Where is the RP?

[Raeje]

RP isn't dead. Sorry. Last night I performed at a show. The night before I was supposed to perform at a show (but was in hospital), Saturday night I did cabaret. Most nights during the week my FC is doing something that people can get in on. If I don't want to get in on that, I can RP with my other friends from different LS. 

 

But if you're not in an FC, or any linkshells, and you don't want to go to the quicksand, look at the RP events section of this forum. It's clear there is something going on every day. 

 

I think the problem here is not that balmung is dead, but that you're failing to find anything to your liking. I'm sorry that you feel like Balmung RP has died, but there are still lots of opportunities to RP.

[Faye]

It's not dead. Just insular. If you don't have an "in", good luck.

 

I'd disagree with that considering the number of looking for RP posts here and on tumblr along with all the events going on. Much like Syranelle pointed out, it's a matter of finding the RP you're looking for or (and so many people forget about this part or just don't want to do it, tbh) if you can't find it -create- it.

 

But that brings up something else.

 

Lots of people are -looking- for RP. ...but like the many past threads, how many are creating it? Or creating RP that others are also looking for?

 

It's the wallflower argument, effectively. If everyone waits for someone else to initiate contact, then nothing will happen and people will keep waiting.

 

This. As others have said, RP is alive and well here. It's just a matter of seeking it out (joining FC's and LS's, responding to RP connection ads on the RPC and tumblr, lurking the Quicksand, going to RP events, etc.) or making it if you can't the type of RP you enjoy (make your own FC/LS/Discord, make your own RP events, make your own LF RP connection ads, initiate walk-ups, etc.).

[Etoile]

I'm all of .. a week or two old on this game. But in my experience you get what you put into it. If you're feeling shy and stand silently in a corner, there's a chance no one will approach you. If you start emoting vividly about what you're doing, the chances of catching someone's interest are much higher. Even better is walking up and just talking to someone who's a 'statue' but claims to be an RPer in that little player bio bubble.

[Zhavi]

Wherever you are.

 

Snag one of the innumerable other people looking for rp, and do your thing.

[Valence]

From what I have seen so far:

 

1) We are in a patch lull. For reasons already explained above (WoW Legion, boredom, people moving to other games, MMO hoppers, whatever), 90% of my contact list is empty most of the time. 

 

2) RP in FFXIV is peculiar in that RP is everywhere, but hard to access due to various factors such as the game social network tools (/tell, friendlist, impossible to add offline people, etc) that are obnoxiously user unfriendly and/or just basic. Problem is also that if you are in location X, RP can happen, but maybe not at your location. For you to know that RP is happening somewhere, you have to be aware of it.

 

3) Some good ways to find your post in RP is, from the most effective in my experience to the least: 

 

• Find a RP FC that you like and actually does RP things and events and stuff, that way you will find a place in overarching stories, make long lasting IC relationships and RP shenanigans; 
  
• Find good RP Linkshells that provide the hooks you are looking for. RP LSes are less effective since the core of RP always happens in your FC, but they provide a good complementary experience or even alternative, but they tend to suffer a bit more from lulls since they are less close knit than FCs (due to obvious proximity/gameplay reasons).
  
• Find connections, like by asking here on the RPC. It can work relatively well, but by asking for connections you have to go reach out to the people that offered. The onus is on you. Don't expect them to constantly check ingame if you are online to add you and offer RP, it happens rarely. If it's you offering to someone asking for connections on the other hand, yeah... but sometimes they just still don't contact you, so your choice. Anyway, it works well for short term improsived RP things, or just one-time RP. It works a lot less often for long term RP, because most of the players will just either vanish quickly at some point for various reasons (not finding their thing in the game, being bored, or else), or they might also not provide the RP you are looking for, or just not have the same RP views, which is fine. The main issue you will run into is that most people will just add you but actually never offer any RP and you will constantly have to reach out to them all the time to do something, which is super not cool I find (and makes ou wonder if they really like the RP you provide). Anyway, the few players that you will find here that will become long term friends are to be cherished.
  
• Go to big RP events. Can't speak much about that as I haven't really done it. It can be intimidating for a lot of reasons, is usually full of people and scrolling walls of RP text, hard to insert yourself among all those groups of people already RPing with their friends, etc.
  
• Do walk-up RP, in the Quicksand or anywhere else. Probably going to get fast food RP with random people with random views on RP and things, and be half of the time or more, just ignored.
  

 

4) Creating your own RP trip. More easily said than done. People like to tell you "you just have to do X or Y", but that's not "just". It takes investment, time and effort and it's not the privilege of everyone. It also takes charisma and an ability to sell your thing/concept, and even less people have that for them. Generally, when you don't find the kind of RP you are looking for, it's because it interests very little or just nobody. No matter what you will try, good luck with kickstarting something like that. I should know, I tried. If you want a safe and easy way to do it though, you just have to create the 100th generalist FC/LS about adventurers or mercs, but considering the amount there is already, no need to create your own really.

 

In anyway, wishing you all the luck for anyone trying to insert yourself in the RP scene and find THE good spot of friends sharing the same views on things, because it's hard and takes time. I should know, it took me many months for that to happen. Conciling the RP hooks and the story you are looking for, and the friends you are looking for, can be arduous.