Forums » RP Discussion » Is there such a thing as TOO much info on your bio

What I'm talking about is, sometimes when I look at someones bio, it's several paragraphs long. I mean, it's at the point where its almost a book. Now, when I see these kind of characters, I don't want to read that long. Don't get me wrong, I want details, my character Tell, has a bio about five paragraphs long. Though three of them are not that long.

So basically, what I'm asking you is, do you agree with me, or do you think I'm crazy?

I defends. Some characters need only a little bit of information. Let's use my character Dawn as an example.

Playing her as a kid, I only need so much. When I play her as a teen, though, I need people to understand how she went from being a sweet chubby kid to being a thin, angry monster-hunter.

Waif is a character I put a lot of detail into as well. It's not all relevant to everything - but you don't have to read it all to get the gist of the character.

It depends on both the play style and the character, I think. I've got some characters who only have the basics on them.

WEll it depends on what type of info is given. but there is a point when it comes to characters when you do need a little bit more description. Well whne your writting a eight series book then that is when it becomes a little much.

Basic Info statistics are meant to give you a quick overview of the most important assets on the character, so that you can tell at a glance what you need to know in terms of looks, age, species etc.

That leaves room for a more detailed description for those who want to know more once they've seen the overview, provided there is more to add. It depends on the character, too. Species that are made-up require some extra explanation and detail most of the time, while a regular human will probably need only one paragraph of description.

There is never too much or too little information though. That's always up to the player and their own preferences.

I agree with you here. If you take a look at my character Kuro, you will see that there are two sets of her history, one that is a brief summary of her life thus far and then one that describes in great detail of her history(it is still under developement). The longer history has about fourteen paragraphs in it so far, and it is only to her fight in Russia.

I did the exact same thing with Luna's history. I believe that everyone should be able to describe their character's bio in as much detail as they please but they should also have a another version of it that is smaller. The longer version could be for those who really want to get a feel for the character.

(I also moved the topic to RP Discussion since it's an RP character topic!)

Hmm I think it depends... Like, I myself give a short bio and then about a 7 paragraph long explanation. Using Raine as an example. She is my most developed character and people are just going to think shes a B**ch unless they get some type of reasoning. Now I do agree, a book is too long and I will lose interest in reading. But I think the more info they put, usually means that the character is pretty well thought out. Now my other characters have maybe a few sentences on their bio. I could go into detail but I just dont feel like it lol.

I usually give basic info in bullet-point form right at the top, so if someone has a quick question during RP, like how tall the character is, they can just glance and know.

Then I give a physical description. If that needs to be more than a paragraph long, I try to give a summary at the top and then the nitty gritty below.

And then I usually give rumors or background info that other characters might already know and it would be okay for the person playing with me to use ICly. For example, my character Safiye is a noblewoman -- it makes no sense that someone living in a nearby kingdom would not have heard something about her, whether those rumors are true or false! So, in order to make the RP feel like it's taking placing in a real world, where people gossip and word gets around ahead of you, I like to include what people might know or believe ICly. To me, that kind of info is really fascinating, and I gobble it up!

On the other hand, I really much prefer it when people keep their biographies secret if they don't want me to use the knowledge ICly. It takes the thrill away for me, when I already know everything. But that's a personal preference.

Some of my more detailed, used characters have pretty beefy pages. I've always considered that a sign of development, personally, but I should hope no one requires others to read all of it prior to roleplay! That's nuts!

However for my characters, the first page, within the first couple of text widgets, usually has all the basics you'd need to know to roleplay with me (provided you aren't fussy about details and DO just want that quick glance). Otherwise, if you want to keep reading all of that info, that's on you the reader. I don't have a requirement stating an entire character site must be read before someone can RP with me. That's silly.

If someone needs more detail on something, I'm more than willing to point out the correct page to them and state the info from it myself as concisely as I can--RPing in Furc's wee lil' text area requires that sort of compact explanation! I practically have my pages memorized anyway, so I can hop right to the right place in my own beefy pages to help someone understand something better. S'like having your own personal secretary! ('cept I won't fetch you coffee, you lazy bum)


As for character histories and secrets, I have my own way of hiding those, so finding and reading those is, again, on the reader's head. I even drop warnings about that on occasion-- 'If you don't want this spoiled, don't read further/don't open this collapsible tag!'

TL;DR; Most of what you need to know is on the first page of any of my character sheets-- even the beefy ones! I consider a beefier profile just to be a show of lots of detail that's been developed for a character. Hopefully the player doesn't require all of that to be read! I know I don't!

This is all a matter of opinion though. Some folks want to keep things super short and simple, and some want to write out as much as they have in their heads. And that's totally okay, because both of those are allowed!

I think you're crazy! Yet I know I am too in my own way. I'm one of those folks who literally write a short book on their characters (see Nicolae and Nick) and absolutely adore pouring through similar pages (such as those of Copper Dragon - I have in fact practically studied her characters and it's brought me to a much greater appreciation of them). It brings the characters to true life for me when they're as complex as any of us.

I feel roleplaying is all about the art of writing, the celebrating of literary creativity and the breathing of life into characters; so I don't really see a problem with detail and do not feel that "too much" ever applies unless it's particularly useless information.

However, most of their extended profiles (when I try to separate appropriately into sections for easier reading) is there for those who earnestly want it and enjoy reading (as most of us should as collaborative writers) and is primarily accessible to those who might be able to use it (psychic characters with abilities to see into a past, read an individual in some way, have access to government files, potentially know the character from the past, etc.) Plus it exists for my own satisfaction of convincing myself that I know my characters well enough to write for them.

I don't expect everyone to read it (you may have even stopped reading this two paragraphs back) nor is it even remotely required - it's a matter of glancing over the summary of an individual and then picking up their biography if you think they're compelling enough or there is information you require.

I keep some secrets, but do elude to a lot and share most of my creation, although I expect people to tread cautiously, use the information properly, and avoid the page labeled "history" if they don't like "spoilers". In a lot of cases this information can only ever be known by the reader and that's part of the fun of being a narrator!

However, like Copper Dragon, I do make sure the first page has a summary of the character "at a glance" that can be skimmed over for those who don't care for depth.

I don't think there's a problem with having a long bio, but it'd be helpful to the player and anyone interested to have a more concise version as well. c: