Discussion: Why is your character the race it is?

[Baron]

What made you choose X race over Y race for your character? Would you play a longterm character of a less populous race if you had the chance? What's your opinion on the other playable races as a whole?

In short, use this thread to discuss why players flock to certain races and largely ignore others, why you chose your race in particular, and your proposed solutions to get people longterm interested in other races as nonhumans, not differently shaped humans. And elf shouldn't be a tall graceful human any more than a human should be a shaved Caparii.

 

[dogbew]

I made my character based on how Patriot made his character, as i am his character's son. We chose to be Silver Elves because Patriot's character is the son of another character, and our family values purity above all else. We tried to stick with how the lore says the race should look, toothpaste-white hair and green eyes.

 

[Michcat]

... Ooo.

 

[skuller]

I wanted Sayd as a Forest Elf because I wanted to make a stereotypical ranger character at the time and I thought having a forest elf would be a good excuse to have him be close to the woods and hunting and such. Also the forest elves have a more in depth lore than humans and I found it easier to play a race which had a lot of information to use so I could play one correctly.

 

[Valonyx]

I try to match what I impersonate to what i want to be/what I take as model/inspiration from RL/fictional personalities. 90% of the time, it's human, so I tailor myself as a normal, unspecial human being. Afterwards, THEN I try to spice things up, and play with emotions and values. I figure the human is inherently a blanker slate to begin, with perhaps a bit less restriction/racial particularities, or perhaps i'm just used to the human characteristics.

 

[Baron]

My character Vorar is the specialest of snowflakes, yes, but I wanted to play Vorar because it presented a unique opportunity for a character. Vorar is ageless and has no physical needs, and as a result the character, through pure IC thought and action, has trended into altruism and longterm views simply because it doesn't need anything it has. When I RP, I want to explore different points of view through the character. I am not my character and my character is not me.

Similarly, my character Snorri exists because I wanted access to the greater range of physical cues the Nakam have, as well as to explore how people behaved towards a character of an entirely non-human morphology. The fortune teller gimmick is an excuse to have RP access with anyone and everyone, and it provides a chance for some introspection of both my character and theirs. Also, it's fun to watch how people react when their fortunes are 100% accurate. 100% correct so far.

 

[BrianAT16]

90% of my characters are back story characters that I had no opinion on what race they were.

My only character I choose the race was my Halfling character Alex. I choose them because I liked the way the lore described the way Halfling's lived. Though my first few months on the server I didn't play it very well but since I have recently started playing him again I have paid closer attention to what the lore says.

 

[7632]

Morgan is an elf who is a descendant of elves that I RP'd as at a place other than here. My alt is a human because I thought a human would be most likely to take on the "law" profession. My other alt is TBD, as I haven't made a character yet.

As for encouraging people to play a race that is less popular, I've seen in-game rewards for creating and playing a character from a certain race, and it seems to be effective. Also, having an active race "leader" who is devoted to furthering the lore and keeping track of the state of the race can be really helpful as well. It preferably should be a person's "main" account and that person should devote a fair amount toward improving the race.

Oh, in the past I played a Confidence-Dwarf, but he was killed off for reasons.

 

[NIAH]

Aracena I made as a human because she was my first server character. I didn't feel like I had enough of a handle on the lore and didn't know what races went into which regions. So I made that vanilla human so I could learn the server.

Niah I made human because that's what she was in D&D.

Erikor is a Moor Elf because he was a babby child I was asked to play.

AAAND Mercy is human because that's how the Blackfires roll.


If one of my characters died and I had a slot freed up, I would likely look into playing a dwarf. But even after my time here, I'm not 100% positive on how to properly play a dwarf. I'm not terribly good at grasping lore heavy and accent heavy creations, because I find it a challenge that I'm not fully keen on taking up.

 

[Valonyx]

TBH with all of you, playing a strong silver/forest elven Lord/King in the purest, typical lore-wise way elves were (Tolkien, Paolini, etc.) and trying to grab elves to act like elves is something i've been considering doing for a while now. And also a strong, rude and independent militaristic woman.

 

[Baron]

TBH with all of you, playing a strong silver/forest elven Lord/King in the purest, typical lore-wise way elves were (Tolkien, Paolini, etc.) and trying to grab elves to act like elves is something i've been considering doing for a while now. And also a strong, independent militaristic woman.

Elrond is just Mr. Smith without sunglasses and in a frilly robe.

 

[Valonyx]

Elrond is just Mr. Smith without sunglasses and in a frilly robe.

I KNOW, RIGHT.
IT SCARES ME.

EDIT:

'But seriously though, I was rather referring to someone as arrogant and superior-feeling as good old Thranduil;

 

[Centurion]

Archaeus is a human because he's been a human since I was in fourth grade. Inhibits with age, yes, but I was going for a more hardy type, instead of elves.

Danniella is half elven with human physiology because her mother was elven.

