I've found that a lot of games are rather clique-y and the amount of play you get depends on whether you're in the clique or whether you're a begrudgingly accepted outsider. I've been bullied in chatrooms by mods and I've had intro posts completely ignored by every player the a game before. Some people just shouldn't start games.
On my last app I spent two days doing the history, then thought up about six other versions that I liked better. >.< I think it's hard to sum up a whole character in so few words; even if my personality part is massive, I always feel like I've left bits out. And there are things that only really develop through playing them (my pirate starts swapping out English words for Korean when he's drunk) that you can't possibly foresee.
Ah, but you might not be considering a mermaid then and we still need more of them! To be honest I'm eyeing the sea witch template now. >.< /neverlearns