Arelian Solin

I'm a little shocked at the distaste for para-RP in this thread! Though I can understand the complaint about post speeds, I'm generally more than happy to wait 5-10 minutes for a good, rich post. Especially since I get more shit done that way. Granted, most of my scenes tend to be on the longer side. I genuinely can't imagine doing a 3+ hour scene where the posts were coming in rapid order. A few big points for me, though: Grammar/Spelling. I make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes! But glaring issues like leaving out punctuation on the regular and/or misspelling words to the point of me not understanding them is a big, big gripe of mine. Post length. I'll admit it. I'm a wordy bastard. I'm likely not going to be engaged in the roleplay (if it's a longer scene) if the posts are less than a paragraph. Granted, that's moreso for private scenes. In a public venue it tends to shift towards shorter, more succinct posts. Mostly for the surrounding folks' chatbox sake. I can't stand it when it becomes clear that the player has an agenda for their character and will stop at nothing to achieve that agenda. Nothing makes me nope out faster than feeling pressured into having my character behave in a certain way OR ELSE. The writer's voice is also incredibly important to me. If you can't pound out 2-3 paragraphs while keeping a consistent and engaging voice? Don't! I won't hold it against you if your posts are shorter but entertaining and rich in content. I'm guilty of it as well, but I'll zone out of a scene really quickly if the posts I've receiving are basically just a checklist of what that character is doing in reaction to mine. Give me some meat! A book is rarely just, "And so and so does this and this and then does this!" Spice it up a little bit, and I don't mean by using flowery words. Posts that take too long. I like having some downtime between posts if the scene's a more private one. I really do! But taking 15-30 minutes for a post is a bit absurd. Tone it down a little bit if you're going to run long. Please. And last, but certainly not least, when people get OOC upset due to how my character is acting. Everyone will agree with this, and while I genuinely understand being a little butthurt when a scene didn't play out the way you wanted it to. Conduct yourself like an adult. What do I like? Honestly, that's an easier thing for me to list out. Unique characters. This runs the gamut, but in general the best way to put it is that there's some obvious thought put into the character's actions. Not everyone does this, and that's cool! But it's not for me. Hooks. I love it when people approach me with a hook in mind. It doesn't always pan out the way anyone wanted it to, but that typically leaves more room for interaction later. So long as everything didn't immediately go up in flames. Any RP I've had that lasts any significant amount of time has happened because either myself or the person that approached me had something in mind for how the interaction could begin and/or continue. Voice. Voice, voice, voice. This is literally the opposite of my above point. I love nothing more than when I get to read something interesting that carries the author's voice with it. It's a nebulous quality that's hard to pin down, absolutely, but it's honestly the most imperative one for me. Y'either got it or y'don't. Meaty posts and knowing when to use them. You aren't going to be dropping a shitload of prose at me in the bar if we're gonna get along. You just aren't. However, if we're in a private scene I definitely want something I can latch onto. Be it either prosey-ass-prose that gives me ideas for future character interactions or--well, anything that allows me to bite down and chew at it for a while. I've met a lot of people that equate this to extended posts, but it's not that at all. Just know what you've got and work it. I could go on and on about this subject, honestly. Mostly because, to me, good writing and good RP are synonymous with each other. At the end of the day, both are going to posses a certain je ne sais quoi that makes the content interesting to read.

See: Terribad Nunh RPers Rpfucious said that he who use a singular detail, be it their sexual dominance in a pack or MUH DARKNESS to justify their entire character, is renamed Mary Sue, or just flat out uninteresting and flat. Yeah, but like... Repeat after me. There is no such thing as roleplaying wrong. Everyone is allowed to do as they please. If you don't like something, it's really, really easy to just ignore it! But we're going to delve into RP elitism at some point or another with this conversation. So! In an effort to keep it on-topic. My main is going to be rerolled into a Dark Knight. Though I can't say for certain if it's going to be IC or not--since it all really depends on the lore. You can probably start making educated guesses based on how the mechanics work, to a degree, even if we hardly know anything about those to begin with. Such as: We know they have a stance they activate that drains MP but generates "darkness" as well as buffing themselves. That sounds like it has potential voidkin-related applications, as things from the Void have a tendency to suck the aether/mana/whatever out of things they're attached to. So it's possible that it'll be something like... Oh, I dunno. Making a pact with a minor voidkin to become partially voidtouched. You give it aether, it gives you power. That could be neat, right? There are a million things it could work off of and we honestly have no idea what the lore is going to look like without throwing out wild speculation. It's a bit too early to throw the baby out with the bathwater, I think.

