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Why so much god mode?

Squishypink

Squishypink

Supernova
Joined
Apr 12, 2013
Okay, so, I noticed this when I was goofing around in the Open Roleplay forum. There is a serious shortage of flawed characters, people with weaknesses and vulnerabilities. As I am wont to do, I got a little silly on a number of occasions using a character whose sole purpose was just that. Anyway, one after another other characters would show up and put on a big display of how utterly unbeatable they were, like an episode of Dragonball Z where every last character was the final boss who couldn't be beaten. And what I ended up seeing was that people were going back and forth now and then, even using non-confrontational scenes to showcase just how much UNLIMITED POWER their character possessed. So this got me thinking, why do most people write up a character who is this unstoppable, godlike being with unlimited skill at every conceivable field? Is it a fantasy thing, where people seek to live out an idealized version of themselves on the page (the dreaded Mary Sue), or is it an entitlement thing? We're all told that we're special, that we're the main character of our own story, and so naturally we should win, even in a pretend RP.

But this causes a problem: Everyone is Superman and, fundamentally and to the point, Superman is just no fun to work with. I'd take Iron Man over Superman any day. They have similar powers (flight, strength, lasers, all that), but one character has absolutely no weaknesses except an allergy to green rocks and has no upper limit to the capacity of any of his powers. The other one is defined by his limitations, his vices, the things he can't do, the things he regrets. A character with weakness is a character with personality. They can have genuine human moments instead of being aloof and perfect all the time.

I've rambled on long enough. I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts on these observations.
 
I have a feeling my own character is included in this group of over powered "god mode" people. I don't mean to come off that way if I am, and if I'm not, well I think I can still help answer this question for you.

I think your completely right in most aspects of what you have said. (What I'm about to say is my opinion and not actual fact, DON'T FLAME ME). It is an entitlement, "I'm special", and the dreaded "I need to one up the last guy" situations. I try not to fall into this group but, I will admit that I do. However anytime I make a character that I feel might even have a chance to fall into this group, I try to give reason to their "overpowered" demeanor through a back story, but that's just me.

I think that everyone at one point has, is, or will fall into this group. I wish it wouldn't happen but it will and it is certainly unfortunate.

Well I think that's enough out of me, and it is probably going to be the worst post on this thread. So continue on everyone.
 
And this is why I love Iron Man and cannot stand Superman. It's also why I can't stand RPing with god-like characters unless flaws are exposed. If they aren't, you bet your ass I'll drop you cold, hard and flat. Sorry, just stating the facts. And it'll be even worse if your character falls into this category and it's even more UNREALISTIC than unrealistic. Might sound redundant saying that, but oh dear god, let me just say that it exists and has brought me to tears.

Anyway, I honestly don't know how or why anyone would want to RP such characters. Personally, I would think they'd be boring to write. Why not build up your character, have them start out weak and grow, gain powers over time and have powers with consequence, have them have flaws that make things even harder. Give them depth, personality, life! Make them real so that they literally come alive off the page and thus find a place in my heart so that I wish to engage with them and perhaps have my own character(s) engage with them as well.

But, oh well..... sad to say, this doesn't always happen.

Perhaps this mystery will one day be solved in full and I do hope that this thread sparks that discussion. I know my curiosity is piqued to find the answer or at least hints to the answer. As someone whose dealt with people who've pulled this on me in the past..... I'm definitely wanting to know and understand the mentality, if not just to gain perspective like the thread creator.

Good thread. I'll be watching/reading (maybe even chiming in more down the line) for sure.
 
Superman is definitely the dullest of all the superheroes, he is rather perfect and is emotionally a bit of a push over or martyr rather than being a brooding Batman type or rather dysfunctional Iron Man sort.

I haven't RP'd superhero RP's but I have noticed that a lot of people like the idea of one dimensional characters, the bad boy who is bad to everyone and can't feel love or the slutty girl who thinks nothing of her acts etc.

People aren't really like that, they have a mix of different traits and have emotional conflict about what they do and how they feel about it.

This would go for super heroes as well, if they are unbeatable than what is the point? It reminds me of play ground talk in Primary School (Grade School for the yanks) where kids would say stuff like "My dad can beat your dad" and that kind of thing. Mindless back then even more mind numbing now.
 
Ah, the open RP forum. I had such high hopes. Believe it or not, RPing was once tolerable on Gaia, and in the Chatterbox forum, threads served as locations in a contiguous - if nebulous - realm. I cut my teeth RPing with strangers there, and I've always had a fondness for the dynamic. The thread creator's localized omniscience, to bring their own small realm into being, and the blender of weird and wonderful characters that bounce off that creation...

...Anyway. To the point, why does everyone make an omnipotent being as an avatar? I'd imagine it's because most RPers have at least a passing familiarity with wanting a life other than their own, and generally someone's ideal includes the unassailable power to do as you wish, and damn the rest of the world. An RPer who's in it for meaningful character development is somewhat rare.
 
I'm with DA on this, no surprises there lol, since we find we are like RP sisters / twins. But yeah, bring me. A superman I aim to knock you on your ass or will intentionally kill off my character because I hate yours. I speak up and tell my partners to show me the vulnerability of their charrie. Mine show strength but have a weakness, reading my characters thoughts allows you insight to it.

what I really hate and pisses me off to know end is my partner having his character read mines thoughts and speaking up about them... Unless telepathy is mentioned (forgive me if that isn't the thought reading power) then jeep it out of the RP. Its fine if thoughts run similar.

the only time I typically turn "Mary sue" is if I've asked to end the RP and my voice is unheard or they say they will change and beg me to continue... I'm kind of a sucker in that I hate to break hearts. Character development is key to RP for me, lets grow together or break me down and let me rebuild and allow me the same courtesy. I have a partner like this now, the character shows no weakness and is seemingly invincible, I have been assured that he is not and will soften, I'm waiting to see. I also have another that adores being all powerful, but shows fondness for my charrie so I let it go. Though if I ask he lets me in a bit so no worries there.

/end rambling.... I'm on my phone so grammar and errors run amuck here lol.
 
sirix said:
I have a feeling my own character is included in this group of over powered "god mode" people. I don't mean to come off that way if I am, and if I'm not, well I think I can still help answer this question for you.

I think your completely right in most aspects of what you have said. (What I'm about to say is my opinion and not actual fact, DON'T FLAME ME). It is an entitlement, "I'm special", and the dreaded "I need to one up the last guy" situations. I try not to fall into this group but, I will admit that I do. However anytime I make a character that I feel might even have a chance to fall into this group, I try to give reason to their "overpowered" demeanor through a back story, but that's just me.

I think that everyone at one point has, is, or will fall into this group. I wish it wouldn't happen but it will and it is certainly unfortunate.

Well I think that's enough out of me, and it is probably going to be the worst post on this thread. So continue on everyone.
Click to expand...


Okay, so, since you went ahead and volunteered your character as part of the OP God Mode crowd, let's just take that example and run with it. So, and this is a great example of how it always seems to go in any given RP with anyone, Sakura just walks up and Punches Bel hard enough to make him poop himself, before stating that he would destroy him completely except for the school limiting his power and all that jazz.

Okay, let's break it down into the component parts of god mode. First, you have an act of violence without any preamble. That's kind of part and parcel to the GM character, a person who doesn't ever check himself when it comes to violence. And then there's the automatic hit. You never see a person post "I swing my sword and hope it hits." They post in the form of "I swing my sword and it eviscerates your guy and then an absurd statement about the guts flying everywhere or something." Or in the case of super beings, you see it in the form of an energy blast that all but destroys you completely, or a punch that automatically damages the hell out of you. So, in this scenario you don't just see them deciding that you've been hit, but also declaring the degree to which you've been damaged. A good RP is equal parts give and take, and with a good partner you can trust them to give you the opportunity to decide just as much as them.

Then you get to the other side of that. Everyone is god mode, but everyone also has to be the goddest of the god modes, and so they have to be even goddier than the next guy. So when the GM player gets hit with something, even if the other poster already declared that they were eviscerated or burnt to a crisp or whatever, they tend to react in the manner of the average Dragonball villain, emerging somehow completely unscathed and deriding the attack as child's play, then countering with their own god mode nonsense.

So we have two parts to the combative side of god mode, and that is ultra attack and ultra defense. Neither are any fun to play with, and all you have to do to be a better player than that is to give a little bit of ground on either side.

But then there's also the emotional side of god mode, where the GM character's attitude is also impervious. In explanation, we ourselves do not have impervious attitudes. They are vulnerable to the events of the day and the course of any conversation changing them for better or worse. But what you see in a god mode character is someone who keeps the same exact attitude, is never flustered, can never accept that they might be wrong, never changes their tune, just the same exact tone all throughout an interaction. Two god mode characters talking to one another is like listening to two deutsch-bags at a bar try to out-brag one another as they make up pretend achievements to try and impress a girl (rarely works unless she's already drunk lol). It's just a constant escalation of the exact same thing, and each character is claiming that, with but the slightest effort, they could wipe out the whole world or some other bullshit.

Okay, I've rambled for long enough on the topic for one post lol.
 
Ohohohoho... reading this made me giggle a little because, honestly, I wouldn't be able to deal with these sorts of people in an RP. At all. Not without some sort of OOC discussion. Unless we had predetermined outcomes that were agreed upon...? Yeah, my levels of pissed off would have no bounds and the wrath within me would be unleashed. >///<
 
I'm starting to wonder if some people see group RP as a contest in which they must win at all costs even in spite of story, character development and the whole idea of bonding through a group exercise.
 
It might be a good idea to start off in God mode and then let the character develop some flaws, vulnerabilities or some self-doubts and see how that works out. Just a thought.
 
God-moding stems from the fact that RP is a form of wish fulfillment for a lot of people. Who doesn't love it when the hero is kicking ass? Who wouldn't want to be the one kicking the ass?

Well, the trouble is that perpetual butt-kicking and supremacy gets old. Years ago I was in on the formation of a new Star Trek RP group. Amid the discussion of what kind of new, huge, powerful ship we should have, I suggested that we go a different route and start out with an older, smaller ship. I contended that a vessel with a few miles on it would give all the characters the chance to write about adapting to the older technology, and that it would give the ship a history and personality that we could play off of. In addition, it heightened the peril in dangerous situations. It introduced a degree of doubt, because the ship may actually not prevail, and that, too, offered up lots of post potential. The idea was approved, but new players often didn't read up on the setting, and would post about the "new, state of the art ship", just assuming that a new Star Trek RP would feature a new, powerful vessel.

Moral of the story: God-moding isn't new, and in some forms it's even expected. And there's a strong tradition of it in print, like in the 20th century pulp adventures of Conan the Barbarian, who was always strong, smart, fast, savvy, sexy and skilled. Usually, he was taller, too.

It would be easy to dismiss god-moding as simple immaturity, and I think that accounts for some of it. Some god-moders can't detach their egoes from the RP, wanting their absolute-competency fantasies fulfilled. Still others have no concept of drama and character beyond cartoonish stereotypes.

But then there are those RPers who find satisfaction in complex characters, and I'm grateful for 'em.

(Don't even get me started on GMing. Really.)
 
Personally, I think the term God-Mode is actually pretty loose in what it defines. Everyone has their own idea of what counts, and to some others the same rules don't apply in their own mind.

Given, I've never really player the super heroes type deal but I have done magical ninja before. xD But at least in my own dealings there, violence or potential violence is discussed OOC in PMs or chats. So that may cover the 'insta-hit'. If they are powerful enough, and/or speedy enough, and the other character caught off guard, there is a high probability that a hit like that would be hard to dodge or even react too until after the fact. The same sort of goes for the damage caused. This is just a theory and the ever-optimist in me coming out, but hopefully that is all discussed before hand. I don't like posts that overlap a lot, meaning the previous poster went through a long spiel of time and actions, then you have the next poster reacting to all of it over again and adding their own part which seems to detract from the real reactionary things. Whenever I've done combat threads, there is a lot of private discussion that takes place about what hits can be called and what damage can be done, leaving my partner to actually take time to focus and describe the extent of the injury, their initial shock or realization of it, and then the reactionary part that moves along the plot. Come to think of it, that might be a reason I love to put my magical ninja through some pretty torturous pain and brutal beatings, even if it their victory was assured (i.e. planned ahead).

