Small confusion about roleplaying

Not really a Second Life question per se. I've looked into several RP sims and I think I have a better idea of what's going on now.

I'm still confused about everyone having a lengthy back story in their Picks tab. Sometimes this is very involved. How does this help you roleplay? Wouldn't it make it harder? If you first meet a character you wouldn't know all that about them, unless they're supposed to be famous.

Are you supposed to pretend you don't know their backstory? Am I still too inexperienced if I don't know this?

The crazy outlandish back story is a fan-fiction phenomena called a "Mary Sue".

Basically inexperienced writers lack any real sense of things like timing, character development, plot, drama, believability, and so forth.

And thus they give their imagined characters far too many unusual experiences and powers and so on leading to these horribly written back stories.

When combined with RP its generally accompanied by even worse acting.

Usually they have to put it into their profile to help them keep it all straight.

don't read profiles, then you won't see all the back stories

It all depends on the RP setting. Sometimes characters have an assumed past so a backstory helps the story flow a bit better. Also it can aid in devoloping new storylines, especially if there is a story coordinator. I use someone's backstory to give me ideas wher to go with a story, but "forget" the information once the plot is in motion. It can also be a crutch for the uninmaginative, or novice rolelayer as well.

One RP peeve I have is when people meet me for the first time in charcater and greet me with "Hello , Brenda" when they wouldn't know my name right off the bat. It's an easy mistake to make, but remembering it makes the RP much more effective.

Maybe you can amend the first line in your back story to "Don't call me Brenda".

So I guess I was on the right track and not as confused as I thought. The lesson is to trust your instincts I guess. Time to do dive in, be creative and stop second guessing.

Thanks everyone.

To be honest, when I start to role play I will likely write a fairly extensive back story, this is part of my initial character development. I like to have a good idea of who my character is and their past and all the details that make a unique individual, from who there parents were, what events shaped them, and try to tie it heavily to the role play I choose. I am fairly down to earth, but very detail oriented, so though extensive my back stories tend to not be outrageous.

My pet peeve about the role play areas I have found so far is a lack of Lor and History for them this makes tying in a role play persona rather dificult with little or nothing to anchor to.

In the better role-playing areas, it's so that stories can be written that include those people, and to maximise the to set up enjoyable and effective sequences. If someone's background suggests that they are a holy and good person who would never traffic with evil, then trying to sneak them into the plot to usurp the king is unlikely to be successful, and moreover it may not be entertaining for either player.

In the worse ones, it's because a) the only way to achieve anything is to show how great a writer you are, and a long back story does that; or b) nothing is happening but clubbing in ballgowns anyway, so making references to your back story is the only way to actually role-play.

Having a good backstory also allows my character to be involved in storylines when I'm not there. There is useful information that can give reason to why i should be involved in a particular thread even if not physically present. I had no RP experience before SL, so my advice is to yes, jump in and go with the flow, don't be afraid to make mistakes. Most good RP groups will help you through, everyone was new somewhere. But do your part. Know the background of the group, it's theme, and rules amd history if any, and try to keep in step. And don't try to take on too many characters. I see people who show up as a diffrent character every day it seems. It hurts the flow, especially in ongoing stories. Get a good basic character down, then if you want one ot two others go for it.

The trick to good roleplaying is to remember that you're weaving a collaborative story.
The players quite often have to separate "in character knowledge"; what their characters know and can react upon, from "out of character knowledge"; what the player knows about the setting and the other players(' characters), which can help them tell a better story.
Having a public backstory is just one way to "synchronize ideas" with other players, to get things going and flowing.
Also, sometimes the public backstory may not even be true, but be what the *character* wants others to think about him/her, with another layer of actual backstory underneath that.

True , sometimes a lot of backrooming will go on, wher characters will share little bits of information between themselves to aid the story.

I made that mistake!!! (T_T) .... Once! (^_^)

It's a learning experience. I've now learned to arrive with my Mysti detached and name tags disabled. (^_^)y