Challenging Your CharacterThat is exactly a good point to come across, and your welcome for the little advice I gave.
I simply gave insight from my experience so it could be shared.
A lot of people don't really know what they want for their characters when they first sign up, which is where your point of people having them work hard in training to heighten their skills come in. That can be fun but only to a certain degree, where as I see it if you treat RP a little more than just a game it
does become more fun. That's what the whole developement process is. I can admit I started the same way, just got my character made and simply treated it like a game. When I came back though was when I became more serious about my character, I knew Ricky inside and out well enough but there were things about him I still had to learn. Thus I gave him the issue of his house being demolished when he returned home, then after that he loses his dog which was as close as a brother for Ricky. When I started these challenges I found myself seeing the same Ricky I had created turn into a completely better Ricky, a character that I can admit has grown to stand out in his own way.
When starting a character you don't rightfully know what you want, more importantly you're figuring out what your character wants. This process of developement takes a bit of time and thought of course, but once a character begins to take off and face the challenges before them, it can really surprise you at how much they grow. It also helps you learn better ways to write, as I know my writing is definitely improving steadily.
The main thing I always consider is what my character believes in. Knowing what your character feels and considering the possibility of putting those things on the line, I find it puts that character in a struggle that will change them for better or worse. However that struggle turns out I take as a learning experience, as I allow myself to think and feel that character.
He's kinda developed into his own persona so to speak, a character that feels like a real person to me.
That's just me rambling on though, and I hope that actually made sense. I tend to lose myself in the writing when going into detail like I did. The main thing to remember is the challenges I told you about, and to consider what that character thinks and feels about them. With time that character will develope into his own self, of that I am quite sure of.