Kylin

II. What if⦠This segment will be the meat of this entire discussion. The goal is to discuss every possible thing that could go wrong in our attempt to unite role-players under a single server. Some of these things may seem silly to discuss and you might say âoh thatâll never happen.â But keep in mind that up until the other day, we all thought PS3 and PC players would be starting together. A lot of things can go horribly wrong and our goal is to be prepared for each and every one of them even if the chances of a particular event happening seems near zero. I guess Iâll go ahead and get you all started with the basics. What if SE designates more than one RP server? We all know that if SE gives us a RP server, weâll gather on that. But what if they create more than one? The logical choice is to just vote between those RP servers as there simply isnât enough Rpers to spread across two or more different servers. This is no World of Warcraft after all. What if server selection is set up like FFXIâs was at the beginning? I think this is unlikely but again, this is SE weâre dealing with. They like to change things at the last minute to shatter our hopes and dreams . If server selection is randomly assigned, we have to be prepared for a rather massive and fast-paced distribution of world passes. Instead of rushing off to start your first quests or leveling, weâd need to desperately mobilize every able body to collect world passes. Weâd need -hundreds- of them after all.

As our next "recruitment" push, we're going to be releasing a guild teaser site with what will be IC teasers of about 8-9 RP guilds. This will ideally go public next week. That should drag in some more RPers. Anywho, I'll begin Part II of the server selection discussion later today so be prepared for that!

Mason and Lysander have me on AIM. Either of them can contact me whenever you all 3 come together ^^

I'm not very happy about the cost of extra characters ($3 each). It's absurd and 3x the amount compared to FFXI. I had intended to create 3 different characters. I don't see that being a possibility now. Someone has to get the axe and sadly both of them used to be fan favorites in FFXI RP >.>; I don't think they're rushing though. In fact, I actually predicted September/October as the release date since back in January. I was still caught off guard but mostly because I expected such an announcement at a fan festival or something. Alpha testing was part of the overall beta testing and that lasted a bit over 2 months I believe. Another 3 months of testing will put us at 5 total months, which is pretty realistic and longer than what FFXI had. I think the main problem with this announcement is the PS3 delay. Otherwise, I doubt anyone would have any big qualms over it. Hopefully they do end up pushing it forward. This could actually have a negative impact on some of the RP guilds in fact if half of their members or more were planning to play on PS3. And then what if the leader him/herself was planning to play on PS3? Yeah...ouch. This will actually be a topic of discussion in the upcoming "emergency" council meeting in the next week or so. Also, I think the garlond goggles will just be the equivalent of FFXI's empress band or something. Nothing too major. Probably only has so many charges whereas the onion helm lasts forever. Just a guess though.

What specifically do you guys need? For example, will a blog like WordPress or something work when it comes to publishing the podcast? The RPC's host offers a ton of things I could install right here on our server. I just need to know exactly what programs can publish podcast stuff. I can then give you guys administrative access to that section of the server. Edit: After minimal research, I determined that podcasts can be uploaded to a variety of the things our host offers. If any of you are familiar with running WordPress, Joomla, or any other content management system, let me know. You can get your stuff easily organized onto one of those after I install it.

Updated OP with info I copy/pasted from Zam.

Some translated the official JP site and it has been confirmed.

Wow. This is gonna hit people like a ton of bricks. Don't think anyone was prepared for it so soon. Also, those specs actually aren't that bad. That's the exact graphics card I have I think >.>;

I would be excited about this if it weren't for the PS3 delay part. My PC simply can't handle the game based on my benchmark score. And I cannot afford a new graphics card. Granted, my b-day will be right before then so maybe I can squeeze some money out to get it updated. Otherwise, I'll be playing on a super laggy machine >.>;;

The European division of SE has recently twittered a confirmed PC release date for FFXIV. It states the PC version will be released on September 30, 2010. Twitter:

