Thinking about in-world introduction profiles?

Community General Discussion
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I was thinking about ways that would help thinking about the game and how to play, and people have given me great input. As promised, everyone’s been super helpful.
I’d like to float the idea of creating profiles for our in-world selves. This can be just one’s focus in magiq, or interests in general, or things your character would be proud of having participated in… things like that?
I wouldn’t think it would need to include anything one would rather came out in the course of play or getting to know someone of course, that wouldn’t be the point. Just a profile like someone would have, but perhaps with the additional meta of a few things (like hooks) that might help others get to know you. …Thoughts? Still not sure if I’m getting the idea right, so what do people think about something like that?

I loved reading about people’s rooms, for example! Of course, because it is in an imaginary physical space, it would make it easier to run into someone and have an incidental conversation. I’m probably focusing on the wrong things, but just thinking about stuff that might be fun to try?

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I think this is a marvellous idea! It’d be a great way to help ease more people into the role playing of Neithernor Reborn. I know that it’s supposed to be like DnD and that there is a handbook of sorts being made. So I think character profiles would be a great addition/aid and, as dan said, to create hooks for role play! It’d would definitely help me to get into it more and be a little more confident in joining in if I had a profile to work from :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Would it happen to be different/more detailed than the “About :mountie name here:” section (not always labeled as such) that a number of folks have at the bottom-ish of their quarters & journal threads?

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It’s gotten a bit buried but from my understanding this was kind of the intention of The Research Lab within Thornmouth as well. Do the other guild categories have similar threads that might be helpful for getting to know mounties from different guilds?

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I know each of the guilds have intro threads however far they’ve ended up getting buried at this point, I think they might be out of world?

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The thing about adding an in-world character profile is that it might encourage people to create entirety new characters to play as, and what we’ve found works best over the course of this is yourself+magiq. Essentially you are playing a version of yourself, and so a separate, in-world introduction doesn’t seem necessary.

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It’s a great idea!

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@Ashburn Yes exactly! But as you said not everyone has one so we think it’d be a good idea if people did have an about their character profile! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

@Sellalellen I think what Dan and me mean is that we think it’d be a good idea to create an in world self that is not out of the bounds of reality but instead a character you’re comfortable playing as. We brought up this idea as some people, myself included, are not comfortable playing themselves due to things like self confidence issues. Also as this is essential an in world DnD game and not a thought experiment it’d allow more freedom to create and express :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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It could just be yourself. Or if that’s the rules, that’s the rules, I’m not contesting that part. I just was thinking it would be nice to have a spot where you can see what others are about.
Especially for Neithernor, though I think the room openers were pretty good for that, and not that lost yet. (can we pin posts? Not sure how the forum works functionally.)
I specifically meant in the canon area. It would be neat to see all of your perspectives of yourselves and what’s happened, your perception of magiq and your ties to it.
Of course, Jericho makes a point about NNR that I think could be fun too. I just won’t make too much comment on that part because I’m new \c. c/

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Hey, everyone! I just want to pop in here to support @Sellalellen. In the past, we’ve had members of the community (both on the forums and in the precursor to NN:R) who have used these spaces to create characters that are very different from their real selves. While these characters might have been cool, they often times felt like they didn’t belong in the world of AGP: they’d have powers that didn’t exist in this world, or strange motivations, or other features that didn’t mesh well with the world on the forums.

That’s why we came up with the phrase “You + Magiq” to describe who you should be when you’re on the forums. It fits neatly into the setting of the Magiqverse, which is a world that has magiq in it, but it’s been hidden and wiped from collective memory (though not totally because some people remember parts of what the world used to be like). “You + Magiq” doesn’t mean that you’re already an adept or gifted magiq user; rather we mean that it’s you, but you know that magiq exists and you’re trying to help bring it back. Does that help?

Also, as @Ashburn pointed out, there are in-world introduction threads for each guild in the “Guilds” category, so please make sure to use those! They aren’t the very concrete character profiles that you seem to be looking for, but they’re a chance to introduce yourselves in-world! Then, once you’re able to access NN:R, you’ll be able to add things with the room openers post!

Finally, I’d like to add that I completely understand how issues of self-confidence could complicate these suggestions. Being present in a community can feel really daunting even if they’re as welcoming as we try to be. I hope, though, that this space can also be one where you feel comfortable being yourself because we’re interested in working alongside and being friends with you. The forums might also be a place where you can explore you (and what that means). And I hope it can be a place where people, by being themselves + magiq, can build self-confidence :purple_heart:

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Yeah, I get that, it sounds like you had trouble with godmodding and people not following the world setting. IF I was to play a ‘character’, it would still be an ordinary person. That’s clearly the setting intended, and it wasn’t cool/respectful to introduce characters just to have powers (or whatever). Creating characters shouldn’t be about being cool. It should be to help distinguish OOC and IC, set constraints faults and strengths in advance when considering the premise, trying something new with yourself, or allowing for parameters that one might think might make their interaction with the world setting better.

