Character Biographies are in fact a necessary evil. However, like
most things in the role playing world these days it has been taken
too far.

Sadly, if you let new players have completely free reign in a game
there are those 1 or 2 who will ruin it for everyone by creating Mary-
Sue/God like characters.

The Character Biography is meant to aid further in the game and
actually has a lot of positive points:

1.) If the moderators are doing their jobs [isn't that an entirely
other issue?] then the profiles visible in the games should only be
of active characters. If that is the case, it allows recently joined
players to be able to do some quick research when dealing with other
characters.

I know as a writer I prefer to look at the profile of the people I am
involved in posts with so I have a better idea of how to react around
them. It allows for a better detailed post as well as offering more
for me as a writer to work with. For example, if my 5 foot nothing
guy is talking to a 6'4" muscular man covered in tattoos, unless my
character has a lot of bravado, he is at least internally going to be
afraid or at the very least sizing the guy up.

2.) The same above applying concerning moderation, the biographies
allows players to figure out what type of character they want to
create. If I see there are 8 royals but only 2 servants, I am going
to create a stable boy. Characters tend to be more entertaining when
there are not 15 clones running around.

3.) In theory the biography can work as a filter for moderators. If
someone creates a flawless character [I am talking full out,
unquestionable Mary-Sue who sings and birds flutter to perch on her
finger] the bio is going to show that and will allow the moderator to
take the necessary precautions.

Of course to be fair, I have to offer the cons with the pros:
1.) Moderators, as I have noticed was mentioned in former
discussions, tend to only use the biographies as padding to make the
group look more impressive. In fact from years of being in various
games I have noticed that moderators are the world's worst about
creating characters and then never actually playing them.

2.) Again as mentioned in former topic here, moderators tend to nit-
pick over the biographies to the point it can drive a character from
playing. If they were doing what they are supposed to, the character
sheet would only request basic information needed for game play,
maybe a sample post and would clearly show what is expected. If
corrections are needed, the moderator should specify the exact
problems with an explanation and should not need more the one
correction. If more are needed, 90% it is the moderator's fault.

I know when I join a game and the character bio is asking stupid
questions like character's birthday, favorite color, zodiac sign,
favorite place to pee [because some of them are that ridiculously
detailed], etc. I roll my eyes and will likely just quite the game
before filling out that mess.


The question is which is the lesser of the two evils? In my opinion
that comes down to the moderator.

Anyone else?

By the way, my name is Roger. I thought I would just add my two cents
to the group. Well that and as a writer working on creating my own
group, I was hoping to gain the wisdom of my peers and those with
experience.