Kylin

My concern with the events is that every group will have different definitions for things. While behavior rules are a definate must, I personally feel that's not enough for this population. GuildA will have a different definition for godmode than GuildB. Trying to figure out which definition of godmode is in effect from event to event is going to quickly drain the fun out of everything. It's too much work for even the hardcore RPers to constantly figure out which godmode definition they have to abide by from event to event. Combat systems is another example. GuildA will handle IC conflicts differently than GuildB. These and so much more make for a lot of preliminary research before each event. That just seems like too much work for people and may only push them away from interacting with other groups entirely. In regards to the "last hope" issue, that's just one of many examples. I personally was very offended at the phrase when I saw it. And despite the fact that neither myself nor any other member of Legacy posted a response to that drama thread, we still somehow came out looking like the bad guys. I say this because I recall people making comments on there saying "if I were to join a RP guild, I'd definately go with Crystalline or HopesRequiem." Considering the scenario, I was appalled that Legacy somehow became the bad guy and HR became the good guys to the general public. I guess those wounds have yet to heal fully so I'm a bit wary of something like that happening again. And yes, gil was already confirmed to be the monetary system for FF14

Just so you guys know, all of this will eventually be made up into an official draft to be voted on and then placed on the main site. Before that though, this discussion will remain active for as long as necessary. Plus, thereâs still more to probably hammer out regarding who we are. To sum up, this seems to be where we are right now on this issue: Neutrality and Authority The majority so far seems to favor the RPC remaining a neutral body and staying out of conflicts unless it affects the entire RP community. The question is, how far should we take this neutrality? When -do- we step in? Obviously, any kind of conflict on these particular forums will be dealt with accordingly by myself and/or the moderation team. But what about outside of here? Letâs do a couple examples just to get it out there. Letâs say thereâs a particular individual whoâs causing problems for other Rpers. Now if this individual is causing disruptions just for one guild, thatâs probably going to be their issue to deal with. But what if this troublemaker is wreaking havoc on more than one guild? They could be sabotaging events in an OOC manner, harassing lots of people, and just outright being a pain in the arse for everyone. Do we just tell everyone to suck it up and /blist the person or does the RPC make a formal complaint to the troublemakerâs guild leaders? And if the guild does nothing to help resolve the issue, does that mean the RPC then reserves the right to âtellâ them to boot the troublemaker or be booted from RPC? Depending on the nature of the troublemaker, I suppose several GM calls could simply be made. But what if itâs something a GM canât do anything about? Such as smear campaigns against various guilds on other sites like Zam, etc? How far do we go with neutrality? Another example that focuses on a guild rather than an individual member: Letâs go with the example I made earlier about the linkshell who made the comment âSylphâs last hope for Rpingâ on a recruitment post on Alla. Letâs assume we all end up voting on our server and end up on the Cid server (no idea how the naming scheme will be so this is just an example). Weâre all doing our own thing with our own guilds when suddenly a new one crops up and puts a recruitment post on Alla claming theyâre âCidâs last hope for RP.â Whether they believe that or not is irrelevant. It still remains horrible etiquette and is rather offensive to the rest of us. How far do we take neutrality there? RPC standards RPC standards for cross-guild happenings are generally going to be broad and accepted by the general community. For instance, Iâm sure weâll all end up agreeing that someone should mark OOC comments with parenthesis or some other marker when at cross-guild events. But other standards may end up being more controversial. Following my example with the tavern brawl earlier, some people may despise the battle system implemented by the RPC. Do we just tell them to suck it up while at the event? I suppose if they hated a particular standard, they could simply avoid getting into a situation like a cross-guild IC brawl or whatever. Another question to consider is -when- do the RPC standards kick in? Letâs face it. Some guilds will have better IC and OOC relationships than others. TheShiningKnights guild may actually have a great OOC relationship with the ShaggyThieves and thus end up inviting them to a lot of events. In those situations, I would imagine the guilds simply following the rules of the event organizer instead of the RPC rules. But what about when the events are open to the entire public? Is that when itâs time to defer to RPC standards? It should be mentioned that when public events are posted, the non-RP community (and freelance Rpers) of our server will very likely be invited as well. Also, if you're remotely curious about the kind of "standards" that we'll end up discussing, take a peak at the "Etiquette" section on the main site. Those are just a few examples of things we may or may not end up discussing. The public If anyone has been following some of the updates I posted on other big community sites, youâll notice that some people have made comments about how closed off FFXIâs RP community seemed. Personally, I think we kind of had to be closed off due to the environment. I assume we all want to be more open and out there this time around. The question is, what would be the RPCâs role in trying to achieve this? Events This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the RP standards part. As I see it, there are 3 different types of events the RP community will have. One is a guild event specifically for the guild organizing it. Another is a cross-guild event with maybe 1-2 other guilds invited to the event. The third type is a public event which would generally be open to all guilds, freelance Rpers, and the general public. How is the RPC going to handle each one differently? Going off on that, what happens when more than one guild crosses paths unintentionally. Using a FFXI example, letâs say TheShiningKnights are doing a promy-mea run. All of a sudden, you find out the FanaticalMercs are doing a promy-mea run too at the same time. Obviously, the guilds have a choice to either go on and climb the tower by themselves or ally up to help each other. If they do decide to ally up, do they defer to RPC standards from that point onward for the remainder of the event? Both groups may have different rules and since both organized the event unintentionally at the same time, thereâs no clear organizer to set the rules. Structure How should we actually structure ourselves? Do we want each guild to provide 1-2 representatives to keep the RPC updated every so often on the âstate of the guild?â And would these reps have any other tasks aside from that?

