Averis

This happens in almost all communities online. I manage a couple myself and you really have to learn when to draw the line, but it can be hard when you want to be helpful to your members. Too, you might not always be aware of the full situation from all sides. So sometimes you get blindsided with a complaint when you didn't even realize it was an issue in the first place. I certainly sympathize with moderators, it can be a hard, thankless, job. Sorry, off topic...

Sure, I certainly know how that is, it was just a thought if this is something that the LS leaders felt strongly about. There could easily be a new section for LS concepts (since we get a lot of that already) so people can discus a new LS while they wait for their access to post in the listing, which shouldn't take more than a day anyway in normal circumstances. Just saying, it's an option to control the situation without anyone having room to argue that "posts are being bumped unfairly by random people" etc. Well, if the LS leaders are already annoyed by "random" people posting/bumping threads, it's not too far of a stretch to imagine that they would be more annoyed by LS leaders that just seem to have news to post about their guild everyday. "You shouldn't post each time to get a new member.", "You shouldn't post each time to update your site.", "You shouldn't post to congratulate your LS each time they beat a dungeon." etc etc. I'm just playing devils advocate here. I know the drama that can and has happened. Sometimes it only take a little thing to turn into a big issue because someone felt something was unfair, then a group backs each side and then you have a problem. "Why shouldn't I post about that kind of news. I'm proud of my LS" "You need to post only important things!" "To us those are important!" etc. You get the idea. EDIT: Just to be clear, I personally feel that the LS posts should remains open. I'm just offering suggestions, even if I don't agree with them since it's not ultimately my decision. (I like to be helpful). But, seriously, each LS is different, there really isn't a competition between them when they are not the same and will not appeal to every potential new member anyway. Maybe having a "directory" at the top would help matters some? I also agree with the above post. Good job!

To the OP, the only problem I see coming from trying to restrict "random LS posts" to "LS updates" is that instead of other LS leaders getting annoyed at random LS banter bumping threads, they will get annoyed at the LS management staff posting random LS updates instead. IE the same end result except that they will be directing their annoyance at the LS leaders instead of just random LS members/interested parties. That may actually become a bigger problem and then more meetings will be redacted when LS leaders complain to other LS leaders that they are bumping their thread unfairly. If this forum system is anything like PHPBB, maybe place all LS leaders into a separate "group" so that you can apply permissions to just that group to post in the LS section. But still, the above problem will likely come up anyway.

Funny, this is pretty much what I'm doing in my story. I'd imagine it will be a common setup. From my perspective I think there are plenty of reasons to be had right in the world we're given for character motivations and history instead of having to use another dimension. Authors always say, "a character is most interesting when they are relatable" and this is true for RP as well, it's easier to RP with when other characters can relate to yours. So a character dealing with loss is certainly a good angle, and one I use often, but don't just stop there, give them a reason to fight, hobbies, weaknesses etc. The more detail you add the more well rounded the character will be.

The only thing I can think of really is missing out on any of the new in-game story elements that may be presented to 1.0 characters only. Though, I don't personally know how deep that divide actually will be. I suspect that there will be a point where both 1.0 and 2.0 stories converge going by how it's presented so far. So all that would be needed is to research the parts that are different. This might not even be an issue if you don't plan to use the game story, but there may be elements that would be unique to a time-skipped character. The other thing would be the lack of any tattoo that will be on 1.0 characters. A minor thing probably since some might just hide it anyway. Also armor and such will likely hide it too.

This would probably be a good topic for a new thread.

I have a couple 1.0 characters, but I didn't level them very far (highest is 21). On top of that, I like the idea of starting over. I also like the idea of staying behind and dealing with the hardships of a nearly destroyed world. So that's what I'll be doing. My new character is coming along already on (digital) paper. Should be fun.

I too am of the opinion that it would be best to wait till much closer to Phase 4 before voting for a second community server. SE will obviously have to know by then if they plan to provide an official RP sever since phase 4 is (supposedly) not getting wiped and thus should be providing most of the starting servers. Voting for another server too soon could really confuse things if SE does in fact add an official server.

I'm certainly one of those that play the "pretty" or "fair" characters. I guess it really depends on what you want out of your RP and how realistic you want to get compared to what you want your character to look like. I think it's good to have a mix of both. I agree that it's unrealistic to not have some wear on characters that battle as much as ours do, but I'd rather use the excuse that they were healed than have everyone running around all gruff and with scars. A majority of either side would be boring. I think class can play a role in this as well. To me casters would tend to be more fair whereas a warrior would more likely be more gruff and scared etc. TLDR: Variety is good as long as it makes sense.

Just a random curiosity that popped into my head. Do you RP that your character ages or are they forever locked in place? Do you actually celebrate a birthday each year or advance the age when you feel enough time has passed? In my years of MMO role-play this seems to be one of those things most people ignore. I am just curious what is the general consensus here. Personally, I don't usually advance their age, but too, I don't think I've really RPed the same character for years on end. Something I hope to change this go around.

Wow, so many good looking characters here. This is what my current WIP character looks like. She will likely be an Arcanist and Conjurer. I'd like to explore all the jobs for both those classes. Her story / background is still in the works. I was trying out some slightly purple eyes. Ignore the axe. She will never be a marauder.

Wow, amazing info. Yeah, I'm not too sure about using a city we don't know too much about. Though, there are certainly some decent ideas on how to work around it. I think, for me, the best bet is to have some manor/estate somewhere in the world and just go with that. I may even be as vague as "somewhere in the north". Haha. In the case of my story the reasons for how or why they were/are a noble is not as important as how it affected them and their personality. Thanks everyone for the replies. Course any more information and ideas would be great.

I feel that some new players might be letting their fears get the better of them. You will get as much out of a community as you put into it. Of course you will find people hesitant and even flatly resistant to new players, but you can't also expect people to throw themselves at you either. When I look to join a group or guild, I do a lot of research. I lurk forums etc. Some groups I know I won't really click with, while with others I can find a home. But when I do join a group, I don't expect them to come to me right away. I have to get involved. It also helps to be courteous. You should treat people how you would like to be treated. If you walk around with a chip on your shoulder or think that no one will accept you, then right there you are not going to be very inviting for others to get to know you. So you have to give a little of yourself in order for others to open up some too. This is just human nature more than anything. People are naturally comfortable with what is familiar. But it's not like everyone started out knowing each other. They all had to get to know each other at some point. Just because you come in later doesn't somehow mean they can't accept any more people. It all depends on both sides being willing to get along. Anyway, not all players from 1.0 are well established in the community. I played 1.0 but didn't get that involved in the community then after my LS fell apart. So I too am pretty much starting from scratch. So far, I never had the impression that anyone here was not inviting to new people. I'm actually a little surprised by the reaction to this. While I get the desire to start on a fresh server and all, the community side of it is an odd thing to me to feel threatened by. There will always be jerks no matter where you go. Sure, getting in on the ground floor can be nice and all, but meeting people is the same no matter when you meet them. It's a give and take on both sides. I don't know why it's so important to meet people at the start of a new server compared to an old one. There will be a ton of new people on the legacy servers. We won't be alone even IF all the old guilds closed themselves off to all the new people.

I think there is a common fear with those new to roleplay that if they break the "rules" they will be forever chastised. Of course, with any community you have all extremes, but as long as you're willing to listen and accept input, there are always plenty of RP groups out there willing to ease in new folks. But don't get too caught up in the "rules". If you feel like you are walking on ice all the time you won't enjoy yourself. Just start slowly and you'll be fine. You don't have to start with some epic story arch. What I always suggest for those new to RP, is to attend an RP event and just hang out. Don't have to say anything at all, just listen (read). I think that helps give anyone new an idea of how things are typically done. Of course, depending on the size of the event, the text can become hard to follow. This is how I started out, with the help of some friendly people and attending a couple RP events.

Wow, thanks for the quick replies. Actually, I should have said that I was thinking of something outside of any of the main cities. Even though 1.0 didn't really have any small villages etc, 2.0 now does, and of varying sizes. I'm thinking I could just make up something? I just wasn't sure if that would be acceptable. Though, it may not really matter in the end since the idea is that the "estate" or whatever was destroyed when those "fireballs" fell during the calamity. Meaning they are technically no longer a noble. I just wanted to make sure that I could have that kind of background without breaking lore.

