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Moonlit · **03-04-2015, 12:44 AM**

Recently, an article came across my facebook on the action known to writers as, "Bleed." This is the spillover between players and characters. I thought that the article itself was a neat perspective to read. I'm sure this has been discussed to the ends of the world and back, and I'm not looking for this thread to turn into an argumentÂ but it would be interesting to know how people feel after reading the article. You can find it *here. <3

*I apologize if this has already been brought to light, I couldn't find this mentioned anywhere.

Magellan · **03-04-2015, 02:38 AM**

Very interesting article, solid read. I was guilty of a lot of bleed with my first FFXIV character. I was still pretty new to rp, and felt both her joys and her heartaches way too hard. While it made for intensely satisfying, rewarding rp, and a sense of boundless, pure creativity, it also had the Icarus effect: when the story she was in crashed and burned, so too did I. Unfortunately after that, I found myself unable to connect with my characters in any meaningful way.

It was a full year before I picked up rp and mmos again, and when I feel bleed at the fringes now, I make sure to strengthen my alibi, as the article coins it. However, I have also managed to find the line where I can connect with my characters again, can fully emphathize with them, even cry and laugh with them, but am able to much better put them down when I am done playing with them and mitigate any sort of negative bleed effect.

I see a lot of people make the same mistakes I made, and through my own edperiences know not to judge them by it, but to try and help soften the emotional impact bleed can cause. Only through experience do we learn to identify and properly control this aspect of rp.

X'shah Zinbhe · **03-04-2015, 04:10 AM**

In my experience when we write, we inject little tributes of our soul into our characters, leaving a trail. I have also found that people generally portray three archetypes the best and anything beyond that becomes muddled or blurry.

The process that has worked best for me over the course of hundreds of characters is plotting down one trait that can anchor my sympathies to the character to sculpt an organic mold. From there, I decide whether to ink in something completely opposite of my personality to deep waters never navigated otherwise. As it will happen, some characters are prototypes - and you know what, that's okay.Â

This is an article primarily targeting LARP though, right? It has the same core principles but I think role-play of the likes of what we see on this game needs different consideration. With an MMO like this, it's vastly different because you can hide behind pixels and people tend to be far more drama prone or neck deep in wish fulfillment. In my personal experience, that actually seems to be the biggest problem that role-players face when it comes to "bleed."

With LARP, you generally know the people fairly well out of character and there is stricter regulation. It's a good article, but doesn't quite hit the mark to address our type of role-play.

Dogberry · **03-04-2015, 07:04 AM**

Oh wow, it's cool to see Dystopia Rising show up here. DR is the LARP I play in. I've had discussions about "bleed" with the author of this article on the Dystopia Rising facebook page, and she has some really fantastic ideas about debriefings being held after each game. I think I can safely tell you that the bleed I feel after a Dystopia Rising game is vastly different from the bleed I feel from an FFXIV plot.

In FFXIV, I am much more likely to experience bleed in. I feel that I am my character's strongest advocate. When bad things happen to them, or I feel they're being treated unfairly, I feel bad for them (even if I'm the one making sure this stuff happens to them). I, more than anyone else, knows my characters struggle, so I root for them. Of course I want them to succeed. It's very easy to get wrapped up in those emotions. It's almost like my character are a relative and I want to look after them sometimes. When those emotions get too strong, I have to pull back a little and take a break until the emotions subside and I can deal with it rationally. This usually takes a couple of hours because I'm aware that it's a game, and a collaborative story. I don't have or want full control over what happens in my character, and can always spin the things that cause bleed into a jumping off point.

In Dystopia Rising, the things that happen to my character happen to me. Bleed-out is rampant. When my character can get no sleep because zombies have burst into the shelter he's resting in, I have to physically get up and fight off a bunch of people in costumes with a latex covered sword and shield. When he's hungry and tired from long marches and looking for supplies to bring down to the camp, I'm the one feeling the hunger, the exhaustion, and the paranoia of being exposed in dangerous territory. After a Dystopia Rising event I come home a completely different person, and a lot of people at DR talk about feeling the same way.

It's common for a lot of people to want to go to restaurants after events, mostly to mingle, but I've talked with others who say, and I'm among them, that it's a jarring reminder that they've returned to civilization. You just can't get a Red Robin burger in the wastelands. When I get home, the immediate shower I take is the first time I've been actually alone in three days, and I'm enjoying having a little bit of privacy but also kind of worried that someone is going to burst through the door and I'll have to beat them to death with the shower curtain rod. For at least three days I check the surroundings of my car for attackers. I approach blind corners slowly. I always, always, know where my exits are and how many people are around me at any given time. When that song or commercial I hate comes on the radio during my morning commute to work, I don't mind anymore. Do you know how much of a miracle it is that these things even exist?! It sure as shit beats the banjo and bongo combo of Mark and Sand crooning by the bonfire!

I'd say a large part of the difference is because of the immersive nature of DR vs. the video-gameyness of FFXIV. Plus, I can always log out of FFXIV. When DR gets too intense, I have a three hour drive home.

Nebbs · **03-04-2015, 08:27 AM**

@Dogberry, as an avid LARPer in my time I can totally relate to that. And the jokes about how do you know you LARP too much are close to true.

Yes I checked for my bootknife in a diner on the way back from such an event.

