Character Pictures. . . *eye daggers*

[DeviantLuLu]

I do what Mr. Eccentricity does. It's either a description or a picture.

Back in the hay day of AOL when I was starting out in RPing - You HAD to describe what your character looked like as part of the entrance. It wasn't just for the hell of it, but because none of us could really find decent pictures.

Also the whole thing about "Anime Pics Only" is; in my view - stupid. I have found GREAT character pictures from Artists like Luis Royo. Fantasy Art is the absolute mecca for character pics.  

[Mr. Eccentricity]

Linus Weedwhacker

I'm a professional artist, so I love a chance to show-off "mah skillz" (I'm joking, please don't kick me OUT!!) gonk

Drawing a picture for a character also lets me procrastinate from doing actual work, like laundry, dishes, or working on my webcomic. I leap at a chance for something fruitless and pointless. BWA-HA-HA!!

.:: Like a butterfly through a paper shredder...

You won't get kicked out for that. xDD I've done that in here, actually. I said "j00" as a joke one time (trying to be all cute and stuff xP), and everyone was like, "Oooh, Mr. E!!!!" gonk

I've tried drawing my characters, but I can never match the image I have of them in my head, so then I get frustrated. xD

...so fricken' awesome. ::.

 

[Linus Weedwhacker]

I do commissions by the way! (hint-hint)
Here's a sample I did. It's a Hogwarts teacher.
(I hope I'm not breaking any rules by self-promoting, but I thought it was apropos to the subject.)

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd220/saint_trogdor/professor_thorpe_web.jpg

(this is not a Gaia site)  

[Mr. Eccentricity]

.:: Like a butterfly through a paper shredder...

Wow, that's amazing!

And no, it's fine. ^-^ Very apropos.

...so fricken' awesome. ::.

 

[iTeaHoney-Rose]

For me, I suppose I like pictures. I believe descriptions are a gateway to your own mind. I don't know, descriptions to me are...a kind of like a B&E into my mind. I mean, I have this one character that I've been describing for years, and people started taking her away. It's very hard, for me at least, to make a character from the mind without a clear cut picture. Maybe it's hard for me because I mentally connect with that character as I make it...that sounds strange, but that's the only way I can type a descriptive character ^^;  

[Palladium Heart]

I like using images in my posts not only so other people have a clear idea of what my character looks like, but as something I can focus on when I make my posts. I tend to pick images (real or drawn) that have a lot of attitude that I can draw from for inspiration when I write. That may just be me, though.

Also going to be the second person to 'fess up to having serious issues writing character descriptions. I'm not really sure how to do it without the whole thing coming out like an uninteresting block of text. D:

/will hit up the mentoring subforum when it's open  

[Linus Weedwhacker]

It does help to describe a character if you already have a rough picture to draw from.
Example: I had a wizard character, whom I couldn't be bothered to sketch, and a funny thing started happening. I kept forgetting what colour hair he had.

One page he'd have ash-blond hair, the next it would be white, then it would be ginger. Because I hadn't bothered to nail it down on paper, it kept changing in my head.

Got very confusing.  

[Yumi Arishima]

I don't mind writing a description, but I'm an artist, so I like pictures. To be honest, if you asked me to write you a description of my character and forbade providing images, I could very easily type up 1-Word-page explaining how gorgeous my character is and how pretty he looks when his eyes glitter and how his hair is so soft and fluffy (yes, I have totally done this before). People will probably get bored after the first paragraph. So a picture is just easier.

Also, sometimes I find a picture like the one on the left, and it is just too delicious to pass up. I'm a very visual person, so if I find an image I really like the character's personality practically writes itself.

 

[DeviantLuLu]

I'm always drawing pictures of my characters... Pictures by far are the way I would go. Even though I do give people the chance to write out descriptions of the characters they have.

There's just something about a good picture that really makes the character's come alive. Especially when you find one that fits the character. ^.^  

[Tohru_Rokuno]

Mr. Eccentricity

Linus Weedwhacker

I'm a professional artist, so I love a chance to show-off "mah skillz" (I'm joking, please don't kick me OUT!!) gonk

Drawing a picture for a character also lets me procrastinate from doing actual work, like laundry, dishes, or working on my webcomic. I leap at a chance for something fruitless and pointless. BWA-HA-HA!!

.:: Like a butterfly through a paper shredder...

