Does your character have an actual "concept?"

[Delano]

My characters don't have an explicit backstory or anything, but I always try to choose names and appearances in a way that suggest a sense of character, as well as something I can personally relate myself to.

[Harbour]

Yes. Im nor RPing, but when i started my mains i have certain vision of them.

I have hardened and badass looking Draenei Paladin, inspired by Maraad from TBD Cinematic. I also made him look as close to Eredar as possible.

My second main is Zandalari Paladin, regal, all about gold and power.

[Kyux]

Yes, my main does and most of my alts do.

I main a Nelf druid and my "concept" is a druid of the claw, classical Nelf druid.
I also have a Worgen DK and that concept is the perfect anti-Scourge weapon. Worgen curse + Ebon Blade DK.
My Nelf rogue is more of a modern Nelf that's integrated into the Alliance. Less trees and dryads, more SI7 and tech.

That's basically how it goes. It affects my transmog choices and things like covenants, but not much else.

[Harry Botter]

I have a spec in mind when I make a toon. And while I do change up specs from time to time it never feels like "my toon" unless it's the spec I had in mind when I make the character.

[Zyrinx]

Yep, I don't RP as in like type up dialogue in-game and in-character, and I don't have backstories for any of them, but I conceptualize them as far as giving them a deep name that fits their class, specialization, and race, inspired by other fantasy literary, video game works, films, or anime I enjoy, or even fantasy spins on my own name.

Exactly this.

[SynDethroc]

I play on an RP realm so ALL of my characters have a concept behind them. My rogue, for instance, is a vulgar mercenary asshole who is only out for himself. Basically Kano from Mortal Kombat.

[naeblis495]

Yep .

The concept of my druid is a Tzeentch,The Lord of Change, follower (The constant shapeshifting was the main base of that concept,as no other class would acheive so much change of appearence and gameplay while fighting.). Switching to zandalari made it even better due to the balance form looking somewhat like Kairos Fateweaver , the oracle of Tzeentch and the Lords of Changes
In mindset , he is far closer to a mix of shadow priest and warlock : Ambitious,sneaky,plot a lot,worship dark beings ,always seeking knowledge and evolution. The only real wow druid theme i kept was the "survival of the fittest" , that my characther want to achieve by constant evolution of his body and many schemes.

[Lex Icon]

i try to build them around the spec i play..
that's why i'm opposed to half assed systems like the covenants because they're quite limited and not very interesting so them trying to force that choice on to my character makes me lose interest.

[taishar68]

Yes, but really only on my main in a deeper sense.

I like to think my characters share my outlook, so when story lines force my character into doing things I’m morally against (think the Hillsbrad rework from Cata, much of BfA, etc.), it bothers me, maybe more than it should.

My characters do not kill polar bears, unless it’s a greater good kind of thing, which I haven’t seen too much of in game. In general I avoid killing animals outside of quest necessity.

My main, a Forsaken Mage, I play with a strong moral sense that does get conflicted in some times hypocritical fashion, when he becomes resignedly Machiavellian.

My hunter is an exception to the above rule, he kills animals often, and without (much) guilt.

[cloudbuster]

My two favorite characters (Hunter I've been playing since BC, and a DH I made in Legion but only really played much in BfA) both have personalities, but not really detailed backstories. I do RP with guildies casually in guild or party chat and each one has a voice, and there are some defined details on their past, but, really, they were thought up on the fly in some conversation and if I liked how they sounded, I kept them. Some of my toons are sort of running jokes -- like the DK with tailoring that just sits in his Garrison in Draenor making bags. He's very depressed.

I think the four covenants don't necessarily fit all character concepts. There's none that really resonates deeply with the Hunter, for example. Most of his expressed interests have been about hunting and pets (duh), Titan stuff, Dwarven heritage and mechanicals/gadgets (he's an Engineer). None of the covenants really touch much on those things.

[Grimbold21]

The concept is a panoply of understanding typically associated with these classes.

So, I'm a shaman, i expect to play someone that communes with nature/elements in order to acquire power.

Unfortunately these days that translates into being a storm factory

[Florena]

Yes. I don't really RP in WoW anymore, but my characters I still log onto now and then were all characters that I did RP at some point, so they all have personalities, backstories, goals and motivations etc.

[Neuroticaine]

My character's "concept" generally ends at their class/spec. For example, I'd have a hard time going Kyrian or Night Fae on a Death Knight. Rogues and Warriors are so thematically bland that I could be fine with any of the covenants. My Shadow Priest is likely going Venthyr. Kyrian seems a little too noble for Warlock. Etc... I'm not serious enough to always pick the "perfect" choice, though actual gameplay will impact my choice.

[Pony Soldier]

For the most part yeah I have a concept for all of my characters. There is one character I just kind of named after myself, my real name, to kind of make believe that it is me that is in the game.

The way I play WoW is I do a lot of head RPing where my characters actually have stories to them. I feel it's the best way to play. Not only is it fun but it's also the most immersive way to play WoW. I don't really care about the competition side of WoW whether it be PvP or DPS meters I just couldn't care less. I like stories and being immersed when I play games and WoW lets me create my own stories for my characters and it's one of the biggest if not THE biggest reason why I keep coming back to WoW. I'm very attached to my characters.

So as far as the covenants go I'm not just going to pick them according to the "concept" I have for my characters. I'm going to also be picking covenants by how good the abilities work with each of my characters' class. For example, for my warrior characters I will be either joining Kyrian or Venthyr as they fit their concept the most and not only that but the abilities they get with those factions would work best for them. One thing I'm planning to do as far as my warriors go is join the Venthyr on my orc warrior since I feel that faction would fit Horde better and Kyrian on my human warrior for the same reason.

In the end though the class abilities I think have priority over my character's theme or concept. I don't think it would be much fun being stuck with abilities that aren't fun to use or are not very practical for the class.

[Zarc]

Not that I play the game at the moment, but yes, my main has a "concept", though it hasn't evolved for almost 15 years now. :P

My first level 60 was a Human Paladin. Then I quit the game. Then when I re-rolled as an Undead Mage the backstory was that it was my Human Paladin character who died and was raised as that new character. Then when I switched to a Druid at the end of TBC the back story was that that character was the apprentice of my Mage (because both Mages and Druids do Arcane magic). Even though I played as Feral. That Druid has been my main ever since.

It ain't good, it ain't detailed, it ain't up to date, but it's there.

[Evaddon]

Yeah I have a concept, a story, and basically a "Legacy Tree/Family Tree" like they have in Swtor, with some of my characters having different connections to my other characters. Sure some of them don't follow this, but some do, most do. Some are more detailed and thought out than others, depending on if I actually play the toon at regular intervals

[Vx-Odessa-xV]

Very much so. ..Here is a link to a thread i made a good bit ago that has backstories and past events of a few of my characters.. ..aswell as some character portrait commissions I had done for a few of them.

Please, tell me what you guys think, if you happen to go give things a look, and/or read.

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...acter-Building

[Gigantique]

As I've stated in other threads, and have had recently had confirmed by the devs, it's clear that they are building shadowlands assuming everyone has a concept to their character, a sense of "who they are" meant to inform a choice like covenants, which are meant to be a conceptual choice. I can't help but wonder how much of a correct or incorrect assumption that is among the extreme minority that populate forums like this.

I'm not asking "do you RP," because that's a loaded, misunderstood question that I don't really wanna get deeply into the connotations of in this thread. One does not need to outwardly RP to see their character as "someone" named anything from Omedon to Bob as opposed to "something" named Lovestopwn. You don't need to speak in thees and thous in /say to sit at your desk and say "nah, Bob wouldn't do that, Bob would do this!"

For me, yes, my characters have a concept, and I knew their covenants long before I knew the powers. Heck I'm actually not spoiling most of the powers, so I don't know them, and I will discover them as I choose for my "4 mains" at launch. But of course not everyone thinks like that, thus the thread.

So how about you? Are your characters actual characters, or are they more "gaming avatars" without a defining persona that guides what they do or how they dress or whatever?

Note: I Intentionally left out a 3rd briefly considered option of "yes I have a concept but not enough to inform a covenant choice over power" because, respectfully... that character doesn't have a concept strong enough to matter (and that's not Blizzard's problem in designing covenants or other choices, to be honest). Indeed, a good concept can at least narrow yourself down in the choices, giving you preferences from which you can choose for power, but if your character's actual character doesn't even come into play... yeah, that doesn't count.

Imho I take a bit of an issue with you disregarding the group of people that are selective in what they use to conceptualise their characters.

I don’t RP, but I am on a RP server and like fiddling with the TRP addon, creating backstories for my characters, using transmog/titles/mounts that fit their theme/lore etc, but I still have areas of the game I selectively «disregard» when it comes to his or her concept. My Forsaken Warlock, pretty much an evil character, has still saved bear cubs in Mount Hyjal, yet I don’t credit him with that. My Sin’dorei Ranger is still walking around with a big ass Clefthoof as a pet, yet lorewise he doesn’t have pets at all.

Covenants would serve the same function. My Sin’dorei would probably not align himself with ANY of the covenants, yet that’s not an option for me, is it? We all have to make concessions and ignore parts of the game for the sake of playing the game when it comes to character concepts, and you proclaiming that people that don’t want to potentially gimp their gameplay to fit their character theme «don’t count» makes your argument pretty weak my dude :P

[Cwimge]

As I've stated in other threads, and have had recently had confirmed by the devs, it's clear that they are building shadowlands assuming everyone has a concept to their character, a sense of "who they are" meant to inform a choice like covenants, which are meant to be a conceptual choice. I can't help but wonder how much of a correct or incorrect assumption that is among the extreme minority that populate forums like this.

I'm not asking "do you RP," because that's a loaded, misunderstood question that I don't really wanna get deeply into the connotations of in this thread. One does not need to outwardly RP to see their character as "someone" named anything from Omedon to Bob as opposed to "something" named Lovestopwn. You don't need to speak in thees and thous in /say to sit at your desk and say "nah, Bob wouldn't do that, Bob would do this!"

For me, yes, my characters have a concept, and I knew their covenants long before I knew the powers. Heck I'm actually not spoiling most of the powers, so I don't know them, and I will discover them as I choose for my "4 mains" at launch. But of course not everyone thinks like that, thus the thread.

So how about you? Are your characters actual characters, or are they more "gaming avatars" without a defining persona that guides what they do or how they dress or whatever?

Note: I Intentionally left out a 3rd briefly considered option of "yes I have a concept but not enough to inform a covenant choice over power" because, respectfully... that character doesn't have a concept strong enough to matter (and that's not Blizzard's problem in designing covenants or other choices, to be honest). Indeed, a good concept can at least narrow yourself down in the choices, giving you preferences from which you can choose for power, but if your character's actual character doesn't even come into play... yeah, that doesn't count.

Problem is the concepts of my characters do not mesh with the extremely limited and idiot identity of the covenants. Double undead, vampires, druids and angels. 50% of these are hard coded for by-the-numbers dk's. One is the druid pick and the other has no real pull in any direction

[gd8]

I'm not a roleplayer or anything but I do generally have a unique concept or theme in mind for all my characters in WoW & swtor. using transmog to execute my thematic ideas for characters is one of my favorite things to do in MMOs on the side