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Hello Mary Sue, Goodbye Flawed RPG Characters
Thanks to Skotos.net for its article discussing the problems of perfect 'Mary Sue' characters in online MUD/MUSH environments. The author starts by explaining: "Mary Sue is what, in writing, is called an author avatar, wherein the writer creates an idealized version of him/herself and sticks the resulting character into the story." But as this is part of playing games, what's the big deal? It's argued: "The herd of people trampling over each other to be the most at something, be it beauty, wealth, or grotesqueness, is going to affect everyone else's characters. For starters, if the standard for beauty has been raised so high that pretty people are average, the average characters are now ugly. If the standard for wealth goes from a million dollars to a trillion, the millionaires are the new middle class. It messes with the game's dynamic, and that's bound to make people who are trying to create reasonable and balanced characters cranky."
It's really not at all like the powergamer/munchkin rants. It's a seperate situation that's really only a 'problem', in games where one person literally can not be more powerful than any other.
You don't mind powergamers, because they don't bother you while you play a game. With Free form Role Playing (FFRP), Mary Sues can and do get in the way of other player's stories.
Mary-Sues are a trend that's only 'a problem' in free-form roleplaying MUSHES, MOOS and IRC RP (FFRP). These games have no hard and fast 'rule' systems, and leave all aspects of storytelling up to the players -- a sort of authorship anarchy. The only rules regarding character design and interaction are social rules.
If you want your vampire to have the BFG9000 that destroys Chicago - you can have it. Players might choose to ignore you, or even warn/ban egregious offenders - but they can't actually stop you from doing it. Similarly, there is no BFG, there is no Chicago, and there is no result of your destruction - unless other players decide to react to it.
If you've never seen it done, it likely seems entirely arbitrary, or at least, off-the-wall. Even after you've seen it done - most wonder how it can be consistantly fun. But that's neither here nor there. People do enjoy it - but it relies on everyone to cooperate. It's more communal authorship, or spontaneous play-acting, than traditional game playing.
Mary Sue's are unavoidable in FFRP, because while everyone likes to play games - not everyone is a good author. Free-form Roleplaying relies on players to not step on each other's toes and to be at least decent storytellers.
It's for that reason that 'idealized' characters are looked down upon. Not because they're 'best' but because those characters have been done to death - and their stories are old hat.
Even well-behaved 'perfect' Mary Sues are considered undesireable because their perfection denies the opportunity for character growth through storytelling. Their flawless moral compass removes any chance at dramatic tension, or emotional weight to conflict (because the perfect Mary-Sue will always win).
Archetyped Mary Sues (E.g. knockoff Drizzts, Rasputins, and Sherlocks) are considered undesireable because those characters have been done to death. Few people want to read yet another story where Holmes catches the villain whilst everyone else bumbles about. So in the average social setting, most people won't want to cooperate with the stories such players want to tell.
Much of the 'fun' people have in FFRP, is in the creation of their own character, and the discovery of other characters. With Mary Sue's - this entire aspect is lost.
In other persistent worlds that have rule systems (MUDs/EQ/UO/etc), at the worst Mary Sues becomes snicker-worthy. Someone might roleplay a Mary Sue in EQ, but just because they want to be the greatest warrior ever doesn't mean anything. They have to work through the system like everyone else. They don't automatically have the power to completely derail the story being told by others. (arguably because there isn't one, not in the same way as in an FFRP)
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
She's a psychologist and believes that it means I have a positive self-image. I'm not sure if she's right (who am I to disagree with a psychologist, though?) but I has made me think about the dynamics of character choosing in something like an MMORPG. A male friend of mine on FFXI chose to be a Mithra (the "catgirl" race). His view was that he thought the Mithra would be good as monks in the game... but he's also a huge anime fan and I wonder how much something like Outlaw Star (or the thousands of other "catgirls" in anime) may have subconsciously informed his decision.
Then I look at the diminutive Tarutarus in the games and wonder how many of them are males. They're so small and "cute" that I don't know how many men would choose that race, or how many women would choose the huge, hulking Galka race...
The only MMORPG I've ever played is FFXI, so I can't speak to EQ or any of the others... but have people had similiar questions about their online companions? Is there more of a chance for idealizing a character in one of those?
The people of Penny Arcade are a good example of this. On their comic both themselves and their girlfriends or whatever look like decent looking, healthy young people. One can also categorize the girls on the comic as being "cute" due to the artist's depiction.
Then you see the REAL pictures of all of them. Bunch of lanky and pasty white faced geeks with ugly ass girlfriends. For example, Kara doesn't even look remotely close in person as she does in the comic. Pathetic really.
But hey its the INTARWEB and people aren't who they always say they are.
How would you make a MMORPG significant for 'casual' players, yet not boring or too easy for the 'hardcore?'
This is a troubling question, but there is surely some creative spark that could figure out a workable solution around the problem.
How about, for instance, that you have characters that live and die as game time passes, having offspring which you can then control? Each character reaches a peak in late adulthood, then gradually decreases in power as age sets in. The casual gamer will have just as long at the peak as the hardcore gamer. And a casual gamer at their peak could be a match for a juvenile hardcore gamer.
Characteristics will be passed on, items, feuds, and to some extent, innate or trained ability. The hardcore gamers will get through a huge number of generations and this on its own would have a certain kudos. But they won't become so incredibly powerful that they are invulnerable to the casual player. Anyway, that's an idea off the top of my head, though it would create an interesting dynamic about protecting your offspring, passing on items, retiring characters and reforming relationships. And having sex with other characters.
Meine Schwester ist sehr, sehr reizvoll - Nietzsche
Well, that's one of the reason that free-form RP sucks donkey balls. To be frank.
Play on a MUD like Eternal Struggle where the code of the MUD provides structure to the game, and players like this will be much less of a problem. (But not gone! The article *is* right when it says they'll always be around. We can minimize, but we can't eliminate.)
Most of the time, when we get 'free form' chatroom-type RPers on the MUD, the first thing they say is, "wow, this is SO much better!" Some of the structure is coded in, some of it is printed in numerous help files and webpages, but the point is that it *has* all the structure that free-form lacks, and that's what makes it more fun to play.
(Shameless promo: Eternal Struggle MUD. Disclaimer: I write code there.)
Comment of the year
Personally, I would like to see skillsets deteriorate, just like in real life: if you don't use it, you lose it, and it takes a lot to maintain it.
I would say that clothing, armor, swords, etc need to be maintained, or they get dull, frayed, etc and break.
Martial arts skill too, etc.
Then people would just be average in most skills and good or very good in a few. This would force a balance in the game.
Also, No classes: Anybody can do anything they want, as long as they're willing to train and maintain that skill.
"Piter, too, is dead."