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[Discussion] Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Printable Version

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Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Arashin Kujqai - 08-13-2017

This is something I've come across in developing plot that has been bugging me and I was curious how it could be dealt with or how you may have handled it. Let's say you have a plot developing that keeps your character busy or in a particular area with limitations around it. Say your character is in somewhere in Eorzea hunting something down in Eorzea specifically that needs the utmost attention ICly, this prevents them from visiting any of the far east or attending too much RP on the side that wouldn't already be on the way of your plot. How do you handle this?

Typically I just figure I can write around the details to make things work, like the character is taking a break or has been given some time to relax and etc. I feel like I do that too often though and I'd love to get some freedom to RP anywhere within any zone. At the same time, following the plot for the character has become fun, interesting, and something I don't want to just outright drop for the sake of "screw it, I'm bored and wanna go places". By the end of the plot I picture being free to roam wherever I allowed in writing it just like before the plot was developed.... Until then though, I feel a bit trapped between either letting go long term plot RP to have fun, or keeping to it and just waiting/playing it out until it completes. I'm sure this asks "why not just wrap it up now then?", the problem being people's schedules varying here and there. The people involved in the plot sometimes aren't available to do it or have little time left to, so I'm not left with too much time to easily complete it.

I really want to avoid just writing around it and claiming because the fun is getting to enjoy the writing in person(so to speak) but I'm also just feeling trapped like I said. Have you experienced this or is there any suggestions? How do you handle having a long term plot but also get the freedom to do as you please or go where you'd like? Do you get to or do you use self discipline to keep accurate to the concepts and lore?

I'm somewhat mixed in terms of my RP intensity, I would say light to medium, though I've wanted to become heavy but this plot concept has felt like it's kept me from becoming just that. Considering the time it's eaten up and the mixed schedules. Thoughts?

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Oyuu - 08-13-2017

Hi! Imma just write a bunch because I've encountered this problem before and this is how I combat it!

1) Reasons aren't that hard to come by with a little creativity - Unless your character is chained up in a basement or something, I think it is actually pretty easy to come up with some sort of reason to be at a certain place or talk to a certain person.

Maybe your character can seek out a friend for a conversation to gain feedback on the predicament he's currently in. Or maybe he has a couple evenings free and like you said he needs to go and relax because boy, whatever he is doing is a lot of work! 

To give an example, my character (involved in a heavy plot but I had an RP itch to scratch and no one online scenario) has gone to meet with an 'informant' (aka someone I literally just made up for sake of plot) but they haven't turned up. In an effort to kill time, my character chats to other characters whilst he waits or maybe asks if they have seen the informant. It works, and I have an excuse to do tavern RP for two to three hours. 

2) Alt characters - I'm a pretty heavy RPer, and have several characters in and out of plots. If a character is tied up in something, I can simply switch to another one that is free and can waltz down to the Quicksand for the sweet RP action. RPing an alt character can also help refresh your RP writing - sometimes being stuck with a certain personality or plot can be very draining, and switching to something different can be a nice reboot. Alt characters stop me from burning out on my main, for instance. 

Of course, if you're a one-man band sort of person, or you got the itch to RP a certain character, this may not work for you. 

3) Alternative Universes or Time Bubbles - For the situation I just mentioned above, where you really just want to RP that one character, I recommend using AUs or Time Bubbles. Maybe you have an RP buddy that you want to establish a pre-existing connection with? Like a childhood friend or an ex-lover. By using the magic of time bubbles, you can RP shit that happened in the past. 

AUs can also be fun! Something to be taken casually, probably, since you don't want to upset what is actually happening to your character in their main scenario. For example, I'm RPing an AU where my main character still lives with his tribe. It's a one-to-one very casual RP, but it's fun and nice to do whilst my main character is stuck in his FC house at the moment. 


If you do any of these, make sure to communicate with your RP partners what you and your character are up to. In past experiences, if you are getting a lot of RP and they are not, it can feel a bit disjointed and make your partner feel out of the loop if your character has had so much development in a short space of time in comparison to theirs. 

