TRP Profiles serve as the first impression of you to anyone you first meet, be it in a roleplay scenario or just sitting around OOC. A TRP can determine your entrance into a guild, and can determine whether or not someone will want to RP with you.
How can one make a well-built TRP?
Name
Example of a good name.
Title: Sir
First Name: John
Last Name: of Goldshire
Sir John of Goldshire.
All of this information is relative to the character - they are a knight, and would be referred to by the title Sir, they are of Goldshire and (clearly) their name is John.
Example of a bad name.
Title: Huntress
First Name: Jane
Last Name: Shadowleaf
Huntress Jane Shadowleaf.
This name is long, drawn out, and contains useless fluff. 'Huntress' won't be used when addressing the character, and can go immediately. Shadowleaf might slide, but there are ways you could do better. For example, me using "of Goldshire" means that, to know what House or Family I belong to, you would have to find out through actual RP. (find out icly XDDDDDDDDD)
Titles
Often I find people jamming in title after title. Often, this creates a useless mass of orange text that is more a chore than anything else.
The maximum amount of titles I find useful is 2. Joke titles are incredibly annoying; they take up the aforementioned space, but do so in a completely useless manner.
Example of a good title section.
< Captain of the Lady's Grace >
Example of a bad title section.
< Captain of the Lady's Grace | Pirate | Adventuring Buccaneer | Captain Asshole | Best Captain on the Server >
I'm sure you can see the issue with the second: too many titles, repeating the same thing, some just taking up space for the hell of it. 'Captain Asshole' and 'Best Captain on the Server' add nothing to your TRP - they take away from it, truthfully. 'Adventuring Buccaneer' and 'Pirate' say the same thing, which would work better in the 'Class' section.
Currently / OOC Information
Your 'Currently' and 'OOC Information' tabs serve as possibly the most easily-spotted portion of the profile save for the titles and the name. A good currently can quickly convey useful information without taking up too much space.
Example of a good currently section.
"John is covered in a foul pox, coughing up a vile mucus."
Example of a bad currently section.
"John is sick with an unknown disease.
Carrying 1 longsword and 1 dagger.
In need of medical attention."
The first example displays what John is facing, not taking up much space in the process. With more eloquent language I'm sure you could make it even more compact. On the other hand, the second example poorly describes the disease, which (obviously) means he needs medical attention, so that's useless. 'Carrying 1 longsword and 1 dagger' would make more sense as a glance, or could be removed all together. I'm sure the other person can see you have a longsword and a dagger equipped.
Example of a good OOC Information.
"Traius."
Example of a bad OOC Information.
"Hi, it's me Traius! ^-^
gays don't exist in wow
more like GAYUS xD"
The first one really isn't necessary ( something I believe OOC Info is as a whole ) but is up to the discretion of the character. However, it conveys exactly what it needs to with the least space taken up. The second one is oversized, obnoxious, annoying... Not good.
Glances
A glance really only needs one or two sentences to tell us what it needs to. And what it needs to do is answer the question "What would I see once I glanced over this character?" It's not much of a glance when you've got a paragraph and a half to read, is it?
Example of a good glance.
Sword
Traius' blade is a worn longsword, forged well, made of a strong steel.
Example of a bad glance.
Beastslayer
Traius' blade is an example of superior craftsmanship, razor sharp with enough power to chop a horse's head in one strike. He earned it in a brawl long ago... etc, etc. What I'm saying is, detailing history in a glance is unnecessary and ridiculous. Just don't do it.
I didn't do this to 'roast' anyone, simply to help some folks get a better idea of what they should do in their TRP. Constructive, I hope.
Feel free to offer your own constructive criticism below.