Haven't really worked this out yet. I was thinking of perhaps having each individual guild choose 1-2 RPC representatives and forming a "high council" of sorts from that. These individuals could maybe provide updates on their guild every few months or so just to keep everyone up to speed on the community as a whole. They would collectively be the face of the RPC I guess. Again, nothing is really worked out yet though. I really like the idea of a RPer profile kind of thing used by that Starsider coalition. If there's enough interest, I'll get around to adding a section for that so people know how far each Rper is willing to go on specific RP content. Regarding grudges, I'm not sure there's much the RPC could do to intervene in that kind of stuff unless it affected the community as a whole somehow. So far, it seems most people want the RPC to remain as "neutral" as possible in those regards. And seeing how grudges are a very personal matter, it would probably only get uglier if the whole community got dragged into it. As for the exclusion from events, I think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves for now on that. But I would expect that if a guild was invited to an event, then all its members are invited as well. If issues arise for a particular individual, people can take it up with that person's guild leaders. I can't see someone publicly telling someone that they're not invited even if that person's guild was invited. I think what your concerned about (correct me if I'm wrong) would be people talking privately in party chat telling each other to ignore a certain person at an event. I would imagine most people would frown on that unless said individual was griefing people at the event. And if someone is griefing, then that falls more into the category of calling a GM. I don't know if anything I'm saying is making sense at all. As was already stated, there's not a lot anyone can do about personal grudges. They're personal and would need to be worked out by the individuals, not the RPC.