Careful planning of when you will next RP your plot related stuff will also help, instead of it being a big "Huh, wonder if we'll actually manage to RP this week" kinda thing. If you schedule your RP and plot, you can plan around it so you can actually feel your character has a life and isn't trapped. Also, Discord/Skype/Google Doc RP is the best for RPing with someone with a wonky schedule! I hope this ramble helps!

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Lydia Lightfoot - 08-13-2017

I know exactly what you mean. D&D groups and the like which I've played in have referred to this as Roleplay Jail, because the circumstances of the story make it either implausible, impractical, or impossible for the character to do anything which isn't related to the plot, and thus the character is effectively imprisoned by it.

Classic examples:
  • A cliffhanger occurs wherein the RP has to end for the day due to people's scheduling, but the actual plot hasn't wrapped up yet, and the nature of the plot is one in which the characters wouldn't have a justifiable reason to just hit the pause button and buggar off for several days.
  • A "passive cliffhanger" occurs, in which there's no real cliffhanger situation, but the motivations of the characters in the plot are such that it wouldn't make rational sense for them to leave the vicinity of the plot in order to, say, go to somebody's tavern night. Even if nothing is actively occurring relating to the plot, the urgency surrounding the plot drives the characters to "remain at post".
  • The plot occurs in a remote, travel-restrictive, or downright inaccessible (literally imprisoned, effectively) location, meaning that even if the plot scenes don't end on cliffhangers, it's not likely the characters could easily go elsewhere if they even wanted to.
  • There are others, of course...
It's really hard to avoid this happening, but it can be done with some strategy on the part of the storyteller. Here's some ways I like to try and keep it from occurring.
  • Outline the plot in advance, and intentionally build in "break points" in each scheduled scene which correspond IC to the OOC need to end the scene. Usually, this comes in the form of needing to wait on something. For example, if the goal of scene 1 is to find an artifact, be flexible about exactly how it becomes found (that way you can make it spontaneous if you need to, in order to accommodate the OOC time limit on the scene). Once it's found, you declare that it'll need to be studied and researched before they can proceed, so everyone who can, please reconvene on X date at Y time at Z location (in other words, the start of your scene 2). 
  • Envelop the plot in a time pocket. This one gets trickier to pull off, and requires some preemptive discussion with participants in the plot. Let's say hypothetically you have a 4-scene plot planned out, and the only feasible point where a break could occur is between scenes 2 and 3, but OOC needs make it impractical to just do the plot as two very long scenes. Thus, you let everyone know: We're doing the RP in four scenes, dated September 1, 8, 15, and 22, each one week apart. However, scenes 1 and 2 both take place IC back-to-back on September 8, and, scenes 3 and 4 both take place IC back-to-back on September 22. Please do not use the activities which occur in the scenes we play out on September 1 and 15 in your unrelated RP, because timing-wise it won't have happened yet. If there's no good moment for a break, this can end up as a "serious time pocket", wherein you have to tell them all "okay, we're starting the scenes on September 1, but the entire plot occurs IC on September 22, so don't make use of any of it for outside RP until the plot has actually concluded".
  • Reserve the plot exclusively for very active players whose schedules inherently correspond to yours. It could be useful if they're able to be active participants in continuing the RP scenario via Discord when being in-game isn't possible. This one is actually the hardest, and it's also the most limiting (due to the likelihood that your pool of participants will be small). However, it does mean you and the participants can probably stay focused and bang out the entirety of the plot in a concentrated effort, which can be an intense and enjoyable writing experience if well-executed.
If you're merely a participant in someone else's plot, and they aren't managing their breaks very well, then... well, you're in a bit of a pickle, but all's not lost (excepting if the character is literally trapped in a place, in which case... well, shame on your storyteller for ending a scene in a situation like that). All you have to do is decide for yourself that your character has a secondary motivation elsewhere. They really want to help their friends do the thing, but they also have this other thing which is also very important to them right now. So they're inclined to pop back home to check on the other thing, if it's even reasonably practical to do so.