I'm currently working on a character story involving nobles/highborn. I was wondering if anyone has any lore information about nobles in Eorzea. I know I've heard of some from Ul'dah, but I'd assume there are nobles elsewhere. Basically, what would you recommend for a noble background that fits the lore, but is not necessarily from Ul'dah?

If I'm honest, I usually go for the pretty races that look the most human. So for FFXIV that's Hyur, Miqo'te and Elezen. Then I look at things like animations, armor styles and character gen choices. With those in mind I look at what classes interest me the most. Sometimes I feel a race fits a class more than others. Add in any RP background ideas that may crop up, mix, angst, reroll and several days later I may settle on a race/character to play... or two. A lot of it really is a "look and feel" kind of thing. Sometimes a few random choices in the character gen may suddenly spark a character idea. So, as much as I typically like Elf-like races, the Elezen really don't work for me in XIV. I absolutely adore the Miqo'te animations, but that damn tail clips with so much of the armor. I'd likely play an Miqo'te if it wasn't for that little annoyance. Which leaves me mostly with Hyur at this point. I bounced between a Hyur and Miqo'te in 1.0. I'm hoping to stick to just one this time around. I currently have a Hyur that is coming together pretty nicely.

I think this is a good point. There's something to be said about really living that "second life" through another character in a way. I typically have alt-itis as well. Even though it's not at all needed in this game, from an RP perspective each character is likely too different to fit multiple job roles etc. However, I really admire those that stick with one character for RP. They usually seem to have a lot of depth, and when you see them again and again in game, they feel almost more real. To me, I would like to be that dedicated and often I set out to be, but my wanderlust seems to typically get the better of me. It's hard to resist a new idea sometimes. It's often sparked by seeing another character in the game and then dreaming about the stories that they could tell. So I think both sides have their place. The depth of a single character and the variety of alts. But when I see dedicated players like Eva, I too would like to strive to stick it out with one character and see how their life progresses, even through the low times. Maybe this time I can do it. :thumbsup:

Gah! I somehow missed these replies. Thanks for the welcomes everyone... or is it re-welcomes? :dazed: OhgodsIknowhowthatis. Someday, I'll actually settle on an idea. Then maybe I'll be able to do more than sketch a handful of concepts before scrapping and starting over. :dazed: Hope to see you post more and stuff! YUP! This is me exactly. I just need to force myself to settle on one and move forward. HEY! I know you! Long time no see. :lol: Drat! But it's cold out here... and I think I hear strange noises in the shadows. :cry: The BF site still exists, but my fellow co-leaders have moved on to another game. Those bastards... :dodgy: Haha I've toyed with the idea of starting a new LS, but I'm gonna see how things pan out with finding a suitable group of fine role-players first. I have my eyes on a couple already. I'm gonna stalk them for a while. I'm still waiting to see if we get an official RP server.

^ Caught my eye. What do you read? Sorry if this is off-topic, I've followed DC and Marvel (and occasionally Image and Dark Horse) religiously since I was six so when someone says "comic collecting" I perk up like a meerkat. Haha, awesome! I was a much bigger comic fan when I was younger. I became really heavy into it during the early Image era. I still have a lot of early Image comics. Some of my favs were "The Tenth", "Witchblade" and "Danger Girl". I was also into the X-Men reboot around that time. Also liked some DC stuff. Always been a bit of a closet SuperGirl fan. She gets no love. Lately, I don't buy too many pysical books as I used to except some TPBs and now digital editions on my iPad. Some recent comics like Josh Howard's stuff (Dead@17), NeoZoic, Hotwire etc. I'm starting to get back into some TopCow stuff. Was just checking out the new Aphrodite IX series.

