Just wanted to touch on the events and tavern rp part.
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Sir you hit it right on the head. The very reason why I like tavern rp and am running lighthearted events. Bottom line is that unfortunately we will have to do the majority of our recruiting from the server itself, with people who don't come here and many who are trying roleplaying for the first time, so I absolutely agree about the more accessible events that you can come along to even if you are not in character. I've also found that if you gently pull people along while in character they sometimes (not always) will make an attempt at being in character themselves. Anybody can play in character taking a plate of food, getting a prize from a competition, having fun on the beach and getting a glass of orange juice or doing quest rp that benefits them. Those little things help make it not too hard to jump into rp and its always easier to show them instead of telling them.
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One thing I also want to add everyone from my experiences on Gilga during beta is that you will run into ALOT of lurkers. some of them with names that rpers will automatically block - please please please don't do this.
   During the last phase I had a group from a very non rp guild engage in rudimentary roleplaying it was honestly adorable. The situations was a group of friends and some new people we just met were rping in the Quicksand during this time I realized we built up a sizable following of Lalafell who were literally watching us like a bunch of kids watching a show. One of them made a comment "this is better than television!" and right there I knew I had my chance. I offered that one a chance to join in if he wants and he said "um maybe next time" and I told him "sure".
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    Eventually some of our group had to leave, so he joined in along with some of his friends, my character got him some drinks and his character eventually got drunk, another one of his friends began to rp as the waiter and brought my own character KFC. Now at this point some rpers would give them that nudge of not playing to lore or something (that Is if they got that far). The waiter put up one of the chocobo hatchlings on the table and talked about how the KFC was ready to eat. My character reacted "you said this KFC was freshly fried, did you mean that it was fried fresh cause its still alive! I don't know what this KFC is but I'm not sure I want it anymore".
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Now again I want to reiterate that this group had the names that roleplayers would absolutely cringe at. Many would probably have blacklisted them upon seeing them. I recommend not doing this. By giving a fun entry level rp experience you do several things:
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A. Take off the stigma of roleplayers being exclusivist jerks. We have so many problems both real and perceived on a server like Gilgamesh already that this one is not one that we need to have. The more people think the rpers are cool, the more people are willing to leave them alone as mentioned in this thread, and the more people are willing to give it a try, and that is exactly what we want because as I mentioned the majority of our recruiting from Gilgamesh will be from the server itself with people who just don't come to this site. I know many roleplayers are not teachers by nature, but if you are going to Gilgamesh guess what? You may have to be a teacher at one point or another if you are a veteran roleplayer so you may really want to think about your decision.
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B. Give them the benefit of the doubt.
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C. Pull more potential roleplayers into the fun of rp. That day there were about fifteen Lalafell in that group. Even if -one- of them became a light roleplayer you've done your job and people are more willing to participate in something if one of their friends is doing it.
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That day I told the group that if they want to try it out again in phase 4 just to hit me up and we can.
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Sir you hit it right on the head. The very reason why I like tavern rp and am running lighthearted events. Bottom line is that unfortunately we will have to do the majority of our recruiting from the server itself, with people who don't come here and many who are trying roleplaying for the first time, so I absolutely agree about the more accessible events that you can come along to even if you are not in character. I've also found that if you gently pull people along while in character they sometimes (not always) will make an attempt at being in character themselves. Anybody can play in character taking a plate of food, getting a prize from a competition, having fun on the beach and getting a glass of orange juice or doing quest rp that benefits them. Those little things help make it not too hard to jump into rp and its always easier to show them instead of telling them.
Â
One thing I also want to add everyone from my experiences on Gilga during beta is that you will run into ALOT of lurkers. some of them with names that rpers will automatically block - please please please don't do this.
   During the last phase I had a group from a very non rp guild engage in rudimentary roleplaying it was honestly adorable. The situations was a group of friends and some new people we just met were rping in the Quicksand during this time I realized we built up a sizable following of Lalafell who were literally watching us like a bunch of kids watching a show. One of them made a comment "this is better than television!" and right there I knew I had my chance. I offered that one a chance to join in if he wants and he said "um maybe next time" and I told him "sure".
      Â
    Eventually some of our group had to leave, so he joined in along with some of his friends, my character got him some drinks and his character eventually got drunk, another one of his friends began to rp as the waiter and brought my own character KFC. Now at this point some rpers would give them that nudge of not playing to lore or something (that Is if they got that far). The waiter put up one of the chocobo hatchlings on the table and talked about how the KFC was ready to eat. My character reacted "you said this KFC was freshly fried, did you mean that it was fried fresh cause its still alive! I don't know what this KFC is but I'm not sure I want it anymore".
Â
Now again I want to reiterate that this group had the names that roleplayers would absolutely cringe at. Many would probably have blacklisted them upon seeing them. I recommend not doing this. By giving a fun entry level rp experience you do several things:
Â
A. Take off the stigma of roleplayers being exclusivist jerks. We have so many problems both real and perceived on a server like Gilgamesh already that this one is not one that we need to have. The more people think the rpers are cool, the more people are willing to leave them alone as mentioned in this thread, and the more people are willing to give it a try, and that is exactly what we want because as I mentioned the majority of our recruiting from Gilgamesh will be from the server itself with people who just don't come to this site. I know many roleplayers are not teachers by nature, but if you are going to Gilgamesh guess what? You may have to be a teacher at one point or another if you are a veteran roleplayer so you may really want to think about your decision.
Â
B. Give them the benefit of the doubt.
Â
C. Pull more potential roleplayers into the fun of rp. That day there were about fifteen Lalafell in that group. Even if -one- of them became a light roleplayer you've done your job and people are more willing to participate in something if one of their friends is doing it.
Â
That day I told the group that if they want to try it out again in phase 4 just to hit me up and we can.
A good FFXIV lore site: http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Eorzea
