Just think about it for a moment. Can you come up with a unique, original character that actually sounds well put together in a day? Give yourself that much time and respond with a full detail of the character, or just say no.

 

Some of you probably decided "No. I can't come up with a character like that so easily!" Well guess what: You now know what story and character developers feel when they need to make new characters for their games and stories.

 

Many games with sequels or prequels generally have different antagonists for each one. Now I'm not a know it all for this, but think about how much time and effort it must take for a single person to think up a character, along with their outfits, attitude, character development, etc., let alone draw the character. original Characters designed by RPers and otherwise are easy to make since you can shape and mold them as you please. But what if you had to set your OC in a story where your character has to interact with random people, and even companions that FOLLOW them for the rest of the series or story? That's called every main video game series. Super Mario has Luigi, Bowser, Peach, Yoshi, and loads more following Mario in his story. They also get their own games to help the players better understand those characters.

 

Now let's go back to that question. "Can you come up with an original character that sounds well thought out in a day?" Try multiplying that question for every character that has enough development to be considered a "main character".

 

I don't know everyone's opinions, nor do I mind them, but I think people are normally upset that there hasn't been any games in a series recently because they want to enjoy the story more, or even to see what the developers have come up with, but the developers still require time to think up more story and characters.

 

Sorry for this rant. I guess I got carried away. But basically, what I'm trying to say is, these things take time, and require careful consideration every step of the way.

 

 

Rock on!

You are correct.  It is quite difficult to develop a character.  For me as a writer, writing up a new character is a challenge, but a fun one at that, because I get to decide what this new character does and what his/her place is in my story!  And you are correct in saying that these things take time, because it's true!  If story developers were rushed to create new characters, odds are the final end product for a video game would be met with poor results, whereas a game that's taken its time in development has more chances of having compelling characters thanks to the creative team having time to come up and mold their characters into what they'll be!

 

Developing new characters, as I mentioned before, is a tough challenge, but if handled right, it can be a fun experience!

Edited January 23, 20169 yr by The Transcendent Key

This 100%!  Personally, I don't really think there is such a thing as 'original.'  All the characters I've seen and all the stories I've read all have similarities to other characters and stories.  Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, just as long as you don't flat out copy someone else's work and change a tiny amount to make it your 'own.'

 

Yeah, I love to write and come up with my own stories and characters (and towns, worlds, and lore) but it takes me forever!  Not only am I such a huge perfectionist that wants to make everything as perfect as possible in one go, but I'm also afraid of being 'unoriginal' (and I have a ton of story ideas swimming around in my head and I keep switching back and forth between them).  I think its because how I've seen a lot of people react to OCs or FCs others make and quickly lable that character as a Mary Sue without really looking at that character.  Seriously, if someone makes a beautiful female character, she's immediately labled a Mary Sue; people don't even take the time to see what her backstory's like or what her strengths and weaknesses are and see if she is truly a Mary Sue or not.  Actually, I think writing 'female characters' is one of the hardest things to do, but I don't wanna get into a mini rant about that...

 

Indeed, people really need to learn how to be patient.  If you want a good story and characters (and if its a game add good graphics, music, and gameplay), you need to wait because these things take a long time.  Plus, the people who work on these have lives too; they do more than just make the game and come up with stories and characters.

 

Well, these are just my thoughts, so feel free to agree or disagree.

.....Im gonna have to disagree here.

 

As a person who works in the realms of character design, and as a person whos working on his own stories, making a good premise for a type of character or story isnt that hard at all, if anything, its probably the more easy and fun thing to do. I constantly make up ideas for stories, and all I usually have to do is put on some music and let my mind wander. Executing those ideas and actually making something is a different story.

 

On a sidenote, are you really using the Mario series as an example of how hard it is to come up with characters?

Mario- An Italian Knight in shining armor

Luigi- The less brave little brother

Peach- A damsel in distress

Bowser-The bad guy

Yoshi- A Dinasour

These are not characters that are hard to come up with, at all, so it really doesnt help your case.

Besides, as far as your case goes in regarding this:

 

 

Now I'm not a know it all for this, but think about how much time and effort it must take for a single person to think up a character, along with their outfits, attitude, character development, etc

If we are talking about the gaming industry as a whole, it should be obvious that the majority of games that come out arent made by one person, its made with a team, doing a variety of different things, including stuff like character design. These arent amateurs either, if it takes one guy months to design a character, than hes probably out of the job, or his independent project will never see the light of day.

 

Just for the sake of example, I attended a panel with some of the staff of BH6, and they said that once a movie is green lighted, the first thing the artists do is get a basic premise on how the character is gonna be like, and get to work on designing that character. Im sure the artists are putting theyre all into what they do, but Im pretty sure its not a burden on them like you paint it out to be.

 

Making ideas for stories,characters, and games isnt hard, at all. The actual hard thing to do is executing those ideas and actually making the game, story, ect.

Edited January 23, 20169 yr by lostmemory123

Just think about it for a moment. Can you come up with a unique, original character that actually sounds well put together in a day? Give yourself that much time and respond with a full detail of the character, or just say no.

It's actually not that hard. For the entire history of humanity, interesting stories have all followed the same rough format and themes. Beowulf, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, hell even The Odyssey all follow the same format of a main character given an epic quest with divine intervention, personal struggles and triumphs, etc. Following this basic format, it'll be easy to come of with an original character.

 

 

original Characters designed by RPers and otherwise are easy to make since you can shape and mold them as you please. But what if you had to set your OC in a story where your character has to interact with random people, and even companions that FOLLOW them for the rest of the series or story?

As a hardcore RPer, I have to stop you there. Without going into a rant, all you have to know is that molding and shaping an OC as we please defeats the purpose of roleplaying. As an RPer, we pick a character archetype and stick with it, molding them only for character development when appropriate. Newbie RPers are most likely what you're thinking of for those who shape their OCs as the story progresses, and that's just boring. Veterans roleplayers are entirely different: they create characters that are on par with characters that you can love. They create characters with interesting backstories, realistic flaws, and make darn sure that they're not invincible and morally high and mighty because again, that defeats the purpose of roleplaying and being a roleplayer... Ask more and I can give you an example [the downside is that it will be my example ]

 

 

Now let's go back to that question. "Can you come up with an original character that sounds well thought out in a day?" Try multiplying that question for every character that has enough development to be considered a "main character".

Again, the concept of 'Character Archetypes' gives a great starting point for creators and story writers alike. Roleplayers do stuff like that all the time, but the only difference is that they don't throw millions of dollars trying to make that idea a profitable game [mainly because of not enough funds ]

Edited January 23, 20169 yr by Javelin434

I've thought of countless characters, and at first I just think of them with a few ideas. When you think of them more deeply is afterwards, it's progresive, I'm telling you, I'm desinging games (not brilliant games, just using RPG Maker), and that's what I do, think of them briefly, and as the story takes shape, the characters do too.

You're right, coming up with original characters is hard. Who are they? What are their goals? How are they important to the story? Something I was told to ask about every character in every story I write is, 'If you took this character out, would any thing change in your story?' If the answer is no, then you have to consider removing them from the story. Every interaction a main character has with another character has to either characterize the main character, move the plot forward, or inform us of something in the world. You can't just focus on a character with no purpose. And that's kinda where this splits.

 

Writing just characters is fairly easy, writing them into a story is the hard part.