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Seriphyn · **05-13-2015, 03:31 AM**

Okay, so...I semi-follow some of the ongoing forum plots that occur in the FFXIV RP community, the ones that have tied to in-game roleplay.

And by 'semi-follow', I mean gloss over the absolutely impressive walls 'o' text people dump in the plot friends and go 'Holy shit, this is amazing'. It's incredible, and borderline cinematic. I wonder 'Wait, is this even roleplay?! This seems like a story unto itself!'.

I've asked this before (though the execution was...not affable), but I still wonder. How do you guys do this stuff? Is it...logs of in-game roleplay? Or is this stuff independent of what happens in-game? Is the forum roleplay more intricate and intriguing than the in-game stuff?Â

I'm sorry if this is so disjointed; it echoes my bewilderment with it all. I'm probably missing a very obvious and essential element that, if I knew it, would make this whole thread look utterly stupid. I guess my question is this; what do you do to create all these incredible stories posted to Town Square which have envious levels of intrigue? Should I just go ahead and post on one of 'em?

Knight Kat · **05-13-2015, 06:17 AM**

I don't do much forum RP. Most of the threads I've been in were halted before completion, or Kiht played a guest-star role upon request. I personally don't enjoy writing forum RP as much, but I do read certain stories in the Town Square due to my interest in certain characters.

I can tell you that at least some of the RP stories in the TS are copied from in-game RP and restructured to forum posts. I know some TS threads are stories more than they are RP. My "A Scout's Trial" is the biggest forum story I have ever created, and it chronicles a big event in my character's story. 90% of the time, I prefer my character's story to be made in-game with other RPers, but that one I felt I should make myself. It was a rare opportunity to portray my character exactly as intended. It turned into a sort of forum RP, and still needs to be completed, but I wrapped it up in-game.

As for you, Seriphyn, I -dare- you to participate in a Town Square story, or make one about Kale. I would read the hell out of it. Go for it. Never hurts to try it once, right?

Qhora Bajihri · **05-13-2015, 06:44 AM**

Forum RP is generally a separate beast from in-game RP.

Some things, like Jancis' Celebration threads are compiled from in-game events. Character journals and things like them are probably responses to in-game events.

But straight up forum RP is what it is.

It's just different.

Yes, you can be more cinematic because there's a lot more time to craft. At the same time, while not requiring instant response, you lose out on the instant response that you get in the game. Also, if you want to mesh a Forum RP with your in-game timeline, it often requires a statement of when said things happened (recently, a week ago, just before or after such and such event, some sort of in between not-important time, whatever).

If a thread is labeled [Open], generally you're absolutely welcome to jump right in and you should! If you want to start your own, go nuts! You can do anything you can think up. No limits.

I did all different kinds of IC foruming back in WoW (compiling, character journaling, closed backstories, open collaboration threads, IC newspapers, alternate universe just-for-fun wackiness, etc). Here, I've only done a couple of sporadic posts and an occasional journal posted elsewhere, but there's definitely a lot of fun to be had with Forum RP for those who enjoy it.

Hammersmith · **05-13-2015, 07:54 AM**

I use forum stuff for things that are happening "Off screen" and don't allow, or don't work well, with other people. Â Stuff Hammer's never going to tell anyway no matter how much booze or arm breaking is involved. Â The stuff that WON'T come out in RP. Â Period. End of line.

It's an interesting place to look into "Well, not logged in, not making other people miserable. Â What's he doing?"

Mostly what ends up happening, for me anyway, is a small serialized story done in 3-5 posts about the who the what and the why, with a hefty dose of ambiguity for further elaboration.

Steel Wolf · **05-13-2015, 08:00 AM**

Most of my forum RP is completely stupid. See: Kali Kalrath or Snarl's Intense Pasta.

That said, the threads I have posted on the Bulletin Board were just one-off mini-stories that I had to write because...well...because I had to write. It never actually happened in game. Or, rather, not directly in-game, but inspired by something that happened in-game.

That's just my own experience, anyway. Considering the other threads you're referencing, I'm also at a loss for how the hell anyone keeps this shit straight.

Warren Castille · **05-13-2015, 09:52 AM**

Echoing that forum RP is a different beast altogether. I don't prefer it to in-game or "live" roleplay but it serves a much different purpose. Emoting in-game is usually stating what you're doing, and it gets a little... off... if someone begins putting thoughts into emotes.

* Warren Castille remembers that he had steak for breakfast, and reminds himself to finish off that chicken later too.

