Hmmm. I have noticed something similar, to an extent, in myself.
That is to say, I sometimes do and say things, not because they are what I particularly want to do or say, but because they are “in character”. (My choice of character is not the same as yours, however).
I’ve also used this as a basis for a slight alteration of myself. When signing up on a certain internet forum (no, not here, some time ago) I decided, beforehand, what person I wanted to be on that forum (calm, rational, sensible, not given to overt displays of emotion), largely because I thought it would be fun to pretend to be a human-level AI pretending to be human and see if anyone noticed (no-one seemed to until I got rather overt (picking ‘round numbers’ on the basis of their binary instead of their decimal representation), and then they thought, correctly, that I was merely playing a role). I later noticed that those factors that I had chosen to present on that forum were displaying themselves more strongly in other parts of my life as well. (It was only a slight effect, but it was noticeable).
I have also noticed, in the past, that people’s expectations of what I will do can have quite an effect on me. (And not just on me—expectations have a measured effect on classroom performance.)
Based on my experience (the abovementioned one as well as others) it seems that the best way to create and entrench a new character is to do so in a place where no-one expects the old character. This can be accomplished by moving to a far-off city (though beware; the old characters may suddenly resurface when meeting a friend from home) or, more easily, by registering on some previously unvisited internet forum with an anonymous username. The more that the new character becomes entrenched through use, the easier it becomes to pull out the new character when necessary. The new character necessarily starts out as a mask, a mere way of presenting ones actions—but, over time, the mask’s features sink through into the person under the mask, and one becomes more and more the person that one pretends to be.
This is why it is important to be polite and friendly on the internet; it makes it easier to be polite and friendly off the internet, and that results in the advantages of having others have a better opinion of you, and being more willing to provide help when requested.
It’s a simple phpBB board dedicated to fans of an old, no longer running TV series.
Do people regularly roleplay there?
Yes, in a very unstructured, somewhat silly, freeform sort of way (that evolved from the fanfiction section of the forum). There aren’t rules, as such, but Deus Ex Machina and spotlight-hogging is frowned upon—using other people’s characters in a scene is (oddly enough) fine, as long as they are portrayed in character. (And I use an AI character in those threads; before long, I was not the only one).
Hmmm. I have noticed something similar, to an extent, in myself.
That is to say, I sometimes do and say things, not because they are what I particularly want to do or say, but because they are “in character”. (My choice of character is not the same as yours, however).
I’ve also used this as a basis for a slight alteration of myself. When signing up on a certain internet forum (no, not here, some time ago) I decided, beforehand, what person I wanted to be on that forum (calm, rational, sensible, not given to overt displays of emotion), largely because I thought it would be fun to pretend to be a human-level AI pretending to be human and see if anyone noticed (no-one seemed to until I got rather overt (picking ‘round numbers’ on the basis of their binary instead of their decimal representation), and then they thought, correctly, that I was merely playing a role). I later noticed that those factors that I had chosen to present on that forum were displaying themselves more strongly in other parts of my life as well. (It was only a slight effect, but it was noticeable).
I have also noticed, in the past, that people’s expectations of what I will do can have quite an effect on me. (And not just on me—expectations have a measured effect on classroom performance.)
Based on my experience (the abovementioned one as well as others) it seems that the best way to create and entrench a new character is to do so in a place where no-one expects the old character. This can be accomplished by moving to a far-off city (though beware; the old characters may suddenly resurface when meeting a friend from home) or, more easily, by registering on some previously unvisited internet forum with an anonymous username. The more that the new character becomes entrenched through use, the easier it becomes to pull out the new character when necessary. The new character necessarily starts out as a mask, a mere way of presenting ones actions—but, over time, the mask’s features sink through into the person under the mask, and one becomes more and more the person that one pretends to be.
This is why it is important to be polite and friendly on the internet; it makes it easier to be polite and friendly off the internet, and that results in the advantages of having others have a better opinion of you, and being more willing to provide help when requested.
Out of interest, what forum was this? Do people regularly roleplay there?
It’s a simple phpBB board dedicated to fans of an old, no longer running TV series.
Yes, in a very unstructured, somewhat silly, freeform sort of way (that evolved from the fanfiction section of the forum). There aren’t rules, as such, but Deus Ex Machina and spotlight-hogging is frowned upon—using other people’s characters in a scene is (oddly enough) fine, as long as they are portrayed in character. (And I use an AI character in those threads; before long, I was not the only one).