The RPC Council meeting has finally concluded after 8 pages of discussion (making it the 2nd most responded to topic on the entire forum, after "RPC--who are we?"€Â). If the contents here don't get you excited for the future RP community, nothing will >.>;.
RPC Council Summary:
Guild status-
~5 RP guilds will be ready to fully launch by open beta. ((EDIT: This number has since increased since the time of this post. There are now approximately 8 RP groups))
~All 5 guilds currently fall in the categories of moderate or heavy RP.
~At least 4 of the 5 guilds have a unique theme surrounding their creation/existence. The 5th is still under development.
~An "€œapplication criteria"€ category has been added to the guild registration template.
~IC guild teaser descriptions are currently pending! Expect to see a teaser site launch within a week. Only 3 of the 5 guilds will have teaser descriptions available at this time. The other two will hopefully be ready within the month. Afterward, this teaser site will launch to the broader public (Zam, Core, Eorzeapedia, etc) in order to help round up more role-players and get the overall community more excited about RP.
~Guilds may end up being represented/recognized by an emblem and official guild colors.
Community Updates-
~The Council has decided to have informal gatherings amongst each other for community updates. This is an alternative to posting public updates on the forums. While a guild can certainly still post such updates, the majority is more in favor of a less formal update process.
~Informal updates will help keep leaders in semi-constant contact with one another and hopefully alleviate potential OOC tensions and drama between guilds.
~The number of times the RPC Council will convene each year is not yet decided. It will likely be twice a year, but that decision is still pending.
RPC-
~The RPC may or may not exist as an IC organization in game. This is still up for debate, as we would have to cleverly come up with not only an IC name that goes with the initials "€œR.P.C." but also find a way to make sure the organization IC'€™ly doesn'€™t intrude on anyone'€™s RP negatively. Feel free to discuss this topic in the Assembly Room if you have any ideas.
~RPC site buttons have been prepared by both Mythis and Keir. See the Gallery. Be sure to ask permission to use the button if you wish to use one of them anywhere.
~Please welcome Rayah and Nij to the RPC Council! In addition, Jakky has been chosen to fill the second council position for Stormguard!
Guild advertisement-
~Some of us have seen situations in past games in the RP community where recruitment thread wars take place. That is to say, one guild posts a recruitment thread and another one follows. Thread bump wars then proceed to take place. This will be considered bad etiquette by the RPC. A discussion/warning may possibly result from such an action, which could hurt the reputation of the offending guild(s) in the eyes of the overall RP community.
~It is asked, though not required, that anytime someone on another fan site asks broadly about FFXIV's RP community, individuals should direct them to the RPC (even if you do plug your own RP group as well). It is considered good etiquette to allow new role-players a chance to see all of their options laid out before them.
Events-
~Some RP groups are familiar with the concept of an "€œepic" storyline that would unite the entire group for a particular purpose. The RPC will be utilizing such a system sometime after the game's launch. Our "€œepic" will be much broader than what many are used to and be more akin to a live ongoing event. The example used in the meeting was, for instance, a plague striking the countryside. The RPC Council would convene to create such an event (all guilds required to agree on the event), lay out a few rules, and then implement the event in game through various means. The event would then be left to individuals and guilds to play out, with occasional RPC hosted quests to keep the event in the public eye.
Using the above example, a plethora of possible stories could start up within guilds, between guilds, and in the freelance RP community. Perhaps you or someone you know gets struck by the plague. Perhaps some will try to use the chaos to their own personal advantage, monetary or otherwise. Perhaps some will strive to find a cure. The possibilities are endless. These live events will occur once or twice a year.
~The RPC Awards will likely transpire on an annual basis. These will probably consist of an Olympic-like event in which various competitions are held over the course of several weeks. Competitions can range from racing (foot and/or chocobo) to monster slaying to weaving the best fabric, along with a multitude of other friendly competitions. The "€œRPC Awards"€ would likely either need renamed to fit into the IC world or we'€™d have to come up with a creative phrase for the initials “R.P.C.â€Â
~If Square Enix does not happen to hold festivals in game relating to the gods, the RPC will likely host such festivals. An example would be a "€œharvest festival"€ in celebration of Nophica, the Matron.
