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How Often Do You Write a Character Biography When Playing Baldur's Gate?

HaHaCharadeHaHaCharade Member Posts: 1,650
edited March 2013 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
Note: Poll refers to when you're dong a full play-through of the game. Obviously if you're just testing out a class, etc. you might not have reason to do one.
  1. How Often Do You Write a Character Biography When Playing Baldur's Gate?139 votes
    1. Always! - I can't get into the game without writing one during character creation!
        3.60%
    2. Sometimes - Sometimes I will, sometimes I won't
      17.27%
    3. Yes, Though its Always a Work in Progress - I generally write it as I go and it'll be done a little ways into the game
        7.91%
    4. Someday I Plan To - I've never written a character biography, but I will at some point
        5.76%
    5. Someday I Might - I've never written a character biography, but I might someday
      18.71%
    6. Never - Haven't yet and likely never will
      46.76%

Comments

  • KingGhidorahKingGhidorah Member Posts: 201
    Depends.
    I usually dont write a bio from scratch, but rather modify the existing default one.
    My evil assasson uses a modified version of the thief bio for example, giving him a darker touch.

    In the IWD series i always write custom bios though.
  • HaHaCharadeHaHaCharade Member Posts: 1,650
    KingGhidorah said:

    Depends.
    I usually dont write a bio from scratch, but rather modify the existing default one.
    My evil assasson uses a modified version of the thief bio for example, giving him a darker touch.

    In the IWD series i always write custom bios though.

    Yeah I used to never write them for BG and only did for IWD, but since I've been waiting on patches, updates, etc. for EE... I've gotten more into the CHARNAMES origins than I used to be.
  • TheMoatMonsterTheMoatMonster Member Posts: 6
    edited March 2013
    I usually do, but the biography I wrote during character creation always ends up being outdated after the first couple of hours. Once I've role-played the character for a bit, I get a better idea of who I want them to be, and I end up having to update the biography. Its' a constant work-in-progress.

    Strangely enough, I usually only write biographies in single-player games, because the last time I did it in multi-player (in this case it was Neverwinter Nights, though) the rest of my group thought I was a bit weird.
  • TyranusTyranus Member Posts: 268
    I only ever write a bio if I'm playing an Evil character. Good and neutral characters would have been just dandy growing up in Candlekeep, but my evil guys always have to have some traumatic event that makes them justify doing bad things to innocent people. Usually I attribute it to racism as I almost always play a demi-human race.
  • HaHaCharadeHaHaCharade Member Posts: 1,650
    TheMoatMonster said:

    I usually do, but the biography I wrote during character creation always ends up being outdated after the first couple of hours. Once I've role-played the character for a bit, I get a better idea of who I want them to be, and I end up having to update biography. Its' a constant work-in-progress.

    Strangely enough, I usually only write biographies in single-player games, because the last time I did it in multi-player (in this case it was Neverwinter Nights, though) the rest of my group thought I was a bit weird.

    Yeah. Its a creative outlet that some folks don't get. I personally would rather write a character's backstory then sit and play a first-person-shooter type game until my eyes bled, but to each his own. One man's hobby is another man's boredom.
  • DjimmyDjimmy Member Posts: 749
    edited March 2013
    It would be a waste of time to write a biography without using it somewhere else. Playing games is just a waste of time in most cases already. Wasting wasted time results in more hours of overall time-wasting. Not good.
  • HaHaCharadeHaHaCharade Member Posts: 1,650
    edited March 2013
    Djimmy said:

    It would be a waste of time to write a biography without using it somewhere else. Playing games is just a waste of time in most cases already. Wasting wasted time results in more hours of overall time-wasting. Not good.

    “What’s the point? You go to Italy, you lift some weights, you watch a movie. It’s all a series of distractions until you die.”
    -- Tony Soprano
  • Kristie83Kristie83 Member Posts: 259
    Djimmy said:

    It would be a waste of time to write a biography without using it somewhere else. Playing games is just a waste of time in most cases already. Wasting wasted time results in more hours of overall time-wasting. Not good.

    Who's to say what's a waste of time and what isn't. Life itself is a waste of time. Time will pass no matter what activity you partake in, so it may as well be something you enjoy!
  • phoenixclphoenixcl Member Posts: 31
    Its usually a work in progress but I actually have logs of created characters from every game I've played. Kind of like a personal DC/Marvel where everyone's got different stories and continuities. I write as I go along though and usually not in-game.
  • NifftNifft Member Posts: 1,065

    My character's biography is written by the choices I make while playing.

    Anything written about the time before I had any meaningful choices is garbage.

    Cheers, -- N
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    way back in the day when I played multiplayer and I was randomly joining games would be the only time I'd write a bio.

