Kylin

It's finally time! Feel free to take in all the data at your leisure. If there are any questions, I'll try to clarify as best as possible. I added a category to the "income source" data due to the number or write-ins. I also took the office/secretarial category out due to getting only one response and put it under "other." It's possible to have more cross-reference of the data if necessary, though I only plan to do so if demand is high. For example, I could cross-reference race and romantic preference if desired (though I'd prefer not to unless everyone really wants that data...). I tried to make it a bit easier to read than the 2013 one. Enjoy!! You may find the 2016 official census results here: http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/misc.php?page=census2016

The RPC Census results will be up within the hour hopefully. As mentioned in the original thread, the "other" category in the Census for character origins was meant to be divided a bit more than it ended up. So those who hail from somewhere not listed in the original question, now is your time to sound off! Note: This question is aimed strictly at those who answered "other" in the census question "Where is your primary character's point of origin? (where were they born?)" If you answered Ul'dah/Thanalan, Limsa/La Noscea, Gridania/Shroud, Ishgard/Coerthas, or Garlean Empire, you needn't participate since your data has already been collected. Edit: Poll is closed. Unfortunately, the data isn't nearly as accurate as I'd like since a large number of individuals voted again even though they had already voted in the census poll on non-other categories

Just a quick update. I have most of the data complete and nearly ready for presentation. It's going much faster than expected and I mostly will need to just get everything coded into a census page for final presentation. I predict to be done by Monday/Tuesday. I have run into some issues with the primary source of income question. A high number of individuals wrote in something for "other," even though many of these clearly fall under a broader category already given. For example: "Thief" or "Crime lord" fall under "underworld dealings," not "other." This was pretty common for other categories as well (such as "writer," etc). I'm thus tallying these under where they belong, which means manually redoing some of the statistics in this category. This is causing a bit of a hold up on my end. In addition, there appears to be enough of one particular category (possibly two) that were written in and may be given a full category outside of "other."

Polling is now closed. In total, we received 244 valid responses. It will take me a bit of time to compile all the data for presentation, so please look forward to it!

Poll will close shortly after midnight tonight. Please participate if you haven't yet, and spread the word.

This chat room is essentially no longer in use. More people leave than join and there is virtually no chat on it at present. I'm taking this off the sticky list. Should the room/thread creator wish to reverse this for whatever reason, they may reach out to do so.

Poll will be closing in a couple of days. Please vote if you haven't yet!

The responses have slowed to a crawl in the last 24 hours. I'm considering bumping the deadline up to Wednesday the 4th as a result. Thanks to the over 200 RPers who have voted so far though!

Another addendum: I am not able to modify poll responses. However, if you messed up for some reason or another due to misunderstanding something or whatever, feel free to PM me and I can delete your individual survey entirely and you can redo it. This is assuming you do not have the link to edit your response of course.

Going to take a moment to address a few concerns brought up in public and/or private to go on record. Originally, I was just going to mostly ignore the concerns, because let's face it...you can NEVER please everyone and I've already been down these socio-political debates in the past (anyone old enough to remember the bloodbath that nearly happened when "pansexual" was left off the initial options?) Regarding alts: There have been multiple concerns that the lack of including alts will "skew the results." I strongly disagree and actually have the complete opposite view. The inclusion of alts is what would skew results. Not everyone has alts. Thus, someone with alts would essentially have more 'voting power' than someone without alts. On the other side of the spectrum, if someone with multiple alts (such as myself) has a character for every race, that effectively negates your vote since every race is selected. The lack of inclusion of alts in this census is, in SE's terms, working as intended. Should someone not have a character that they consider their "main," then they can select one at random or however they wish. There is, after all, nobody that's going to challenge them on which one their main is or isn't. Regarding profession options: There are a TON of possible IC professions that one can have. To put them all down would be near impossible. Nothing was purposely omitted. The survey went before a group of peers (mods and patrons) to review before being published and nothing was disputed aside from the desire to add more specific questions and a single option to one of the existing questions. Should a suitable option not be present, the other option exists solely for that purpose. I will be the poor sap that sifts through those fill in the blank responses to tally up and should something be written in enough, I will add it into its own subcategory in the final results. Regarding the lack of Ala Mhigo/Gyr Abania, Doma/Othard: This was actually a mistake and these options should have been included. I apologize for not including them. The original question/responses were pretty much copied over from the 2013 census, when these regions were virtually unknowns to us at the time and thus weren't included back then. Please select "other" for these options and we can hold a separate forum poll to figure out where the "others" actually hail from. Regarding other topics: --The final question was worded poorly, and I apologize for that. It was literally added last minute (just a mere 20 minutes prior to the poll going live in fact). --Halfbreeds are not included in this census for two reasons: To list every combo, as Warren stated, would make both the survey itself and the final numbers look absolutely atrocious. And simply adding a "halfbreed" option would have negated part of the reason behind this particular question: to find out what race is most actively played among RPers. --Finally, this census has two intended purposes. First is to help foster a sense of community to some degree within the RPC. This is being accomplished by the fact that people are taking genuine interest in what everyone else beyond their doormat is doing out there and the fact that people are actually excited/enthusiastic about something like this happening on the RPC. Second, this is meant to provide data to all RPers to see what's popular and what's not. Let's keep the socio-political stances on options and how things are phrased out of all this please . This is for fun and data collection, nothing else. Nobody is getting paid to do this, nobody is being oppressed, and so on so forth. This is all entirely optional, and should something not be up to someone's personal needs/wants, most questions can be skipped. Thanks again to all who have contributed. We're up to 140 responses now (over my personal goal)!

