1. What if IC I am supposed to remember something, but OOC I have forgotten. Should I use the (( )) to ask to be reminded, or should I roleplay that my character has forgotten too?
You can absolutely RP that your character has forgotten! I've done that, it's usually pretty comical. However if it's something big or something from Eorzea's history that it would be silly if your character forgot, there's nothing wrong with asking in a /tell.
2. What should be the first area to focus on when coming up with a character?
When I started RPing, Aysun did not even have a past. I suggest starting with the basics. How do they act? Are they overall hostile, kind, bubbly, or passive? Something like that. Then, you can start playing around with "well, why are they like that?" and start coming up with a history.
Remember that a complicated character with a long history does not always make an interesting character. Sometimes those with the simplest pasts will be the most fun to RP with, because they feel so real. Common does not mean boring.
3. As a new roleplayer would it be easier to explain/roleplay the time jump or to be someone who wasn't frozen in time for the five years?
I really don't know. If you can write a history that leads you to the final battle so that you are frozen, more power to you! However, I think it would be a lot easier for most new RPers to avoid the time skip and have their character have just lived through the Bahamut attack on Eorzea and the five years like normal.
I don't think anyone will mind which ever choice you make.
4. What are the Eorzean terms for today, tomorrow, yesterday, height, weight, minutes, seconds, hours(this one is bells correct?), anything else that wouldn't match what you would say in real life?
Here's a lot of them.
Today, tomorrow, yesterday are all fine. Day and Sun are used interchangeably to mean day.
The rest of them are on that website!
5. Do you match the time to real life time? Such as if an event was occurring at 8PM east, would you say IC 8 bells?
We do for the most part, but since people live in different time zones it can be a little awkward. I'd like to say that Eorzea operates on EST just for consistency (everyone can say it's getting late at the same time) but it's kind of a hairy subject. When events are scheduled often time they will say the time in Eorzean (the 16th bell, 2nd Sun of the 1st Umbral Moon) and then the RL time that people can base it on (4PM EST Feb. 2nd).
6. How are birthdays handled?
In Eorzea, we have "namedays" that you choose in character creation. You choose the moon (month) and sun (day), and that is your character's birthday. Since we use real-life passage of time rather than in game (because time goes so quickly in game) you'll have just one nameday per real life year. And yes, most of us will age our character when their nameday passes. Aysun was 17 when the game launched, and she's had two namedays. She's 19 now.
If you are at all confused by the "1st Sun of the 4th Astral Moon" meaning July 1st, please visit this helpful page. And here's some information on the other holidays in Eorzea.
7. If my character got into an argument with another should I remind the person OOC that it's strictly IC, and I am not angry with them personally to ensure no unneeded drama occurs?Â
You shouldn't need to remind them, in a perfect world. : ) Keeping OOC and IC separate is so important and I think most of us are capable of it. However, if it makes you feel better to let the person know the feelings are strictly IC (I've done this before since my character can be quite hostile), just send a friendly PM. Joke about the IC argument/give a little <3/thank the person for the awesome RP.
8. Is voice chat required for roleplaying ever? (I've always just typed in mmos. It's what I'm used to and comfortable with for now.)
Nope! Many people use mumble/ventrilo to socialize with VOIP, but I've never once seen it required for RP. In fact, I hate being on those things when I am RPing, because it's so distracting! VOIP is mostly used for just chatting or raids.
9. How is gil roleplayed? For example, if someone was putting on a show that cost 50 gil would I actually give away 50 gil or just "/em hands over 50 gil."
I think a lot of people are very vague when it comes to gil. I think most of us RP it as a coin currency, but no one really gets into the specifics when paying for things ICly. You can, if you want, physically trade the person the gil (same goes for food items and such, they are sometimes physically given to someone, sometimes just pretend), but it's not always necessary. I keep my IC money and OOC money separate in my mind, because Aysun certainly does NOT have as much gil as I have accumulated in game.
10. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? How is running/walking handled? Do you mainly walk and switch to running when the situation calls for it when RPing?
Strawberry. That is exactly what we do. I can tell who's IC by if they're walking instead of running around town. Running occasionally is used IC as well depending on the RP, and sometimes people who don't RP just like to stroll around walking, so it's not a 100% indication of IC-ness, but it's sure helpful.
