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Kimikimi · **05-08-2014, 04:58 AM**

So recently I have seen a lot of people rping children, most as a Lalafell.

I am wondering can RPing a child be done successfully?

Blue · **05-08-2014, 06:45 AM**

It can, if you can RP a convincing one. I have an elezen that is still a teenager, and so far all the roleplayers who have met me have been reacting and treating me just as I think a young boy should be.

My general tips, that I do put into practice when I RP Vincent, are:
- Pick smallest size as possible, possibly zero muscle tone, and the smallest bust;
- Be innocent;
- Have some naivety;
- Show a certain degree of immaturity. "Adults" concepts such as understanding the value of life, death, and other serious matters shouldn't be clear in your character's head. Accept that you'll have to say wrong things at times, and to not always make the right decision about things;
- Try to not pose as a bad-ass or a know-it-all. Avoid showing off knowledge that would normally require more years to learn that your character has;
- Avoid RPing fighting skills that go beyond throwing pebbles (Magic knowledge may pass, but you'd have to be at least a teenager, and to have a solid background of studying magic, and even so you shouldn't RP a powerful mage);
- Avoid sexualizing your character too much. I'm talking about make-up and rather showy gear.

These general guidelines, which of course are more or less followed depending on what exact age you RP and what background you have, should help you get other RPers to see and treat you as a child.

As an extra note, it is general a good idea to fore-warn new people you RP with of your character's young age. I do that when I meet new people as Vincent, though I do my best to not be obnoxious about it.

Kimikimi · **05-08-2014, 09:30 AM**

I would like you guys to meet, M'gumi Ontami. A little child Dunesfolk (she is 5 years old) that has been left abandoned in Ul'dah.

Currently it's been two days since she was abandoned here in Ul'dah. The first night the Thaumaturge guild let her stay with them. She began asking around properly the next day. She has made a few friends, but there has been no signs of her mother. She is currently staying at the Quicksand for the night.

She is very innocent and though very smart for her age she still doesn't understand her own situation. She can seem a little optimistic, but her optimism is slowly fading with each passing day. She is proud of her abilities however little feats they may be. She can get quite excited over simple things. She seems to understand most things, but there is still a lot she doesn't know.

I actually made myself cry when I was rping her... the fact she was searching thinking she would eventually her mother, and she would go back to her own life was... heart breaking.

Some odd things.

She describes her mother as a tall woman with black hair and long ears. She also said her mother was Elezen. The truth in the matter is she was adopted by this woman, who eventually abandoned her. Her true Dunesfolk mother is unknown.

If anyone wants to rp with her she is usually around the Quicksand asking people if they have seen her "Mommy" or send me a message in game.

Zaiaku · **05-08-2014, 09:58 AM**

(05-08-2014, 04:58 AM)Kimikimi Wrote: So recently I have seen a lot of people rping children, most as a Lalafell.

I am wondering can RPing a child be done successfully?

Yes It can be successfully done. my character Zaiaku is constantly bothered by a child Lalafell named ado every time he walks in the Quicksand. He pretty much has it down to a T. He's everything a child could be. Curious, naive, playful and so forth.

Kailia · **05-08-2014, 12:12 PM**

My main character is 17, though her culture would consider her an adult,Â she's still pretty naive on many things. But she's pretty strong in magic, especially when it comes to conjurer/white mage magic.

Of course she's an exile now from her tribe, so she literally has no family. She lives in Mist now, with her company, and has a boyfriend. But she also pays frequent visits to limsa lominsa. But yes it is possible to RP a child. Many good tips were given in the first reply on doing so.

Blue · **05-08-2014, 01:16 PM**

(05-08-2014, 09:30 AM)Kimikimi Wrote: I would like you guys to meet, M'gumi Ontami. A little child Dunesfolk (she is 5 years old) that has been left abandoned in Ul'dah.

Currently it's been two days since she was abandoned here in Ul'dah. The first night the Thaumaturge guild let her stay with them. She began asking around properly the next day. She has made a few friends, but there has been no signs of her mother. She is currently staying at the Quicksand for the night.

She is very innocent and though very smart for her age she still doesn't understand her own situation. She can seem a little optimistic, but her optimism is slowly fading with each passing day. She is proud of her abilities however little feats they may be. She can get quite excited over simple things. She seems to understand most things, but there is still a lot she doesn't know.

