if something is very heavily decorated with excess imagery I check out and become over stimulated.


So all in all, I want to see someone who cares about their design enough to present them tastefully, see that they've given due care in the little details of the design, and most preferably; that their playstyles chart roughly matches up with my own, because it's indicative of whether or not we'll respect one another's styles.

I'm with Brandon on that one. The more information makes me think this person has put quite a bit of time and effort into their character. This isn't to say that people without lots of information or without a website don't, I am just more likely to be hooked and interested.

And as already said, I might not read all of it at once, but if I am interested in the character or if our roleplay is going somewhere I will certainly read up on the character. I also enjoy reading journals, more often than not it shows how dimensional (or non-dimensional) a character can be.

It's nice to see this information all well organized, especially when you get a 'teaser' or just some stats/listed information and the player goes more in depth through out the site.

Here is my entirely subjective, personal flow chart for deciding whether to play with a character based on their profile alone, roughly in the order by which I would examine it:

1. Is there some effort put into organizing the profile? Does the player show that they care about this character and how it is presented and viewed?
2. Are at-a-glance basics available in an easily found location?
3. Does the basic information/description/introduction, and the way in which it is presented, suggest that this character has depth and value?
4. Is the writing style interesting, clear and appropriate? What sort of 'vibe' do I get? Does this seem like someone who could write a good story with me, or like someone who's just very good at singing the praises of their own character?
5. Has the player made an effort to arrange other information, particularly information that is not easily gleaned through play, in order to avoid spoilers for people who want to access that information later or learn about the character exclusively over the course of the story?
6. Does the player seem to have an agreeable OOC personality, or are there snide and sarcastic comments in OOC sections that are unnecessary and unappealing, such as in rules or otherwise?

Usually if a profile clears all these, the character and player are pretty A-OK, too. Hurray!

Having a readable profile is a plus - I don't fancy being drowned in huge walls of texts when I can't find the bare essentials.

That said, a huge turn off is when a character has little or not personality traits listed. Nothing makes me X out faster than a "Height/Weight/Eye color/Hair color" list that describes only the physical appearance, but has nothing of value about the character's personality or what they enjoy doing.

If the character has no apparent direction in life, I hesitate. I put a lot of value on dynamic characters who 'exist' outside of roleplays. That means they have hobbies they tend to, a job to work, a social life to maintain that is viable without my character needing to interact with them. It's hugely unappealing when a character just seems to sit around staring blankly at a wall, or the ever so popular 'just wanders around aimlessly'. Something about not having a purpose in life outside of roleplay for a character makes it a lot more shallow to me. If it's obvious they were just given an occupation for the sake of having something listed, that doesn't work for me - it needs to fit, it needs to work. I don't know why, but this has become my number one criteria in characters in the past two years. Probably because I've only had positive experiences playing with such characters, whereas the others tend to go sour fast.

I love it when profiles are organized and don't give too much info. I enjoy having the basics laid out, with a brief story and purpose, hinting at much more that can be experienced through RP. While it's definitely admirable when someone can pour pages upon pages of info into a profile, it does take away some of the mystery and excitement of getting to know someone. Don't reveal everything, that's part of the fun for me.

A deal breaker for me is an unpleasant OOC tone. Sometimes people think it's funny or cool to litter an OOC page with swearwords like there's no tomorrow, or just write really aggressively and bossy. It comes across as immature and not something/someone I want to associate with, so I really avoid it. People who manage to express their frustrations neutrally or even eloquently are people I generally really like, so they definitely pique my interest.

I admit, the majority of my character profiles are not ver detailed. Mostly because I lack the time, but this reminds me of my character Artemis, I spent a long time making and shaping her, and with all these different views on how people view characters, could someone mind, if they have the time, to tell me how well I laid out Artemis' profile?