[quote=Jig]Well, yeah, I agree with him. Overlapping character traits and roles can definitely be used and used well (exactly as in the example of rivalry I gave). It's just that I kinda think doing this well needs an awareness of who the other characters are in the RP and that generally means reading their sheets and OoC communication with the player.[/quote]

No it doesn't. All it requires is a willingness to communicate in the IC and collaboratively tell the story. You don't have to acquaint yourself with the other characters OOCly to do that, as your character will learn about them by interacting with them. Spotting similarities they can then react appropriately.

[quote=Jig]Say, the RP's setting is a community in which werewolves are despised, and the player makes a werewolf character,[/quote]

[b]Special Snowflake Syndrome[/b] at its finest? [i]Why[/i] would anyone do this. It would be far more dramatic to start out as a 'normal' or otherwise and then become a lycanthrope over the course of events, whether or not the character is sympathetic towards them. Then it would be actual character growth and not a character whose entire arc has already been partially completed in the background.

Remember the golden rule: Show, don't tell. Don't say character X is powerful, display it. Don't say character X is despised, show it, coordinate with the GM because (s)he's the only one who has to know all of this information.

[quote=Jig]While we wrote differently and the characters were a bit different in their interactions and such, ultimately, their character arcs and storylines were basically the same.[/quote]

Then what do you care if they read your CS or not? It worked out in the end anyway, naturally, dynamically. :sun