Hyrist

What are your available playtimes, out of courosity's sake. Walk-up Rps can be somewhat difficult to come by as I've observed an activity lul outside of the typical static events going on. I'm personally attributing this to incoming Heavensward and people being busy trying to catch up with in-game goals before the expansion. Some of the more populated haunts have emptied out of late. (Always check the Calendar to see if there's something going on that you can join.) That said, if you post up your availability times, someone on here is bound to be friendly enough and match your times to start Rping with you.

Amdapoor Keep HM? Attack the party while fighting the Boogyman, and pretend that he made you do it? I just find it limiting. You can utilize portions of it as you clear through the dungeon, but exploration, investigation, deep plot development and cut-scenes using these dungeons usually has me conflicting with that 90 minute average timer. Then there's the fact that you've got the 5 minute cut-off when you clear it, so you really have to go through it in stages, and then either utilize the mechanics within, or clear and ignore them. Meanwhile, a few hours in Photoshop and I can transform an entire dungeon into something atmospherically different entirely, give my players a unique experience that the in-game mechanics never could. That sort of inspiration makes me want to go a step further for my players and unfortunately the limitations of time and monster placement really don't provide that.

The time limit and existing mob structure tends to make it difficult for me to utilize it for anything further than casual events that mix character structure with gameplay mechanics. So I've been drafting a method of using the maps, and screenshots to utilize the setting in a pseudo-tabletop rendition of each zone. Even found an online website to help me host organization of such things as well but it's all rough. Not sure how one plays an antagonist in a dungeon where the only mechanical role a player can play in there is a protagonist. Maybe a 'traitor' scene at the end? As dungeons areas being locked out for IC reasons... I'm just going to say that an inventive writer can weasel their way into making a story for pretty much every zone in this game. It's all in the presentation. Just remember to take the Simpsons approach. No matter what happens, everything returns to 'normal' at the end, aside from the lives of the story staff and player characters that it affects.

A Sea-Wolf Ul'dahn crime syndicate and a Garlean organization. Of the two, lore wise, I'd cringe more over trying to organize the latter. I have Garlean character so I had to look pretty closely at the Garlean Military Structure. The Garlean Lore is pretty volatile with their politics having been in a state of flux from back in the 1.xx days with Gaius playing against Nael. To now where there's a new Emperor in the works doing a political purge. Pair that with developing information about them and any organized Garlean group is going to be prone to having to retcon some pretty major stuff anytime a lore-bomb occurs. So if Ramusus is staying on top of his game, he's got a whole lot of respect from me for it. But I've got a lot of bad experiences with organized 'evil' groups to justify my hesitations with them. But it sounds like they're doing quiet well. I'm impressed. I wonder if they do internal intrigue plots among their own numbers. "Evil" Groupings are not the standard party fair. The story premise for them exists in their internal lore sphere. They're not "The bad guys" so much as they are the protagonists of their own story. Outside of their own sphere, however, they're playing the antagonist role, and they act and serve as NPCs for another plot. That's the function of a villain. They're still Original Characters - and are given all rights and privileges therein. But a 'Player Character' exists as a function of a story, same as Villains. In an open role-play, that quality is transient. Put simply - it depends on what you are doing for a story. People too often mistake "Player Character" as a static state listing any character ever made by a person who plays a game - the opposite of a Non-Player-Character, someone imaginary or represented by place markers. These are the improper uses of the terms, in my experience. I regret that my giant post got lost, it explained all this in detail. Think of each Original Characters you make as potential actors in a play, and the titles "Player Character", "Villian" "NPC" as the costumes and roles you assume in that play, or Job stones you equip. You can't equip two 'Job Stones' at once, and each one comes with a different perspective and roles to fill.

