Are The Admin's Characters Important?

I admit, my opinion of a game is heavily influenced by the characters played by the staff (admin/GM especially). When browsing around a site that interests me, I usually look at the bios of accepted characters (in addition to checking out rules/application/plots/Face Claim/ OOC behavior etc..) Often times, I'll read over a character belonging to the owner of the site and go 'Huh?'. Instantly, I'll become less enthused toward the game, because the character(s) being held by the staff seem so annoying, I can't possibly picture there not being any OOC drama between me and staff in the future. The evidence is clear that we aren't going to see eye to eye, because the type of characters we are into playing. What we each attribute to being a character that suits the setting is on the opposite side of the equator. I've shook my head reading a staff held character before, just because there were so many details that IMO 'broke setting'. It was a major turn-off for me, and I really couldn't overlook some of those details, because it felt 'off'.

So... my question is, do the characters played by staff impact your perspective of a game? If so, does it turn you off enough you won't join the site?

Nope. Only way characters can impact my opinion of the game is if the staff/admin ones rule every major aspect or important plot and everyone else is a filler. That has to do with the way characters are used regardless of how they're written.
I judge a game from threads, cbox behavior, rules and information and that's were I draw pro's and con's to weight. Everything else comes from actually roleplaying there and experience.

The only time I'm impacted by the admin's characters (to the point of joining or not joining a site based on what characters the admin plays) is if it is a site with a single ruler... and that single ruler is played by an admin. For example, if there is a single King who rules the entire site (with no groups of opposition that work outside of the king's reign) or if there is a single god among a bunch of mortals... that will usually scare me away. It's one thing if those accounts are obviously NPCs and not often used. But if the admin appears to have created an entire roleplay just so they can "rule the peasants"... yea. That will prevent me from joining a site.

That's kinda the underlining issue for me, and what I actually feel is my problem with staff characters. If I join that game, I have to interact my characters with theirs in threads. I have to accept those characters will be in the game for the long run. It impacts my enjoyment level, because I will be dealing face to face with those characters on a regular basis, both IC and OOC. So if I can't stand them or feel they break setting, then my experience is greatly going to be impacted.

I'm not just talking about power struggles or games with important canons played by admins (that's another topic in itself, and not even something that bothers me as a player). I'm talking about characters owned by the staff created for the game, because those are the characters the staff enjoys and wants to role play. If we're talking canon based games then I guess the handling of canons comes into play. If I despise the way a staff (or player) is playing a canon, then sure that would impact me too. Ultimately, I'm talking about characters belonging to the creative heads of the staff. The characters that are going to be around a lot, because they are the muses of the site's owners.

Ohhhh SavageDamsel I am terrifically in agreement with you!

Someone mentioned

but those are just more things influenced if not controlled by the admins.

Administrators make or break games, plain and simple -- and you can look at their characters and see the kind of roleplaying they are interested in, and the atmosphere they are hoping to create; if there are co-admins, you can see what kind of clique they have going. If you are looking at a game and you see out of character, badly written, flat characters -- and these characters belong to the admins -- what kind of people is this game supposed to attract? RPGs are a pretty high point of 'birds of a feather flock together': you create games based on common interests and ideas, and common styles of exploring those ideas. Especially when forums are new, all you have to go by are the admins' characters. If it looks like you are going to fight with the staff due to 'artistic differences', it could be the coolest plot in the world, and you would find yourself on the short end of the stick.

Ah but what I mentioned is what will influence my decision. Characters? Don't care. But that's my view on things. I play with a lot of writers that write with styles that I don't agree with or have characters that sometimes make me wonder what's going on in their head but I roleplay with them all without any difference. And you know what? It's a blast.

The only times I draw the line [regarding character topic of this thread] aside the part I mentioned in first post are: godmodding and abusing staff power through characters. Style, splicing, fluff, short, long, action based, introspection based... it's all completely unimportant because even if it is bad - I don't have to roleplay with them. Many members in the mix to choose from. Some you like better to post with, some not. How staff roleplays? Their choice. As long as they don't abuse their position I'm fine.

