Canon RPers and You

[Max]

I never thought much of it when they first started to appear -- I assumed they weren't even roleplayers and were just cosplaying.

 

But over the course of the last year, Max ended up interacting with several, and I found myself rather enjoying the experience. Albeit they weren't major characters but still.

 

I still occasionally see PCs based off of Y'shtola, Minfilia, Papalymo, Aymeric, etc. Some of them roleplayers, some of them not. It makes me wonder how many people are actually willing to RP with them.

 

What's your opinion?

 

tl;dr : some players roleplay npcs (ie. an Estinien RPer). what is your stance and are you opposed to rping with them?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Personally, I avoid/try not to interact with people RPing as named "important" NPCs. It's kinda the whole reason NPC is a non-playable character. We don't know how Square Enix may change/affect that character, so RPing one is a caricature at best, in my opinion.

 

Should that stop other people from having fun RPing one? No. My "fun" is not more important than theirs. But they also don't need to occur in the same space. At best, I'd treat it like the people who walk around Hollywood (yeah, I'm a local) dressed up as movie characters. Cool to take a picture/screenshot with, but I'm not going to ICly react as if they are tat NPC. Especially not when I see 5 Haurchefants all in a party together.

[Aegir]

I think RPing with them is a lot of fun~ and it's cool when I see one around <3

[Ehzo'ir Tyaka]

Personally I see someone that is RPing as a named NPC the same way that I see someone that is playing some form of Drizzt. That is to say, I see them to be someone that really wants to try but doesn't have the ability to make a character that is entirely theirs. Now, granted, they could be new at RP and want to figure out how to do it before they work on a character, but I have seen people fall into the trap of always RPing as someone else's creation.

 

As for what I would do if I saw someone that was RPing as a canon character? I would probably do what was said above. Ignore them to the best of my ability, and not let it be anything more than an interesting story if my character has to interact with them.

 

"You wouldn't believe it, but I ran into someone that claims they are Cid Garlemond. I am pretty sure they are just crazy, but they were pretty convincing."

[Virella]

I ignore them. I won't harass them, but I won't interact with them.

 

As long they keep their roleplay private, I couldn't care less. But if you drag your ERP waifu/fuckboi NPC out into the open world, I will sure as hell go for your throat for interrupting people's immersion.

[Kilieit]

Not for me.

 

You do you, and it's nice to see them around, but please don't talk to me or approach me without asking first, or - pet peeve time, sorry - turn up to public RP events unannounced and uninvited.

 

What you are doing is inherently non-canon-compliant and inherently headcanon-dependent. It means everyone around you has to agree to your interpretation of the character, your ideas for why they're here and not where they're supposed to be in MSQ, your interpretation of their backstory, personal relationships, inner desires...

 

Honestly, that is a LOT to ask random strangers at an event to go along with when it's a character who any given player you run into has as much say in it as you do.

 

AND THAT'S NOT EVEN STARTING ON THE FACT THAT showing up as a canon character, uninvited and unannounced, is a god-mod and a power-play.

 

You're showing up and overwriting anything anyone's written into their backstory or ongoing plots about the canon character in question. You're going "nope, what you're doing isn't the case right now, because I prefer what I'm doing". When... again... that's a character that they have as much claim to write peripheral material about as you do.

 

You're showing up as one of a few characters who everyone at the event "ought to" know and possibly want to talk to. One of the few characters who is likely to reasonably grab everyone's IC attention, as soon as they walk in...

 

...and you did none of the work establishing that as their character trait.

 

You're riding the coattails of canon. I know of original player characters with similar gravitas. Those players did all the work building that character's connections, reputation, the interest others hold in them... when you show up as a canon character, all that's been done for you by the canon writers. It rubs people (people who worked hard on their OCs, and who are working hard on their OCs, in a primarily OC-centred environment) the wrong way.

 

No, okay, maybe it just rubs me the wrong way.

 

If you're being asked along by the organisers, or you're doing RP with friends, I promise you I have no problem with that. It still makes me smile to see canons out and about. And hell - I used to have in-game body doubles for, and also roleplay, two canons in my previous fandom.