I try to stay in character as much as possible up until I start feeling uncomfortable. I've had myself pleasantly surprised by some people that have turned a potentially skeevy situation into something fairly entertaining! Or I get to learn something about my character. However. The moment that I begin to feel uncomfortable with the situation, I'll break character in such a way that allows my character to refuse a situation they might not otherwise. After all, I'm the one controlling them and I ultimately get to dictate what is and is not allowed to happen to them. It's a tricky thing to communicate on an OOC level with someone you've just met despite what people always say about communication being key. Hell, 9 times outta 10, if my character storms off or leaves a situation I end up getting a whisper from the person asking if everything is alright. At that point I'll politely tell them that I wasn't comfortable with the situation. In extreme scenarios I'll put a full stop to the IC interaction and pull the person aside OOC to immediately let them know that I'm not comfortable with this happening. If they can't deal with my boundaries, they aren't going to be worth my time in the long run to begin with.

Dohoho. My weird Duskwight would definitely be interested in something like this. Nigel's still learning quite a bit, but he's beginning to dabble in Voidkin extermination and other Thaumaturgical affairs. Blood-based healing is another thing he's beginning to look into! He's not entirely witch/warlock in nature but he'd definitely fit into such a group and would be thrilled to have more people to learn from!

Huh. This has some potential for FCs that don't wanna use their own hosted sites or something along those lines. Though I'm a little confused. Does this allow people from other servers to join in on hosted events, or is it purely for a planning thing? If it's just for planning, that's still super useful--just less so. If it means people from other servers can join a party with you, well... That could be a lot more interesting.

Nigel attempts to sing! He'd be mortified if anyone ever walked in on him doing such a thing.

What's that? He's shirtless? Oh, you know... Just showing off his fantastic bod. For all the hot ladies that might be watching.

I used to lean far more heavily onto the PvE over RP side of things. Playing the game to play it--that sort of thing. But these days I heavily, heavily, heavily favor RP over PvE. I literally do PvE content to get clothes for RP purposes. If something doesn't reward me with things that I can feasibly use for RP, chances are I'm not going to care much about it. It's terrible.

Nigel took a while to find a good playby/face claim. In fact, I didn't find anything for him until I started looking at more androgynous and feminine folk entirely! There are two that fit his general facial structure fairly well, even if we're lacking some parts! Grace Jones! And a guy named Jordan Hall. https://41.media.tumblr.com/5fe51315b5e2250d1fc31a2afb5a9f3f/tumblr_njxdwaPMQ71qa4iv8o1_1280.jpg[/img]

Because I really don't wanna echo the entirety of Ette's post, I'm just going to add onto it with one or two things. She mentions reading your dialogue aloud. If you've the privacy or the gumption to do so, act out the facial expressions and motions as well. A lot of the time I'm making dumb faces at my monitor so I can figure out the descriptions. There's also the golden rule of writing: K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don't purple your prose up too much -- it makes it difficult to decipher what your character is doing. If I'm looking to add character to my post, I'm typically doing so with asides and small details (like an ear flicking or rubbing at the tip of your nose) as opposed to writing 2 paragraphs about my character's specific features. There's a time and a place for going into detail about specifics. Okay, I lied. There's a third thing to add. Practice doesn't make perfect, but it does make better. It's obvious, but the only way to feel good about your writing is to put it out there more and more often. The more you write, the more confident you get about certain things. And the less confident you get about other stuff. It's really just a giant balancing act of what you're feeling insecure about on any given day. Other than that! Yeah, people are rarely just hangin' around to put on a pity party. If you've made RP friends, there's a pretty high chance that they've enjoyed something of yours they've seen. Nobody expects perfection on a daily basis. Even professional writers have supremely shitty days where they can't write anything coherent to save their lives.