Unless the site centers around the admin's characters (and it shouldn't), then I really don't care what sorts of characters they play. Personally, I play such a wide variety of characters (humans ranging from 9 to 58, plus a vampire and a mermaid on one site, a canon and an original on the other) that the most info you'd really get from looking over my characters (especially on Charming, which I've been on longer) is an idea of how varied characters we accept are. Heck, I've even got a couple of inactive characters (one was supposed to be temporary to begin with) and a character that got killed off and that might give you even more ideas ... I mean one's a burlesque dancer, one was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and the third was his wife who left dramatically after her husband's death. So yeah ... I don't take it into account when I look at sites unless it appears people are not providing a good environment for play, and I don't care if anyone takes my characters into account.

Honestly I think the way a staff portrays their character and the level of their writing is a good idea of how the rest of the site will be. I tend to see how the staff interact with members before joining because of that fact. And because I wouldn't want to be in a environment with people who didn't seem at all welcoming.

First I'd like to say this is a very interesting question. Secondly, I'd like to note, that when I am looking at a prospective forum I look for two things -- how active and friendly the staff are OOC and if there is actual role playing going on and not just bunch of posts on a games/blog/aim etc. forum.

I have a few points of my own I'd love to throw out there to hopefully offer some food for thought n_n

I will use the Harry Potter example sited earlier on in the thread. So, the argument was that it is on canon sites it is easier to see where the admins have 'snagged' what are viewed as 'main characters' and only viewed as such because, in my opinion, that is the weight people put on them. Having run a Harry Potter forum myself, I've started off solo, meaning I am the only admin, and new people have joined taking on other 'main characters' and some of those people stuck around, helped out with stuff on the forum and later were given a spot as admin. Thus,how can you be certain that someone who is an admin and has this 'main character' didn't start off as a new member just like you?

My other point about admins taking characters deemed 'major plot characters' is simple -- admins put a LOT of work into creating a place for you to play. They have ten times more work than any of the members that join and a good admin makes sure things run smoothly, are updated, etc. etc. So what if they take an important character? Truth be told, I've run forums and left what I feel are 'important characters' open and no one takes them which leads me to my next point --

Importance of a character is up to the person who plays them. A good admin will be open to plotting and working every entering character into the story but it is NOT the job of the admin to go beyond that. I tell all my new members that their characters can be as involved and important to the plot as they are willing to dedicate time to. How many forums have fallen stagnant because members who have taken 'important plot characters' have vanished without a word? That isn't to say admin don't do similar things but it's less likely to happen and as a result another point I make as to why admin playing one or two main characters isn't a huge deal.

Lastly, there are some plot points that admin don't wish to reveal right away OOC and as a result there are characters that need to be played by them in order to guide the plot in a certain direction. These may be conceived as 'major plot pushers' being taken, but again, if you talk to the admin I bet you'd be surprised to find there are other just as important characters involved.

In closing I wouldn't be so worried about the characters the admins play so much as the admin themselves and how willing YOU as a player are to make your character vital to the story. There should never be an easy in, even admins work hard for the characters they play.

Hope this helps play devils advocate and give some credit where credit is due to all the admins who work so hard to give us a place play.

<3 Elle

I can see the OP's side. If she can't really relate to the board owner's character(s), than she likely is going to be put off from joining the game. I'm not entirely sure I am understanding in what ways this is happening, but we all have things that irk us.

I play a very difficult character who has been in the game for years now. He can be absolutely obnoxious at times and he is in position that allows him a lot of freedom to be just that sort of person. I could see that some people might take a look and say, "Oh boy, no thanks." And that's okay. Not every game works for every person.

This is not my only character, I actually play quite a few and they are from all walks. This character is just the one that is most visible, I suppose.


