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Immersive RP vs Avatar RP vs Self RP vs ??


Symphony

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There is a similar thread about this subject but it was from half a year ago so I decided to start a new one.

 

I'd like to hear people's thoughts on something I've been struggling with since I started RPing in MMO's.  I have been roleplaying for many years on different mediums, although it's been quite a while since I've been an active part of any kind of RP due to a lack of time and people to do it with, and it's always been fine and dandy until I started venturing into in-game RP.

 

I'm the type of MMO player who sees their character as themselves rather than something they control, so when I want to RP in-game I want to immerse myself in the world and the lore and for the most part my character is speaking and acting as I would and with that there is a bit of blur between IC and OOC which I thoroughly enjoy.  This goes against what has become the norm of RP (at least from my perspective because I seem to be unique in that I have been part of multiple RP's where that type of RP was common in the communities I have been part of) where players are basically authors and the characters they play are completely separate entities from themselves that they develop on paper ahead of time and plan scenes for and have tumblrs for.  While I don't see anything wrong with this type of RP and practice some of it as it is a basic part of roleplay, I don't see my character as some type of puppet I manipulate since my character is basically me.

 

So my question is: what is this type of RP called so I can find like minded people  who would like to do things like quests and dungeons ICly?  Or am I in the wrong business altogether? ^^;;

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I'm not sure there's a universally-understood name for what you're describing, but I think you're engaging in a good first step! I know from experience that it can get very uncomfortable very fast when two people go into RP with drastically different expectations (such as with players who are their characters versus those who consider their characters as separate entities.)

 

A couple of avenues I might suggest for finding like-minded people are as follows:

 

- Skim through the Making Connections forums and look for people asking for both IC/OoC romances and things along those lines. I know there were a few scattered in there that I've read during my lurking hereabouts. (Apologies for not being able to provide direct links; I'm currently on mobile.)

 

- Consider asking around some Discord general chats? There seems to be a recent shift to Discord as far as RP inquiries and planning. Although I know it says you're on Balmung, I hear the Mateus Discord general chat has quite a few RPers, so there may be someone on that server who's RP expectations align with yours. If you find someone there, I think you should be able to make a new character over there for RP purposes during low-population hours (such as very early morning.)

 

Either way, best of luck in finding what you're looking for!

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I'm the type of MMO player who sees their character as themselves rather than something they control

 

I don't see my character as some type of puppet I manipulate since my character is basically me.

 

So my question is: what is this type of RP called so I can find like minded people  who would like to do things like quests and dungeons ICly?

 

I've generally seen that referred to as self-insert RP. It can get kinda tricky to interact with people who are more on the in-character/out-of-character side of things, most often due to someone playing a mean/villainous/etc character because if someone's is playing the role of an antagonist, but they're doing so directly to you, the player AND character, it's far too easy for something that wasn't intended to be personal to be taken personally. Especially if you're telling people that your character is you and they should be treated the same.

 

Granted, even among IC/OOC RPers, there is always the issue of IC/OOC bleed, which is similar to self-inserting in terms of taking things meant only for a character as something meant for the player as well. There have been quite a few heated threads on this topic or because of this topic.

 

On a side note though, there are IC/OOC RPers who do RP the main scenerio quests, other general quests, and in dungeons. Although I would heavily advise that dungeon RP be limited to 100% premade parties for everyone's enjoyment. RP walking / being an ice-only mage/ etc in a random duty finder group probably would not go over so well. (And hasn't in the past.)

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I'm not sure there's a universally-understood name for what you're describing, but I think you're engaging in a good first step! I know from experience that it can get very uncomfortable very fast when two people go into RP with drastically different expectations (such as with players who are their characters versus those who consider their characters as separate entities.)

 

A couple of avenues I might suggest for finding like-minded people are as follows:

 

- Skim through the Making Connections forums and look for people asking for both IC/OoC romances and things along those lines. I know there were a few scattered in there that I've read during my lurking hereabouts. (Apologies for not being able to provide direct links; I'm currently on mobile.)

 

- Consider asking around some Discord general chats? There seems to be a recent shift to Discord as far as RP inquiries and planning. Although I know it says you're on Balmung, I hear the Mateus Discord general chat has quite a few RPers, so there may be someone on that server who's RP expectations align with yours. If you find someone there, I think you should be able to make a new character over there for RP purposes during low-population hours (such as very early morning.)

