Hydaelyn Role-Players

Guess what? Another n00b! Fortunately I'm not completely hopeless, I do have a couple decades experience in table-top. I recently moved, and my local options are basically zero so I've been looking at online RP and I think Final Fantasy XIV has many of the attributes I am interested in (plus I've played the game before, so I know it's fun).

I'm decently experienced with MMO's, had a good long run with WoW and dabbled in quite a few others of the years. Never really caught the MMO bug the way that some did though; that said, I'm a rank amateur when it comes to the why, hows, and where's of online RP. I am of course reading through the wiki's and have contacted one of the Mentors so this is more just a big hello. I haven't settled on a server or character or anything yet.

The local group I played with (and sometimes still on Skype/Roll20) was pretty serious about role-playing and I love the dynamic, collaborative nature of traditional RP. Having a GM who knows when to help/hinder party and PC goals is the real art, and it seems that would be impossible (or much more difficult) in an MMO. I'm not sure how that works out in an MMO sense. It seems better suited to individual scene's and interesting dialogue (which I love) rather than long term directed story arcs. That is of course my side-lines perspective, I'm sure I could be completely wrong.

My own play style tends toward the more serious. Story wise I like high-stakes, emotional journeys; epic quests, grand designs, terrible secrets, all of that. Pretty typical gamer fantasies actually. Character wise, I kind of wander all over the place, but have traditionally been fond of redemption arcs or tragically heroic characters. Of course all of this is on the table-top side of things, so I'm not sure how that type of thing translates here.

That said, I'm not quite sure what aspect I'll end up enjoying in this scenario. So rather than me talking I'd love to ask those that are willing to share, what's your favorite aspects of online RP?

P.S. Who's got the SAO style Nerve-Gear, and where can I get mine?

You're not going to get many replies if you're only appealing to the nice people here. I'll do my best to spur interest with this response and encourage all of the super mean people to say hello as well.

Welcome to the RPC. We're glad to have you. There's a pretty solid community of people here. We may not all be nice, but we're good people. We're also always on the lookout for fresh mea... uh... people to ea... uh... have for din... I mean, RP. We're not cannibals, I swear. Say, do you like pepper?

Hee, sounds like your rp highlights are pretty similar to mine! I think you'll find that no matter where you go, so long as those involved are willing to contribute time and effort to a creative story, you'll find a way to make that story happen. Be it tabletop, forum, mmo, chat, or what have you! That said, what satisfies people in that creative sense does vary widely, so in my opinion it is more a matter of finding the people whose wants match your own then the framework by which that happens. Plenty of people get enjoyment out of totally unplanned walkup rp. Others like to have plans for every conceivable event. Still more fall somewhere in between. Granted, the method you go about it will likely be different; typically MMO type rp tends to be more openly collaborative than a more traditional GM, imo, but there's still room for that.

And, character wise it's totally open. There I'd say it's more a matter of finding places to insert your character then whether or not its feasible (ie, if you have a Loner McHatespeople who refuses to talk to anyone but blind people, you're going to have a harder time figuring out rp scenarios/finding characters to rp with than someone with a more socially reasonable character) to have this or that character. So, that said, I am willing to bet you'll find something to your enjoyment!

As for me, I love plotting and putting characters to the test. I love doing unexpected things, I love collaboration, I love it when my rp partners' writing makes me feel something, I love getting an emotional response out of the people I write with, I love being surprised and surprising others. I like making "everyman" characters come to life, and I like exploring larger than life characters. I love storytelling. RP is like the junk food of writing to me, haha.

I hope you're able to fill your rp-itch with FFXIV!

(*coughcough* I'm not really able to get in game very often right now, but if you're into trying out forum rp I looooove creating and collaborating on elaborate or longrunning plots. -- should be in game more come May)

Okay, so Zhavi might be a cannibal... just a heads up.

