There's been a lot of good advice in this thread, so I'm not going to say much more than simply "Yes, do all this!"
One thing that hasn't come up here, however, is that walk-up RP especially benefits from the "yes, and..." RP habit: When you walk up to someone and start yakking at them, try to do so with an overly open mind. No matter how they respond, try to make your response to them be in the form of "Yes, and...", as opposed to "No". I'm not talking about your actual words here, mind you. Just your attitude.
See the difference? Now you, personally, may feel that a half-Lalafell half-Au Ra Ishgardian Dragoon is as likely as Elvis living in a condo on the moon, but you're getting RP out of playing along with it. And hey, from your point of view, said Dragoon might merely be an entertaining crazy person! Going along with their RP doesn't mean you have to accept everything they say as the truth!
I'm personally a big fan of walk-up RP. I like hearing people's stories. That said, I do what Verad (and a number of other people in this thread) suggest: I send people OOC /tells asking if they want to RP. Sometimes we'll discuss our characters a little, so that we can roll into the RP having heard rumors of the others. Sometimes we'll talk about why they might interact, so we can roll into it having a purpose. Mainly, though, talking OOCly before walking up ensures that the other person is both there at the keyboard and interested in RP with you. The only thing worse than trying to RP with someone who simply walks away is trying to RP with someone who simply doesn't respond - until 30 minutes later when they send you a tell saying "Sorry, I was cleaning up a Wagnerian quantity of cat barf!"
One thing that hasn't come up here, however, is that walk-up RP especially benefits from the "yes, and..." RP habit: When you walk up to someone and start yakking at them, try to do so with an overly open mind. No matter how they respond, try to make your response to them be in the form of "Yes, and...", as opposed to "No". I'm not talking about your actual words here, mind you. Just your attitude.
Quote:"So, you come here often?"
"Not really. You see, Ishgard usually has me assigned to the front lines to combat the Dravanian horde..."
"But... but... You're half-Lalafell and half-Au Ra. Ishgard doesn't employ..."
"Bite me!" <RP ends>
Quote:"So, you come here often?"
"Not really. You see, Ishgard usually has me assigned to the front lines to combat the Dravanian horde..."
"Interesting! I didn't think Ishgard employed many half-Lalafell half-Au Ra Dragoons."
"Well, it's an interesting story. You see, my mother was a silver merchant from Ul'dah, but she ran afoul of the Syndicate and was driven into exile, where she met..." <RP continues>
See the difference? Now you, personally, may feel that a half-Lalafell half-Au Ra Ishgardian Dragoon is as likely as Elvis living in a condo on the moon, but you're getting RP out of playing along with it. And hey, from your point of view, said Dragoon might merely be an entertaining crazy person! Going along with their RP doesn't mean you have to accept everything they say as the truth!
I'm personally a big fan of walk-up RP. I like hearing people's stories. That said, I do what Verad (and a number of other people in this thread) suggest: I send people OOC /tells asking if they want to RP. Sometimes we'll discuss our characters a little, so that we can roll into the RP having heard rumors of the others. Sometimes we'll talk about why they might interact, so we can roll into it having a purpose. Mainly, though, talking OOCly before walking up ensures that the other person is both there at the keyboard and interested in RP with you. The only thing worse than trying to RP with someone who simply walks away is trying to RP with someone who simply doesn't respond - until 30 minutes later when they send you a tell saying "Sorry, I was cleaning up a Wagnerian quantity of cat barf!"
