Sophia_Grave

Random RP is relatively easy for a few sessions, but things will become stale unless new topics of discussion present themselves. A relationship needs to develop, or your own character needs to change in some way. You'd have to be extremely gifted at small talk to keep things fun otherwise. When it comes to actually making those things happen, its tough, because mutual interest isn't enough. Someone has to lead the narrative. Most don't feel comfortable otherwise, either because they've been burned in the past, they're afraid / self-conscious, or time just gets away from them as they try to push things along themselves. Either way, most likely it isn't anything you're doing wrong personally. Its just very common in RP that people tend to be a bit flakey, for whatever reason. I don't really have any concrete advice, because its a problem everyone deals with, from novice to long time veteran. -Being in an FC helps, but even then I find that unless the FC's 'plot' forces players together, it can wind up the same way, with a lot of mutual interest but no actual planning. -Outline your characters plot, or think of significant events you, the writer, want to happen to the character, then see how those around you might fit into that. -Also, figure out how your character can fit into other character's plots. -Build a relationship OOC. Being creative, especially with another person, is a vulnerable, intimate thing to do. There has to be some level of trust with the other person so they feel comfortable. the more comfortable they are with you, the more likely they'll open up in RP.

Well, yea. We have the whole consent "rule" because the trust isn't there when it comes to walkups. The trust isn't there because RP has no real rules and people do it in very different ways that don't necessarily mix well. In a perfect world, sure, we'd all trust each other to make RP fun for everyone all the time and there's be an appropriate amount of give and take. But that doesn't happen as much as it should and as a result, characters like ours are simply always going to be more difficult to play in that scenario. And yea, it sucks. Consent is just as abuseable as trust but at least you learn early whether someone is wasting your time rather than finding out halfway through. We all have RP horror stories and have had our time wasted or have been taken advantage of. This is why we can't have nice things.

Well the issue with that is (not that I agree with this response) that not every RP session that happens is considered 'open' and that some people are happy to use locations in the game as private spaces just as a type of 'setting placeholder'. For example, the Pearl Lane is really the only area in the game (among one or two others) that fit the 'shady alley' setting. I personally know people who have used it as such without it actually being the Pearl Lane. I mean, I think that's pretty fair? Some people really like to have a visual setting to stoke their RP creativity. If they didn't, we wouldn't need to RP in the game at all, really. The point is, you never know the circumstances of an RP session unless you ask and talk to the RPers. That's the challenge with playing any sort of subterfugal character. You're always going to need OOC permission, but you also have to keep it interesting. Outside of that, you'll have to rely on OOC trust that the other person wants the same things out of the experience so you can do what you trying to do, and that's in very short supply when it comes to walkups or RPing with strangers.

There's not really a clear answer. I've RP'd a career spy since 2.0 and I've been met with the entire gamut of responses. Everyone's going to have their own opinion on how it should be handled. It worked best when both parties were aware in my experiences.

Sophia could always use skilled hired help in her 'exploits'. There's a link to her bio in my sig.

:love::love::love:

Do what I do and handwave the fuck out of it. I for one will never fault someone for going for RP even if their character is technically tied up in a plotline. RP whatever/whenever you want, and put it on your character's timeline later. Its not the end of the world if a few RP sessions don't line up with someone else's. Think of it like the comic universe. Everything significant happened a vague "few years ago", even comics that came out in the 90s. Hell, the game's timeline places everything that's happened since ARR in, what, a year iirc? You're already condensing 4 years of RP into one year of lore time, so I think its all fine.

Welcome back Tier! As always, I love your material <3 Hope you get past the art block soon!

Immersion's about convincing yourself in some small way that what you're experiencing is real (or at least engaging and demanding your full attention), but isn't necessarily happening to you. Its perfectly reasonable to be immersed and be a passive observer, reader, or viewer as some people have already mentioned. Your character can be representative of you and you can be immersed, but they aren't necessarily related.

RIP Machinist lol

Hey, congratulations on taking the plunge! I have a similar forum-based background as you, and ffxiv is my first go at RPing in game. It's not so different! You just have less time to post shorter things, really. In my experience, people stick to /say or use /em for action. But really, so long as you get the point across, I don't think anyone really minds at the end of the day. You're welcome to look me up in game for questions. I'm usually either playing Sophia Grave or Drunken Dhalmel. The folks here are pretty to quick to answer any questions too and are willing to help you with an idea to get your character up and running. Good luck and welcome!

:love::love::love: Looking back, I might not have actually stuck with Sophia or RPing in this game if we didn't randomly meet in the Carline Canopy that day.

These are just the best. Random meets are nice and all, but goddamn I'm tired of small talk. More pre-established relationships!

Warren runs the most consistent RP event on the server. I daresay he and the rest of the Grindstone folks are responsible for a lot of the newer RP-curious folks taking the plunge.

ICly, making stuff up never fails. But it helps if your character has a healthy social need. They don't need to be a social butterfly, but having relationships is important for most people, even introverts. OOCly, just ask via /tell. RPers love talking about their characters. A lot of the time when I RP, I have a sort of pre-RP huddle where we throw basic ideas back and forth OOCly before we even start. Anything to get away from the cold approach, which wastes time with pleasantries and the basic chatter topics. The organic RP comes later once I'm better able to play off the other player and their character.

I'd much rather be a part of an FC with stringent entry requirements than one without, and it has little to do with 'drama' (which, I have to add, is such a nothing term by this point). First and foremost, going through an app that takes time shows a modicum of commitment and affirms interest. Back when I ran a few RP forums, I can't tell you how many times people would join with all the interest in the world, only to cap out at a post count short of 10 and disappear forever. That wouldn't bother me at all, if I and other admins hadn't helped them get acquainted with lore, build their OC, start threads with them, and do just about anything to hold on to new, active members. We'd even do free art sketches or of people's main OCs or otherwise help the non-artists after a while to encourage them to stay. Even with a long app, this still happens, but far less than it does without-- I've been on both sides. When I was browsing the FC/LS lists here, a lot of them interested me. Most still do, based on their sales pitch and a cursory look around their content. But I can't say I could give them all the attention either I or they deserve. Ultimately, I'm just tired of repeating the same meet and greet over and over with people that simply don't stick it out. Secondly, tone is important to me. I try to stick with those who enjoy the same vein of RP that I do. I've seen apps that are perfectly valid, and yet don't really jive with my style of RP. Don't get me wrong, variety is very important, but there is a point where another person's RP can really ruin muh immershun. I joke, but some things I just can't respond to or followup on because I'm essentially in a different mindset than the other person. Its all well and good for different RP styles to occupy the same spaces, but it then becomes difficult to satisfy both parties, especially if you're in a leadership position and are writing content that is meant to be fun for all. I'll sit down and watch an episode of Rick and Morty, then switch over to Game of Thrones. They scratch different itches. Both are quality television. They do not mix. This is how I keep RP fun for me, and it works. For me. It addresses all the issues that annoy me about RPing over the years. You can't parse for every foreseeable problem, but I have read some truly bizarre apps that make me relieved I didn't put in the time for someone who wants something I don't have. I wish them all the best of course, but I just can't entertain them and myself. And considering how sometimes you have to pull teeth for meaningful RP that goes deeper than surface level, I don't think that an app that takes a half hour or an hour to do is much to ask.

L I G H T M E D A D D Y And now I'm that person laughing to myself in a meeting. Thanks for that, Core

Interesting style, sort of reminds me of vanillaware a bit.

Can't really be weird if its by far the most popular choice. In any case, as with anything popular, it becomes very easy to notice the trends and common themes simply because there are so many examples. This leads to people making blanket statements like "Miqo'te are all the same" which anyone knows isn't true. There are spectacular Miqo'te RPers and bland, boring RPers using other races. There's also the lore tidbit about male Miqo'te being 'rare' which has been completely obliterated by the RP community. Regardless, don't let comments like that get to you. Play your character the way you want.

MMOs are really expensive to make and maintain, and I personally feel without any evidence whatsoever that they've been waning in popularity, at least compared to 5 or so years ago. Eventually, they get the message that WoW lightning won't strike twice by throwing money at overworked developers and are looking towards other ventures.

This was the first time I made it to a Savo gig and I've gotta say, I'm a little mad I've been missing them! Great RP all around guys. We'll have to do another pub crawl again soon.

Same! Corelyn is also a Pureblood, but hides her third eye for paranoia issues, so Highlander it is for her, typically (though if we got Garlean models YEEEEEEEEAH BOIIIIIII). I'd really consider switching if we ever did. Part of me would miss the current design I have now. Also because I like thinking that Franz is big and buff, even at nearly 7 fulms tall. (If Cid can be buff, why can't other purebloods?!) I'd probably switch too! But I wonder, do most people use Highlanders for pureblooded Garleans? I see a lot of Midlanders used as Garleans (I use one myself). And then there's Lucia, who's definitely using the Elezen rig with modified ears. But that can be SE just using what's on hand until they make a concrete decision, like they did with pre-reveal Yugiri using a Miqo rig. Hrm. Not that it matters much in the end, I suppose.

This is great and I'm REALLY curious as to how the turn out of actual Empire-allied characters will be.

Pretty good movie. Felt more gray and, dare I say it, mature (ugh). I really liked that the Rebels were finally portrayed in a slightly negative light. The series's movies have always downplayed the shitty things the good guys do, so that was nice to see. Maybe that's what happens when there's no Jedi around? The casting was pretty spot on, but the Saw buildup kind of just... deflated? What was up with that? They should have at least made him do something cool. Other than that, no real complaints. K-2 was the perfect sort of comedy, great battle scenes. I'd love a sequel, but... well.:roll:

I don't like the idea of a new player skipping the entire MSQ, but then again, some players don't care about that content, so I don't see the point of forcing them to do it if they just want to do roulettes till their eyes bleed like the rest of us. Plus, I get some work-free alts out of the deal. Of course, if I had my way, new players would go through it at least once, then jump potion to their hearts content on their other non-craft/gather jobs. Or let them jump potion right away, but have them do the quests anyway. I don't know, I'm biased. I just don't want to level my damn alts anymore, and I'm willing to pay :V