Canon RPers and You

[Pascaleret]

Every time I see an NPC roleplayer out in the wild, I wonder how they would feel if someone made a carbon copy of their OC. Would they be fine with it, would they agree with the "it's cool, it's just for fun, if you don't like it then you don't have to RP with it" logic? Considering how many people I've seen up in arms over characters just having similar generic traits, I dunno. I don't get it.

[LiadansWhisper]

It's not really something I'm comfortable with. I mean, I don't think it would be right to make a scene, or yell at them publicly or whatever. I doubt any of them are trying to be jerks, so I would think that would be wrong. But, I would try to avoid interactions in most cases.

[Shoshopu]

To all the people saying "Well, they're not their characters? How would they feel if someone they didn't know was RPing as their OC?"... Just because I'm curious, how do you feel about fanfiction, by comparison? In both RP as a canon character and fanfiction you're usually writing about characters that aren't yours. If fanfiction is okay, why is RP not?

 

I don't really have an opinion one way or the other really (I wouldn't seek it out but I'm not vehemently against it either as long as they're OOCly considerate and reasonable; if one engaged me I would either play along for fun's sake and just, you know, not count it as canon for my character afterwards, because that's within my power to do; or just politely tell them I'm not interested and be on my way, depending on my mood), I'm just wondering where and why the line is drawn for some people.

[Caspar]

To all the people saying "Well, they're not their characters? How would they feel if someone they didn't know was RPing as their OC?"... Just because I'm curious, how do you feel about fanfiction, by comparison? In both RP as a canon character and fanfiction you're usually writing about characters that aren't yours. If fanfiction is okay, why is RP not?

 

I don't really have an opinion one way or the other really (I wouldn't seek it out but I'm not vehemently against it either as long as they're OOCly considerate and reasonable; if one engaged me I would either play along for fun's sake and just, you know, not count it as canon for my character afterwards, because that's within my power to do; or just politely tell them I'm not interested and be on my way, depending on my mood), I'm just wondering where and why the line is drawn for some people.

I think there's a fair number who would be frankly flattered, if not for the element of being in the same place at the same time. Like if I wrote a fic with OCs, if there were any writers whatsoever that considered that acceptable, for someone to want to write a story involving my character would make me feel honored. Though, more so if I like the depiction and it's not like an intentional lampoon.. Well honestly even that is fine with me if it's funny. Overall it's not really a comparison that holds up in my opinion because a canon character has primary source available to all players where OC is inherently a more intimate work due to being a seniprivate effort. I sort of feel it's like comparing an essay to a personal letter.

 

I've never been bothered by "common uniqueness" so I'm pretty indifferent to two characters being similar, myself, though intentionally jacking a person's work is in poor taste. I think the difference in scale is a big part of why canon and OC don't really feel comparable to me.

[Warren Castille]

If fanfiction is okay, why is RP not?

 

 

One is solicited, the other is not. You don't have to open up "Thancred at the Quicksand, Part XII" if you see it listed, but if you're RPing and he just shows up, you're forced to respond to it.

[Caspar]

If fanfiction is okay, why is RP not?

 

 

One is solicited, the other is not. You don't have to open up "Thancred at the Quicksand, Part XII" if you see it listed, but if you're RPing and he just shows up, you're forced to respond to it.

I think that's probably the least defensible element. That's the element that is most likely to bother a person in the oc vs canon character imitation example. Being in the same place and not really having control of it.

[Warren Castille]

If fanfiction is okay, why is RP not?

 

 

One is solicited, the other is not. You don't have to open up "Thancred at the Quicksand, Part XII" if you see it listed, but if you're RPing and he just shows up, you're forced to respond to it.

I think that's probably the least defensible element. That's the element that is most likely to bother a person in the oc vs canon character imitation example. Being in the same place and not really having control of it.

 

I'm speaking mostly (and broadly) about events, but those sorts of things can create some ugly continuity splinters. If half the people there are fine with Thancred turning up to get turnt up, and the other half aren't, how are they supposed to interact with one another? It's a messy, complicated mess, and the option to opt out always exists but isn't always deployed in a smooth manner.

[Arrelaine]

If fanfiction is okay, why is RP not?

 

 

One is solicited, the other is not. You don't have to open up "Thancred at the Quicksand, Part XII" if you see it listed, but if you're RPing and he just shows up, you're forced to respond to it.

I think that's probably the least defensible element. That's the element that is most likely to bother a person in the oc vs canon character imitation example. Being in the same place and not really having control of it.