It actually reminds me of a couple of things I've discussed before. But first...

DA brought up a very good point in starting off with a weaker character and having them be built up, rising to the occasion and surprising everyone. Even if those 'powers' that they gained have negative connotations later on. Since I'm focusing on more mundane characters right now, I'll just use positives. For everyone out there who loves a character in a triumphant story, there are two more who seem to like tragedies. They want to see someone stumble if not completely fall. I think there is more delight in that if they think the character is perfect, powerful, and impenetrable. The fall from grace that anyone can relate to on some level made even better by a) it being someone other than them and b) being in a better place than them in some way (looks, status, wealth, power, what have you). It is just easier for people to connect with. Sort of like... I dislike most romantic comedy movies because I see them as unrealistic. Life isn't like that and it is not always a happy ending. Give me The Break Up or P.S. I love you... and I'll be all sniffly after I watch it. Then again, I've always been in love with tragedies, especially if no one dies and everyone deals and lives with the fallout from what happens.

"Everyone actually does judge a book initially by its cover or title, you can read it though and be disappointed or find a happy surprise at the end. But the heart and real truth lies in what is written on the pages."

Was one of things I was mentioning being discussed earlier. I think from what I've seen on here is more the character becoming the embodiment of the idealized writer. I've actually had some characters come off as 'Mary Sues' in the first few posts, but this quickly declines as you get into the meat of potatoes because as the story goes on, flaws that my character fought so hard to keep hidden from the rest of the world by hiding behind this and that, slowly comes to light. To a point, at least, even if you do manage to get over your own ego, there are still things that the writer is more familiar with and those traits will flow into their creation. I think a big part of a character coming off as an idealized version of yourself is when you don't acknowledge your own limits. One reason why I stopped playing male or very dominant characters so much is not because I haven't tried, but because of my own limits. I've never been a dominant person. I'm pretty damn accommodating and will be polite, even if I am secretly wanting to stab your eye out with a fork and feed it to some stray cat. It is one of my own traits that I have a very hard time getting over and that comes through. It comes out as forced and it makes it harder for me; I end up focusing too much on what I should make my posts like rather than throwing up my hands and saying 'I can't do this, can we come to a compromise?'. The same happens whenever I play a male character. It is something I'm very capable of doing, but I just don't really like it because I also sort of live by the write what you know thing... and guys are very weird creatures and my brain is rarely in line with theirs. I can get the basics just fine, but I can't get into the specific details, which is what I like best RPing. I'm pretty damn detail oriented. Like, no joke, my first cigarette wasn't out of peer pressure, but because I wanted to know the taste and be able to accurately describe how your head spins with the third hit after you get over a couple of coughs. Then again... that might be why I'm a freelance writer because I don't just want to give someone a basic story, I want to put them there.

When someone has only one rail when it comes to emotions though, I'm out. There is something that always makes a person react. Be it something little or just stripping that person away of everything that makes them, they're going to react. Though, that is a more a thing of a person being one-dimensional more so than god-moding/mary sueish.

I will add one more thing though on the whole mind reading thing. Sometimes thoughts or emotions can be read out in body language or empathy. Lol, I've also had a problem with that happening to me... like going into their private thoughts and feelings and them specifically addressing it in their posts. A general idea is fine, but don't react to my character is so very angry they're seeing a color different than red, like... white blinding rage, and have your character take it to knowing they are on that level.

Anyways, just a few thoughts on the whole thing.
 
