Zhavi

Ahoyyyyy, lovelies. So, as part of the Winner Takes All thread with Osric in the IC forums here, we've reached a point where The Job is gonna happen. And, we decided it might be cool to open it up to see if anyone was interested in playing along with it. Pretty much, Zhi's Team will involve two other people -- someone good at playing parts (though this one is open to change, if needed), and someone good at being sneaky and breaking into things. The Other Guys can be either those who belong to the Maelstrom who don't take kindly to people breaking in and stuff, or hapless bystanders. Or something. I dunno. Due to forum rp being a mite slower than in game rp and other stuff, we needed to figure out what happens ahead of time, so Zhi & cohorts will be getting away with the goods (also Osric is bankrolling this* so yay payday!) -- but that doesn't mean there can't be longterm consequences or unforeseen circumstances that arise out of it. I like plot twists. Aaaanywho, I'm going to do up a post where Zhi heads to the meeting spot to start the job (necessary details can be hashed out ooc through pms). I'm gonna wait a week after that before starting in on the job itself. If no one has responded, I'll be npcing her cohorts, though people would still be free to jump in if they wanted for whatever else. Feel free to use npcs or your actual characters, don't matter to me! I'd be super happy from people jumping in no matter what they play as. (do note though, this is more sneaky then bloody -- the goal is to get in and out without incurring bad blood). *with rp monies

"Where don't matter none, but I thought ye should -- oh! I think I mighta done it, Master Lolotaru! Look, here, this'n --" she reached out, impulsively, and stuck her finger into the pages, flipping it open so she could set it to the right page. Her cheeks were flushed. "That un, there." She put her finger right above the marking, and stared at it like it held salvation.

Zhavi caught the bag out of the air. She made him wait while she counted the coin, and then a little longer as she divided it up and secreted it away. Even secured purses could give a telling jingle, and as quick as she needed to move, she'd long ago ceased carrying purses once she was on. Her grin had remained in place as he'd talked: she'd chosen cocky for her armor, and she wore it with no small amount of practice. "Find Yayabuko. Tell 'im t'get me a picker an' a trouper -- he'll know where t'send 'em. Then y'might wanna pay 'im fer his trouble and his silence, since ye tapped him in yer game." She made to move, body arcing outwards as she prepared to finish her climb to the roof, but stopped. "I ain't gonna ask who ye are. Most time I don't care. But ye come sniffin' 'round me grounds an' steppin' on me tail again, won't be me floatin' facedown in th'docks. Aye, we're square, Clodhopper." Her body was taut, held in limbo as she kept herself secure against the sill and the wall. Grin still present, she stared down at him -- bold as you please.

Heeeey, welcome to the RPC! If your character is in need of a drinking buddy and likes awful bars and dives, mebbe she can run into Zhi some time! My skin is sad that yours is allergic to aloe vera. I have eczema something awful, and aloe vera is one of the few things it always loves. D:

Zhi pulled on cheer with some effort and bounded to her feet. "Fair winds Master Lolotaru! I was wondrin' if we might jes find a place t'meet that weren't all underfoot like this'n is, on accountin' I keep getting all these looks, an' I don't want t'get chased -- an' I think I did it this time here look!" The words came out in a rushed jumble. Her eyes were big, her smile barely contained. She sank back into a crouch to hold out the notebook to Lalataru, ears back and tail curling up under her threadbare jacket. But she wasn't looking him in the eyes. Not for long, anyways.

