I wanted to thank you for making the original post and weigh in a bit as well. I myself have nearly two decades of experience with various forms of RP (I'm showing my age here 
), dating back to a MUD I used to play over 16 years ago when I was in high school where being in-character was actually enforced by GM's! I've also RPed in a few other MMO's, most extensively with Final Fantasy XI, and I've dabbled a bit with tabletop (admittedly not that much). I don't think this my opinions and preferences any more or less validity than anyone else's, however. I just wanted to be clear about my background, as I've seen quite a lot in my years as well.
There was a thread made a little over a month ago that sought to revamp the RPC, and I think this has been met with some success. I made a post in this thread about revamping the RPC which seems relevent to the discussion. Specifically that as players and as characters, our own preferences and styles are as unique as we are. I listed a few different scales on which you may find yourself with regards to immersion, style, etc. No two RPers are going to be alike, but at the end of the day what it boils down to is tolerance, and I think that's what your OP really helped drive home.
I have now been a member of six or seven different, unique RP linkshells in FFXIV. Some were a good fit, and some weren't. And it hasn't always been the preferences that were the determining factor in this. I think a good melting pot of differently styled characters makes for the most dynamic and interesting communities. I'm not going to go into a longwinded explanation of my own preferences. But I will say that I've stepped out of my own comfort zone a number of times since I started here. In Final Fantasy XI, I was part of a single linkshell for about eight years. Different RPers came and went, but the style was generally the same and we adhered to a heavy degree of IC and made use of forums for OOC goofing around and such. That worked well for me, and that was what I grew accustomed to. That doesn't make that the be-all-end-all of RP. As Lyriell pointed out, there really is no right or wrong way of RPing. You could even make this argument for things like godmode and such as well.
Where there is no right or wrong way to RP, the other side to this coin is that there is also our own individual preferences that come into play. These are not always so malleable, either. To cite an example (since I don't think he would mind), a good friend of mine from FFXI strayed a bit from the game's lore to go on and create a culture of nomadic people that were centralized in/beneath Altepa Desert. This was nowhere in the game's lore, but he wrote pages upon pages of stories about it and in my opinion they were fantastic! He even drew other players into this lore and it was very enjoyable. I realize that some people may not approve of this, but it's also very easy to turn a blind eye to something like this as well. No individual is the almighty lord or lady of RP and says what goes for everyone. We all do things differently, and that's actually good - it would be dreadfully boring if we were all the same anyway.
While I can easily think of several, I'm not going to give any specific example in the other direction. I will point out that such deviations and things can put some people off. And that's no reason to stop doing that, if it's what you enjoy. But a RPer should also be aware of the impact that his or her RP has on other characters. Nobody wants to RP with somebody if it's not an enjoyable experience. That's not to say that you shouldn't RP being the legendary mage-knight who rains meteors from his Excalibur and destroys everything in his path. If that's what you're passionate about, than I say go for it. But I would encourage that with the caveat that one be conscious of how it would be perceived by others. Were I privy to meteor-man in this example, I don't think I would willfully comment on something like this, but I might be inclined to ignore it, or avoid the RPer, as it's just not my style... not my preference. And that's okay too. What's not okay, at least not in my book, is telling someone that it's wrong. It's been my experience that people that RP in styles like this often quickly get frustrated that nobody else wants to participate with them and either move on, or modify their style to something others might be more amenable to interacting with. For many that I've seen firsthand, this has been a fundamental part of the process - growth of an RPer, if you will.
I've changed a lot since I started XIV. I was very set in my ways from XI, and there are so many differences in FF14 and its denizens from what I grew accustomed to for so many years. I still adhere to some of it. I tend not to like going out of character while I'm in the game (unless it's on a raid or somesuch of course) since I am there to RP first and foremost. But I don't expect everyone else to be IC 100% of the time. I try to stick to the lore, with a few minor deviations that I feel are reasonable. But I don't fault someone else if they stray from that path. I've become a lot more tolerant than I used to be. I know there are more people here that like going OOC sometimes. I know there is a totally different atmosphere in FF14 than there was in FF11 and the general RP community as a whole seems a bit more mature.
Wow... I didn't expect this to get so longwinded. I guess I'll close it out by simply saying that if a RPer only RP's with people that are just like him- or herself, they're probably only robbing themselves of a lot of wonderful opportunities. I think finding that balance between what you really enjoy and what others can really enjoy as well is what makes the experience so fun, and so rewarding. And Tolerance! (cuz I really can't emphasize that enough)
EDIT TO ADD: Also I know there is a stickied thread out there about RP Ettiquite. Maybe you can work with Kylin and any other interested parties to help update or re-define this. I think that would actually be a very good idea.