Hope that helps! Big Grin

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Arashin Kujqai - 08-13-2017

To add to this, it also doesn't help that certain plots can be relevant only during a certain expansion of time in FF14. Like for example patch 4.0 being the patch where we "liberate Ala Mhigo", if that ends and we get our next expansion, the idea of helping in it's liberation becomes a bit moot. So at that point, I figure I'm left without any choice but to either write over it and skip to current political points or play it off as like cleaning up after basically.

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Sounsyy - 08-13-2017

I've been playing a character who's ICly been trying to liberate Ala Mhigo since I started RPing the character in 2011. There's a lot of personal investment in the events of the current storyline for both myself and my main (and a few alts). But I'm with some groups who are content to begin RPing at the end of the current 4.0 story end as well as other groups who wish to play out some of the action. This in itself has forced some bubbles and awkward back and forths. But as I've invested so much in the story of Ala Mhigo, for my own enjoyment, I'm refusing to just... skip to the end of something my character has been fighting for for over 20 years ICly.

So I'm using bubbles. Lots of bubbles. I'm doing some events with my FC that occur before Baelsar's Wall fell, I'm doing some that occur during the 4.0 storyline, I'm hesitant to RP much after the end, as I'm not sure what effect the current plotline I'm running my character through right now will leave her. Does that limit me on some RP? Sure, but personally, my enjoyment hinges on doing this liberation storyline. If I want to RP after the fact, I have alts who are less invested in the happenings of the current story.

That's what's working for me. And I recommend doing whatever it is that is most enjoyable for you. If you want to do something with your character, find a way to do it - take an IC break, make an AU, create a time bubble, or just do "forum" RP here, on discord, or on a blog and go back and forth with whomever you're wanting to RP with if you're not just running a plot by yourself. Personally, I'm enjoying dragging my RP friends along my character's storyline which I'm doing almost entirely through written stories. I'll add in places where other characters can join in, but it's my enjoyment and my investment so I'm doing things how I want them.

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Lydia Lightfoot - 08-13-2017

Agreed with Sounsyy. You'll probably find that most players tend to lean, independently of outside sources, in one of two ways: Either they play with the "present" being "a point in time which occurs after all available quest storyline", or, "a point in time which corresponds with where the individual player happens to have seen thusfar, because said player is trying to avoid spoilers, while somehow not realizing that the internet is basically an enormous spoiler minefield". In groups, you get either the former again, or, a version of the latter which is decided upon by the group in question (such as what Sounsyy said about wanting to play out the lead-up rather than jumping to the conclusion). Time bubbles abound due to it all, which is fine, excepting those awkward moments wherein you have, say... a character who is using the former, who interacts with a character who's using the latter.

For one of them, Ala Mhigo has been freed, like, a good couple months ago. For the other, they're struggling every day as a rag-tag guerilla fighter to free it. Neither is wrong, per se, they're just technically existing in different time periods, yet they'll both show up to the same tavern night. 

How can that be reconciled? Well, most of the time, I take the camera that's pointed at the scene, I smear a big honking gob of vaseline on the lens, and call it good.

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Kieron Lohengrin - 08-13-2017

When I DM a storyline or scene I give my players a choice of when they want it to be set. Unless they specify otherwise, it usually defaults to the "present day", i.e. they already freed Ala Mhigo and Deltascape / expert roulette shenanigans ongoing, but sometimes they want to play out a very specific life event in their toon's recent past. Sometimes people also just want to do slice of life things like living with the Mol tribe for a while. Aetherytes make travel time a non-issue, if PCs so choose.

I never tell someone "you can't do that because we're still stuck in X event." And if they want to try playing out something non-canon / one-shot with their characters for a while I'm also cool with that. The best way to think of it is like the official vignettes that Square Enix writes and publishes on their website - "Here's some aftermath for what happened to your character after that ingame cinematic. Also btw yes they canonically fill out orphan sticker books a lot"

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Arashin Kujqai - 08-13-2017

(08-13-2017, 06:47 PM)Kieron Lohengrin Wrote: When I DM a storyline or scene I give my players a choice of when they want it to be set. Unless they specify otherwise, it usually defaults to the "present day", i.e. they already freed Ala Mhigo and Deltascape / expert roulette shenanigans ongoing, but sometimes they want to play out a very specific life event in their toon's recent past. Sometimes people also just want to do slice of life things like living with the Mol tribe for a while. Aetherytes make travel time a non-issue, if PCs so choose.