Unfortunately, there are people out there who are against the coalition for their own reasons. As disappointing as this is, it's a reality. Mythis could probably fill you in on a particular example if she wants to regarding a poster on the actual beta testing forums. However, I feel these people are greatly in the minority. Mostly, they're against it because they may have had some past issues with one or more of the people here (which is a rather childish reason to snub an entire community in my opinion). I do not see another possible RPC popping up, at least not a successful one. I hope that doesn't come off as arrogant. But it just doesn't seem likely statistically speaking. Plus, others would see the formation of a -second- RP coalition as completely counterproductive to the benefit of the overall RP community, thus dooming any potential support for such a project. However, if another coalition does by some chance form, we'll just continue on as we are. Our structure and aspirations speak for themselves. I've heard a couple times now about people being put off due to what they perceive as elitism. If this is indeed the case, such elitism should be called out when it happens (in a polite and non-dramatic manner of course). A lot of RPers feel "safe" here when it comes to ranting about things and thus may slip up from time to time. We're all only human after all Before I digress too much though, I think it's safe to say that if SE designates a RP server, we will join it. Whether or not anyone agrees or disagrees with SE's choice to do so is another story. Not too many comments on this part of the discussion, which I kinda expected since there's not much to really discuss. I'll leave this part of the discussion open for a couple more days just in case latecomers come in and want to give some input about it. After that time passes, we'll start part 2. That'll likely be the meat of the entire discussion since it revolves around all the different possible events that could potentially separate RPers from the larger community. Also, regarding the JP RP community that was mentioned. That's something I certainly want to talk about but we'll save it for Part III (community)

Adjusted height on the etiquette and links pages. Hopefully that does the trick >.>

Try it now. You should only see scroll bars in the following locations: Charter--Right side of the page. Etiquette--All 3 subtopics on the right side of the pages only. Anywhere else should not have any scroll bars. I didn't take into account older versions of web browsers. Curse you people and your outdated technology! :ugeek:

Ohh. I see what you mean. Yeah, that shouldn't be happening. I'm also using Firefox and I'm not seeing that. Maybe it's due to different versions or something. Does anyone else see these scroll bars? When I was first building the site, those scroll bars were there. But I quickly adjusted the height of that line and they went away. So I don't know why you still see them. I'll see if the height can be adjusted any more. Edit: Adjusted height. Do you still see it? This is what the site -should- look like. If anything is off, please report it along with what Internet browser you use:

What browser are you using? I don't see any extra scroll bars >.>. So it may be a browser related issue that I'll have to look into. Daishi, you can control your own title in your profile

Do you mean the main text? Or the titles? Or both? If you mean the main text, I completely agree. I actually spent a bit of time playing with fonts before getting frustrated and just sticking with the one you see now. I wanted to make it look appropriate while keeping it easy to read. I'm not sure if anyone has any particular fonts they'd like to suggest that we can try out. Being worked on now. Not sure when it'll be done though. This would be a bit harder to accomplish. Due to the graphic complexity, the page can't extend downward for bigger patches of text without looking hideous with mismatched borders. Thus, there are only two options. Use the scroll bar or separate the content onto different pages with navigation arrows. Splitting up content onto different pages not only eats up more web resources (though that's probably not a huge issue with the amount we technically have) but it can also be annoying to people if they have to keep clicking "next" and "back" buttons to read the entirety of a topic. The charter is intended to be as is. I realize most newbies will skip over it but it's there for those who need it. We will be going over it one more time again before the game launches and voting on revisions though.