 

Either way, best of luck in finding what you're looking for!

 

Thank you for the suggestions!  I'll be sure to take a look. :)

 

I've generally seen that referred to as self-insert RP. It can get kinda tricky to interact with people who are more on the in-character/out-of-character side of things, most often due to someone playing a mean/villainous/etc character because if someone's is playing the role of an antagonist, but they're doing so directly to you, the player AND character, it's far too easy for something that wasn't intended to be personal to be taken personally. Especially if you're telling people that your character is you and they should be treated the same.

 

Granted, even among IC/OOC RPers, there is always the issue of IC/OOC bleed, which is similar to self-inserting in terms of taking things meant only for a character as something meant for the player as well. There have been quite a few heated threads on this topic or because of this topic.

 

On a side note though, there are IC/OOC RPers who do RP the main scenerio quests, other general quests, and in dungeons. Although I would heavily advise that dungeon RP be limited to 100% premade parties for everyone's enjoyment. RP walking / being an ice-only mage/ etc in a random duty finder group probably would not go over so well. (And hasn't in the past.)

 

Yeah, having a villain character would be a sort of half(?) exception since no one (at least I would hope) would want to actually evil towards someone on purpose.  And I agree, RPing in a dungeon with a PUG would be disastrous, lol.

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There is a similar thread about this subject but it was from half a year ago so I decided to start a new one.

 

I'd like to hear people's thoughts on something I've been struggling with since I started RPing in MMO's.  I have been roleplaying for many years on different mediums, although it's been quite a while since I've been an active part of any kind of RP due to a lack of time and people to do it with, and it's always been fine and dandy until I started venturing into in-game RP.

 

I'm the type of MMO player who sees their character as themselves rather than something they control, so when I want to RP in-game I want to immerse myself in the world and the lore and for the most part my character is speaking and acting as I would and with that there is a bit of blur between IC and OOC which I thoroughly enjoy.  This goes against what has become the norm of RP (at least from my perspective because I seem to be unique in that I have been part of multiple RP's where that type of RP was common in the communities I have been part of) where players are basically authors and the characters they play are completely separate entities from themselves that they develop on paper ahead of time and plan scenes for and have tumblrs for.  While I don't see anything wrong with this type of RP and practice some of it as it is a basic part of roleplay, I don't see my character as some type of puppet I manipulate since my character is basically me.

 

So my question is: what is this type of RP called so I can find like minded people  who would like to do things like quests and dungeons ICly?  Or am I in the wrong business altogether? ^^;;

 

This is what I do with a few friends. Last year upon returning for Stormblood I DMed an IC dungeon delve campaign for them in Palace of the Dead, all the way up to floor 100. We also did a couple of IC dungeon runs, such as the final battle in Ala Mhigo. Playing a tank makes it easy. We routinely ignore the tumblr cliques, and the game's already-existing canon tools like linkpearls and aetheryte teleportation make IC communication / meetups easy.

 

Your best bet is to look up FCs with similar themes and check out their guild forums or Discords. Another method is to check the recently updated pages section of the player wiki to see who's active and seeking contacts. The biggest challenge is logistics and getting concurrent timezones - which is when you may wish to consider starting open forum post RP or Skype post RP with others.

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This is what I do with a few friends. Last year upon returning for Stormblood I DMed an IC dungeon delve campaign for them in Palace of the Dead, all the way up to floor 100. We also did a couple of IC dungeon runs, such as the final battle in Ala Mhigo. Playing a tank makes it easy. We routinely ignore the tumblr cliques, and the game's already-existing canon tools like linkpearls and aetheryte teleportation make IC communication / meetups easy.

 

Your best bet is to look up FCs with similar themes and check out their guild forums or Discords. Another method is to check the recently updated pages section of the player wiki to see who's active and seeking contacts. The biggest challenge is logistics and getting concurrent timezones - which is when you may wish to consider starting open forum post RP or Skype post RP with others.

 

I find the tumblr cliques gross myself. :P

 

And yeah, I've been on the lookout for FC's that might be of the same mindset.  Thanks for the suggestions!

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TLDR: Just be careful, no one wants to get hurt. Rp is meant to be fun.


As someone who sees my character as a character and not myself, I just wanted to briefly mention it's a great way to explore something you wouldn't normally do. A great example being someone who is afraid of heights. Do I have that fear? No, but I've roleplayed a character with it. It's interesting to see how it's affected her life. It allows me to also learn from them, a barrier between their mistakes and my mistakes.