 

...and I roleplayed on an out-of-game roleplay blog. Where interacting was completely opt-in and it wasn't awkward or difficult or anxiety-inducing to just ignore me. Not in-game, where my very visibly present character model and emotes would make it awkward for anyone to have to decide to "just ignore me". And my in-game body-doubles were strictly kept away from RP events. I think I roleplayed on one of them once, in party chat, with a friend. Besides that, they existed for OOC fun and interactions with my friends from my roleplay blogs.

 

Because I felt strongly this way then, and I still feel this way now.

 

TL;DR:

 

Pre-organised RP where the participants consented to you playing the role: YES.

 

Big public events where you haven't been invited and showing up is going to force everyone to decide to either make you the centre of attention for the duration of your attendance, or ignore you completely: NO.

 

 

you can tell i feel strongly about something when i go heavy on the italics button lmao

 

And... lastly... please, remember that you're basically the in-game equivalent of a Disney face character. Watch your conduct closely. There's nothing uglier than someone using a canon name making uncomfortably sexual remarks or aggroing on a stranger in /sh or /s. It's not as funny as you think it is.

 

moved my edit-to-add to a new post

[SapphireSkylines]

I've actually never run into roleplayers like that. When I see someone dressed up in say, Minfillia's garb, they're usually OOC or they just like the outfit and play as a completely different character. 

 

If I do run into one, I'd probably play along with it, get a picture and move on lol but I wouldn't want to do a serious storyline with that person because like everyone's been saying, we have no idea how Square Enix is going to develop that character.

[Max]

Personally, I avoid/try not to interact with people RPing as named "important" NPCs. It's kinda the whole reason NPC is a non-playable character. We don't know how Square Enix may change/affect that character

 

I'm of the same leaf. In addition to the potential changes the NPC might undergo through story progression, there might be several characters who are playing the same Haurchefant. So it'll eventually become a giant mess of alternate timelines and clones if you were to interact with more than just one.

 

It also crosses into that weird (and sometimes annoying) zone of "Well, my character is bffs with HAURCHEFANT!"

 

My experience was with very minor named NPCs, who are in a lot of ways generic. (One of them was a brass blade npc, for example).

 

 

turn up to public RP events unannounced and uninvited.

 

-steps into the Grindstone-

 

It is I, Ser Aymeric the Blue -- Lord Commander of the Temple Knights. I've come to fight.

:cactuar:

[Kilieit]

turn up to public RP events unannounced and uninvited.

 

-steps into the Grindstone-

 

It is I, Ser Aymeric the Blue -- Lord Commander of the Temple Knights. I've come to fight.

:cactuar:

 

OH MAN I didn't even think about the implied step-up in sheer martial prowess or magical power implied by playing a canon as opposed to a regular joe.

 

[seethes quietly]

[Kage]

I've seen a few here and there but the only ones that really come to mind as outright -being- there in public were some people roleplaying as the Sultana and some of the Scions. I easily ignored them though I know it was hard for some others when one of them (who later was mentioned as being new) tried to force it into the open. It was cringe-inducing in a way.

 

I think part of the problem is that a lot of blog-related roleplay (at least those I have been exposed to on Livejournal, Tumblr, etc.) have a preference of taking established NPC canon characters and rolling with them. So I think some of these roleplayers come into FFXIV and want to engage into their usual. In these, OCs tend to be looked at with side glances. These RPs though tend to be more closed off or not forcing these types of headcanons into the public. Ask-blogs seem to be a bit of an offshoot from this which at times can be quite entertaining.

[Caspar]

I've seen a few here and there but the only ones that really come to mind as outright -being- there in public were some people roleplaying as the Sultana and some of the Scions. I easily ignored them though I know it was hard for some others when one of them (who later was mentioned as being new) tried to force it into the open. It was cringe-inducing in a way.

