[ hmd ]

[opportunitycosts]

A slight heads up for those perusing this journal. This is Alvin from Tales of Xillia 2, which is set one year from the original game, Tales of Xillia. Alvin is a main character from both games, and he does develop quite a bit from one to the other.

I also played his original version, and thus I'll be referencing/duplicating a lot of information I had from his previous journal, selfmotivations. So if something looks familiar, that's why! (Like hell am I going to rewrite everything /cough.) I'm bringing over a lot of his old stuff because it's not like Alvin ditched his past—he just expands and develops from it. So the best way to understand his current self is to also refer back to how he used to be.

Now with all of that out of way, if you have any critique or suggestions as to how I play him, please tell me! Especially tell me if he's starting to slant more to his old self. Until I've fully settled into his (sort of) new voice, that's a high possibility. In addition, I play and refer to the English version, which may influence how he's portrayed. For instance in the first game, the overall atmosphere was a lot lighter and more humorous than it was in the original Japanese version. Not sure if that applies for the sequel, but it's still possible. I'm also aware of most of the backstory novels, Alvin's Chronicles, but not everything. So if something I'm headcanoning for backstory is factually wrong, let me know so I can fix and retcon it!

Additional contact:
laenavesse
laenavesse
AIM: Laenavesse

Currently in:
empatheias

All comments screened, anon enabled.

Comments

[opportunitycosts]

Hey anon!

First of all, thank you very much for your concrit! You'll find that I am going to agree with you 100% on your concerns. But first, I just want to say I'm glad you think I got his voice down well. There are a lot of times where I go, "Dammit am I really doing this right? Shouldn't he be more charming or witty and snarky and why didn't I think of this awesome line before graaah!!" So yes, thank you! I hope I can keep it up, and if I ever do something wrong, please tell me. I will shower you in hugs and thanks you's.

Now for the meat of the matter! Actually, you bring up a very real and fair concern that I wrestle with a lot when I'm playing Alvin, and I usually try to avoid this very perception/issue. I say it a lot, but I prefer it when my players bring up plot points, not me. Unfortunately, I ran into the problem of what would be logical for him to do and trying to balance it out. Even I was going, "Oh great, mod character talking about potential plot point /facepalm." And since no one else had brought it up yet, I decided to just bite the bullet and go for it. But I can assure you, I'm not trying to make any of my characters a mouthpiece. If I ever have to post anything plot related or have any tags about plot theories, it's because of IC progression.

The only reason why Alvin is even remotely involved in this is because it actually does concern himself and was a result of logical steps. If he hadn't seen Sanae's crystal and the whole Peromei thing wasn't going on, even if he did notice his crystal being empty, he wouldn't make any comment about it until maybe a week or so out. Even then, it would have been more of a "Sooo anyone else's crystal empty or is this just me?" And even then it would have only been if no one else brought it up. So like you said, a much more laidback approach. I'd actually rather have my characters be the statistic, not the one making them. And also to be clear, his main point is just the crystals being empty. He isn't thinking about what other potential effects this might have. It's really more of a, "So this is weird. I know we're different but now we got another weird thing going on."

Now the survey part—that was a side effect and thinking about it more, I think part of it is how I framed that post. I think it probably would have been better if I had the topic of empty crystals before the "survey" part, since really that was the main point. At the time of writing, it seemed more logical to ask whose was completed and then branch off that to the empty crystals rather than the other way around... The OOC note might have added to the "mouthpiece" perception, too. I was actually hesitant on putting it in (for the very issue we're talking about now) and initially didn't have it, but then I thought, "Maybe some folks need a reminder" and if I were just a normal player, I would have done the same thing.

I also want to say that while I do like seeing things roll out, I actually don't like or want to be the one doing them. No one wants a mod to lead everything—I don't want to lead everything. I want other players to do it! It's more fun that way! I also don't think either of us think I shouldn't be able to make plot-relevant posts ever, but I think we both agree I shouldn't do it that often. So I actually consider myself the "last resort" and wait a while, and then volunteer if no one else thinks they're in a good position for it. Thinking about it, I do try to put myself in a position where I can at least help if it's necessary, but not one where I would take the lead. Again, I prefer being back-up support. Alvin just makes things more difficult (or easy, depending) and is definitely a risk for me. He's perceptive and can make easy logical conclusions—it's what he does and trained to do. Trust me, there's many a time I go, "DAMMIT ALVIN NO DON'T HAVE LOGIC NOOOO!" because I then find myself in this very predicament and wonder, "Is he being too smart? Should I hold it back? Do I just need to keep him away from these kinds of situations?"

As a mod, I also really don't like metagaming, and I know it's harder for other players to judge whether I'm unconsciously having my characters figure things out faster. I worry a lot about that, too, honestly. I sometimes think, "Wait, is this a logical analysis? Or is it because I know the answer, it seems that it's a logical analysis? Is this really his way of thinking or am I subplanting ideas without realizing it?" I HOPE I'm not, but I can see where it can be a tough call. It's usually why in those instances I really put a lot of introspection and thought process in his tag to really show that there is a logical reasoning here and not me trying to jump into a not-so-obvious conclusion.

So again—your concern is a very valid one, anon, and I thank you very much for bringing it up with me. Like I said, I am very aware of my position as a mod and I try not to cross that line as much as possible. I don't want my characters to sound like a mouthpiece—believe me. It's just unfortunate that sometimes the threads and scenes align where my character not saying anything would be worse than risking the mouthpiece perception, or at least more difficult for me to ICly play off.

I hope that I won't get stuck in this position again, but if I do—well, I won't say to not mind it. It's understandable! Heck, like I said it's tough and I can't guarantee I'll do it right all the time. This one is definitely an iffy situation but this is when I think, "Okay, don't think of myself as a mod, but think of myself as a player. What would I do then?" And that's how I decide whether to gun it or not.

But at least know I'm not doing it on purpose or trying to shoehorn things out in the public. If I did, I think we'd be seeing way more plot points out there, haha! (And also why Alvin isn't saying anything else that could be a problem with the empty crystals. If something comes up in thread, it will just be IC speculation, and I actually try to have him come up with wrong theories. But sometimes the logic is too obvious to go in any other direction ._.)

ADDENDUM (and final edit I swear)

Thinking more about this, I should also note (because I might have somewhat misunderstood your comment):

To your point on Alvin being my mouthpiece of sorts—you're actually pretty much right, unfortunately. With his character type, I can get him into things and it allows me to do a lot more than I could with my other two. However, it's never to push things out from a mod point of view. When it comes to actual gameplay, I take off the mod hat and just play as a player. ...But I still have the side effect of it looking like the mod is doing something.

With everything said and done, this is something I'm going to have to be really careful and mindful about. I don't try to stretch Alvin's abilities that make him OOC, and like I said before, I can see where you're coming from. I might have been too eager and thinking, "Aaah the Peromei event! Let's get this topic out now!" and Alvin just happened to work. And again, the framing of the topics probably didn't help :\ Alvin was both curious and wanted to give people a heads-up, but I can see where changing the tone or format could have helped some.

Sorry, anon! I'm trying not to have Alvin be a mouthpiece, so I'll be more mindful about it. If something like this happens again, I'll try and have it sound less of a mouthpiece and more of, well, what it would normally be if I weren't a mod.