Once during November during NaNoWriMo I stumbled upon a thread in the fantasy forums where author Rachel Aaron had decided to do a sort of AMA. One of the posts was in regards to struggling to write. She said that for her, whenever she is struggling to write something it is because it just wasn't working. At that point in time, continuing to write was pointless, because first she needed to take a nice big step back from the writing and look at it, objectively, to figure out what had gone wrong and where. RP is not the same as writing a novel. But, it is writing, and part of it is the development and actions of the character. True, while we're all in character we don't have the luxury of do-overs. There is no editing once you submit the line, or paragraph, or short story -- it's done, it's out there. But, I think even given that, we all have the opportunity to reflect upon what we did submit and figure out what felt off with that. I think that this is what you need to do now. A character (and people) are more than just the sum of their parts. You can, for instance, read a biography about a person and read interviews they gave and all of that and still not understand them; people sometimes do strange things that go counter to everything they've done prior to that moment. It's a constantly evolving thing that is a matter of circumstance, emotion, and interaction. And in that vein, don't feel bad for not getting him! When a person creates a character, you are creating a whole other person. From scratch! I don't care how many authors or writers or rpers there are in the world, and how many fictional characters: that's a Big Deal, and it ain't always easy! Nor should it be, in my humble opinion. Creating a believable and sympathetic character does take some work and thought. So how are you gonna get around him feeling wooden? I can't give you the magical fix, but I can offer suggestions. For some people it's a matter of filling out questionnaires. For others, it's a matter of taking various personality tests with their character in mind. Sometimes it's doing up lists of likes and dislikes. Sometimes it's all in the history. Sometimes it's just picking a few personality traits and letting the rp figure out the details. Most people have a hard time getting into the skin of new characters, so sometimes it's a matter of continuing to rp. Me, personally, I like to write out the history and incorporate character strengths and weaknesses (be they physical or mental) into it: for example, Zhi committed to being a criminal because of the time she spent with Galine, and because of the situation she grew up in and the lack of a strong mother or father figure. On the other hand, she wound up in Galine's clutches because she is a stubborn brat who doesn't think things through. She's a stubborn brat who doesn't think things through because she resented her mother's occupation as a whore and the fact that her mother was not able to spend much time with her. She joined the gang because of that feeling of lack of acceptance and affirmation. She left the gang because it was not a replacement for a mother, and the budding paranoia it instilled in her lead to her making bad choices. So, keep trying. That's the most important part. As for feeling like your scenes are boring or not interesting to others -- man, that's a writer thing. It doesn't matter how often someone compliments me, or how many people write with me, or even whether or not I impress someone with my writing: I am in constant fear that you know, the next post or line that I write is bad, and therefore all the compliments that came before it were out of pity or I somehow fooled the person into thinking that my writing is likable. While that sort of thinking can lead to effort and not letting down your guard, you also have to not let it dictate how you write and how you feel about your writing. Separate it out from how you feel about your character and what problems you are having with him, because in the end whether or not someone enjoys your posts is different from the struggle itself. They might be related, true, but it is not the same thing. (and, for what it's worth, I've enjoyed the snippets I've read here and there of Rurutani) So, now is the time to take a step back and evaluate your character. Understand that some characters you will never wholly empathize with due to them being just that different from you (I have several who I understand from a remote perspective, but do not emotionally understand -- take Zhi, for example: the idea of stealing or conning someone is abhorrent to me. I can understand why someone would be driven to behave in that manner, and I have fun exploring a character who has so few morals, but it is not something I can empathize with). Could be that's your problem with Ruru, or it could just be that you need to delve a little deeper into who he is as a person and what drives him -- you could try to point to moments in his past (be it recent or distant) that move him forward, and explore how they continue to emotionally/physically affect him. I hope I was able to help even a tiny bit. For what it's worth, I'm rooting for you! Keep trying, take a step back, and try not to let your emotional dismay get in the way of evaluating your character. If you do decide that it's just not working and you're not having fun, try out an alt first. Sometimes you just reach a wall with a character and need some time to let things settle in your head so you can get past it.

Of all the times to be broooke. ;_; Thanks for the heads up, this is definitely cool stuff. His artwork reminds me of oldschool fantasy book cover artists (ohhh man, I would sell body parts if Michael Whelan ever did something like this), and I love that aesthetic.