Aduu Avagnar · **03-04-2015, 12:22 PM**

if you're not wearing some armour and carrying a concealed weapon to a LARP dinner or banquet you're doing it wrong.... XD

Dogberry · **03-04-2015, 12:23 PM**

(03-04-2015, 12:22 PM)Nakoli Chalahko Wrote: if you're not wearing some armour and carrying a concealed weapon to a LARP dinner or banquet you're doing it wrong.... XD

Not to go off topic, but I've pumped gas in West Baltimore dressed like a satyr.

Warren Castille · **03-04-2015, 12:31 PM**

Show Content

Bleed is, I think, pretty normal when you're effectively writing the path in a choose your own adventure story. We're naturally going to be immersed with fiction; That's the goal, isn't it? Similar to being invested in a movie that makes us laugh or cry, we're pouring a huge number of hours (with the associated real-life costs) into writing an interactive novel. There's nothing wrong with getting some feedback from what transpires.

...the problem becomes when these things become largely negative feelings. Getting dragged into a depression spiral over RP is unhealthy and incredibly easy to slip into, sadly. It can be difficult to balance at times.

allgivenover · **03-04-2015, 12:45 PM**

Bleed isn't inherently wrong, which I'm glad the article touched on.

New RPers are most commonly guilty of it, but they are hardly the worst offender.

In my experience it's most problematic when an RPers only source of self worth and validation is RP. I'd explain further but I'm at work.

Warren Castille · **03-04-2015, 12:53 PM**

(03-04-2015, 12:45 PM)allgivenover Wrote: Bleed isn't inherently wrong, which I'm glad the article touched on.

New RPers are most commonly guilty of it, but they are hardly the worst offender.

In my experience it's most problematic when an RPers only source of self worth and validation is RP. I'd explain further but I'm at work.

I think that's the case for anyone using anything as escapism rather than a hobby. FFXI has a warning screen asking players to not forget their friends, lives, schools or jobs. WoW's loading screens sometimes tell people to take a break. When real life is tough, people have a reflex to shy away and seek happier things. Trouble rarely gets better with time, though, so the sort of things we should be watching for fall by the wayside because it's a lot easier to hang out in the Gold Saucer than it is to do X Y Z real life thing.

Of course, if something then sours the RP, there's... bad stuff all around. If your IC-partner suddenly forcefully splits from you, that can leave you in a daze. Guild drama fractures the friendships or relationships that got focused on, leaving someone alone and vulnerable. When the life you've built in-game eclipses the one you live outside of it, there can be jarring emotional explosions if something goes wrong.

DOOM AND GLOOM, ROLEPLAY IS THE DEVIL

Kismet · **03-04-2015, 01:04 PM**

My friends and I have always called this "blending", as in blending the line between IC and OOC.

When looking for potential RP partners or new recruits to RP guilds in any game, this is one of the BIGGEST red flags we search for. If the character has too much overlap with the person, if their character pretty much just IS the player, or if the player takes things done or said to their character personally... That means it's time to seek other avenues.

This is most commonly found in new RPers (as others have probably stated), and in that case, I make exceptions. You're learning and we all had to start somewhere. This is your precious first or second-time character, and you may not quite get (or like) the concept that they are exclusively a tool for entertainment. I understand that.

It's when I find traces of this behavior in individuals who have been RPing for a long time that all my alarm bells go off. While dealings vary on a case by case basis, the more unpleasant examples I can recall were extraordinarily unpleasant. I've watched a handful of entire guilds crumble due to this nonsense.

Warren Castille · **03-04-2015, 01:13 PM**

(03-04-2015, 01:04 PM)Kismet Wrote: I've watched a handful of entire guilds crumble due to this nonsense.

I suspect this to be fairly common in roleplaying circles. It just takes one egomaniac in the center to not like someone's backstory, lore, or attitude to get volatile OOCly, which triggers the domino effect in everyone around them.

Statistically, we're due for a blow-up of front-page-news size here sooner or later.

Hihimi · **03-04-2015, 01:41 PM**

Why is escapism being thrown around like a bad word? Is someone roleplaying as a long-distance runner doing it wrong because they are in a wheelchair and always wanted to be a runner? What is wrong withÂ fulfillingÂ our dreams?

OttoVann · **03-04-2015, 02:30 PM**

(03-04-2015, 01:41 PM)Hihimi Wrote: Why is escapism being thrown around like a bad word? Is someone roleplaying as a long-distance runner doing it wrong because they are in a wheelchair and always wanted to be a runner? What is wrong withÂ fulfillingÂ our dreams?

Nothing, but RP elitists will shit all over it.

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **03-04-2015, 02:35 PM**

(03-04-2015, 02:30 PM)OttoVann Wrote:
(03-04-2015, 01:41 PM)Hihimi Wrote: Why is escapism being thrown around like a bad word? Is someone roleplaying as a long-distance runner doing it wrong because they are in a wheelchair and always wanted to be a runner? What is wrong withÂ fulfillingÂ our dreams?

Nothing, but RP elitists will shit all over it.

Told myself I wouldn't post here, but here goes.

Blending makes better characters, in my opinion. But it has also got this stigma as of late that "a person who blends in their RP" isn't "stable" enough to separate IC from OOC. Which I do not agree with. But then it'll be argued that "blending a little it OK everyone!", but who judges that amount?

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"Bleed" - Article & Thoughts

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes