You're too kind. Thank you!
I don't typically recommend writing generators for a few reasons:
- They don't always utilize proper English. In fact, I just took a minute to load up one of those a few times, and it was missing words out of some sentences and improperly punctuated elsewhere. As such, in order to maintain clarity, you end up spending extra time and effort proofreading . . . or else copy and paste like a lazy, dumb s.o.b. and cause some confusion/frustration. However, if you use such a prompt to get an idea, then personally write it out correctly, this is less of an issue, as it shouldn't take too much effort for you to correctly interpret the meaning behind the prompt text, or get a wrong idea from it and still have something to work from, which is the point of it in the first place.
- Tone and situation compatibility issues arise. Because logical RPing (and really, typically anything above stage 1 or maybe 2) is situational and writing prompts are for random, off-the-cusp story arcs, it's hard to make the two meet. It's also hard to make the two meet when you're trying to write for a certain character, with xir own personality, tone, style, and so on, and the writing prompt just fits some generic character archetype. A writing prompt that puts you in a hostage situation doesn't help you one bit when your char is currently just sitting around, and the preceding text for a monologue from an arrogant, elated villain is useless to a down-in-the-dumps hero who's trying to explain his inferiority complex to his comrade. You can alleviate part of the situational issue by writing ahead for certain situations, then going back, adapting some details, and posting the results as applicable, but that still only amounts to a fringe benefit.
- When you're RPing here, your situation is often enough given to you, making writing prompts entirely superfluous and in conflict. When your char has a more open canvas, there is plenty enough to do that you should never really run out of your own stuff to write on, but, if you're running short, one of the main points of Sein is to encourage you to open your mind to the possibilities and conjure some thoughts and directions of your own, rather than having everything spoon-fed to you. What I'm saying is that there should be very few, if any, instances in which you feel like you need a writing prompt to give your char something to do.
Now, all that being said, I won't go so far as to label writing prompts as useless for RPing here. They can still be used for writing ahead, writing some extra stories in spare time as practice/resources/backstory info/info that can eventually develop into or inspire a new char/storyline (more commonly for Other Universes, eh?), they can incite you to mentally evaluate concepts and circumstances that you hadn't previously considered, and, of course, they can be used in writing that is just
not for the RPs, such as stories that you may want to write up just for fun and post in the Creative Commons.
I just want it to be clear that I don't think to mention them much and don't encourage reliance on them because the overall format puts a serious damper on how useful they can be. It goes without saying that any generators have their limits of usefulness, but writing prompts in particular fit in very small niches when it comes to applying them here.
Seriously, though, that first website is the bee's proverbial knees. It covers all sorts of races, places (Hoo, man, is it good for specifying where a char is from when writing a bio.), pets, weapons and stuff, abilities, everything. It even has a fucking
language generator! That's nuts! I won't write a ton on how cool the site is because you can just click the link and use its handy-dandy menu tabs, so go do that. It's a thing.
