Character sheet sins

[Ryik]

Now on to the original point as @ApfelSeine is correct it's mostly put in romance roleplays to ensure that their can be sufficient amount of pairings to help move the plot forward. When a roleplay is specifically about people hooking up than it makes sense for their sexuality to be used as that's directly relevant to the plot.

Bleh.


Maybe it's just me, but I think of pre-determined, created-in-advance pairings as stifling. I can see where it has its place because some roleplays need pairings to have the plot get along, but it was not my intention to refer to them.


Particularly, the Fandom, Fantasy, Futuristic, and some Realistic/Modern RPs, who want romance but don't have a setting primarily focused on it, is what peeves me. It disrupts the organic relationships - doomed or successful, developed IC.

And a character sheet is designed primarily just to be a reference point for the GM and the player to ensure that a player character fits into a roleplay. So yes sometimes that might give rise to so called "useless" information - or information put into a CS that does not affect the plot or roleplay. But remember your character is supposed to be an actual living person in the roleplay universe.


So they should probably have a favorite color or a favorite food. And some idea of their sexuality. Does that mean those things are important to the roleplay? Not but they are little pieces that make your character seem like a more realized person.


Not saying I won't scrap the lot if it was me personally. But I'm not going to really fuss if someone else has me write them out for my character either.

What I really dislike is that people tend to act on the information in a CS when their character shouldn't.

In short, my opinion is that if you feel you can trust the GM, there is no wrong option to put on a CS, and if you don't agree with something there, don't join the rp.

The GM I often trust, other roleplayers I can't say the same about.


Don't get me wrong, shipping your character with one stated to have an incompatible sexuality by virtue of what your characters' tastes are supposed to be isn't exactly intuitive, but this would often be the way a character redefines their sexuality, and characters lose their eligibility for this because it's so uncommon for someone to ship in that way.


I know I'm nitpicking to call it metagaming, and even I am probably guilty of it at times, but I'd rather keep the knowledge safe from anyone who might use it.

 

[call me rae]

What I really dislike is that people tend to act on the information in a CS when their character shouldn't.

Ah yes that is a separate issue entirely - metagaming - which I don't think has anything to do with the CS itself and everything to do with the player. After all you could put totally basic necessary information about your character in a CS and still have people use it in ways that don't make since to their character or situation.


Ex. Say my character's parents are dead and he has to take three jobs to support his sister. If I put this in the character's backstory that's fine as it's a legitimate part of his story.


But say a player just has their random character come up and start trying to comfort my character about how hard it must be to support said sister while taking three jobs.


That's not okay because that's not information that character should have without some kind of interaction with mine first.


-------------


But the thing is that's something the player needs to watch out for.


because it's not like having lost his parents and raising a younger sibling is on par with say - he likes mac-n-cheese or his favorite color is blue.


It's all relative information and even if you only break your CS down to the bare minimum "required" information your still going to have people who use the information in ways you rather they wouldn't.


Just the nature of the game. In that case I find it's better to just let the person know outright you would rather they don't use XYZ information in their post and why rather than worrying about what is and is not a good thing to have in a CS.

 

[Cyaness]

I'd have to say that, really, the only things that should never be on a character sheet are completely irrelevant information that has absolutely no bearing on anything, whether it be to the roleplay's plot or purpose, players' enjoyment, GM's plans, characters' depth, or the roleplay itself.


There's a time and a place for everything, and everything is ultimately a tool. There's really not much inherently good or bad, it's what people do with them that can be. A character's, say, favorite color can probably be fit into a roleplay someway, somehow, somewhere, but is absolutely useless if it has no bearing on the grand scheme of things, and, frankly, it's not really a character trait itself (a character who has become blind and laments that they can no longer see their favorite color has a bit of depth; and it says something if a character is willing to sacrifice their dog for a nice cape in their favorite color rather than just accept the same kind of cape in any other color). Although, unless it's important, it wouldn't really be something to add onto a character sheet.