*Deep breath* Story premise, method for evading persecution on long term (That's local, GC, AND Alliance level persecution due to being an organized grouping. Size garners attention.) Interaction limits, rules and concepts when dealing with, well, anyone not an antagonist, or even another antagonist of opposing goals especially as a group or with another group. Methods of acting or RPing in public settings, especially considering the above, again, on the personal, and group level. This is on top of your typical lore, play-ability, continual activity, and logistical problems any other group are concerned with that could put you at odds with players on an IC or OOC level (or both) even if you were a protagonist group. This is compounded by the fact that many organized villainous elements are fairly well known and established (Syndicate, Brass Blades, Corpse Brigade, One of the 8 Garlean Cohorts in Eorzea, Redbellies, Coeurl Claws, Harriers, Lunatics, Rogue Pirates and the newly christened 2.55 group which I'll not spoil, nor will I touch on Beast Tribe entities, Void entities, Ascians, or even Undead. ) leaving little conceptual room for a larger organization that does not answer to or conflict with these criminal elements on top of law abiding or law enforcement entities. That's a lot to hammer down before you even start making decisions of creative liberties as a group and establishing your own canon within it. I'll openly applaud the group that tackles that challenge fully knowing the difficulties involved, but there would be a quite a lengthy conversation to be had before any sort of collaboration could be done. There are so many potential clashing points in a pre-established villain base even in fully free form RPs in forums that adding in the often restrictive elements of MMO's level of canon and lore into it and factoring the many ways the interpretation of such deviates even among protagonists - is such a bramble patch of potential disasters and unwanted drama for all involved that I as a story-writer wouldn't even touch the project from a leadership standpoint. I'd have to speculate that either the leadership there simply doesn't care for such things or they are some of the most cautiously meticulous people in the field of roleplaying. Either way they stand in the center of a conceptual minefield, and I don't envy their position. If I were to boil all those concerns down to two questions - I'd ask how they avoid becoming a Scarlet Letter, or if they even care about it.

There is a distinction between "Bad Guy" as in horrible individuals, and Villains, as in for a character created to fufill a function in a storyline. People who just want to gather together and roleplay 'bad-guys' for the sake of being bad is, Well, their right. Though questions are raised as to the actual execution of such a concept. But if you show up, cause a disturbance, and hide behind the 'bad guy' title when retaliation comes around. You're in for a terrible time, and a worse reputation. Communication and cooperation are paramount.

Wow, my original post got chewed up quite a bit by formatting. So, that was quite a bit of lost work,so let me summarize the important points and leave it alone. A character you create, whatever title you decide to give it, is yours. This is what we call an Origonal Character. It deserves all the respects and protections that should be given to a character that is owned by a person. That is regardless of PC, Villainous Characters, NPCs, or Facilitator PCs. A Villain is not, however, by function a "Player Character". A Player Character historically, especially in Final Fantasy history are protagonists. Even in cases of Player vs Player, each player is depicted as the protagonist of their own story. A Villain, by contrast of say, a bad person, is a Character designed or utilized for the purpose of a story. Regardless of whether or not they are an Original Character. They function first and foremost as a Story Facilitator, rather than a Player or participator. A character claimed under the title Villain and are participating on a player level, is typically deceiving their role as part of their story, are participating in someone else's story - or simply playing an opposing faction (as per PvP style plots.) To accurately play an active Villain, or an Antagonist, one removes themselves from the 'Player' role, and into the role of a story writer or a story facilitator. Those people, are expected to be the same or in close communication with one another. This communication, as an expectation is only required of player characters in the absence of a Storyteller/GM or facilitator role present. Always remember: A villain is a class of character specifically designed to give someone else's character a bad time, somewhere, at some point. This is inevitable. As such it needs be designed and presented in a manner that the affected player(s) will be amenable to have that bad time happen to their character, and enjoy the story it provides. The separation of Story Facilitator roles (Storyteller/GMs, Facilitator PCs, Villains/Antagonists, and NPCs) from that of a Player Character is a function to further protect those people from the universal trappings of power and IC/OOC separation issues that these roles can become increasingly vulnerable to. In the case of Villains in particular, they're additionally more outwardly reacted against, hence their rarity outside of set contexts. It's up to the "Villain" to prove that they are the 'rarer than gold' good type to the players (And Storytellers if they're simply being facilitator.) and not the other way around. Therefore, accepting the role is as accepting a greater responsibility than a typical roleplayer would. The prospective Villain player must respect the role they are taking, or they're most likely setting themselves up for a difficult and miserable time for themselves, and their prospective players.

