Hello everyone!
I've been playing FFXIV off and on for the better part of the year since it's open beta and while I love the game, I find that immersing myself in the world and lore more through RP would bring a completely new experience to the game for me. I have never RP'd before so I have no idea what I'm getting myself into and I have a few (hopefully simple) questions.
1. What's the best way to get started and educate myself? I was poking through some of the beginner guides on this site but I haven't dug in too much yet.
2. Do I have to have a characters story fleshed out when I start or is that something that can develop as I play ?
3. Since this is an mmo that allows you to change character classes/jobs, are you required to simply stick with one or could a character have a DoM/gathering/crafting class all at once?Â
4. How does the RP community address progression in the game itself? Do you actually do the fates, quests, missions, dungeons, etc? Like of people on RP servers actually play through the game, or simply use the work as their playground to make their own stories?
Thanks for the help and hopefully I will meet you all on one of the RP servers!
Answered in order with a heaping helping of personal opinion:
1. What's the best way to get started and educate myself?
-The guides are a good start. I'd also recommend finding and eavesdropping on some folks who are roleplaying when you find the time: Your city's Adventurer's Guild is likely a good place to overhear conversation and see how things flow in public.
2. Do I have to have a characters story fleshed out when I start or is that something that can develop as I play ?
-Nope! I'm (and a lot of us here, too) are of the opinion that RP should promote growth. There's nothing wrong with having an idea for a character that then gets changed once you really start writing them. It happens!
3. Since this is an mmo that allows you to change character classes/jobs, are you required to simply stick with one or could a character have a DoM/gathering/crafting class all at once?Â
-No one is required to stick to anything, but most folks I know tend to stick to the one-class/one-craft/one-gather sort of school. There's nothing wrong with being a jack of all trades, but it helps players who have focused disciplines feel adequate when they're not hanging out with swordsmen-who-are-also-black-mages-who-are-also-dragoons-and-also-world-class-jewel-and-armor-smiths-when-not-a-master-alchemist.
4. How does the RP community address progression in the game itself? Do you actually do the fates, quests, missions, dungeons, etc? Like of people on RP servers actually play through the game, or simply use the work as their playground to make their own stories?
-Er...Yes? Different strokes for different folks. There are lots of people who RP through dungeons and FATEs and storylines and stuff, and there are those of us who don't care about being attached to the main plot, and there are even people who are content to just play salesmen and barmaids.
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I think getting your feet wet will help best to answer your questions! It's a thriving world out there and you can likely find instances of everything you asked here if you're looking.
Thanks for your very detailed response. I appreciate it!
Having been a player of FFXI, coming to FFXIV was a bit of a culture shock for me. FFXI required so much teamwork and interaction between players while I've found between-player interaction to be severely lacking in non-RP worlds. Interaction with other players and making friends was my favorite part of playing mmos, otherwise I might as well play a single player game. Maybe RP could be a good fit.
I really think that in my experience playing on a non-RP world that I haven't taken the time to stop and smell the roses. Eorzea is a beautiful place with really interesting lore and I think not fully exploring it (or feeling the mmo rat race to get to 50 to gear grind) is really selling the game short.
Thanks again for your opinion and I hope to hear more from other folks out there too
(09-04-2014, 10:27 AM)tjd212 Wrote: [ -> ]I have never RP'd before so I have no idea what I'm getting myself into ...
The essence of role-play is to put yourself into another character's shoes and be someone different. It's like acting, but without a live audience. Just keep that in mind and you really can't go wrong.
You don't need to have an entire backstory right from the start, but it does help to have a basic idea of who you want your character to be. Since you probably already know most of the basic lore through the class quests, having played for a year, I'm going to assume you already have a good foundation of what is available in the game world. All you need to do is draw on that combined with some observation of others.
After that it's just a matter of getting over any shyness and trying to talk to people.
(09-04-2014, 10:52 AM)tjd212 Wrote: [ -> ]I really think that in my experience playing on a non-RP world that I haven't taken the time to stop and smell the roses. Eorzea is a beautiful place with really interesting lore and I think not fully exploring it (or feeling the mmo rat race to get to 50 to gear grind) is really selling the game short.
In my experience, even if a game is great, it's nothing without a good community as well. I've been in your shoes and just go way too much into the non-RP aspect. I'm attempting to get more into RP as well. I've tried other things since FFXIV 2.0 but I keep coming back because of the people here.
As to your questions, here's my take on a few of them:
2. Like others have said, it's not completely necessary, but it's really good to have at least a general personality of your character, a few bits of history in mind( like why they're in the current city or where they live), and what their current role is. I use this method because I'm not good at trying to sit down and has everything out. But one thing you do need to be careful is fabricating too much on the fly to the point where your history seems very disjoint or too ludicrous.
3-4. I think some people try to incorporate too much of the game's mechanics and single player story into their RP. Some people enjoy the authenticity of the feeling of it, but I don't think everyone should be bound by it. There's no merchant, barmaid, or dancer class, but people roleplay it anyway. Not everyone player possesses the echo even though they've played through the storyline. There's abilities people have that aren't programmed into the game either. I think if you try to abide by game mechanics too much, you either won't enjoy the RP or you won't enjoy playing the game. So long as it's not completely lore breaking, I think whatever you do is fine. I have almost all my classes leveled, but none of it is part of my RP because I want to play another role but also want to enjoy the game. I know some people who play 1 class per character to stay IC but it enhances there experience, but I personally would hate it. Use game mechanics to enhance your experience, not handicap it. Choose which style you like, it's a game, you should enjoy it in all facets!