I never tell someone "you can't do that because we're still stuck in X event." And if they want to try playing out something non-canon / one-shot with their characters for a while I'm also cool with that. The best way to think of it is like the official vignettes that Square Enix writes and publishes on their website - "Here's some aftermath for what happened to your character after that ingame cinematic. Also btw yes they canonically fill out orphan sticker books a lot"
I'm glad you brought this up as this is another one of those things I've wondered since we've gotten the new continent. While I can easily write over having to travel to the east via a boat or some form of travel that involves me going from point A of Eorzea to point B or Othard and then just go there via aetheryte cuz screw it. I always wondered how many players RP out the fact they aren't attuned to the aetherytes in Othard period. If we're speaking on the terms of casual RP, we can just easily come up with anything, hopped aboard a merchant ship, got a ride from a lominsian friend, flew by chocobo and somehow didn't get swept up into any issues for a good few days during, or you just tele'd to the aetheryte because.... Whatever the case may be, long term seems to make this part more of a main factor in you having to know that your character needs to attune to this new continent's aetherytes(assuming they're not from there originally) to be able to go there as frequently as you desire. I understand the cost and amount of anima this would use of course would be a bit draining to just easily do back and forth, but I'm more concerned about writing the "why did my character decide to go to Othard?" or the "How did they get here in the first place?". Casually it's easy to come up with any reason just for the sake of it and have fun, plot-wise it feels like you need to invest a bit of story in the travel itself to make sense.

I guess what I'm saying is... I can't imagine maybe character types just waking up one day and going "I feel like going to the FAAAAAAAAR east.... yeap!" and then just doing it "because". I've been spending a bit of my story in writing how to travel that way too, and it's starting to feel a little iffy. It feels both forced and at the same time it feels as though it couldn't happen any faster than I wish it could.

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Lydia Lightfoot - 08-13-2017

I can't think of anybody I know who actually roleplayed out a real-time two-month period of their character being aboard a ship bound for Othard. Some people did portray such a voyage having happened to their characters, but compressed it into a small number of RP sessions with friends who went along for the voyage. Others handwaved it entirely, saying "yep, two months passed, woo, hi Othard". I know quite a few who decided to retcon into their character's backstory that they'd already made that journey at some point in their past, so that in the present they'd be able to use aetheryte already. 

Me, I had Lydia accidentally discover the ruin of an Allagan teleporter site in Thanalan which had a sister point in Othard, while on a treasure hunting delve in search of a mundane necklace in the ruins of an inventor's manor (which said inventor had, she discovered, built at that site because he was trying to figure out how this wonderful underground Allagan machinery worked). She hadn't any idea what exactly the discovered site did, and sheerly by misadventure BAMF'ed her way across the ocean. Alas, the state of general disrepair of the Thanalan site was nothing compared to the totally-destroyed condition of the Othard site, so there wasn't any way for her to go back so easily, but she had the company of a native, Kazukata, who'd also been drawn into the wormhole, and they were able to navigate to some nameless off-map settlement with an aetheryte and make it home from there. And thus now she can get to Othard.

She's since reported the existence of the site in Thanalan to the alliance, who have secured it for study. It's not in fine enough shape for constant use, and would be totally unable to provide a strategic use for most military purposes (e.g. it doesn't work well enough or often enough that it could be used to transport a contingent of soldiers), but, they can allow authorized individuals to make the jump to Othard and attune there. So... feel free to borrow the method, if you like.

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Nero - 08-13-2017

As someone who's anal-retentively detailed about stuff like this, the two-month travel time isn't really that important. Even if you're constantly going back and forth between Othard and Eorzea. If you're doing a plot, it'll stretch out the timeline somewhat (and there'll have to be some holes filled, like what <x> character was doing while <y> character was stuck on a boat) but otherwise I've found that it's not really worth it to let pacing suffer for the sake of realism or what have you.

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Arashin Kujqai - 08-14-2017

(08-13-2017, 10:26 PM)Lydia Lightfoot Wrote: I can't think of anybody I know who actually roleplayed out a real-time two-month period of their character being aboard a ship bound for Othard. Some people did portray such a voyage having happened to their characters, but compressed it into a small number of RP sessions with friends who went along for the voyage. Others handwaved it entirely, saying "yep, two months passed, woo, hi Othard". I know quite a few who decided to retcon into their character's backstory that they'd already made that journey at some point in their past, so that in the present they'd be able to use aetheryte already.

Me, I had Lydia accidentally discover the ruin of an Allagan teleporter site in Thanalan which had a sister point in Othard, while on a treasure hunting delve in search of a mundane necklace in the ruins of an inventor's manor (which said inventor had, she discovered, built at that site because he was trying to figure out how this wonderful underground Allagan machinery worked). She hadn't any idea what exactly the discovered site did, and sheerly by misadventure BAMF'ed her way across the ocean. Alas, the state of general disrepair of the Thanalan site was nothing compared to the totally-destroyed condition of the Othard site, so there wasn't any way for her to go back so easily, but she had the company of a native, Kazukata, who'd also been drawn into the wormhole, and they were able to navigate to some nameless off-map settlement with an aetheryte and make it home from there. And thus now she can get to Othard.

She's since reported the existence of the site in Thanalan to the alliance, who have secured it for study. It's not in fine enough shape for constant use, and would be totally unable to provide a strategic use for most military purposes (e.g. it doesn't work well enough or often enough that it could be used to transport a contingent of soldiers), but, they can allow authorized individuals to make the jump to Othard and attune there. So... feel free to borrow the method, if you like.

Honestly, while a lil snowflakey, that's actually not too shabby of an idea. Certainly saves the strain on the matter and gives access to friends as well in the session if required.
(08-13-2017, 11:04 PM)Nero Wrote: As someone who's anal-retentively detailed about stuff like this, the two-month travel time isn't really that important. Even if you're constantly going back and forth between Othard and Eorzea. If you're doing a plot, it'll stretch out the timeline somewhat (and there'll have to be some holes filled, like what <x> character was doing while <y> character was stuck on a boat) but otherwise I've found that it's not really worth it to let pacing suffer for the sake of realism or what have you.

^ Exactly my thoughts here. Really the main gripe is the what characters are doing in the mean time thing. Especially coupled with the above giving time restraints to the matters. Think of a plot line involving some antagonists and your character being the protagonist needs to venture to the east while the antagonist continues doing whatever they want in the mean time without you there. I'm sure at some point in those 2 months the antagonist will have proceeded further or achieved something, or perhaps something else happens in that time span that suddenly makes the trip to Othard worthless. It really just feels like you could be very limited if you actually coordinated a "I was on a boat for 2 months" concept. Or just abusing more time bubbles for the sake of like you said, not letting the pacing kill the plot line. I guess the difficulty is the coming to terms with the pacing vs realism effects and what would happen that would be out of your character's control. Or just hope the antagonist of your story is very dumb/kind enough to not unfold anything in the time that passes lol.

It's also bad if there's multiple plot lines your group is going through that requires 10x more gap filling with varying time spent.

I really should sneak a peek more into that thread about traveling to Othard, I feel there has to be some other method of travel besides the sea. Or at least faster routes anyways that could be more malleable to a plot line.

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Kieron Lohengrin - 08-14-2017

Any antagonist you cook up only ever has as much power and influence as other players allow them to have.

This simple, time-immemorial fact is what should keep any MMO DM / plot-maker humble. This isn't your table where you have absolute control; this is an online space where respect is highly tenuous and optional. People will rightly call out "bad things happened because you were inattentive or away or traveling" and go get better RP elsewhere.