Ok, here's my wall of text for now. I do not ever foresee the RPC telling a guild how to operate in their own setting. That would end up causing more drama instead of lessening it. If a guild wants to put in a 1-"linkshell" rule, that's not for anyone else to say otherwise. If they want to say it's okay to RP being an alien or royal heir, that's again their choice. That being said, we have to take into consideration that many of us are going to be interacting with guilds other than our own on some level or another. And how do we do that if cultures clash so wildly? Some of us are very strict in our ways while others are very loose and open to just about anything. Neither is right or wrong. I think we're all pretty united in getting us all on the same server. That's why we're all here after all. However, I don't think it's as simple as just tossing us there and just going our own ways. Maybe another MMO or two could do that. Most of us are coming from FFXI though, and we all know how the RP community was there. It was small, competitive, and dramatic. We have a different mentality as a result when it comes to the RP atmosphere. A lot of the communities trickling in now had the luxury of being the dominant RP group on their server forever. Sure, a shell may have died out and got replaced by another. But there was still always a dominant shell at all times. Some servers did not have this luxury. Sylph, for instance, had a total of about 15 RP linkshells over a span of 6 years. At one point, we had about 4 powerful groups clashing at the same time. Suffice to say, it got really ugly really fast. Drama leaked out onto our forums and even onto other sites like Alla. I think Asura may have had some experience in this kind of atmosphere too. I'm not too sure about other RP groups and their history, so maybe they can chime in there. The fact is, we can't just throw ourselves onto a server and think everything will take care of itself. Sylph may have benefited in having an official RPC to set us straight long ago. Overall, I think our primary focus should be on events and that kind of stuff. But I just feel we may need a bit of structure in order to avoid future conflict. Ultimately, it'll be up to you guys though on what kind of system we adopt. Again, I don't see us having "authority" over individual groups. It's more about authority in a cross-group setting. I think Kes and Tsumi made a lot of good points about this. If we do set universal RP standards, they wouldnât be meant to be restrictive. For instance, letâs say weâre having a tavern night with 2-3 RP groups all attending. At some point, Castiel and Dogberry get drunk and get into a fist brawl. Now, letâs say Dogberryâs guild uses a /random type system for RP combat. That is, each player /randoms to see whether a punch connects or not. But thereâs a problem. Letâs say Castielâs group doesnât use that system. Instead, they say whoever has the highest level/skills will be victorious in the fight. Having nothing to fall back on, you can see that thereâs gonna be problems. It wouldnât take long before people started getting accused of godmoding and tempers start flaring. Thatâs what I envision the RPC to exist for. Weâd fall back on the rules of combat as set by the majority of Rpers. These universal standards, if adopted, would generally be broad I imagine in the sense that it wouldn't limit someone entirely. To follow Kes's example, if someone had wyvern wings, they may have to keep them "hidden" at cross-guild events but not necessarily get rid of them entirely. In regards to resolving disputes: Yeah, I agree. I donât think thatâs very feasible. I was mostly referring to guilds who caused problems for the entire community. Let me give another Sylph example and see if it helps. At one point, we had 3 RP shells: Crystalline, Legacy, and Rescue. Another one was formed which shall remain nameless. This shell was led by a couple individuals who caused quite an uproar in every other RP shell on Sylph at some point or another (they transferred servers several times so some of you may have seen them too >.>). So they made their own shell after various disagreements. Okay, no problem we thought. Weâd all just have to deal with the split community and try to persevere. So one day, this new shell makes a recruitment post on Alla. Okay, no big deal, right? Well, there was just one tiny problem. They decided in their recruitment thread to put a catchphrase: âSylphâs last hope for Rping.â Now think about that for a moment. That statement indirectly states that that group is superior to all other RP groups on Sylph. Now thereâs nothing wrong with pride in oneâs shell, but that went well beyond pride. It was a direct attack against the other RP groups. Imagine for a moment someone on your server creating a new RP guild and using that same phrase, only substituting your server name for Sylph. It would likely offend quite a few people in the other RP group/groups. Suffice to say, a huge drama fest happened on Alla as a result (which could have been handled much better). They refused to remove that phrase or apologize for the message it sent. And there was nothing anyone could do about it. Now if this were to happen in Eorzea, I think the RPC should have the right to basically isolate the group (or at least the leaders of said group). No event invites, no advertisement on the coalition site, and basically no recognition by the coalition as a valid RP group. Would people still join that group? Yeah, probably. But theyâd struggle and probably wouldnât make it long after the members realized how isolated the group was in comparison to the rest of the community. People are definately loyal, but they're not masochists either.

Ok. I split the topic starting with Dogberry's post (hope you don't mind ). I figure maybe we should hash this out now rather than later. After all, it'll be hard to start setting up RP standards and whatnot if we don't even know our purpose. So carry on 8-)

Yeah, this is quickly getting off topic. Save some of it for the Assembly Room guys :lol: Really good points all around though. Making me more eager to open up that section myself >.>. Just hold off a tiny bit longer.

Event organization is definately one of our primary concerns, since that's what will make a vibrant community in the long run. However, political disputes could actually be handled quite well if we handle it properly. For instance, let's say one particular guild is causing other guilds unnecessary OOC drama. It wouldn't be too hard to come together and hold a vote about removing said guild from the RPC. By doing so, they will no longer be advertised on these forums or the main site nor will they be invited to any major cross-guild events. As a result, recruitment for the problem guild would become increasingly difficult. After all, if you're a new RPer looking to join a RP group, would you join a "rogue" guild that doesn't have the support of the rest of the community? It's unlikely. You'd be more inclined to join a group that's actively involved with the greater community. As such, the problem guild will eventually dwindle away more than likely unless they clean up their act. Unlike the real UN, RP groups are much smaller than countries and rely heavily on an active member base to survive. Thus, I suspect the RPC could be very effective in handling this kind of thing. Now if it's more of a guild vs. guild dispute where there's clearly no group in the "wrong," that's a different story. That's something to discuss later I suppose. This would probably be the more likely scenario sadly. While we can hope for it to never happen, we've also got to remain realistic since it very well could happen.

