Hydaelyn Role-Players

Hey Guys! I'm Vryn, a roleplayer from other games interested in exploring the FFXIV RP options - just wondering if you guys could help me out with an enquiry before I start with the full introductions, profiles and trying to find folks to roleplay with.

So, I'm located in Europe, and play on Chaos. I've seen from a fairly extensive investigation already that the big communities are chilling on Balmung. That's cool, but - honestly, the fee just to get in via server transfer is a turn-off and the latency issues via distance for actual gameplay shenanigans/AOE evasion isn't that appealing either (my internet connection based on my address isn't ace). While I've seen there's an EU directory for roleplayers on Balmung, the bulk of the players are naturally going to be NA and working out of NA time zones. Are there any roleplaying communities on any of the Chaos Data Center servers?

No, there are no proper RP communities on the EU servers. You still find a lot more roleplay here on Balmung as an EU person, on EU times, then on any 'proper' EU server.

- EU person

Hello! Also EU, and although I personally play at more US playtimes, I keep tabs on the EU RP scene so I can encourage my functional human more normal friends to join in with it.

Three points I'll address:

- Paying to get onto Balmung - I legitimately think it's worth it. It's less than the cover fee for an IRL nightclub, and honestly, you only get to enjoy that for one night. You get to enjoy access to the Balmung community indefinitely for a one-time fee, and you can bring a full load of 8 characters at once (assuming you pay the subscription plan that allows you to have 8, lol). If you roleplay there even just once a week, I think you're getting your money's worth, even as an EU timezone player. It's basically a roleplay DLC.

- Gameplay latency - this is a legit concern, and something that we've been warned will get worse for EU players with the new data centre upgrade that's coming up, and not better (likely the physical location of the data centre is further from Europe). So here's my suggestion: keep your current highly levelled character(s) on your current realm. Do your weeklies, your progression, your content enjoyment there, with your existing friends. And then for roleplay, roll a fresh set of characters on a random server, wait the 3-day cooldown period, and then transfer them to Balmung. It'll take you a little while to get them back up to a serviceable level - but honestly, I find I can access most RP events on a level 15 alt with an airship pass. That only takes an hour or two at most if you skip all the cutscenes and basically know how to play the game. More levels are a boon, but not a hard necessity.

- Finding EU roleplayers on Balmung - I'm gonna give the same advice I gave someone else recently: this tumblr, Balmung EU, is a godsend for getting started. They list out the EU-friendly events that take place every week - there's usually at least one a day, sometimes barring reset days. I find once you attend events that suit you both in timezone and RP style, you find other people at those events who you get on with. You add them to your friends' list - and then when you log on even if there's no events happening at that time, there's people on your friends list you can reach out to who are likely to be available. (Events on set days/times are also great for planning your RP around an existing PvE static/FC schedule.)

Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

Feel free to check in at the EU Directory as well, it offers a list of some of the FC's and Linkshells on Balmung that are focused on EU or tries to cater to EU roleplay times. Hopefully you will be able to figure out where you want to go for RP! Happy hunting.

(04-14-2017, 12:28 PM)Virella Wrote: [ -> ]No, there are no proper RP communities on the EU servers. You still find a lot more roleplay here on Balmung as an EU person, on EU times, then on any 'proper' EU server.

- EU person

Well, while it sucks there aren't any roleplaying communities on Chaos, at least there's confirmation of the european roleplaying presence in our timezone. Thanks for the heads up, Virella!

(04-14-2017, 12:55 PM)Kilieit Wrote: [ -> ]Hello! Also EU, and although I personally play at more US playtimes, I keep tabs on the EU RP scene so I can encourage my functional human more normal friends to join in with it.

Three points I'll address:

- Paying to get onto Balmung - I legitimately think it's worth it. It's less than the cover fee for an IRL nightclub, and honestly, you only get to enjoy that for one night. You get to enjoy access to the Balmung community indefinitely for a one-time fee, and you can bring a full load of 8 characters at once (assuming you pay the subscription plan that allows you to have 8, lol). If you roleplay there even just once a week, I think you're getting your money's worth, even as an EU timezone player. It's basically a roleplay DLC.

- Gameplay latency - this is a legit concern, and something that we've been warned will get worse for EU players with the new data centre upgrade that's coming up, and not better (likely the physical location of the data centre is further from Europe). So here's my suggestion: keep your current highly levelled character(s) on your current realm. Do your weeklies, your progression, your content enjoyment there, with your existing friends. And then for roleplay, roll a fresh set of characters on a random server, wait the 3-day cooldown period, and then transfer them to Balmung. It'll take you a little while to get them back up to a serviceable level - but honestly, I find I can access most RP events on a level 15 alt with an airship pass. That only takes an hour or two at most if you skip all the cutscenes and basically know how to play the game. More levels are a boon, but not a hard necessity.