 

The one thing about roleplaying yourself is that barrier bleed is a lot harder to avoid. Even if you keep that separation, if your ic self is having a bad day, you might end up having one too. There's also the fact that it is a lot harder to get to know the character for someone like me. If you are your character, where's the line drawn? What if someone else suffers it, and is annoyed with your character? If you're a self insert, doesn't that mean they would also be mad at you? A brief comment like 'man your character really annoys me' can take on a whole different meaning when you are your character.

 

Then there's the chances missed out to give them backstory. Sure, you probably never had to kill people oocly, but what if your character had to kill someone they loved? How would it affect them? If it's not you, you get that barrier of safety, so that you don't get pulled 'too ic', and get startled when the bubble bursts.

 

Barrier bleed WILL happen. No one is immune. If your character is having a good day, then you will to! If your character is depressed, it's hard not to feel down yourself, even if it's just because it's not fun to rp them.

 

Just be careful roleplaying that way.

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TLDR: Just be careful, no one wants to get hurt. Rp is meant to be fun.


As someone who sees my character as a character and not myself, I just wanted to briefly mention it's a great way to explore something you wouldn't normally do. A great example being someone who is afraid of heights. Do I have that fear? No, but I've roleplayed a character with it. It's interesting to see how it's affected her life. It allows me to also learn from them, a barrier between their mistakes and my mistakes.

 

The one thing about roleplaying yourself is that barrier bleed is a lot harder to avoid. Even if you keep that separation, if your ic self is having a bad day, you might end up having one too. There's also the fact that it is a lot harder to get to know the character for someone like me. If you are your character, where's the line drawn? What if someone else suffers it, and is annoyed with your character? If you're a self insert, doesn't that mean they would also be mad at you? A brief comment like 'man your character really annoys me' can take on a whole different meaning when you are your character.

 

Then there's the chances missed out to give them backstory. Sure, you probably never had to kill people oocly, but what if your character had to kill someone they loved? How would it affect them? If it's not you, you get that barrier of safety, so that you don't get pulled 'too ic', and get startled when the bubble bursts.

 

Barrier bleed WILL happen. No one is immune. If your character is having a good day, then you will to! If your character is depressed, it's hard not to feel down yourself, even if it's just because it's not fun to rp them.

 

Just be careful roleplaying that way.

 

For sure.  I'm not totally against the idea of having characters that are strictly characters and I'm even entertaining the idea of having alts for that exact purpose (if I can ever establish my main character somewhere QQ), plus as an actor I immensely enjoy roles that are very different from myself.

 

When I say immersive/self insert RP, I don't make my character 100% a mirror image of myself.  It would defeat the purpose because, like you said, you would miss out on chances for backstory, not to mention it would just be boring.  I don't live in a world of magic and beastmen in my real life and I have no idea how to use a bow or a sword so I'm already a character being in the game's world.  I have a backstory for my character that is something I have never experienced but generally my character's personality and behavior reflects my own.

 

It's true that people can get hurt if they aren't careful.  Keeping a level head and remembering not to take things too personally are important.

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Symphony wrote stuff in the original post and I fail at quoting...

 

On Immersive vs Avatar vs Self RP.

Self RP is something I worry about because there's often way too much bleed over.  People are reacting to an extension of yourself, and it becomes difficult to isolate your real self from the impact of this because the character is mostly you.  It's a dangerous thing for self-insertion, for these reasons.  I would say there is a little bit of self in every character because it's impossible not to have that happen, but playing mostly self makes it especially dangerous. (edit: Neneso covered this nicely)

 

Now, Immersive RP is my bread and butter.  I love being able to shed myself and immerse myself in the character in the world.  It's not much different from a mix of improv and method acting.  Key things I like to do with this is avoid meta/OOC information.  I want to know what my character knows and very little past that about other characters.  Ideally, I won't even know the other players OOCly at all.  That way I'm having my character react to their characters in an organic fashion.   If things go well, things go well, if things go horribly they go horribly.  These are things that help develop the character and build realism and keep RP dynamic.   There is a bit more self in this, a bit more danger of bleed over (it's unavoidable) then avatar RP as you're blocking out you for the character while playing.  

 

I'm not sure which of these you're referring to exactly.