Players who decide to become involved in your plot tend to engage better if their characters have a personal stake, such as the antagonist being someone from their backstory or possessing an item they want. Because XIV is a themepark and not a Log Horizon / Ultima Online-style lived-in world with death and territory ownership, consensus requires a lot more negotiation.

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Valence - 08-14-2017

(08-13-2017, 10:05 PM)Valic Wrote:
(08-13-2017, 06:47 PM)Kieron Lohengrin Wrote: When I DM a storyline or scene I give my players a choice of when they want it to be set. Unless they specify otherwise, it usually defaults to the "present day", i.e. they already freed Ala Mhigo and Deltascape / expert roulette shenanigans ongoing, but sometimes they want to play out a very specific life event in their toon's recent past. Sometimes people also just want to do slice of life things like living with the Mol tribe for a while. Aetherytes make travel time a non-issue, if PCs so choose.

I never tell someone "you can't do that because we're still stuck in X event." And if they want to try playing out something non-canon / one-shot with their characters for a while I'm also cool with that. The best way to think of it is like the official vignettes that Square Enix writes and publishes on their website - "Here's some aftermath for what happened to your character after that ingame cinematic. Also btw yes they canonically fill out orphan sticker books a lot"
I'm glad you brought this up as this is another one of those things I've wondered since we've gotten the new continent. While I can easily write over having to travel to the east via a boat or some form of travel that involves me going from point A of Eorzea to point B or Othard and then just go there via aetheryte cuz screw it. I always wondered how many players RP out the fact they aren't attuned to the aetherytes in Othard period. If we're speaking on the terms of casual RP, we can just easily come up with anything, hopped aboard a merchant ship, got a ride from a lominsian friend, flew by chocobo and somehow didn't get swept up into any issues for a good few days during, or you just tele'd to the aetheryte because.... Whatever the case may be, long term seems to make this part more of a main factor in you having to know that your character needs to attune to this new continent's aetherytes(assuming they're not from there originally) to be able to go there as frequently as you desire. I understand the cost and amount of anima this would use of course would be a bit draining to just easily do back and forth, but I'm more concerned about writing the "why did my character decide to go to Othard?" or the "How did they get here in the first place?". Casually it's easy to come up with any reason just for the sake of it and have fun, plot-wise it feels like you need to invest a bit of story in the travel itself to make sense.

I guess what I'm saying is... I can't imagine maybe character types just waking up one day and going "I feel like going to the FAAAAAAAAR east.... yeap!" and then just doing it "because". I've been spending a bit of my story in writing how to travel that way too, and it's starting to feel a little iffy. It feels both forced and at the same time it feels as though it couldn't happen any faster than I wish it could.

I have not much to add to what people already said above me... Since I already play in time bubbles in a similar vein to the MSQ and all that jazz, I don't feel any peculiar issue with continuing that way with SB and travel and stuff. It allows for far more freedom and elegant storytelling to me, as long as it remains believable (doesn't break suspension of disbelief that is).

A lot of people will have varying views on what's acceptable and what's not for your dilemna. I am probably on the far end of the scale where I'm too stubborn to deviate from lore. I have always been one to almost shun aetheryte travel, or at least grind my teeth when it's used casually in roleplay. How many time have you had FC events where people get their briefing in their FC house, then use the aetheryte to get to their destination every damn day? And then back? And again? Since I know I'm a minority and have after all to follow FC events and whatnot, I go along with it.

But aetheryte travel is not a given to most people in Eorzea, costs a shitload of money, and is far from safe as a mean of travel. You might notice that almost not a single NPC actually uses it except in the most urgent circumstances, and I have a hard time recalling even the Scions using that most of the time. And when they do through emergency spells not cast correctly (thank you Y'shtola), they get lost in the aetherial sea.

I also believe there is a reason why the story is very shy in using that plot device. Because it was created obviously first as a main game mechanic for that MMO to be functional and fun. They of course justify it through the lore and story obviously, and the lore actually covers it pretty extensively for that matters, but it remains an awkward thing and the story doesn't like to use it.