- Finding EU roleplayers on Balmung - I'm gonna give the same advice I gave someone else recently: this tumblr, Balmung EU, is a godsend for getting started. They list out the EU-friendly events that take place every week - there's usually at least one a day, sometimes barring reset days. I find once you attend events that suit you both in timezone and RP style, you find other people at those events who you get on with. You add them to your friends' list - and then when you log on even if there's no events happening at that time, there's people on your friends list you can reach out to who are likely to be available. (Events on set days/times are also great for planning your RP around an existing PvE static/FC schedule.)

Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

Hi Kilieit! Thanks for the detailed reply.

Regarding your points:

Paying into Balmung: Well, while I'm not in love with the idea of having to pay for something I figure I should have access to anyway with my subscription - you make a fair point, it's a one-time investment for unlimited use. Plus the community sounds ace - so there's your value. People wouldn't be paying it or suggesting it if it wasn't worthwhile, right?

Legit Gameplay Latency Concerns: This... bugs me quite a bit, especially with the news it stands to become an even bigger problem. While I'm primarily interested in roleplaying, I enjoy participating in OOC shenanigans from time to time with roleplaying buddies too. Not to mention that I find the difficulty in most class duties and dungeons tends to come in the time-sensitive AOE attacks that should be fairly easy to evade if you're not lagging out. This removes a dimension of the game, even if it isn't the main one people are primarily coming to Balmung for. I do appreciate that you can engage in most things from level 15, though the lack of glamour for character appearances and low-level gear looking real mundane is a bit lame. The inability to take RP to higher-level zones for a change of scenery for fear of mob chewing on you also suuuuucks. Have any EU players actually levelled start-to-finish on Balmung? How hard is it by comparison?

Finding EU Players: First, that Tumblr is ace. Great resource, and really reinforces what Virella was saying - there's a definite EU presence that meets regularly, which alleviates a lot of the fear of paying into Balmung only to find there's not much to merit the entry fee. Second, good advice. Thanks man.

Thanks a ton for the help, Kilieit!

(04-14-2017, 01:21 PM)Maril Wrote: [ -> ]Feel free to check in at the EU Directory as well, it offers a list of some of the FC's and Linkshells on Balmung that are focused on EU or tries to cater to EU roleplay times. Hopefully you will be able to figure out where you want to go for RP! Happy hunting.

Hey Maril, thanks for replying! I had seen the EU directory, but I wanted to check that there was still a prominent EU presence regularly before I considered coming on over. But given you're endorsing it, I can't imagine it's out of date or anything. Thanks for pointing me in the direction!

Thanks again for your help, guys. There was one other thing I wanted to ask - I'm not massively up on Eorzean lore, and I have a few questions about things I might need to know that would probably be pretty trivial to you experienced folks. Is there anywhere/anyone I could be directed to for a few enquiries?

(04-15-2017, 07:24 AM)Vryn Wrote: [ -> ]<snip>

While it isn't completely, Sounsyy is our resident lore goddess.

Her Lore Complication

It is super handy! Make sure to also check out her Tumblr index and all that. But for example, she has anything gathered about the races, more so what SE gives at character creation! Might be super handy to decide on what you want to roleplay.

(04-15-2017, 07:38 AM)Virella Wrote: [ -> ]While it isn't completely, Sounsyy is our resident lore goddess.

Her Lore Complication

It is super handy! Make sure to also check out her Tumblr index and all that. But for example, she has anything gathered about the races, more so what SE gives at character creation! Might be super handy to decide on what you want to roleplay.

This is great! My thanks to Sounsyy (if she's reading!) for this piece and to you for pointing it out to me, Virella. If I had any questions, would it be cool to ask here, or is there a specific person/place to go?

(04-15-2017, 07:44 AM)Vryn Wrote: [ -> ]

(04-15-2017, 07:38 AM)Virella Wrote: [ -> ]While it isn't completely, Sounsyy is our resident lore goddess.

Her Lore Complication

It is super handy! Make sure to also check out her Tumblr index and all that. But for example, she has anything gathered about the races, more so what SE gives at character creation! Might be super handy to decide on what you want to roleplay.

This is great! My thanks to Sounsyy (if she's reading!) for this piece and to you for pointing it out to me, Virella. If I had any questions, would it be cool to ask here, or is there a specific person/place to go?

You could always make a thread in lore discussions or character workshop. People are happy enough to help out new folk!

(04-15-2017, 08:01 AM)Virella Wrote: [ -> ]You could always make a thread in lore discussions or character workshop. People are happy enough to help out new folk!

Awesome. Much obliged!

Hello! Fellow Euro-Balmung player here too. Along with the others here, I haven't had much issue finding random/event-based RP, even during the daytime here. Totally worth it! Welcome to RPC regardless.