 

It's difficult to find people who RP like either of these as both styles seem to have really fallen out of favor in the last 5-10 years due to a number of factors.   At one point the immersive style RP was the norm on most games I played on.  This was over a decade ago however, and times have changed.   MMO's have become mainstream, Roleplay isn't as much a 'thing reserved for the geeks and nerds' in societies eyes but socially acceptable.

 

The change in major styles has also followed certain societal changes that I'm not sure if it's appropriate to get into too much depth here on, but I've seen the more controlled avatar RP pick up as society in general has become more fearful in general then open.  As the base trust between people has faded, that lack of trust impacts how we play as well.

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I'm curious how... immersive rpers(?)... handle people who RP bad guys! I RP a lot of bad guys. And idiots. And jerks. So it'd be helpful to know.

 

How immersive RPers handle people who RP bad guys.   

In short, don't handle the player, handle the character.

 

It really depends on the type of antagonist.  In all cases I prefer to leave the reactions as IC as possible with little OOC contact (unless situation merits it.)  I feel you get more 'true' and organic reactions when it's the character reacting to the character without being clouded by foreknowledge or consideration for the person behind the keyboard.  A character -will- fail more this way, but conflict breeds character development.  

 

I have one exception to this, is I abjectly avoid RP with 'stupid-evil' characters because it never ends well.    (Stupid evil to means evil without consideration of consequence or feasibility.   The evil for evil's sake types like the "I burn the orphanage in the middle of the city down and I somehow escape notice" situations.)  I never really RP a guard / authority type PC so it's easy for me to just say 'Leave it to the Yellow Jackets to deal with" and walk away.    If all else fails having your character spontaneously catch fire and run away screaming can get you out of most unsavory RP situations.

 

I absolutely love a well thought out intelligent-evil antagonist (read: the good guy of their own story) and conflict with them is often a real treat.

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I'm curious how... immersive rpers(?)... handle people who RP bad guys! I RP a lot of bad guys. And idiots. And jerks. So it'd be helpful to know.

 

How immersive RPers handle people who RP bad guys.   

In short, don't handle the player, handle the character.

 

It really depends on the type of antagonist.  In all cases I prefer to leave the reactions as IC as possible with little OOC contact (unless situation merits it.)  I feel you get more 'true' and organic reactions when it's the character reacting to the character without being clouded by foreknowledge or consideration for the person behind the keyboard.  A character -will- fail more this way, but conflict breeds character development.  

 

I have one exception to this, is I abjectly avoid RP with 'stupid-evil' characters because it never ends well.    (Stupid evil to means evil without consideration of consequence or feasibility.   The evil for evil's sake types like the "I burn the orphanage in the middle of the city down and I somehow escape notice" situations.)  I never really RP a guard / authority type PC so it's easy for me to just say 'Leave it to the Yellow Jackets to deal with" and walk away.    If all else fails having your character spontaneously catch fire and run away screaming can get you out of most unsavory RP situations.

 

I absolutely love a well thought out intelligent-evil antagonist (read: the good guy of their own story) and conflict with them is often a real treat.

 

Yah that makes sense. I don't think I'm an immersive RPer, because I like to have a lot of OOC chat during and outside of RP. It's pretty interesting.

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On Immersive vs Avatar vs Self RP.

Self RP is something I worry about because there's often way too much bleed over.  People are reacting to an extension of yourself, and it becomes difficult to isolate your real self from the impact of this because the character is mostly you.  It's a dangerous thing for self-insertion, for these reasons.  I would say there is a little bit of self in every character because it's impossible not to have that happen, but playing mostly self makes it especially dangerous.  (edit: Neneso covered this nicely)

 

Now, Immersive RP is my bread and butter.  I love being able to shed myself and immerse myself in the character in the world.  It's not much different from a mix of improv and method acting.  Key things I like to do with this is avoid meta/OOC information.  I want to know what my character knows and very little past that about other characters.  Ideally, I won't even know the other players OOCly at all.  That way I'm having my character react to their characters in an organic fashion.   If things go well, things go well, if things go horribly they go horribly.  These are things that help develop the character and build realism and keep RP dynamic.   There is a bit more self in this, a bit more danger of bleed over (it's unavoidable) then avatar RP as you're blocking out you for the character while playing.  

 

I'm not sure which of these you're referring to exactly.