(I don't really see a use for theme songs, though. I highly doubt they'd come up in-character, especially if the setting is before the song even came out. I've seen songs used, but they weren't really theme songs, nor did they serve the purpose of a theme song.)


As for the sexuality thing, while metagaming can be an issue, nerdyfangirl makes a good point about it being a fault of the player, and makes a good suggestion about letting people know. I haven't run into it myself, I have heard about roleplayers actually getting kicked out of roleplays because their character was gay, while there weren't any rules in the roleplay stating characters couldn't be gay or could only be straight; it might have been due to the nature of the roleplay or some other factor, though.


While metagaming is still a poor practice, and having planned pairings is rather stifling and inorganic, for some roleplayers, knowing who your character can be paired up with is nice. Roleplays obviously can't last forever, and if the events happen quickly or there's a limited span of time, it's easier to just plan things; if romance is allowed in a roleplay, some people will undoubtedly ship their characters together pretty quickly, even if romance isn't even a major focus. While my experience is pretty limited, people often seem to have more tolerance for this. Doesn't mean it's a good thing to do, but if you really think about it, even knowing whether a character is single is a bit metagame-y, especially depending on the character's personality, or if there's a possibility they have a lover who simply doesn't show up in the plot, and that the character doesn't talk about.


Eh, my brain may not be working to full functionality right now, so feel free to pick at my words.

 

[Myxyzptlk]

I'd have to say that, really, the only things that should never be on a character sheet are completely irrelevant information that has absolutely no bearing on anything, whether it be to the roleplay's plot or purpose, players' enjoyment, GM's plans, characters' depth, or the roleplay itself.
There's a time and a place for everything, and everything is ultimately a tool. There's really not much inherently good or bad, it's what people do with them that can be. A character's, say, favorite color can probably be fit into a roleplay someway, somehow, somewhere, but is absolutely useless if it has no bearing on the grand scheme of things, and, frankly, it's not really a character trait itself (a character who has become blind and laments that they can no longer see their favorite color has a bit of depth; and it says something if a character is willing to sacrifice their dog for a nice cape in their favorite color rather than just accept the same kind of cape in any other color). Although, unless it's important, it wouldn't really be something to add onto a character sheet.


(I don't really see a use for theme songs, though. I highly doubt they'd come up in-character, especially if the setting is before the song even came out. I've seen songs used, but they weren't really theme songs, nor did they serve the purpose of a theme song.)


As for the sexuality thing, while metagaming can be an issue, nerdyfangirl makes a good point about it being a fault of the player, and makes a good suggestion about letting people know. I haven't run into it myself, I have heard about roleplayers actually getting kicked out of roleplays because their character was gay, while there weren't any rules in the roleplay stating characters couldn't be gay or could only be straight; it might have been due to the nature of the roleplay or some other factor, though.


While metagaming is still a poor practice, and having planned pairings is rather stifling and inorganic, for some roleplayers, knowing who your character can be paired up with is nice. Roleplays obviously can't last forever, and if the events happen quickly or there's a limited span of time, it's easier to just plan things; if romance is allowed in a roleplay, some people will undoubtedly ship their characters together pretty quickly, even if romance isn't even a major focus. While my experience is pretty limited, people often seem to have more tolerance for this. Doesn't mean it's a good thing to do, but if you really think about it, even knowing whether a character is single is a bit metagame-y, especially depending on the character's personality, or if there's a possibility they have a lover who simply doesn't show up in the plot, and that the character doesn't talk about.


Eh, my brain may not be working to full functionality right now, so feel free to pick at my words.

Wait, did I hear theme song? LMAO, oh my god I am totally going to do that!!!! I can already imagine some badass cowboy of a character ready to kick the door to the saloon wide open followed by *Cue Theme Song*. Just the kind of thing some kid would do with his half demon god sonic character.

