Hello. While currently not super active due to our leader being on college finals, Tales of Hydaelyn is an RP LS based on quests roleplaying. You are free to follow the advice you have received, but I'll still explain to you how we work:
First off, we RP on two channels. /say for open, social RP, and a specific linkshell for quests/main scenario RP. This is to respect those RPers who do not appreciate story-roleplaying. Using the linkshell as an alternate /say channel, we post there any comments related to main scenario and quests (for example, having a conversation in the Quicksand about the recent clash with Ifrit, the memorial ceremony in the three nations, etcetera). This way, other RPers out of our group will not see that we are RPing the main scenario and won't be bothered.
Secondly, we have a pacekeeper. A pacekeeper is a player chosen to "sync" the main scenario events on, to decide at what point the story plot is for all participants. For example, our pacekeeper (Blade Belisaire, who is one of our leaders with me) has currently completed the Envoy mission, but has not yet visited Baderon to be asked to investigate on Sastasha. This means that the participants cannot mention having fought the primals yet (unless they are referring to 1.0 primal fights, of course), or the mention any event that has yet to occur on the Pacekeeper's quest line.
Third, we do not RP the events happening to the single player. No one is the "only one chosen hero". When we roleplayed receiving the call of Hydaelyn (the goobbue fight in Lominsa, the Treants fight in Gridania, or the Gargoyle fight in Ul'dah), we interpreted all those other adventurers you see flying around the crystal of Hydaelyn to be other adventurers to have received the call (and personally I think that's the truth). So, all the participants can choose to have seen that vision, received a crystal, and possess the Echo. If, say, you were to join our group, and OOCly beforewarned that you ICly want to have received the call of Hydaelyn, then we will adjust our characters accordingly, and remember having seen you in the Hydaelyn Call vision, flying with us. Your face would at the least be familiar.
Fourth and final point: "who was there?". When talking about specific events, such as fighting the first Paragon in any of the three nations, or any of the quests we have already RPed (as I said, we currently are 'paused' at the end of the lv14 quests), we try to keep vague who was there and who wasn't. This to avoid conflicts among players who could not attend a main-scenario RP scheduled session. So, I cannot claim to have been the only one to have saved the Victory from pirates. There were others helping, and my character just was too distracted with the events taking place to realize.
The rest of the details are usually discussed as a group if a person needs individual information to better fit in the story. The general rule is "Everyone on the same page". Sync to the Pacekeeper's progress, keep confidentiality with NPCs even among the participants, and do not push to take the spotlight. This has always worked for the veterans of our group (some of us have been in the group since 2008, first on FFXI and then here on XIV) and kept newcomers and seniors happy alike, making no distinctions or putting anyone on a lower level on the wonderful stage that the main scenario is.
Should you still be interested in RPing the main scenario, and should you like to give our group a try (as small as it may be. RPing quests is not very popular), you can visit our page and our site. You can also contact me in game if you are on Balmung. I am usually online as Jet'a Vann.
The only small issue right now is that, as I said, with Blade busy on graduation our main scenario progress is on pause. We still do RP though, both on LS and in /say, so if you'd like to check us out, we'd be happy to have you!
First off, we RP on two channels. /say for open, social RP, and a specific linkshell for quests/main scenario RP. This is to respect those RPers who do not appreciate story-roleplaying. Using the linkshell as an alternate /say channel, we post there any comments related to main scenario and quests (for example, having a conversation in the Quicksand about the recent clash with Ifrit, the memorial ceremony in the three nations, etcetera). This way, other RPers out of our group will not see that we are RPing the main scenario and won't be bothered.
Secondly, we have a pacekeeper. A pacekeeper is a player chosen to "sync" the main scenario events on, to decide at what point the story plot is for all participants. For example, our pacekeeper (Blade Belisaire, who is one of our leaders with me) has currently completed the Envoy mission, but has not yet visited Baderon to be asked to investigate on Sastasha. This means that the participants cannot mention having fought the primals yet (unless they are referring to 1.0 primal fights, of course), or the mention any event that has yet to occur on the Pacekeeper's quest line.
Third, we do not RP the events happening to the single player. No one is the "only one chosen hero". When we roleplayed receiving the call of Hydaelyn (the goobbue fight in Lominsa, the Treants fight in Gridania, or the Gargoyle fight in Ul'dah), we interpreted all those other adventurers you see flying around the crystal of Hydaelyn to be other adventurers to have received the call (and personally I think that's the truth). So, all the participants can choose to have seen that vision, received a crystal, and possess the Echo. If, say, you were to join our group, and OOCly beforewarned that you ICly want to have received the call of Hydaelyn, then we will adjust our characters accordingly, and remember having seen you in the Hydaelyn Call vision, flying with us. Your face would at the least be familiar.
Fourth and final point: "who was there?". When talking about specific events, such as fighting the first Paragon in any of the three nations, or any of the quests we have already RPed (as I said, we currently are 'paused' at the end of the lv14 quests), we try to keep vague who was there and who wasn't. This to avoid conflicts among players who could not attend a main-scenario RP scheduled session. So, I cannot claim to have been the only one to have saved the Victory from pirates. There were others helping, and my character just was too distracted with the events taking place to realize.
The rest of the details are usually discussed as a group if a person needs individual information to better fit in the story. The general rule is "Everyone on the same page". Sync to the Pacekeeper's progress, keep confidentiality with NPCs even among the participants, and do not push to take the spotlight. This has always worked for the veterans of our group (some of us have been in the group since 2008, first on FFXI and then here on XIV) and kept newcomers and seniors happy alike, making no distinctions or putting anyone on a lower level on the wonderful stage that the main scenario is.
Should you still be interested in RPing the main scenario, and should you like to give our group a try (as small as it may be. RPing quests is not very popular), you can visit our page and our site. You can also contact me in game if you are on Balmung. I am usually online as Jet'a Vann.
The only small issue right now is that, as I said, with Blade busy on graduation our main scenario progress is on pause. We still do RP though, both on LS and in /say, so if you'd like to check us out, we'd be happy to have you!
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.