 

It's difficult to find people who RP like either of these as both styles seem to have really fallen out of favor in the last 5-10 years due to a number of factors.   At one point the immersive style RP was the norm on most games I played on.  This was over a decade ago however, and times have changed.   MMO's have become mainstream, Roleplay isn't as much a 'thing reserved for the geeks and nerds' in societies eyes but socially acceptable.

 

The change in major styles has also followed certain societal changes that I'm not sure if it's appropriate to get into too much depth here on, but I've seen the more controlled avatar RP pick up as society in general has become more fearful in general then open.  As the base trust between people has faded, that lack of trust impacts how we play as well.

 

I'm basically referring to what you described as self RP.  I was asking what the common term for that is but it looks like there is none and everyone calls it something different.

 

Yah that makes sense. I don't think I'm an immersive RPer, because I like to have a lot of OOC chat during and outside of RP. It's pretty interesting.

 

Being immersive doesn't restrict you from chatting OOC.  It's just that doing too much of it in the middle of the scene breaks the immersion.  I don't see why it would be a problem outside of RP though?

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Yah that makes sense. I don't think I'm an immersive RPer, because I like to have a lot of OOC chat during and outside of RP. It's pretty interesting.

 

Being immersive doesn't restrict you from chatting OOC.  It's just that doing too much of it in the middle of the scene breaks the immersion.  I don't see why it would be a problem outside of RP though?

 

For some people knowing the other folks you're RPing with rather well outside of RP can make keeping the IC RP organic.  Bleed through happens both ways.  

 

For example, It's really hard for me to keep people out of their characters when responding to them.  I'm more likely to be more lenient ICly with a friend or to steer RP towards stuff they enjoy more then let the character respond authentically.  This is especially true when in situations that define relationships (not the romantic kind, but interpersonal.  IE: an adversary is still a relationship between people).  IC bonds get made easier when you're chatting with the person behind the scenes.  It's easy to get caught up in possibilities and stories that way work out ways the characters can mesh even if it wouldn't otherwise organically happen.

 

Mind you, I do a lot of OOC chatting, just not much with those I'm currently ICly interacting with.   That said, it's been a while since I've done really serious RP like that.  (read: years)  I don't think there are enough living world style immersive RPers, even on Balmung to make it work.

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For some people knowing the other folks you're RPing with rather well outside of RP can make keeping the IC RP organic.  Bleed through happens both ways.  

 

For example, It's really hard for me to keep people out of their characters when responding to them.  I'm more likely to be more lenient ICly with a friend or to steer RP towards stuff they enjoy more then let the character respond authentically.  This is especially true when in situations that define relationships (not the romantic kind, but interpersonal.  IE: an adversary is still a relationship between people).  IC bonds get made easier when you're chatting with the person behind the scenes.  It's easy to get caught up in possibilities and stories that way work out ways the characters can mesh even if it wouldn't otherwise organically happen.

 

Mind you, I do a lot of OOC chatting, just not much with those I'm currently ICly interacting with.   That said, it's been a while since I've done really serious RP like that.  (read: years)  I don't think there are enough living world style immersive RPers, even on Balmung to make it work.

 

Yeah, I can understand that, and I'm with you on how long it's been since I've dived deep in a RP.  I see people here and there walking around ICly outside of the Quicksand so hopefully I find a group of them.  I'm looking at a potential FC at the moment.

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I'm not sure what my rp style would be qualified as, though I find it is almost the far opposite extreme of self rp. I write rp as though I am an author to a narrative. I don't see my characters as any extension of myself and I don't project any of my own feelings or thoughts into my characters. If we happen to align in values, it's completely coincidental. 

 

I think what this allows me to do is separate myself from this character I'm authoring and really take a step back and look at rp like a narrative. For instance, people naturally like to win, but if I see an opportunity for growth in loss, I'll try to write my character into the loss, if I can. I like to story weave and so I see my characters like I would see any other character in a book. The difference is that I get a creative say in their contribution to the story at hand. Rp to me is a collaborative writing project.

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I'm not sure what my rp style would be qualified as

 

I'm sort of in the same boat - not knowing what I would really qualify as. I do keep my character and myself separate, but I do also RP as the character - getting into that sort of method acting thing others have mentioned. In doing so, of course, some of my own personal feelings seep in but I do try to keep that to a minimum. I'm only human, though, so there's been times where I've felt upset because of how someone treated my character... but it's usually a passing thing.