None of that is useful in-game! You can't read my mind (probably) so posting what Warren is thinking or feeling doesn't accomplish jack squat. This is a shame, because I kind of feel that the why of something being done is as-important if not more important than the deed. Something I tried to do in a lot of my forum writing is show the trains of thought, or the jumps in logic or the reason for doing something.

Chachanji and Warren had some scenes in his very excellent Paladin thread and we waffled in PMs about whether to meet up in-game or do it on the forum. He made the very good point that we can't do flash-backs or internal dialogues in-game in a satisfactory manner, so we went to the forums and got to have a relaxing conversation under one of the big trees in Thanalan, but could also revisit both character's pasts and histories.

Writing long-form has different requirements, too. I tend to have a specific story (or more accurately, one pivotal scene or event I want to showcase) and work towards that - If you're writing solo, you don't have the support of other roleplayers to drive things so you need to make sure you've got an impetus for things to occur. If you DO have people writing in your thread with you, you want to make sure that things don't just bog down into dialogue and short back-and-forths. Nothing wrong with taking turns around a table at the Quicksand, but there's got to be depth to it. That's where those internal thoughts and explanations come in handy.

If you wanted to try it, I'd suggest doing a one-off in the Bulletin Board. You can get a feel for how much you like it that way, then decide if you want to establish a thread.

* Warren Castille wrote a lot more than he thought he would.

Star Lin · **05-13-2015, 10:09 AM**

For me, it's sometime easier to get a forum story started but can't get into game to actually do it because of RL.Â Also there some stories where I have (NPC) characters involved that I can't have in game because of only having one account.Â Still, I would like to try to get both John and Kest involved in more in-game RP.

Desu Nee · **05-13-2015, 10:15 AM**

I really can't do wall of texts. Forum RP is really something more long-winded, because you have the time and freedom to do so. I really can't write long speeches and stuff because I'm naturally a person that relies more on showing than telling. I rp on some IRC Channels, and there you also have to be brief, or use the /me function which then I would take time to write something up.

Lastly, English is not my home language, as many of you may have already noticed. All in all, I really admire people that can do that, but I don't think I'll ever truly bother.

Zelmanov · **05-13-2015, 04:39 PM**

I do what others have said here, post the "Off screen" scenes, times that my character has to himself to brood or meditate.Â

This is good for characters like mine that tend to be mostly business (Flirting at quicksands aside) That stay to themselves until duty calls. So if people care to see what's going on I do those posts. It also helps a lot in on going plots in game so that even if you haven't logged on in a week you can still contribute.

Cliodhna Eoghan · **05-13-2015, 04:57 PM**

it varies. one i have that's ongoing is a backstory filler starting when cilo was really young which i might end after one more post and do another thread, or just keep going on the same thread for simplicity's sake. i do bulletin board ones to add onto what's already been done in game (the proposal for one example) usually something that i want to expand on a bit more that's too much for in game (far as inner musings or something that happens in a more private setting like her bedroom) but not enough for a full blown thread on it's own. then there's awesome little fun ones i see that happen to be open and i just want to jump in on (like intense pasta and a box?! ) those i usually count as just a random day when nothing plot developing is going on. i'll usually drop minor reference to hint where about it is in the timeline but i'll still keep it pretty light. (not my story after all, just popping in to have some fun ;3 )

as far as wall of texts go. i like creative writing and i've been rping in a lot of forms for a long time. so its nice when i can sit down and just write out a nice long post....but doing that does take some time of me mentally debating everything (ranging from hours to days) so my posting isn't always consistent because of that. i don't think i write as well in game because it's more on the fly. and i hate that i can't see everything i'm typing in the chatbox (while typing it) so if i get baby arggo; there goes my thought >.>; and there's also the issue of hitting the enter key when meaning to hit quotation so i post half a entry. but because it's "live" i try to keep my replies a bit shorter/quicker too. don't' want to make the other person wait all day for me to describe sitting down and ordering a salad while asking how their day went for example. so i cut down on writing "inner thoughts" and emote more than describing the emotes. o3o

D'aito Kuji · **05-13-2015, 05:46 PM**

It's been hit or miss for me. Â In City of Heroes, I was part of a very active community on what was once "Formspring." Â We developed our own plots, interacted with each other, met in the game and RP'd some scenarios, or based our plots on events that happened in-game PVE, PVP, or in RP. Â I was part of it for a couple of years, eventually maintaining 5 major characters and a half-dozen minor ones (each one of them had their own accounts). Â Many of us wrote "fan fiction" about our characters and each other and in my case, some of these stories reached light novel length.