I actually made myself cry when I was rping her... the fact she was searching thinking she would eventually her mother, and she would go back to her own life was... heart breaking.

Some odd things.

She describes her mother as a tall woman with black hair and long ears. She also said her mother was Elezen. The truth in the matter is she was adopted by this woman, who eventually abandoned her. Her true Dunesfolk mother is unknown.

If anyone wants to rp with her she is usually around the Quicksand asking people if they have seen her "Mommy" or send me a message in game.

That sounds so sweet and sad. Jet'a may be serious and generally detached, but he has a soft spot when it comes to kids, especially little girls as they remind him of someone. Maybe he'll notice her next time he comes to Ul'dah to sell his potions^^

Kimikimi · **05-09-2014, 01:00 AM**

Well my rp is going well, however there is a little problem. Because I am constantly searching for a mother that does not exist many people need explaining that there is no mother and that she wont come to find her child. So in a way I have hit a wall and for me to proceed any further I either need someone that is willing to become my adoptive mother or father.

Kimikimi · **05-09-2014, 08:32 AM**

This is the saddest thing I have played... I cry everytime someone turns her down... she is currently walking around asking people to be her mommy since she is pretty much in an orphanage as a orphan. She has realized her mommy is coming for her now. And its just so sad... ((RL crying)) why cant I hug her and tell her everything is okay now....

Zaiaku · **05-09-2014, 08:54 AM**

(05-09-2014, 08:32 AM)Kimikimi Wrote: This is the saddest thing I have played... I cry everytime someone turns her down... she is currently walking around asking people to be her mommy since she is pretty much in an orphanage as a orphan. She has realized her mommy is coming for her now. And its just so sad... ((RL crying)) why cant I hug her and tell her everything is okay now....

I just realized that she the one that was speaking to Zaiaku while he was on the balcony. Too bad she caught him on the wrong day. Felt kinda bad seeing zaiaku calling her a little imp

Kimikimi · **05-09-2014, 09:02 AM**

(05-09-2014, 08:54 AM)Zaiaku Wrote:
(05-09-2014, 08:32 AM)Kimikimi Wrote: This is the saddest thing I have played... I cry everytime someone turns her down... she is currently walking around asking people to be her mommy since she is pretty much in an orphanage as a orphan. She has realized her mommy is coming for her now. And its just so sad... ((RL crying)) why cant I hug her and tell her everything is okay now....

I just realized that she the one that was speaking to Zaiaku while he was on the balcony. Too bad she caught him on the wrong day. Felt kinda bad seeing zaiaku calling her a little imp

So many feels... i dont know how much more i can play her...

Blue · **05-09-2014, 12:39 PM**

I am going to be a little bold in this reply, and I hope nobody takes offense. In my defense, I immediately state that I too RP an orphan, so I'm perfectly aware of the topic and know what I'm talking about. So don't take my reply as apathetic.

Unless you have a RL friend who logs in at the same identical time you do and feels like being IC at the same identical time you do, to rely on other roleplayers as static presences in your IC life may be a lost cause.

My character (Jet'a) has a story of orphanhood in his past, and I have even RPd some of it in forms of flashbacks during the beta phase of the game. At a very young age he and his family were deported from their homeland to be sold as slaves, and a few years later he was forced to escape on his own.

For some time, he was a street urchin much as you are now. Sure, a PC mentor/adoptive relative would have been great, but I became aware that to request one out of other RPers would result in a huge responsibility for them, as well a great time sink. It would force them to go out adventuring less, to take care of me, and to do things that, while sweet and fun at a glance, will result oppressing and repetitive on a long-time basis. And since your character will not grow by the minute, it will be a long-time commitment.

So what I did with my character was to create an NPC who adopted him. A Lalafell merchant with modest alchemist knowledge, who lived in Crescent Cove. He raised my character, taught him how to read, write, speak Ul'dahn, and even some alchemic basics. My character lived with this NPC until he was old enough, then the NPC gifted him with a recommendation to present Frondale's Phrontistery, thanks to which he was taken in as an apprentice Alchemist. That is when Jet'a's adulthood began.

