Verence

I would not object to sketches! Also, it occurs to me that I forgot one. The Berserker - This character is a badass. No, really, they are bad ass. They are so badass that sometimes their own badassitude overwhelms them and anyone in the immediate area should probably quietly step away. This is interesting concept and can make for a tragic hero. After all, how can one do right if they keep losing control of themselves? However, this concept walks a fine line: If your char starts frothing at the mouth and attacking friends every so often, they won't stay friends for long. If they flip out but stay rational, then they're not really a berserker - they just have anger management issues. Either way, any heroism points they've accrued can be quickly buried under the weight of their mental instability as people begin to avoid them for fear of their next outburst. I can't condemn this one; I've done it myself, though that particular character was literally brain damaged and behaved like someone under heavy sedation except for the rare occasions he fell into an insensate, howling animalistic fury. He wasn't a hero and wasn't even my main char, since I knew exactly what I was getting into. He'd freak people out, they'd tell him to stay the hell away, and he'd mope off into isolation for a while before falling in with another crew. Good for sporadic RP and paced plot arcs, but to try to RP him consistently as a main would have been an exercise in aggravating frustration.

Sorry for the double post and doubly sorry for the wall of text, but as I'm sure you've all gathered by now this subject is something I've had loads of experience with and feel somewhat strongly about. I had to get the above out of the way before I shared my own examples. The following is straight out of the Canta Per Me character creation guidelines and are all things I've seen overdone or done poorly. To this list, I'd add: The Orphan - I didn't add this to the CPM list because, well, wars kill a lot of people. Plenty of people are going to have dead family members in the wake of a massive, savage, years-long war. We had a lot of people with no real family to speak of in CPM and given the setting, it seemed appropriate enough. In other settings, though... It can be incredibly common and it gets a bit weird when more people had their entire family murdered/disappeared/etc than not. Generally speaking, most people 0-40 have living parents. The Kleptomaniac - They are a Thief, and they steal things! They pick pockets and break into houses! Why? ...'cause they're a Thief/Rogue/analogous jobclass and that's what they do, right? Well, not necessarily... Job classes tend to describe fighting style, not define personalities (though it's true certain personalities are drawn to certain job classes). We've established that the character is a Thief, but why do they steal everything in sight? All characters of this type that I've seen never seem to quite think that far. Do they do it for the adrenaline rush? Did they have a hard upbringing and seize any and all opportunity they see? "Because they're a Thief" isn't a legitimate reason - stealing is risky and dangerous, not something to be done on a whim "just because". Plus, all the pickpocketing can grate on other players as everyone in the area has their pockets systematically rifled through. The Walking Autobiography - Often coupled with The Dark Past. It's perfectly understandable and quite common among new RPers - Someone comes up with an interesting, in-depth background for their character and they just can't wait to share it! So their character shares, at length, their life story, hopes, and dreams with whatever random passerby strikes up a conversation. Now, some people are like this. If your character is, great! Talkativeness can be an endearing trait. A lot of people aren't, though. Someone you sit next to at random on the bus isn't likely to spill their entire life story to you just because you said "hi". Pace yourself, think about what your character would and wouldn't be comfortable sharing in the given situation, and how appropriate it is for them to talk about themselves at all. The Pokémaniac - I want to be the very best, like no one ever was! Okay, okay, bad joke. But common concept. I've seen this done well nearly as many times as I've seen it done poorly. A character, for whatever reason, is obsessed with being the best. The most powerful mage and the most skilled martial artist are two of the most common. Okay, fine... why? If you can come up with an interesting, compelling reason for their obsession then congratulations on a dynamic, motivated character. If you can't... Well, people don't just suddenly decide "I'm going to be the best damn PHP coder EVAR!" for no reason. The Spontaneous Savior - A new character arrives on the scene and brings a dire warning of impending disaster. For whatever reason, they are the key to resolving it safely. This can be an awesome jump-start to a plot... IF you run it by the community first, make sure it doesn't conflict with anything, doesn't contradict the setting, and that people are generally okay with it. Don't be surprised or upset if they aren't; people often don't like things getting shaken up out of nowhere by someone they haven't RP'd with before. You can easily wind up the following situation. Char #1: "The world's suddenly in danger for a reason I just made up, and I'm the only one who knows how to save it!" Char #2: "...Who are you and why wasn't it in danger before you showed up?" I've only run into possession twice - one made a lot of awkward situations for the linkshell. The other was very subtle and interesting, surprising everyone when the truth finally came out. There have also been a couple of incarcerations in CPM history, but to my knowledge there was only ever one breakout and they faked it to look like a death, then the escaping character moved to a different city under an assumed identity until things were eventually resolved with some backdoor diplomacy. Not terribly cliche, and I had fun watching that plot develop since the char in question was my char's adoptive little sister. We never had any halfbreed characters, but I was opposed to them until I read about Enid Ironheart. According to game lore, all the in-game maps were drawn by Gwynham Ironheart, a Bastokan hume... And his half-Elvaan daughter Enid Ironheart. With a halfbreed built right into the lore like that, the LS decided they were possible but rare due to low fertility rate to explain why so few of them are seen. We also decided Tarutaru and Galkan crosses weren't possible due to the former's stature and the latter's technical asexuality. I don't really accept WotG as precedent for canon since it contradicts the rest of the game in several places in ways not explainable by time travel.