 

I think part of the problem is that a lot of blog-related roleplay (at least those I have been exposed to on Livejournal, Tumblr, etc.) have a preference of taking established NPC canon characters and rolling with them. So I think some of these roleplayers come into FFXIV and want to engage into their usual. In these, OCs tend to be looked at with side glances. These RPs though tend to be more closed off or not forcing these types of headcanons into the public. Ask-blogs seem to be a bit of an offshoot from this which at times can be quite entertaining.

This is a good thing to keep in mind. It can be difficult to switch gears, and the RPers who started in this environment have very different standards and customs than the pen and paper/forum/aim irc crowd. A player who primarily writes fanfiction, for instance, often sees playing as an OC in an established universe as a one way ticket to suesville. It could conceivably be difficult for some of them to consider the idea of playing in a group where literally everyone is, in the strictest sense, breaking lore by introducing a named character to a world without the devs consent. Whether your character is literally the most plausible person ever that complies perfectly with all lore and is beloved by the most extreme of fanatical lorehounds, or a dimension-hopping half gargoyle mecha thri-kreen newtype wielding Soul Edge, they don't exist in the setting.

 

That being said, these folks will probably learn in time, and one of the ways that happens is by being politely refused, so I don't RP with them. I also try to avoid RP with people whose PCs personally know major canon characters, though that's a lot more case by case. I'm okay with two or three degrees of separation, ie I know a friend whose sister dated Thancred, etc. If you have a wall of NPC bodies between yourself and the canon character, it's a lot easier to accept it if you're fine with the RP or write it off as a rumor if you're not.

 

Mostly I just want to separate from the problem of abusing canon to elevate one's own character. I just try to keep in mind, however, that people from other communities see the solution to that problem differently, and try to respect that.

[Kilieit]

Like... when I did blog RP as a canon, what it generally involved was me posting a thing and people coming out of The Abyss Of Tumblr to reply to my ask prompts/open starters/starter calls/etc. Everyone I interacted with chose me as the representative of the character that they wanted to do this scene with today. They chose to follow me, i.e. have my writing on their dashboard at all (it's easy to blacklist someone's URL if you don't like their content). They had access to my About page (giving basics about my interpretation of the character), my Headcanons page (giving information about the main places I diverged from canon), my Backstory page (giving my interpretation of his origins). They were able to make an informed choice, actively, to roleplay with my interpretation of the character. And tomorrow they could choose to interact with a different version of the same character, written by someone else, and it wouldn't be unusual because RP blogs often have more than 1 "verse" attached to them.

 

Same dynamic goes for the fics I post. ("Everything the light touches is Balmung's kingdom." "But what about that shadowy place?" "That's Kilieit's ao3. You must never go there.")

 

On the contrary, if I were to create a body-double of the same canon character, then approach a stranger's RP scene in-game and attempt to include myself without introducing myself first or checking it would be alright...

1) They didn't choose me. They didn't reach out to me and say "hey I like your interpretation, can we do this scene". I imposed myself, my headcanons, my interpretations, on them.

2) They didn't get a chance to say no. I just walked up and assumed they'd be okay with it. It'd be like me responding to someone else's thread and then getting surprised when they ignored my input because they were counting on a different interpretation of the same character participating instead.

3) They would then be expected to retain our meeting as canon to their storyline. Outside of exceptional circumstances that call for retcons, most people assume that all in-game public interactions a person has are part of the same "timeline", and can be referred to in future at-will. Introducing such an interaction as a canon character has some knock-on consequences, such as...

4) It assumes they will call me back, and not another canon (or their own writing), if they need an appearance from my character in the future. Because whatever they do, if my [noun] canon's interaction is considered [adjective] canon to their timeline, then future interactions with the same [noun] canon will need to fit in line with what I did. If I have some specific headcanon or something... it sort of monopolises the character, for that person, as being me.

 

Doing any of this without asking is rude. Doing most of this without asking is power-gaming. I wish I could say I hadn't seen it in person, but I have. Twice. I have canon RPers I know personally and adore, because they're thoughtful and considerate in how they conduct themselves... but I can't get these inconsiderate interactions from others out of my head.