 

To further kind of cement that sort of "Actor" style, while I'm perfectly fine doing more... off the cuff improv-style RP (mostly because I do think it interesting and I need the practice), I am also sort of actor-like in that I do also like having a general idea for the scene I'm acting out beforehand. I don't mean like... knowing how everything will go, but having that sort of "base idea" for the scene - why they're there and the basic goal my character might be striving for.

 

Example: RPing going to the market with a student to get supplies for cooking lessons. General idea of where the scene is taking place and a vague idea of the goal. It can derail into something else, or other things could happen during it, but having that base scene to run off is nice. And sometimes having a base framework is also nice if you're delving into topics you or your RP partner(s) might have Opinions on - that way you can discuss limits and things like that ahead of time.

 

That said, I also enjoy just sort of chatting OOCly with my RP partner or others while I RP anyway... either commenting on what's going on or just generally shooting the breeze in-between posts. :blush:

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So, before playing on FFXIV (or WoW) I used to play on a few other games and with a number of other communities. The way that a lot of people broke down different RPing 'styles' (from an OOC/IC meshing perspective) in these communities was to classify it as one of three things: Social, Persona and Strict. 

 

Social was more or less playing as just yourself, but with an avatar or character that may not have looked like you outside the game or screen. The roleplay done was not so much intended to be you playing a character, but rather attempting to break the boundaries and limitations of distance and reach for deeper connections in a social/OOC way. Often these were kept short to things like *hugs* or whatever else. There are no backstories, no alternate stories, etc. Most people in MMOs, I find, do this sort of thing and don't really consider it roleplay. 

If anyone has seen that 'Father of Light' show, then that's a perfect example of what I'm talking about here. 

 

Strict RP was more or less what others have said, and there are obviously varying degrees of it, too. But for the sake of brevity it was putting a hard and defining line between OOC and IC. Some people who do this sort of thing don't bother with OOC connections between those they RP with (as was mentioned) while others hop back and forth between this and OOC interactions with their RP partners. 

Either way, this is very much the 'author vs the character' mindset, and there is at least an attempt made to define and differentiate the two.

 

Persona was a lot like a blend of the two above (and more what you're talking about, I think, OP). There could be alternate backstories, characters that one made and emoted with and all of that, but the connections under all of that blended between strict and social for various reasons. 

One of the better examples that I can think of off the top of my head is a pair of friends of mine who are an OOC couple. They may dive into an RP world and play their characters as characters, but they also allow the lines of fiction and reality to blend, and happily so. 

Some characters may start out in a relationship together or they may have that as a goal, perhaps even with the intention being to strengthen the bonds they have OOC.

 

I know a lot of people make blending OOC/IC out to be something undesirable, but really it comes down to just finding your people and everyone being on the same page. There's nothing inherently wrong with any RP style as long as all parties consent and agree to it.

 

I've done all of these types of RP myself with varying degrees of success. I don't quite know how one would go about finding more of the 'Persona' type RPers on this game -- I've done a bit of searching on that myself, actually. I tend to keep my RP these days mostly on the strict side since that seems to be what most people are searching for, but you're definitely not alone!

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Lots of good stuff here. I particularly like the persona/strict categorization.

 

My expectations and style of RP predominately come from playing D&D, which I think matches the persona. I enjoy playing as a character where I set their motivations, but their circumstances are set by someone or something else. This gives me an opportunity to come up with how my character responds to the circumstances and changes as a result. I'm lucky enough to have found an FC that's perfect for that style: the officers design an overarching "campaign", allowing its members to figure out how their characters take part in and react to the story (and by extension, to each other).

 

I think one of the biggest challenges for RPers like me is trying to be less "reactive". I can't speak for anyone else, but  when I started RPing, I was under the impression that the only thing I can control is my character. I still have trouble coordinating with other players to help me tell a story about myself, or emote-ing NPCs to drive my story forward.

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I think one of the biggest challenges for RPers like me is trying to be less "reactive". I can't speak for anyone else, but  when I started RPing, I was under the impression that the only thing I can control is my character. I still have trouble coordinating with other players to help me tell a story about myself, or emote-ing NPCs to drive my story forward.

