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+--- Thread: From WoW to FF, RP questions (/showthread.php?tid=14899)
From WoW to FF, RP questions - LowLowLaLaLuLu - 01-10-2016
I'm a previous World of Warcraft player that now is considering subscribing to FF14, but I have some concerns about the RP side of things.
When I started playing Wow I played it as most people do: level up, do quests, and try to get gear to get gear. I got bored eventually (when my friends left), but years later I decided to go back to the game to try out WoD, but it got old pretty fast. Then I decided to try something new and joined an RP server. Since then, the game for me is RPing. It's just the most fun I've ever had in any game. Character progression became a way to acquire new outfits and cosmetics for my character, and it never felt so rewarding. I'm just telling you this so you understand my position; RP really became everything to me in wow, so I have some concerns before switching over.
Back in Wow, finding RP when I started out was pretty straight forward and easy: I searched online for some conventions used and things like that, and then I joined one of the clearly marked RP servers, and just had fun. I found out what addons to get to write my character description, I found out what places people hanged around at, I could easily find someone to do something with. I especially loved, LOVED walk up RP; it was just so much fun, and it could go in so many ways. I loved to meet just random people in towns or roads, and I've made many friends and had many laughs like that. I was also pretty open, so I was always up for serious or less serious stuff, depending on the character I was dealing with, and I've had many bigger RPs start that way (I guess you could say all, since all my contacts were kind of met that way).
Even though I think wow's RP state was fine, I decided to leave for many other reasons, one of which was the massive amounts of people leaving; the world just felt really really empty outside of the main towns. I also became a bit tired of the graphics I guess, since 30 recolors of the same dress was not really doing it for me anymore (I still love the cartoony look of the game in some respects though). After much searching and looking into many games, the one which seemed more alive and thriving was FF14, and I wasn't sure I would like it, but I finally tried the trial and long story short: I like it a lot so far. I can see much more potential for RPing than Wow has.
So now for my concerns / questions:
Since there are no RP specific servers, I feel a bit overwhelmed when trying to look for RP since I don't know how to look for RP, or how to let people know I'm looking for RP. Are there any big hubs that roleplayers use often that I should know about? Do you think it would be worth it to ask people about such places in my server?
How does the general player (as in, players who don't RP), feel about roleplaying? Would it be wise to ask any random person if they know where I might find people to roleplay with, or would they just laugh at me? How do people see walk up roleplaying? is it practiced at all, or does roleplay happen pretty much exclusively within guilds and other groups?
Is there a way to have some sort of character description attached to your character that people might see? Some people would argue that having a description of how the character behaves kind of defeats the purpose of getting to know a character, but I think descriptions are nice to point out obvious things about your character (visible scars, a wooden leg...), or even to let people know how you roleplay.
What about letting people know I'm looking for RP or telling when other people are looking for RP, is there a way to facilitate that?
Does every server have an RP presence? I've heard a lot about Balmung, but I couldn't create a character there. I was a bit upset at first, and began reading that you could do it at 4 am or something, but then I decided to just go to another server, since if the game becomes more popular we're probably not going to fit all inside one server anyway, so I guess I'll take what is the short end for now.
I hope all of this was coherent, and thank you in advance for all the help.
RE: From WoW to FF, RP questions - Unnamed Mercenary - 01-10-2016
Hi there! Welcome to the RPC. I'll see if I can answer a few of these.
(01-10-2016, 09:24 PM)LowLowLaLaLuLu Wrote: Since there are no RP specific servers, I feel a bit overwhelmed when trying to look for RP since I don't know how to look for RP, or how to let people know I'm looking for RP. Are there any big hubs that roleplayers use often that I should know about? Do you think it would be worth it to ask people about such places in my server?