Pretty much this. Also, responses have already doubled. We're now sitting at close to 120 valid respondents. Thanks all and keep it coming!

In the past 5 hours, we've managed to officially gather over 60 responses. My personal goal is to hit at minimum 100 (to minimize margin of error), though I'd personally prefer 125+ responses. Thanks to all who contributed so far! Please spread the word to fellow RPers so we can continue to gather data that's as accurate as possible. There's still plenty of time left. Thus far, some of the data is a bit surprising. Will the miqo'te race remain king of the Eorzean jungle? Will one of the Twelve be elevated above all others and pave the way for monotheism in Eorzea? How many of those rascally loldragoons are there anyway? All this and more to be revealed! ...in about two weeks...

Oh snap, you're right. My bad! You guys are just so awful that I figured nobody actually played them :angel: It's been added.

The sexuality answers refer to general terminology. Generally, each one is defined as something along the lines of "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions," key word being "or." So for those, you would want to select whichever romantic leaning the character has. Hence the way the question is phrased. Based on your description, I'd say you answered it properly for your character :thumbsup:

It's been a good three years since the RPC has last had a true full blown census, and it's high time we take a look at how the community has evolved since then! You can view the 2013 Census results here: http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/misc.php?page=census-2013 The 2016 Census link can be found below. Only the first two questions are required, and the rest are optional. That said, I encourage everyone to answer every question for the absolute best results (it only takes minutes to fully complete). The poll will remain open until May 4th. Results will be posted for public viewing as soon as possible (I estimate within a week or less of the poll ending). For the most part, the data collected will remain mostly the same with some minor modifications for better accuracy and a few added nuggets! Thanks for your contribution! http://goo.gl/forms/MioUh1VtUs

Old maps from pre-Calamity, if of any help: http://www.ffxivmaps.com/old.html

Link with a few more slides and easier to read bullet points. http://imgur.com/a/BsjpB

Can I just say how proud I am of the responses to this thread? This could have gone in so many different directions. It was handled very politely and professionally. Thank you! Welcome to the RPC. As the others have stated, this site doesn't really focus on that type of RP, though it doesn't necessarily exclude it entirely either. This is ultimately a hub for all RPers at the end of the day. That particular type of RP is just generally viewed as a private matter here is all. But feel free to still look around, join in some topics, and so on!

HkpS2Sdu2io Darn technology these days, revealing political flubs before you even enter the stage... And I just freaking woke up too. I really don't like intro posts like these, much for the same reason Nero already mentioned. But I'll be a team player regardless. My name is Kylin (though I've since retired the character under that name not too long ago). I've been with the RPC since...since...well, before it was even born >.>. I was so entangled into this thing that even the admin couldn't give me permissions without performing a delicate surgery to cut me from all the cables and whatnot that were wrapped around me. Back in those days, RP coalitions were still a somewhat new concept for MMOs. While I've long since retired from the main helm, I have (like many retired people) felt an urge to return in a role without all of the full blown responsibilities that came with being admin. I'll always view the RPC, in part, as one of my babies. And as I look at how it's grown over the years, I still to this day am filled with unbelievable pride and joy in how far it's come and what it had to weather to get here. To see how many people it has brought together over the years (some long lasting friendships, and even some real life relationships!) and the impact it has forever left with XIV's RP community gives a feeling that can't be described. I don't think a day has gone by where I still haven't visited the RPC every single day in the shadows to watch it like a creeper (well...maybe one day I didn't visit, but I was moving so cut me some slack). But I ramble, much like old people do. To sum up though, the RPC means a lot to me and it's an honor to get a chance to come out of the shadows again and have a more direct hand in its management once more. I've also remained part of XIV since 2010, with only about a month's break from the game since then. Please feel free to reach out to me for any reason and I'll try to get back as promptly as possible! ...Okay, not ANY reason. I'm not a prostitute, a charity, or anything like that. But my office door is always open! ...Okay, it's closed when I'm not there. And when I'm hosting my evil council meetings of doom. You know what, just stay away from the office and feel free to leave a voicemail at any time. Or bother Alothia first. Yeah, let's go with that one. Seriously though, I'm pretty quick at responding so feel free to reach out for inquiries and such.

Mod note: Moved to RP discussion since this seems to cater around RP interactions more so than gameplay. That said, I have a fairly complicated view on RP romances. Until XIV, I pretty much never RPed them at all (aside from like once...and that was a nightmare) and even considered myself a staunch advocate against them. In previous MMO RP communities, I'd usually end up making some NPC and having my character's romantic endeavors revolve around said NPC (although said NPC usually ended up dying lolz). When I joined XIV, I started to engross myself significantly more in character romances with other characters. It really opened up a ton of doors for character development that I never realized existed. The stories I've had revolving around these relationships have been absolutely spectacular so far (though still no happily ever after :dodgy: ). My biggest grief with RP romances is actually in regards to how unapproachable it can make you. A lot of RPers have troubles approaching others to initiate RP as is. Add to that a seemingly impenetrable duo and it gets even worse. It's easier to approach one person for RP/storyline ideas than it is to approach TWO. While it's perfectly natural for RP couples to spend a lot of time together, I think it's really important that they also make a conscious effort to stay as approachable as possible. Going to an IC party? Find a reason to have the duo part ways briefly and mingle with others. Don't go to some corner together away from the crowd. And so on and so forth. So in summary: I'm all for RP romances and think they open a plethora of doors for character development. But it's up to those RPing these romances to keep themselves open to the other RPers in their LS/FC/the greater community. Nobody wants to feel like a third wheel after all (well, almost nobody anyway).

***This is no longer needed. Thanks to those who reached out though. Will definitely keep the generosity in mind when we cross paths in game!*** I've been extremely hesitant to make this post for a long time now, but just going to take a shot so I can at least say I tried regardless of the outcome~ After five years, I've recently retired my main character (Kylin) due to feeling that he became too stagnant and offered little room for growth. Playing an antagonistic type character as your main can also be super exhausting and challenging. But anywho, long story short, I've switched my new main to Zarik Sylvora. This character was made back at ARR launch but never really took off (combination of too many characters along with other things). In order to get this character back into the swing of things and hopefully restore my RP mojo, I desperately need help and wasn't sure where to turn. What I need are two things, as outlined below. 1) I need a sibling. Preferably brother. Only reason I prefer the brother over a sister is because having a sister will probably make Zarik super protective of her and make him more mature than I'd like. A brother would allow him to maintain some of his immaturity a little better. Now as a heads up, I don't take this decision lightly. I've been burned over and over and over again in the sibling department. So I'd really only want someone who was in it for the long haul (no MMO hopping history, no spreading out time between too many characters, and actual chemistry between the two characters and players). Obviously would have to be a miqo'te. Preferably a Seeker (Keeper could work, though a bit more challenging and less realistic). As this character already had a brother character back in ARR (who sadly departed and left Zarik a lifeless husk ; ; ), I could go about this relationship in two ways: I could retcon the previous sibling relationship and put the new player/character in his place. This would require approval of about 2-3 others who I've interacted with first though, and I'd prefer to avoid this route. OR (the better alternative) we could have a mini-storyline relating to the two discovering each other and go from there. Please review my short character wiki here to see if it could work and we can talk more to determine if this is something that could work long term or not: https://wiki.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/pages/Zarik_Sylvora . Please note: I'd expect this character to join my primary RP shell (and I would in turn join their primary RP shell) in order to maintain character interactions on a regular basis. Also note that, as mentioned earlier, I've been burned a LOT in the sibling department over the years. So this is a huge risk for me and I'm a little freaked out over taking this risk again. Please don't express interest in this if you have intention/plans to jump to another MMO in the foreseeable future or if you have other reasons that prevent a strong commitment to the role. 2) Mercenaries: Per my wiki, Zarik was 'kidnapped' as a child due to his mother secretly hiring people to get him away from an abusive father. Long story short, I'm looking for people who could have filled this role. The characters would have to over a certain age since this happened 13 years ago (probably age 30+, though slightly younger could be feasible if you were a super young merc >.>; ). Originally, this role was to be played by Tyriont and his Phoenix Pirates. But sadly, he's been cray cray busy and we've been unable to establish anything. These mercs would mostly serve as mentors/resources for Zarik to fall back on, and no major requirements are really needed aside from the "we have a history together ICly." Unlike the sibling role, this wouldn't require sharing pearls (though it would be a definite bonus!). This is really nothing more than creating a pre-existing relationship to allow various RP opportunities (planned or unplanned) in the future. Please respond or message me if you feel interested in any of this, and we can discuss further to ensure we'd be a good match in terms of style and availability! Thanks for reading!

I remember a time when the drama llamas of old were far more destructive in nature than they are today. Those people are long gone, and any negative influence they had has left with them. I don't think the RPC realizes how much it has it made right now. Nobody is out there trying to make a separate and new RPC under some manipulative guise. Nobody is out there on the main forums telling everyone how evil the RPC is and how nobody should support it. Nobody is waging massive political/ideological wars on the site's very existence. Those battles have all been fought and won through perseverance. The RPCs battles today consist of post editing/deletion/locking, speaking with/without filters, people posting about wanting feedback and then clearly not wanting real feedback, and...that's about it from what I can tell. That's small fry stuff guys, and it would be great if people realized that instead of getting overly heated on such things. The RPC is at an extremely high point. I may have become a secluded hermit with minimal interaction with anyone, but even I can see that. The drama llamas of this era are ultimately harmless, events are still as populous as ever, posting activity is at an all time high, and the world (of Hydaelyn) is your oyster. The unwavering population here itself speaks for itself. Keep it up RPC!

1) Same here. I at most took a single month hiatus once, but have remained active in game and RP since 1.0. Which leads me to number 2 and 3... 2) While I most certainly don't live in the past, there are times I actually get mildly depressed over never getting the chance to RP with certain people that have been on my 'want to RP with' list since the dawn of time. And by 'want to rp,' I mean actual long term interactions and/or storylines. A lot of the people I came to XIV with or those who I've always had a strong urge to RP with have gone down separate paths that simply don't intersect with my path. It's nobody's fault really, as this happens in real life too. But it's still something I think on a lot more than I should. And while I've reached out OOCly to some of these people to express this desire and received positive responses, it still doesn't end up happening due to time limitations or other happenings. 3) This is the one I feel most horrible about... Despite the insane number of new faces in the RP community that are always visible, I have barely any desire at all to RP with them. Horrible, I know. It's nothing against them either. At all. I'm not even sure why I feel this way. Maybe it ties into the above reason. Maybe it has something to do with getting burned by flakes that come and go, consistently leaving my characters crippled in their absence. I'm not 100% sure. I see public events posted and pass by them in game all the time and I simply just keep going, thinking to myself that nothing will come of it. I figure I'll likely just end up standing around quietly, maybe say hi to 1-2 random people, and that'll be the end of it. Against my better judgement, I have largely isolated myself to my linkshell/FC under the premise of 'stability.' And even though I recognize that I'm doing this, I for some reason don't actually make any big effort to change it. 4) I pretty much have no regrets regarding my four years of RPC administration from 2010 to 2014. While I'm sure many will argue excessively that I should, I legitimately don't. The only real regrets I do have are in regards to three ideas I had that were to be sponsored by the RPC that never took off: "Epic," "Eorzean Olympics," and the IC 'RPC' (Research Paragons of Chronology) concept to serve as a neutral medium for both of these events and other inter-group interactions. But at the size the community has grown to, the concepts likely wouldn't work out all too well anymore anyway. So it probably all worked out for the best. 5) Sometimes I get more excited talking about RP, than actually RPing >.>;. A lot of tidbits about characters don't ever get revealed in live RP for whatever reason, so I love when opportunity comes to reveal these little character tidbits that nobody else ever actually sees. I'm -very- thorough in my character development, even if it may not seem like it during some scenes. There's a reason for every single thing that my characters do.

Retirement is great. I'll leave a rocking chair out on my front porch for you so we can talk about old crazy times and how spoiled this generation is.

Main posted updated. The Stormguard has officially shed its veil of secrecy for specific IC reasons. Suffice to say, it is now ICly registered as a free company at each Grand Company HQ as an "artifact and history conservation group." This means our application process has been revised and an IC section has been added. This will allow a much more streamlined recruitment process.