You can absolutely RP that your character has forgotten! I've done that, it's usually pretty comical. However if it's something big or something from Eorzea's history that it would be silly if your character forgot, there's nothing wrong with asking in a /tell.
2. What should be the first area to focus on when coming up with a character?
When I started RPing, Aysun did not even have a past. I suggest starting with the basics. How do they act? Are they overall hostile, kind, bubbly, or passive? Something like that. Then, you can start playing around with "well, why are they like that?" and start coming up with a history.
Remember that a complicated character with a long history does not always make an interesting character. Sometimes those with the simplest pasts will be the most fun to RP with, because they feel so real. Common does not mean boring.
3. As a new roleplayer would it be easier to explain/roleplay the time jump or to be someone who wasn't frozen in time for the five years?
I really don't know. If you can write a history that leads you to the final battle so that you are frozen, more power to you! However, I think it would be a lot easier for most new RPers to avoid the time skip and have their character have just lived through the Bahamut attack on Eorzea and the five years like normal.
I don't think anyone will mind which ever choice you make.
4. What are the Eorzean terms for today, tomorrow, yesterday, height, weight, minutes, seconds, hours(this one is bells correct?), anything else that wouldn't match what you would say in real life?
Here's a lot of them.
Today, tomorrow, yesterday are all fine. Day and Sun are used interchangeably to mean day.
The rest of them are on that website!
5. Do you match the time to real life time? Such as if an event was occurring at 8PM east, would you say IC 8 bells?
We do for the most part, but since people live in different time zones it can be a little awkward. I'd like to say that Eorzea operates on EST just for consistency (everyone can say it's getting late at the same time) but it's kind of a hairy subject. When events are scheduled often time they will say the time in Eorzean (the 16th bell, 2nd Sun of the 1st Umbral Moon) and then the RL time that people can base it on (4PM EST Feb. 2nd).
6. How are birthdays handled?
In Eorzea, we have "namedays" that you choose in character creation. You choose the moon (month) and sun (day), and that is your character's birthday. Since we use real-life passage of time rather than in game (because time goes so quickly in game) you'll have just one nameday per real life year. And yes, most of us will age our character when their nameday passes. Aysun was 17 when the game launched, and she's had two namedays. She's 19 now.
If you are at all confused by the "1st Sun of the 4th Astral Moon" meaning July 1st, please visit this helpful page. And here's some information on the other holidays in Eorzea.
7. If my character got into an argument with another should I remind the person OOC that it's strictly IC, and I am not angry with them personally to ensure no unneeded drama occurs?Â
You shouldn't need to remind them, in a perfect world. : ) Keeping OOC and IC separate is so important and I think most of us are capable of it. However, if it makes you feel better to let the person know the feelings are strictly IC (I've done this before since my character can be quite hostile), just send a friendly PM. Joke about the IC argument/give a little <3/thank the person for the awesome RP.
8. Is voice chat required for roleplaying ever? (I've always just typed in mmos. It's what I'm used to and comfortable with for now.)
Nope! Many people use mumble/ventrilo to socialize with VOIP, but I've never once seen it required for RP. In fact, I hate being on those things when I am RPing, because it's so distracting! VOIP is mostly used for just chatting or raids.
9. How is gil roleplayed? For example, if someone was putting on a show that cost 50 gil would I actually give away 50 gil or just "/em hands over 50 gil."
I think a lot of people are very vague when it comes to gil. I think most of us RP it as a coin currency, but no one really gets into the specifics when paying for things ICly. You can, if you want, physically trade the person the gil (same goes for food items and such, they are sometimes physically given to someone, sometimes just pretend), but it's not always necessary. I keep my IC money and OOC money separate in my mind, because Aysun certainly does NOT have as much gil as I have accumulated in game.
10. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? How is running/walking handled? Do you mainly walk and switch to running when the situation calls for it when RPing?
Strawberry. That is exactly what we do. I can tell who's IC by if they're walking instead of running around town. Running occasionally is used IC as well depending on the RP, and sometimes people who don't RP just like to stroll around walking, so it's not a 100% indication of IC-ness, but it's sure helpful.