Ranking Personas

[Bree]

in a sea of 20-something vapid goldriders?

Hey! I like to think Lenala takes vapid to an artform. ;) It's hard work to make her that much of a pushover! *sob*

[PastMember]

I tend to create kind, beautiful people, but I'm slowly making their lives worse, making them more human, more real. It's taking time but I think it's getting better.

[PastMember]

Somehow I end up getting sucked into taking ranking positions OOC'ly.

The downfall is that sometimes the characters I create for said positions just don't click once I start writing for them. If it's a non-ranking character and something just feels off about them, no biggie, you can just have them fade quietly away. Whereas once a ranker has been put into play, its hard to do that.

Whether I prefer my rankers or my 'normal' folks all depends on what I have going on with them. When I was at Triad previously, my bronzerider ended up as Weyrleader and was my favorite person to post with. My least favorite was a brownrider named F'rdayn. I made him as a weyrmate for a dragonless character of mine, and he was just... A stick in the mud. Couldn't get him involved in anything to save my life.

[Patrick]

I can't believe I never replied to this.  That's odd...

Anyways, I personally don't have an affinity for ranking persona's but they seem to come to me.  Kouna was a complete surprise but she's fast becoming my favorite character.  I want a Headwomanly character and a Goldrider/HAD just because that's always been one of my dreams for role playing on Pern, not because I want the power, and I definitely don't want a L1!  One L2 is hard enough!  I guess I LIKE rankers, but I'm definitely not against other characters.

[Avery]

Hmm. I'm more interested in who my characters are as characters, not what their rank is. That's not to say that I don't like rankers, just that the nature of a character's personality is far more appealing to me than their rank. However, sometimes a character will have an affinity for a particular rank- L'pin's personality lends him to being in a position of teaching authority, for example. And sometimes characters have a rank, but no personal ability to perform that rank, like Lord Ishek. Sometimes that's the most fun conflict to play. here on Earth, it isn't that hard to change your job, if you're willing to work at it (generally, I mean!) On Pern, it's a lot harder to break out of constraints imposed on you by society. Witness the repression of females in Hold and Hall, for example.

I guess what I mean is, I don't like ranking characters because they "ooh shiny I have a rank and power". I like them because they offer a unique ability that non-rankers don't have; the ability to show how their rank goes along with or contrasts with their personality, and how that leads them.

[Patrick]

I guess what I mean is, I don't like ranking characters because they "ooh shiny I have a rank and power". I like them because they offer a unique ability that non-rankers don't have; the ability to show how their rank goes along with or contrasts with their personality, and how that leads them.

Thats why I like Rankers.  Most of the time I build my characters around their rank, that's what happened with Kouna.  Most of the time my persona's scream at me to fill a certain position.  Other times I have a set type of person I want and the person builds around that preset idea.  Most of the time though they just pop into my head, almost fully formed, ready to go, with what their rank is, their personality and background and looks almost completely finished in my head from the start.  It's weird o.O

[Dana]

Like Avril, I create characters for their characters.  If I'm struck with inspiration and get an idea for a persona, I write it down, and from there just add layers to them.  If those layers include them being of rank to help progress their storyline, then that's the direction I take them.

[PastMember]

I enjoy rankers. I mean, they're fun cause they've always got a job or hook or responsibility of some sort that can be worked in a copost so there's never a "What can I do with them now?" feeling.

And I've probably not explained that very well. lol

[Jane]

I enjoy rankers. I mean, they're fun cause they've always got a job or hook or responsibility of some sort that can be worked in a copost so there's never a "What can I do with them now?" feeling.

Never any shortage of coposters for them either.

[PastMember]

How did I miss this thread???

Given all of the Pern clubs I've been in, it should be no surprise that I've written for nearly every possible rank there is in fandom. Some I've aspired to, but most I've been recruited into. Perhaps because I've done so much, rank doesn't matter to me one way or the other anymore. It's the characters and their storylines that matter to me, and if the character happens to be or needs to be a ranker... *shrug* ...so be it.

Looking at my collection of old sheets, I do tend to write more for green and blue -riders than any other, and I definitely write for more males than females. And then there are my weyrbrats... *evil grin*

[Patrick]

and I definitely write for more males than females. And then there are my weyrbrats... *evil grin*

I write for way more females than I do males.  I guess I just can't get women off my mind 8)