Can you RP with your own lore completely neglecting the lore of the world your in? imo, i think itd be much more organic to RP while keeping Tera lore in mind. That way, my RP can be carried over to another player i met while not having to explain a whole backstory that no one knows but me.

Lore is the backstory of the fictional world, meaning the different deities, how the world was made, what races there are, the relationships between them, what cities there are, how they were founded, etc. You're expected to use that lore and not make up your own. If you suddenly show up and start talking about different gods, then you're a heretic. And if you do something like introducing yourself as a race that doesn't exist in the lore, then you're an otherkin and people will laugh at you and call you names (and never let you join any raindeer games).

If you're talking about the game's current storyline, that's a bit harder to use because differen't people will be at different parts of the main quest. And there's only so many people who can be "that survivor dude from the first expedition who later returned to the Island of Dawn and saved it by defeating that one big demon-guy". So yes, do use the lore, but for your own good try to not be too closely tied to the game's story if you plan on interacting with different people.

Different strokes for different folks of course, but I usually have a 'general' idea what my character is like, his details, his personality, etc. This 'vision' is flexible, though, and his demeanor might vary from day to day based on his mood.

I might post some info about him on a forum/RP message area, as a sort of 'cliff notes' for his personality, so that anyone I might RP with on occasion can look it up if they feel they need to refer to it. I prefer to spend my in-game RP time actually RPing, and not handing out notes about my character's background/personality.

It all boils down to personal preference and comfort level. There are so many different RP styles, just as there are personalities (character AND player), which to me is what makes RP so exciting.

The joy of RPing for me is improvisation, and rolling creatively with the punches you're sometimes thrown when interacting with other people who are often quite unpredicable. So long as you stay good humored about it all and don't treat it with too deadly a seriousness, it can work out magically and it's wonderful when it does. I can't see myself retaining much interest in something that's pretty scripted--I'd rather just pick up a book, in that case (which is wonderful in its own way, of course).

As for the game lore, I've played enough living DnD to know how to fit my character into the lore of an existing fantasy world, and Tera's isn't so set in stone that this is hard to do (unlike Forgotten Realms, for example, which is weighted down by tons of canon). My only real hitch with the lore was the Isle of Dawn prologue--it took me a while to think of a way to explain how I'd died and gone from level 20 to level 1, and even worse, why all the NPCs seemed to think I was now a different person. There are the various narrative escape hatches you can use, of course; mine is that that character wasn't really me, but my nearly twin sister who looked so much like me that we were sometimes called by each other's names. I'm on a Mission From the Gods to now make up for her death, etc., etc. I'm sure others have similar trope ridden ways of explaining what happened, but it's kind of hard to come up with something original in a case like this.

There are many different outlooks on this so go with whatever works best for you. The guilds seem to be specifying light, medium or hardcore role playing so you can pick one that suits you.

I like to try and establish a strong personality with clearly defined traits as soon as I can. The study of psychology shows that "traits" usually do not change, although "states" & mood do. I find this makes the character more believable, memorable & most importantly fun to play. I love it when I find myself actually thinking as if I am the character instead of myself. An established personality does not require heavy writing, it can be a simple bullet point list you keep to yourself. And it does not have to take away from spontaneity or improvisation, it can greatly enhance it.

if you wanted to have a small bit about your character in game... while we don't have lil bios to carry around with us... you can use the Status in your profile to mark yourself how you wish

for Eshkin I set his to "Horse Trainer/Courier/Guide" so that way people can get an idea that perhaps his services are advertised or they might find me at the stables or something along those lines oocly, and they are more than welcome to use that small bit to incorporate into plans they were making anyway ICly. As if they wanted to travel to Chebika, or maybe Castanica or Pora Elinu and Icly it was too expensive for them to take a Pegasus, but decided to go rent a horse or retrieve theirs from the stables out in the outskirts. If they felt inclined to rp it, they could toss me a whisper an viola, they have someone to rp it out, maybe learn about the guides Eshkin did, who knows :)

but it really could be anything. as for out of game bios. it helps... for the right people. but it's really not necessary to go into super in depth anything. For many reading short stories from others backgrounds can be a good time passer. Just as writing them out can be good handling for the character(s).

it's up to personal preference in the end. I have some character's with basic bios and some with none at all :)

I don't create character bios....I tried once using a template but it didn't get any comments so it discouraged me from making more.

When I roleplay in a game I tend to merge OCC with IC because my characters talk the same way I do(obviously). This is why I like guild chat to be OOC, Area/General chat OOC, Say/Yell/Emote to be IC and ingame mail to be IC.


Just like my guilds, I do most of my recruiting in game because my forum advertisments don't generate alot of buzz because I don't use fancy banners, I'm optional RP regardless how many times I bump a thread....but when it comes to in game that's where I shine because I excel at most everything I can do in a game...in my opinion

Whenever I create a character, I don't create them with a fully history and back story, I come up with a concept, usually a look and then a personality just comes out with it. Sometimes I make a character just from a visual concept and am not sure how they'll act and just let it come. I think the bio section is good just to give a description of the character beyond the mechanics of the game rather than a history of the character.

Aethel, the NPCs do know who the player is. Not all of them know you, of course, but many of the first few you meet in the lvl 1 version of the island either recognize you as a survivor from the first expedition, or are survirors themselves and specifically state that they know you personally. Heck, a big part of why Leander even trusts you is that he knows you fought alongside his brother. The reason why you go back to level 1 is because of physical and psychological injuries caused by the near-death experience.

Is that what they say? I didn't get that impression when I was running my main through the Isle this time (and I did read all the quest text), so I may have just not picked up on all the cues. I'll pay close attention when I level up an alt, and adjust my backstory accordingly. Thanks.