), dating back to a MUD I used to play over 16 years ago when I was in high school where being in-character was actually enforced by GM's! I've also RPed in a few other MMO's, most extensively with Final Fantasy XI, and I've dabbled a bit with tabletop (admittedly not that much). I don't think this my opinions and preferences any more or less validity than anyone else's, however. I just wanted to be clear about my background, as I've seen quite a lot in my years as well.There was a thread made a little over a month ago that sought to revamp the RPC, and I think this has been met with some success. I made a post in this thread about revamping the RPC which seems relevent to the discussion. Specifically that as players and as characters, our own preferences and styles are as unique as we are. I listed a few different scales on which you may find yourself with regards to immersion, style, etc. No two RPers are going to be alike, but at the end of the day what it boils down to is tolerance, and I think that's what your OP really helped drive home.
I have now been a member of six or seven different, unique RP linkshells in FFXIV. Some were a good fit, and some weren't. And it hasn't always been the preferences that were the determining factor in this. I think a good melting pot of differently styled characters makes for the most dynamic and interesting communities. I'm not going to go into a longwinded explanation of my own preferences. But I will say that I've stepped out of my own comfort zone a number of times since I started here. In Final Fantasy XI, I was part of a single linkshell for about eight years. Different RPers came and went, but the style was generally the same and we adhered to a heavy degree of IC and made use of forums for OOC goofing around and such. That worked well for me, and that was what I grew accustomed to. That doesn't make that the be-all-end-all of RP. As Lyriell pointed out, there really is no right or wrong way of RPing. You could even make this argument for things like godmode and such as well.
Where there is no right or wrong way to RP, the other side to this coin is that there is also our own individual preferences that come into play. These are not always so malleable, either. To cite an example (since I don't think he would mind), a good friend of mine from FFXI strayed a bit from the game's lore to go on and create a culture of nomadic people that were centralized in/beneath Altepa Desert. This was nowhere in the game's lore, but he wrote pages upon pages of stories about it and in my opinion they were fantastic! He even drew other players into this lore and it was very enjoyable. I realize that some people may not approve of this, but it's also very easy to turn a blind eye to something like this as well. No individual is the almighty lord or lady of RP and says what goes for everyone. We all do things differently, and that's actually good - it would be dreadfully boring if we were all the same anyway.
While I can easily think of several, I'm not going to give any specific example in the other direction. I will point out that such deviations and things can put some people off. And that's no reason to stop doing that, if it's what you enjoy. But a RPer should also be aware of the impact that his or her RP has on other characters. Nobody wants to RP with somebody if it's not an enjoyable experience. That's not to say that you shouldn't RP being the legendary mage-knight who rains meteors from his Excalibur and destroys everything in his path. If that's what you're passionate about, than I say go for it. But I would encourage that with the caveat that one be conscious of how it would be perceived by others. Were I privy to meteor-man in this example, I don't think I would willfully comment on something like this, but I might be inclined to ignore it, or avoid the RPer, as it's just not my style... not my preference. And that's okay too. What's not okay, at least not in my book, is telling someone that it's wrong. It's been my experience that people that RP in styles like this often quickly get frustrated that nobody else wants to participate with them and either move on, or modify their style to something others might be more amenable to interacting with. For many that I've seen firsthand, this has been a fundamental part of the process - growth of an RPer, if you will.
I've changed a lot since I started XIV. I was very set in my ways from XI, and there are so many differences in FF14 and its denizens from what I grew accustomed to for so many years. I still adhere to some of it. I tend not to like going out of character while I'm in the game (unless it's on a raid or somesuch of course) since I am there to RP first and foremost. But I don't expect everyone else to be IC 100% of the time. I try to stick to the lore, with a few minor deviations that I feel are reasonable. But I don't fault someone else if they stray from that path. I've become a lot more tolerant than I used to be. I know there are more people here that like going OOC sometimes. I know there is a totally different atmosphere in FF14 than there was in FF11 and the general RP community as a whole seems a bit more mature.
Wow... I didn't expect this to get so longwinded. I guess I'll close it out by simply saying that if a RPer only RP's with people that are just like him- or herself, they're probably only robbing themselves of a lot of wonderful opportunities. I think finding that balance between what you really enjoy and what others can really enjoy as well is what makes the experience so fun, and so rewarding. And Tolerance! (cuz I really can't emphasize that enough)
EDIT TO ADD: Also I know there is a stickied thread out there about RP Ettiquite. Maybe you can work with Kylin and any other interested parties to help update or re-define this. I think that would actually be a very good idea.
"One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others." Â ~ Lewis Carol
Eva's Journals  |  Eva's Wiki Page (coming soon)  |  RP Handbook
Eva's Journals  |  Eva's Wiki Page (coming soon)  |  RP Handbook