When the OP says this:

I feel like the issue is not just the characters, but the writers. So maybe it's just about how you see yourself fitting into the mix in the entire sense. And that I understand. I recently joined a game and left because I felt like I couldn't find a way in with the characters or the writers. They seemed to all know each other and their characters seemed to all know each other. The chatbox was filled with all the chatter that let me know they all were a tight group. I tried to be active and be in threads and those threads would sort of be left hanging.

So maybe in the end, it's just a vibe you pick up--not necessarily just the staff characters, but the whole feel of the board you are having second thoughts about.

I only care specifically about the admin's character/s if they're super over-powered or break the rules or something. Otherwise - sure, I read over a few apps to see if I can picture me and my charries fitting in, but if the admins' are just uninteresting to me and there're others that seem cool, I don't care. On the other hand, for some reason, I do kinda consider it bonus points if the admin's characters are interesting too - guess it just makes me feel like we're closer to being on the same page, so I'm more likely to be happy there.

I fully agree with the above.
Well, I think first of all that the administrators know best what is appropriate to the setting, given that they have created the game and they are running it. (Try you to convince me that a woman pirate captain is appropriate to my setting, or a Navy officer who is already a captain at 22 and born in a commoner family, or as well that a mercenary or a runaway slave aren’t, and I am going to argue with you until dawn, giving you evidence for my statements.)

I am looking at all the character bios in general, to see what is the kind accepted on the board and what isn’t recommended, what character types exist already and what character types are most needed for the story. If I join a board, I join it because I like the story and I feel inspired to further it, so I need to make characters not only matching the setting, but easily to get integrated into the story. If I have IC reasons to not like a character, he can be the enemy of my character, so I have no conflict with anyone for the characters they are playing. For me the writer is one, and the character is something else.

Oh lawdy, then I'm in trouble. :B A lot of my characters have mostly blank profiles, save for their name, age, sex, and maybe a sentence or two about their personality and appearance. But we allow that on my games--we don't ask for complete profiles before people play and submitting a profile with just a name is totally acceptable, because some people use the profile to build their characters while others (like me) build our characters through playing them, so that process allows both styles.

Anyway, when looking at a game...honestly, I don't care. I don't hold the staff to any standards I wouldn't hold anyone else to, because to me, staff aren't special--they're just regular players and people who have taken on the extra (and often trying ) duties of running a game. But aside from that? They're just players that wanna have fun. So I don't hold them up as ~model RPers~, I just think of them as players looking to have a good time. Running a game isn't a job (though I drop money into mine ), it's a hobby.

Besides, I just can't judge characters based off profiles. I wanna see how they're played. Profiles tend to bore me in general and I really just read them for the physical description. Plus, I'm really just not all that picky. :B

To a point it's a set standard for the game. If someone is going to judge whether your character is worthy of joining their game, you want to be assured that they match the standard that you expect. There's a lot of different writer types and levels, so the easiest way to scout out the level of a board is to see what the admin has.

As far as the types of characters go, I don't really look much into that. The activity and setting of a board is much more important to me, and the possibilities that are there for me and the character(s) I have in mind.

When it comes to profiles and apps, I honestly don't really care. On one of my games, my co-admin refuses to accept certain types of characters, but really. I just don't care unless they're godmodding. If I don't like their character (and yes, I've accepted characters I personally didn't like), then I just avoid threading with them. Simple as that. The only time I'm judging the admin's characters in order to decide if I'll join or not is if they're the only member on the board so far. Otherwise, I actually look through a few of everybody's profiles to get an idea of what's acceptable and then check through several threads to see how they actually write. That's way more important to me than the profile/app.

I agree. Or if the admins get all the plotting. I like things to be even. Favoritism is a huge turnoff for me.

Personally, the only reason the character's the admin play would turn me off a site completely would be if they're just horrible characters. Not horrible as in they're mean, but horrible as in they're poorly written. Which, really, isn't even a problem of the admin but a problem of me considering their characters badly written. My problem, and one that's easy to fix -- find a site that suits my level of writing / characterization.