 

[MISTER UN. 0W3N]

Decided to pop in here for a moment since this thread sort of sums something up. I am the type of GM that will ask ridiculous fill ins and questions. I want to know your character's preferences. Likes. Dislikes. What goals do they drive for? What horrible nicknames does your siblings refer your character as? Do they have a freckle on their butt? I know it's pretty annoying to ask so much and, on top of that, fancy the shit out of it with BBCoding. There's three reasons that I do all this:


1) My memory is shit.


No lie. I really have documents upon documents of information... just because I tend to forget so much so easily. Even the most minimal of information about a character can help me spark things up and help me remember things on my end. I just apply it to everyone else as well when making profiles for threads and what not.


2) More work = More effort


It sounds a bit dumb, but, from my own experience, a profile is the best bet to see who sticks around. Short, sweet, and to the point profiles tend to attract those that wind up and disappear before their first post (my experience). Giant profiles means there's users that's going to turn around and walk on out and... there's users who will sit down and take the time to invest into their character. These users also tend to stick around the longest and do what they can to support a thread they've come to love. Again, this is just from my own experience and what not.


3) ... I'm a BBCode slut.


That's it. xD No explanation. I just love BBCoding so much. I do separate profile skeletons sometimes just because I want to use the fancy coding as a way to be all: "Yo! I love yo shit! Here's this shiny, holographic shit to show you in!" ... or something like that. xD Just... BBCode~


Also.. the biggest, most useless thing I do add to profiles... is asking for music links/tracks. Surprisingly, I've encountered a lot of positive with that and have gained epic songs and artists in that regard.


SOO... after something so long-winded... just wanted to say I respect the opinions of users when it comes to information on character sheets. And, I can see there's at least one acknowledgement in this thread (that caused me to pop in and speak up). Respect. No matter how insane or "dumb" things are on these sheets, you all still respect the GM's wish to have what information they want in their threads. Because, that's what this sort of boils down to: you chose this thread because you like the thread and will do what you can to get in.


Though... I'll say this: I think the dumbest thing I have ever included in my own character sheets is information based on a person's home. I've seen it done with other character sheets and didn't get it... until I realized that using this area to express a person's state/outlook on life with their living space would be a cool idea. That, and... DESCRIBING THE SEXIST LOOKING KITCHEN EVER!!!!! ... :I Yes... I love sexy interior spaces, especially for kitchens. It's still pretty dumb to include... but it's sort of like my guilty pleasure to have in profile skeletons...

 

[Myxyzptlk]

[QUOTE="mayhem TR4NQU1L17Y]
Decided to pop in here for a moment since this thread sort of sums something up. I am the type of GM that will ask ridiculous fill ins and questions. I want to know your character's preferences. Likes. Dislikes. What goals do they drive for? What horrible nicknames does your siblings refer your character as? Do they have a freckle on their butt? I know it's pretty annoying to ask so much and, on top of that, fancy the shit out of it with BBCoding. There's three reasons that I do all this:
1) My memory is shit.


No lie. I really have documents upon documents of information... just because I tend to forget so much so easily. Even the most minimal of information about a character can help me spark things up and help me remember things on my end. I just apply it to everyone else as well when making profiles for threads and what not.


2) More work = More effort


It sounds a bit dumb, but, from my own experience, a profile is the best bet to see who sticks around. Short, sweet, and to the point profiles tend to attract those that wind up and disappear before their first post (my experience). Giant profiles means there's users that's going to turn around and walk on out and... there's users who will sit down and take the time to invest into their character. These users also tend to stick around the longest and do what they can to support a thread they've come to love. Again, this is just from my own experience and what not.


3) ... I'm a BBCode slut.


That's it. xD No explanation. I just love BBCoding so much. I do separate profile skeletons sometimes just because I want to use the fancy coding as a way to be all: "Yo! I love yo shit! Here's this shiny, holographic shit to show you in!" ... or something like that. xD Just... BBCode~


Also.. the biggest, most useless thing I do add to profiles... is asking for music links/tracks. Surprisingly, I've encountered a lot of positive with that and have gained epic songs and artists in that regard.