This right here. This makes it extremely difficult to play Villains in an MMO. It's exceedingly rare to find a group that will allow traumatic experiences or physical damage be dealt to them by a villain-like player. I do think there is a limit that needs to be drawn on what can and cannot be done to a players character and what those people are comfortable with happening to their characters. An agreement and understanding of potential consequences should be listed before a dark or villain associated character becomes involved in a plot and it should definitely be discussed among the group as a whole before a specific plot is underway. Communication with other players is a big key in playing a single Villain among a group of Heroes. Villain's need to say what can and cannot be done to their characters and vice-verse for those playing the Hero(es) before any serious plot delving begins. This can be done without divulging too much into weakness' and strengths and past history, giving room to develop both sides in an in character progression. There needs to be equal progression on both sides with renewed ongoing conflict whether on a personal or combative level for both to succeed. No side can be deemed the victor in any given confrontation in order to have a successful ongoing plot until it does get to the point where the person playing the Villain deems it necessary for the end to come. I agree with this -- to a degree. Communication is vital (shocking, I know) but I've never actually run into a problem with certain players outright refusing to let anything happen to their characters. It's possibly because I just flat out won't have anything to do with a character that doesn't 100% accept "IC actions = IC consequences." At least not on an antagonistic level. I mean, shit. My main guild back in GW2 had a problem where people were too eager to have dire shit done to their characters. I'm talking like, any time we had villain NPCs crop up people were losing limbs left and right. It was great. Like if I'm planning a plot with someone while I'm working the antagonist front, I put possible outcomes out there immediately. As in: Your character may be subject to and but absolutely never . If you are uncomfortable with any of these, please tell me now. 9 times out of 10 they've told me what is and is not acceptable right then and there. If they go back on it? Well, you simply let everyone know that the player is going back on what they agreed upon and never associate with them again. A general rule of thumb is that you can't, or it's very hard, to play a good villain character without an absurd amount of communication done beforehand. Don't expect random Law Enforcer from the bar or the streets to be down with what you're doing. If you need to, don't do your shit in a place where they can see it. If it comes down to it and they still show up, send a message asking them to step away from it. If they still refuse, black list the jerk. Basically, you need to be assertive as hell to play a good antagonist-type character. You've gotta have rules for people to go along with. You've also gotta be flexible because everyone has those same rules. Respect!

Time for my two cents! I've been playing morally ambiguous characters for almost the entirety of my roleplay "career" and I've come across a few very salient points when trying to be a villain. A villain exists to act as a foil to a protagonist of some kind. Be it society, a group of individuals, or a sole individual. As such, the character is typically crafted with these things in mind. Without something to serve as a balancing force, a villain character is--quite simply--a bad person. There's a world of difference between playing a bad person and playing a villain and there's absolutely nothing wrong with playing a terrible person. But it's always important to know the difference. This goes into Ette's point of knowing who you're writing with. The actual-factualness of being a villain is usually determined by the plot you're participating in and as such there's no wrong way to play a villain. If the story is centered around sexual abuse and assault, alright. That's what the villain will likely be about. But if the story isn't going to involve that content, you're an asshole for turning it into that and even bringing it up. HOWEVER. There are definitely things that cause a side-eye or a bitter laugh from my angle when I see things like the stupid sexy torturer and it's ilk. Usually because it's not being portrayed in a context-appropriate plot. If you aren't trying to tell a story with your bad-person-wannabe-villain and instead opt to have them be a general nuisance and terrible person, make sure that's alright with the people you'll be getting them involved with. Never surprise people with content they might not be comfortable with, that's just rude. My overall point is a simple one and I'm just a wordy bastard, though. A good villain is defined by the plot and the context surrounding that villain. The only wrong way to play a villain is to remove it from that context or play it in an environment where it's context is no longer appropriate.

smelly

What bothers me is the degree of sexual dimorphism introduced simply to appeal to conventional notions of attractiveness: Males can be beastly. Females cannot. I don't care for that. The style of the race should make sense as a holistic whole. It doesn't, and the reason is because they were afraid the player base would reject a beastly female. I don't see a positive in this, though it is not surprising. I'm just going to quote this for emphasis because Aya is much better at wording things than I am. This is the reason why I don't like the sexual dimorphism in Au Ra. Fourthed. Now, people who want to play Au Ra females...the question is if they'll still play them if they weren't all Barbies-with-Horns, but closer to the males. Same idea if people would still play Miqo'te if they looked like Khajiit. My problem is that the quote from SE basically says they value fan service over artistic integrity. This may or may not set a negative precedent for FFXIV in the future. Prejudicially and unfairly, I therefore see anyone playing Fem Ra as complicit in supporting this sort of fan service and justifying SE's belief that they should cater with KAWAII first and making a realistic world second. On the other hand, I suppose it's a cultural thing. FFXIV is a Japanese MMO, and complaining about the aesthetic would be like going to Texas and yelling JESUS WHY IS IT SO TEXAN HERE. I was going to say that this is genuinely one of the most ignorant and idiotic things I've ever seen on these forums, and that's absolutely incredible, until I got to the end. You almost got me there. Christ on a cracker.