Regarding the latter, which I think Jericho is alluding to, I suppose I’m thinking (given the setting) something more like being able-bodied when you’re not, being married vs single, living arrangements, that sort of thing. All normal things to be different, because that’s the setting. Technically, were I to tell others one of those things, in order to make a more convenient character, they could be seen as lies rather than as tweaks that make it easier to interact with the story. But whenever you play someone in a different circumstance, you’re still in character even if it’s pretty subtle. You still have to pretend, and imagine yourself in that other circumstance. Even if that character is you in other ways.

I’ll check out those threads again, and throw in my hat. We’ve gotten into very theoretical territory, but I think it’s worth clarifying (at least for interest’s sake) the scope that I would mean at the most dramatic! I think that’s all Jericho meant by it too, I assume. I’m definitely not being myself even being on a forum at all (lol). I’m not even sure I’ve ever used one outside of Windows troubleshooting (and I’ve been on the internet for a really long time)! :stuck_out_tongue: It’s unlikely that I have the same ‘voice’ in world even when I’m trying. :stuck_out_tongue: There are lots of small things that change one’s ability to interact with others. I think the concern might end up being ‘lying’ when that’s not the intent. People might be doing that already, who knows? The idea would be that it’s irrelevant, functionally for the story. But, should one contradict a personal point OOC one day that it wouldn’t be considered bad. ?

All that aside, mostly, I think I just have trouble navigating the site in a way that makes sense for my brain :stuck_out_tongue: I thank you guys for the time you put into your inputs! It’s part of understanding the culture here, and what’s expected, what’s happened, and what you’d like to see from new players.

PS: Oh (still thinking), I think writing up current, up to date profiles can help me, personally, understand how the In World setting has changed things for you. I’m sure, for example, that your inworld selves have diverged from your every day self to some degree. Or no? How do people feel about how the world has affected them in RL? What things are different about when you interact with magiq on the forums/roleplay versus in everyday life? I think the thing I was asking for most anyway was for personal stories that people have had so far - how people feel InWorld!
I feel like some kind of thesis can be written about all this :stuck_out_tongue: Sorry for getting so far into the weeds…! Thornmouth-guilty <_<

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The profiles we had during our first explorations of Neithernor had an “attitude toward magiq” thing to fill in (mine said “a healthy respect”)… Would revisiting that as an open question in the guild threads help?

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I don’t think I could have said that better Dan! It’s exactly what I was trying to convey :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Personally, I’ve played Louisa as me. The only difference is that in fiction I know magiq exists, and I have an opportunity to be part of bringing it back and making a difference with this wonderful group of people.

The cool thing about AG is that almost all of the above is literally true. I am me, and I am making choices based off of my thoughts on things, and I am making a difference in how this story ends up by working with my fellow Mounties. The line between fiction and reality is beautifully blurred, which has led to changes in my character, and in turn lead to actual changes in me. The ideas we play with - especially that stories have the power to shape our reality and our perception of reality - are very real ideas that happen to have more concrete effects in this fictional space.

I’ve been here less than a year, but identifying as a Weatherwatcher, and then as an Ardeonaut bearing Weatherwatcher, has shaped my perception of myself, what I’m capable of, and the way I approach my personal goals. That sounds insane, but I honestly was surprised by the way those quizzes sorted me, while also somehow knowing they fit me just right. AG has also introduced me to some wonderful people in this community that I enjoy getting to know a little better all the time. I really do feel like I’ve grown in my brief time here.

I guess what I’m saying is that the blurring between story and reality is kind of where the magiq of this entire thing lies. You don’t really have to make up a character, so much as play with what you already have. If adding a detail here and there that isn’t technically real, but feels like a real part of you or feels like it emphasizes a theme that speaks to you - a pet, a piece of jewelry, etc. - more power to you! Fantasy stories are big lies with lots of little truths. You can use your personal little truths to add flavor to your experience.

I hope any part of this made sense. Literally any of it. It all kind of came out in a big rush. And if anyone disagrees with it, please let me know. I am still relatively green, so I very well may get things wrong.

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Oh no, I don’t think that’s insane at all. Every character I’ve played at any length has changed me, sometimes in big ways. I think it’s especially difficult to play someone that has nothing to do with you - that seems, maybe, impossible. We’re all locked in our own realities. We can imagine another life, but we’re still imagining it from our vantage point.
In any case, I get all the parts you said, Louisa! I think that was very cogent way of describing the limits of the world (it’s hard to do for this because it overlaps so cleanly on real life - and I do agree that’s what attracted me to the experiment!