Eudoxius is elven because I wanted to play a more easily breakable person, and Elves are girly, so. Drew on inspiration from Nwalme, actually. The silver elven part, not the girly part.

Laola, my old slave character, was a dark elf because I'd never played one before.

Iztekas, my Nakat, was extremely fun but very, very sadly I can't play him any more, I missed my chance to bring him back.

Crota's a human because his parents were.

And my next character to devote proper attention to will be an Earthspawn.

 

[Magiik]

Ater is a forest elf because he is a character transferred from another server. This other server (dead now), had a race called the Jarr'Al, which were desert nomad dragon-worshipping dark-skinned elves, and forest elves seemed to bring me closest to that.
Garrick is a human because I needed a character that could go anywhere since he's a bard and would have no issues. He needed to look non-threatening, sounds non-threatening, but also not look that nice. A human offered the wide range of looks and personalities to do that.

As for why people don't tend to play other races... One thing that really turns me off from them is that they are often heavily restricted in both looks and personality. If you look at humans, we are an incredibly diverse group, both in appearance and personality. In the descriptions of all of your races on this server, they are very easy to generalize. Silver elves are snobby. Forest elves are close to nature. Moor elves are vicious and care little for any kind of honor. Caparii are nature dwellers that enjoy drink and women.
Maybe they aren't like that in game, but most people joining can't tell that, especially by your very restricting descriptions.
In answer of your question, yes, I would play a race that doesn't look particularly human, but only if it was fleshed out. If they had a history, and diverse cultures, and loads of different appearances. I would play a four-armed, headless monkey if it made sense and had a good backing.

I play humans and elves because it's easier to make them different. Everything else seems to restricted.

 

[Deathmoron]

What made you choose X race over Y race for your character? Would you play a longterm character of a less populous race if you had the chance? What's your opinion on the other playable races as a whole?

Vukrell is nakat because at the time, when I applied for him, Mich was going to shut off the applications. Plus, I've always wanted to see if I could pertain to cultural lore, which is forced onto the nakam more than any of the other races.(Even if I played an Engem before, their culture had been bendy-densy the longer it was there.) I didn't know why, but I thought if I wanted a nakat it should be then. Nakam are limited to what numbers they have now, and slowly diminishing, as far as I know. (I even think some of them are infertile.) I've no problems with the other races; in-fact, I've played every race at-least once. (With the small exception of using every sub-culture.)

Benjamin is a human because I wanted to join Lavoyarde. At the time when I created Benjamin, I was told that Lavoyarde were racist in favor of the humans. I would've made Benjamin a Moor Elf if I thought I had the chance while joining Lavoyarde.

 

[Gaby]

Salheira Rain-River is a caparii because I couldn't let go of the idea of werewolves, and I had to accept that a furry faun was the closest I was going to get. eventually, however, I fell in love with the caparii culture, and I love how, through Salheira, I managed to develop my own subculture and expand on the lore of the server.

Viktor Sylvain is a human due to a public voting system, where I disqualified halfling as an option because that's too ridiculous he wouldn't be threatening (though I honestly would have loved to play Viktor as a lanky earthspawn or a haughty silver elf, and both race options fit the whole "gothic horror" vibe I wanted from Viktor). I made him a sorrowlander to explain how he could be a nobleman from a completely made up kingdom, though eventually, I found myself appreciating the opportunity to show his more... wild, unrefined side that came from growing up in a ruthless world.

Vantash is a moor elf because I wanted to explore the joke concept of a "moor elf engem," someone descended from two cultures diametrically opposed, who consolidates them within himself and seeks to embrace his dual heritage.

Sicari Pravus is an earthspawn because of a random roll, and like the rest of my characters, I eventually grew to appreciate the unique culture I was stuck with, and incorporated that into my character (though in Sicari's case, it's more sorrowlander culture than earthspawn culture.)

Serella Caedit is a silver elf 'cause that's what Brian and Boog wanted her to be

I wish I could say that I would play a longterm character of a less populous race, but I have my hands full with Serella and Salheira alone, and tend to neglect my "less important" characters a lot. but I want to play them all

 

[Rygan]

I play predominantly humans because I dislike the majority of the non-human races.

No issues with lore, or anything, I just like humans.

 

[Exclaimer]

I chose a Halfling for Therry because I thought the similarities to Hobbits were interesting, and the specific subculture she was (caravaneer) is contradictory to her personality and gives me some freedoms with her backstory.

For Mist I chose Dwarf because that's the last thing people look at for "cute" and I wanted to throw that out the window with a wee babby dwarf. I didn't really want to come up with a better reason.

 

[Tybalt]

TBH with all of you, playing a strong silver/forest elven Lord/King in the purest, typical lore-wise way elves were (Tolkien, Paolini, etc.) and trying to grab elves to act like elves is something i've been considering doing for a while now. And also a strong, rude and independent militaristic woman.

@skuller and I had plans for that. Elves just are not played like their lore says they are ment to be played

 

[Jak]

I chose a greyling because it's let me be a special snowflake for the past three years.