SOO... after something so long-winded... just wanted to say I respect the opinions of users when it comes to information on character sheets. And, I can see there's at least one acknowledgement in this thread (that caused me to pop in and speak up). Respect. No matter how insane or "dumb" things are on these sheets, you all still respect the GM's wish to have what information they want in their threads. Because, that's what this sort of boils down to: you chose this thread because you like the thread and will do what you can to get in.


Though... I'll say this: I think the dumbest thing I have ever included in my own character sheets is information based on a person's home. I've seen it done with other character sheets and didn't get it... until I realized that using this area to express a person's state/outlook on life with their living space would be a cool idea. That, and... DESCRIBING THE SEXIST LOOKING KITCHEN EVER!!!!! ... :I Yes... I love sexy interior spaces, especially for kitchens. It's still pretty dumb to include... but it's sort of like my guilty pleasure to have in profile skeletons...

[/QUOTE]
I don't think there is anything bad about asking those kinds of questions so long as they'll pertain to the plot. I could ask for someones sexual orientation in a roleplay about romance or what kind of home a character lives in a slice of life roleplay. What I absolutely will not do is ask about someones sexual orientation in a science fiction roleplay about conquering the galaxy. On the subject of likes and dislikes I myself don't particularly find anything wrong about being asked about that and answering but you won't find me asking other people that in my own roleplays because it's something I can add to a Personality section as opposed to making two seperate lines to use.

 

[MISTER UN. 0W3N]

@Reznor


That's true. Most of my plots for my RPs tend to push via character development and users directing the story. Information helps move things and get the users to literally "see" the setting and what not. ... x 3 x That should be a thread in of itself: over inflating a thread with information...

 

[LegoLad659]

[QUOTE="mayhem TR4NQU1L17Y]3) ... I'm a BBCode slut.
That's it. xD No explanation. I just love BBCoding so much. I do separate profile skeletons sometimes just because I want to use the fancy coding as a way to be all: "Yo! I love yo shit! Here's this shiny, holographic shit to show you in!" ... or something like that. xD Just... BBCode~

[/QUOTE]
Just as an aside, I like building post macros with BBCode for my characters, and yet I can never get any ideas for character sheets xD I always find it cool when there's a pre-set up block of coding to use where we just fill in the blanks.

 

[Finalshine23]

Wow super interesting i never thought of these things ('A')

 

[Ammokkx]

Huh. I'd love to join in to the discussion on 'Sexuality' in the sheet, but everything I could say has already been said anyway. Well, aside from this: While I personally don't like seeing it either, I'll still fill it out for the sake of completeness. I don't like leaving out required fields on a CS, even if I personally disagree with said field.


So let's propose another sin!


One time, I saw a character sheet want both a 'Bio' and a 'Background'. Anyone who knows the word Bio should already see that, 1: It should be typed as Biography and 2: Those mean basically the same thing. Worse is, when I pointed it out to the GM, they basically said 'not the same bio' even though I screenshotted, linked and even took IRL photographs of multiple definitions which proves my case to be correct. It covered both 'Bio' and 'Biography' too. What they intended 'Bio' to be was something akin to a personality, likes and dislikes section which is... wrong.


So basically, I'm bugged when a word is used in an application form of any kind outside of its proper definition. It's incredibly irritating. Nitpicky, maybe. But still irritating.

 

[Myxyzptlk]

Huh. I'd love to join in to the discussion on 'Sexuality' in the sheet, but everything I could say has already been said anyway. Well, aside from this: While I personally don't like seeing it either, I'll still fill it out for the sake of completeness. I don't like leaving out required fields on a CS, even if I personally disagree with said field.
So let's propose another sin!


One time, I saw a character sheet want both a 'Bio' and a 'Background'. Anyone who knows the word Bio should already see that, 1: It should be typed as Biography and 2: Those mean basically the same thing. Worse is, when I pointed it out to the GM, they basically said 'not the same bio' even though I screenshotted, linked and even took IRL photographs of multiple definitions which proves my case to be correct. It covered both 'Bio' and 'Biography' too. What they intended 'Bio' to be was something akin to a personality, likes and dislikes section which is... wrong.


