Character descriptions

[Chris Johnson]

Ah but if we just kill off all the chars over 55 then its all fine , and ProgD will know all .... did I say that out loud ?

[Oasis]

That would leave me with......one.

[Jos Elkink]

Does that mean you have more time for GAB stuff?

[Oasis]

*runs back into hiding*

[Jos Elkink]

[kabl00ey]

Perhaps instead of all the debate about how to create the perfect genetics-based attributes and characteristics distribution systems....we could just have plain old text boxes in our chars descriptions page, and we can fill it in ourselves. I know people could make all their chars 'stunning specimens of human breeding' but heck, that would at least give those of us who want to role-play our characters a little more to go on. A simple user-entered text box in our chars description should be relatively easy to code for, and I'm sure most people would prefer this as an interim measure (with the possible final goal as a genetics-based system) rather than having NO descriptions at all, the current situation.

[Sho]

Previous forum response would suggest that no, people do not like that as an interim measure. I don't, for the reason that you pointed out. We can't trust people to be good RPers.

[Sarah]

No, if there are ever going to be genetics, this needs to be determined by genetics too. There has to be some sort of organization with this--if genetics are specific to a region, it would make no sense for us to create a huge variance of characteristics in one place--one person will give their character blue eyes and brown hair, another brown eyes and blonde hair, etc., and it will be for the most part randomly distributed throughout the whole of Cantr, thus defeating the point of genetically-determined appearance altogether. The only way a region would eventually have a unique and unifying characteristic is if for some reason many / all people without said characteristic were killed, and I can't think of a way that this would happen often enough to make genetics effective. Race / hair color / eye color won't affect physical performance (at least that's what I assume), thus specific groups will not eventually die off any more than other groups--and it would be quite rare for some character to decide to commit a genocide of all people with a certain trait.

[wichita]

Yes, and having the appearance derived from location-based genetics will put us one step closer to possibly being able to develop more unique in game cultures. Appearance is going to give us one more way to identify characters with a given town and eventually might lead to ethnicities as determined by character social classifications.

Take for instance, the people of Drojf are blond haired, blued eyed on average, and tend to have a more stocky build and medium height. The people across the sea in Siom have darker hair and skin and are much taller and thinner on average. How do characters react to each other when they see another person who is obvisouly from someplace else? Do they trust them? Are they more wary? An uncomfortable subject for some, I know, but it is still an interesting societal aspect of the game to explore. With user defined appearances, we will be less likely to see this development.

[Pie]

Alright... the last few posts wer to long for my short atention span to read. Apperently.. when things are to big for me.. They have to be all redy to do or els i will feel over powerd by all of the work i have to do(Ex: cleaning my room) its a sicofoloogycologist thing(thats a shrink for the older.. less imaginative people)

So... what if.. Right now.. we could just choos what hair color we have with sertain little buttons.. like when you make your caracter, There will be three butons saying "a small person" "an average highth person" "A large person"
and a button saying"Thining hare" "Bald" "Compleatly bald" or"Lujeriously thik hare".

Somthing like that.

[InsaneIrony]

Pie, please excuse me, but I can't resist...

So... what if.. Right now.. we could just choose what hair color we have with certain little buttons... like when you make your character, there will be three buttons saying "a small person" "an average height person" "A large person"
and a button saying"Thinning hair" "Bald" "Completely bald" or"Luxuriously thick hair".

What would happen to the characters who have roleplayed their descriptions for some time? And as for characters over a certain age- would their hair ever turn grey? Would they ever be able to aquire wrinkles, accumulate scars over time?

[Pie]

I would say.. SHEEP!!! *Rubs the bight marks on his back* that the players that have been alredy made.. can eyther choos there looks when logging in.. or wont get any looks.


AND.. the scars thing would happen if THIS topic would be accepted

http://www.cantr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6277

Will it turn blue and have it when you click on the page it will instantaniously go to that page?

(Edit IT LIVES!!!!

[the_antisocial_hermit]

sicofoloogycologist thing(thats a shrink for the older.. less imaginative people).

Ehhhmm... are you going for "psychological thing" or "psychologist thing" or "psychology thing"? If you pronounce what you typed... it makes no word at all... I know psychology et al. is a difficult string of words to spell, but.. you definitely didn't spell it how it sounds...

[Pie]

A shrink? DON'T YOU GET IT WHEN I SAY SHRINK??? SERIOUSLY!!!!!
but i get your point.. i should have added the p in front.

BUT STILL.. i made a good point with my last post.

[Lumin]

Genetics would screw over the older characters the same way skills did, and giving players the ability to type in their own text would require way too much micromanagement for the PD. I don't even see everyone looking like supermodels as the main issue, but instead people who for whatever reason decide to describe their character as an alien or robot or something. Also, can you imagine what a block of text describing Pie's characters would look like? It's just too open to abuse.

What I would like are the suggestions about drop-down boxes. It doesn't even need to be anything elaborate - I don't care to know if in the player's mind their character has long, luxurious raven hair, sparkling emerald eyes and a tall, curvaceous figure. I'd be happy with five simple boxes - hair color, eye color, height, skin color, and body type.

And there doesn't need to be a zillion different options. Hair color could let you choose from black, brown, blonde, red, white, grey, bald.
Eye color: green, brown, blue, grey, black.
Height: short, average, tall
Skin color: pale, ruddy, light brown, dark brown
Body Type: skinny, lithe, normal, muscular, or husky.

That would give you a basic idea of what the person you're talking too looks like, which is all you really need. With your own chars you're as free to imagine all the little details that only you really care about as always.

Players could set descriptions once at any point after creation, meaning thieves won't be having plastic surgery between every town and older chars would have the same opportunity as new ones.

And you'll notice that I've listed 'bald' as well as 'grey' and 'white' hair for the people who want that more dignified or monk-like look (even in their twenties), but as for the talk about scars and hair changing color as they age, as far as I know wounds are completely healed after eating enough onions, and people in their seventies are just as healthy and robust as someone who's still in their twenties. Why would their hair change color or fall out?