 

I'm speaking mostly (and broadly) about events, but those sorts of things can create some ugly continuity splinters. If half the people there are fine with Thancred turning up to get turnt up, and the other half aren't, how are they supposed to interact with one another? It's a messy, complicated mess, and the option to opt out always exists but isn't always deployed in a smooth manner.

Pretty much this. That, and if they show up to an event... and so does another Thancred (which I have seen before, multiple NPCs showing up) who do we treat as the 'real' Thancred? There's also the issue of continuity. One Thancred does something, and someone else's Thancred does something else. Do we associate the actions to both Thancreds? Do we treat it as a one-shot, and it's not something that sticks? If so, that would go against quite a few roleplayers 'rules', like retconning something like that as never happening.

 

I'm more ok with minor npcs than characters like the Scions etc.

[Yandros]

If fanfiction is okay, why is RP not?

 

 

One is solicited, the other is not. You don't have to open up "Thancred at the Quicksand, Part XII" if you see it listed, but if you're RPing and he just shows up, you're forced to respond to it.

I think that's probably the least defensible element. That's the element that is most likely to bother a person in the oc vs canon character imitation example. Being in the same place and not really having control of it.

 

I'm speaking mostly (and broadly) about events, but those sorts of things can create some ugly continuity splinters. If half the people there are fine with Thancred turning up to get turnt up, and the other half aren't, how are they supposed to interact with one another? It's a messy, complicated mess, and the option to opt out always exists but isn't always deployed in a smooth manner.

Pretty much this. That, and if they show up to an event... and so does another Thancred (which I have seen before, multiple NPCs showing up) who do we treat as the 'real' Thancred? There's also the issue of continuity. One Thancred does something, and someone else's Thancred does something else. Do we associate the actions to both Thancreds? Do we treat it as a one-shot, and it's not something that sticks? If so, that would go against quite a few roleplayers 'rules', like retconning something like that as never happening.

 

I'm more ok with minor npcs than characters like the Scions etc.

 

Not to derail too much here, but I now really want to see some sort of Monty Python -esque situation where two people playing major lore NPC's show up and end up in a "No, YOU are the impostor!" situation.  

Actually.  No.  Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck situation!

 

"You are the impostor!"

"No you are!"

"No you!"

"Yes I am the impostor!"

"No I am the impostor!"

[Charity322]

I'm okay with two or three degrees of separation, ie I know a friend whose sister dated Thancred, etc.

 

Thancred dates anything that moves.

[Caspar]

I'm okay with two or three degrees of separation, ie I know a friend whose sister dated Thancred, etc.

 

Thancred dates anything that moves.

He's Punished Cred now. He's more serious business now. Plus I bet he's team Hilda now.

[Kilieit]

I'm okay with two or three degrees of separation, ie I know a friend whose sister dated Thancred, etc.

 

Thancred dates anything that moves.

 

No no, they also have to be broadly Good-aligned!

 

...because that totally narrows it down.

 

Though that does bring up the topic of plausibility - it's a lot more believable (and therefore likely compatible with other reasonable people's ideas of how things happened) that Thancred (who lives in Ul'dah and has been canonically stated to sleep around - which means even if someone else's character says their sister was dating him in the same time period, the two headcanons are still compatible with each other! Lol.) dated your character's sister than, say, Ser Aymeric (who lives in Ishgard, which was closed off to outsiders until recently, and has been canonically stated to have no interest in romance).

[Kellach Woods]

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

I know it's a thing.

 

I am very aware that it is a thing.

[Berrod Armstrong]

I don't integrate them into my own roleplay, and often decline when approached -- but I enjoy watching them and their interpretations/stories. I just sit in a corner somewhere and just soak up all the NPC story drama.

[Chidori]

It isn't really for me. None of my characters would really run in the same circles or know of them, so at best they might meet them in a tavern or something.

 

But then there is the potential problem of multiples. Say I meet one NPC but then come across another NPC'ing the same thing. Just feel it could get messy in that way.

[Kellach Woods]

WE ARE AYMERIC.

 

WE ARE LEGION.

[Charity322]

Now I want to see someone do a really good impersonator PC.

[Silmanos]

Yeah thats a no for me. Just no. I won't go out of my way to call them out but I will not interact with them at all. Like I know many people have their characters only mildly aware of msq events at best but even then I imagine most Ishgardian characters would know of things that have happened to Haurchefant and Aymeric and thats a can of worms I won't deal with as an Ishgardian rper. So I will stay away. If they force it on me... my character can and will completely laugh in their face and call them out on being an imposter, especially if they are related to Ishgard.