But after City of Heroes sunset, a lot of us lost interest or it was just too painful (in my case) to keep going on.

Since then, I've tried forum RP in The Secret World a half-dozen times without much success. Â But I was part of a community of TSW Tumblr RP'ers and from that platform I got involved with several different people and I'd probably still be doing that if TSW's Tokyo expansion didn't piss me off so badly. Â But that is that and I'm here now.

I don't know if I'm comfortable with forum RP here. Â I'm not that competent in the Lore and not as passionate about this world than I was compared to TSW and especially City of Heroes. Â But I might give it a try. Â I really do miss collaborative story telling.

Gabineaux · **05-13-2015, 11:41 PM**

I usually only start forum RP with someone who I know already... I'm bad about 'random' forum RP. My poor penpal never got a reply from me either aaahh. My past experiences with random forum RP weren't very good, but then again that was some weird RP stuff way back in ye olde tymes when I was like 12 and ffinsider was a thing.

Caspar · **05-14-2015, 03:14 AM**

I'll probably get into a detailed forum RP. That is what I am used to.

In the past I post veritable essays detailing my characters' actions. After a point people were surprised when my post wasn't the longest one on any given page. Now I want to try and be a little more concise, so I can get away from that. Playing in-game is a good limiter to force me to not overload my internal monologue and descriptive flavor.

Roen · **05-14-2015, 10:25 AM**

I will add my two cents!

All of the posted stories that I've participated in either originated from live RP or at least integrated some form of live RP.

This is because I love live RP in that it is a dynamic exchange of dialogue and action. You have to think on your feet right then and there. But, I also like retelling that scene after it is restructured into a written post, because the post can add even more to the story in terms of showing different perspectives and even flashbacks.

Pure forum RP for me is a little more tricky in that the dynamics are vastly different on how you react to the other person. You can't just post one liners as you would in a live RP. You want to give your post some substance but also not keep going on and on without the particpation of the other characters in the scene. This was actually tricky for me to learn and I think I am still learning it. It's where I find that perspectives can really enrich the scene and you can expand how your character is feeling. My very first foray into forum RP was No Good Deed, and boy was I nervous.

The current thread I am part of, What You Are In The Dark, is a mix of both retelling of live RP and forum RP. I think it's pretty obvious which one is what, especially if there is a lot of back and forth dialogue going on in between characters. The fight in the tunnels? That was a retelling of live RP. I was there, I participated in it, but when it was told via posts and from different character's perspectives, I gained SO MUCH MORE insight into what they were thinking when this and that happened. I LOVED THAT. I can say that that is where my enjoyment comes from in written posts. In seeing that extra insight into characters in the story.

As for the current confrontation and violence in Pearl Lane with Scythe and his gang? That is ALL Forum RP. Loosely coordinated behind the scenes, with each character given the freedom to orchestrate their part however they wanted, then the rest of the contributors figuring out how to proceed depending on what was posted before them. Still very much a cooperative and yet improvisational writing. That is essentially what RP is all about, right?

Now some people just RP and not write about it. That's fine too. Why do I like retelling in-game RP? Because I like telling stories that unfold through RP and writing about it lets me revisit it someday. I still enjoy remembering what happened a year ago. It also is a source of continuity for me as well. And this mix of retelling live RP mixed in with forum RP is how most of the threads I am part of are handled.

As for jumping into a forum RP thread, as Qhora mentioned, if a thread says [Open], by all means, jump in! I am sure the thread creator will appreciate the participation. I know I jumped in two threads in my RPC lifetime, and enjoyed both occasions, even if one was just one time post-blurb (thanks Kali!).

If you want to orchestrate a storyline for yourself (usually they are denoted with [Closed] tag) then recruit a few people into your story, agree on a premise at least and have at it. My suggestion though is that if you are contributing in someone else's arc, even as a cameo appearance, make sure that your contribution adds to that narrative. Introspection? Great. Flashbacks? Wonderful! It lends more insight into your character! But make sure it also is relevant to that narrative as well.

Good luck!

(This also turned out to be WAY longer than I had planned...)

Seriphyn · **05-14-2015, 02:59 PM**

Thanks for the replies!

As I expected, it's a lot easier than I thought it was, and I was merely overthinking it. If I see an open thread that is relevant to my interests, I'll be sure to contribute to it. Or even better, I'll see about making my own for others!

All that amazing stuff you do...and how others can also do it

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes