First, I'll say that I'm 100% in favor of public RP. I'll agree that it became rare in 1.0 (though to be fair, there were only really 2 active RP shells truly still going strong at the end when the rest of the population had mostly vanished...).
That being said, we also have to realize that random RPing in front of a huge crowd of non-RPers can seem very daunting to a number of RPers (myself included even). I personally don't feel comfortable Rping in /say when there's a large non-RP crowd about (then again, I also avoid OOC chatter in /say in crowded areas xD ). One can justify it all they want by saying "well, non RPers spam /say all the time with their random chatter, so why can't we?!" That's fine and dandy, but not everyone shares that view. I personally will not RP in /say in overly crowded areas (like the adventurer's guild, etc) or in areas where there are important quest npcs people may need to talk to. That's a personal thing that I have no intention of ever changing, and I know others share that viewpoint. Though I have nothing against others who choose the opposite, so long as they don't try to force me to follow their stance on things.
RP communities tend to very naturally segregate themselves over time. There's no real avoidance of that in any larger community. At the start of any new MMO, the RP community tends to be very open and there's tons of public RP everywhere. Over time though, public RP does start to wane as many RPers start to hop over to new shiny MMOs or focus more strongly on endgame over RP. It's just the nature of the beast, like it or not
. This is why many freelancers tend to get the short end of the stick by the time the community starts to 'settle.' True "open world RP" starts to become isolated primarily to pre-scheduled events.
In regards to the city onry RP, I do agree that some people limit themselves way too much. But I'll play devil's advocate again on this. One has to realize that most people spend the majority of their time in cities (listening to shouts, talking to quest npcs, crafting, etc). And it makes sense IC for most characters to spend more time in town than outside the city walls. Take Kylin for instance. I can't just take him out into the desert IC anytime randomly without explanation. It's just not in his character. It's the same for many characters. I can, however, justify him going for an IC stroll within the city quite easily. Thus, a lot of the RP outside cities tends to be limited to linkshell/public events moreso than random RP. This is a cross-MMO thing though, and not at all limited to just FFXIV.
Don't get me wrong. I hope to see lots of public RP. And with all the many hamlets and little spots filled with life, such a thing may come with more ease than in the past. But I also think people need to remain realistic. I'm only saying these things to try to prevent future disappointment. I want the RP community to retain as many of you guys as possible after all
. So I'd rather not see some people get their hopes up and get utterly disappointed several months after launch when the nature of the beast takes hold, then jump ship for some new MMO hoping that the grass is greener on the other side (it's not by the way).
I have a few MMO buddies that keep hopping from MMO to MMO, looking for that golden game/RP experience that they'll never truly find. I sometimes want to ask them "dude, do you EVER get resolutions/closure for any of the things your character does?" or "do you ever see any of your storylines to completion?" xD
Again, not trying to be a debbie downer. Nothing wrong with having high hopes. I just want people to go into things with realistic expectations. MMO communities have kind of been on the decline as of late due to community members hopping from one to the next to the next, thinking the new community will have what it seeks. So the overall MMO RP community kind of needs to realize that the grass isn't any greener anywhere else when it comes to public RP. This is a common issue across the board, and the chances of it being eliminated entirely is next to non-existent >.>
That being said, we also have to realize that random RPing in front of a huge crowd of non-RPers can seem very daunting to a number of RPers (myself included even). I personally don't feel comfortable Rping in /say when there's a large non-RP crowd about (then again, I also avoid OOC chatter in /say in crowded areas xD ). One can justify it all they want by saying "well, non RPers spam /say all the time with their random chatter, so why can't we?!" That's fine and dandy, but not everyone shares that view. I personally will not RP in /say in overly crowded areas (like the adventurer's guild, etc) or in areas where there are important quest npcs people may need to talk to. That's a personal thing that I have no intention of ever changing, and I know others share that viewpoint. Though I have nothing against others who choose the opposite, so long as they don't try to force me to follow their stance on things.
RP communities tend to very naturally segregate themselves over time. There's no real avoidance of that in any larger community. At the start of any new MMO, the RP community tends to be very open and there's tons of public RP everywhere. Over time though, public RP does start to wane as many RPers start to hop over to new shiny MMOs or focus more strongly on endgame over RP. It's just the nature of the beast, like it or not
. This is why many freelancers tend to get the short end of the stick by the time the community starts to 'settle.' True "open world RP" starts to become isolated primarily to pre-scheduled events. In regards to the city onry RP, I do agree that some people limit themselves way too much. But I'll play devil's advocate again on this. One has to realize that most people spend the majority of their time in cities (listening to shouts, talking to quest npcs, crafting, etc). And it makes sense IC for most characters to spend more time in town than outside the city walls. Take Kylin for instance. I can't just take him out into the desert IC anytime randomly without explanation. It's just not in his character. It's the same for many characters. I can, however, justify him going for an IC stroll within the city quite easily. Thus, a lot of the RP outside cities tends to be limited to linkshell/public events moreso than random RP. This is a cross-MMO thing though, and not at all limited to just FFXIV.
Don't get me wrong. I hope to see lots of public RP. And with all the many hamlets and little spots filled with life, such a thing may come with more ease than in the past. But I also think people need to remain realistic. I'm only saying these things to try to prevent future disappointment. I want the RP community to retain as many of you guys as possible after all
. So I'd rather not see some people get their hopes up and get utterly disappointed several months after launch when the nature of the beast takes hold, then jump ship for some new MMO hoping that the grass is greener on the other side (it's not by the way). I have a few MMO buddies that keep hopping from MMO to MMO, looking for that golden game/RP experience that they'll never truly find. I sometimes want to ask them "dude, do you EVER get resolutions/closure for any of the things your character does?" or "do you ever see any of your storylines to completion?" xD
Again, not trying to be a debbie downer. Nothing wrong with having high hopes. I just want people to go into things with realistic expectations. MMO communities have kind of been on the decline as of late due to community members hopping from one to the next to the next, thinking the new community will have what it seeks. So the overall MMO RP community kind of needs to realize that the grass isn't any greener anywhere else when it comes to public RP. This is a common issue across the board, and the chances of it being eliminated entirely is next to non-existent >.>