If past Lin would see Present Lin, and Present Lin would see future Lin. They would not be able to recognize one another easily, and there would be lots, and lots of questions they'd want to ask one another, but know they would not get an answer. It would be a very quiet, awkward room.

In the battle of Single Player Lore (which is the MSQ) vs individual character gameplay? Gameplay will win more times than lose. For something as big as setting restrictions, however, it's better to stick with what is visibly accessible (Like, you can't Fly in ARR yet, so no swooping in on a Griffon until you can actually swoop in on a Griffon.) Granted, this is all subject to the Canon Circles concept.

Other way around. Villains are dime a dozen. Storytellers can shell them out like there's no tomorrow, at no consequence to themselves. Roaming Villains need pitch their story in a way that's interesting, believable, and respectful to both Characters and Players alike. Otherwise, it's just another ooc person on a power trip.

It's established canon that one cannot fly unless attuning to a flight stone to catch the currents in the air. So, without that function in the ARR zones, I won't be accepting flight (aside from Airships, perhaps) outside of Heavensward zones, until such can be done in the game proper. At that point I'd roleplay that whatever was necessary to have mounts be able to fly (as established by SE at that time or in headcannon) has happened and accept RP flying mounts in ARR zones. As far as accepting it in Heavensward - at face value. They've written a story on how it's established, I assume that Aether usage can be considered the scapegoat on how a PC can maintain themselves on their mounts, and the same with helping odd creatures, such as Fat Chocobos fly.

Mercurias, I wanted to respond to you frankly because there's a major systemic flaw in the way you are approaching villainy in roleplay. This is coming from someone who's actively play antagonist characters and fully intends to continue to do so in FFXIV (I actually have one, just haven't been able to play it due to time constraints) The fundamental problem is this.: This is fundamentally incorrect, in the fact that when you assume the role of Villainy, you are no longer a Player. And let me explain why. Player Characters, especially in this game, are a function of the protagonist as perceived by Storytellers. Traditionally, in all forms of roleplay to play an antagonist, is to sit at the opposite side of that table. The concerns as a PC should not be the same as those playing an antagonist, because an Antagonist is, the moment he engages a protagonist, holds the weight of responsibility of delivering a good conflict story-line to that player - especially in free-form roleplay. You, are no longer a Player Character at that point - you are a Storyteller, or you are a glorified NPC working under a Storyteller, there's no room for a Player-Character antagonist cause it will boil down to Player vs Player mechanics, which requires a Storyteller to establish fair grounds, to which you've already claimed in your post should not happen. Attempting to create a Villain PC fails to serve the primary function of an antagonist to begin with and assumes the stance of hiding behind the rights of a Player Character, while being dynamically opposed to the role of a Player Character. In free-form, in the absence of a storyteller, players collectively agree on the limits and extents of consequence between each other when crafting a storyline. This is easy to establish when groups all are invested on the same side of a conflict or have characters that work together. However taking a villainous approach on a player level means that you're actively an antagonist to said groups. Even with perfect OOC/IC separation there is an innate conflict of interest there on both an IC or OOC level. They're playing something along the lines of a slice of life or adventurer storyline, you're specifically writing to disrupt that. Without a Storyteller to oversee that, all that it amounts to is an unsolvable conflict where you are assuming their consent for the sake if your own idea of a story, while hiding behind consent rules to enforce that story. This implies that if the other players don't play to your dance, then they can never progress. That sets a bad tone for what could be an interesting story. Conversely, doing so from the Storyteller perspective re-asserts and re-aligns all intents in roleplay. Instead of disrupting, you are providing plot for said Slice of Life and Adventurer style roleplays, by playing the Villian role. Playing a continual and Repeat villian means you never really leave the Storyteller perspective and you must focus first on what story you are bringing others, rather than simply pursuing 'your own' story. Otherwise, it boils down to the level of being antagonistic rather than being an antagonist/villian. And that comes with its own IC/OOC problems. Which leads into the next problem playing a "PC" Level. Law enforcement is an active and real element within most worlds - especially in Eorzea. A Villain who's openly a villain to the point where a PC can report their actions, must have a means of dealing with persecution that is acceptable to their constituents. This is especially true seeming many adventurer type PCs will be holding a rank of some sort in one of the Grand Companies. And when that happens, you MUST have the rank of Storyteller in that situation or you must concede to another storyteller's call. "I escape because I said so." pushes the borders of consent, because no party, on the player-character level can rightly claim ownership of the greater law-enforcement entity in a roleplay - that is a role of a storyteller. As a storyteller, you can control factors as to the strength and numbers of the Law enforcement as they enter the fray, and organize your villain's escape in a means that is believable. Conversely, if you're working UNDER a storyteller, you're going to have to work with them weather or not your character escapes and how. We'll digress on the matter of persecution. Playing a Villain without first assuming the role of a Storyteller or working directly with one amounts to simply playing a power-fantasy, intentional or otherwise - it cannot be done correctly without first putting protagonists to the forefront of your consideration. To be a roaming villain is to be a Storyteller with a story waiting to happen, and should be presented to other Players as such before the story happens to prevent OOC conflicts of interest. This is why I see so many attempts at Villainy in Roleplay failing so frequently. Collectively, we are playing a game, and no matter how you perceive it Villainy is a linchpin role in that game. A Villain is a source of conflict, a source of story. And as such, that comes with a bit more responsibility than your typical PC role. Even a Player Character, who's running an independent story-line for their character's personal plot, assumes the role and responsibility of Storyteller while doing so, for Villains, unless you're 'in hiding' or assuming the role of an Anti-Hero for a plot other than yours, you never step away from that Storyteller role. You are a walking plot-line. You can't assume that you are a Player Character. Player Character comes with limitations and assumptions a Villain can't concede to.