[Kage]

You have assumed that these roleplayers already know the difference though. I can't count how many times I've met people who mentioned that they didn't know anything about roleplay but wanted to try it out. I once talked about 'roleplay drama' to someone who I know does the blog type of roleplay but has never engaged in tabletop etc. Their first reactions were "wait what? that's a thing you do? why can't you do that?" before it turned into "Oh I see now."

 

They didn't -know- that those things are immersion breaking or the like.

 

((I mean I still flounder about immersion and caring about it, PVE or RPwise.))

[ExAtomos]

*draws a line on the ground in salt*

[Dat Oni]

If it makes sense contextually for them to be there, I will accept it.

[Kellach Woods]

if someone can pull off Ultros i'll accept it.

using Wind-Up Ultros as a proxy doesn't count.

[Warren Castille]

I'm not a fan of the practice but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, it's just not for me. I'll also toss in that showing up to events as an NPC is borderline disrespectful to the event, depending on who and what it is: That kind of appearance has the potential to derail and undermine an existing concept, but I will concede that I've got my biases on that particular point. A lot of hard work goes into planning and staging server events, and showing up as Someone Famous can remove focus from that.

[Jana]

I don't feel very strongly about it, but I avoid them as a matter of course. It wouldn't do for me to drag Y'shtola/Aymeric/etc into Jana's personal story (especially given how antagonistic she can be).

[Enla]

I'm not a fan of the practice but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, it's just not for me. I'll also toss in that showing up to events as an NPC is borderline disrespectful to the event, depending on who and what it is: That kind of appearance has the potential to derail and undermine an existing concept, but I will concede that I've got my biases on that particular point. A lot of hard work goes into planning and staging server events, and showing up as Someone Famous can remove focus from that.

 

This is my thought as well. I don't mind if other people do it and I certainly don't mind them interacting with others, but I really do think it's somewhat disrespectful for canon RP players to appear at server events. Especially since there's a million Haurchefaunt and Aymeric RPers for example already. (No offense to those RPers, those are just the two most popular ones I've seen). It gets too confusing dealing with them at that point, especially since one might appear at one event but another might go to a completely different event at the same time. Without continuity it's just one big sludge fest to deal with.

(This is not insulting those RPers as they're allowed to RP what they want. But my experiences, like Warren, have jaded me to the point that I'll ignore them if I see them at an event for the sake of my own RP continuity. However that's just me and my preferences are not reflective of others, nor would I try to impose them.)

[Cecily Jisi]

Yeah, definitely gotta say no on that. It's like when people RP on Facebook as Youtubers. It just feels weird.

[Virella]

Yeah, definitely gotta say no on that. It's like when people RP on Facebook as Youtubers. It just feels weird.

...

 

People do that o_O?

[Aysun]

I avoid them. To each their own, but I don't want to interact with them.

 

My view is: I understand when RPers are just getting their feet wet it's common to RP an established character, but NPCs are not yours to play in the open world. Those are SE's characters. I'd prefer people who do it to keep their RP in their established circles (aka their own separate continuity) or just write fanfiction.

 

Again, just opinion.

[Kellach Woods]

Yeah, definitely gotta say no on that. It's like when people RP on Facebook as Youtubers. It just feels weird.

...

 

People do that o_O?

 

Hoo boy.

[Arrelaine]

Yeah, definitely gotta say no on that. It's like when people RP on Facebook as Youtubers. It just feels weird.

...

 

People do that o_O?

 

Hoo boy.

...

 

Also, nope. To each their own, but NPCs are supposed to be 'non-playable'. Most of the FFXIV NPCs have some sort of authority, or what you would consider above and beyond the average character's abilities.

[Enla]

Yeah, definitely gotta say no on that. It's like when people RP on Facebook as Youtubers. It just feels weird.

...

 

People do that o_O?

 

Hoo boy.

 

Real People Fiction is a thing, a very terrifying thing. I've stumbled upon a few Jacksepticeye x Pewdiepie fanfictions. x_x