Character Theory What's with people using images to describe their character's appearance?

[Communist]

I mean, if you're the one who drew it, I guess it's fine. But why use a character from, say, an anime to describe your character's appearance? Is it because people are lazy or something?

 

[Windsock]

Yes. It's total bullshit. People just want to make their character 'cool, like my waifu/husbando!'


Fucking weeaboos.

 

[Tonstad39]

sometimes its chocked up to laziness and frantic to fulfil the "Appearence:" requirement even though most rps allow for only a description. they need a picture because all the cool rpers have pictures.

 

[Communist]

sometimes its chocked up to laziness and frantic to fulfil the "Appearence:" requirement even though most rps allow for only a description. they need a picture because all the cool rpers have pictures.

I wouldn't find it annoying if they drew the picture themselves, but I see alot of people use characters from anime, movies or from any other short media.

 

[StoneWolf18]

I mean, I use a few images here and there. Nothing anime but realistic or realistically drawn.


Why?


A) I can't draw for shit.


B) It would take me forever to describe them the way I want.


I usually have a written description anyway but sometimes it's nice to have something to look at and get an idea of what the character looks like.

 

[LunaticLove]

I personally, when first creating a character, will describe that character fully but sometimes it's easier to post a picture so other people know what you mean. Sometimes I'll have something like "multiple scars cut into his shoulder in a random all over pattern" and then post a picture of the scars or what would be similar so they can visualize it. Some things like clothing, certain hair, and even skin tone can be hard to convey in text format. Yes it's lazy sometimes, but it can be a very useful tool.

 

[Communist]

I personally, when first creating a character, will describe that character fully but sometimes it's easier to post a picture so other people know what you mean. Sometimes I'll have something like "multiple scars cut into his shoulder in a random all over pattern" and then post a picture of the scars or what would be similar so they can visualize it. Some things like clothing, certain hair, and even skin tone can be hard to convey in text format. Yes it's lazy sometimes, but it can be a very useful tool.

I can see your reasoning, but I find it an excuse to be lazy... Maybe because I don't have trouble explaining what my characters look like, unless they have armor on. (Let's be honest, you can't describe armor)

 

[LunaticLove]

I can see your reasoning, but I find it an excuse to be lazy... Maybe because I don't have trouble explaining what my characters look like, unless they have armor on. (Let's be honest, you can't describe armor)

We use pictures in my D&D campaign for that exact reason! Armour is so hard to describe. We also have a very artistic girl who is drawing our D&D characters.

 

[StoneWolf18]

I can see your reasoning, but I find it an excuse to be lazy... Maybe because I don't have trouble explaining what my characters look like, unless they have armor on. (Let's be honest, you can't describe armor)

I dunno, I find armor rather easy to describe, at least in a medieval setting.

We use pictures in my D&D campaign for that exact reason! Armour is so hard to describe. We also have a very artistic girl who is drawing our D&D characters.

 

[Communist]

We use pictures in my D&D campaign for that exact reason! Armour is so hard to describe. We also have a very artistic girl who is drawing our D&D characters.

I should try to get someone to draw one of my favourite characters, eventually.

I dunno, I find armor rather easy to describe, at least in a medieval setting.

Not if your character uses heavy armor with all shorts of carvings.

 

[LunaticLove]

I should try to get someone to draw one of my favourite characters, eventually.


Not if your character uses heavy armor with all shorts of carvings.

Ahhh yes the carved heavy armour. Mine is pretty easy because elvish druid can't use metal so I'm in simple leather armour and a polar bear pelt.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Well first maybe calling people lazy wasn't the best way to start with a question. 


In my experience about 99% of the forum based roleplay sites I've been on have a prevalence of faceclaims ( that is using an image for your character description ). On these sites pretty much every roleplay ( across all genres, styles, and post levels ) requires you to submit a faceclaim for your character. In some sites they even have you make what is known as post layouts. Which are banners or such with images of your character ( usually including their name and role ) which are used to further offer visuals of your character.


The reasons these are used is I think half simply tradition. Everyone does it so people just assume that is how you roleplay. It would be the same if all the roleplays asked you to sign your name at the bottom of the post. If everyone in the whole site did that you would just assume it's something you have to do in order to roleplay correctly.


Secondly there are a lot of people that are visual learners and do better with a clear visual to go on. Not only in characters but in settings and world building. I am one of those people. I can certainly describe how something looks perfectly fine ( and for my more casual roleplays it's easier to offer brief descriptions ) but it is not as easy for me to keep an image of something in my head without that visual. I have a harder time keeping it clear in my head and usually go and find some kind of visual reference eventually anyway. Because when I look at something it's easier for me to get a clearer idea of what I'm talking about ( again this isn't just with character pictures it's with scenery and locations as well ).