The advantage here is rather than a plague, it can be treated as a series of isolated incidents of a similar theme. The threat of an outbreak is more present than an outbreak itself. But the fear of being corrupted by the void-sent through something so benign looking is something that can be explored, and explored leisurely. Someone who's outside said cannon, can easily dismiss something along the lines of the individual involve falling ill or suffering temporary madness. Similarly, this can be simulated in any case featuring illness RPs, including plagues. In my experience, RP's innately function in overlapping circles, the wider the circle, the broader (and often simpler) the interpretation of a shared chain of events become. Cross-Canon, Guild Canon, Personal Canon and Head Canon, are the inward progression of this function. The further in you go, the more personal, detailed and often possibly conflicting a set of events can be. To prevent such problems of conflicts, you typically keep things that are head canon and personal canon close to your chest. So, person who's infected's head canon or group cannon plot is that they've got the Parasite. But your head canon, to prevent major conflict, is that they're sick. And you keep yourself distant from the details concerning that particular RP. That's usually the best way I've found to deal with matters such as the one you're describing. Incidentally Guild Wars 2 had a similar complaint about an actual plague rp that rippled through their community. Perhaps that's what you're recalling? Outbreak is far more downscaled than that. The idea is that people develop personal stories based off the concept that these can be contacted in many different ways, or completely evaded whatsoever. If someone with your personal circle decides to use the plot, well, that's your discussion with them. That has no baring on the plot itself. It's okay to like different things.