I can feel you on that one. The other concern I think involved in that is being worried about being too... declarative? On what's going on. You don't want to be the sole driving force, saying what is and isn't happening (unless you're in that GM position, but you still don't want to railroad your participants)... and take away any of your partner(s)'s prerogative in the scene.

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So, before playing on FFXIV (or WoW) I used to play on a few other games and with a number of other communities. The way that a lot of people broke down different RPing 'styles' (from an OOC/IC meshing perspective) in these communities was to classify it as one of three things: Social, Persona and Strict. 

 

Social was more or less playing as just yourself, but with an avatar or character that may not have looked like you outside the game or screen. The roleplay done was not so much intended to be you playing a character, but rather attempting to break the boundaries and limitations of distance and reach for deeper connections in a social/OOC way. Often these were kept short to things like *hugs* or whatever else. There are no backstories, no alternate stories, etc. Most people in MMOs, I find, do this sort of thing and don't really consider it roleplay. 

If anyone has seen that 'Father of Light' show, then that's a perfect example of what I'm talking about here. 

 

Strict RP was more or less what others have said, and there are obviously varying degrees of it, too. But for the sake of brevity it was putting a hard and defining line between OOC and IC. Some people who do this sort of thing don't bother with OOC connections between those they RP with (as was mentioned) while others hop back and forth between this and OOC interactions with their RP partners. 

Either way, this is very much the 'author vs the character' mindset, and there is at least an attempt made to define and differentiate the two.

 

Persona was a lot like a blend of the two above (and more what you're talking about, I think, OP). There could be alternate backstories, characters that one made and emoted with and all of that, but the connections under all of that blended between strict and social for various reasons. 

One of the better examples that I can think of off the top of my head is a pair of friends of mine who are an OOC couple. They may dive into an RP world and play their characters as characters, but they also allow the lines of fiction and reality to blend, and happily so. 

Some characters may start out in a relationship together or they may have that as a goal, perhaps even with the intention being to strengthen the bonds they have OOC.

 

I know a lot of people make blending OOC/IC out to be something undesirable, but really it comes down to just finding your people and everyone being on the same page. There's nothing inherently wrong with any RP style as long as all parties consent and agree to it.

 

I've done all of these types of RP myself with varying degrees of success. I don't quite know how one would go about finding more of the 'Persona' type RPers on this game -- I've done a bit of searching on that myself, actually. I tend to keep my RP these days mostly on the strict side since that seems to be what most people are searching for, but you're definitely not alone!

 

Fascinating!  I've never heard of those categories but those are pretty useful.  And thank you!

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So, before playing on FFXIV (or WoW) I used to play on a few other games and with a number of other communities. The way that a lot of people broke down different RPing 'styles' (from an OOC/IC meshing perspective) in these communities was to classify it as one of three things: Social, Persona and Strict. 

 

...

 

I do like these definitions.  It's odd trying to blend answers to other people's definitions as there are so many ways to describe the many styles of play.  I guess by this set I prefer strict personally but persona seems to be the way to go in this day and age.

 

Scarlet Fisher

 

I think one of the biggest challenges for RPers like me is trying to be less "reactive". I can't speak for anyone else, but  when I started RPing, I was under the impression that the only thing I can control is my character. I still have trouble coordinating with other players to help me tell a story about myself, or emote-ing NPCs to drive my story forward.

 

 

I have so many hesitations on this myself.  I feel I have agency over my own creations.  I have issues with bending lore or declaring NPC actions It's difficult for me to push past that, especially when interacting with those I'm unfamiliar with.

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  • 4 weeks later...

To be completely honest I get nervous around players who RP "avatars" of themselves. Not only do I not know how to interact when my characters are the opposite (nothing at all to with me) but I've seen too much drama go down. Specifically when intense interaction happens, like a conflict between characters or romance crops up. I don't think anyone who is RPing themselves is asking for it but when emotions run high it can be very different when a player relates too personally with the character vs a player who is removed from their own character. 

 

As an example, I honestly would not feel negatively if someone threw a mug of ale across the Quicksand and bashed my character's tooth out of his head. Someone shouts he talks too damn much and his face looks like a Chocobo's rear. Well... seems some plot is about to jump off and it may even be violently themed! Sign me up. 

 

If that was a little Eorzean version me, that's not as amusing. Because the character acts like, probably looks like me. So someone is attacking -me- in a bar for no reason. Isn't it impossible not to feel personally attacked? Maybe I don't understand how it works?

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