So basically, I'm bugged when a word is used in an application form of any kind outside of its proper definition. It's incredibly irritating. Nitpicky, maybe. But still irritating.

I would've fucked around with the GM and do this.


Bio: His parents taught him how to fight at age thirteen


Background: His parents died when he was age nine.

 

[Ixacise]

Not a fan of sexuality entries on CS's outside of like romance-centric game. Because I feel it detracts from other aspects of the rp you're in as you focus on just one thing.


Also it implies my character is gonna get laid. Which 99% of the time isn't happening.


Also a big sin for me is pointless minutiae that would better be lumped into broader categories. I'm talking about entries involving eye color, height, weight, favorite/disliked [insert thing here] and all that type of stuff.


For me a good CS involves the basic stuff you see on every CS with RP specific entries. Like say races, gundam type, kung-fu school, etc. And maybe a couple of fun/misc things like a theme song or whatever.


However, for me the biggest sin is an overwrought character sheet with too much damn bbcode and annoying fonts, font sizes. Yeah people think they look pretty but the problem with those type of sheets is they create too much visual noise and it makes character information hard to read due to all the distracting stuff on it.

See this above? There's a reason people laugh at this character sheet. And it's because it's super busy and the designer decided to get fancy at the expense of clarity. Mind you freeform character sheets have less information to record and their function is different, but the effect is still the same.


It hurts my eyes

 

[Ammokkx]

I would've fucked around with the GM and do this.
Bio: His parents taught him how to fight at age thirteen


Background: His parents died when he was age nine.

I got booted from the RP just because I argued with them on it. It was a wild ride.

 

[Vague]

I don't understand the point of using theme songs. The songs rarely ever fit the characters anyway, because the user is most likely just going to pick a random song they like. I also don't like being forced to add likes and dislikes, but I am guilty of adding them to the CS for my roleplays a couple times. You'll find out what my character likes and dislikes during the roleplay, so there's not really a point in writing it out in my opinion.

 

[Ryik]

I don't understand the point of using theme songs. The songs rarely ever fit the characters anyway, because the user is most likely just going to pick a random song they like. I also don't like being forced to add likes and dislikes, but I am guilty of adding them to the CS for my roleplays a couple times. You'll find out what my character likes and dislikes during the roleplay, so there's not really a point in writing it out in my opinion.

I admit they don't serve a very functional purpose, but I've always had a soft spot for them. Of course, I think anyone that selects a song with words is doing it wrong, because the song seldom pertains to the actual character.


What I really like about it is that it can say so much about the character without saying a word at all.


Take for example this track:


[media]



[/media]
Guess what kind of character it was made for.

Spoiler

A sadistic, misanthropic policeman with a cheerful, nonchalant attitude.


[media]

[/media]
It communicates who he is in a way somewhat more direct (less prone to misjudgement) than words. When you listen to it, you should get the vibe of the kind of character they were made to be.

 

[InsanEleven]

If I might add to the conversation with my own character sheets as a GM (mainly futuristic): I never ask for sexuality or likes/dislikes. From a good CS you can puzzle together likes/dislikes from personality and background without them ever being mentioned. On top of that I use the CS mainly as a writing example and guidelines towards the character and to discern their general role in the group. I've found it very often that people's character IRP don't line up with their CS anymore, especially once you go 20 pages deep into the RP. To me this doesn't really matter though, as with good writers and RP'ers it's very easy to pick out how their character is constructed and supposed to be.


I've actually had it turn out that a perceived straight character had slightly bi tendencies later on, but this never was a problem as it evolved through that character. So just like dislikes and likes I think sexuality is just something used by people who aren't really good at writing or RP'ing (and from my experience this has been proven by the type of roleplays it pops up in), but I don't think other than that it's necessarily a sin. More or less a different aspect of a different demographic of RP'ers.

