(06-05-2015, 01:40 PM)Terra Wrote: I am a bit scared of the things I've heard of Balmung "always being in character". So in response to that, you have to make sure you have a character that you love everything about because EVERYTHING is in character and it would be hard to "set a scene" as I usually do on Brynhildr. The reason why I want to know some people is I want to know what I'm getting into and it's always more fun to actually have some other PCs tied in with you as it's a "hook" to draw you into roleplay. It's always nice to HAVE friends, particularly if you find it hard to MAKE friends.
I only made the friends I did on Brynhildr by randomly accepting an FC invite and those friends led me to build an RP community there with them.
Oh, I think Balmung is far from being "always in character". The majority of players on Balmung are non-RPers, either from 1.0 or who have entered Balmung because higher population = easier to accomplish PvE. A good fraction of the roleplaying playerbase on Balmung is also very casual, OOC most of time and RPing only during certain days or certain hours (I'm one of them, and that's why I keep sending SE suggestions for an RP status icon, Twelve knows how many times people have approached me for RP when I wasn't IC), only very few are IC "all the time", so don't worry about that.
(06-05-2015, 01:40 PM)Terra Wrote: Reading through these forums though, I am wondering about "NPCing" and what that entails... And how you should go about looking for RP on Balmung? Should you start a character in Ul'Dah to get to the Quicksand quicker? Do you /sh for RP or is that frowned on? Should you party finder?
These are reasons why I'm hesitant about Balmung because I want to integrate into a group, not alienate from one! I really want to know what I'm getting into, and Balmung's hype makes it seem like an alien world.
Let's see... "NPCing" the way I know it, consists of RPing additional characters, that are not your PC, and that cannot be seen on-screen by others. These are often used to RP family members, colleagues, and scenario-specific personages (Villain-for-a-day, etc.). You will not see this done in open RP often, at least I haven't, but people who RP in FC chat or in other private channels may do it often. To do it in /say seems to cause confusion at best in those not involved/not conscious of what you're doing. I'm an altaholic myself and I often RP my alts and my main character at the same time, by NPCing them.
A quick example:
<Blue Vann> Clive, do you want to come with us?
<Blue Vann> Clive: Hell no. You guys are very able to waste your time without my help. I'll go take a nap. *Clive leaves the room*
So in that case, I am RPing as Blue, and though Clive Stark IS a playable character (an alt), I'm NPCing him because I cannot log in on both Blue and Clive at the same time, as they share an account.
This can be done for alts as well as non-existant characters on your account. Like your retainers, your mom, your boss, your secret evil twin, etc. etc.
As to how to make connections, I'll go ahead and tell you what everybody knows: the Quicksand is purely walk-in, walk-out RP. You will very rarely make important connections there or be involved in others plot. It's a good place to go RP when you don't want to look for real plots or strong connections, and just casual conversation/leaning against the railing for a hour or so before you have to go off for work (also prepare to be hit on a lot there. If it makes you uncomfortable like it does to me, I don't recommend going there, but if you've done Ero as you said ou have, I trust you'll have no issues). See it as a sort of bar, a bar of very loud patrons whose conversations you'll easily overhear even by being to the other side of the room (damn that super range of /say), where you'll meet people that you likely won't see again out of the place, it's not too different from real life. So again, it depends on what you're looking for. (Also, RP events. Attend them if you don't mind overflowing chatbox. It is similar to how the Quicksand works, but at least it can have different gimmicks and context).
If you want lasting connections and possibly make plots the main suggestion everyone and even I will give is first to join a linkshell or FC OOCly. OOC communication is Very Important to set up plots and connections, and insisting to set these up only through IC means will often, not always, but often leave you excluded and out of what most of us call "cliques". If you can't beat them, join them.
Of course all this advice can be disregarded, IC magic does happen and relationships (both positive and negative) do can form with walk-up. But it's very very rare, and those who insist to pursue this way often end up getting depressed and/or make threads of how they can't find RP or lasting friends. It's two roads that you can take, one just happens to have more challenges than the other, so again it all depends on how much of a challenge you want to make for yourself. Happy RP hunting!
EDIT: And as usual by the time my post is done other people have done the work already! Damn my text walls.
To be an interesting, intriguing, well-written character, there needs to be something to allow the audience to relate to them. That is what the problem is with who wants their character to be "perfect". Perfect characters will never be strong, and strong characters will never be perfect, because WE (those who read, who watch, who RP) are not perfect.
"What makes a strong character is how they deal with their flaws, their fears, their turmoils, their troubles that get in the way. That's what makes them relatable." -- N.C.
"What makes a strong character is how they deal with their flaws, their fears, their turmoils, their troubles that get in the way. That's what makes them relatable." -- N.C.