There may be several points in which you misinterpret the intent, this may be due to my poor presentation, and I apologize. This sort of feedback and back and forth discussion is the reason why I started this off as a discussion thread first. First is the linearity of Outbreak in general. All of the events happening on the exterior can attempt to, or completely neglect ties to the initial plot. This is completely optional. The additional information that leads to the source are for those who wish to attempt to tie their plots into the source plot in particular. At this point, the work is pre-loaded and the burnout burden that would be on me is marginalized in the absolute worst case scenario. Public information is there, and all anyone has to do is roleplay within those functions. Whenever I decide that public knowledge increased beyond what is spread through inter-player play, I update the thread. The linearity aspect you mark is unique to my own, and does not have to be followed by exact. I figured giving mine leads more to the aspect of mystery and sources to be found, and part of the objective is to get people to start interacting with one another more, I'm utilizing my plot to begin to give those who are interested into starting it, more info as interest progresses. Individual stories that grow from the plots other makes are the sole jurisdiction of those who are creating those side stories. I don't have to lord over them because of the flexibility of the concept of the Parasite. All the information needed is there in the thread. The Voidsent parasite is a linchpin to the theme of mass infection, an 'Outbreak' of voidsent infected creatures and people. We can debate the semantics of the use of 'theme' but it's criticism falls flat given that this example case is not conducive of how every occurrence must play out. It just so happens that this theme surrounds a central plot element, while in other cases it may simply be a string of rumors, or and ideal that has spread around, or what have you. I had designed this this particular pilot with something more concrete on propose, as it's an easier premise to follow when you're using a solid plot device. That said, the word can be dropped all together if it becomes too much of a semantic issue. "Cascading Plot" just sounded too finite to my tastes. I'm open to an alternative suggestion. As far as 'trimming the fat'; A summary in addition to the actual storyline behind the piece is a good bit of feedback. However, 'trimming the fat' in and of itself betrays the 'sharing' aspect of the Cascading Plot. You might not give a toss why Eric wound up where he was, and how he was there, but others will - furthermore, I as I hope others, am interested in seeing the plot you generate off the premise, and hope that you are as descriptive as I have provided as an example. Put to your analogy, the Parasite is the toy. The way its deisgned, they can play with it how they see fit, and some details and ideas on how to play with it are listed. If they want to play with others playing with the same toy (including the toymaker) I've left breadcrumbs and guidelines (some of which actually serve as obstacles so that a direct line cannot be drawn from toy to toymaker.) I swapped "Investigating the Cause" and "Villainous Exploits" order in the document to help facilitate that the former is an optional pursuit for those who wanted to start RPs on that vein, which I hope will start to clarify things. Furthermore I've taken your summary verbatim and put it at the start of the plot background, and marked the larger story to be put behind spoiler tags. This should facilitate both desires.

