discussion Going Lalafell, distinct decline in RP?

[Baby Hands]

There are too many lala out there who are perfectly content to play the creeper.  And there are too many out there to play the troll.  Until the ratio changes, to where the majority are not creepy little trolls?  Then yeah, the hate will not change.  And right now?  Lalas are creepy little trolls, by a wide wide WIDE margin.

You make it sound like playing a creepy character is an inherently bad thing. As if creepy people aren't something that exist in real life, let alone Eorzea.

 

'Hate' is a pretty strong word for RP that doesn't appeal to your sensibilities. It's not hard to just "/em turns around and walks away." And where do you even draw the line at a troll? Do you mean an emote spamming PvEer that doesn't RP but is in the Quicksand? Or a character that gets trashed and loudly compliments your characters amazing legs? God forbid.

 

If you don't want to chance creeps and trolls in your RP don't do public, open or walk-up RP. A simple solution to a simple problem. I understand some people take it personally if not everyone treats their character well, so if you have this problem I'd recommend never RPing outside of party chat.

 

I feel bad Caspar wrote all that stuff for you only to see you brush it off with an unfair viewpoint, but like Knislige said maybe lalafell RPers are better off. Knowing that a few bad apples ruining the whole for you is silly sure is nice, otherwise I'd have packed up my shit and left ages ago thanks to cancerous opinions like these.

[ExAtomos]

Yeah, there's a huge difference between disdain for lore reasons (for example, against Duskwights due to their being thieves and sneaks) and for reasons that are purely ooc based. Lore I can work with, I can't do anything with mindsets like "all people who play lalas are no good". But y'all have raised a good point... are those who RP as lalafell being lumped in with those who are just trolling?

 

I have no problem blacklisting trolls with the hopes that, if everyone ignores them, they'll get bored and go away. And if that person wants to actually RP later, well too bad. But this is based reactively on that one person's actions rather than proactively just saying because you are a certain shape, I won't interact with you at all.

 

I do want to add, if anyone likes suspense and tension in their RP (lalafell or otherwise), I'd love to hang out. I just have an aversion to silliness atm. (I'm also totally laughing at the incongruity of me wanting dark rp while having a qiqirn icon. xDDD )

[Kage]

Most of my RP now is pretty stagnant and relegated to private stuff so my experience is like a year+ old.

 

In public roleplay, most people were ok with just going with the flow of RP and speaking with Kage. Was he ever outright ignored? Nope. Did I always get substantial long-term roleplay connections? Well I still roleplay some arcs with people from 2 years ago so I'm content with that.

 

My personal bias? I think most people who are not including Lalafell are doing so because they are looking for an RP partner and do not find that in a Lalafell.

 

I've seen no more players who want to disrupt players in lalafell players than I have Elezen, Hyur, Roe, etc. Recently, I haven't run into many people looking to disrupt roleplayers either. Do I find some names weird? Yes. But I know they're not roleplaying and are just having fun with the game so I really don't care about a diapered lalafell or Erotic Fanfic (not a Lala!). Did I wonder once whether that would be the case with Baby Hands? I did, until there was roleplay to be had and that thought went away. Nothing else to it but the roleplay.

[Meishali]

I think it's a shame every time people straight up think lalafellin characters are trolls and dismiss them. Whether they end up being Dunesfolk or Plainsfolk, their lore is rich, and just amazing imo.

 

My lalafell is part of the first characters I made and is as old as my three mains. I have only been RPing him actively in the past months, because I finally found out his whole dynamic. I wanted to make an Ul'dahn black marketeer, and to be honest, what's better for that than a dunesfolk?

 

People are really not interested in 'non humans/non adults' looking races in most MMOs, because 1) oh, no, romance/cyber isn't an option, 2) they are labeled as trolls or uninteresting. This is apparently a very western mindset, as, according to japanese RPers, Lalafells are more present and taken very seriously in the east.

 

To OP: keep pushing. We need people to roleplay Roegadyns and Lalafells more often, and this, as much as possible. If you have an idea for any non-hyur, non-miqo'te or non-auri race, by all means, do it! You're only doing a great service to the community. At the end of the day, you will always find people to RP with. It just (sadly) asks for more efforts on your end. :[ It bothers me to say it, but you gotta push until you manage to prove people you're 'legit'. Usually a wiki is enough, to be honest.

