(05-25-2017, 10:37 PM)Valic Wrote: EDIT: Also I'm aware not EVERYONE on Balmung roleplays and I'm sure not everyone cares to see it everywhere. I'm only asking for more potential variety/diversity, perhaps even a change with SB coming to make a new hub even. Or to spread it out just a bit more than confining it to Ul'dah's busy quicksand. I'm sure a little less traffic there could be welcome too as well as seeing open RP hubs somewhere besides there.

(05-26-2017, 01:29 AM)Zhavi Wrote: But if you want my unsolicited advice, don't come to the community asking someone, anyone to make it a reality.  Build it.  Nothing is stopping you, man.  Sky is the limit.

Just be prepared for the long haul.

(05-26-2017, 01:29 AM)Zhavi Wrote: You know what's a good way to create a hub?

By consistently and reliably being somewhere.  By making sure people know you're there.  By getting a group and just grinding that shit out every.  Single.  Day.


You know how the Quicksand got so busy?  Because people were there.  Aya waitressed.  Warren and Crofte (edit - crofte, right?  aghaghagh why am I so bad at names) stood at their pillars.  For awhile the brass blade peeps were rping their thang, and they'd swing through.  People were actively rping in Ul'dah, and they consistently stopped into the Quicksand.  Their contacts would come in to rp with them.  Word spread, and people came to expect that there would be rp in the Quicksand, and so it became a self-fulfilling prophesy.

You want a hub elsewhere?  Do the same thing.  Even when it feels dry and stale, even if you don't feel like it, you gotta have people there on the reg.  It also helps if it's a place where lower level characters can get to without having to travel a huge distance, but hey, depends on what you wanna build and where.



But if you want my unsolicited advice, don't come to the community asking someone, anyone to make it a reality.  Build it.  Nothing is stopping you, man.  Sky is the limit.

Just be prepared for the long haul.

(05-26-2017, 01:35 AM)Virella Wrote:

(05-26-2017, 01:17 AM)Valic Wrote: It'd be harder for some to just casually meet and hang around. Props to you if you can keep it a constant thing though, even in Ala Mhigo

Yeah, I get people being 'locked out'. I totally get that. But if I can get a handful of people enjoying that type of RP? I'm happy with that already, really. Doesn't need to be some huge ass hub to be successful.

Hells, one of my best RP times was from me constantly being in Coerthas Central Highlanders pre-HW. The Observatorium also wasn't considered a noob friendly place, but eh, the Ishgardians and folk interested in RPing with Ishgardians would find a way to get there. I'm pretty sure it will be the same in SB. So I'm not too stressed about it.

And all we did? Just RP there in the open, and people will come sooner or later. (that said I did notify people in several LSes about it, but that was about it.)

(05-26-2017, 10:04 AM)Hilde Wrote:

(05-26-2017, 01:29 AM)Zhavi Wrote: But if you want my unsolicited advice, don't come to the community asking someone, anyone to make it a reality. Build it. Nothing is stopping you, man. Sky is the limit.

Just be prepared for the long haul.

It might be a hard pill to swallow, but many players already have their agendas and story lines, and building a hub might not be ideal for their time. It's a nice thought, but you cant force people to play elsewhere, especially when many players already have places they frequent outside of Ul'dah. If your own experiences feel lacking because of this, talk with the other player and move your interactions elsewhere.

If you want a new hub entirely, though, like Zhavi said - be prepared for the long haul if you work to establish that.

(05-26-2017, 10:42 AM)ExAtomos Wrote: You, and anyone who wants to help with this, would need to commit to being there every evening during prime time hours for quite some time. I think this is the thing that most people don't realize going in. You must contribute a goodly portion of your play time and stick with it for months to maybe get things to change. This is definitely not a "don't do it" post; it's a "just be aware" post. I have to do this with both Pop up RP and the Pizzeria.

(and you are welcome to help at Pop up RP. xDDD )

(05-26-2017, 10:56 AM)Valic Wrote: Idk why but this came to mind when I read the middle of your post lol.

Show Content

King of the Hill Dale GribbleDALE: Listen! I've never been able to say this in my whole life, but as of 2 p.m. yesterday, I am a taxpayer. And I demand $36 worth of service. I know the chain of command, starting with your supervisor, Franklin Thomas, all the way up to the under-intendent of Transportation, Edward Dibble, whose daughters, Pat and Ellie, played ladybug soccer with the daughters of the President of the United States. And I'm not afraid to make some phone calls. I'm your worst nightmare. I have a three-line phone, and absolutely nothing at all to do with my time!

