Do you allow members to create the same character everywhere?

I am sure sites have that one member with their one token character that they attempt to make fit for every site that they come across and are on. Do you allow it? I personally came to the realization that unless the character is from a fandom and for said fandom site, I prefer originality over an imitation of something that might not actually fit on the site. Especially if you are trying to take that character that has already been molded and shaped and trying to shove it into something that just... doesn't work. And it's kind of annoying when you see a staff member trying to make it work. Like is there no boundaries? Just curious of other people's opinion.

 

I personally don't care. I play a different version of my Shane West character on several sites. I just make changes to make him fit.

 

I know a guy who does this- the characters all have the same name, same personality- what's different are the backgrounds. As long as he can keep them straight- like avoid the trek version using the powers of Psionics version- I'm okay with it.

 

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: so long as the player is able to reshape the character to fit the plot, where's the harm?

 

Yes and no.

I run a board where freedom of creativity is huge; most of our species allows for almost limitless molding of a character, within the boundaries of very free lore. Therefore, I pride my site in being able to allow members to take their OCs (original characters) from other sites, and bring them here with minimal tweaking. However, the board shapes the character, and if they're using a bunch of terms from another site, some fandom character that isn't changed at all, or one who just doesn't fit the setting, the app will be pended.

Take, for example, Member A. Member A wants to bring in, without any changes, Noctis from FFXV. He is a fandom character, and uses things like a cell phone and a car, breaking the setting. Member A has run this character in 10+ other sites ever since the game came out and wants this character to follow him everywhere. But it won't work, so he's declined.

Member B has been role-playing a dragon with two sets of wings, sunset colors, and the ability to summon lightning on every fantasy site she's ever been on. She wants to bring the dragon here, and the only thing that needs to be changed is that they aren't a Lightning Dragon from Thunder Mountains anymore, but a normal western dragon with four wings and lightning abilities. The app is tweaked, and approved!

I personally do bring my characters to other sites and settings, but all of mine are OCs, and I make a grand effort to actually fit them to the setting as best I can. xD I brought a fire-throwing thief in once as a human Pokemon gym leader, for example. It's possible, but with a lot of effort sometimes, especially in certain sites!

 

I have characters I do this with myself. You sometimes just get really attached to a character, right? I don't typically play these characters in more than one place at a time to help me keep straight what's what. But then, I have encountered players who run the same characters in multiple games at the same time and they just cross contaminate the games' canoms, and that's not cool.

So I certainly don't hard ban it, and it's pretty hard to even know about and enforce anyways, but if a player is regularly referring to things that aren't actually happening in my game, they'll be talked to about it, politely nudged to correct it, and if it gets really disruptive, they may be asked to retire the character from my game.

 

This is my opinion too. And yes, I am one of these. Marina and Andrea had seen various embodiments in various eras, since before discovering RPGs. Maribel and Sigurd too. It is fun to see how the story differs, even if starting from similar premises, because they meet new people in different settings.

 

If the character in question is remolded to another site, to fit that site, then I don't believe there is an issue. Technically speaking, the creator, in this case your member, had license to do whatever they wish with their creations. What I do find irksome, is seeing the identical same character on several sites without any due changes. I have used my same main character on many sites, but I have always changed her somewhat, essentially her history and few other things to make her different. There are areas of course where you can simply take your character anywhere; I know my daughter is using one of her characters with few changes on several sites.

 

I don't mind at all. We're a Star Trek RP group and alternate universes are a big part of the universe, my explanation for cross-site characters is just that they are another universes version of them.

 

I think it's less important if the character is adapted from another site/verse, and more about how well that adaptation works. Do the issues/backstory/job of the character fit well with what's going on in the actual RPG? If not, I try to explain to applicants that they'll be missing out on plot potentials and character relationships if they corner themselves into something that no one else seems to be interested in.

On that note, I really try when I'm making my own characters to read up on other characters on the site, and plots. It's much more fun as a new RPer on a site to already have ideas out-of-the-box on who the character might have known (former Hogwarts classmates, current boss, crazy ex-girlfriend) and how the character could easily be dragged into the major site plots. If those are already pretty clear, I think a lot of the work for making sure the character is consistent with the site has already been carried out.

That said, I do think it's important when working with fantasy worlds to lay out site canon (are vampires immortal or just ageless? Do wizards need to have wands to cast magic, or can they do things like telepathy?) If that guidance is clear, it's much easier to let applicants know that they need to follow site rules and change their application to match the canon better.

 

I don't think we get much say on this aside from not letting them play with our toys. I have characters I've rerolled for different boards. As long as someone isn't breaking lore and can keep things straight, it doesn't hurt anyone.

 

This about sums it up for me. So long as the person will fit their character to the game and not expect the game to bend to their single character then who cares how many other places they play that same character? I know I've done this. Sometimes its really fun even, to take a character you know in one setting and throw them in a place where things are wildly different. It makes you think and get even more into that characters head in my opinion.

On top of that, what people do outside of my site is none of my concern. If it doesn't hurt me, my players or them, then they can go wild as far as I'm concerned.

 

I used to not like it, but then I came to figure that if the member was having fun and could keep all those timelines straight.. what business was it of mine? I'm a lot more chill about the little things like that now, and it saves a whole lot of grief.

 

I honestly don't care and don't have time or energy to police what people do outside of my site.

Also I'm totally one of those people who will play my favorite characters everywhere and tweak them for the setting.

 

I would be curious to know how you would propose to stop it ... And also ... Why do you feel entitled to do so?

If a character fits into a sites lore I feel that limiting a player to "brand new only for us/this site" characters is rather presumptuous and kind of invasive/unsettling
..

 

+1 to EdlynnGremlin's comment. I don't enjoy unnecessary limitations, we're all just here to have fun, right? If someone has a character they're attached to, they're pretty likely to be active with that character. If they're making adjustments for lore and keeping in line with canon, what's the point in trying to control that? I don't think it's necessary, or fun.

On the note of a staff member trying to make it work, that's also what we're here for. I will always be willing to help a member shape their character to fit my lore, just like I would be willing to help a new member make a brand new character that fits my lore. Ultimately, I just want people to write and enjoy themselves on my site.

 

I don't police my players elsewhere. Most people I know play their characters in multiple places and honestly I don't feel like I have the right to dictate what they do outside of my site's "walls". That being said, I also expect them to put in the effort to take that character and put in the thought to make them fit seamlessly into the world I have created. Changing a word here or there isn't going to fly, but that is why I review apps and have an approval process. I expect the players to respect each other, each other's creativity, and their time as well as mine. I can tell when someone is truly trying and wants to fit their character into the site and I am more than happy to work with them on it if they need.

 

Yes. We not a site that has one plot for the whole site. We are a platform for people to run their own roleplay ideas on. So we don't so any sort of approval or disapproval of people's characters, and some people do frequently use characters that are re-worked versions of other characters. However, I will say that people who have just one character that they really stick to, and want to shoehorn them into every rp aren't all that popular, and people tend to not want to rp with them because their character is boring. Most of my user create a new or mostly new character for each RP, and prefer that other users do the same.

 

Absolutely. I'm terrible at creating characters. Backgrounds don't come easily to me, and I have a hard time figuring out a compelling personality I want to play. So when I do land on a concept I enjoy, I drag it along with me, tweaking the background as needed. And needless to say, I don't want to run a site that I wouldn't want to play on!

 

I definitely do this myself so I really can't judge my members for it. I always change the background so it fits the site, but personality and name stay the same often. I understand why people do it--sometimes you're just more comfortable playing characters you really know as opposed to trying to get a feel for a completely new one.