I personally know a huge handful of women that are thrilled to have female Au Ra designed as they are and would absolutely have not played them if they were the large and bestial designs that other people want.

SEXUAL DIMORPHISM! Okay, but real talk just to head off some of the witty rebuttals. I know that using humans is a poor example, but things like sexual dimorphism to an extreme degree does exist in the real world. Is it a shame that they can't give each race a dramatic height slider? Sure! But they need to keep the silhouette of each race unique and size is a big part of that.

dancing

cheese

Concerning the bolded... I'm confused by what you're saying here. Are you talking about the expansion content (which is definitely level 51+ content right off the bat) or talking about the patch 2.x series content? The former case is obviously incorrect, but even the latter case makes no sense to me, because you're gated by ilvl anyway and having access to level 51+ gear should only make those ilvl gates easier to reach... right? The main story roulette only gives (now-worthless) soldiery tomes and it still sees tons of action to this day. Not sure what you're worried about here. If anything, I'd be more concerned about the low-level roulette which has always been a bit slow and will likely only be even slower post-Heavensward (especially if they follow through on the new jobs NOT starting at level 1). At any rate, there's going to be TONS of returning players plowing through that old content simultaneously, so this is really only a concern months after Heavensward's release. Oh, I can agree with that. Not being able to enter Ishgard at all is a bit much, but then again, the story event that allows us access to it is supposed to be a momentous event, and if you haven't reached that point in the story and yet still have access to it... it's a bit jarring, isn't it? This is just one of those things... gameplay and story separation might be preferable here, but frankly I can see the call going either way, and they chose to emphasize the story side of the equation. That's all there is to it. To address the points in order: 1) I worded it strangely, perhaps. But it's sort of like, uh. We'll all be entering Ishgard/Heavensward content at level 50 because the 2.xx storylines didn't award any exp due to them being level-cap only. It's hard to imagine that they'll continue to award no exp, so people that are doing the 2.xx storyline after Heavensward is released will be above level 50 when they can enter Ishgard. It just seems strange to me, really. 2) A concern is still a concern, even if it's only applicable months after the expac drops. I have no doubt that they've some system in mind to address the issue as they've been fairly spot-on for it. Though I'm hesitant to call soldiery tomes useless. I know plenty of people that want the tomes for Relic books and i100 weapons and fishing the story roulette is a good way to get first-clear bonuses. So it's likely a problem that can fix itself as long as Tomestones aren't locked for the first two weeks like they hinted. Still, a concern is a concern. They've already spoken about reorganizing the roulettes to begin with, so we'll see. As of right now, however, it's a little inducing. 3) I'm not sure if I can necessarily agree with getting into Ishgard being some momentous event that's supposed to be "special" if only because we don't know why we'll be getting access as of yet. It's entirely possible they've just opened the goddamn floodgates because shit's gotten extremely real and they need all the help they can get. SPECULATION. I'm still not terribly happy about it, especially if they lock the new jobs within Ishgard. Though I have a hard time thinking they'll put everything in there to begin with. Seems like a great way to give some serious congestion issues.

I don't remember if CoP required you to clear RotZ first. All I really remember are shitty level caps that required you to keep ALL OF YOUR GEAR FOREVER. Buying CoP didn't give you access to anything except the balls-hard fights required to access the new zones, the new city, the new story and everything that wasn't jobs. Zilart required you to complete everything to unlock Sky. Aht Urghan was different in that regard, opening a lot from the door, but there is a precedent for buying an SE MMO and having it be an empty box save for a pile of IOU: Patch Content notes. I do think there's a difference between buying the expac and immediately having access to the new content, be it in the form of stupidly hard fights, even if I look back on Promyvion's fondly for how cool they were, in some way as opposed to buying the expac and having access to literally nothing until you clear what is basically all of the content from the base game. My main concern is really the group content, though. That's gonna be a massive pain in the ass to get through unless they really give people a reason to go back and do it or they somehow let you solo it (which they've talked about).