Names aren't being named and nobody's being called out. I can see how some people might be uncomfortable with such a thread and I really don't blame them. Such is your right and privilege, and it's a completely understandable viewpoint. That being said, recognize that some of us want to RP our characters in ways that other people may not want to. IE, the wings, the half-dragon, the what-have you. But that sword cuts both ways - How does my character respond appropriately to something that, according to my interpretation of game lore, should not exist and isn't possible? I'm not saying they shouldn't RP it. They're welcome to. But to maintain the integrity of my character's appropriate worldview and responses, I'm probably going to avoid RPing with them - not out of any judgmental attitude or personal distaste for them, I just simply can't keep RPing my character appropriately as my character if the world he lives suddenly, arbitrarily becomes another simply because of someone he runs into on the street. If a character has wings and they just sort of do 'cause it's cool... To my mind they've effectively godmoded everyone they interact with. They force an expanded world setting on everyone around them simply by fact of their existence, one that the people they RP with may not have signed up for at all. If you're cool with that, you're cool with that, but not everyone is. A similar situation arises when my character runs into the 5th maximum security prison escapee this week - it just stretches the bounds of believability and it's hard to RP with that. It's difficult, it's not fun, it can be frustrating, and I wholly sympathize with people who don't like it. As said - I'm not going to tell anyone they can't, and that it's bad. Different people, different RP styles. But I will ask them to make sure that anything 'off' they do with their character is cool with their community and with the people they RP with before they drop the bomb. It's just a matter of consideration. In view of all this, I think this thread has a perfectly legitimate use - Discussing overdone or generally speaking poorly handled plot and character points so that people can avoid them if they so choose in order to keep the RP smooth and people having fun. If you want to ignore all this, great! Go for it. Just don't expect the people who voiced concerns to be eager to RP with you. And that's fine - the community is larger than a few small groups. A few people always don't see eye to eye and as long as they're civil about it, there are no problems. As long as we keep this attitude in mind and don't make it "Gawd, you won't believe what this one idiot did" then I think we'll be okay.