You won't get kicked out for that. xDD I've done that in here, actually. I said "j00" as a joke one time (trying to be all cute and stuff xP), and everyone was like, "Oooh, Mr. E!!!!" gonk

I've tried drawing my characters, but I can never match the image I have of them in my head, so then I get frustrated. xD

...so fricken' awesome. ::.

++ to Mr. E. I've tried drawing my character before, it doesn't work well.
My characters are from an story series I've thought of. I can write it just fine, but the pictures are stuck in my head, cause there's some sort of broken link between the brain and the hand holding the pencil.  

[Telos_LafAel]

Personally, when I set up an RP, I ask for the picture as an optional bit. But at the same time, I do not accept long, drawn out 'TL;DR' profiles. I think having a profile that's too detailed allows people to slack off when ti comes to the descriptions in the actual RP. They just hashed out six paragraphs on their 'unique' features for their profile, they really do not want to do it again in the RP. Having a picture which 'sums up' the over all look lets the reader have a general idea of what they're looking at, while making them want to see more of that character.

At the same time, people tend to list all sorts of stuff that's not needed. I don't give a ******** if you have a tattoo of Mickey Mouse giving the middle finger on your pubic region - if we're not seeing it in the RP, don't list it. While that may seem off the wall, I've been in RPs where people list off what (when printed.) would be a full damn page for just a SINGLE feature. We want to RP, not read a book, if we wanted to do that, we'd pick one up and do it.

In general, I think -all- aspects of a profile should be kept simple, to avoid irrelevant information, meta-gaming and small books in the profile box. Having a picture cuts out one more chunk of that 'useless' information.
If you can't find a way to describe it in an actual post, don't list it. That's my stand.

:3  

[flauterfli]

I require pictures because some people take so damn long to describe their character without them. D:
 

[Piktra]

Like Mr. E and Sockpuppet, I require both. That way people can have some set guidelines from the picture, but then let their imaginations run wild with describing how they look in their own words. If there's any particular injury or anythin in the pictur, I like people to have a detailed description of how the hell it got there.  

[Rhode Harshaw]

I consider using pictures as casting. Like, who would I cast for this character if she were in a movie? I don't like the 'anime only' rule because it doesn't make sense to limit something that way. It's just much easier to remember who your character is talking to if you have a picture you can go back to.  

[Calinthe]

I love detailed profiles. LOVE. When setting up a roleplay, I usually make the picture optional, and then set up the code something like this:

Name:
Age:
Eyes:
Hair:
Height:
Clothing/accessories:
Piercings/tattoos:
Scars/blemishes:

and then whatever else I want in there.

I know a lot of people are too lazy to bother with it, but I usually haven't had to deal with those people. The guild I was in before this was a little bit elitest. (okay, really really elitest) You didn't get in unless you were not only damn good at writing, but also had the patience and appreciation for details. Those who couldn't hack the profiles, didn't last long with us.

Most people think it's a waste of time, but even in this thread alone I've seen someone mention that they forgot what hair color their character had. A lot of people don't think about it until they come across the problem, but what happens if you forget the eye color of the character you're writing about? What if you're trying to run Jack's fingers through Jill's hair and can't remember if it's blonde or brown? Or perhaps one of the characters has a tattoo under their left eye that marks them as a traitor to the realm but the roleplayer of that character hasn't had a chance to write it in yet. You wouldn't know about it if it wasn't in the profile, but looking them face to face, your character should have seen it right? Being able to look these things up in a character profile means that you don't miss out on details that could be important to the story, or maybe just to that particular sentence you want to write. Though they seem like small, inconsequential things, it's the details within a story that make or break it.

Not only are the small details just as important as the large, but sometimes you just can't find a picture that has everything you want. It's just completely irrational to expect someone to find a picture that is everything they want it to be because everyone's imagination is different. You're not likely to find someone who has thought up a person to draw exactly the way you yourself have pictured them. If you don't give them leeway with the image, then you limit their creativity. Maybe the picture you wanted to use is perfect in every way except for one. Maybe the shape of their face and hair color are everything you imagined, but you wanted brown eyes instead of blue. If you don't give the person the option to write down that there's a difference from the picture, then there will be constant screw ups within the rp when people try to describe the character.

As for making it text based only, that too is a limit to their creativity in a way. Some people just work better with pictures to start from. It's a means of expression. If you limit someone to only text, or only pictures, it amounts to the same thing. You're limiting them.