 

[Dragongal]

Something which I find more useless than listing sexuality in a character sheet is listing likes and dislikes. They usually do not come into play and sometimes preferences such as those are subject to change. On top of that, likes and dislikes can generally just be established during the roleplay. There is not much reason to establish them ahead of time. The only reason that I can see it being useful to establish likes and dislikes upfront is if the characters are supposed to already know each other. Otherwise, there is not much reason to put it in the character sheet instead of revealing it over the course of the roleplay.

While you have a fair point, I have to defend the likes/dislikes with this: In a romance RP or even an adventure RP where the two never knew each other, it helps the other player to have this kind of inside info. For example, listed, "Likes: Music, tea, chilly nights, blankets" This doesn't by any means give away a lot, but the other character can go, "Hey, how about we get some tea?" and in tht way there might be less wasting time on the players' parts.

 

[InsanEleven]

I think the fun of a romance is finding those things out though. It gets very meta if you can influence your character's romance by forcing them to like the same things.


That way you can make any ship sail, even if the characters wouldn't be compatible if they had to find that out from one another naturally.

 

[InsanEleven]

I think that the bottom line is that sexuality and likes/dislikes are easy. But there is nothing wrong with easy; RP'ing is a hobby after all. You don't have to run olympic bronze to enjoy athletics. You don't have to be a black belt to enjoy some karate. So even if they aren't very orthodox to use with people who like long term development, it doesn't make them a sin in itself.

 

[Vague]

I admit they don't serve a very functional purpose, but I've always had a soft spot for them. Of course, I think anyone that selects a song with words is doing it wrong, because the song seldom pertains to the actual character.
What I really like about it is that it can say so much about the character without saying a word at all.


Take for example this track:


[media]



[/media]
Guess what kind of character it was made for.

Spoiler

A sadistic, misanthropic policeman with a cheerful, nonchalant attitude.


[media]

[/media]
It communicates who he is in a way somewhat more direct (less prone to misjudgement) than words. When you listen to it, you should get the vibe of the kind of character they were made to be.

Fair point. Adachi is one of my problematic favorite characters actually, and the song does fit him perfectly. I guess I just don't like feeling forced to use it. It should be optional if anything.

 

[Just A Potato]

Personally, I will always put it on my sheets because it's a general heads up to whomever I'm playing with.


I never used to do this, until I joined a different site (The one I was on before I joined RPN.) Because of the sheer amount of abuse directed toward me in OOC after people discovered my character was homosexual. I've found (much to my delight) that most people on here are far more accepting than on other sites.


One particular experience has ensured that I will ALWAYS give my partner a heads up about my character's sexuality. I still cringe just thinking about it.

 

[call me rae]

@Just A Potato - yeah i get weirded out when people have too much investment in my anything to do with my character. i swear to god i actually had someone who i was roleplaying with me actually ask me to make a second character because "they only played with females".


and like my character was an animated cat skeleton so i just was like - whatever it doesn't have a gender so if you want to say it's a girl go for it.


there like - no i want you to play a female character.


and i'm like okay fine whatever so i made a student as well as a teacher. just kind of basic character because the focus was supposed to be on my main teacher - the cat skeleton. but i made a kid for them to follow around and torment to help my other person out.


then they said - okay your girl student is going to have a crush on my male student. and could you have her have a fetish for petting his hair?


............ O.o ....................


no.


i think i'll find another partner now.




Onto the topic at hand - yeah like for me I would prefer to keep a CS sleek and simple but sometimes I think making 'em long or adding random details will help you spot red flags. Like if I had asked that person for likes or dislikes - and it was like likes to smell girls hair or whatever.


That would have tipped me off that maybe this wasn't going to go in a productive place.


Strengths and Weaknesses are another big section for me - cuz they help you determine when you got someone who is joining purely to win the roleplay and defeat the plot in like three posts or less.