I used to play EVE which had a really similar, very enjoyable (but nerve-wracking) component. I couldn’t play someone I couldn’t regularly actually be. If I had to write a treaty, summarize meeting notes or analyse data, the result wasn’t any better than I could do (people were generally happy someone was doing it, mostly). Likewise for flying. My initial concept was something of a racer, but I never got that good at flying. And then, I got caught up in a war (that was really happening in game, not just imaginary), and my skills (or lack thereof) was something I definitely had to roll with. People reacted to what really happened, not what you wish did (people who did were considered IC to basically be delusional).
He was almost entirely me, including how nervous I get. I can’t do one thing and pretend another, when it’s all so obvious. So, I leaned into that. I made him as nervous as I felt - which in real life, I can cover up pretty well, especially in professional settings. By playing him for a few years, I think I got more in touch with my nerves. By acknowledging them through a character (plausible deniability ; j) and having people interact with them, I think it showed me things about it I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. When people got to know me well, they could see better it wasn’t that much an act, or a flourish of writing. It was more or less directly honest.
I can think of less dramatic examples, but those characters were further (and further) away. They’ve all been kind of healing, though it’s more dramatic when it’s close to home, or ‘everything’ but, like he was. I never did any healing or writing on purpose to be me, though I’ve become fairly resigned they’re all me more than I thought they were. : j
Anyway, I think I get exactly what you mean! --Do I make sense trying to connect to your thoughts?? c_C

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Yes! I can totally see the parallels in your EVE experience. And looking at what parts of you react to the story here, just like you got more in touch with your nerves via EVE, is excellent. :slight_smile:
These are really interesting discussions to be having. We’ve all kind of jumped into this knowing there’s not much else like it, and figuring out what that means as we go. And we’re all sort of discovering that border between reality and story together, and how we can use that to shape both the plot and our actual reality for the better. I’m glad you’ve raised these questions, and I look forward to seeing/reading your thoughts as you settle in here.

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I think we had a somewhat similar question last year (thanks for reminding me, @Tinker!). Does this thread help any? In-World Character Differences

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@Ashburn Ah, yes, I did see this a while back! (I’ve been roaming about) I think Spina had a very similar question to what I was getting at - she just got to the point better than I did.
You all have had experiences here. I think I’d like to hear about them. The main reason is meta, it’s easier to integrate when you can see what people have had to deal with. But the interesting secondary need would be to help the Dan that stumbled on a magiq website forum be introduced to the group. He could share a little bit about himself (myself) that relates to magic (or be asked). It’s tough to start RPing/interacting with others when there’s only the main narrative to interact with. Usually that’s about an event, and isn’t so much character development and socialisation, and how individuals handle and feel magiq. I don’t get to hear those stories when something is going down. Further, if something dramatic happens, it’s nice to have had a few personal interactions with those around you. Not just as other human beings I care about because they exist (real or not, but in particular the real people that are here either way), but as other people that experience magiq and are part of this group that one has stumbled upon, and maybe is looking to be a part of. Perhaps you don’t talk that much amongst yourselves about magiq when a magiq/story is not happening? Is all of it more or less the daily ordinary stuff that gets posted regularly? Still just trying to get a feel - I think there’s times when having a lot of experience gets more in the way than having none! However, having that experience does make something like this more appealing, too…

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Here’s a part of what @Viviane said in that other thread that I think echoes what I was thinking about in terms of our personas:

After reading that I also thought about those questions. How do I fit into this world? What brought me to be interacting on the forum? It’s not because I wanted to play an interesting game/help build up a world. I initially came at it wanting an avatar that exists as part of the book. What would the realities of the book - via the site - change about me? That kind of thing.

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Funny you should bring up this post! This actually reminds me of a thread that did exist at one point during TMP, around the time I originally joined the Forum, and it was this thread I was primarily thinking of when I wrote out this explanation. I’ll link it here for reference.

A caveat about the above thread. We knew very, very, very little about the canon universe and how Magiq worked at that point (intentionally, as part of the TMP narrative), but as a result, a lot of things we wrote were, if not outright incorrect, at least pretty unlikely within the bounds of what we now know about magiq - adepts are rare, significant magic isn’t usually performed by only one person, etc.

With that in mind, is something like this at all similar to what you’re proposing? If not, please correct me, but if so, I think something like this thread could be a really neat idea to help people get into the world of MAGIQverse when they’re not quite ready to engage with big story beats (which is how I used it at the time). Although we’d probably want to consider a little more how best to present “background” stuff like this in a way that is consistent with what we know canonically about Magiq and doesn’t invite us to make the story of Magiq about our personal protagonists, which I think is one of the harder aspects to grasp about the Forum.

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