There's no info about system requirements as far as I'm aware. And those reporting they're in closed beta could very easily be making it up. Signups only started at the end of December afterall. So I doubt it's been going on for a few months. You might wanna consider who the friend of your friend is and if they'd be the type to pull another's leg .

And now Mythis. Sorry for the delay. Just wasn't sure who was actually TALE's leader yet.

Sorry, I forgot to mention something in the original post. If at any time any guild leader simply does not want to be a moderator or feels someone else from their group would be a better candidate, they can give up their mod status to someone else from their group. I don't want anyone to feel forced into this or anything like that if they're not even interested in the role.

Just wanted to give a quick status update on the moderators. As stated earlier, each guild leader will be granted moderator status for the RPC forums. There are currently 3 RP guilds in the works and thus, we get 3 moderators. None of these 3 guilds will be advertised until open beta starts. However, now that the forum activity is rapidly increasing, I can't single-handedly keep an eye on the forums 24/7. So congrats to Keir and Kit_Aster for their new mod status! I need confirmation before giving the third mod the upgrade. Who's the founder/leader of TALE? Other mods will be added as more guilds come to the surface. Mods cannot delete posts but they can move them to a centralized location for review if necessary. They should also be able to split topics as needed and conduct other such tasks as needed. This does not necessarily mean mods will be extremely active on the forums, as that will be their choice either way. However, they are there so please give them a nice congrats (or pity speech >.>)! As usual, feel free to speak up if you have questions or concerns. Edit: Do you guys have a preference for moderator colors? >.>

Now that weâre gearing up to officially go public in a little over a week, a few things should be stated. Moderators: Moderators will consist of each guild leader. If there are 10 RP guilds, there will be 10 RPC moderators (assuming the leaders are registered). That being said, moderators will not be able to delete posts in order to avoid any potential future ârogueâ leader from laying waste to the forums unexpectedly. They will be able to move inappropriate posts/threads to a central location for review, lock/unlock threads, make stickies/announcements, edit the calendar, and so on. I will also eventually add at least one more administrator. This will be done just in case something ever happens to me (heaven forbid). It would suck to have a massive coalition without an admin so itâs always good to have a backup in order to keep the overall community in good shape. I reserve the right to take away forum powers from individual moderators if any use their power inappropriately (such as trying to silence people with different views, etc). Guilds Advertising: Please avoid trying to plug your new FF14 guild/linkshell at this time. During discussions in the Assembly Room, refrain from posting a link to your groupâs forums. Everyone will have free advertisement for their groups eventually when I open up the guild section during open beta. All guilds will be listed both on the forums and the main site during open beta testing. It would be bad etiquette to allow one or two guilds a massive head start in recruitment efforts when all the others are still trying to create their structure and rules. Development: If you wish to have a separate section of the forums to start building a new RP guild, please let me know. Iâll set it up so only you and those involved with the planning have access. Some may already have other sites designated for this purpose but if not, you can use a section of these forums as long as necessary. Roleplay sections: The Storyboard, Town Square, and Bulletin Board sections will remain locked until during open beta. I feel thereâs no need to open these yet and risk people posting stories or making events that may not even fit in with the lore. Also keep in mind that not everyone is a fan of interactive forum RP. Thus, the Town Square may have mixed popularity. Donations: Donations of 1-4 dollars are GREATLY appreciated since Iâm so poor myself at the moment . Extra money can go into the next month or be used to expand storage and/or getting a new domain name. If you wish to donate, please send me a PM for details. You must have a PayPal account, though they are super easy to set up if you haven't done so yet. Donors will be eventually added to a Hall of Fame of sorts. If you can afford it, I really would appreciate your help though. IC/OOC: As it currently stands, the RPC is strictly an OOC concept only. That means youâll want to avoid referring to it in any IC manner for the time being. If someone later comes up with a means of adding a minor IC element to it that others are on board for, we can possibly look into that via the Assembly Room. Assembly Room: This is probably the most important section of these forums. The sticky has more details for you but thereâs one thing I do want to stress right now. There are a LOT of things to discuss. Instead of bombarding everyone with a gazillion topics of discussion all at once, please try to pace yourself. I suggest making a personal list of things youâd like to discuss with other Rpers and spreading out the topics over the course of these next few months. Remember that not everyone is as active as others in checking these forums and having people fall behind on the discussions because of an explosion of topics would just be bad etiquette. Further forum/site development: As stated before, the site will eventually get a massive overhaul to its look and feel. I'll start searching for people with all the necessary skills to do so within a few weeks. Hopefully we'll have a fantastic looking main page before the game actually launches. In regards to the forums, further modifications will also eventually come. Up to three new sections are being considered (see Forum Update thread), though none of them will be added until at least closer to the game's launch. Don't hesitate to speak up if you have any questions or concerns!

