Do you allow members to create the same character everywhere?

If the character is molded to fit the site lore, I honestly don't care. Sometimes, a person is simply trying to find a place where their OC that they've written for years fits--I'm one of those.

 

If it's what someone really enjoys, then cool. The same character placed in different environments or genres is still able to produce interesting narratives and add to the whole.

 

I don't see how it would be something you could police. Personally I can only have one version of one character at one place, otherwise I can get headcanon mixed up, but I can't stop a player from playing whatever they want on sites that I have nothing to do with.

 

On our website it wouldn't work. The plots are all interconnected with each other so there would have to be some time paradox or dihillation for that to work out. Or cloning. But they would still have to be to "Different" people, so one couldn't use the memories and knowledge of the other in character.

 

If the shoe fits...
sure. Why not?

 

As long as it adheres to the site lore, then you do you. Unfortunately not every character concept will mesh out of the gate and may need adjusted.

 

I definitely have a preference for characters who are created to fit our setting. My co-admin and I have both personally brought in recycled characters and, although we redesigned them to fit our site, they just don't--and we wrote the lore. If even we can't manage to make old characters fit a new mold that we created, I have my doubts that some of our players can, as much I do appreciate their efforts.

However, it's really not up to us to dictate what they bring in outside of making sure it doesn't break the game or put holes in the lore. Whether or not they fit will be up to player engagement, and that speaks for itself.

 

Yeah, why not? I have two characters in particular that I bring everywhere with me, and then I'll usually make original characters after that.

Something important that I read a long time ago was that a truly rounded character could exist in any kind of setting, and shouldn't be 100% dependent upon their world. I've always liked that advice, and I've used it to really round out my two main characters. No matter what kind of setting they are in, they have their "core identity", and then from there can easily be adapted to different sites. Hell I enjoy AU threads all the time because it's fun to throw them into different roles and see how they change with each one, even if they still are the same character at the end of the day.

 

Honestly, I've never personally had a problem with people wanting to explore Multiversal opportunities with the same character, but I can see how as a fellow player it could be exhausting to always run into the same... character.

 

I mean.... can I STOP them? Haha! I wouldn't even dream of it.

 

A person's character is their own creation. And I don't see a reason to not let them use their original work as long as they make changes to make it fit our lore.

 

I've known people that have essentially written the same character across multiple RPG groups, and across different universes. Personally, like someone mentioned above, I think it would get very confusing in a hurry to know which version of the character you have where and what has or hasn't happened to them in that universe. For the group I primarily operate in, it wouldn't work, for the most part, as all the groups interact... but I could see a situation where it could happen: the all too common transporter accident (as can happen in Star Trek). I haven't seen anyone request this...yet. But somehow, I would not be surprised if it does happen someday...

 

As long as the character has been sufficiently tailored to fit, I don't see any issue with it at all! I have a few characters I've considered doing this with myself, although I confess I never end up doing it. But who am I to tell someone what to do with their own character?

Now, that "sufficiently tailored to fit" part DOES seem to be a big stumbling block. I've definitely seen some people try to cram a deeply inappropriate character, that they clearly have played elsewhere, into a setting that they just... don't seem to understand. (A lot of dark elves on sites that are much more "low fantasy".) So there's that to consider--but I don't think that's significantly different from a 100% original-to-the-site character who also just does not, in fact, fit. If it works, it works; if it doesn't, it doesn't!

 

Yes. I've never seen the harm in this. It is their writing experience and if they want to write as the same character that is their choice.

 

On a well-run site, it shouldn't matter. Some people will always do the low-effort option. Usually, those people either learn better or never find partners and leave.

 

I definitely am someone who has a couple characters I carry over from site to site. My co-admin and I made our site because we couldn't find what we needed on other sites. So we had some fun with "Remember when we thought about this character from site A meeting your character from site B? Let's try it!" We even kept names for some of our favorites but we are very mindful to adjust a LOT of background to make those characters fit in the new world.
I don't see anything wrong with playing old characters or exploring new concepts. To me its very fascinating how the core of a character can be the same but their circumstances the context of the world can wildly change their behaviors or reactions!

 

Yes, because I do it too. I get very attached to my characters so if I'm part of a site that ends up closing, I don't want that character to die with the site. I just make adjustments per RPG.

 

I have characters I take across RPs...I don't see a problem with it

 

Yes? I actually intentionally helped create our site to be a place that others could come to "rebirth" or import characters from other universes. I lot of people like to try to play the same character at multiple venues and I highly support that. We even have the same character from different timelines on our site, and that's so cool to me!

In fact, I have a character named "Sam" that I have used for almost every site I've ever join. Sam always starts out the same, you can think of them like a starter template character. Then, I use them to get thrown into really cool situations. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sam is sometimes male, sometimes female, they are my greatest creation. Sometimes Sam turns out into a really full fledged character with everything I look for in a character. And, sometimes they just end up as a starter and I switch to someone else.

Even if I ran a non-dreamworld site, I don't care.Write wherever you want with the characters that fit. Props to you if the same character fits multiple places.

 

I do this often... and I'm not sure why this would be seen as a "no no".

Reusing my characters means I only need to modify and expand upon their backstory, so I often leave their biography minimal with key points that have molded their persona. Having to start fresh with an entirely new character because a site doesn't want me to use my own ORIGINAL character is off-putting. Instead of starting with a completely blank slate I have an overall character that can easily be modified to move across sites, I don't bring other site history with them either (unless its allowed which is common in the animal genre).

With all that being said, I personally don't see it as my right to tell someone they cannot use their character because its used elsewhere. As long as they can blend it into the sites story I don't see a problem with reusing your character. This is especially important for the community of folks who are very dedicated to their characters and end up purchasing tons of original character artwork.