My primary problems with this are many, honestly. 1) New players and people that plain haven't done the MSQ up to 2.55 will have a lot of post-50 content to chew through and they'll likely be well above level 50 by the time they get to Heavensward content. It seems a little counter-intuitive to design content that's meant to be done at level 50 but you're physically unable to access it until level 51+ as a new player. 2) SE is going to have to really, really incentivize doing outdated content if they expect queue times for group-related thing to remain remotely acceptable. It'd be one thing if most of that was considered "optional" but doing stuff like the Keeper of the Lake and the HM primals is going to be a treat unless the roulette's are: Pruned down to only include necessary things (like the story roulette is now, but expanded slightly). Highly incentivized more than the current story roulette is. 3) It just seems silly to me to totally lock people out of what sounds like it'll be a new hub area until they reach a certain threshold. Let people go and see why they bought the expansion immediately, even if they can't take any quests or anything. I can understand locking the story content behind a gate, to a degree. You need context to really care. But locking the main new city? Why? Of course, that's all assuming that the quest they mentioned is only completable after finishing the rest of the story up. It could very well be a gigantic catch-up/flash back quest that basically just gets you up to speed after you've hit level 50. I don't remember if CoP required you to clear RotZ first. All I really remember are shitty level caps that required you to keep ALL OF YOUR GEAR FOREVER.

I would love an invite to this on Nigel! I'll keep an eye out for you later on today, Clio.

Edited to add a few more hooks! Also! Ameline! I'll be sure to snag you next time I see you. Ice Cream, uh... Sandwich! I'm definitely down for some back-and-forth if nothing else. Definitely feel free to snag me if I don't get either of you first!

Oh goodness. This is a subject I've been thinking about a lot lately, really. There are a few big'uns that stand out in my mind. A poorly done application process. I accept that my experience is my own, but if the process for getting into the guild is relatively lax that begins to tell me that there isn't good quality control on the type of people that get in and it lowers my overall expectations of what I'm going to get out of the guild right out the gate. Granted, that doesn't necessarily mean a website application. Sometimes it's an IC interview process, sometimes it's both. Either way, if I can just ask for an invite and get one I'm likely not going to get what I want out of the guild. Size Straight up, I like keeping my group smaller. A huge guild/FC just ain't for me. Skeevy leadership This has always been a weird one for me because it's entirely subjective and the how's and why's of it changes every time it pops up. If I see anything that makes me get all frowny and it's either coming directly from the officers/leadership or seems to be a big part of the guild's culture, I'm out. This ranges from certain genders getting certain treatment to character's being gross individuals and the players just not acknowledging that fact. It's important to know when you're playing a character that others might find creepy! And my biggest one... No Rules. I've been privy to a shocking amount of guild/FC drama that could have been outright avoided if there were posted rules somewhere that made it clear that certain behavior was not accepted. There are probably more, but those are definitely the ones that stand out in my mind.

Alliteration grabs the eye, right? Of course it does! So, hello dear reader. I'm glad you clicked on my thread. Flattered, really. I assure you. Blushing over here. Some of you may know me from my previous character, Sylas Peregrine. Well, he's been put out to the farm for the most part (That is, retired). Lately I've been playing another character of mine, one Nigel Beaulieu. Creating connections is always an absolutely enthralling experience (hahahahaaaaaaaa...), and I'm getting absolutely tired of sitting around the Quicksand and watching people constantly. So! This is where I come to you, RPC. For you are, as they say, my only hope. I'm looking for connections for this overwrought, dramatic and "occasionally" darkly-humored Duskwight of mine. The type of connection? I don't particularly care! We can hash things out however we want if that's the direction we wanna take it, but as it stands I just wanna toss him at some people and see what happens. But hey, since I'm making the thread I should include some potential hooks, right? You're in desperate need of a character that can tell a story or perform. Nigel's always seeking ways to further his knowledge of both the Void and Thaumaturgy as a whole. You've got a character that could be considered an inventor and/or tinkerer. Your character is interested in people that experiment with combining magic and technology. The character in question is a storyteller or performer themselves and would like to meet a kindred spirit. You just want someone obnoxious in your character's life. Blackmail! Some way or another, your character has knowledge of the black market trades Nigel's been up to. He doesn't want that information getting out! For some ungodly reason you decide your character needs a mentor in the arts thaumaturgical and Nigel is who you want to stick them with! Who doesn't love the occult. I mean, really. We can do something cult-y. Maybe. I've got a wiki and his tumblr linked in my signature if you find yourself curious about this terrible creature. While he's not likely to get along with a huge handful of people, I think that's half the fun. Shoot me a PM! Grab me ingame! I'm friendly, I swear.