I wrote a brief bit on just this subject for the CPM forums in FFXI, though parts of it have already been excellently covered by above posts and much of it is FFXI specific, if you can ignore the proper names then the information is valid. Rather than hack it to pieces, I'll just post it in its entirety. The Potential Pitfalls section is more aimed at CPM's 'conservative' style of RP, but can be a good "baseline" to keep in mind if you plan to RP with such a group. If you're going with a more lore-divergent guild, your imagination's the limit. Creating a character is the first step and core of all forays into roleplaying. They are your viewpoint and your vehicle for everything you do. The task of, in effect, creating a complete imaginary person can be daunting at first, but many find that their character completes themselves. Once a concept and skeleton history is laid out, often ideas solidify and details fall into place as you roleplay. The first step is a concept. Character Concept What kind of character would you like to roleplay? A curmudgeonly old man with powerful black magics? An enthusiastic and naïve youngster, set on being the paragon of knightly honor? Maybe an avaricious mercenary with anger issues. Once youâve decided on a concept, think about how they got there and what made them that way â An old man doesnât grow curmudgeonly living a life of ease, surrounded by friends and family and a youngster doesnât hang on to naiveté long in a harsh environment. Once you have a concept and the beginnings of a personality down, itâs time to decide on a character history. Character History This may sound like a lot of work at first, but thereâs no need to chronicle your characterâs entire life from birth to present â In fact itâs often best to leave some gray areas and wiggle room in case you later decide to revise or bring to light new things in your characterâs past. It is good however to come up with some basic ideas on where theyâve come from. What is their family like? How big is it? Do they have a family? Friends? What experiences growing up shaped them into how they are today? What viewpoints and contacts with NPCs and other roleplayers might their history have given them? Having laid out the characterâs concept and how they got to be that way, itâs time to get more specific. Motivations What does your character want? Fame? Money? Good friends and good times? Humble service to the Goddess of Dawn? What motivates your character will serve as a rudder in their interactions with others and the decisions they make for themselves. Quirks What makes your character unique? Are they very tall? Have a reedy, high voice? A habit of scratching their cheek when theyâre nervous? Utterly convinced that airships are flying coffins, waiting for the first chance to crash? Little details can add an extra dimension to your character, and can be fun to watch as they fall back on old habits time and again. Ask Questions If you don't know something or want more information on something (Like the state of the Church in San d'Oria, how government is handled in Bastok, the nuances of the Ministries in Windurst) then ASK! Most members of Canta Per Me have been playing FFXI for a long time and done many quests and missions. We'd be happy to answer questions, provide information, and help you create an interesting and rounded character. Getting Involved Thereâs no one way to get yourself involved in role playing, especially since each character is unique. Sometimes you have to work to get your character engaged in whatâs going on despite their tendencies, while other times theyâll naturally fall in line with whatâs happening. Donât rely on the latter happening, then be disappointed if it doesnât! It can help immensely to set up points of interest and launch pads for interaction and plotlines beforehand. This is where character hooks come in. Character Hooks It may be that your character travels a lot and just happen to be around where other characters are, but you can only rely on happenstance for so long before it begins to wear thin. A âhookâ is something that other characters or plotlines can latch onto so that yours has a reason to be there and interact. It can help to look at the setting, characters, and plot lines going on to generate hooks, but itâs always possible to come up with things interesting in their own right. Is your character a Bastokan? Perhaps they served in the military for a while, if so itâs possible they were in training together with another Bastokan current or ex military character, shared a post at some point, or simply have many similar experiences to share. If theyâre more civic minded, they may have been a page to a senator and know about some governmental inner workings if another character would be interested in such things. Alternately, they may have points of interest in their own right. Perhaps they are an extremely philosophical sort with well-developed and thought-through views of justice and morality and never turn down a good jawing session. They may be an accomplished weapon smith with an intimate working knowledge of blades, their history, and their usage. Maybe theyâre simply loud-mouthed and looking for an audience. Other possibilities include membership in guilds, shared interests, pre-arranged relationships with other characters (family, old friend, etc) or prominent NPCs. You may wish to be a little careful when tying your character to NPCs as you may not know everything relevant to that NPC, but if in doubt there is likely someone who can clear matters up for you. This is far from a comprehensive list. If you have a better idea than what you see here, be creative! Never be afraid to approach other people and ask what might make good hooks if youâd like to get involved in plots or with other characters. Generally speaking, people like to role play and they love other role players to be interested in their characters and their plots; itâs nearly guaranteed theyâll be willing to help or point you to someone who can if you ask. Joining RP Sessions Is a session already going? Interested in joining? Ask! It may be closed, if it is donât be discouraged. Ask if it will be open soon, or if people involved in the closed RP would want to RP with you later. If itâs open, it can help to spend a few moments planning how to approach it before diving right in. Look at whatâs going on. Where is it taking place? Who is involved? What time is it? Once you have general information on whatâs going on, piece together why your character would be there and what they would be doing. Itâs always awkward to be asked âWhat brings you here?â only to realize your character has absolutely no reason to be there. It may be as easy as getting on the pearl ICly and saying âHey, anyone around?â if you know that your character would be invited along. Or, it may take a little more thought to get your character where the RP is happening for their own reasons. Donât let indecision paralyze you â If you canât come up with something and those involved in the RP donât mind you joining, go ahead and ask them for ideas. Potential Pitfalls Unique is good. Be unique. However, keep in mind that this is an MMORPG. Nobody gets to be any more âspecialâ than anyone else. Things that go against the world setting and things that are flat out improbable usually arenât legitimate points of interest for your character. Being able to psychically create and control flame doesnât make a lot of sense in VanaâDiel â Nobody else has pyrokinesis, they have to cast a Fire spell. Being four hundred years old due to arcane sorceries is pretty iffy also. Try to stick with the normal complement of traits and history your average, mortal adventurer could have. Stretching believability can be a double edged sword; not only does it make fitting your character into whatâs going on harder, but it can make other people hesitant to role play with you as they try to sort out how to have their character should react to things that donât fit in VanaâDiel. This rule, as all others, isnât iron-clad but it is a pretty good idea to stick close to plausibility.

