When Do You Create A Bio . . . And Why?

[Tahliah]

Someone recently posted to the forums that they were discouraged because so few people create bios for their toons.  I responded that some of us are not creative or inclined to do so because we aren't "into" the fantasy angle in our gameplay or because we have altitis and simply can't deliver a bio when all we are clinging to is a pun. 

 

But I do create bios ever so occasionally, so this got me thinking about why I create the bios I do and why I don't create one for the vast majority of my toons.  Why do I feel that my beasts/nature MM needs a backstory/bio but not my main? Why do I want to "justify" and explain Trapper Jayne (my plant/emp troll) with a bio but don't bother with other toons . . . . ones I even prefer to play?

 

Weird, right?  I have no answer here since it makes no sense to write a bio for one toon and not for 40+ others. Why do YOU, personally, create an elaborate backstory for your COX heroes, villains, or gold sides?  Do you always do so?  or just for certain toons?  And if you are like me, and only bio one or two, why do some toons get the full back story /bio treatment, while others languish unsung in their bios?

[Bill Z Bubba]

Now having read your post, my initial answer of MOAR DAMUGE makes no sense.

 

BZB Scrap had a bio back before the snap. Pretty sure most of my characters had some blurb about their origin.

 

But now? I haven't invested the time to write much of anything mostly due to laziness but partially because this whole thing feels, I dunno, transitory? I think his current bio is something like, "Yea, that Bill Z" and his many clones have "Yet another BZB clone" but beyond that, I don't think I have any.

Edited July 4, 2021 by Bill Z Bubba

[Dark Dove]

I always create a bio for every character I intend to continue playing. For me to enjoy a character enough to keep playing past 50 I need a costume I like, a bio I don't hate, and a name that I love, to varying degrees. Powersets alone won't do it for me.  Sometimes the bio takes some time (like a few days after hitting 50) and sometimes it happens at the character creation screen. The bio doesn't have to be something amazing, but it at least needs to make sense and have some 'character' for the character.

 

The only time I don't write a bio is if the powersets are boring after I've played with them a bit or the costume isn't working for me or the name isn't that great.

[Thrythlind]

I always have one in mind, but also don't always post it into the bio page. A lot of the times, I'm taking fanfic or TTRPG characters and recreating them.

[Ultimo]

I create a bio as soon as I create the character, often even before that.  Not one of my characters has no bio.

[Luminara]

2 hours ago, Tahliah said:

Why do YOU, personally, create an elaborate backstory

 

Some characters are just experiments - am I going to enjoy this, does this work with that, can I do this kind of thing, etc., and I'm not terribly attached to them (yet).  Some are recreations of characters I had on the original servers, and I want them more for the sense of recapturing what was lost than because I need them or care about them deeply.

 

But when the costume is just right, the name is on point, I'm really enjoying the way this works with that, the concept I had in mind suddenly coalesces, and there's a real sense of attachment... a story happens.  Something comes to mind and has to be written for the character to feel complete.

[Ghost]

If the bio system actually worked, I would have one written for all my toons - I’ve already got their backstories in my head, I just hate dealing with the current system.

 

[Spaghetti Betty]

I think it just depends. Sometimes I'll have a really good idea for a toon's origin. Other times that idea makes it into the 1000 character limit. And there are times the bio is just a small quip. Some toons are complete with just a name and a look.

[ZorkNemesis]

In my own case, I just prefer to skip that part and get into the game.  Backstories are mostly fluff and the time it takes to write one is just more time I could be playing.  That said, most of my characters do have concepts in my head and I'm just often too lazy to put them into words.

 

Interestingly enough among the few characters I have taken the time to write backstories for, most are Praetorians.  Given how much more established the lore of Praetoria is it's much easier to come up with something relevant compared to the more freeform nature of Primal Earth.

[huang3721]

I create a bio to describe my characters. I need to elaborate on their motivation since all of them are everymen. One of them is a naïve engineer who barely able to fight. Another one is a martial artist who loathes vigilantism. On the other side, a police officer is upholding a fascist regime, despite the horror she has witnessed. Who are they, and why they keep doing what they do?

 

4 hours ago, Tahliah said:

. . . it makes no sense to write a bio for one toon and not for 40+ others.

I also believe that writing a bio takes effort and time. I assume your characters are unique, so they must have different backstories. My hunch is that you don't have enough time or capacity to write all those 40+ stories. I wonder if that number (40+) would double soon?

[Lunchmoney]

When I've eaten too much, and when I've eaten to much.

brb bio.

[Greycat]

Some characters exist as a bio before I hit the character creator.

Some have been around since live and .... need more than the editor's limit.

Some are just mess-around, this-sounds-like-fun characters (or utility characters, like base builders) that don't need one.

Some have one I just haven't written up yet.

 

Really depends on the character. *shrug*

[Xeres]

Yeah.  Sometimes I know the bio before I make the char.  Sometimes afterwards.  I always write the bio as if the char is telling it, so on my undead char - he just was reanimated and doesn't remember anything beforehand.  It's a short bio.

[Lockpick]

I do Bios for the majority of the characters that I think I will play to 50.  Some characters I start with no Bio and just want to see how the characters plays and feels, so I don't take the time to make a Bio.  Some characters I start with a concept and then I create a Bio early on.  It just depends...

 

I think leveling speed and character slots has a bit to do with it as well.  On Live it took forever to get to 50, so I was invested deeply in the character and created a Bio and concept.  There were also had limited slots, so I only played characters that I was invested in because I didn't want to waste a slot.

