Overview:
In my time playing HL2RP, and the many other serious gamemode based servers I've played on, I've seen and wrote a lot of descriptions. Think about it, it's one of the first things you do when creating a character and it's the first thing you see when interacting with an unknown person, it's kind of important! I wanted to use this thread to talk a bit about my experience with descriptions, the things to include, and most importantly... the things you should never do in a description ever! Let's begin.
Grammar and Punctuation:
These two are so important when it comes to description writing, whether consciously or unconsciously, you will judge people's roleplay ability preemptively based on their grammar accuracy. I'll give you an example, what is your first impression of someone whose description reads:
[a verry tal man wiht a russian accent] says:
The clear issue here is the spelling mistakes, but something people don't always consider is the capitalization of the first word in the sentence, and any countries or locations. Not only does proper grammar show that you actually care about your character and writing ability, but it also helps gameplay as seeing poorly written sentences in chat as your character speaks is a massive immersion breaker. The best thing to do is just proofread your descriptions before you set them, if you're unsure I recommend pasting it into word or a word checker as these usually have grammar correction hints.
Stuff you shouldn't include in a description:
A general rule of thumb is you should only describe what is currently in front of other players, this is things such as appearance, accent, any noticeable features such as scars or blemishes people would be able to see from a first glance. This stuff you shouldn't include in a description:
This is because this information would not be available to another character from just glancing at you, this sort of information would only be accessible by speaking to a person and gaining it through speech, which defeats the purpose of a description.
Stuff you should include in a description:
Now we've covered what you shouldn't include, let's talk a bit about what you should include in a description. Descriptions should, as already stated, be a summary of what a player should interpret from you by just looking at you, or hearing you as you speak. This stuff you should include in a description:
Try to structure the sentence in a way that is easy to read, putting the most important features at the beginning so they can be read in chat if you're unknown to another player, try to keep it brief and to the point, no one likes paragraphs to read... thank god for the "detailed description" system, right?
How to structure a description (My personal preference):
We've covered what you should include, what you shouldn't, and making sure to proofread before you create/change it... but how do you structure it? This is how I usually structure mine, but it's entirely up to you.
First Part: Height and accent
The first part of the description is for height and accent, something important to include at the start as it distinguishes you from the crowd and tells people in chat how you speak, I include this at the start so it's readable in chat and you don't need to physically look at the character.
Second Part: Attire
The second part of the description is for attire, clothing, and its current condition. This comes after height and accent as you can't usually see this information in chat, only by looking at the character would you find this out.
Third Part: Extra detail
Any particular quirks of my character I add at the end, depending on the length usually goes into the detailed description part. This information is less important as it can be discussed, such as scars or medical procedures.
This is an example description from one of my characters:
A tall man with a French accent stands before you, he wears a clean brown-plaid suit jacket and pressed shirt underneath with brown trousers and oxfords. The man appears to speak in a calm and charismatic tone, he has a small scar across the bottom of his lip.
I hope this helps someone who's looking to enhance their description.
Look forward to reading your descriptions!
In my time playing HL2RP, and the many other serious gamemode based servers I've played on, I've seen and wrote a lot of descriptions. Think about it, it's one of the first things you do when creating a character and it's the first thing you see when interacting with an unknown person, it's kind of important! I wanted to use this thread to talk a bit about my experience with descriptions, the things to include, and most importantly... the things you should never do in a description ever! Let's begin.
Grammar and Punctuation:
These two are so important when it comes to description writing, whether consciously or unconsciously, you will judge people's roleplay ability preemptively based on their grammar accuracy. I'll give you an example, what is your first impression of someone whose description reads:
[a verry tal man wiht a russian accent] says:
The clear issue here is the spelling mistakes, but something people don't always consider is the capitalization of the first word in the sentence, and any countries or locations. Not only does proper grammar show that you actually care about your character and writing ability, but it also helps gameplay as seeing poorly written sentences in chat as your character speaks is a massive immersion breaker. The best thing to do is just proofread your descriptions before you set them, if you're unsure I recommend pasting it into word or a word checker as these usually have grammar correction hints.
Stuff you shouldn't include in a description:
A general rule of thumb is you should only describe what is currently in front of other players, this is things such as appearance, accent, any noticeable features such as scars or blemishes people would be able to see from a first glance. This stuff you shouldn't include in a description:
- Any city you were just relocated from;
- Your personality and nature;
- Your feelings about the combine or any sub-faction;
- Your occupation (An exception to this is if you're wearing a uniform, such as a CWU shirt or pin);
- Any of your history;
- Any physical traits that are hidden by clothing or attire, like a birthmark on your chest no one will ever see;
- Your name, unless you have a name tag I guess;
- Just anything that isn't immediately visible to a player.
This is because this information would not be available to another character from just glancing at you, this sort of information would only be accessible by speaking to a person and gaining it through speech, which defeats the purpose of a description.
Stuff you should include in a description:
Now we've covered what you shouldn't include, let's talk a bit about what you should include in a description. Descriptions should, as already stated, be a summary of what a player should interpret from you by just looking at you, or hearing you as you speak. This stuff you should include in a description:
- Any accent you have, (don't state your country, just your accent) eg. John Doe had a Russian accent, players should be able to make the connection to their nationality;
- Your height, especially if you're particularly tall or particularly short;
- Your current attire, include any details that are not on your player-model like pins and badges;
- Any facial hair, scars, or blemishes that are visible to other people currently;
- How you speak, your dialect, and how your voice is pitched;
- Any visible medical procedures you've had: eg, casts, splints, etc;
- Your smell? I dunno this is a weird one I've seen but it is relevant I guess.
Try to structure the sentence in a way that is easy to read, putting the most important features at the beginning so they can be read in chat if you're unknown to another player, try to keep it brief and to the point, no one likes paragraphs to read... thank god for the "detailed description" system, right?
How to structure a description (My personal preference):
We've covered what you should include, what you shouldn't, and making sure to proofread before you create/change it... but how do you structure it? This is how I usually structure mine, but it's entirely up to you.
First Part: Height and accent
The first part of the description is for height and accent, something important to include at the start as it distinguishes you from the crowd and tells people in chat how you speak, I include this at the start so it's readable in chat and you don't need to physically look at the character.
Second Part: Attire
The second part of the description is for attire, clothing, and its current condition. This comes after height and accent as you can't usually see this information in chat, only by looking at the character would you find this out.
Third Part: Extra detail
Any particular quirks of my character I add at the end, depending on the length usually goes into the detailed description part. This information is less important as it can be discussed, such as scars or medical procedures.
This is an example description from one of my characters:
A tall man with a French accent stands before you, he wears a clean brown-plaid suit jacket and pressed shirt underneath with brown trousers and oxfords. The man appears to speak in a calm and charismatic tone, he has a small scar across the bottom of his lip.
I hope this helps someone who's looking to enhance their description.
Look forward to reading your descriptions!