This honestly depends on the server you're currently playing on. If you're looking for RP happening in the open world, cities, or an otherwise very immersed setting, you'll want to get onto Balmung server. And sadly, that is difficult to do because it's one of the most populated servers. Occasionally, people can get in right after maintenance or if the server crashes, but the only sure-fire way of getting in is a paid server transfer. I know. Paying extra just to play the game doesn't sound very alluring. The RPC primarily has Balmung people, with some Gilgamesh people. I know there's some RP on Siren and Jenova, but nothing like it is on Balmung.
Generally, the main hubs for casual RP will happen in the cities. In Balmung, that's typically in Ul'dah, although Ishgard has quite a lot as of patch 3.0. Gridania and Limsa Lominsa aren't always all the time, but do have their own groups too.
Depending on what server you're currently on, your RP experience may vary from none at all to never seeing it end.
(01-10-2016, 09:24 PM)LowLowLaLaLuLu Wrote: How does the general player (as in, players who don't RP), feel about roleplaying? Would it be wise to ask any random person if they know where I might find people to roleplay with, or would they just laugh at me? How do people see walk up roleplaying? is it practiced at all, or does roleplay happen pretty much exclusively within guilds and other groups?
Again, I can only really speak for Balmung here (and from this point, I'll give a Balmung view of the rest of the questions). It varies! In my experiences, people on Balmung are pretty nice, even if they don't care for RP themselves. There is still the stigma that RPers doesn't engage in content with some of them, but RPers also make up a fair portion of people driving the market, gathering, crafting, and endgame content. I've personally never seen anyone complain about RPers being on Balmung, but I suppose it's happened in the past and will probably happen in the future.
Many RPers choose to add something to their search history if they're an RPer. Some will link their RPC wiki, a small blurb, or whether they're open for walk-up (aka random) RP or not. The RPC also has threads and a wiki for character listings. The wiki is used almost like a character sheet for some people.
RP happens both in the world, pre-arranged on the forums, in Free Companies and/or Linkshells. Chances are, if there's a way to communicate, people are using it for RP. (If someone's using smoke signals or carrier pidgins though, I hope they send pictures!)
(01-10-2016, 09:24 PM)LowLowLaLaLuLu Wrote: Is there a way to have some sort of character description attached to your character that people might see? Some people would argue that having a description of how the character behaves kind of defeats the purpose of getting to know a character, but I think descriptions are nice to point out obvious things about your character (visible scars, a wooden leg...), or even to let people know how you roleplay.
Mentioned above, but the wiki! (And maybe a shortened link if you wanna put it in your search info). Some people will link their wiki pages or just put [RPC] or something in. There's also the character directory board for basic info, RP availability and the link. (There's cross-over!) Unlike WoW, there are no addons for the game made for RP. And the damage parsers are a "don't ask, don't tell" subject because acknowledging you use one could get a warning from the GMs. Square-Enix has promised addon support one day. "Please look forwards to it!"
(01-10-2016, 09:24 PM)LowLowLaLaLuLu Wrote: What about letting people know I'm looking for RP or telling when other people are looking for RP, is there a way to facilitate that?Mostly just on the forums. We've got a making connections board for listings whether that means you're looking for something, having something to provide, or want to provide something for someone's listing. Some people will also use the RPC chat and their linkshells to find spontaneous RP.
Check out our Linkshell Hall for known active Linkshells on the site! (Mostly Balmung, but there are some filters).
(01-10-2016, 09:24 PM)LowLowLaLaLuLu Wrote: Does every server have an RP presence? I've heard a lot about Balmung, but I couldn't create a character there. I was a bit upset at first, and began reading that you could do it at 4 am or something, but then I decided to just go to another server, since if the game becomes more popular we're probably not going to fit all inside one server anyway, so I guess I'll take what is the short end for now.
Sadly, no. Most RP is on Balmung, followed by Gilgamesh, I've heard. Siren and Jenova have some small communities. Gilgamesh and Siren have dedicated websites for finding RP as well.
