Hello there, hello all!
A little about me:
I'm a vet from ESOEU, from a long time back. I took a break that ended up being indefinite, and for the longest time, I thought RP would forever be just a cherished phase of my life. But recently, my interest has peaked again. I don't feel like joining ESO again, for multiple reasons, mainly being that I am a different person to some extent.
I scoured Reddit for good MMOs for RP'ing, and there was a resounding praise of FFXIV, so I thought I might as well check it out. - But wait! I have to figure out if this is even a thing for me and if I'm a thing for this seemingly (first hand impression, I gotta say I'm super impressed) community!
So I think, perhaps I'd first get the basics out the way? Don't mind if I do (please?)
I've absolutely NO clue about FFXIV. I'm so far away from the Final Fantasy universe, that I guess my only real connection with FFXIV, is that I worked for a short while as a 3D-aidé for IO-Interactive (the guys who make Hitman) - which I think got bought out by Square Enix?
My RP'ing reins are pretty dusty, and so might my style be.
I'm into semi-realism, relatively melodramatic, gritty, free-moving, multistyled RP.
Essentially, I'm used to play in a world where you'd theoretically choose as many layers of the world as you'd want, including Crime, Nobility, Proletariat, Adventure, Heroics, War, Scholarwork - and with most of it making sense interlogically - ie. it being connected, and seeming grounded. I absolutely adored that about ESO, and other communities (SWTOR and GW2) didn't really sport that.
I also love both sides of the spectrum, the wonderful stills of average life, like a tired evening at an open tavern after a grand event, or the brittle, if not frail tenderness in dealing with the deeper emotional troubles of a noble or criminal's life - behind closed doors. On the other hand, I also love heroics, the madness of a competition, where characters' skills shine, and show eachother their style - and of course, taking down a big monster, rescuing an ally from a group of criminals, or solving an arcano-mechanical mystery!
I'm not really the most fit-for-style nerd, and real life can sometimes take a toll on my gametime, with things like my studies, diminishing family and the endless struggle of maintaining good friendships.
I'm still quite nerdy. I rant about film-making, study philosophy, most of my friends are scientists/to-be scientists (Hey! I'm young) and I play D&D.
That about covers me, now the real iffy, is that before I get too excited about the game, and then do something reckless, I'd like to know if this is something this community holds to some extent.
I'm openminded though! My style is not a requirement, it's just what I'm used to, and what I've found I enjoy.
I'm also a complete newbie. And nothing makes complete sense to me here, so I'm really intruiged how things work. Like the minutia - Which server should I join? How do RP Guilds work? (They're called Linkshells, right?), what are Free Companies? Does Tavern RP exist? Which 'Guilds' host what? Are some races considered Gimmick races? How extremely high magic is the world? Do I need to level to max? Do I need to buy the Stormblood expansion? Should I revere those Warriors of Light folk, I've noticed? How much Lore do I gotta know? Is swearing banned? Does ERP (*shivers*) exist? How's the normal style of Emote-to-Talk ratio? Do community events even occur? Are ingame skills referenced IC (like spells)? Are classes even referenced IC? Can I go against my char style IC? Is White magic always good? Do Miqo'te have wares if I am willing to buy? Is there a mega inside-joke all should know? Are memes a thing? D'you like jazz? How do mages work (I hear the term White and Black a lot, and is it as straightforward as it seems? - Do they study), is crime even a thing? Are Humans OP? And do Non-RP'ers hate RP'ers?
I'm SO intruiged and excited to hear about this community! - Hope I'm not too troublesome.
Kind regards, Darke (I had an old SquareEnix account named that, but I forgot the password and security question)