 

[Swindle]

@ApfelSeine


I find myself scratching my head at the divorcing of personality and preferences you made. Since preferences are characteristics of people that influence them to pick/do or not pick/do certain things, which in itself influences one's behaviors, I just don't get where you draw the line.


Also, I don't like it when people blatantly disregard any preset rules regarding the character sheet, especially if it's been formatted a certain way for flavor purposes. I feel like it undermines the person's efforts to add more atmosphere to their roleplay.

 

[ApfelSeine]

@ApfelSeine
I find myself scratching my head at the divorcing of personality and preferences you made. Since preferences are characteristics of people that influence them to pick/do or not pick/do certain things, which in itself influences one's behaviors, I just don't get where you draw the line.


Also, I don't like it when people blatantly disregard any preset rules regarding the character sheet, especially if it's been formatted a certain way for flavor purposes. I feel like it undermines the person's efforts to add more atmosphere to their roleplay.

Well I will endeavor to explain the distinction I'm making with an example.


Joe and Suzy both like cats. Each one comes across a cat. What do they do? Does knowing that they like cats really tell you anything about how they behave towards the cat? Now lets say that Joe is generally friendly and that Suzy is generally solemn. Does that give you a better idea of how they are likely to interact with the cat? It seems logical that Joe would call for the cat and pet it, and that Suzy would admire the cat from afar. "Friendly" and "solemn" hold more information about a person's typical behavior than "likes cats".


Preferences and personality are not the same thing. A personality trait defines a person's behavior, while preferences define when a person is likely to exhibit a particular personality trait. And even then, it's not definite that preferences will influence what a person ends up choosing to do. I'll use another example.


Joe likes coffee and Suzy likes tea. When choosing a cafe to go to, Joe will usually pick the cafe that serves the best coffee, while Suzy will chose a different cafe that serves tea. Let's say that they get together and want to go out to a cafe. Will they fight over which one to go to? After all, they like different things. What if I told you that Suzy was more assertive and that Joe was more obliging? Now you know that they'll likely go to the cafe that Suzy wants because she's the more assertive of the two, and Joe tends to do things to make others happy before pleasing himself. In this example, it doesn't matter whether Joe likes or dislikes tea; he ends up picking the cafe that serves tea because he is obliging. Thus, personality traits will trump preferences the majority of the time.


There is an important distinction to be made between them, since liking or disliking something does not really determine behavior. Thus, it is separate from personality. While it might seem like a character will gravitate towards the things that they like and avoid the things that they dislike, that is not always the case. In many cases, preferences will influence when a character will act a certain way, but the specific behavior that they exhibit is determined by their personality, and not the fact that they like or dislike something.

 

[Swindle]

I'd still establish that preferences are apart of your personality though. You can end up doing things that you don't like depending on the circumstances, sure, but that doesn't change anything about what you do/don't like; it just means you're adapting to the situation based essentially on decisions that are themselves based on preferences to end up with a situation that you will still like overall. Which I would say is in itself a matter of preference, as they're making a choice to create an outcome they would like as compared to the opposite.


Regarding your examples, it's easy to see it this way.


Joe prefers to interact with cats, whereas Suzy would rather watch them as if she were some urban safari.


Suzy prefers to take charge of the situation, Joe essentially prefers to do what other people prefer.


So, sure, if you just say something as broad as "people like cats," you won't get much out of it. But if you were to say "Joe likes cats and also enjoys petting them/Suzy likes cats but would rather watch them do their own thing" then it makes more sense when you describe it as a matter of preference.


Plus, being someone who has lived with close-minded people, preferences very well do determine (and can often be used to predict) how someone will act in any given scenario. I'd even argue that preferences are very well the reason why people are so easy to predict and manipulate depending on how aware of it they are. Also, with the definition you gave for preferences, where a character will focus their attention is also apart of behavior, is it not?


If we take personality to mean a set of qualities/characteristics that make up a person, then preferences are also apart of those characteristics, as likes/dislikes are a major factor in what you do and do not do.