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+--- Thread: Playing as a Villain (/showthread.php?tid=7353)
Playing as a Villain - Melodia - 06-11-2014
So....I have a couple of villain alts. I never use them. Why? I know how to play them, but injecting them into other rp....that's the tricky part. How does one use a villain and rp with others who are likely good? I mean, I envision Darth Vader sitting in the Mos Eisley Cantina having a cold one with Han Solo and my mind has a tought time wrapping around that. So I wonder, other villainy types reading this, how do you rp with your character to make them usable for more than just some epic storyline?
RE: Playing as a Villain - Warren Castille - 06-11-2014
Villain types are generally outlaws, and as such wouldn't really be welcome in the more normal parts of the game's population. I'm sure there's room for a magnificent bastard Lex Luthor-type who's just too rich and socially/politically powerful to be touched by normal law enforcement but most bad guys I've seen are all Empire/Mwahaha-moustache-twirling-for-the-evulz type one-dimensionals that only exist to serve as a boss at the end of an arc.
I feel villains benefit from operating in the shadows. Blog posts and IC forum posts help give them a presence, but it's difficult to do in game just on account of them being The Bad Guy. They have a hard time hanging out in game unless they're being bad guys, and even then it's rough because I find it hard to believe anybody's going to let their villain get picked off in a random open-RP that the Heroes happen to stumble upon.
Feel free to disregard since I'm a boring do-gooder anyway, but I think the best way to have a villain in-game is to not have them be in-game until the plot demands it.
Alternatively someone could shape a mountain into a skull and have the bad guys hang out in there. I think us light-aligned folks would be willing to give concede that.
RE: Playing as a Villain - Tiergan - 06-11-2014
No villain actually ever thinks of themselves as the "villain" -- in fact, from their perspective, they often think they are the 'good guy' and have multiple goals/agendas of their own that they want to fulfill.
Sure, one of those goals might be CONQUERING ALL OF EORZEA AND CRUSHING THE HEARTS OF CHILDREN AND KITTENS EVERYWHERE, but all their other goals might be more interaction-friendly. For example one might be that they need some kind of device constructed and thus have to chat and make connections with engineer-type characters. Or maybe want bodyguards and decide to chat some folks up to see if they're hire-able. Or maybe they see one of the good guys and simply find them to be an interesting person to talk to.
I think it's helpful to think of your villain less as purely a bad guy, but as a character just like any other character. Every character has reasons they may or may not want to chat or interact with folks. Hell, some villains are not even outright jerks on the surface and are actually incredibly likable people, they just have ultimate goals that stick them in the 'villain' category compared to most folks in Eorzea.
RE: Playing as a Villain - Melodia - 06-11-2014
(06-11-2014, 12:18 PM)Warren Castille Wrote: Alternatively someone could shape a mountain into a skull and have the bad guys hang out in there. I think us light-aligned folks would be willing to give concede that.
LMAO!!!
In all honesty I think you're right. I always feel like my two characters get little to no attention but they are straight killers so it'd be pretty impossible to make them exist ICly around others. Good points all around.
RE: Playing as a Villain - Melodia - 06-11-2014
(06-11-2014, 12:19 PM)Tiergan Wrote: Â Â Hell, some villains are not even outright jerks on the surface and are actually incredibly likable people, they just have ultimate goals that stick them in the 'villain' category compared to most folks in Eorzea.This would likely be applicable for my alt Krell, but not so for Melodia. She's so unlikeable that aside from her looks, she's pretty despicable. Krell....he could engage. He's got longer range goals and doesnt want to alienate everyone.
RE: Playing as a Villain - Coatleque - 06-11-2014
I think there are two main ways to play a villain through RP. Of course the first way is the a-typical bad guy already described. The second way would be the surprise reveal. Play as one of the 'good guys' but find ways to work against them the whole time without giving it away. This requires a lot more work, but in the end when your character is revealed to the the mastermind behind it all, it's so much more fulfilling.
Of course the real problem with RPing the villain is that your character is, for all intensive purposes, a throw-away toon. Because once they become known it's very hard to change that reputation.
RE: Playing as a Villain - Aya - 06-11-2014
There seems to be incredible room for villains in Limsa and Ul'dah, provided they're not of the "out to destroy the world" types. Both cities are filled with criminals and pseudo-criminals, who managed to live "within" the law through influence and bribery.