You embrace those puns! That way I won't feel so bad when I groan at you for them. Welcome to the RPC! If your character has had a rough past, mebbe she (or he) could have had run ins with mine in the past (mine being a snippy little shit of a 19 year old who has wholeheartedly embraced her crooked upbringing and future as a small time -- for now -- criminal), assuming yours has been in and around Limsa Lominsa. And yeah, everyone is helpful here, I have yet to see someone be anything less than polite to those with questions. Keyboards and RP: RP means typing, as I'm sure you're well aware. I've seen people be pretty fast with the ps3's ui keyboard thingy, so I think that's up to you. Most mmo rp tends to be relatively quick (or, I dunno, it always has been in my experience), so I would recommend the keyboard. But who knows! I'm sure there's people out there who are capable of doing the letter at a time thing for rp. Lore: Keep the wiki handy for quick references, and play the game. Seriously, I keep having to google things all over the place (I played beta for 1.0, held off on purchasing after reviews of the final version came out, just picked up 2.0 like. . .a month ago?). If it comes to a point where the rp is fast and you don't have the time to google, just be vague. Also you can let your rp partners know ahead of time that you're still learning the lore and to please let you know if you stumble. I sincerely doubt someone will rip your head off about it. If they do, well, you can always choose not to rp with them. Story: I don't know if this will help you, but as an example I'm totally divorcing my character from the in game story. So, pretty much, when I'm questing or leveling it's totally out of character. That aside, the biggest problem with incorporating quests is that some of them paint your character as The One, which can make it difficult to blend in, so to speak. However, I do believe there are people who have taken the main storyline and have built it into their rp (there's a fc I think that uses it), so it's definitely possible! What I say is just experiment. Ask questions, consider how quests are phrased and how you might include them without it becoming a matter of "my character killed Ifrit!" You know. What now?: After character creation you have options. 1)be in character while questing, which might be a little difficult while you're getting to know the lore. 2) consider the quests ooc. 3) go ic and ooc depending on what you want at the time. Speaking from a strictly rp-divorced-from-story standpoint, I'll tell you what I tell everyone: use the wiki and these forums as a way to see other characters. If you see a character you like in the wiki or in game, message the player. Introduce yourself. Tell them you liked their character (details nice, but optional), and ask if they'd like to rp (either at that moment or at a later time; sometimes it's easier to set up a time). Talking to people OOC is probably the best way you have to find and establish rp partners who will hopefully be with you for the long haul. Linkshell: It's a strictly communication-style device that allows you to talk to a specific group of people anywhere and any time without having to commit to a FC (free company, guild, you know). It's handy for organization. Some are used IC, some are used OOC, some have a mix of both. Happy rping to you, and I hope to see you in game! (balmung! balmung! balmung!) One last thing: people have reported that there's a lot of times when the servers will be closed to new character creation. These are always temporary. People have said that AM server time is the best time to join either server (though Gilgamesh seems to be open more frequently than Balmung), so always try at off-peak hours for the servers when trying to join.

So, kind of a parallel -- I was doing research for an English paper on Ursula K. Le Guin, and I stumbled across letters that had been published between Le Guin and Allison Sheldon. Sheldon posed as a man named James Tiptree Jr. for the majority of their correspondence. A fan figured out who Sheldon was, which prompted her confession to Le Guin at the end of the published correspondence. Some of what Le Guin said in her followup letter to the confession was, I thought, much apropos to this discussion: Which mirrors much how I feel about rp, myself, and the gender of the players -- so long as it is played well, screw the haters, yo. (The correspondence itself is a hoot to read, if anyone is interested it was published under the title "Dear Starbear: Letters between Ursula K. Le Guin and James Tiptree Jr." and edited by Julie Phillips)

"Ye don't do anythin' fer me," Zhi muttered as he talked. "Have t'twist yer arm, I do." Still, his capitulation was well enough received, and she backed a few steps away from him with a wary, pinched expression. She scratched between her ears, pulled free a small fin, and dropped it to the side. "It was in th'barrel, remember? Ye took the fish, I took the gil -- after we got th'barrel in past th'Gate an' th'goods t'the right place." Her voice had lowered in volume considerably: a disappointment to any lingering gossips, and a relief to those settling in to sleep, no doubt. They had been the in-betweens, sandwiched between one set of clients and the other, final group who had set the caper up to begin with. One side knew that the fish, and the goods, were smeared across the harbor, mashed into a fine paste by dozens of angry feet. It seemed an impossible task, thinking about it. All from some simple, lucrative job that shouldn't have taken more than a bell to complete! She groaned. Wrong sort of people to piss off. "Could make any number o'things, but I don't have a feckin' clue what they was smugglin'. Don't get paid t'ask questions, better t'not know." Her eyes narrowed. "Why, d'ye know? Wait. Mebbe -- it's a four-way job, right? Th'merchants what shipped it ain't know they're movin' black goods. We could jes, y'know, use some weights or summat. Whatever they was, have t'be small enough t'fit down a herring's gullet. Ain't our fault if th'packers split on th'deal, right?" Of course, there was the problem of news of the mob and the upended fish barrel reaching their employer, but . . .Zhi could talk them out of that. Probably.

