11. During an RP secession if someone logs off unexpectedly is the "scene" frozen
until that person returns, or would the characters react to the person disappearing?
Sometimes the person will be gone for an unexpected (sometimes even indefinite amount of time). If it's a small group rp or even one on one, I think most people wait for a few minutes or take a temporary 'break' (bathroom time) before they decide whether to move on. Usually the person will return, explain, and you can always try to fabricate some IC excuse as to why they disappeared. I admit, though, that it might be more difficult to explain in FFXIV. In WoW we explained it by a character sometimes being 'summoned' unexpectedly to those perpetual brawls against the alliance (via warlock) and in SWTOR we had some similar convention. Sometimes, if it was just a normal conversation, we assumed they fell into some deep thought and just stopped talking for a time and they'd 'shake it off'. This kind of thing happens from time to time and between friendly folk it can usually be explained away if it comes down to it.
13. What are some examples or the norm for what linkshells actually are physically?
The explanation is a pearl, worn on the ear (I've seen 'in' the ear but that's...weird) that allows you to 'verbally communicate' with others that share a pearl from the same pearlsack (i.e. your Linkshell) so they can talk over vast distances. Like Final Fantasy Bluetooth. In other games, there've been an array of explanations that I've seen as to how people could communicate over long distances (enchanted runes, holocommunicators, telepathy, etc.), but I think the pearling is probably the best I've heard. The Linkshell itself is just a group of people who are working together and usually they have a variety of backstories. Adventurers, mercenaries, scholars, and so on, that obtain pearls to maintain communication. I think that since there aren't really any split 'factions' in FFXIV, that being able to be in multiple linkshells makes sense. In and out of character, it's pretty helpful and in character there's good reason to affiliate with multiple groups at one time.
14. Where is most IC chatting done in game? /say, /l, or /p? All of the above.
It varies with the situation. Usually you use /say to participate with other roleplayers in events or just open social RP. Sometimes you use your linkshell speak to carry on roleplay with other members of your shell while the participants are otherwise occupied in the game (such as leveling, while they want to get their levels but still want to be able to participate in roleplay) in which case you might be able to use emotes and roleplay that you're -actually- in some secret headquarters with those who are roleplaying with you. You can also use the linkshell chats, at times, to just communicate live to other members of the LS (so they could hear your voice but not see your movements unless they were physically near your character) to alert them to danger, call for help, or just to maintain conversation and keep up to date on goings-on. Those kinds of things vary on the linkshell you're in and their rules about how to use the function. Some are kept exclusively in character to promote more roleplay and keep the group tied closely together and others keep the linkshell speak out of character to promote gathering physically in groups rather than relying on the linkshell entirely to communicate. Varies. Party and private chats can be used for a small group if you enjoy roleplaying while you level together so as not to bother anyone else who might be leveling, or for private discussions that could and should not be overheard. For instance, if a group of people are whispering to each other or communicating in some other, secretive way that others shouldn't physically be able to overhear.
It's come up in my SWTOR guild, the issue of 'metagaming' when it came to whispering something to someone and having it overheard in /say. While it seems fairly simple for people to just respect that you've stated it's a whisper, when you put it into say, it's fairly up for grabs to people with extremely sensitive hearing and whatnot. If it's something that you intentionally want others not to hear, sending a private message or reverting to party chats for extensive or group conversations is best in my opinion.
15. What's your favorite color? Let's say there is an event posted on a site either here on the RPC or on a personal LS site detailing an event that all are welcomed to join. I assume characters can't just know about it obviously, so is the best method of learning of an event (IC) through pretending to see a poster in town, talking with close friends, seeking the person holding the event to come up with a reason for arriving, or something else
With anything that deals with an out of character organization of an event or an initiation, it's usually accompanied by some in character explanation. You'll receive a message, or have access to spot a flyer, or maybe even arrange a physical meeting where you'll be invited by an individual in game at a certain time. You're right to assume characters can't just know about things, but, again, I've seen in a lot of guilds in the past, RP events that were organized in a forum that were never reinforced in game with any form of in character announcements. Sometimes, it's simply assumed, but for most roleplayers, they -want- that legitimate reasoning behind why they knew what was happening and when, and it seems that in the RPC and its affiliated groups, you'll probably get that. Just don't be too surprised if it doesn't happen once in a while.