    Wasn't an option, so not clickin.
  • FoggyFoggy Member Posts: 297
    Sometimes I write a biography if I grow attached to the character, or I would add one from canon sources if I roleplay a famous character like Conan the Cimmerian or Geralt of Rivia.
  • KaltzorKaltzor Member Posts: 1,050
    I've been meaning of writing Bios for some characters, but... I never got around to do it and can't think of anything good...
  • SilverstarSilverstar Member Posts: 2,207
    edited March 2013
    For BG the standard biographies are just fine. Though I always edit it in BGII because of all the double and triple spacing everywhere that drives me insane. In ID2 though, I've written biographies for my characters several times due to playing it in multiplayer and occasionally sharing characters. It's interesting putting together a party with characters other people made, they tend to be quite different from mine. I don't see much point writing a biography for a character that will only ever be seen by myself.
  • OneAngryMushroomOneAngryMushroom Member Posts: 564
    I occasionally write or edit for a character that I play all the way to ToB but I find myself always writing one for every character I create in the Black Pits.
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    I'm doing it now to illustrate a RP concept. It has been really fun and has deepened immersion a lot. It's a bit time-consuming, and the game takes much, much longer to complete that way. But so far well worth the effort.

    I've been doing mine by tabbing back and forth between a Word document and the game. But that's because I've been posting it.

    I'm glad Wanderon will soon be sharing a journal for his party of least powerful classes/kits, and I will enjoy following their misadventures.

    I'd love to see a lot of journals shared by other players too, especially given the creativity of folks here. It's good when the game can also show us some sort of unique or interesting approach (main character concept, overall game concept, etc.), in addition to reading a good tale.

    I'm always intrigued to see how the game can be experienced from the main's point of view, in the hands of different players, what with sheer multitude of options we have with this game.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,779
    I always felt a suitable moment for writing a biography should finally come.

    And it has happened! Because of the MP game on the horizon, I've written a biography for my character. I was inspired by another participant of this game.

    So, a biography can be a fine way of introducing your character to a MP game.
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    If we're talking about writing one into the character sheet in the game, I never bother. I've always got a backstory in mind, some vaguer than others.

    I've written a couple of bios here on the forums.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    TheMoatMonster said:

    I usually do, but the biography I wrote during character creation always ends up being outdated after the first couple of hours. Once I've role-played the character for a bit, I get a better idea of who I want them to be, and I end up having to update the biography. Its' a constant work-in-progress.

    What's this "role-playing" thing I keep hearing about?
  • GrumGrum Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,100
    I play on the phone. I tried once and it was just way, way too much of a hassle.
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    I've done it a couple of times for BG, but mainly after playing the char for some time when he/she's character start to become clear to me. I always have a backstory in mind, but seldom put it down in writing. In IWD, I've more consistently written bio's in-game since it feels more needed there.
  • MeyahiMeyahi Member Posts: 143
    I've written plenty of bios for nwn(2) RP modules but not for the BG series. I'm thinking about it for the mp playthrough but I feel I won't be satisfied since English is my third langage.
    I think about my character but would only write a bio if I'm playing with other people. No need to write it to role play it. As for the "consistent behavior" paradigm, I feel it is, if not plain fallacy, an annoying simplification. Very few people have consistent behavior.
    Even if we assume a set of values, have you ever done something you regretted? It can something as simple as making fun of a fat, gay or handicapped person and then feel really bad about it. An easy going individual can have bad days. Even if we think that humans are complicated machines whose behaviour is dictated by chemical reactions, we do not know all the variables.
    While extreme cases are different (e.g. Killing innocents), everyone makes -from their own moral point of view- mistakes.
    From experience, changes of perspective are seldom abrupt -I read someone talking about traumata-; it is often the result of long-span introspection and thinking. There are often discrepencies between what one does and thinks should be done. Even if we limit the question to the latter, the answer is ever subtly changing, despite values or doctrine (utilitarism, teleological thinking, kantianism or libertarism) kept fundamentally unchanged.

    Many novels -masterpieces- illustrate my case: Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, Darkness at Noon, Freedom (by Jonathan Franzen). There is some kind of "practical knowledge", hardly rational, in Litterature.

    I'm sorry you had to read my ramblings.
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,073
    I always will expand on and edit the character biography given by the game, mentioning which weapons trained with and why, how skills were gained (tutors, self-study, etc.), and adding other color to the character (e.g. why does he want to adventure, personality traits, deity and why, etc.). This helps me roleplay his behavior and also get into each character during the game. I never did this with BG before BGEE, but I always did this with NWN. Now it is a habit and makes the game much more enjoyable, at least for me!
  • AlmateriaAlmateria Member Posts: 257
    Never, why bother
    99/100 times when I create a character it's to check out some scripts, and the exceptional 1 time it acts as a vessel for me to witness the story that is not even about him
  • HudzyHudzy Member Posts: 300
    I haven't written my own, but I do tend to combine the default biographies for a fighter and a mage if playing a fighter/mage for example. It seems more flavorful than the multiclass biography.
  • DragonspearDragonspear Member Posts: 1,838
    I normally have a skeleton outline in my head. I've written a few more, especially for IWD games. But normally I'm just trying to stick with how I've envisioned said character before creating her.

    I think the sole exception is my dwarven wizard slayer who's stuck in ToB atm
  • O_BruceO_Bruce Member Posts: 2,790
    When I was younger, I used to write biography, but today I think it is a too much of a drag...
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