Wish I had the clip instead but yeah lol. The matter now is where would be a nice location to divert RP to for any such purpose. Specific or nonspecific, it'd also be nice to see where others are interested in seeing it besides QS as a "main hub" so to speak.

(05-26-2017, 11:08 AM)Berrod Armstrong Wrote: People tend to group up and go make their own open world RP. A hub is...nice, but honestly, the culture of the server seems to lend more to finding your circle, and then finding all the RP you want within that circle -- and the other circles that intersect it. If one does not yet HAVE a circle, then the largest hub is the Quicksand. Outside of the Quicksand, there are several temporary, repeated hubs that come in the form of different weekly or monthly events (Grindstone and other fight clubs, social events hosted by various FCs, as well as the pop up RP initiatives -- among other things!). 

Balmung seems to have gone beyond the custom of traditional/conventional hubs. That, and with social media more prevalent than ever, a lot of people take to those platforms to make their contacts and find groups that are right for them. Those options tend to be more fruitful than the hope of cultivating a new hub after hours and hours of presence and effort that not everyone may have the time for. If someone someday decides to do it, great! That would be super awesome -- but so far it looks like the alternatives have been winning out.

(05-26-2017, 11:14 AM)ExAtomos Wrote:

(05-26-2017, 10:56 AM)Valic Wrote: Idk why but this came to mind when I read the middle of your post lol.

Show Content

King of the Hill Dale GribbleDALE: Listen! I've never been able to say this in my whole life, but as of 2 p.m. yesterday, I am a taxpayer. And I demand $36 worth of service. I know the chain of command, starting with your supervisor, Franklin Thomas, all the way up to the under-intendent of Transportation, Edward Dibble, whose daughters, Pat and Ellie, played ladybug soccer with the daughters of the President of the United States. And I'm not afraid to make some phone calls. I'm your worst nightmare. I have a three-line phone, and absolutely nothing at all to do with my time!

Wish I had the clip instead but yeah lol. The matter now is where would be a nice location to divert RP to for any such purpose. Specific or nonspecific, it'd also be nice to see where others are interested in seeing it besides QS as a "main hub" so to speak.

I would suggest either the Aftcastle or Carline Canopy as more probable than any open world location. From what I've heard, RP /has/ picked up at the Aftcastle, Gridania is lagging behind.

Pop up RP is a monthly event that in essence creates an RP hub in the open world for an evening. We've used places such as Wineport, the Coffer & Coffin, Fallgourd Float, and Tailfeather and we get a pretty good turn out. Except at our February event (and our upcoming beach party), PuRP is nothing more than "come and hang out" BYORP, just like pick-up RP you'd find at the Quicksand.

(05-26-2017, 01:29 AM)Zhavi Wrote: You know how the Quicksand got so busy?  Because people were there.  Aya waitressed.  Warren and Crofte stood at their pillars.

(05-26-2017, 12:22 PM)Aya Wrote:

(05-26-2017, 01:29 AM)Zhavi Wrote: You know how the Quicksand got so busy?  Because people were there.  Aya waitressed.  Warren and Crofte stood at their pillars.

♥ Zhavi! ♥

I actually don't feel like Balmung has only one "hub" and that hub is around the Quick Sand.  There was a time that was true.  When you could sit in Gridania all day and never observe any RP occurring in public.

There is simply so much RP these days that you can find in anywhere if you're looking.  There are also settings all over the world, and an unbelievable variety created by player housing.

Its the last part I think that is actually the greatest obstacle to creating another outer-world hub as busy as Ul'dah.  People like having control over their RP environment and housing allows that.  So instead of having dozens of RPers crowding the area around the Wench in Limsa, they're more likely gathered around a more dispersed group of locations in player housing areas.

Nonetheless, what Zhavi's said is true.  What creates hubs is the expectation that if you go to a place there will be RP there.  That only takes player effort to create.

On the idea of "road" based RP.  Walking RP is sadly very difficult to do in this game.  Some sort of auto-group walk feature would be really handy for that.

(05-26-2017, 11:42 AM)Valic Wrote: If anything, I'd love to spread it out enough to where people can just walk along roads and find groups/RP every so often in their travels. Something that kinda helps the world feel a bit more alive.