I've been kind of avoiding this thread until now. Since opinions can vary so much, I thought throwing one more in would only further muddy things, and towards that end I'm still going to withhold my thoughts on the matter. However, I will say this: This thread has hit four pages now, and the debate's still going. I think in this situation, less is more. The more that is said, the more there is to disagree with and argue over shades of meaning. Anyone who'd ask "What is RP?" is probably not an RPer and would likely be intimidated if they get clubbed over the head with the full array of subtle nuances and shades of grey first thing. All that stuff should probably go into a "How to RP" or "Types of RP/RPers" section. Think of your target audience: Someone who doesn't know what RP is and is curious enough to ask. Don't frighten them off with a textbook. Keep it general, keep it relevant, and keep it brief.

http://www.youtube.com/v/Cf2a9FV5CJQ http://www.youtube.com/v/MtOX_O_NKHY

I'm not sure if it's "best ever" as I have a metric ton I'd have to wade through and judge, but I always did find this one amusing. A somewhat... Shall we say overzealous Warrior's 2hr macro. (Vicious was a Lakshmi HNM LS notorious for its botting and Regalis is the LS punching bag.)

art [ahrt] ânoun 1. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. "What is art?" and "But is it art?" are two questions that have plagued society for years. Even the above definition, straight from the pages of the dictionary, is going to find disagreement 'cause let's face it - some art is absolutely hideous stuff. When you take into account that tastes vary, the problem only compounds. Honestly, in my view, when it comes right down to it... You can't define 'art'. Everyone's going to disagree on precisely what it is and what it means. In the end, if someone says it's art... It is. It may sound like a cop-out but believe me, I've heard endless debates on the subject and nobody agrees.

This fits in nicely with the Journals section, could just call it a Character Fiction section or Journals/Stories, but I've always been fond of writing stories about my characters' downtime thoughts and exploits, or simply what's going on out of sight during plot arcs. I like the idea of a character journal but most of the characters I RP simply wouldn't keep one.

Should be 6 Lakshmites about now, probably will be another soon. Talked to several more ex RPers but the predominant attitude I heard was "Not interested in being part of the launch crew but I might join later, I'll look you guys up when and if I do." You may be right about the forum thing though, CPM's forum was never terribly active. We use it for rules and guidelines, character profiles, stories written about our characters, in-character news posts, plot discussion and planning... But never actually RPing. All RP is in linkshell or in person. As such, if we aren't in the middle of a plot arc or our writers aren't feeling the muse, our forums lay dormant for weeks at a time. Some of our members never even bothered to check them. That being said, pushing is good. People won't move if you don't give them a nudge much of the time. Just don't stress if they won't move, or the entire thing stops being the fun it was intended to be and the self-imposed pressure can ruin your day. I've experienced firsthand the self-imposed pressures of leadership making me irritable as all hell and it's no good for anyone involved. Prod but don't shove, keep at it, and we'll see where we are when things get rolling.

RL Name: I tend not to share this as it tempts people to use its shortening, which I find flippant. No, it's not Richard. :-P RL Age: 25 Country: USA Timezone: CST RL Sex: Male Why do you like to RP? A variety of reasons. It provides me a window through which to explore a foreign psychology and to explore someone else's views first-hand. It gives me an opportunity to see how someone might think if dragons walked and magic was a gesture away. It lets me create a story one line at a time and see it come to life thanks to those around me. It's also a damn fine way to kill an afternoon with some good friends. If I had to sum it up? It's fun. RP Preferences: What sort of things do you like to RP? I'm a fan of serious discussions, character development, philosophy, theology, and the like. It's just really interesting to me to delve into how someone in a fantasy realm views their world. I like good action but prefer to avoid PvP, it just has too much potential to get sticky and dramatastic fast. I'll go for it if I know and trust the other player, but I like to steer clear with people I don't know too well. Most of all I enjoy well planned, deliberately paced plots that demand a bit of thought and problem-solving from its participants (even if said problem-solving is administered via great axe). I'm all for random whatever-goes one shot RPs as well though. Open-door drinking competition at the local pub? Impromptu chocobo race? Count me in. Are you willing to RP a fight scene in game? Yes, but I get leery of PvP sometimes. See above. What is your preferred method of combat? (/randoming, skill based, etc) Usually I just discuss OOCly with the other person what a likely outcome would be based on character strengths and abilities, sort out if there's anything specific we want to work in or try, how that might work out, then random if there are any iffy spots. I guess sort of a combination of both. Are you willing to take major injuries in game? (ie limb loss) Yes, if it adds to the plot and to character development. It would have to be discussed beforehand and I reserve the right to decline if I think it's pointless or doesn't add punch to the story. Are you willing to let your character die permanently? Only if I'm done with them. It's a real bear to make a secondary character in an MMO when you're "locked" into your main character's name, and RP mules can be bothersome. Are you willing to RP romance in game? (ie Level of romance willing to go) Sure. So long as it develops naturally and makes sense, anything goes - but I draw the line at cybering. When things start getting heated, it's fade-to-black time. Time skips are also favored to fast-forward awkward situations like make-out scenes. How far away from the basic lore are you willing to go? Very situational. Generally speaking, not very. If effort is put into integrating the idea into established worldsetting and it adds a very interesting angle to a character or plot, I'll roll with it. But if someone makes a character that's a winged furry from another dimension just because it seemed like fun... I may be close-minded but I'm not okay with that. It has to be able to fit in with established game 'canon' for me to be comfortable with it. Exploration and recombination is great, contradiction is not. If there isn't even a HINT of it anywhere in the game lore, I get iffy about throwing it in without solid justifications. Are you looking for Cross-guild Rp? I'm on these forums, aren't I? How do you prefer to be contacted? (PM or post in this thread) Any way that works, really. I'm not picky.