First of all, welcome to all future roleplayers of FFXIV! I'm extremely excited about the endless possibilities that await us all and I hope you all are too. Allow me to elaborate on not only the purpose of these forums but also the plan currently in motion. The purpose of these forums consists of more than just eventually choosing an unofficial RP server (if necessary) before the game launches. These forums also provide a central location for all FF14 roleplayers to come together for various tasks. Among these tasks include discussing RP etiquette. Obviously, each guild will have its own varying set of rules and styles that may differ from the rest. So when we have a cross-guild event with 2 or more RP guilds, which rules are followed? This is one of the dilemmas to be discussed. I foresee a lot of discussion around RP etiquette and each one will eventually be voted upon by all of you before they become "official." It may help if you view the roleplay coalition (RPC) as the equivalent of the United Nations for the RP community. Each RP guild will have its own rules and way of doing things but when it comes to -interactions- with other RP guilds, we'll all end up deferring a bit more to the coalition. Another purpose of this forum is to share with each other. This includes the advertisement of public RP events in game, sharing stories and character profiles with one another, and just bonding as comrades and roleplayers. Political issues regarding the RP community can also be discussed here (such as how to handle fears of one RP guild causing unnecessary OOC drama for other RP guilds). The possibilities here go as far as you all decide to take them. Yet another purpose of this forum and the site is to provide a central location for all RP guilds in Hydaelyn to be listed, along with details about each guild to help future new RPers find the guild that's right for them. The RPC will also serve as the center for all lore related material eventually (not too different than FFXI's "History of Vana'diel" site). I am not naive enough to ignore the fact that every RP guild will eventually have their own website and forums, if they haven't developed one already. So I do expect traffic to slowly dwindle after the game actually launches. Then again, maybe we'll be even more active than individual RP guild forums. Again, that choice will be yours. Just because I orchestrated most of this does not mean I will be calling any shots here aside from forum administration. This is meant for -all- of us. I consider myself nothing more than an ambassador for the RP community at this time and I even plan to avoid leading my own RP guild this time around for as long as humanly possible in order to better represent the community overall. Here's the current plan. I am keeping the forums locked up for a little bit longer as I gradually send out invitations for each RP group to register themselves here. My goal is to reach 70+ registered members -before- we go public. This is a lofty goal but not impossible. I ask each RP group to recruit a minimum of 10 RP friends from FFXI or wherever to help make this possible. I anticipate 15-20+ RPers brought here by the Big 3 Vana'diel RP groups (Sylph, Leviathan, and Asura). If each group can meet those expectations, the goal will be an easy one to reach. I will send out a mass email via these boards to all registered members the very moment I open the forums up for discussions to begin. Who knows, our high numbers could even be enough to snag SE's attention for once. Wishful thinking perhaps, but you never know. As a final note, I should warn you that any emails sent out from this forum will likely be marked as spam to you initially. To change this, I suggest sending yourself a private message to get an email notification. Then go into your spam folder and mark it as "not spam" so future emails to you won't be passed over accidently. I look forward to the discussions we'll be having here and I also look forward to getting to know so many roleplayers. Talk to you soon! ~Castiel