Honestly, though, I don't think it's the setting that makes Ul'dah the RP hub it is. Sure there's an interesting back story, and it's only developed as the expansions have come out. But in the ARR timeframe (2.0, 2.1), you could easily make the argument that Limsa was as interesting as Ul'dah. Rogues hadn't come out, so the backstory presented much more of an uneasy coalition of pirates in the city. Yet Ul'dah was still the RP hub.
I'd argue that what made Ul'dah the RP hub was simply that a vast number of RPers chose to do so. Enough people RP in Ul'dah that it's simply the easy choice for other RPers who are looking for a fun place to RP. Which sounds like a pat answer, but it's really not.
If you'd like to develop another city to be an RP hub, then do so. It will not be easy. You'll have to organize events and persuade people to engage in open RP there, but if you can get enough people to consistently do this, then there will be another RP hub.
I do know that, as a primarily Ul'dah- and Thanalan-based RPer, I'm less likely to want to help do this if my choice of where to RP is being disparaged. Just saying.
I'd argue that what made Ul'dah the RP hub was simply that a vast number of RPers chose to do so. Enough people RP in Ul'dah that it's simply the easy choice for other RPers who are looking for a fun place to RP. Which sounds like a pat answer, but it's really not.
If you'd like to develop another city to be an RP hub, then do so. It will not be easy. You'll have to organize events and persuade people to engage in open RP there, but if you can get enough people to consistently do this, then there will be another RP hub.
I do know that, as a primarily Ul'dah- and Thanalan-based RPer, I'm less likely to want to help do this if my choice of where to RP is being disparaged. Just saying.