I shall worship Jeff, god of biscuits! Failing that: Ted, god of hairdos. His nemesis is Phil, god of running, jumping, and climbing trees. Sorry. I saw the reference and I had to go for it. EDIT: Sorry, you're all going to hate me for this, but after brief discussion with friends I have resolved to make a comic relief mule who is a filthy, raving old nutter who spends his days ranting about the buttermilk divinity of Jeff, god of biscuits.

FFXI religion was deceptively varied, really. Granted nearly everyone worshiped Altana, but each nation had a rather unique take. The San d'Orian Cathedral was sort of Roman Catholic Church and the 'standard' but there were hints of interesting doctrinal differences between that and the Church of Tavnazia. Then we had Bastok, which was sort of post-religious. The only nod they had to religion was a small forgotten shrine with a cracked and peeling statue. Windurst had an odd take in that they seemed to believe that the Sibyl was an avatar of the Goddess and the medium through which the prayers of the people were conveyed to the stars in the heavens. In a sense, they almost worshiped the moon and stars more than the Goddess. Then we had the Mithra, who worshiped the spirit of the land... Whether they equated Altana with the land was entirely debatable. Then of course we had the divine serpents in the East and the Walahran philosophy but they never really got into that. There are the barest hints of other gods, most notably in the Memoria de la S'tona, but keep in mind that to the Eastern mindset, 'god' means something fairly different. All of the avatars, terrestrial and celestial, are "gods" in the Eastern sense. I don't really think FFXI suffered from a lack of variety on the religion front, but we only really got any in-depth information on the San d'Orian and Tavnazian church beliefs due to the Chains of Promathia plot. I'm hoping there will be a lot more religious lore in this setting, and the idea of polytheism interests me greatly. I've only ever had the chance to RP a polytheistic character once, in a tabletop chronicle, and it was a fairly interesting experience. He was technically a warrior-priest of the greatest of the gods, but encouraged people to pay reverences to all of them. It sparked an interesting in-character discussion or two.

In-game religion has always interested me. My primary FFXI char grew up as an acolyte within the San d'Orian Temple since his mother was very firmly religious and was, for most of his career, quite religious himself, albeit a bit forward-thinking about it. Seeing his views subtly change as his character progressed, especially in the light of the Chains of Promathia plotline, was one of the more fun aspects about him. I wouldn't mind brewing up some extra lore for the world religion, but that's stuff that has to be done a bit carefully. I didn't really approach that full-blown until post-CoP when I could be confident I really knew what was going on with things. A friend and I managed a sort of latent plot arc that ran in the background of other happenings for a while with the rediscovery of an old denomination of the Church of San d'Oria whose teachings had been largely lost when La Vaule fell to the Orcs. A bit of theological debate sprang up between the Church of Tavnazia and the two denominations of the Church of San d'Oria, which we labeled the Order of Dawn and the Children of Blessed Light. Some of our more philosophical chars indulged in it briefly and it added a fun extra depth to our in-house setting. All this ramble to say that I'm ready and willing provided we don't go ripping off sheafs of 'sacred text' that we might have to retcon later. Religion and philosophy of altverses are always fun to ponder.

I dunno, part of why I loved CoP was the difficulty. When you cleared it, you felt like you'd really accomplished something. Now, granted, it was a bit TOO hard... (I'm looking at you, Diabolos and O/U!) But the recent tweaks sort of killed it, in my opinion. I help friends with CoP now and am left standing there going "...that's IT?" SE's notion of difficulty seems to be "WAY TOO HARD > oh crap patch it > PRETTY DAMN HARD BUT DOABLE > wait a long time... ah screw it > EASY MODE" But yes, agreed, SE has some funny ideas about ease of attainment. Case in point: Salvage.

I've always been a fan of The Ghost and the Darkness, as well as Road to Perdition.

I smell a thread split coming down the pike, but we'll take it as it comes. I've managed to help "canonize" for lack of a better term some moderately out-there stuff in my own RP community so I have at least a little bit of experience with this sort of thing. Typically, my approach is to look at all instances of game lore and see if it matches up - to use your example of necromancer, we have a few things going for the idea. For one, undead are definite, real things in the setting (though most of them seem to be incidental and not purposely created). We have the Fomor/Shadows/etc who seem to be at least moderately more 'rational' undead, some of which were unwittingly created in the cataclysm that sheared Tavnazia from the Quon continent. The pirates of Norg tend to call the dead in their attacks on ships at sea. The Lamiae make undead servitors of varying types. There is a necromancer living in the Phomiuna Aqueducts who, IIRC, attempted to imbue a mannequin with the soul of his dead wife in an obscure line of quests. And last but not least, in the Dancer history writeup, it is revealed that plague victim corpses were animated by necromantic magic and caused to dance during the Bastokan Blight in a procession known as the Totentanz. Taken all together, it looks like necromancy holds water. If someone wanted to make a necromancer char, I'd definitely be wary and want to know how they planned to put it all together and make it work, but so long as they didn't stray too far from the points listed above and it all fit, it does seem feasible. To be honest I'd sort of rather they simply stuck with more regular occupations, but if they were really set on it, I couldn't in good conscience tell them no. Now, if they want to go raising armies of the dead to besiege Jeuno... We're going to have to have a talk about this. In the end it's not just feasibility but how gracefully the player carries the concept. I add the disclaimer that this is simply how Canta Per Me has traditionally handled things, and that practices & standards will vary from group to group.

If people say the lore restricts their character, I instantly and automatically get nervous. Lore is there to provide a background, a foundation, a set of ideas, concepts, and plot hooks that if anything should let you do more with your character. Total inability to work within the bounds of the lore and instead brewing up some secret order of assassins that turns all the wheels of the world behind the scenes just so your character can be awesome, to me, speaks of a lack of creativity and unwillingness to work with what one's given - which is the same thing everyone is given, and for a reason. It sets standards and makes sure we're all on the same page so we can RP without stopping to go "Wait- what?" That being said, creativity is important as long as it doesn't contradict the established lore or add a bunch of stuff that doesn't make sense. Castiel's example is fairly apt - You want to make a glassblower but there's no glassblowing synthesis skill? OK, whatever, just go for it. Just because there's no Entertainer/Bard/Storyteller/etc class doesn't mean your character can't be a wandering talespinner who earns his living by the mundane enchantments of epic yarns. Unless there's a rigidly defined Bard class, nobody's saying a bard can't also be a swordsman or a spellslinger. And if there is - well, who says your character has to be a Bard? Maybe they're a swordsman with a gift for telling tales and just don't benefit from whatever jobclass bonuses Bards get for doing the same. As for the "difficult to AFK" stuff... Unless you're RPing a mission or quest that involves in-game fighting, I've never had any problem with saying "BRB guys, need a drink" or suchlike. Or heck, on rare occasions even "Gotta go pick someone up, can we put this on hold until tomorrow? I'll screenshot the log."

