After a year of rping, and trying all the various forms, I can say MMO RP is by far the most seriously flawed and difficult to get into on a consistent basis. I have been at the center of stories, and yet have still been very aware of those on the outside struggling to get in. And of course, I have been where you are; feeling left out. There are a host of problems and misconceptions that occur, which I'll cover below. Please bear in mind these are personal opinions only.
We are all sharing the same story. False. There is absolutely no way to get a thousand rpers all on the same page, rping the same broader story, and make everyone happy. I would postulate that its impossible to get forty rpers all on the same page, and make everyone happy, without serious preparation. The reason cliques, and so called insular rp forms, is because we all want those epic storylines, and a quality story can only support so many characters. The fellowship of the ring wouldn't have been that interesting if the fellowship was 25 people. It would be confusing and chaotic. Guild stories fail when they try to cram 50-100 people into a story meant for 10. Its no fun standing on the sidelines and watching the 'popular' characters have all the fun, yet those popular characters never see this, to understand this fact.
We all want to have popular characters. We all want to play heroes. Smaller groups allows us to achieve this.
Because I'm in game, I should be IC. This one's more a personal preference. But being IC all the time makes it harder to create quality rp. You are essentially reduced to rping the boring stuff no one (not even you) cares about. It also makes it harder for others to join your rp. Why?
Let's say Mary, Sue, and John are rping one night. They are in a tense scene, where Mary gets seriously injured, Sue struggles to keep her alive, and John is bravely fighting badguys off. The hour grows late, and John has to go to bed, so they cut the scene short. In tabletop, the group sets a time in the future to meet up again, and everyone is able to enjoy the full benefits of that scene.
In MMO however, when people are IC all the time, problems arise. Let's say real life hits John like a ton of bricks. Its 4 days before he can log in again. Mary and Sue, not wanting to be scene locked, advance the story without him, and essentially writing him out of it, denying him the chance to reap the rewards of the scene they had established. After a few times of this it is easy to get discouraged. To feel like any attempts at setting up meaningful rp go up in smoke. Scheduled rp that meets everyone's schedule can be a life saver. Its how stories, movies, console rpgs, and most tabletop operates; the plot cannot advance without you present, because you are a part of it. MMO RP often fails in this regard.
Good RP is as simple as meeting up and rping. False. Tabletop has gms. Books have authors. Movies have directors; people who are skilled at guiding a story, getting all the characters included, ensuring their 'audiences' fun. The creator has time to prepare; to scheme, to plot, and to bounce ideas off their participants. MMO rp really challenges this formula; instead of writing a story and placing it in front of an audience, or churning out a weekly story for a small group of rpers, content creators are suddenly assaulted by hundreds of rpers wanting premium story content, and wanting it NOW, without contributing to the creation process. This is why SO many guild leaders and gm types burnout in MMOs. They simply are unable to meet the demands of a voracious audience impatient for quality rp day after day after day.
Frankly, some people are great at rp, but not good at storytelling. That's fine! But you have to allow the storytellers time to weave you into their plots, and maybe offer help in other areas as you are able.
Because I can't break into a clique, I must be unwanted. False. A lot of the time, this actually comes down to a matter of time. People are already trying to appease their regular rp contacts, that they simply feel overwhelmed trying to fit another character in. This goes back to 'a story can only support so many characters'. I see a lot of threads on here of people asking for rp contacts. There will be several replies of what is essentially lip service; people saying 'oh yea, give me a tell sometime!' But then nothing comes of it, because they have not made a firm commitment. And perhaps they are swamped for time and are therefore unable to make that commitment.Â
It has nothing to do with you. People want to be supportive, but can only lend so much of their energy and time without overreaching themselves and becoming burnt out. Supporting a community takes a heckuva lot of structure and planning, and sadly mmos usually lack that :/
Tl;dr - Sadly, I no longer play ffxiv. But if skype rp is your thing, PM me on this site and I'll gladly set up time with you this weekend c: Good luck!
We are all sharing the same story. False. There is absolutely no way to get a thousand rpers all on the same page, rping the same broader story, and make everyone happy. I would postulate that its impossible to get forty rpers all on the same page, and make everyone happy, without serious preparation. The reason cliques, and so called insular rp forms, is because we all want those epic storylines, and a quality story can only support so many characters. The fellowship of the ring wouldn't have been that interesting if the fellowship was 25 people. It would be confusing and chaotic. Guild stories fail when they try to cram 50-100 people into a story meant for 10. Its no fun standing on the sidelines and watching the 'popular' characters have all the fun, yet those popular characters never see this, to understand this fact.
We all want to have popular characters. We all want to play heroes. Smaller groups allows us to achieve this.
Because I'm in game, I should be IC. This one's more a personal preference. But being IC all the time makes it harder to create quality rp. You are essentially reduced to rping the boring stuff no one (not even you) cares about. It also makes it harder for others to join your rp. Why?
Let's say Mary, Sue, and John are rping one night. They are in a tense scene, where Mary gets seriously injured, Sue struggles to keep her alive, and John is bravely fighting badguys off. The hour grows late, and John has to go to bed, so they cut the scene short. In tabletop, the group sets a time in the future to meet up again, and everyone is able to enjoy the full benefits of that scene.
In MMO however, when people are IC all the time, problems arise. Let's say real life hits John like a ton of bricks. Its 4 days before he can log in again. Mary and Sue, not wanting to be scene locked, advance the story without him, and essentially writing him out of it, denying him the chance to reap the rewards of the scene they had established. After a few times of this it is easy to get discouraged. To feel like any attempts at setting up meaningful rp go up in smoke. Scheduled rp that meets everyone's schedule can be a life saver. Its how stories, movies, console rpgs, and most tabletop operates; the plot cannot advance without you present, because you are a part of it. MMO RP often fails in this regard.
Good RP is as simple as meeting up and rping. False. Tabletop has gms. Books have authors. Movies have directors; people who are skilled at guiding a story, getting all the characters included, ensuring their 'audiences' fun. The creator has time to prepare; to scheme, to plot, and to bounce ideas off their participants. MMO rp really challenges this formula; instead of writing a story and placing it in front of an audience, or churning out a weekly story for a small group of rpers, content creators are suddenly assaulted by hundreds of rpers wanting premium story content, and wanting it NOW, without contributing to the creation process. This is why SO many guild leaders and gm types burnout in MMOs. They simply are unable to meet the demands of a voracious audience impatient for quality rp day after day after day.
Frankly, some people are great at rp, but not good at storytelling. That's fine! But you have to allow the storytellers time to weave you into their plots, and maybe offer help in other areas as you are able.
Because I can't break into a clique, I must be unwanted. False. A lot of the time, this actually comes down to a matter of time. People are already trying to appease their regular rp contacts, that they simply feel overwhelmed trying to fit another character in. This goes back to 'a story can only support so many characters'. I see a lot of threads on here of people asking for rp contacts. There will be several replies of what is essentially lip service; people saying 'oh yea, give me a tell sometime!' But then nothing comes of it, because they have not made a firm commitment. And perhaps they are swamped for time and are therefore unable to make that commitment.Â
It has nothing to do with you. People want to be supportive, but can only lend so much of their energy and time without overreaching themselves and becoming burnt out. Supporting a community takes a heckuva lot of structure and planning, and sadly mmos usually lack that :/
Tl;dr - Sadly, I no longer play ffxiv. But if skype rp is your thing, PM me on this site and I'll gladly set up time with you this weekend c: Good luck!