08-30-2013, 06:28 PM
Before I dive in to this, I'd like to open with a disclaimer! I'm posting this for a good, healthy discussion to take place. Disagreements may occur. If they do, and you happen to be involved in the disagreement, please keep a level head and keep your tone respectful. I'm not really certain how contentious this topic might be, but I don't want it spiraling out of control in the event that there are differences of opinion.
Let's talk about the "Main Storyline," and how we regard it in RP.
This RP community comes from all corners of the MMO and/or RP universe. Some of our members are even new to both. With such diversity comes a colorful variety of playstyles. Specifically, I'm talking about RP styles.
Most of my RP experience in MMOs comes from Aion, so forgive me if I over-use it as an example. Aion, like most MMOs, had a "Main Storyline." FFXIV:ARR does as well! In both, the player is put in a position of considerable growing importance, which puts them in a position to interact with all of the unique NPCs and allows them to see all the world, encountering (and often remedying) most of its problems. I've never played other MMOs extensively, so I can't really say for sure whether games like WoW, GW2, SWTOR, Eve, NWN, and others had such a thing as a single-player storyline.
When MMOs give us these pre-packaged stories, some roleplayers opt to still regard the stories as though they're happening to them. Most, in my experience, extract the lore they learn from it and mostly disregard it, giving their characters a more natural role in the world presented to us. In Aion, I came across the occasional RPer who wanted to regard elements of the main story as happening to their character in real time. This, of course, caused some conflict. For instance, the Shadow Court (a ruling power for Asmodians in Aion) would capture the player and force them to fight their way out of a dungeon in order to assess their skill. While it wasn't magnanimous, the more people who claimed the Shadow Court was after them in the same fashion as dozens of RPers before them, the more we had to wonder what exactly made everyone so very special that they were the target of such attention. This was a minor thing, but more confusion erupted when players were taking credit for killing a being who would not and could never return--when it was the "hero" of the story who did so.
Similarly, in FFXIV:ARR, I have heard some rumors about players claiming to fight and kill Primals, as the "hero" of the overarching storyline does. I'm not well-versed in the XIV lore, but even in the event that primals can return to power after a good slaying or two, the story does establish that these rises to power for the primals happen over an extended period of time, and the manner in which you encounter them is lauded as being alarmingly different or rare.
It is my opinion, that players shouldn't encounter Primals, or at least shouldn't encounter them as casually as they might enter in to a fight in a video game. I'd even go as far as to say that it should be rare to be accepted to the Scions. Even the "hero" of the Main Storyline is told to keep their affiliation somewhat confidential. At least, they're told to never, ever talk about the location of the Waking Sands and to try to be discreet about their membership (though obviously some NPCs are well aware of your affiliation and often tap in to your resource.) I also think that instances should be treated worth a grain of salt. For instance, Toto-Rak is "off limits" to outsiders, so if you were there, you'd better justify it ICly, and probably not using the same excuse the story gave you. You're not there to rescue the Elder Sylph. You're... maybe there to execute an experiment with the approval of whatever Grand Company you've enlisted with.
Anyway, enough about my opinion. What do you guys think? How should RPers regard the Main Storyline? How should RPers regard other RPers who are clearly considering every point in the Main Storyline actual events that have happened to their character? (Personally, in other games, I have always simply taken to silently dismissing them as crazy, but respectfully humoring them to their face.)
Let's talk about the "Main Storyline," and how we regard it in RP.
This RP community comes from all corners of the MMO and/or RP universe. Some of our members are even new to both. With such diversity comes a colorful variety of playstyles. Specifically, I'm talking about RP styles.
Most of my RP experience in MMOs comes from Aion, so forgive me if I over-use it as an example. Aion, like most MMOs, had a "Main Storyline." FFXIV:ARR does as well! In both, the player is put in a position of considerable growing importance, which puts them in a position to interact with all of the unique NPCs and allows them to see all the world, encountering (and often remedying) most of its problems. I've never played other MMOs extensively, so I can't really say for sure whether games like WoW, GW2, SWTOR, Eve, NWN, and others had such a thing as a single-player storyline.
When MMOs give us these pre-packaged stories, some roleplayers opt to still regard the stories as though they're happening to them. Most, in my experience, extract the lore they learn from it and mostly disregard it, giving their characters a more natural role in the world presented to us. In Aion, I came across the occasional RPer who wanted to regard elements of the main story as happening to their character in real time. This, of course, caused some conflict. For instance, the Shadow Court (a ruling power for Asmodians in Aion) would capture the player and force them to fight their way out of a dungeon in order to assess their skill. While it wasn't magnanimous, the more people who claimed the Shadow Court was after them in the same fashion as dozens of RPers before them, the more we had to wonder what exactly made everyone so very special that they were the target of such attention. This was a minor thing, but more confusion erupted when players were taking credit for killing a being who would not and could never return--when it was the "hero" of the story who did so.
Similarly, in FFXIV:ARR, I have heard some rumors about players claiming to fight and kill Primals, as the "hero" of the overarching storyline does. I'm not well-versed in the XIV lore, but even in the event that primals can return to power after a good slaying or two, the story does establish that these rises to power for the primals happen over an extended period of time, and the manner in which you encounter them is lauded as being alarmingly different or rare.
It is my opinion, that players shouldn't encounter Primals, or at least shouldn't encounter them as casually as they might enter in to a fight in a video game. I'd even go as far as to say that it should be rare to be accepted to the Scions. Even the "hero" of the Main Storyline is told to keep their affiliation somewhat confidential. At least, they're told to never, ever talk about the location of the Waking Sands and to try to be discreet about their membership (though obviously some NPCs are well aware of your affiliation and often tap in to your resource.) I also think that instances should be treated worth a grain of salt. For instance, Toto-Rak is "off limits" to outsiders, so if you were there, you'd better justify it ICly, and probably not using the same excuse the story gave you. You're not there to rescue the Elder Sylph. You're... maybe there to execute an experiment with the approval of whatever Grand Company you've enlisted with.
Anyway, enough about my opinion. What do you guys think? How should RPers regard the Main Storyline? How should RPers regard other RPers who are clearly considering every point in the Main Storyline actual events that have happened to their character? (Personally, in other games, I have always simply taken to silently dismissing them as crazy, but respectfully humoring them to their face.)
 hi! I think we should use our best judgement when incorporating our story quests into our IC roleplay. A lot of stuff shouldn't be used, becuase it just won't make sense if a hundred roleplayers are all saying they did or fought the same thing when it was supposed to be a unique experience or whatever 
 Ifrit has been killed many times, and Titan has been killed more than once, as have others.