Lastly when BBC code was a big thing ( and to a much lesser extent with HTML ) people just like to show off their ability to make something look pretty and eye-catching. This doesn't mean their being lazy ( if anything coding and finding images is actually far more time consuming and difficult than just describing things ).


Now does that mean that everyone who uses an image finds high quality pictures after an exhaustive search? No. Some people slap a pixelized over-used image on because they can't be bothered to put in any more effort. But then those same people are the sort who would only describe their character as "handsome/beautiful man/woman with like one blue eye and one pink eye who has mad fighting skillz" or whatever.

 

[Windsock]

Ahhh yes the carved heavy armour. Mine is pretty easy because elvish druid can't use metal so I'm in simple leather armour and a polar bear pelt.

What, too weak to wear armor carved from a boulder? Coward.

 

[Communist]

Well first maybe calling people lazy wasn't the best way to start with a question. 


In my experience about 99% of the forum based roleplay sites I've been on have a prevalence of faceclaims ( that is using an image for your character description ). On these sites pretty much every roleplay ( across all genres, styles, and post levels ) requires you to submit a faceclaim for your character. In some sites they even have you make what is known as post layouts. Which are banners or such with images of your character ( usually including their name and role ) which are used to further offer visuals of your character.


The reasons these are used is I think half simply tradition. Everyone does it so people just assume that is how you roleplay. It would be the same if all the roleplays asked you to sign your name at the bottom of the post. If everyone in the whole site did that you would just assume it's something you have to do in order to roleplay correctly.


Secondly there are a lot of people that are visual learners and do better with a clear visual to go on. Not only in characters but in settings and world building. I am one of those people. I can certainly describe how something looks perfectly fine ( and for my more casual roleplays it's easier to offer brief descriptions ) but it is not as easy for me to keep an image of something in my head without that visual. I have a harder time keeping it clear in my head and usually go and find some kind of visual reference eventually anyway. Because when I look at something it's easier for me to get a clearer idea of what I'm talking about ( again this isn't just with character pictures it's with scenery and locations as well ).


Lastly when BBC code was a big thing ( and to a much lesser extent with HTML ) people just like to show off their ability to make something look pretty and eye-catching. This doesn't mean their being lazy ( if anything coding and finding images is actually far more time consuming and difficult than just describing things ).


Now does that mean that everyone who uses an image finds high quality pictures after an exhaustive search? No. Some people slap a pixelized over-used image on because they can't be bothered to put in any more effort. But then those same people are the sort who would only describe their character as "handsome/beautiful man/woman with like one blue eye and one pink eye who has mad fighting skillz" or whatever.

I see where you're getting at, but what I find somewhat confusing (and annoying to an extent) is that people use images from popular animes, movies or whatever sort of media.


I wouldn't mind if they used it, but it would be great if they tried to do some "changes" (as in, describe) to the picture they posted.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I see where you're getting at, but what I find somewhat confusing (and annoying to an extent) is that people use images from popular animes, movies or whatever sort of media.


I wouldn't mind if they used it, but it would be great if they tried to do some "changes" (as in, describe) to the picture they posted.

So to avoid going into a rant let me put it to you in a way I think you'll understand better. I'm assuming your from a school of roleplaying where it was entirely writing based. Now does that mean that automatically everyone who writes a description is the same level? That there aren't people who are maybe not as great at describing things or are maybe not as confident in their ability to use the English language?


Of course not everyone has their own level of proficiency and everyone has their own preference for how they roleplay.


So in closing : 


People learn to use faceclaims. That is how they know how to roleplay. You know how to roleplay using descriptors. Neither way is more correct or better than the other. It's just different schools of thought. The same way that fandom roleplays are different than realistic roleplays || or tabletop gaming is different to forum-based roleplays 


It's just all a part of the wide umbrella of roleplaying. 

 

[Communist]

So to avoid going into a rant let me put it to you in a way I think you'll understand better. I'm assuming your from a school of roleplaying where it was entirely writing based. Now does that mean that automatically everyone who writes a description is the same level? That there aren't people who are maybe not as great at describing things or are maybe not as confident in their ability to use the English language?


Of course not everyone has their own level of proficiency and everyone has their own preference for how they roleplay.