(04-15-2017, 09:15 AM)Jean Wrote: [ -> ]Hello! Fellow Euro-Balmung player here too. Along with the others here, I haven't had much issue finding random/event-based RP, even during the daytime here. Totally worth it! Welcome to RPC regardless.

Thanks! 

(04-15-2017, 07:24 AM)Vryn Wrote: [ -> ]Legit Gameplay Latency Concerns: This... bugs me quite a bit, especially with the news it stands to become an even bigger problem. While I'm primarily interested in roleplaying, I enjoy participating in OOC shenanigans from time to time with roleplaying buddies too. Not to mention that I find the difficulty in most class duties and dungeons tends to come in the time-sensitive AOE attacks that should be fairly easy to evade if you're not lagging out. This removes a dimension of the game, even if it isn't the main one people are primarily coming to Balmung for. I do appreciate that you can engage in most things from level 15, though the lack of glamour for character appearances and low-level gear looking real mundane is a bit lame. The inability to take RP to higher-level zones for a change of scenery for fear of mob chewing on you also suuuuucks. Have any EU players actually levelled start-to-finish on Balmung? How hard is it by comparison?

Hi there, everyone else has answered the other questions so I'll address this one. Also fellow EU player that has played on the EU servers before moving over to Balmung. As someone who has fairly decent internet, I really don't struggle with doing PvE content at all. The only times I have ever dropped from the game or lagged was when a) my router was having a shitfit b) the game servers themselves were having a shitfit and it affected everybody, not just me or EU friends. I never struggle running dungeons or even endgame content, and my friends who are on terrible Scottish internet still manage to raid and progress just fine. This might change, but hopefully not by a lot.

Also, you really don't need to go beyond level 15 to roleplay. A lot of RP can be found in the three main city-states and their housing areas, especially in the Ul'dah area. You can basically make a level 1 alt there and boom, you'll walk into RP just about every you go. And the glamour game isn't that bad at low levels, I have at least five outfits for a lvl15 character ranging from the mundane to adventuring kit. I have personally leveled many alts on Balmung, and tbh, it's very easy to do with the likes of Palace of the Dead and how buffed the MSQ is in giving exp. It's only trudging through the MSQ that's a pain, but depending on the type of player you are, you could just grind through it in a few days. Plus jump-potions will most likely be a thing in Stormblood!

I've done the whole "keep my main on EU server and an alt on Balmung" but I ended up transferring altogether in the end and I really do not regret my decision. I've made great friends here and found awesome RP, and I'm sure you will too!

(04-15-2017, 10:35 AM)Oyuu Wrote: [ -> ]Hi there, everyone else has answered the other questions so I'll address this one. Also fellow EU player that has played on the EU servers before moving over to Balmung. As someone who has fairly decent internet, I really don't struggle with doing PvE content at all. The only times I have ever dropped from the game or lagged was when a) my router was having a shitfit b) the game servers themselves were having a shitfit and it affected everybody, not just me or EU friends. I never struggle running dungeons or even endgame content, and my friends who are on terrible Scottish internet still manage to raid and progress just fine. This might change, but hopefully not by a lot.

Also, you really don't need to go beyond level 15 to roleplay. A lot of RP can be found in the three main city-states and their housing areas, especially in the Ul'dah area. You can basically make a level 1 alt there and boom, you'll walk into RP just about every you go. And the glamour game isn't that bad at low levels, I have at least five outfits for a lvl15 character ranging from the mundane to adventuring kit. I have personally leveled many alts on Balmung, and tbh, it's very easy to do with the likes of Palace of the Dead and how buffed the MSQ is in giving exp. It's only trudging through the MSQ that's a pain, but depending on the type of player you are, you could just grind through it in a few days. Plus jump-potions will most likely be a thing in Stormblood!

I've done the whole "keep my main on EU server and an alt on Balmung" but I ended up transferring altogether in the end and I really do not regret my decision. I've made great friends here and found awesome RP, and I'm sure you will too!

That's a weight off my mind. If this was any other game, I'd suck it up and just play, but this is the only one I've encountered (other than Wildstar) that uses positioning quite as prominently. If it's as you say it is, then I'd be prepared to give it a shot, at least. Thanks for the heads up, Oyuu!

Hey there, and welcome aboard to the RPC! 

There is definitely a strong active EU community here on Balmung; as has been previously hinted at, Balmung is really the one-stop-shop for all things RP. So, if that's your priority? Hop on board!

(04-17-2017, 12:54 PM)Thunderbolt300 Wrote: [ -> ]Hey there, and welcome aboard to the RPC! 

There is definitely a strong active EU community here on Balmung; as has been previously hinted at, Balmung is really the one-stop-shop for all things RP. So, if that's your priority? Hop on board!

Thanks for the welcome!  After meeting such helpful and lovely folks and hammering out a concept, I've decided to get stuck in. See you guys in Eorzea!