People never learned to look up. That was the reason that Zhi had focused on her climbing ability when she was younger, the reason why she engaged in it daily. She crouched in a narrow window sill, back to the dilapidated shutters that had been pulled shut and, to her knowledge, hid from view either an abandoned home or a squatter's current residence. She looked down on the man and grinned. It wasn't for whatever emotional vicissitude she felt, but rather a need to expel the anxiety and adrenaline that'd followed her all the way from Scuttlebutt. She probably looked an ugly form of deranged, but no matter. Zhi'd never bothered with pretty. That was something only doxies needed to worry over, and she sure as shit wasn't a doxy. She considered her options. There were things she wanted to know, aye, but there were consequences for stepping outside the acknowledged parameters of the game. She wasn't so hot about facing those consequences, not even with the Skites like as not to come breathing down her neck, and Galine -- aie, Galine. The smile wavered, but not for long. This man wasn't one of Agha's. If he was, then standards had sure slipped something fierce since she'd been a member, and knowing Agha. . .that wasn't so likely. "A'right, Clodhopper, here's the rules. Ye'll pay me standard rates, plus an extra three hunnerd gil fer the shite yer drownin' me in." Even if she took his money, thanks to his public announcement she'd never be able to spend it in any way that mattered, not without leaving the city. As it was she was going to have to lay low for oh, the next forever, until people forgot or some other toy was dangled for their fancy. The Skites were like as not to hold a grudge for the next year or two, depended on how things played out. Zhi was not the hunted. If she was gonna earn her way, she'd do it the right way -- not looking over her shoulder for the next couple of years hoping no one found her secret stash of gil. "Ye pay me half up front. Ye ever approach me like that again, I'll find me own way t'get yer stain out o'the city. Ye get yerself off t'somewhere real quiet, and ye don't spit out a word t'anyone else until ye haul out o'here. Stupid as y'are, I don't want t'risk me hide on yer floppin' tongue. "An' ye'll tell me, now, what ye know about where th'paper's like t'be -- whatever word ye got, I'll take. Three days is tight, would be tight even fer a top player. After that, I'll meet ye three days from now aboard Her Highness. Ask th'fishin' guild where 'tis if ye don't know. If I don't meet ye, then consider me dead or in irons." She would ditch the job in its entirety, but she'd need the money for expenses. Fresh jobs from her usual squeezes were going to be slim for the next few months. Very slim.

Oh, eesh, I didn't actually know that. I errr. . .don't really pay much attention to what the developers say, overall. I just picked up the game a few months ago, too. Still! That's an interesting point and makes a lot of sense. If only I could be a fly on the wall. . . Even assuming this is a problem after Twinflame's post (his really does make a lot of sense to me, but then again I really know almost nothing about development), it maybe could be a matter of the content team being inefficient or slow to the point that they don't have enough of that extra stuff ready for the initial launch? In the games I've played it does seem like initially (for things added on after the release of the game) there will be a high barrier to entry that gradually gets reduced over time as the game ages and other stuff is added. It's kinda like the whole thing with Doublefine. You know, they asked for x amount of money, got more than they needed, decided to upgrade the game. Several months later they run out of money, eventually leading to them needing to split the game in two to help ensure that they could even finish the thing. Watching the pieces of the documentary (which I still need to finish) was certainly very interesting from that perspective, with all of their teams, where they spent their time (and how much time certain stages took) and costs and whatnot. As for the alts -- yeah, I couldn't tell you. I have absolutely no insight into what their internal goals are and where they're looking to make longterm profits. I just like to think that there must be a reason, because in times like these I would just prefer to be an ignorant optimist -- picking my battles of despairing of what looks like stupidity from an outside perspective, as it were.

You know, I have honestly never run into a player like the ones you specified in your first paragraph. So, fair enough! That'll teach me for making blanket assumptions about people based on my own limited experience, eh? Hee, as for your last paragraph I think an argument can be made that both men and women sometimes don't play opposite gender very well (hell, sometimes I cringe and wonder if I'm doing an okay job). Though, there was once a guy the whole (small-ish) community I was on thought was a woman for a whole year and a half because he played his female character just so freakin' well. When he finally corrected someone in a plot post for calling him 'she', there was an explosion of disbelief. We look back at it and laugh now, but man, he got so much respect from all of us after that! And apologies. Lots of apologies. Like you said, it really just boils down to the way the character is played/portrayed, eh?