Even though I've been a member of this site since 2010 (has it been that long?), I haven't been very active. I was here when 1.0 launched and I even started an LS with some friends (Balthazar's Favor). But the game didn't do well, as we know, many left the LS and I eventually stopped playing myself, only to login from time to time. Oddly, I never made an introduction post here. Seeing as ARR will soon be upon us and I've become very eager to make ARR my new gaming home, it seemed like a good time to jump back in with the RP community here and thus make this post. Whew, long explanation aside... --MMORPG background Started in Anarchy Online and played nearly every major MMO since and even some not so major. Did WoW for several years, like many. Also played IX for some time, but never got that far. I did play a WHM for a while. I'll never forget that. I've become very disheartened by the current MMO industry. So much that I pretty much refuse to play F2P MMOs. So for me, FFXIV is like my last bastion of hope. I really miss the more traditional aspects of MMORPGs where you have party roles, regular content and proper expansions. So I'm very eager to make a long stay in FFXIV because I feel that it may be the last "true" MMO. I'll also be heartbroken if it too goes F2P, but that's another topic altogether. --RP experience I didn't start to get into RP until Lineage 2, which was pretty much my second MMO. I'm not even really sure how I got into it. I never did tabletop gaming or anything so it was new to me. I was lucky to find a really awesome group of role-players there that were a small, tight knit group. They really took me in and I learned a lot. Since then I have been in several RP guilds and even co-managed some and was an officer a couple times as well. I also started and maintained the Aion Roleplayers community. --Character ideas/info I already have a couple characters in FFXIV, but I never got them very far. My current plans for ARR is to start over with a new character. Right now it will likely be a young (late teens/early 20s) female Hyur Midlander (I love that they don't call them humans) with a lean to caster classes/jobs. I really want to play an Archanist since I tend to love pet classes. Her story is currently in development, but I have some basics already in mind. I've also toyed with having a Miqo'te alt. Even though alts are kinda pointless in this game, I tend to view certain races to go with certain classes. Doubly so when I RP them. --How did you learn about the coalition? Honestly, I don't recall. But probably through the usual channels. I've been part of the MMO RP community for a while. We aren't that large, and I've bumped into RP friends over and over again over the years. --What kind of a role-player are you aiming to be? Light, medium, or heavy? I filled out a directory profile, which goes into detail here: http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=2246 Basically I'm mostly a med-heavy role-player, but I do also like to sometimes just play the game as a game. I'm also on the look out for an LS/FC. Please read my profile for what I'm looking for. --Anything from real life you're comfortable with sharing? (Work, school, hobbies, etc) Mmm, nothing super interesting. I'm a graphic artist by trade. In my spare time I like to draw and game. I love open-world games. I'm a huge explorer. So don't be surprised if you see my character jumping up a hill in the name of exploration (OOC of course). I'm a night owl. So even though I'm EST, I tend to stay up well into the AM. Other types of hobbies would be casual comic collecting, casual anime watching (was a huge fan when I was a teen), I used to be big on Japanese culture in general. I also have some history in the webcomic community. I've been trying to get a new webcomic going (and have been for the last couple years. sigh). Anyway, that's about it. Hope to see some of you in game.

EDIT: I'm not longer looking for an FC. Thanks!