So my generic two advice here (and again, I'm not trying to be mean) are:
1 - Make your own paths for your character, without having to rely on others;
2 - Try to not mix OOC feelings with IC feelings. That tends to always end up poorly for you. You are playing a game, and while moments of pathos are normal, it shouldn't burden you to feel bad or hurt personally.

RP is to be enjoyed, even while on moderately tragic roles. Think of all the dramatic movies out there, and the many actors who played those parts. There are many tears and sad moments, but I'm sure that each of those actors at the end of the day went to sleep with a smile on their face, because it is a job they enjoy. Roleplaying is no different!Â Wink

Kimikimi · **05-09-2014, 02:36 PM**

(05-09-2014, 12:39 PM)Blue Wrote: I am going to be a little bold in this reply, and I hope nobody takes offense. In my defense, I immediately state that I too RP an orphan, so I'm perfectly aware of the topic and know what I'm talking about. So don't take my reply as apathetic.

Unless you have a RL friend who logs in at the same identical time you do and feels like being IC at the same identical time you do, to rely on other roleplayers as static presences in your IC life may be a lost cause.

My character (Jet'a) has a story of orphanhood in his past, and I have even RPd some of it in forms of flashbacks during the beta phase of the game. At a very young age he and his family were deported from their homeland to be sold as slaves, and a few years later he was forced to escape on his own.

For some time, he was a street urchin much as you are now. Sure, a PC mentor/adoptive relative would have been great, but I became aware that to request one out of other RPers would result in a huge responsibility for them, as well a great time sink. It would force them to go out adventuring less, to take care of me, and to do things that, while sweet and fun at a glance, will result oppressing and repetitive on a long-time basis. And since your character will not grow by the minute, it will be a long-time commitment.

So what I did with my character was to create an NPC who adopted him. A Lalafell merchant with modest alchemist knowledge, who lived in Crescent Cove. He raised my character, taught him how to read, write, speak Ul'dahn, and even some alchemic basics. My character lived with this NPC until he was old enough, then the NPC gifted him with a recommendation to present Frondale's Phrontistery, thanks to which he was taken in as an apprentice Alchemist. That is when Jet'a's adulthood began.

So my generic two advice here (and again, I'm not trying to be mean) are:
1 - Make your own paths for your character, without having to rely on others;
2 - Try to not mix OOC feelings with IC feelings. That tends to always end up poorly for you. You are playing a game, and while moments of pathos are normal, it shouldn't burden you to feel bad or hurt personally.

RP is to be enjoyed, even while on moderately tragic roles. Think of all the dramatic movies out there, and the many actors who played those parts. There are many tears and sad moments, but I'm sure that each of those actors at the end of the day went to sleep with a smile on their face, because it is a job they enjoy. Roleplaying is no different!Â

To be more precise the whole RP is, let this kid wander town and see where it leads... Now some people will feel for the girl, others will not.
It's like a social experiment. Some people have gone to great lengths to see this girl safely. If she gets adopted by someone then cool, but I have never forced someone to adopted her. Now that she has a little backstory and such. I cannot help but feel for her as she gets turned down. In no way am I letting my ooc emotions ic. Ooc I would have given up, but Gumi keep going even after being turned down.

In the end that is why I enjoy playing her, people don't truly understand her situation and she doesn't either. Gumi doesn't know that her mother left her on purpose. She doesn't know that people cannot just have a child to look after. All Gumi wants is her mother back someone who won't return.

This RP, I don't want to add anymore npc's only if I feel it needs it, ooc I just wanna break through my monitor and hug Gumi, but not everyone thinks that way. The RP interactions I have with everyone are real ic. And watching little stories on a little girl like this got to where she is, it is heartbreaking. But it doesn't affect my RP, like I said Gumi keeps on going.

She is a strong little girl...

Mae · **05-09-2014, 05:54 PM**

I've... been avoiding this thread for a few reasons, but my confusion has reached a point where I feel like I have to jump in, especially now that this has been stated to be like a social experiment...

The choice to RP children is, of course, a personal choice. Some of the characters I've liked to RP the most are children/children in their society (meaning physical and/or mental development does not always reflect on their actual age, used mostly for long-lived races). Some have been orphans, some have had family around. I'm not going to say I'm an expert on the subject, but I'm at least familiar enough with the concept. I've also been on the other side of the fence and RP'd being a mother; pregnancy, caring for babies, children, and teenagers.