Don't know if it was stated, but I feel some writers envision themselves in the characters they wrote and thus write the idealized version of them self. From what I see most people don't fancy the idea of death now apply this to writers using characters as personal avatars, its understandable why they are so perfect.
 
Good topic. I don't like when people throw in strange behaviors and/or totally dominate a thread. It's difficult to interact and write with a player who's insistent on being the princess/prince. Dealing with a bratty attitude only goes so far in an adult, and can be hard to rp with for me.

I try to put in extremes as controllers for my chars like my werewolves. They're all over emotional, weak to silver, weak when morphing, have the attention span of gnat and I try very hard not to overpower them.

My biggest thing with the god modding is usually akin to my aversion of the general mary sue gary stu concept. A character with no weaknesses who knows everything--even things that are just thought--irritates a person to no end. Any char that announces him or herself as a leader or expert on something, but role playing it is entirely different altogether. Or even worse, the ones who act normal at first and grow more powerful and all knowing with each post.

It's an insecurity in the player that brings these out in the character. Addressing what you want to accomplish in the thread by PM's first is probably the best way to avoid the god mode problem, at least I think so.

We all want to be exceptional and that's a great part of writing. We just need to put in our own controllers on what we want in our shared threads. So in summary, chat OOC first and then start the thread. If you jump in with no plans, then things could go badly.
 
Just had yet another god mode player in the same thread I referenced at the start of this one. And this time, the fellow was so obnoxious about it that there was no other choice than to freeze him into a urine ice cube. He, uh, didn't post anymore after that. But it just goes to show you how far people will go to dispose of a god mode character.
 
I sincerely do not enjoy people God-Modding my RPs where everything is going correct. I've had several RPs where the person either: does something that you intend for him/her not to do but out of thin airs he gets superhuman force or he just godmods your own character into liking stuff you'd otherwise don't enjoy. I wish people would just restrain themselves to their own characters...
 
Such are the flaws of freeform rp. That's why I play D&D/Pathfinder, no matter how well made mechanically a character is, he's never unbeatable, because I can just make a better opponent or simply use my godly DM powers to reign him in if need be.
 
Now this is a bit of a resurrection of a old thread but yeah I see this more then often enough in many forms. Many times this comes in the form of the unbreakable defense or the unstoppable attack. People many times post like even when they aren't automatically eviscerating you like "He slices at your mid section to fast to even see." They also act like no matter how long the battle has lasted, if they are surprised, unprepared for a trap they always counter it like they are in their best condition. Always counter it like they expected it the entire time with no outside effects like exhaustion from a long battle or strain in a difficult one. They can't seem to take any factors but that current attack into mind, even if they are wounded they will forget it and act like it Doesent exist. It is supremely annoying when someone fights without realizing other factors in addition to even normal god mode.
 
I almost have a hard time even understanding why anyone would ever play anything but dead realistic HUMAN characters, because the fact still remains that they are created from our imaginations, just like their surroundings, the possibilities are still endless and it's AMAZING! I mean, does role-playing REALLY become more amazing if you add funny ears or magical powers? But I do understand, if only from RP'ing fantasy characters as a preteen.
I don't understand RP'ing characters that have unlimited powers, unless it's for some really specific sci-fi RP and even then the plot would have to support it, even demand it, all the way through.
Someone said people fantasize about being able to do anything. I guess if you've never experienced something like that, you think it's automatically cool. It's not cool to be able to do anything in real life. It makes people act... really bad. Stupid. And it seems from this that the same is true in RP's. Kind of funny.
 
First off I'd like to say I didn't read ALL of this thread but I did read some valid points. Most of the time I have a issue with making characters too weak, with too many flaws. I've had a few instances where my partner has literally told me to "Man Up" which I found hilarious. So long story short I create a character that has a set number of skills. Most in which involve hand to hand fighting or depending on the era sword play. The biggest flaw that I involve in a few of my characters are their tempers. quick to lose and it's a huge flaw, but he does at some point overcome it and "appear" to be OP, but then I draw out the fact that there is another flaw not just "bam I'm all powerful." Most other rp sites where I go for other things seriously frown on the god mode thing, so I avoid it as much as I can.

