basic PC description?

[The Crimson Magician]

I find this kind of annoying as well. It just adds more of a nice feel to the game. It doesn't have to be incredibly long, (Mine take up a paragraph, usually) but I feel it would add more realistic, like an experience, and not just an escape from RL.

[SnottySnitch]

Also,
big notice in OOC starting area?

[RIPnogarD]

What a character description does for me is gives me something to play off of. If they a tall or short, thin or heavy, attractive or fugly etc., is helpful. There was one recently that professed how very bad their PC smelled (kudos to the player for that), my dwarf walked around sniffing and asking “What in the hells is that smell?” after that PC walked past. This is good stuff to work with on a role-playing basis not just players wanting OOC info about somebody.

[SkillFocuspwn]

You see only death in their eyes.

[ZugThaEadBasha]

I find it helpful to know how grizzled a given PC is.

[Requiem]

Like a Grizzled Watchman or Grizzled Chosen hunter.

[Halfbrood]

Grizzled Seeker, {Bearded}

[Semli]

How about a script that detects if the description is blank, Bioware standard, or contains the word RP in it?  When the script detects these things, it fills up the space with a madlibs paragraph.

For example;

NAME is an ADJECTIVE RACIAL NOUN.  HE/SHE has COLOR eyes and COLOR hair.  HE/SHE can often be seen VERB-ing NOUNS, as this is the way HE/SHE serves HIS/HER god, DEITY.

Blaze Firestormer is a delicious human beast.  He has hazel eyes and blonde hair.  He can often be seen playing lutes, as this is the way he serves his god, Bane.

[TooCuteForComfort]

Ahahah, characters with blank descriptions and mismatching portraits can be great (seeing dwarf-lings a lot that way) but is it really that big a deal..?
I just always assume they're kinda lower-average looking in about every way imaginable and a rather dull person..
I heard on occasion some people just have a hard time writing up those things. I do too, really, forgetting lots of things that -should- go in there, so a guideline posted up somewhere would be a real good idea methinks.
But can you really ALWAYS tell what deity someone worships just by looking at them?
'cause I can think of situations where I would pretend to worship a divine entity different to the one I actually entered in the field..

[Lorloth]

So many ideas for entries to write in the research notes of Maximilian Cromwell...

[Y-T]

Good lord, no wonder no one would RP with my first character.

But at any rate, while it may be slightly annoying seeing the above mentioned PC descriptions in the box, shame on you guys who avoid the PC all together. The person, most likely, is just new rather than lazy.

Always, always encourage new players.

[ArizonaBlueEyes]

I am kind of shocked to read that people disregard certain characters, simply due to their use of the stock description, or their lack of one altogether!

I don't think the quality of the description has much to do with the player's ability to roleplay, or weave a fanciful story of love, loss and woe.

[Jayde Moon]

Erm, nobody said that.  The only thing that comes close is where I said that I'm disinclined, which I clarified by agreeing with Core's statement and further explaining what I meant by disinclined.

But here's some examples spelled out with how/why:

My PC is moving from Point A to Point B.  As he/she does so, he/she will pass by many characters.  My PC is on a mission, Point B is calling and there are yummy hot dogs and cotton candy waiting there.  Therefore, my PC is not stopping to chat with anybody.

However, my PC passes someone with a description that I read as I pass and within it that says something notable, like they are 8 feet tall or they walk around absolutely naked.  It doesn't have to be outrageous though, the point is there is something about the description that my PC can't help but notice and perhaps interact with, enough to make her stop, even though he/she is on a mission for Hot Dogs and Cotton Candy.  For Fipya, noting that your PC has tribal tattoos or wears bone jewelry or otherwise describing some sort of druidic or natural path in the PC.  If I had a cleric, noting another PC wearing the holy symbol of the Deity my cleric worships might stop her.  If I were playing a young nobleman, noticing something noble-ey about your PC might get him to stop, or if there was something absolutely wretched my PC might comment.

If there is no description, then MY assumption is that there is nothing about your PC that stands out to my PC, hence there is nothing that says 'More interesting than Cotton Candy'.

However, if my PC were standing around and another PC that my PC knew brought your PC over to introduce, and your PC had no description, I would happily RP with you.  If our PCs made a connection, then it wouldn't matter that you didn't have a description written in.  My PC now has IC history with your PC and it would be OOC and bad RP on my part to ignore your PC simply because you had no description.

So, what I've tried to express above is two things:

One is to explain that nobody said they WON'T RP with you if you haven't put in your description (at least not in this thread).

The second is to show how having a description might be an RP trigger.  Without a description, you don't have that particular RP trigger, and thus one less tool to help get your PC involved.

[Lorloth]

A lack of a description doesn't mean people are going to make a point of ignoring you.  It is, however, a bit like having a low CHA score: you're going to get overlooked at first glance because there's nothing there to see at first glance.

I've actually considered giving a low CHA character a shittily insubstantial description for precisely that reason.  Colorful descriptions encourage RP.

As for the people who post their entire life story, I don't bother to read those at all.  If it's longer than 1 paragraph, chances are it's too long to read simultaneously to participating in RP.  Since you rarely have an occassion to just stand around ready novel-length descriptions without engaging in RP, they just never get read.

[Caddies]

Who gives a shit.