That being all said... I'm going to address this claim of social experiment. Realistically, a five-year-old child that was dumped on the streets and walks around calling for Mommy would be given over to/picked up by local <insert law enforcement type here> and, after no parents can be found, be placed in some sort of child protective services, be it an orphanage, a church (or equivalent), a foster home, or a workhouse. Once in any of these situations, the child wouldn't be allowed to wander around alone. The other possible scenario for that would be waiting to see how long until Fagin comes along and picks up the child.

RP-wise, the character concept and social experiment may be putting people in an uncomfortable position of "To do the 'right' thing could be construed as Godmoding, to adopt would throw off everything I had planned, but ignoring would be rude".

The godmoding is a result of realistic chains of events: Lost/abandoned child is found. Lost/abandoned child is handed over to law enforcement/child protection services. Lost/abandoned child is then effectively locked up/locked down. This last part basically equals someone locking this lost/abandoned child out of RP.

Adopting/including a small child into one's (real or RP) life is a MAJOR step. Real Life requires an enormous commitment and even putting life's dreams on hold. RP-wise is almost the same. As someone who RP'd a character that got pregnant and had a baby, I can say that it is an experience I will -never- go through again; it put a huge damper on what I could reasonably RP, and I had to leave a lot of my plans for that character unexplored/unrealized. That character actually only lasted another half-year or so in RP before I retired her because it was just -not- fun to sit around RPing caring for a baby when everyone else was out adventuring. This might seem selfish, but I think it's totally reasonable. A Real-Life child is a major commitment. It is (or at least should be) an even more serious commitment than marriage(formalized partnership, whatever term you want to use), and not everyone is prepared or wants that sort of commitment. It's not that people do not empathize with orphans/abandoned children, it is a case that many (most) people realize that they are not qualified for it (many are correct in this), so they don't adopt. Even if it's "just RP", people who take their RP seriously would likely have the same line of thought.

Which brings us to the fact that ignoring would be rude. You're RP'ing, we want to acknowledge it. But to properly acknowledge it, many people would have to either skirt uncomfortably close to godmoding or include a major deviation to their plans/expectations/story progression that, for one reason or another, they don't want.

I'm confused on what you're wanting to accomplish with this character. You've said that the character will hit a wall if someone does not adopt her and you've made yourself seem quite upset when people turn down adopting her (which could make a few people feel guilty), but you do not want to create NPC's to adopt her and you have stated that you will not force someone to adopt her. Ignoring the fact that a five-year-old would not last long on the streets alone, unless you make NPCs to take care of her, this character probably has a -very- short shelf life.

As a social experiment, there really isn't much to experiment with; a logical chain of events has long been in-place in equivalent societies for a very long time.

So... yet again... I'm confused on your plans for the character/the purpose of the social experiment.

Gwen · **05-09-2014, 06:52 PM**

As someone who RP'd a (mentally) young character for a few years back on WoW... I know pretty much what you're trying to achieve in the RP, and it is as Mae has said, and it's something that is much better off when you have another dedicated player there to help your character out. A child of a very young age would not just walk the streets so simply, why have no orphanages or helpful churches decided to take your character in?

MisshaFirecaster · **05-09-2014, 08:14 PM**

(05-09-2014, 09:02 AM)Kimikimi Wrote:
(05-09-2014, 08:54 AM)Zaiaku Wrote:
(05-09-2014, 08:32 AM)Kimikimi Wrote: This is the saddest thing I have played... I cry everytime someone turns her down... she is currently walking around asking people to be her mommy since she is pretty much in an orphanage as a orphan. She has realized her mommy is coming for her now. And its just so sad... ((RL crying)) why cant I hug her and tell her everything is okay now....

I just realized that she the one that was speaking to Zaiaku while he was on the balcony. Too bad she caught him on the wrong day. Felt kinda bad seeing zaiaku calling her a little imp

So many feels... i dont know how much more i can play her...

Zaiaku is just a meanie face. Tonberry

I RP'd with the little Lalafell, I <3'd her, but Missha just had a baby of her own so she had to go check on Naya.

Role play a child

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