 

Here I find that I have less investment in a character because I'm always creating new ones and leveling a bit.

[Xenosone]

Dating apps have taught me that no one reads a bio. 

[Tachstar]

I almost always come up with something, even it it's just a quip. Sometimes I know who my guys are right away and it's just a matter of conveying that within the 1023 limit. Aiee! Sometimes it's more of a gradual unfolding over time kinda deal. And sometimes it turns out I had it all wrong and BOOM! Can you say 'retcon'? I knew you could. Hey! It's a time-honored comic book tradition.

[Techwright]

I never use a bio unless I feel it is exceptional.  I do tinker with ideas all the time, but few make the grade.  I've some of my top favorite characters with still no backstory, even incarnates, and I consider them "still under development".

 

Usually a good bio begins when some element of the costume designing phase breaks away from standard appearances.  Commander Ray Gunn began that way, when I realized the D-Visor and color scheme I'd tried on the helmet I was making created an effect like old movie serial space heroes.  Polar Cola Man began as an effort to create a look that didn't involve purely blue and white simulating ice and snow.  I hit one aqua color, that reminded me of classic aqua-tinged cola bottle glass, leading to the bold colors and patterns of a cola product,  This practically wrote the bio as a 1940s radio sales pitch for Polar Cola with PCM as the sponsored hero mascot.

 

I would point out that if someone is bemoaning the lack of bios, they really need to take an active roll in their development.  One can sometimes realize another is admiring their costume due to the positioning and "posture" of that player's avatar, but it won't be known that they are looking for a bio, unless something is said.  Take a moment and compliment a bio if you read it, and encourage them to write one if you find one missing.  "Hey, great costume [or name]!  When you get a moment, that beauty really screams for a companion bio."  

Edited July 4, 2021 by Techwright

[America's Angel]

I like to create a little shared universe for all my characters. Part of the fun of making new characters is figuring out how to connect them to the rest of my cast. This also makes it easier to come up with stuff, as I'm not starting from scratch each time.

 

Even my farmers have bios! My main one, a rad/fire, is a robot Angel created. (Yes, it's called "Angelbot".)

 

The idea for the bio tends to come as I'm putting the costume together.

[TheOtherTed]

Nearly all of my characters had at least an "elevator pitch" bio in my brain before I even started creating them, and that bio is pretty much the reason they got created.  A nifty idea hits me, and I hit the character creator with it.  The two exceptions are my Archer/Martial Training blaster - I wanted to try the powersets together - and my Darkness Control/Nature Affinity controller who started out with a particular look in mind, and I picked the power sets to complement that look.  Both have bios now, but only after several levels and name changes.

 

So I guess I'm kind of the inverse of the OP.  There's nothing inherently better or worse about either approach, IMO.  There's nothing to "justify" or "explain," really - if the bio muse strikes, more power to ya.  Otherwise, you do you, as the kids probably no longer say.  AFAIC, most name and costume combos speak for themselves just fine.

 

All that said, I do have a favorite "placeholder bio" template:  "<character name> is merely a gifted <whatever>, and nothing more."

[skoryy]

8 hours ago, Ghost said:

If the bio system actually worked, I would have one written for all my toons - I’ve already got their backstories in my head, I just hate dealing with the current system.

 

Yeah, this is a fair critique.  Most bios I write these days start in Notepad++ before copying to the game, inserting paragraph breaks, and hoping for the best.  One improvement I'd like to see is a better text editor that doesn't disappear whole blocks of text and lose track of just how many characters you're actually using.

[Dahkness]

When I reach vet lvl 100. Then I know I like this character. It’s usually a one liner… Hail Satan. 

[Heraclea]

Depends.  I have done total concept transfers on some of my characters.  Almost all of them change in the playing. 

 

If there's an obvious allusion in the character's name, I will create a bio referencing it on creation.  Not all are like that, and some are only made in the going. 

 

My personal challenge is to put big stories in bios that are as short as possible, as well.  Not a huge fan of long dramatic bios.  Short ones seem cleverer to me. 

[InvaderStych]

10 hours ago, Ghost said:

If the bio system actually worked, I would have one written for all my toons

 

Interesting.  Outside the 1500 (Edit: 1024?) character limit and the exceedingly hamstrung text editor in game (easily bypassed with copy-pasta) what changes/expansions would be needed for you to consider it to be "working?"

 

To be clear, expressing genuine interest here, I had never considered the bio page as anything more than a character description unto itself much less as a system.

 

Personally, any character I end up playing for any duration has some form of biography/backstory in my head.  Edit: Even the ones that stall out in mid-levels, get shelved early, or trashed and re-rolled into something else.  Generally speaking, if I'm in the character creator I'm also making up some private-canon to go with the character.

 

During Live I was more diligent about getting those into game; during my time here I've not sat down to get them written, much less formatted and pasted into game.

 

Which is silly, because I love a well written bio or a unique character concept that's elaborated upon in its respective bio.  Sometimes I'll sit in a populated zone for embarrassingly long stretches of time just admiring costumes, concepts, and biographies. 🤣

Edited July 4, 2021 by InvaderStych

[Sailboat]

32 minutes ago, InvaderStych said:

Interesting.  Outside the 1500 character limit....

1024 characters, isn't it?

[InvaderStych]

Just now, Sailboat said:

1024 characters, isn't it?

 

Honestly? I don't really know.  You are likely correct. 😄