After noticing that most of the characters in these streets are not directly connected to the mafia world i decided to talk about it in the streets. This issue shall remind us of the time and place our very own streets are set in. I found out way after i created my character that the official time we live in are the 30s of the twentieth century.

When i chose my character i wanted it to fit in the setting.

My main issue lies in the distribution of information about the characters as it is impossible to understand why they are who they are. The lack of background information makes it hard for me to acknowledge the being of those characters. I would like to know the way of thought that made you choose your character for this setting and which facts seemed appealing to have in this world. To prevent these lines of thoughts i came up with a simple solution introducing my character in my profile(click) and giving a slight understanding of who this character is supposed to be. As i am a very curious person i went over all the profiles that were displayed before my eyes and i rarely saw information concerning the character itself. A profile should be used to provide these kind of information. I would love to see an increase of 30s mafia orientated characters and personal character information displayed in profiles. If it comes to the history of our world i am not able to tell who has been on here already and who has died but i feel sustaining the mafia world as it is supposed to be would be one of the higher priorities. You might have grown tired of the past but i can not possibly tell if that is the reason those seemingly uninvolved characters were made.

Considering the character that was chosen may also reflect on the activity in the streets as there may not be as much topics or stories to talk about.

How is your take on the whole character situation and do you see a way of providing more information about your character?

I understand what your concerns are from an RP aspect, but your challenge is going to be convincing others to do it since it's not paramount to the success of an account. If this game were strictly text-based, giving information regarding your character in the profile field would be neccesary. I've played games in the past (totally unrelated to mafia) that were solely based on self-described character strengths/traits and role-play/strategy so it was essential to include all that info in your profile. On MafiaReturns it's interesting to see all that on people's profile, but it isn't neccesary and thus why you don't see it on a lot of people's profiles.

As far as characterization, I think the best place to establish a character on here is in the streets, whether it's with stories regarding your character's history, roleplay, or in-character responses to whatever discussion you're contributing in. An account with a descriptive overview of character strentghs, weaknesses, traits, etc isn't neccesarily building a character if their post count is zero. To your point about characters you see on here that are not era-specific, there are streets standards in place that mandate people's postings stay within the 1930's genre, whether you're a fedora wearing mobster or a 20-headed space martian. It obviously takes away from the realism seeing names that are not era-specific or even human for that matter, which bothers some people, but it also serves as a creative outlet for others so long as they stay within the parameters of the 1930's mafia. In the past I've RP'd as Sesame Street characters, space creatures, and HBO television characters. It fell in line with street standards because I RP'd them as mafia figures operating within the 1930s. Had I come out to the streets with these same bizarre characters holding an iPhone and watching a 3D television in my RP, I'd be violating the street standards and would probably be publically bashed by my peers. Bit of a grey area but it's the best I can explain it.

Putting character strenths in your profile like you've done is all well and good as long as you're able to find another player willing to RP accordingly. But you'd have a better chance of develping a character in the streets than in your profile. I've been involved in RP's in the past that incorporated the other character's traits and vice versa, much of which was was taken from each other's profiles. So it's not like it never happens on here, even though it's admittedly rare nowadays. In fact, the RP I'm speaking of actually involved a physical altercation in the streets with myself and one of Marley's old characters. It was done in character with regards to each other's personas and character traits, much like you're suggesting. But other than having fun with the RP, the RP itself had very little impact in-game, and really served as nothing more than a way to amuse ourselves and maybe a few others that took the time to read it. I'd like to say for the record, I whipped his ass. But I digress.

Lack of street substance has been a hot topic as of late, so my suggestion would be to use the streets as a canvas to build your character. Find somebody willing to do an RP with you and evolve your character from there as well. Putting character info in your profile like you've done isn't a bad idea, in fact it's actually a decent one. But being it doesn't serve as a neccesity in the game may explain why other players aren't doing it to the extent you're suggesting.

Some of the characters on here appear to be un-evolved for several reasons. Some of the characters on here are namesakes, with the same name or variation of that name carrying over from generation to generation. That's about as evolved as those characters are going to get because they're personalities/traits/reputations have already been established throughout the years. Others treat each new account as a completely new entity and develop it as they go along. Some accounts are completely void of character due to lack of interest in developing one, lack of knowledge of how to develop one, or a general discomfort with RPing. Regardless there's some on here that I'm sure share similar views as you that if you were to throw an idea in the streets they would go along with it, and you'd probably have your character acknowledged and recognized more there than on your profile.

An interesting suggestion nonetheless and perhaps your idea will take off and you'll see more people following your lead. Could make for some more interesting scenarios in the streets which is something that people have been hungry for lately.

Pink hearts, yellow moons, green clovers, and orange stars.  That leprechaun's on acid!

First off, I want to state that I'm really tired so I appologize for any bad gramar and mispelling. But you asked me to read your thread before I logged and I actually agree with you so I wanted to reply tonight.

I feel there is a lack of a RP element these days. Sure people get in the streets and spout something off, usually trying to start something up or talk about the same old nonsense about respect. But it seems no on really does create a back story or build their characters up any. I mean I don't really do it myself either, but most people it seems just get in the game to build up a gun and then start some trouble. Nothings wrong with that, adds some spice, but this is supposed to be a RP game, SOME effort should go into it.

I think the streets are a good place to really express your characters mood and ideas and such. But I agree that profiles should have an actual tid bit about the person, I never stoped to really think about how profiles have just become advertising space for people to post their families, (which everyone can already see what city you role with and your crew, so I never understood this habit we do of posting it again in the profile) as well as posting space for links to other friends and profiles. I dunno, I think you actually had an original point and to me thats a nice change from the normal posts I see.

Hoping that people are just as curious as me, i put up a little text in my profile for new people to get a start at RPing. If anyone wants to share his thoughts on that, please do so.