Like, should I still write a paragraph just identically describing exactly how my in game appearance (transmog etc) looks or what do I just put (IC Appearance is identical to in game appearance) or is that just gross and low effort?
If it’s good manners I’ll do it, I just don’t really see what’s the point of describing it if you can see it with your own eyes lol
Good question! All of my characters are mostly identical to their in-game appearances. I will state some obvious things and then mostly focus on describing their personalities, expressions, comportments, vocal qualities—more subtle nuances that others would notice. I try to think about the small things, even with their armor/weapons, that make them unique.
As much as you want to or nothing at all.
You might want to put a bit of flavor on some details such as a charm you might wearing, a tattoo or the grime on your boots. or an expression on your face.
There is no single right answer.
Okay, I was still planning on describing other things about him, I just couldn’t tell if it was necessary to give a accurate description in words of my outfit if it’s exactly the same icly as in game haha.
I personally aim to hit the high/obvious details.
For example, my warrior uses the ‘blades’ marking options for Nelves. So, my profile will read something like, “__ 's face is marked with the traditional blade-like markings of her people.”
Then I might describe their eye color, scars, hair (how clean/neat they keep it), and then lastly I typically describe their equipment/clothes. If you have a set that you use as an all-around ‘rp set’ get into details of it!
It all comes down to personal preference. Ignoring that they can just look at your character model and see, what would you consider to be the important, notable aspects of your character’s appearance? Aspects that help define how they look in your mind, rather than elements that are just sort of… there.
This is…actually a solid question that I think a lot more people are wondering about than we think.
I’m going to agree with most people, saying it’s whatever you feel comfortable with. My advice, though, is not to go too overboard with things. One thing to always keep in mind is that with this kind of RP, people have to read what you write. That’s one of those things that sounds self-evident, but it can very easy when we’re writing to get into too much of a groove, and just keep going and going and going–
Yeah.
But if you do want to describe yourself, writing is a good way to include something you don’t otherwise have in game. A scar, a tattoo, a necklace, things like that.
Though I imagine if you don’t include anything at all? People will just assume you look…well, like your character. Which is fine, if you’re fine with it.
What I ended up doing was just writing an entire paragraph doing my best to identically describe my in game armor LOL.
But I probably won’t do that for future characters, now I tend to think a simple “In game apperance is virtually identical to IC appearance” in OOC works, along with a brief description of the armor (example being: if it’s gold armor you’d give a little thing saying it’s shiny gold armor etc etc).
Then you probably wrote too much. Put your character in your minds eye and imagine just seeing them as they round a corner. What strikes your attention if anything at all?
Here’s a sample.
“For a moment you catch a glimpse of a silver haired figure tall with visible scars for a moment her eyes hold your glance until she moves on.”
If you look further you see her gear though travel worn is tightly and functionally fit. for survival and battle. Your attention however quickly veers to the giant cat at her side."
I think there was a time when I would write an in-depth 3 paragraph long desription of my character, but now with over a decade worth of accumulated characters to juggle, I just make a bullet point list of highlights in the description and maybe a link to an art commission I have of them if I have one. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
I think Bullet Points or the equivalent of them are all people REALLY should be aiming to include in their RP Profiles.
Anything more is just a personal exercise in creative and/or descriptive writing, at which point you’re going beyond the scope of a profile intended to give players a quick idea of what your character is.
Honestly, I think the entire “About” section of TRP3 is excessive. You already have your Name, Titles, Notable Features, and Personality Traits listed in the first tab and have the At a Glance section for the type of visual stuff someone might see that isn’t obvious from the character model and worn gear itself.
These days if I’m putting more than some bullet points in the About section, literally all I’m doing is expanding on the personality sliders, since people don’t really function on static values like that.
Anyway, if people want to use their profile as a writing exercise, alright I suppose. It’s just a bit much and not the kind of thing most people will actually fully read before interacting with your character, so I hope you don’t have key info buried in there somewhere that you expect people to respect.