Forward: a Dream, and a problem. I’ve seen a lot of people making suggestions of larger plot arcs and server wide plot events. To encourage interaction between RP groups, be they FCs or Linkshells, or even circles of friends. Or even to simply partake of the wider RP world, instead of being coupes up in the same circles. It’s an exciting prospect, one I think the RP servers should work for. However, in my experiences in online and forum roleplaying (nearing twenty years, goodness I’m getting old, what have I been doing with my time!? Oh, right, Roleplay!) I’ve realized that the more ambitious a project, the more chances it will stomp on people's egos, roleplaying styles/preferences, and even just breach into their own plots. Maybe a plot that a large number of FCs want to follow, conflict with some other FCs, making RP canon conflict from one group to the next. Suddenly, something that was designed to help bring RP groups together has further cemented its separation and segregation. And this problem can duplicate itself in any number of different variables that ultimately make server-wide plots incredibly difficult to manage, upkeep, and most importantly have fun with. Most groups start on attempting to make it, only to run into these issues and eventually stop due to the burden or drama surrounding it. But the dream, the goal of a living and interactive world with events that ripple through the community and have it vibrant with continuing stories, should always be reached for. So how do we create such a thing while keeping respect for individual group’s headcannons, different playstyles and play times, without overburdening our story writers? Like stones in a still pond. Of the various ideas I’ve seen discussed and worked with over my years, the most successful one I’ve come across is what I like to call a Cascading Plot Theme. The general premise of Cascading Plot Themes is that they are plot arts, that rippled out and inspire other plot arcs of a similar trend or theme, as a result of IC complications or consequences that are capable of acting completely independently of the originating plot. Like a stone being cast into a still pond, what the Cascading Plot Theme is is a story from which other stories can take inspiration from, and from that point make natural connections to, provided that the aims of the original writer. The stories of which, are then shared on the starting thread and trend, to show how the original story inspired and spread. In the end these ideas are designed to be organic and not dependent on the original writer for these stories to progress, but instead uses the story to enrich the environment itself, passing hands from storyteller to storyteller to add to the Epic of the Cascading Story Theme. A simple, practical writing example done in literature is the tale of The Monkey’s Paw. The original Monkey’s Paw, a story written by W. W. Jacobs tells of a story of an artifact that can grant wishes, but each wish goes awry. A Cascading Plot theme could continuations of the Monkey’s Paw falling into various player’s hands, granting wishes that ultimately get undone (or have poor consequences for the caster) and then the object being left unattended for another to stumble upon) This would be a chain of stories that allows each to be open for artistic interpretation of the original and continue the premise. The stories would then be shared for the entertainment and further inspiration of the community. Some Guidelines. Obviously these sort of things come with their own difficulties, so here’s some brief tips I had in mind for the concept. First and Foremost, keep it fun: Try not to go overboard with the concept or the gravity so that it is entirely too dramatic for it to spread organically and casually. Take the time to sit back and relax about it and if you find it too stressful, there’s no reason why you can’t simply walk away. The flexibility of Cascading Plot Themes is that it’s both options, open to interpretation, and entertaining to share both in character by cross-plots, and out of character by sharing the adventures you’ve created and participated in based off of the Theme. The wider the reach, the more simple the premise: Heavily complex storylines become harder to manage the wider they go. A single story of a premise itself can be complex, but the theme to pass on to one another will be far easier to adapt if it is easy to understand and work with. Respect one-another’s headcanon (Host first): Each story as it gets adapted can work in different ways. The idea is not to get particularly attached to your set way and to go with the flow of whoever’s hosting that particular branch of the story. Worry about preserving the sanctity of your own character’s personal story within the confines of your own personal story, and when sharing in someone elses, take steps and make exceptions to pay respect to the story that you’re guesting in. Additionally, hosts can communicate with their guests to make sure that their adaptation isn’t a huge breaker for those participating. Remember to let go: When you make a plot, make sure you can set it up so that you and your character can walk away from the story instead of it consuming your very being. Likewise, if you are taking up a theme to have your own adventure on it, be sure its something yourself, your groups and your prospective RP characters can walk away from without having the urge to reach its ultimate answer or final solution. Not all mysteries are meant to be solved - not all problems resolved completely. The idea of it being able to be passed along mean that each Theme would have no hard set conclusion. In many cases, the theme simply ends when nobody wishes to pick it up anymore. A Pilot to start it off. To get a running start on this idea, I came up with a Pilot Plot I’ve been working on-and-off since Beta that I feel ready to share now. Take a look at the Google Doc below: Cascading Plot Theme Pilot: Outbreak Feel free to tell me what you think of the premise, and the Pilot Plot itself. If all goes well I’ll take the document itself and post it here in the RPC to start things off. If you guys want to discuss the idea of Cascading Plot Themes, discuss a theme of your own, or even provide feedback on the Theme I have, feel free to do so here in the thread. Please keep things fun and respectful! Thank you very much for your time. I hope this idea catches and you all have fun with it!

It's a murky area, looking again at the graph: (Please note that white text in the image lists Blue Boxed items as "External Entities". It is difficult to read on light backgrounds, sorry.) The Knights of the Barracuda are under Maelstrom Command in times of need, but they are still not actually part of the structure proper. The Thalassocratcy reserves the right to command these fleets under maritime law. They're simply in the jurisdiction of the Maelstrom, not unlike the Rogue's Guild. Not in the direct command structure. Their ranking and organization is independent other than they answer ultimately to the Admiral, and a thus Maelstrom Command by her authority. The difference is that the Yellowjackets are publicly recognized as part of the suture of Limsa Lominsa proper. In short, they're closer to police than actual Military, in layman's terms. This thematic presence is also why they're in rivalry with the Rogue's Guild, as per Rogue story-line. Police vs Sanctioned Vigilantes and whatnot.

The thing about that is, and it's even acknowledged directly by the Yellowjackets, is that they are directly under the Admiral's heel, just not recognized publicly as such. While they're not officially part of the Maelstrom structure, technically, neither are the Yellow-jackets, but both are under the jurisdiction of Merlwyb. But, neither are recognized as the GC proper, that's why I said closer to Secret Ops. That's about as close to elite forces as you're going to get in Limsa, their structure is very loose. An alternative idea is perhaps be part of a Pirate Crew directly under her command, which would put them in the Crimson Fleet - but they're not known as ground forces, at least, not in any knowledgeable lore.