Seriously though it's just annoying to play a super OP character, UNLESS I get to play a demon then it's fun, but I still leave room in him for flaws and weaknesses.
 
My characters usually do have a vice of some kind. That actually wasn’t done on purpose either. Whether it’s being a sex addicted bitch who had a relationship with her father, to being shy and awkward, to being a mother who is ok with her husband fucking her child whether the child wants it or not, I have managed to make all my characters have something that makes them less than perfect. I have a supernatural character, who by all accounts is powerful, BUT she can’t do potions well. Flawed. Nobody wants to go up against someone who is perfect. Where’s the fun in that? Writing this I realize that one of my characters in a current rp might be a little too ‘perfect’. Hmmmm. I’ve got to do something about that.
 
I think it's up to the skill of the writer, really. Think about it.. Give a terrible writer or roleplayer Superman, and you're going to have a bad time. Give them Iron Man, think it's going to be any different? Give a good writer one of these characters, and that's a different story. I've played god mode characters. Trickster archetypes that make Jim Carrey's The Mask and Anansi blush in comparison. Was it a terribly god mode character? Of course, but on the flip side highly entertaining to myself and everyone reading. All it comes down to is how someone handles a character. God mode or not, ya know?
 
I think that the reason there are so many "god mode" characters is because that it's easy. It can be a challenge sometimes to come up with flaws for a character and I don't think many people want to bother to come up with anything. No, that doesn't make it good to do, but I think that's probably the main reason. That and they want to play a character that's different from them, they want to play a character that they want to be, their ideal self.

Sometimes I'm guilty of doing this, too, but I try not to. I prefer my characters to have flaws and weaknesses. One character I'm role playing now in a Mad Max-like setting has plenty of flaws and his job isn't anything all that attractive... He delivers water to people's houses. While I haven't yet gone into his mental state, I have tried to show his flaws visibly on him, to the point that he's even missing a couple fingers. I also usually try to give me characters some sort of fear, which is usually a fear of deep water (which is what I'm afraid of myself XD) when it fits the role play. My characters also tend to question themselves a lot and flip-flop between ideas and goals, and what they think that they should do. Most of my characters seem to have a mental conflict going on in their head almost constantly.

Playing flawed characters is fun. It's no fun to play a character who is perfect in every way.
 
I have found that God modding is simply a dick measuring tests between unskilled roleplayers. In skilled roleplayers, writing the biggest post is the dick measuring contest.

Luckily for me back in my Mary sue writing days, I never wanted to be the strongest. I wanted to have flaws, I wanted to have all the god modders protect me rather than fight me. If I fought any god modders, then I would always, gracefully lose. So they never bothered me back then.

Now? I just kind of...don't play with people who don't know how to develop a character beyond power level.
 
Superman was the first superhero, and was the father of god mod. Batman wasn't a flawed character, more mad than the lunatics he hunt before 80's (god bless the Crisis). If you put very light boundaries in the first rpg session of a person you will discover all the repressed desires of your subjec-- sorry, players.
The point is, fiction is a no consequences space, where, like in dreams, we can satisfy all our desires. Freud explains. The first impulse, in my opinion, is to satisfy these desires. Only after we satisfy them or start to look at the fiction like a serious thing we care about things like quality of the story, and add flaws, and start to see the beauty of loss and tragedy. The main change is that you stops to see the story as something targeting only you inner desires and start to see the story as a story, something to be appreciated for anyone. Stats to see your story with the same eyes you look at something you didn't made, and expect good pacing, multidimensional characters, fails, etc.
In a group activity, like rpg, this is a problem. Nobody cares if your fanfic is a power wanking fantasy, but if you are in a group you must care about the other people and make the story god for them too. To me, god mode is a sign the player ave not made this fundamental change. God mode only works in rp if booth players like it, (and don't fight to be the greater god) because it's not a story to be read, but to be played.
TL:DR
It's a natural development stage. Mature players get over it. Some, sadly, never.
 
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