So in closing : 


People learn to use faceclaims. That is how they know how to roleplay. You know how to roleplay using descriptors. Neither way is more correct or better than the other. It's just different schools of thought. The same way that fandom roleplays are different than realistic roleplays || or tabletop gaming is different to forum-based roleplays 


It's just all a part of the wide umbrella of roleplaying. 

I don't think you get it... I just don't like it when someone makes their character look like Kirito or Eren.


Their character is someone else, not an exact replica of another character.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I don't think you get it... I just don't like it when someone makes their character look like Kirito or Eren.


Their character is someone else, not an exact replica of another character.

And I don't think you understand that is how they know how to roleplay. by picking a character faceclaim. sometimes that means learning to use established characters / models / actors. You can dislike it but that doesn't make their roleplay methods any less valid or any less how they choose to enjoy themselves.

 

[Communist]

And I don't think you understand that is how they know how to roleplay. by picking a character faceclaim. sometimes that means learning to use established characters / models / actors. You can dislike it but that doesn't make their roleplay methods any less valid or any less how they choose to enjoy themselves.

They could take some time to change the image with words, though. Like, say that the character's hair in the image is brown instead of red, or that his nose is a little smaller.


I understand that's how they might roleplay, but they could easily make their characters different by changing simple things.

 

[_Line 213]

I do think to an extent that there is a lot of wish fulfillment involved with realistic face-claims.


If we were to make the case that people are using them solely for the sake of visual representation, chances are we would still have a character makeup on this site and others that is far more varied than what is readily available. Generally, the face-claims that people use seem to be stereotypically attractive in some way (and in the case of this site specifically, either Caucasian or Korean for reasons that I do not know), leading to a cast of pretty people that would put a petty teen-drama flick to shame. No "normal-looking" people, no "scruffy-looking" people, and generally not people that seem as if they're a day over the age of 30 or so, either.


So, I do think that part of the appeal of using face-claims, if we were to be entirely honest with ourselves, is being able to put on a face that is not one's own, especially if that face is the face of someone that people wish they could look like, or that they wish they could know or have some sort of relation to.


This extends, to a lesser extent, to the use of fictional characters when it comes to face-claims. People pick an image of a character that they feel made an impact on them, or on the character that they're presenting. Sometimes they wish that their character was the character that they used as an image, while other times they merely want to capture the mystique / feel / etcetera of that character for their own in some way.


To be fair, however, there are still those that merely pick certain face-claims for the sake of them being reasonably accurate to what they initially wrote out or envisioned. That said, I've also found that people who pick an image first and then build a character around them are actually more common than I initially realized, and I do find this to be rather limiting, at least on a conceptual level.


Of course, I speak of all of this from an outsider's perspective, since I've made it my mission on this site to draw every character I play.

 

[Communist]

I do think to an extent that there is a lot of wish fulfillment involved with realistic face-claims.


If we were to make the case that people are using them solely for the sake of visual representation, chances are we would still have a character makeup on this site and others that is far more varied than what is readily available. Generally, the face-claims that people use seem to be stereotypically attractive in some way (and in the case of this site specifically, either Caucasian or Korean for reasons that I do not know), leading to a cast of pretty people that would put a petty teen-drama flick to shame. No "normal-looking" people, no "scruffy-looking" people, and generally not people that seem as if they're a day over the age of 30 or so, either.


So, I do think that part of the appeal of using face-claims, if we were to be entirely honest with ourselves, is being able to put on a face that is not one's own, especially if that face is the face of someone that people wish they could look like, or that they wish they could know or have some sort of relation to.


This extends, to a lesser extent, to the use of fictional characters when it comes to face-claims. People pick an image of a character that they feel made an impact on them, or on the character that they're presenting. Sometimes they wish that their character was the character that they used as an image, while other times they merely want to capture the mystique / feel / etcetera of that character for their own in some way.


To be fair, however, there are still those that merely pick certain face-claims for the sake of them being reasonably accurate to what they initially wrote out or envisioned. That said, I've also found that people who pick an image first and then build a character around them to be more common than I initially realized, and I do find this to be rather limiting, at least on a conceptual level.


Of course, I speak of all of this from an outsider's perspective, since I've made it my mission on this site to draw every character I play.

Fair point. To be honest, it kinda explains why alot of people use "pre-made" images instead of drawing their own or using words to describe their characters.


I'm fine with people using images from a certain anime, but couldn't they atleast make some minor changes? It would improve their "imagination" a little bit too.


It must be kinda tough to draw every character you come up with, unless you like to draw.

 

[_Line 213]

Fair point. To be honest, it kinda explains why alot of people use "pre-made" images instead of drawing their own or using words to describe their characters.