Actually it is the Rogues' Guild that operates as the Limsan Lominsan special forces, in that they are considered an elite group, but they're closer to Secret Ops than actual soldiers. Keep in mind, ALL of these are considered local forces and those who run on the Adventurer Circuit likely would not be part of that particular command structure. The exception being the Rogue's guild, but they only accept a specific kind of cull. That said, it is not inconceivable to believe that each Grand Company can have an elect few in their Adventurer circuits that they keep together for commissions tasked of particular danger and note. Each Adventurer segment is left mums on details and therefore can be pretty flexible as far as the structure, save for who is at the top of that particular division for each Grand Company. In short, if you want to be Bloodsworn, or Red Adder, make sure you're a native (Or Ala Mhigan Refugee) for the Bloodsworn, or make sure you are a Twelveswood Native (or equivalent) for Red Otters. Otherwise you're going to want to have a really good exemption story written to make it fit, as those structures are fairly rigid. Rogues' Guild doesn't care so much that you're native, just that you meet their qualifications. Adventurer-Elites? Go hog wild, we got that entire segment to play with.

I will say that my FC leader and others tend to regard the RPC at arms length for its tendency to turn over itself over matters that ultimately do not pan out in actual RP or Gameplay. That in their ideal to avoid from, rather than deal with, catching RP issues such as Lorebending vs Loremongering and using this and similar issues as a means to judge or value one another. See we in DE engage that positively. If someone comes up with an idea for a plot or character angle we feel bends the lore too far (Or conversely tries to stick too hard on the lore to the point of rubbing raw with others.) Well calmly talk with them about where we tend to draw the line on things and what's flexible, and then we work with and build on that. The majority of what we have is pretty low-key anyways as far as individual characters go. I often don't understand why such acceptance can't be garnered here, if that is indeed part of the pressure going on. Well, perhaps I misspeak when I say I don't understand. I understand the difficulties in that ,but often I feel we forget ourselves too much when we wish to speak and justify our own opinion. Diverse and even opposing opinions can and do coexist, but often when discussed in forums we feel as if one or the other opinion must prevail. For me I feel the effort is better spent bridging the gap and brainstorming more practical solutions such as "How can we get these two styles and standards to co-exist while maintaining a diverse and interlinked RP world?" That's often the harder, and also more worthwhile question to ask, rather than spending time poking holes in someone else's argument. As far as RP details on Wiki. I'm the opposite to your perspective. I want to share ,but I have difficulty on the time it takes for me to write an artistic depiction in brief. I want someone to be able to read up on the history of the character, and then, doing so, become invested in that character and desire to participate in some manner. So long as they can separate their knowledge to their character's knowledge, then we're golden. Discovery through roleplay is great as well. Again, my only problem is getting the time and appropriate diction down.

First off, *Epic voice engaged* DISCLAIMER! With that out of the way. I think it's an interesting idea having a talk thread. I'm not all certain what sort of topics will end up sprouting from this, but I feel as if it'll be a productive thread, non the less. The 30 minute rule is intriguing. So Topic on my mind. Is anyone else as hesitant as I am to post? Most often I browse these forums and often find myself wanting to share things but for some reasons I'm like. "Well, if I share this, what's the encouragement to get them to RP with me? They'll already know." Or "Am I really ok with interjecting this opinion into an ongoing conversation? I don't want to seem rude." I'm always on the hint of doing something or posting something, then I just find myself taking a step back and go. "Nah." It's never anyone in particular, just an overall shyness. Heck, I've got a huge idea for RP connections but I stopped and pestered poor Freelancewizard privately to get his opinion privately before even trying to post it. So, does anyone else get this sort of 'cold feet' just with the RPC?

I got told less than two weeks ago how I'm kinda cute and endearing when I stutter. It's a very awkward thing to hear, especially when it's a source of frustration for me. But it's quite possible that someone on the objective end of the matter could see it as such. That shouldn't be a problem, as it's a common Media trope as well, especially in Anime.

