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Joke Characters
Topic Started: Jun 7 2017, 04:12 AM (688 Views)
Citali
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Hi, Citali here! I am here to talk to you all today about something very near and dear to my heart:

JOKE CHARACTERS.

Let me preface this by saying I absolutely love the idea of joke characters. Something non-serious that is designed to get people OOC'ly to laugh, cheer, or scream in terror is great because it can provide a necessary deviation from the usual RP atmosphere. When done right, they can leave all parties with a smile on their face and keep people wanting more later. However, this post is not about joke characters done right. This is about joke characters done wrong. In some cases, these joke characters may be done very, very wrong.

With joke characters, one should always strive to create something that does not leave a permanent or everlasting mark on a character. Joke characters should always be non-lethal and incapable of causing harm, instantly killed in one strike if they are attacked, and unable to leave any lasting influence. A good joke character does not disrupt a serious moment in RP, does not intrude on personal moments, and simply exist to change up the hum-drum life of the bar when nothing major is going on. They also are unable to cause anything real to occur - technically, joke characters are not canon and should not be treated as canon. They should be forgotten about the moment they leave one's view. Are two characters sitting in the bar talking about the weather? Bring out the clowns that explode into cheese! Are two characters tucked away in the terrarium solemnly mentioning how one of them saw their best friend die in a hail of gunfire? Keep the turtle with a mullet that speaks in riddles away for now. Joke characters are all about execution and timing, and no one likes something that interrupts a real moment that might be truly important to the characters involved. Remember, people spend a long time making their characters and invest countless hours into their personal connections and stories. It is essential to respect that.

Secondly, joke characters should never (read: ABSOLUTELY NEVER. NOT NOW, NOT THEN, NOT WHEN, NOT EVER. N E V E R.) be able to take more than one hit, or be able to cause harm. One of my earliest joke characters on-server was named Chad. It was a large maggot insect that told puns and would explode into confetti when someone did not get the joke. It might swing its head at someone, but only with the force of a lightly-papping pillow. It did not come down with an impervium skull marked with spikes and shooting deadly neurotoxin everywhere. Furthermore, one hit took out Chad instantly. The same goes for every other joke character in my repertoire of ridiculous abominations. They cannot cause harm, and they are removed in an instant. Furthermore, no joke character should explode into gore. Confetti, smoke, little machine bits - anything that might be unexpected or considered funny is acceptable, but flesh is often more scarring IC'ly for characters than anything. Remember, the goal is not to leave a lasting influence, and IC PTSD after watching the small child melt into a puddle of blood and organs while screaming tends to cause that.

Third, joke characters should come and go quickly. Their existence should leave but a small mark on the server. Five minutes is, generally, a good time frame for joke characters. As I said before, timing is everything. Do not let a joke character overstay their welcome, as doing so will become boring for all those involved. Although you, the jokiest of players, might be having an absolute blast, Serious McICameHereForActualRPSinceThisIsAnRPServerAndNotSNL could have gotten their chuckle ten minutes ago and is now staring in exasperation at the screen and cursing Chucklefuck for making the game that allowed this to happen. If any of my joke characters remain longer than 5 minutes, I consider it a failed run and try to adapt for the next occasion so that it does not last for a long while. Simply put, keep it short!

Fourth, if anyone at any time asks for your joke character to be voided, you void them. It does not matter if you spent four-thousand hours carefully plotting the best joke character ever that will get 99.9% of the population of any group of people ever to laugh so hard they spit up a lung - if Serious McIAmNotRepeatingThatWholeName says they want it voided, it is voided. No actions should result from action taken against a joke character, either - if your lawful good character sees the literal embodiment of edge come down, point at the joke character, and use their powers to dice the character so much RNGesus tells them to chill, your lawful good character should """conveniently""" not notice somehow. It is also important to mention you should never judge someone for asking to void. People have plenty of reasons to ask for a joke character to go away, and that should be respected. Do not look down on another player because they asked the five-headed emoji monster to leave.

Lastly, and this is the most important: do not let your joke characters influence another player's character in any long-lasting way. This is non-negotiable and essential. I will use two personal stories to elaborate. One character, Malum, left the server for months because of the trauma of killing someone. Why did he kill them? It was a mercy-killing. The character was constantly exploding and begging to die, and there was no way to help save them. Their existence was to explode. This joke character put a "real" character on the sideline because they were coping with having just ended a life. In a similar vein, a joke character was later voided after Etlazoh (one of my old characters) killed it when it invaded his home and started shrieking. Just as with Malum, he was coping with having taken a life - something that can drastically change a character forever. I will point out another joke character I saw telling people to kill their friends or to commit heinous crimes. This, too, is a bad idea - anything that can alter a character's story is in poor taste, and is a misuse of joke characters.

Remember, joke characters are a privilege. We do not need to allow them. Right now, we give joke characters almost unlimited freedom because we want to! However, if this system continues to be abused, we will have to remove them entirely. If you like joke characters, but someone is not using them properly, please feel free to explain to them what is going wrong, why it is going wrong, and what they can do to fix it. If you ever receive flak for asking for a joke character to be voided, contact a staff member. We are always willing to help. This is Citali, joke character enthusiast, signing off!

My joke characters:
- Chad
- Navy Seal (all variations)
- Invincible Man/Eternal Umpire
- Skyrim Guard (graduated to actual Andromedan guard character)
- STOP HEIMSKR (Heimskr)
- DA MAN
- ULTIMATE GLITCH
- It was Better
- Bimplesnitch Cometosnatch
- Confused Physics Expert
- Benedict McHenry (Not technically a joke character; a "semi-joke" character)
- A FUCKING CANNON

- Felonious Bolus
Edited by Citali, Jun 7 2017, 04:25 AM.
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Icarus Flareshield (Gold Donator)
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Roses are red violets are blue, I want to die and so do you!
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GG citali GG
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Idej
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British Cat-Eared Goon
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GIVE ME, THE PRIZE
Edited by Idej, Jun 9 2017, 01:48 AM.
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Smokey (Staff)
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I'm actually interested in this, because Bimplesnitch has made a significant impact on quite a few characters, does that mean you consider him a failure? From what I can tell he's become a meme.

When I say 'significant', I mean people running away in fear whenever someone says 'win me the prize', and although by your definition that's a fail, to everyone involved it's hilarious.
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ScuttleJoy
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Weeb at heart
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I miss my silly ass raider. always wanting to eat babies! Like those pshycos from borderlands.
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Krilory
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Goddamn weirdo
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Huh.
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Smokey (Staff)
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First of all, no necrobunping

Second of all, this is spam, at least put meaningful content behind it.

Thirdly, knowing the context behind the post, I somewhat disagree with it. However this is dead, leave the thing alone
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