RE: Playing as a Villain - Melodia - 06-11-2014
(06-11-2014, 12:32 PM)Coatleque Wrote: I think there are two main ways to play a villain through RP. Â Of course the first way is the a-typical bad guy already described. Â The second way would be the surprise reveal. Â Play as one of the 'good guys' but find ways to work against them the whole time without giving it away. Â This requires a lot more work, but in the end when your character is revealed to the the mastermind behind it all, it's so much more fulfilling.
Of course the real problem with RPing the villain is that your character is, for all intensive purposes, a throw-away toon. Â Because once they become known it's very hard to change that reputation.
Againn with Krell, this is doable. He's a cute little charming Lalafell and pretty much as long as Ruru steers clear he's safe to operate in the open since no one else knows he's Ruru's brother. They just see another Lala with an odd name.
RE: Playing as a Villain - Tiergan - 06-11-2014
One option you could go with if your characters are the outright murderous, backstabbing killers type is that they dress down to make themselves blend in with the rest of the local populace and literally hang out in the shadowier less noticeable parts of wherever you're RPing.
Heck, maybe even throw on a mask - so long as you're aware that your character probably wouldn't be parading themselves around and you RP with that in mind, I think you can open yourself up to different types of RP.
If your character is a murderous, backstabbing killer that is far, FAR too arrogant and proud to ever hide it though -- that's a tough one!
RE: Playing as a Villain - Evie - 06-11-2014
I would suggest finding like "minded" individuals to RP with, kind of like the villain pub idea. My villain characters work with other villainous characters, they may not have the same overarching goal, but they can still pool resources. Also finding a guild to get involved with their story line is another good option to use villain characters.
RE: Playing as a Villain - Aya - 06-11-2014
Even Dr. Horrible has to use a laundromat!
RE: Playing as a Villain - Askier - 06-11-2014
I've played bad guys a few times, currently have one who is being very evil running around and, until recently, Askier was a bad guy also so I'll throw out my two cents.
First off, being a baddie is a ton more work to get involved, least in my experience, because you have to have a evil plan in mind for the other people you rp with to try and stop but I find it more rewarding.
One of the best ways to get a bad guy involved is what I did. Set up some kind thread offering people who are interested a chance. Like when I was planning my event with A skier where he tried to blow up Ul'dah. People joined in of their own free will and I've had tons of rp with A skier. Â
Another tactic I use is to approach a character and offer them a job of sorts, often recovering a package or item with your villian. You go with heroes, but betray them once you have item and either try to kill them or run off without paying. Is that cliche? Hells yes, but it also works very well at getting a bad character involved.Â
A final option is to use your good main and create a back story with one of your evil alts and then approach some players offering to hire them to bring down the bad alt you wish to use.
I hope that was able to give you something to help get one of your evil salts a chance to be rp and if you're interested, my evil alt Jin'li is currently looking for people of a villainous orientation so that could be another way to get one of your alts involed with a storyline already running. Just let me know.
RE: Playing as a Villain - Warren Castille - 06-11-2014
(06-11-2014, 12:33 PM)Aya Wrote: There seems to be incredible room for villains in Limsa and Ul'dah, provided they're not of the "out to destroy the world" types. Both cities are filled with criminals and pseudo-criminals, who managed to live "within" the law through influence and bribery.My kingdom for a competent enemy mastermind that isn't
1) Garlean
2) Secretly a Demon
3) "Secretly a demon"
4) A Garlean who is also a demon
RE: Playing as a Villain - Tiergan - 06-11-2014
(06-11-2014, 12:44 PM)Warren Castille Wrote: My kingdom for a competent enemy mastermind that isn't
1) Garlean
2) Secretly a Demon
3) "Secretly a demon"
4) A Garlean who is also a demon
... Are there really that many bad guys out there who are secretly demons? o_o
RE: Playing as a Villain - Melodia - 06-11-2014
(06-11-2014, 12:44 PM)Warren Castille Wrote: My kingdom for a competent enemy mastermind that isn't
1) Garlean
2) Secretly a Demon
3) "Secretly a demon"
4) A Garlean who is also a demon
Haha! Krell is no Garlean. He worked with them and then killed them. He's also no demon. LOL! He's just a selfish jerk who also happens to kill folkks who get in his way.
Also thanks to the responses thus far. They are helpful and give me a better idea of how to actually use at least one of them.