It’s been far too long and I’m back with another edition of the Cynical View of E-fedding by yours truly, Mr. D. Now this is really easy and will just explain some of the trends I see and some of the problem (or questions) I’ve been asked all nicely contained in this package of a column.
Basically, most of this will deal with two things. How to win matches, aka what I like in roleplaying, and then general character development. These are two things that people always ask me on OR they unbelievably blow their matches on. Really, it’s not as hard as people make it seem. Now, I do understand that people have different styles and I do stress that. So please read this, if you’re looking for tips, with that in mind and I am rather lenient when it comes to character development specifically.
What the f*ck is creativity?
Yes…I’ve been asked this. And people think it is some extremely complex thing. It’s surprisingly easy to grasp what I mean by this. In fact, I can put it one word. New. That’s it. Being creative simply is giving me something new. Don’t rehash old stuff. I’ve given people losses for giving me eighteen paragraphs on how they’ve had a hard life or when they do a BASIC interview (remember, not all interviews are basic, however people seem to just pull out a template for these nine times out of ten).
Basically give me something new. If you play a character with a hard life, do give me that same old stuff. I can name seven characters (and that’s just off the top of my head) that currently are in SCW and used the my dad used to beat me and my mom was a hooker on the corner and gave me AIDS just as cheap character development. I’m sorry, the first time, okay, I gave a damn. But when every other dark character does it, I start caring less and less and not only does it hurt creativity, but your impact as well.
Also, this is where someone who just notices what other people do is a benefit. If you’re just looking to get win after win after win, then read other people’s roleplays. Why? It keeps you up to date on what has been overused and I do consider that when I’m reading roleplays. If you’re the fifth person that month who attacked an interviewer, you’ll suffer.
Basically, just come up with something new. It doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, but put your own spin on something. It’s your character. Why not make the idea your own? I do it all the time when I’m writing shows.
For the love of God, actually show me you give a damn.
What do I mean with that? It hasn’t to do with the fact that you don’t want to win or that you don’t try. Well…it somewhat does. You see, one of the things that merely pisses me off and I really frown upon are people who are talking about something else in the fed and then either get people’s names wrong or don’t even know what they are talking about. For example, the elimination chamber has six members typically. Not eight. Not ten. Also, when I post an update on the main site saying that I’m putting seven people in it, it’s REALLY easy to know that, yet I’ve had people screw it up.
Basically, if you do that, you’re showing me that you really don’t care to just double check or even make sure you know the rules to a match that is lesser known (and if it’s a new match, I usually put the rules somewhere easy to find so everyone knows what it is). It just looks bad and if you don’t have the right info, it affects your entire roleplay and you just crash and burn.
Be realistic.
If you don’t know what that is, you should be shot….seriously. Oh wait…that already happened didn’t it, after you raped a hooker with a broken coke bottle. And the police didn’t catch you? How entertaining? Yeah…if this was in medieval times and no one cared about the prostitutes and you’re Louis the XIV. I don’t mind dreams that fit the character. If you’re a psychopath, it works. But remember, if I think it’s happening in real life, I’ll assume that’s what happens and you immediately lose a LOT of credibility for your roleplay.
I’m in history. I write enough essays. I don’t need to read the equivalent of them!
What do I mean by this? Quite simply, some people have this idea that roleplays are an equation.
Character Development + Creativity + Match Relevance = Sheer awesomeness
To some pople, it may work like that. However, some people go overboard. For the love of God, if you write a full out essay on why your opponent sucks, you often screw yourself over. If you go on and on about your opponent, it just gets boring and your message gets destroyed. I’m not saying that if you write two paragraphs, that’ll be enough, but think things through. What is the message you want to get across by your promo? Then write according to that. Make your match relevance effective. If you try and cover absolutely every base, your message get muffled and it just can be painful to read.
For the love of God, take a chance!
This is a personal thing here. Not everyone is willing to take a chance with their characters. And unfortunately it shows. Too many people are afraid to do something different because then it means they may lose a match or two or they may kill your character. Everyone wants to ALWAYS come out on top or look untouchable. However, these often can hurt your character.
Show some weakness. Yeah, it may leave something open, but if you intentionally left it open, you could come up with a counter. For example, and this is a very over-used one, but someone’s wife leaves them permanently. It’s a clear weakness, but it can help your character show something about them as well as give you something to build roleplays off of.
Too many people are afraid to take risks. However, I’ll give an example of two roleplayers who take risks and it’s paying off. Dillusion and Calvin Greene. Calvin Greene’s character is very entertaining and the handler asked me to make him look like a crappy wrestler. Because of it, he’s been able to have some great roleplays that have turned into success. Dillusion does this well too and he look down right stupid some times, but it’s entertaining and it’s something that can be used to forward the character. Don’t be afraid to try something new and take a few losses to iron out kinks. If you stick with it, you may be able to create something great. It’s something I’ve lived with and some people view me as an evil genius in writing of shows.
However, one disclaimer is that this isn’t instant success. If you try a drastic change, it can destroy your character. So be tactful about it.
Finally, don’t copy.
I will say this. Do something off of television, whether it is in a segment or in a roleplay and I’ll laugh at you and try to make you cry. This just makes me hate life in general because you couldn’t even think of something new. I have actually refused to use about ten segments in the last month because they were EXACTLY the same, even some of the dialogue, as something on WWE programming. I don’t copy storylines and I don’t expect others to either. Remember, I’ve been watching wrestling since I was three years old.