I'm fine with people using images from a certain anime, but couldn't they atleast make some minor changes? It would improve their "imagination" a little bit too.


It must be kinda tough to draw every character you come up with, unless you like to draw.

I enjoy drawing, so I don't find the idea of drawing everything that I play here all that daunting. If anything, I merely worry about whether or not I can actually capture the image that I have in my head.


Most of the characters that I make in a variety of places tend to be a little bit outside of the mould, when compared to what everyone else tends to do, so oftentimes unique appearances become something of a necessity. I don't think I'd ever be satisfied trying to merely find a face-claim, and the few times that I've tried to do so in the past, I've come up rather disappointed with my options.


One character that I came up with (in an RP that unfortunately died out rather quickly) wore a tight-fitting space suit-esque helmet, and a skin-tight hazmat wrap underneath a track suit, for instance. Where am I possibly going to get a face-claim or visual depiction for that?


For the most part, many people don't have the ability to graphically edit images in some way (even if there's plenty of free software that allows one to do so), and as a result, they merely leave images as they are. Some still specify changes in writing, but due to the potential disconnect between description and visual depiction that such a thing may create, some people are left feeling somewhat uncomfortable with that idea (in other words, they merely want things to be cohesive).

 

[Communist]

I enjoy drawing, so I don't find the idea of drawing everything that I play here all that daunting. If anything, I merely worry about whether or not I can actually capture the image that I have in my head.


Most of the characters that I make in a variety of places tend to be a little bit outside of the mould, when compared to what everyone else tends to do, so oftentimes unique appearances become something of a necessity. I don't think I'd ever be satisfied trying to merely find a face-claim, and the few times that I've tried to do so in the past, I've come up rather disappointed with my options.


One character that I came up with (in an RP that unfortunately died out rather quickly) wore a tight-fitting space suit-esque helmet, and a skin-tight hazmat wrap underneath a track suit, for instance. Where am I possibly going to get a face-claim or visual depiction for that?


For the most part, many people don't have the ability to graphically edit images in some way (even if there's plenty of free software that allows one to do so), and as a result, they merely leave images as they are. Some still specify changes in writing, but due to the potential disconnect between description and visual depiction that such a thing may create, some people are left feeling somewhat uncomfortable with that idea (in other words, they merely want things to be cohesive).

Makes sense.

 

[JKai]

I guess you are going to be annoyed until the ends of time because people are going to use or do whatever they want to describe their characters. It's their right. It's not laziness, that's how it is. You should just get over it and move on.

 

[AlbaGuBrath]

I don't think it necessarily means someone is lazy if they use a picture for their character, especially if it's an appropriate one. Admittedly, seeing pictures in an out-of-place setting (anime in a realistic world, techy-looking stuff in a medieval setting, etc.) annoys me a touch, but it's more of a personal thing and really not a big deal. I like pictures (especially art specifically for that character) because it lets me see them at a glance. I'm more than happy to read paragraphs of detail about a character's beliefs or background, but I'm not terribly interested in reading the same about a character's hair or clothes. I guess it's mostly a personal preference, but I almost always prefer to see a good picture whenever possible, though it is nice to have some written detail as well.

Ahhh yes the carved heavy armour. Mine is pretty easy because elvish druid can't use metal so I'm in simple leather armour and a polar bear pelt.

Random question... Why can't they use metal? I ran into that with my character on a campaign and guessed that they had some objection to mining, but they didn't seem to have an issue with wood or stone, which I'd guess would be similar. I thought it was an interesting trait, but I wasn't clear on the reasoning behind it.

 

[_Line 213]

Random question... Why can't they use metal? I ran into that with my character on a campaign and guessed that they had some objection to mining, but they didn't seem to have an issue with wood or stone, which I'd guess would be similar. I thought it was an interesting trait, but I wasn't clear on the reasoning behind it.

For the most part, this particular trope stems from old D&D armor restrictions that were implemented for the sake of game balance. Some people justify it with the thinking that elves take everything that they need from the nature immediately surrounding them; things like mining and smithing would take more industrial effort and create a greater disturbance in the landscape and their surroundings than they would want. Others say that plate / heavy armor in general restricts the flow or use of magic in some way or another, or that wearing leather and pelts brings druids closer to nature (or in the case of mages, wearing fibers imbued with the arcane might make their magic stronger) or that people that spend most of their time studying simply haven't cultivated the physical strength needed in order to wear heavier protection.


But this is not a hard-and-fast rule for all fantasy anyway.


Also, stone would be crazy heavy as far as armor goes, assuming you wanted to make a set that allowed for roughly the same amount of protection as metal.