[Altitis Acquired]

After having seen 5 Haurchefants standing in Ul'dah and RP... no thanks.

[Dante Abigor]

I kind of treat them like a ticking time bomb to be honest. I mean, it's like a giant middle finger in a way. Not because they took a pre established character as their own, but because rp kinda works around a system of people not particularly more well established than others in the way of being special. 

 

Being Thancred, for example, shatters that notion for literally everyone involved. You just inserted a "famous" person into rp. There is no canon precident for this being possible because you create questions that can't be answered. How famous is "Thancred" and should I know him on sight? Is my character special enough to interact with this person? Will they be accurate enough to match everyone's canon (hell no)? There is no way to introduce a character that is constantly subject to official change into rp without making a large portion of everyone participating feel uncomfortable in some kind of way. If a person you interact with has to have a mental exercise about whether or not interacting with you can be canon or even good to do at all, in my opinion, you have done something wrong more often than not. 

 

And all because some douche wanted to be a special potato among people who usually all want to be special potatoes but can't cause of what I'll politely call public order. 

 

Tl;dr: I avoid them because ultimately they are either stressful, a waste of my time, or both.

 

Edit: for a more extreme example of what I mean, imagine someone rping as Lightning. We know it's canon that she could be there, and she could be easily remade without it directly mucking up ffxiv because her story is done, so to speak. But how easy is that character to digest in a public rp setting? I think that more easily sums up what I was getting at if my points seemed unclear.

[Kellach Woods]

Edit: for a more extreme example of what I mean, imagine someone rping as Lightning. We know it's canon that she could be there, and she could be easily remade without it directly mucking up ffxiv because her story is done, so to speak. But how easy is that character to digest in a public rp setting? I think that more easily sums up what I was getting at if my points seemed unclear.

 

It doesn't directly muck up FFXIV but it mucks up FFXIII-2 and LR since the crossover event happens directly between that gap.

[lutroxical]

I respect their decision to create their own fun in the way they want to do it, but I do not interact with them ICly or even want to be in the same areas where they are roleplaying. I am fine with them on an OOC level, but I am not the type of person to react in a starstruck manner when I see a "famous" NPC. I usually just go "hm" in my head, and carry on with whatever PvE thing I was doing. In fact, I've seen them so much since HW released I usually don't even react anymore?

 

Luckily, for me, it doesn't come up too much, as I don't participate in large server events for the most part. But for a person who does do a lot of public/walk-up RP, I could see a major NPC being there as a huge distraction for both me and the people I'm trying to connect with. That seems to be the most inconsiderate thing about them, in my opinion. You can individually choose to ignore or engage with them, which is fine, but if everyone else around you is suddenly in a tizzy ICly (or OOCly even), to use a phrase from my FC lexicon: RP is die. And that's not very fun.

 

So tl;dr: Private RP with famous canon NPCs among friends or other canon NPCs is okay with me entirely. Have fun! Showing up to public events as them is not so much.

[Cecily Jisi]

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

 

Oh it most definitely is. Hell, it's gotten to the point where I see OC versions of Youtubers. Found an account that was Markiplier as a deer. Or how about a Markiplier that's blue?! OR a Rock-type Markiplier. Like... if Markiplier was a Rock-type Pokemon.

[Altitis Acquired]

I kinda see it as the same as playing the Warrior of Light. You are giving your character some priviledges that he/she shouldn't actually have. Like, as if you see yourself as being a more important character in the world's lore than everybody else, because you RP as one of the "main characters" of the current history.

 

I don't think that's cool.

 

However, I have the attitude that anyone can play anything they want to play! As long they don't expect everyone else to accept it, should they RP something like this. But if they have friends to RP with who accept their RP, then go for it!

 

I just personally don't like it.

[Zelmanov]

Nope nope nope nope. I will ignore a canon RP'er. I will not approach them, nor will I try to involve myself in a convo who is currently engaged with a canon RP'er. Likewise I hope the same courtesy is afforded to me. 

 

Granted I am in a weird spot because I am part of a roll system with campaigns that can oft include named characters (thought it tends to be avoided) but it is more akin to a DM NPC in a dungeons and dragons game. Which to me makes more sense. Also these events are private with willing participants.

 

Any Haurchefant at the quicksands is invisible to me.