I. Basic Info Characters: Primary character: Linkshells: Primary RP linkshell: II. RP Style Amount of RP (light, medium, heavy): Short Answer: When I role-play I take it seriously, but I'm not always in-character. I will create full character backgrounds and profiles and I sometimes also write stories for my characters. I take time to do research on the lore and make sure that it all fits. I'm mostly interested in in-game RP over text-based or forum RP. My RP is generally driven by events that take place in the game via the game itself, my character's goals or RP interactions with other players. I don't usually plan out my RP. I take things as they come. While I may take role-play seriously, it's not always my primary focus. I do also enjoy just playing the game. You may see my character jumping up a hill in the name of exploration and I won't /walk if I'm just going to town to "sell off" between quests. I try to respect others around me and what the situation warrants. When interacting with others I try to "go with the flow". I'm pretty easy-going in general and I respect that there are many levels of RP and that at the end of the day it is still just a game. I don't get bothered so much by the little details, though I try my best to respect them myself and I prefer to role-play what makes sense in the world. I've been playing MMOs for over a decade and have RPed for a good chunk of that at all levels, from casual to heavy. :thumbsup: Views on RP combat and injuries: Short Answer: Not against it, but with some limitations. Honestly, this has never come up in my RP travels for my characters. My characters tend to be the type that avoid that kind of conflict or are the more fragile/innocent types that others will try to protect instead of harm. However, I'm not against it to a degree, but I would defiantly expect some OOC planning to take place so that we are on the same page first. There comes a point in MMO RP where it can be a little hard to suspend my disbelief. I don't come from a background of tabletop RP, so I tend to go with what the game provides me more than making up for what it doesn't have. If my character is low level, then she is still learning her skill, and I'll play it as such. If someone stronger attacked her, they should be more powerful, but that doesn't mean she would lose. Power isn't everything in combat. Again, this has never come up, but I would do my best to play along with those around me. Long as my character isn't expected to to be killed without my permission or permanently injured etc. Again, in this case communication and personal player respect is key. As for injuries, again, not something that's really ever come up, but I'm not against it. But since my character can't actually lose a limb (and I wouldn't want them to), I would find it hard to go that far. I also wouldn't want to have to keep explaining to people in RP that her arm is gone when visually it isn't. So I won't do that. Views on IC romance: Short answer: If it feels right, sure! I'm not against this! In fact my current character has been in a relationship already. Of course, there would need to be a certain amount of comfort for it to work well. Good OOC communication is also a plus! I generally only do this with people I know fairly well OOC or have a decent amount of comfort with. I will also say that I'm not against ERP. I will only allow my character to enter a relationship that is monogamous. I'm not interested in players that RP multiple relationships at the same time, IC or in separate "realities". Views on non-romantic RP (family ties, etc): Short Answer: Yes, but this wouldn't really work with my current character. I've done a couple sibling/family setups in the past, actually in 1.0 in fact. They are generally a great addition to RP. I prefer to know the person I'm doing this with OOC. So this isn't something I would do with random people. Friendships and such can happen naturally through RP. Old friends can be discussed OOC etc. Views on lore: Short Answer: I respect the lore the game gives me. In some cases even including the limitations of the game itself. To me the lore is king. While I may not know every aspect of it in great detail, I will never play a character that doesn't fit in the world to the best of my knowledge. Generally, I will play a character that is a little understated. They may have a unique "trait", like strange eye color (using what the character gen provides) or a weapon heirloom etc, but that's about it. I try to stay away from extremes. IE, even if it's possible in the lore to have a "super awesome power", if it's not something that my in-game character actually can do then I will not have my character capable of doing it. Character names are also fairly important to me. Views on chat functions (/say, /linkshell, etc): I usually just adapt to the current situation. Say is almost always IC! Everything else just depends. I've RPed in all other channels. If RP is going on I'll use (( )) to denote OOC unless it's an OOC channel or agreed by those I'm talking with to be OOC. III. Other Info Country: USA Timezone: EST (But I tend to play during late hours 7-10pm to 1-4am EST) Contact info: PM here work! [align=center][glow=blue]~Special announcements can be found in the posts below~[/glow][/align]

So all the adventurers we play are supposed to be immigrants? Do you think they are implying that our PCs are somehow special and can only come from outside of Eorzea? I'm not really sure what purpose it would serve to set it up like that unless there's a reason or it's just for flavor. In any event, yeah, I don't see many people roleplaying with that background. Seems kinda strange.

I was wondering about this too. Seems like an odd thing to forget. I wonder what purpose this will serve in the story. Maybe it's a means to help slow new players into the lore then trying to dump everything on them at once. It could also be to prevent all the NPCs assuming that everyone in that battle died so it's less shocking when they return? I wonder if the crystal is somehow responsible. I'm still trying to brush up my lore, so I could be way off. I'm not playing much of the beta since I don't want to ruin the story, but that kinda makes figuring out the lore a little hard. I think I'm gonna play it safe with my current plans since in my character's story her life was only affected by the destruction that was caused. I don't know if you can forget something like your house being destroyed along with the people in it when you would still have the rubble days after the event (unless there is more to this story and the whole world was recreated afterwards and no on remembers) In any event, the battle is only something she would have heard about. I find it hard to believe that everyone would have amnesia. If someone they knew died, would that mean they wouldn't know that? Is everyone just missing?