I wonder if the reason they have that on there is to add specific end-game value to the game? I suppose they might look at it from a 'if new players are using this from level 10 onwards, they might be tired of it by the time they hit 50, and therefore will stop playing faster' perspective. Especially if they're still running the game with the preference that people not play alts, even if that means they're not getting a couple extra dollars per month.

While I have points I agree and disagree with on both sides of the fence here, this reminded me of something -- namely, beta for FFXIV 1.0. At the end of the beta I can remember people begging square to not let it go live as it was. There were tons of posts with well thought out complaints, listing alternatives, listing workarounds, giving examples as to why certain things wouldn't work well once it went live. The whole time there were people who told them that it wasn't bad, to not discuss what they didn't like, that they weren't being constructive. It was because of Square's responses (and, in some cases, total lack of response) to those posts that I held off from preordering the game. I wanted to see if they would change things once it went live. I held out hope that, you know, it was beta and things would change. Aaaaand it didn't. Reviews and commentary from friends proved to me that the core things that had made the game not as fun as I wanted (looking back I don't remember a whole lot. . .but I do remember the menu being really unnecessarily convoluted). So I didn't buy the game. I stayed way the hell away from it. There is a line between constructive and non-constructive posting, but pretty much . . .what's wrong with pointing out ways of doing things that you don't like? As long as it doesn't devolve into just saying 'this sucks, square sucks, the whole game sucks,' what's wrong with wanting to share your disappointment with something? I mean, yeah, when you're enthusiastic about something it's kind of a let down to see someone who is upset about it, but is unhappiness with something any less a legitimate feeling to have then happiness? I mean, if it's just a dislike of the way someone phrases something, then just say that. But nicely. Even unhappy people respond to politeness (case in point: everyone says there's major griefing in LoL, but 9 times out of 10 in my games it was diffuseable with humor or by just making the person feel like their opinion mattered). In any case, whether or not I'll be able to pay for housing isn't too make or break for me. In actuality, seeing if people will let me have Zhi infect their characters' homes with fleas or lice is becoming rather a pleasing prospect. Muahahahaha.

Mhm, and that's probably why I never could sustain stuff like that for very long -- it always feels like an obligation to me, and feeling like I'm obligated to do something in a video game every day or every few days eventually kills off all desire to even log in. Even not related to making money -- the dailies for Mists of Pandaria eventually aggravated me to the point that I burnt out on raiding. Granted, there was other stuff going on irl for me that contributed to the burnout, but I hated those dailies. Comparatively, I love farming and doing background administrative tasks, but I would do that because I liked helping my guild. I was never asked or felt obligated to prepare stuff for raids.

Nahh, no hate. I think the issue is just time investment, and where you're willing to spend your time. I've made decent amounts of money in various games over the years, but compared to people I know who always are rich compared to the average player, I've never been as willing to put in that time or get as skilled (though, I think most of the time it's just attention to detail and being aware of where the market will go). Especially with FFXIV, it's more that if I'm in game either I want to be casually leveling or rping at this point in time. I'm just not dedicated enough! But I always did admire people who put in the effort and are able to sustain the little daily necessities to make lots of money. And ehh, I play a poor character anyways, so unless they offer crappy looking housing it's probably better that she remains without a permanent home. (Though Sastra -- your offer of innrooms would probably be perfect for Zhi, so long as they're not too nice. I mean, she's like as not to get places infested with fleas or lice. Heh heh heh)

Sometimes I just get lost in Clover's screenshots.

I . . . um . . . . Looks like you're staying homeless, Zhi. (maybe eventually once I start rping more regularly she can just crash at a different place every night. Everyone needs one of those people in their lives, right?! The ones who just show up at your door with a piteous look, all of their belongings, and a 'can I stay with you?')

