Characters based on characters

[Hawk]

Well I came up with the name Jack Crow on a whim one night as I created a new character. By the time I thought of changing it, it was a pretty well established character so I kept it. I guess the only saving grace is that most people on this server don't even know who the Jack Crow is that inspired it and my character is nothing like him.......almost.

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[Birdtalon]

I suck at names so I copy names sometimes.

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[Sly]

Difficult question, but all problems have logical explanation...

[kemira]

Is he like Mule?

no, he isnt a gaian, read, Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun or Prelude to Fundation, Fundation and Earth.

[kuth]

I can't always come up with good names so I steal the names from other stuff but that is it. The personality and such is all mine. I don't mind others using non FL characters as long as they modify the character, which means as much as I like Joker's RP (he is good); I don't like that he hasn't made the Joker his own Joker yet. I assume he will sometime though.

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Lurker

[Vojtechjan]

no, he isnt a gaian, read, Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun or Prelude to Fundation, Fundation and Earth.

**** so I can freely do an Mule then mrew :3 ****

[Tommeh]

Well, I voted absolutely wrong in poll, then actually my opinion is :P , but nevermind.
If RP is good, I don't mind RPing chars from movies etc.
and The Joker is example for well adjusted char into Freelancer.

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[Sprolf]

Imported characters are only sometimes good. It depends on how "generic" the character is, and how distinctive they are, and how well they fit with Freelancer. For example, you can easily mix Malcolm Reynolds with Freelancer, but you can't mix Bowser with Freelancer. The Joker could mesh with freelancer, but Batman can't. Superman can't, but Lex Luthor could.

Hmm. That's actually sort of interesting...
Anyway.

I'm not saying that I approve or disapprove of any of those at the top, but that's what immediately came to mind. Some can fit within Freelancer, and they have a better chance of actually working within roleplay. Those who don't really fit in the game have a very low chance of ever "fitting in roleplay" whilst those who can fit in the game have a higher chance of "fitting in roleplay."


I'm guilty for importing characters.
And before you say it,

NO, IT IS NOT THE DOCTOR TO WHICH I REFER.




It is actually these guys:




Doesn't ring a bell?






I'm certain that evocative picture jogs a memory in some of our minds.
Yes, I imported the Ghost Busters when the Ghost Ships came around, and we took it upon ourselves to sing the theme song while blazing across the Omicrons in our Warans, searching for something strange in the neighbourhood, or cleaning up something weird that doesn't look good. (I actually think that was the one song that I ever came close to memorising.)

I'm guilty of importing characters. It, I think, was all in good fun, and it was only really a transient roleplay character to counter an equally transient threat that was surely soon to be wiped from the Omicrons in one way or another.
The way we roleplayed them, actually, fit rather well into Freelancer. I mean, we were still obviously the Ghost Busters, and we'd get cheers from Zoners and traders as we zoomed past on the hunt for the Ghost Ship, but I think we managed to fit in well enough.

Still.... I'm not going to say who the other Ghost Busters were.








But... perhaps I digress here.
Basically, there are characters which you can import into Freelancer and have a chance of success in playing within the logical bounds of Freelancer roleplay. And there are those that you have no chance of being able to play within the logical bounds of Freelancer.

You often have better luck with the characters that are not absurdly iconic.

Example: As much as people might hate me for saying it, Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now was not a bad import.

Example: Luke Skywalker... don't even talk to me about Luke Skywalker.


In addition: If you take a name, and another person happens to know that character, you're at quite the disadvantage. Because, even if your soft-spoken Ageira Executive named Silvester Stallone would never hurt a fly, all people are going to be able to think about is Rambo in a suit with a stapler between his teeth.

I actually haven't run into much trouble with having a character named "The Doctor."
I'm not entirely sure why... at least, only one person has ever asked me if I'm roleplaying the Doctor of BBC fame. The name "theft" actually happened quite coincidentally through the logical course of roleplay... the characters are completely different, where they share the same iconic name. I believe this is the exception rather than the rule about "stealing" names.




So, in short: (And I have no idea why the devil I rambled so much here...)
Some characters can fit.
Some can't.
The lesser known ones have a better chance. Those with only personalities and no special powers have a greater chance to fit in than those with said powers and whatnot.
Stealing names is bad. People can only think of that character, and not the character you're trying to play.




End.
I guess.

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[Ozuse]

-depends on what you mean exactly. I hate it when people use a movie/game/book character and RP it 'as' that character. For example, someone around here was roleplaying the crew of the serenity/firefly here, without changing anything - that, i cant stand.

I use the 'image' of movie/game characters to portray my own, but they always have different names, personalities, and origins. In essence... I dont like people who are so lacking in originality that they feel they must copy another character trait for trait.


-ever actually RP'd with em?


-Doesnt matter, it's still imported RP and very uncreative.

I love firefly/serenity, hell my own smuggler character was originally -based- on the serenity crew (hence the name, tenacity, in it's similarity), but I didnt copy character names, personality traits, or backstory.

I just find it incredibly lazy when someone uses import RP like that.


-You have misinterpreted the point. All of you. The characters where not "copied" out of laziness nor lack of creative capability. It was not even about the writer. This was about the actor. The desire, the challenge, the lust, the essence of being, of taking on a role. When someone creates their own character by copying another your right that's just lazy and you can't talk to what they've made of a character you know, but when someone wants to act, to play a part. Its best to let their passions be, let them soar and enjoy the show :laugh:Granted it helps if you have a story to transision your "copied" characters into the freelancer-4.85 storyline. However when and how you portray that story is up to the writer/actor who has become the director of their own little side show.

I actually like to hear feedback about my performances of the characters I portray as well as what people think of my writing for the characters i do create.

My opinion on the whole subject is that people who copy names are only asking for lame encounters with people who want to interact with them based on what they know they have in common. Its best that people who have names like that simply act like they think your being weird since in character you technicly are... Though i suspect my point has already been previously illustrated.
Though i myself have taken a "copied character" i am opposed to people just picking one on a whim. You have to KNOW the characters your choosing when you don't choose your own or you'll ruin the character. Granted you can take them down different roads but you can only change a character by what they encounter and the decisions they make. However most of their decisions are preordained based on what the charter is already prone to do. "Copied Characters" are only impressive if they're transitioned with an acceptable occurrence and are played accurately. Those who do it properly give other players the opportunity to interact with a character they know in a new world as the character the player has made.

These experiences can be the works of acting artists or can flop like a bad pancake if the actor is unprepared. You have to study your character as much as you possibly can which is impossible to do if your character is only from a movie. Maybe if it was from a movie series but all you have to go off of are the experiences of that characters life portrayed in the movie. If you start filling in the blanks of the characters past you'll upset what made that character because you don't really know. When you change the wrong thing the character falls apart and people disagree with your acting and thus your RP.

Its a tricky thing to do but i believe those who try deserve for us to give them a chance... Then bash them when we KNOW they suck. IF your a fan (in some way) of the character they've failed. Though performances may very... so outright attacking an actor's portrayal of a character may not be Just without multiple encounters... (just to be fair)

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[Camtheman Of Freelancer4Ever]

Well, Marvin, my 680 hours played cap 8 juggernaut character, is a 7 ft tall cyborg, who has two AI that help him control the ship with reduced human help.

Sound Familliar? I change some things with movie/game characters. The only place where ENTIRELY this does not apply would be Yoda. He has 4,600 hours played and has GREAT RP and doesnt harm anyone. Seriously. Not one sanction on all that time.