 

Oh, and yeah. People not allowing roleplayers to join a scene because of their chosen races aren't worth RPing with. I have my own bias, but if the RP is good, then it's good. Always give the benefit of the doubt to people and see for yourself, @ people dismissing lalafells by default.

[lutroxical]

I have experienced this ...sort of. I think honestly a lot of it has to do with the sexual factor. I'm not saying every roleplayer has sex on the brain, but most RPers are at least OPEN to their characters getting into some sort of romantic entanglement, even if it is not ERPed out in full. And Lalafell are often not even considered an option on an OOC level.

 

My alt, Trisselle (a Seeker miqo'te), is actually married to a Dunesfolk Lalafell ICly. And when they first got together, I took quite a bit of "abuse" from friends and FC-mates for it. I put it in quotes because it wasn't meant to be taken too seriously. We were treated as a big joke for a while, but no other pairing had been treated in such a way. I felt a little insecure, to be honest. And I wasn't even playing the Lalafell!

 

But truthfully, there is a lot more to their relationship than just physical stuff (and yes they DO do the deed! /gasp!), and it's been some of the most complex and interesting RP I've had in my time in this game. Even now I never know what they'll do or what crazy path they'll take.

 

So I guess what I'm saying to all the Lalafell-haters is: don't discount the small folk! Try to get into the mind of an Eorzean, who see Lalafell as completely normal, and let your character react accordingly. The RP might surprise you, in a good way. That's just my two gil! <3

[Sorcini]

One of the first I ever met and RP'ed with, as well as one of my most favourite characters, is infact a Lalafell. Smart, cheeky, with heart, even has had lots of admirers/bfs/gfs/romantic interests... it's the person behind the character. 

 

That set a lot in terms of my expectations on future Lalafells and it only takes one to change the views of many. I think do not doubt yourself and see it as a hindrance. If some people choose to stick blinders on, basing or make decisions on what they see or want to see, you can't stop them. All characters have a complexity to them and it's more about the person/s you're RP'ing with to have fun and discover that with you.

[Caspar]

I think it's a shame every time people straight up think lalafellin characters are trolls and dismiss them. Whether they end up being Dunesfolk or Plainsfolk, their lore is rich, and just amazing imo.

 

My lalafell is part of the first characters I made and is as old as my three mains. I have only been RPing him actively in the past months, because I finally found out his whole dynamic. I wanted to make an Ul'dahn black marketeer, and to be honest, what's better for that than a dunesfolk?

 

People are really not interested in 'non humans/non adults' looking races in most MMOs, because 1) oh, no, romance/cyber isn't an option, 2) they are labeled as trolls or uninteresting. This is apparently a very western mindset, as, according to japanese RPers, Lalafells are more present and taken very seriously in the east.

 

To OP: keep pushing. We need people to roleplay Roegadyns and Lalafells more often, and this, as much as possible. If you have an idea for any non-hyur, non-miqo'te or non-auri race, by all means, do it! You're only doing a great service to the community. At the end of the day, you will always find people to RP with. It just (sadly) asks for more efforts on your end. :[ It bothers me to say it, but you gotta push until you manage to prove people you're 'legit'. Usually a wiki is enough, to be honest.

 

Oh, and yeah. People not allowing roleplayers to join a scene because of their chosen races aren't worth RPing with. I have my own bias, but if the RP is good, then it's good. Always give the benefit of the doubt to people and see for yourself, @ people dismissing lalafells by default.

I'm curious to see what it's like over there RP-wise. I actually started on Aegis. But my langguage ability is insufficient to play with them. 

 

I'm not surprised it's a western thing. I think our idea of what is "mature," and particularly what is feminine, or unmanly, by association, is different in some small ways. Like I mentiomed, when you pick Lala you give up on sex appeal and machismo. You get cute in exchange. How much mileage you get out of it depends on the people across from you. 

 

It's part of the reason why I'm not that negatively disposed against "cute" lalas. If you don't overplay it, you can probably just have a young, naive character behave as you'd expect, and the race's natural looks will lend itself to that impression. I've gotten a lot of responses like this just RPing normally. It's mostly her look, but I figure her sometimes naive side has something to do with it. That and Virara has considerable vulnerability for being relatively strong in comparison to many PCs.