I'm probably just fantasizing for even HOPING for something like this, but Age of Anarchy's roleplaying community had a brilliant solution. Chatbots were 100% allowed in that game so long as ALL they did was relay text, so the leader of the largest RP organization set up a number of chatbots on free accounts whose sole purpose was to monitor their organization (linkshell/guild equivalent) channel and relay it to all the other affiliated RP orgs. Each org had their own chatbot and would preface what they relayed with an ID tag saying which org it came from, if not their own. Via specific prefaces, you could talk to only your own org, or to every org on the network. It was fantastic and worked great since each organization in our faction was, ICly, a different bureau or department of a megacorporation. There were also chatrooms that were independant of party status or zone. Anyone from anywhere could hop in if they knew the room's name, if it wasn't password protected. So, there was an open access roleplayer's comm channel that nearly always had someone at least lurking. It's way too much to hope for and would be difficult to explain in a "low tech" fantasy setting, but man... I miss having such easy, wide-ranging access to RPers at my fingertips. Oh, was I supposed to say something practical? I am so not internet savvy, but how about this: Some form of organization-specific IM chatroom / IRC channel / etc that persists out-of-game and is open access to anyone who is a member ICly. We could have the Rogue's Guild IRC channel, the Knight Protectors AIM chatroom, the Merchant Symposium Skype chat, the College of Magical Studies Ventrilo server, etcetera. I recognize this isn't universally practical as not all of us will have access to a PC while we're playing, but it is something to consider. In addition to that, we could always have an IC Organizations section of this forum, where each organization can maintain its own sub-forum in a nice, non-LS specific centralized locale.

Seems a fine idea to me so long as nobody tries to make it OFFICIAL or worm it around to put a corner on game lore or history that might 'lock out' other people. ("That mysterious fire in Whatsit City in the Year of the Badger that's mentioned in the game intro? Totally our guys!" sort of thing.) Sounds like a fun way to add depth, character ties, and background provided nobody tries to make it any more than a 100% in-character association tool. It'd be a good vehicle to get plots going, or to bring more people into a story in progress as well as give characters common grounds and interests. Though my character concept is loose at present, I could totally see him being part of some sort of cartographer's or explorer's guild.

I'd sort of prefer to avoid #2. IC and OOC goals/ideas/personalities do not always align. What if someone is an extremely active member of the RPC community, but RPs a half-crazed hermit with a deep-seated mistrust for civilization in general? To maintain the integrity of their character, they'd be forced to ICly 'opt out' of the RPC, even though OOCly they are one of the major players. Alternatively, what if their character is simply of the type of personality that they have no interest whatsoever in the IC incarnation of the RPC? How accepting or open the membership to the IC RPC is would be irrelevant in those situations. To me, there isn't really any good way to make the IC and OOC match up without forcing the IC incarnation of the RPC to be such an all-pervading fundamental of the setting that "membership" is not an option. And that's sure to make people chafe. While I really do like the idea of large-scale player-run organizations, I think the ideas in the Cross-Guild Organizations thread are a better model for things than trying to force an IC fit to an OOC reality that may prove akward. A large-scale open-membership multipurpose loose adventurer's coalition would be pretty cool, honestly. Someone could toss up a framework, model it after the RPC, accept input, and make sure as many people as possible are cool with it so it actually WILL be large in-game, maybe even having most of the RPC's characters as members. But trying to make the RPC itself as-is into an IC organization is sort of like saying "Who here plays guitar? Alright, cool, let's make an IC band!" Well... what if your character doesn't?

I dunno, I like it the way it is. It does say "only when absolutely necessary", and the aim of the RPC is to maintain peaceful and amicable relations. If we have two guilds in a public grudge match, that's going to affect all of us within the community as well as make us look bad to those outside the community. If neither side is willing to back down or talk, I really do think it's perfectly within the reasonable bounds of the RPC to say "Look, it's time to do something here."

I don't think anyone here is trying to stifle spontaneity. I'm sure anyone who's been RPing for a while has stories about fantastic RP sessions cropping up out of nowhere with no planning beforehand. Some of my most memorable RPs started with "I'm bored. RP in ____! Who's in?" Neither am I advocating a set-in-stone system of mechanics for handling combat or other character interactions. That stuff works great for tabletop gaming but it quickly becomes cumbersome and distracting in an MMO. What I'm saying is, not everyone who roleplays is mature. I'm not indicting anyone here, in fact thus far I've been pleasantly surprised by how well-spoken everyone has been. Just think, out of all the people you've RP'd with, has every one been cordial, polite, considerate, and willing to compromise? If you answered "yes", please tell me what server you're on so I can switch there ASAP. Character conflicts will inevitably arise. This is good, healthy, and makes for great RP as long so the players don't get in the way. Everyone getting along all the time can get boring; we aren't RPing Utopia. This isn't just about combat either, this is games of Chess, pickpocketing attempts, playfully snatching hats off each other's heads, and the like. Most of the time, people are going to be cool with whatever and there won't even be any question on how to resolve things. But, sometimes there will be. What happens when the punches start flying and both players think their character should win? Usually drama. I think it'd be a pretty good idea not to have "combat rules" but "conflict resolution guidelines". Nothing hard and fast or overly structured, just some clear methods by which people can work out differences in opinion and agree to be bound by the solution thus obtained. Remember that ultimately, we're co-authoring a story. Not playing to win. The chief reason this is a concern to me is because in the past, I've forced my characters to avoid conflicts they would have otherwise leapt straight into for the purely OOC reason that I knew it would be a pain to settle with those involved. In essence, I was not allowed to truly play my character due to poor conflict resolution guidelines. There's not an awful lot that can be done about it, but I'd like to see what little can be done, be done.

Bear with me as I try to convert hastily jotted notes into actually fluent English, and forgive any terseness due to this fact! Also, TEXT AVALANCHE. Structure 1-2 representatives from each sounds great. I'd suggest an RPC council with a private section of the boards only they can see to discuss problems, and potentially have a monthly meeting to keep everyone updated on what's going on to keep problems smoothed and the cross-guild RP flowing. Real authority would for the most part be deferred to the actual guild leaders, who may or may not be the actual guild representatives, but in the (should be) very rare event that the council has to make a mandate, it would carry the weight of the support of all guilds of the coalition, via their representatives. Too much stuff from On High will make the RPC seem restrictive, and people will begin to chafe and resent the perceived control. Leave as much as possible up to the leaders and members of the community and step in only when it's necessary... Not even every time it's requested, necessarily. Some will try to hide behind higher authority rather than resolve problems themselves. Neutrality and Authority Essentially, to my mind, the RPC should exert its authority as little as possible. It should be a last-resort thing to head off trouble, not a set of guidelines all must follow. When problems arise (and they will, believe me, the two most drama-prone groups in MMOs are end-gamers and RPers), the guild leader(s) of the person/people in question ought to be expected to take care of things. If they cannot, THEN they can appeal to the RPC council, or the RPC council can ask them to step up resolution then step in if the leaders can't/won't handle it. As for slander against the RPC as a whole... It's too broad a subject with too many nuances to make hard-and-fast rules. Let the RPC council discuss them as they come up and attempt to reach as peaceful and drama-free a solution as possible. RPC Standards PvP conflict is always INCREDIBLY sticky stuff. I generally try to avoid it even if it's a bit OOC to do so for my character because with no clear rules in place and the fact that you simply can't kill another character no matter what, it just turns into a mess of trying to get in a good fight without stepping on anyone's toes. It's fairly common for people to get so personally invested in their characters that they OOCly get hurt/offended when their char gets kicked around. I strongly support drafting up some RPC-standard conflict resolution guidelines. I don't necessarily think they ought to be enforced as a first solution, they ought to be something to fall back upon if the involved parties can't reach a resolution within their own guild's in-house policies so we don't have to go pussyfooting around and shy from character conflicts for fear of offense. In the same vein, standards/etiquette/guidelines/etc for the RPC isn't a half bad idea, but try to keep them simple and general. Two complete delineated rulesets, both individual guilds and then the RPC will make heads spin. We're here to have fun, not be lawyers. I've seen some ideas expressed that I think work pretty well: Event organizer's event, event organizer's rules. If a conflict flares up and they just can't work it out, there are RPC guidelines to fall back upon, but this should be a last resort. Again, too much micromanagement will make people chafe. The Public RPers can seem pretty insular to the community at large simply due to the fact we have our own thing and our own plots going that are OURS, and nobody has a clue what it is we're standing around prattling about in the town square (though CPM tries to avoid RPing in busy areas out of courtesy to non-RPers). Sometimes passersby will try to interact with RPers, not realizing what's going on, and often RPers will ignore them because, let's face it, it's hard to RP with someone who isn't RPing. They use concepts and game terms that don't translate well. The non-RPer walks off thinking RPers are cliquish jerks who blow people off. CPM's general policy has been to just... Respond ICly to anything random people interject. People tend to either get confused and wander off, or join right in. Win/win. Greifers tend to give up in disgust as RPers refuse to take them seriously, though I have in the past successfully GM'd insistent and crude griefers and gotten them temp-banned. Basically what we in CPM have found is that the best policy is open-door. If someone stumbles into an RP and starts talking, RP with them. If they get confused, explain what's going on in OOC /tells. Above all remain friendly and welcoming. It's served us well as some drama erupted over the griefer I got temp-banned on the Alla board and many people in the larger OOC community told him that CPM was a bit weird, yet nothing but cordial and if he got his ass banned then he must have deserved it.