I tend to rp the same way -- it's why Zhi sucks at combat. She's spent her life focusing on staying fed and staying ahead; she hasn't had the time to train, much less find someone who could teach her. It always makes me chuckle a little when I see a character who learned how to fight by themselves and expect to go toe to toe with someone who has trained religiously with a master. (I am so looking forward to the dagger class! Zhi carries a small dagger as a last resort weapon and also to literally stab someone in the back if the chance arises and she feels she needs to ) But um, back to the OP's question: why does anyone do anything in rp? Because it interests them. Because on some level they have connected with the idea and it's fun for them. I think that if they really want to make it work with the lore, then they'll figure out a way to do it. If it breaks my own immersion and enjoyment, then I won't rp with them. But neither am I going to go up and tell them how to rp -- they aren't hurting anyone, and mmos aren't umm . . .regulated rp communities where there's a barrier to entry, so I'm not going to take up that role. Not that there's anything wrong with having a discussion about it, either. Discussions are good. I like discussions.

Seeeeriously, WoW is the reason why I let people assume I'm male in online video games (not that I didn't eventually find a great guild, but jiminy crickets was there a lot of girls-can't-raid-at-high-levels mentality, even despite there being plenty of women in the world top 50 ). It is strange though, in most of the rp communities I've been in when shit gets screwy it's usually the girls who are being weird/harassing the guys.

Oh, of course, Zhi knows how to keep from being visible to her clients' opponents. I'll be able to rp in game next week (at last! freedom!), so I will definitely be on the lookout for you then! (drat, repeated myself on that last one, whoops)

The night passed, and the morning brought with it charcoal clouds and more drizzling. The sky was packed with clouds, shielding Zhi from Azeyma's vindictiveness. Good. Let the bitch keep to her own company for a change, rather than forcing it on everyone else. Zhi would stomach the rain for that purpose, as she skipped between her sources for the morning rounds. Despite the lack of progress with the notebook, and the frustration of the night before, she'd decided to start working on a whole other problem. Galleon. Her queries were carefully worded and sown. She didn't use the name he'd given her, was sure that it was a throwaway in any case, but there were enough hints that anyone gave in conversation and dealmaking to use when dealing with the rumor mill and the information network that clung to every spire and bridge. Keep it vague enough that nothing would be returned to him, but not so vague that those she visited wouldn't be able to do anything with it -- story of her life. At least if she had some weight behind her she wouldn't have to worry about getting squashed, but she was inconsequential enough that her death would be little more than an inconvenience to most. Those who did rely on her didn't have the power to stir up trouble, themselves. She'd get there one day. In the meantime, she played the game. ____________ Zhi jerked back from the page, pencil falling from her grip. Was that -- ? It was late. The moon was high, she was certain, though the clouds were as thick as they'd been since the previous night. The rain was more sporadic now, though it showed no signs of going away completely. She'd been working long enough that she'd had to tug more wick up out of the oil in the lamp. Late enough that, thanks to her recently diurnal habits, she'd been falling asleep. It was then, as she nodded over the paper, that she'd been jolted awake by a strange sensation. Not much of one, maybe just a stray fancy, but something. She picked up the pencil. It was too late to go looking for Lalataru. Could she do it again? _______________ Waiting for Lalataru in front of the Gate's front door was really getting tiresome. Zhi resolved to ask him for another meeting place, or something, because the walk was really not one she wanted to be making so frequently. True, it was only what, her third time? But that was more than enough. She felt exposed. Even with the weather giving her cause to tuck her tail up into her coat, she had that creeping sensation that she would be seen by someone she knew, which translated into potential blackmail. Not something she wanted to deal with. Hard enough to handle her other jobs while dealing with this one; it gave her the jeebies to let the matter with Clove fall to Brindle, even though she knew him to be more than capable for such small work. Long as he didn't shit the bed. Crouching in the depressingly familiar corner, she waited for Lalataru.

If the gender of the player matters then there's some IC/OOC mixing going on. I've played male and female characters going after male or female characters with male or female players. Doesn't matter. I'm not rping for any sort of emotional connection with any player (though I have made friends with players, if I don't it doesn't matter. I've rped with some people for years and we're still not much more than polite acquaintances, and some I really don't care for on a personal ooc level, but if the rp is fun the rp is fun).

*coughcough* If they ever want to spy on each other or pass discreet messages or do the rich people thing and consume illegal substances and they're in Limsa, Zhavi can totally help with that! (or spy on each other, even)