RPC Council Summary:
Guild status-
~5 RP guilds will be ready to fully launch by open beta. ((EDIT: This number has since increased since the time of this post. There are now approximately 8 RP groups))
~All 5 guilds currently fall in the categories of moderate or heavy RP.
~At least 4 of the 5 guilds have a unique theme surrounding their creation/existence. The 5th is still under development.
~An "€œapplication criteria"€ category has been added to the guild registration template.
~IC guild teaser descriptions are currently pending! Expect to see a teaser site launch within a week. Only 3 of the 5 guilds will have teaser descriptions available at this time. The other two will hopefully be ready within the month. Afterward, this teaser site will launch to the broader public (Zam, Core, Eorzeapedia, etc) in order to help round up more role-players and get the overall community more excited about RP.
~Guilds may end up being represented/recognized by an emblem and official guild colors.
Community Updates-
~The Council has decided to have informal gatherings amongst each other for community updates. This is an alternative to posting public updates on the forums. While a guild can certainly still post such updates, the majority is more in favor of a less formal update process.
~Informal updates will help keep leaders in semi-constant contact with one another and hopefully alleviate potential OOC tensions and drama between guilds.
~The number of times the RPC Council will convene each year is not yet decided. It will likely be twice a year, but that decision is still pending.
RPC-
~The RPC may or may not exist as an IC organization in game. This is still up for debate, as we would have to cleverly come up with not only an IC name that goes with the initials "€œR.P.C." but also find a way to make sure the organization IC'€™ly doesn'€™t intrude on anyone'€™s RP negatively. Feel free to discuss this topic in the Assembly Room if you have any ideas.
~RPC site buttons have been prepared by both Mythis and Keir. See the Gallery. Be sure to ask permission to use the button if you wish to use one of them anywhere.
~Please welcome Rayah and Nij to the RPC Council! In addition, Jakky has been chosen to fill the second council position for Stormguard!
Guild advertisement-
~Some of us have seen situations in past games in the RP community where recruitment thread wars take place. That is to say, one guild posts a recruitment thread and another one follows. Thread bump wars then proceed to take place. This will be considered bad etiquette by the RPC. A discussion/warning may possibly result from such an action, which could hurt the reputation of the offending guild(s) in the eyes of the overall RP community.
~It is asked, though not required, that anytime someone on another fan site asks broadly about FFXIV's RP community, individuals should direct them to the RPC (even if you do plug your own RP group as well). It is considered good etiquette to allow new role-players a chance to see all of their options laid out before them.
Events-
~Some RP groups are familiar with the concept of an "€œepic" storyline that would unite the entire group for a particular purpose. The RPC will be utilizing such a system sometime after the game's launch. Our "€œepic" will be much broader than what many are used to and be more akin to a live ongoing event. The example used in the meeting was, for instance, a plague striking the countryside. The RPC Council would convene to create such an event (all guilds required to agree on the event), lay out a few rules, and then implement the event in game through various means. The event would then be left to individuals and guilds to play out, with occasional RPC hosted quests to keep the event in the public eye.
Using the above example, a plethora of possible stories could start up within guilds, between guilds, and in the freelance RP community. Perhaps you or someone you know gets struck by the plague. Perhaps some will try to use the chaos to their own personal advantage, monetary or otherwise. Perhaps some will strive to find a cure. The possibilities are endless. These live events will occur once or twice a year.
~The RPC Awards will likely transpire on an annual basis. These will probably consist of an Olympic-like event in which various competitions are held over the course of several weeks. Competitions can range from racing (foot and/or chocobo) to monster slaying to weaving the best fabric, along with a multitude of other friendly competitions. The "€œRPC Awards"€ would likely either need renamed to fit into the IC world or we'€™d have to come up with a creative phrase for the initials “R.P.C.â€Â
~If Square Enix does not happen to hold festivals in game relating to the gods, the RPC will likely host such festivals. An example would be a "€œharvest festival"€ in celebration of Nophica, the Matron.