E3 Goodies This year's E3 revealed a new trailer for FF14, along with a video of the tweaked combat system, a reaffirmed 2010 release date, the benchmark (along with Limsa Lominsa's opening cut scenes), and so much more! If you haven't caught up on all of this madness, be sure to check it all out. You can find the info all over on premier FFXIV sites but the RPC has also provided the meat of it all in the Headlines section of the forums here: http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=326'>http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=326 . The official FFXIV site also has much of the new info. The next phase of beta testing is also scheduled to begin within a couple weeks or so. RP Guilds Revealed Eorzea's first RP guilds/linkshells have finally been revealed, totaling 6 at the time of this writing (with two more in development). A teaser site with teaser descriptions has been prepared for your viewing pleasure. This teaser site will launch to the larger public very soon in order to begin the next aggressive recruitment campaign for other fellow role-players. Some guild descriptions are still pending and will be up within the next week or so. Two other guilds are still not listed on the site quite yet but will be soon hopefully. You may view the teaser site here: http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/guildteasers The RPC Council (guild leaders) has finished its first meeting and the summary has been posted on the forums (Headlines section, here: http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=299 ). You'll find some details about the future RP community there, including future large-scale events such as the Olympics-like RPC Awards, "Epic," and possible festivals! The guild sections have been partially unlocked. While nobody can create new topics to advertise their guilds quite yet, you can now reply to the stickies and provide feedback on those as well as provide reactions to the current IC guild descriptions. RPC Upgrade, Part 2 The forums have continued to evolve. New borders have been added to replace the knots. Custom titles have also been added, along with a few other minor modifications. The forums are mostly complete, save for some other future additions (such as a calendar and other smaller additions/modifications). In addition, the main site has finally evolved into its originally planned design! No longer built on flash (a build that is problematic for various reasons), the new site is based purely on html coding. This makes it easier to load, easier to update, more secure, etc. Check out the new look at our main address: http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com . The design is by Keir. Feedback and suggestions are welcome. The coding was optimized for the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. Firefox is generally the faster browser in terms of loading times. RP Sections Unlocked! The RP has officially commenced. The Town Square (interactive RP) was the first to be unlocked. The first thread was a major success, spanning 10 pages. Additionally, the Storyboard is now officially unlocked for individual stories as of today! Take a look at some of the characters you'll be interacting with in the RP world and feel free to introduce some of your own if you feel ready to do so. Server Selection (Prelude) The discussion over server selection for role-players has finally begun! See the Assembly Room and give your own thoughts. While we obviously can't vote on a server name yet, we will discuss our official stances on a variety or related issues and determine what kind of community we want to integrate ourselves into. We'll also make sure we're prepared for various scenarios that could potentially separate role-players. Please let your opinions and concerns be known. Remember that our future choice will determine the home for hundreds of role-players and affect the type of people you meet and/or don't meet. The discussion is located here: http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=357 Newspaper The in character newspaper will be a seasonal one (4 issues per year). The first issue, possibly a special edition, is scheduled to be released during open beta. If you think you'd be interested in contributing to it in any way, feel free to speak up. Currently we'd like about 3-4 more writers, though it's not a necessity. The next planning stages will likely start late next month. Be sure to check out the initial fancy newspaper web design created by Mythis! You can find the basic design here: http://www.adventureleague.net/tribune/ .See the forum Assembly Room for more details. Over 200! As was predicted, we've hit our 200 member mark this month! Granted, approximately 40-50 of these individuals are still on the MIA list since the forum transfer but this is still an accomplishment to be proud of! This number is expected to continue climbing and may end up exploding by the time the game actually launches in a few months. 1st Official Podcast The RPC has launched its very first official podcast courtesy of Mason, Lysander, and Sunny Dove. See the Gallery section of the forums for more details and be sure to leave the podcast team some comments and suggestions for future episodes. You can find the first episode here: http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=358

The lore section will mostly be a link to a wiki (which will be based on the Library). I've already started working on the wiki and had to stop to do the main site. So that's one of my next priorities now. Other things could always go in the lore section too. If Mythis wants, for instance, we could add the name generator there. Other projects related to lore can also be included.

It's finally here~ You may have to reload your browser (or even delete your cookies via "tools" >> "options") if the old site shows up. Comments are of course welcome. I'm in the process of adding a main site button up in the forum navigation bar at this very moment. I also intend to add more to the main site with time obviously. New etiquette will be added. The newspaper and podcast will likely be added under a new Media tab or something. Other projects that others want put up can get posted as well. http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com Original design created by Keir. Edit: Main Site button added! The little icon next to it is a placeholder until I find a better image.

Server sizes and worst case scenarios are in part II and III of this discussion. Want to keep this topic as organized as possible so latecomers have an easy time finding everything. So for now, we're just focusing on our stances on a "role-play" server for the most part. Another con about having SE designate the server themselves is the fact that the server would stand out as a "special" server to newcomers. Let me illustrate quickly. Let's say this is the server list: Cloud Chocobo Cid (Role-Playing) Sephiroth Ultimecia Xdeath As you can see, the Cid server sticks out like a sore thumb. New players would see that and think to themselves, "oh, a special server! I gotta try this since it's the only 'special' one." They may expect more storyline in quests or something even though that's not the case. So we'd end up getting a flood of people joining the server just because it's a "special" one, expecting things that may not even be there. As a result, we get an overpopulated server. Overpopulated server translates to server lockdown. Server lockdown translates to the loss of being able to recruit new roleplayers. It also translates to the loss of being able to create alts, something role-players love to do moreso than non-roleplayers. This is just one reason against SE designating the server themselves.

Nice first episode I did feel it was a bit long though but I'm assuming that's just because it was the first. Weekly/bi-weekly seems fairly frequent also. Are you sure you guys are going to be able to keep up with that? Looking forward to future episodes and I really hope this takes off. If you ever feel at a loss for RP related topics, hit me up with a PM or email. I've always got tons of stuff and this month's upcoming update is huge enough by itself >.>. If this project does end up taking off, maybe I'll start handing the updates off to you guys This was discussed by the RPC Council during the meeting. The "Epic" will be done 1-2 times per year and be something fairly general so that everyone can be involved. The process involves the council coming together to discuss the event, creating some general rules after unanimous agreement of the actual content of the event, and then implementing it in various different ways in game. The example used in the meeting was a plague striking the countryside. On an individual/guild level, everyone would be impacted somehow. Some would avoid plague-stricken areas, others would use the disease as a means of benefiting themselves, others will seek a cure, and others may actually get afflicted with it (or know someone else who does). This is just one example for an epic of course. And there would be occasional RPC sponsored "quests" to keep it moving to some sort of conclusion.

Itâs finally that time! The following contents will be discussed, one at a time throughout this thread. I. RPC Official Stances--Pages 1-3 II. What ifâ¦?--Page 3-8 III. Community--Page 8-13 IV. Voting process, server names, etc.--Page 13-?? ========================================= I. RPC Official Stances Weâve yet to formally talk about this amongst ourselves. Some discussions about it have cropped up in other locations and in private conversations but not here. I had a supporter ask me once how I actually felt about SE designating a RP server themselves and it got me thinking pretty deeply about it. There are pros and cons to the entire situation and I just think it would be nice if we openly discussed every one of them in an open environment. Would you prefer SE designate a RP server or do you think that it would be best left to the role-play community to choose one themselves? I also want us to formally take the time to make sure weâre all on the same page in regards to getting on the same server to begin with. Just about everyone who signed up with us did so for the specific reason of getting onto the same server as other Rpers. But I just want to make sure that everyone is still on board for this since this topic hasnât been officially discussed before now.

Since this is the first thread, I should probably mention in more detail the proper wrap-up procedure. Once the original author of the thread exits the scene, you have two options: 1. Finish up the scene in the next post or two if you're still in it. You should not take longer than this to finish at this point. OR 2. If you wish to extend the scene longer, you can create a new thread entirely and indicate that it's an extension of the previous scene. First thread was fun and it was interesting to see so many people in it!

"No more for me," Myra stated with a slight wave of her hand. "But thank you anyway." The tavern had quieted a bit and Myra saw her chance to get out before any other strange men showed up. Turning to Yecely and Luralel, the hyur flashed a warm smile. "I really should get going. It was a pleasure to meet both of you and I hope our paths cross again soon. Until then, gods be with you." Reaching into her purse, the woman withdrew some gil and placed into onto the table. Afterward, she rose to her feet and then pushed her chair back in before giving one more smile to the ladies and walking away. Her first day in her new home city was already less boring that she had anticipated. She had half-expected to see nothing but perverted pirates and the like and was pleasantly surprised at the diversity she witnessed. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad living here after all. With that, Myra Wes disappeared from the Drowning Wench and headed to her new home.

âThatâs right,â Myra replied casually to the elezen woman. âHistory mostly. Though I can certainly go into other topics when necessary. But I think history often goes unappreciated by many, despite the fact that we can learn how to avoid the same mistakes by looking to the past.â The hyur was partially relieved with the departure of a couple of the men. That relief was short lived as another man walked into the tavern, though she decided to pay him no heed and replied to Yecelyâs faint grin with one of her own before turning her attention to Luralel. There were now four ladies at the table and she figured that would be more than enough to deflect any other men from approaching them. âYou donât need to say anything entertaining, Luralel. Your company is fine as is. Although I probably should be leaving shortly. The delivery service should be delivering the rest of my belongings soon I would think.â