As said above, your best shots at Balmung are those short periods when the server goes from Offline -> Online. (You'll only be fighting against all the other players and RMT bots for a spot!) ...some helpful advice if you consider a transfer is that you can transfer multiple characters from the same server to a new server all at once, provided there's room. So if you used all 8 characters slots on an open server, you can move them all to Balmung for the single payment of $18 on the Mog Station.
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Phew! I hope this helps out some! If you've got any other questions, concerns, etc, please ask!
RE: From WoW to FF, RP questions - Faye - 01-10-2016
First of all, welcome to FFXIV and the RPC!
(01-10-2016, 09:24 PM)LowLowLaLaLuLu Wrote: Since there are no RP specific servers, I feel a bit overwhelmed when trying to look for RP since I don't know how to look for RP, or how to let people know I'm looking for RP. Are there any big hubs that roleplayers use often that I should know about? Do you think it would be worth it to ask people about such places in my server?
Balmung is the unofficial RP server. I'd really recommend you transfer here, if possible, if you want to RP. There are other servers that may have a few RP FC's and a handful of RPers, but Balmung is really the only server with an active RP community. However, if you're on a server that's not Balmung, you can ask about RPers on your server here on the RPC or Tumblr, as well as try to find an RP FC on your server or any RP linkshells. You could also always ask around in /shout, or social linkshells or your FC. I'm not sure what the community is like on the other servers, so it's possible you may have to wade through troll responses, but you may find a few sincere takers.
I don't know if any server other than Balmung really has RP "hubs." But on Balmung, the Quicksand in Ul'dah always has people role-playing. You can often find people at the other Adventurer's Guilds and any other taverns in the game. If you do end up on Balmung, I'd recommend watching for RP events here on the RPC. They're pretty frequent, and they're a great place to find role-play.
(01-10-2016, 09:24 PM)LowLowLaLaLuLu Wrote: How does the general player (as in, players who don't RP), feel about roleplaying? Would it be wise to ask any random person if they know where I might find people to roleplay with, or would they just laugh at me? How do people see walk up roleplaying? is it practiced at all, or does roleplay happen pretty much exclusively within guilds and other groups?
Once again, it's hard to say about other servers. On Balmung, you may run into the occasional troll or RP hater, but this is the unofficial RP server, so most people here are gonna be pretty tolerant of RP. Walk up RP does happen on Balmung, but if you're ever certain if someone is willing, you can check their search info (many RPers will have "walk ups welcome" in their info) or you can shoot them an OOC /tell asking if they're interested in RP.
(01-10-2016, 09:24 PM)LowLowLaLaLuLu Wrote: Is there a way to have some sort of character description attached to your character that people might see? Some people would argue that having a description of how the character behaves kind of defeats the purpose of getting to know a character, but I think descriptions are nice to point out obvious things about your character (visible scars, a wooden leg...), or even to let people know how you roleplay.
You can put this sort of information in your search info! The search info has a relatively small character limit, so you may want to compile the information on a web page (such as the wiki pages here on the RPC, for example) and provide the URL in your search info.
(01-10-2016, 09:24 PM)LowLowLaLaLuLu Wrote: What about letting people know I'm looking for RP or telling when other people are looking for RP, is there a way to facilitate that?
Not much you can do there but standard communication. Put an ad in party finder, ask around in linkshells or your FC, ask around here on the RPC, etc.
(01-10-2016, 09:24 PM)LowLowLaLaLuLu Wrote: Does every server have an RP presence? I've heard a lot about Balmung, but I couldn't create a character there. I was a bit upset at first, and began reading that you could do it at 4 am or something, but then I decided to just go to another server, since if the game becomes more popular we're probably not going to fit all inside one server anyway, so I guess I'll take what is the short end for now.
As I touched on a bit above, every server may have role-players, but Balmung is the only with a real role-play presence (and maybe Gilgamesh, to a lesser degree). The only way you can really get onto Balmung, aside from being immensely lucky, is to server transfer, which costs real money. However, if you're looking for an RP community, I'd really recommend you come to Balmung if you have the cash to spare on a transfer.