Steps of Faith is all about Logistics. Getting the right people together ,getting the right communication down, making sure all of the check points are made. Sure, it feels fine when everything mixes together well, but that mix of all the right component isn't as easy as everyone claims it to be. There's the bit that's hard to swallow: SE has the statistics for this, they know the time it takes for an average SoF queue to pop, they know the average abandon rate. Seeming participation in Heavensward hinges on getting this trial completed? No. It wasn't wrong for them to nerf it. I do agree that providing more incentive would be nice.. but, honestly, what incentive is there for the Hard Mode Ramuh, Shiva, and Crystalis? Does SoF need its own Triple Triad Card?

I love this thread. I'm going to use it as a guideline for all of the questions Hyrist asks people. Using Bryn as an example. Hyrist "Is it true...?" Bryn: *exasperatedly* "Yes.." Hyrist: "(So they ARE flotation devices...) Hey, then how do you ever drown?" Hyrist tends to be the one that asks the annoying questions. For instance, a pair of friends in the Free Company he works for gets married and he had the gall to ask. "What do you get when you mix a Duskweight with a Midlander anyways?" With genuine curiosity and enthusiasm.

I'm going to bring up some common themes among the characters I have, with or without 'powers' (referring to such as abilities beyond that which is accessible by the normal gameplay.) You take an average decent person - the Military or the world calls for help, usually you're going to get a mixed answer. After all, you're only normal, right? You don't even know how to swing a sword that well. Sure, you can train, but that farm life is all you've known. The trope that typically gets put here is that this 'humble hero' leaves behind a world of peace to face the darkness and strive it back. The heroic tale is that they've strove from nothing to achieve something great. Now you talk to the skilled. The Soldier, the Mage, the Adventurer. Here, the choice was already made and the talents are there. This is for glory, for honor, and the good name of your home and path, regaining lost honor, or just the thrill of adventuring itself. In hard times you rely on your skillset (and perhaps some good luck or good friends, or both.) to push through the difficulties ahead of you. Now we got onto the Blessed, or Gifted. These individuals have 'powers'. They may have started out as the Farmer or the Adventurer/Soldier, or they may have been born with it, but the common theme among what they face is the question of purpose and Origin. Why do they have the powers, and for what purpose? Exploration of the self and acceptance or rejection of what these abilities bring to that person begins to questions they must answer. If they run from it, do the lingering questions and doubts haunt them? The last I want to touch on for me is the Cursed. Their powers are not something they see as a positive, the result of some forced method such a experimentation or invasion of the self. Perhaps they were attempted to become some sort of purpose they did not care for. Be it by branding or by origin these people look upon their powers as a source of anxiety. Now, in order to help people, they must face the temptation of using something that they view as harmful, dangerous, or traumatic to them and possibly others. No matter what the 'Power Level' of the character, each of them end up having to react to their "Calling" or the conflicts presented to them. Sometimes the Power serves as part of the calling. Sometimes the power conflicts with the calling. Powers for me is one of the many items that serve as the patchwork components from which a story is created. For me, to have them, or to be without them, are all dependent on the kind of character I am crafting. For and Example: I can have a character fleeing from an unknown past that scares them, with feelings of hesitance when it comes to mysterious powers they don't quite understand. Power that may have been the source of trauma in their youth and the answer to which may be ultimately unsatisfactory or even appalling. This character then has to wrestle with their very identity, bringing up the very question of nature vs nurture with strong arguments to support either case if the character is talked about objectively by others. It becomes a story of conflicted self-identity and what it means for them to make the choice. Then the story branches on the side of that to other plots - how these things effect others and who they fall in love with, and what conditions they feel as if they can use their 'powers' and how they hide or hold them back. Over all, it's one string in the tapestry for me, one that allows me to bring conflicts to the forefront, and they can force conflicts and character details to come to light in the most interesting moments, especially if the individual is attempting to hide such powers (or the drawbacks of them) for whatever reason.

Apologies on behalf of Dark Embers for not making it - we've been having some pretty heavy personal emergencies going on that have kept us from doing any events.