(04-02-2014, 04:58 PM)Koninbeor Wrote: [ -> ]Okay, so Zhavi might be a cannibal... just a heads up.

</3 you said you wouldn't tell anyone.

Zhavi, thanks for the reply. Just picking up on the way you talk about this makes me more interested. Once I get a good character idea in my head I may hit you up here.

Koninbeor, thanks for blowing my cover, I merely want to know those with the sweetest souls for later consumption.

Welcome! Always nice to see another tabletop veteran. I hope you get your RP itch scratched here. If you end up on Balmung go ahead and look me up.

(04-02-2014, 04:59 PM)Zhavi Wrote: [ -> ]

(04-02-2014, 04:58 PM)Koninbeor Wrote: [ -> ]Okay, so Zhavi might be a cannibal... just a heads up.

</3 you said you wouldn't tell anyone.

Um... April Fool's?

Ragnar, thank you. Balmung is looking like a contender, along with Gilgamesh. I have to do a bit of reading, but it's an offer I'll likely take you up on should I choose to go that way.

I completely empathize with looking for an RP outlet online after losing your tabletop group. I was in an 5 year long campaign that took over my creative life for that time span, and when that story finished, we lost the group due to moves and real life changes. I had this void to fill suddenly.
Then I discovered FFXIV! I find that first thing I had to relearn (I had played through text RP before... 10 years ago) how to describe things in text.  Tabletop is SO much easier, DM is describing almost everything and I just had to act out my character. In an MMO, you have to text it out. Some emotes are fitting to use at times, but not all. I mostly /em the descriptions.

As for a long arc of a story, COMPLETELY doable, as long as you have a group of trusted players to carry it out with. We have regular OOC discussions on ideas and brainstorms, although never scripted since this is RP after all. I have been surprised more than once in a scenario that *I* planned! And of course I love it when I find my character thrown into a situation that totally catches me by surprise.

That's kind of the beauty of RPing in an MMO I find. While I can run an arc with others, there are still PLENTY of room for other players to throw their own twists and surprises that makes it a spontaneous, dynamic, and an evolving story. Everyone can be a mini-GM of sorts for particular scenario, affect the overall arc and maybe even turn it upside down from where it was headed.

Wherever you go, I hope you have fun on however you RP in an MMO. That's all that really matters in the end. But from one tabletop RPer to another, I think you will find what you are looking for.

Royal Ball with a 3/1 ratio of women to men, Balmung.... Need I say more?

(04-02-2014, 08:02 PM)Erik Mynhier Wrote: [ -> ]Royal Ball with a 3/1 ratio of women to men, Balmung.... Need I say more?

Not too worried about that, good though. I prefer mixed RP groups…..when RP is too much of a sausage fest I find things less dynamic.

(04-02-2014, 09:33 PM)Numenorean Wrote: [ -> ]

(04-02-2014, 08:02 PM)Erik Mynhier Wrote: [ -> ]Royal Ball with a 3/1 ratio of women to men, Balmung.... Need I say more?

Not too worried about that, good though. I prefer mixed RP groups…..when RP is too much of a sausage fest I find things less dynamic.

I was going to link something more humorous but this one just jumped out at me.

Edit: I also just lost my tabletop group. This week is my first one without my gaming group. The host had a schedule change at work and the players fit in better with his schedule than mine. April 14 can't come quickly enough!

I come after the battle's been fought, but welcome on FFXIV RPC, and more generally welcome to FFXIV! 

As someone who's never had the opportunity (nor have tried to look for it), I must say I'm very interesting about how that RP tabletop experience will translate into the game. Coming from RP forums, I'm not that used to collaborative work on plots, or working with a select few characters for a long period of time, but I really want to get into some kind of more 'serious' RP.

The help I can offer you is probably slim compared to the experienced people around, but if you ever find yourself on Balmung and want another RP contact, feel free to /tell or add me IG.

Hope you'll have a great time in that big community!

Haha, well Balmung it is then.