And I understand why. It cheapens every notion of travel and journey. You still have to attune to an aetheryte first, yes, so at least you have to do the journey yourself first. But even then, it still cheapens greatly the idea of scale and distances. It feels too easy overall.

It already boiled down to what kind of character people want to portray too. Badass adventurers or shonen stories? Or more realistic, everylife characters? Depending on the tone of the story you tell, aetheryte travel can swiftly go from a normal everyday thing to something that just totally ruins your suspension of disbelief (and suspension of disbelief is the very essence of roleplay).

So we know it costs anima, costs gil, can cost your life if not done correctly, and Alisaie also mentions that the aetheryte travel between Othard and Eorzea is way too much for all of them but the WoL who is pumped in anima like nobody.

With that in mind Othard is closed to my character until she has to get there through proper means, which is travel. Maybe at some point airships will open up to get there (remember the non functional airship landing in Kugane?). Or maybe not.

It's okay anyway, I got time bubbles.

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Erah'sae - 08-14-2017

In the end though, do what makes sense for the sake of story.  Bamfing across the water taking two months (we suppose) is well and good but unless it matters for story, just hand wave it.

Does it really matter that you're here instead of there?  If no?  Who cares?

If you the actions of one setting will impact another, then you've got a bit of a catch-22.

I tend to play in real, time.  If a scene doesn't finish by the end of a night, we tend to either summarize or actually break up the scene to multiple days.  If Erah'sae can't be at a social event because he's off doing whatever, he can't be there.  This gives your personal story some gravity to other people.   When a friend who misses, lets say, your presence at the Grindstone for two weeks, it gives them a hook to get involved.  Failing that, at least something to talk about.   The reverse of time bubbling things is also a bit of a trap.  You can't really say next Grindstone "I spent two months training in seclusion." or some such if you were there last week.

Again though, it really depends on your goal as a personal storyteller.  Do you want to focus on your story, social enjoyment, or creating a person within a living breathing world?  There's no better or worse in the choices.    Just something you have to decide for  yourself.

RE: Long term plot Vs Casual RP - Rosekitten - 08-14-2017

I normally end up in a lot of casual plot but I also main a blacksmith character. I expect to get more of the town or common folk feel out of my story then a epic saga adventure. Not to say a common folk type of character can't get involved in such a thing. I wiped her wiki when I switched servers due to story holes and people just not being on the same server/quitting. But I actually had been dragged or involved in quite a lot of so called adventures. 

My character back on Balmung had tie ins with pirates, was put in charge of a group called the spiral knights for a while. Dealt with the loss of several close friends.The blood of her own brother on her hands, dragon-like folk suddenly showing up during the heath of the Ishgardians dealing with dragons. 

Fairly sure there was a handful of other exciting things but I've forgotten them and I don't have the notes pulled up at the moment. But generally I go with whatever story makes sense. Odds are it has nothing to do with the current main story. Thus far the closest thing I've gotten to being in line with the main story was the whole ishgardian thing and the scaled Au Ra showing up. 

Over the years I've gotten use to people ducking in and out and I tend to figure out the time line based on what mini plots that get completed. If something is large enough I may mention it in passing during an interaction with a smaller story point but that is mainly to cover my bases for later. If a plot gets started and doesn't go on enough to bother mentioning it.. I won't. Just like back in the day my character played bodyguard or guide to a blind traveler in the Shroud. Though the story idea only lead to one interaction so I never bothered to mention it as my character should have been and would have been stuck in the shroud and the other player never logged back in..

I'm by no means a heavy rp'er. I'm considered light at best. I have odd hours and normally if my kiddos are awake I try to avoid rp because I don't want to hold people up if I have to run afk. ^^;

Also as another note to put here... if you don't know or can't find something in the lore to describe what you want to do.. make it up. The FF universe is vast, there are other lands our characters can't get to there are other magics, devices etc that could be out there. Just try to put some foundation of logic behind it if you have to go that route.