balmung Will craft for IC pen-pals

[Rila]

I'm getting a little burned out, so am trying something different.

 

If you love letters and the idea of your character getting a somewhat unhinged Seeker mage for a pen-pal appeals to you, you're in the right place.

 

I'rila Desta is a twenty-six year old former medicine woman who lives in La Noscea and works in Thanalan. Her expertise lies in alchemy, cooking and botany, and although she's not physically fit enough to be good at it, armorcrafting is also a life-long interest. She manufactures potions and medicines for a living. Not all substances that leave her lab are legal.

 

In personality, she is curious, enthusiastic and insincerely flirtatious. To her, there are few things in the world better than an interesting story. She wants to know about other people, although she can be slow to share anything about herself since her previous life had not been a particularly pleasant one. But not to worry! I'll keep the grimdarkness to a minimum. As a whole, I tend toward comedy. Angst is usually situational and has only happened rarely.

 

Still interested? Let me know in a reply or a PM.

 

EDIT: due to there being at least six people interested in a pen-pal, I'm going to get contact information from all of us and am also considering a linkshell. If we start a linkshell, we additionally have the option of using some kind of a fractal tome plot line (i.e. book that exists in multiple places so we all write to each other) to tie all our characters together. The lore behind it might be a little sketchy and we'd lose a bit of the charm of classical pen pals, but some might be interested in engaging with an artifact like that. So here's a poll!

[111]

For the record I'rila is super cool, and no one should pass up the chance to send silly letters back and forth to her.

[Aden Dellebecque]

What were your thoughts on how running pen pals would work? Considering the in-game mail allows so few characters.... This kind of low-impact concept really intrigues me. It sounds like my speed on days when more involved RP isn't working. Aden's a little nerd, too, he'd dig pen pals. And your character sounds pretty interesting.

[Reshie]

I would be game for this! I'rila has similar interests (as well as profession) to Frea so I can see this going rather well. Personality wise, Frea can be a little much for some people, especially around her siblings, so this form of RP would allow for something different. 

 

 

Little background: Frea is in her mid twenties. She currently runs an underground alchemy (and tea) shop, tending to sell more of her illegal products but she does make medicines, salves and the odd potion for others. She has a wide knowledge of the plants and animals needed to produce her products and is in the process of attempting to cultivate some of those items where she lives. Though not big on sharing a lot of personal details, she would be willing to swap trade secrets and information about various topics. She might even be willing to divulge personal information after a time. 

 

 

If you're interested, feel free to send me a PM and we can set something up.

[H.H.]

Oh shit son, pen-pals sounds cool. In-game mail needs more use.

[KoharuIyashi]

What were your thoughts on how running pen pals would work? Considering the in-game mail allows so few characters.... This kind of low-impact concept really intrigues me. It sounds like my speed on days when more involved RP isn't working. Aden's a little nerd, too, he'd dig pen pals. And your character sounds pretty interesting.

 

I like the idea, but this is what worries me too. We have a pretty high character limit that you'll have to send multiple mails to make up for it. But nonetheless, I am so down for this!

[Rila]

I am humbled by the response to this! Thank you. Truth be told, I had only expected one, maybe two people to reply. What a pleasant surprise to see that my love of letters is shared by many!

 

As for the letters themselves, I was actually thinking Google Docs is a promising medium. Aside from it naturally logging everything you post, you can also mess around with fonts. I owe this idea to the great Nuin Noiregide, so if you happen to see her in game, be sure to tell her she's awesome.

 

What does everyone think of using Google Docs?

 

On a logistical level, I'm more concerned about the fact that with five responders so far (one was through PM), I might not have time for as many pen-pals as people who are interested. And as this thread is less than a day old, it's probable that even more people will want to be part of this. I fear that if I tried simultaneously to start up writing to everyone, there will be a lack of quality and persistence on my part.

 

So I think what I'll do - and again, please chime in with your opinions - is start a pen pals linkshell so that everyone who's interested in exchanging IC letters can meet others with a similar interest. My plan is to have Rila write to each of you at some point, but I don't want to keep anyone waiting. This way, we can all enjoy pen-pals right away.

[Rila]

Ooh. The idea just came to me that in addition to starting a linkshell, we could set up some sort of plot where an artifact links us together. It would explain why we suddenly have IC pen pals from completely different backgrounds.

 

Like what if there's some kind of a fractal tome that exists simultaneously in multiple locations? And whenever one version of it is written in, anyone else with a copy can see it? Kind of like a... a magical fantasy Google Docs.

 

And that way, we can actually exchange addresses ICly and potentially start sending private letters from there. It would also give us the freedom to start communications with multiple people without having to search for an IC plot reason each time.

 

Am I overthinking this?!

[Aden Dellebecque]

A pen pals LS sounds excellent. Maybe set up a matching system for people who are new/too nervous to pick people out? That way no one who joins and wants one (or two, or five) is left out.

[Rila]

A pen pals LS sounds excellent. Maybe set up a matching system for people who are new/too nervous to pick people out? That way no one who joins and wants one (or two, or five) is left out.

 

That is an excellent point. I like this idea.

[Aden Dellebecque]

Though also, if it's being operated mostly outside of game, is an LS necessary? A spreadsheet for people to sign up on with their preferred contact info might work just as well. I missed a couple posts oops

[Valtiere]

Ooh. The idea just came to me that in addition to starting a linkshell, we could set up some sort of plot where an artifact links us together. It would explain why we suddenly have IC pen pals from completely different backgrounds.

 

Like what if there's some kind of a fractal tome that exists simultaneously in multiple locations? And whenever one version of it is written in, anyone else with a copy can see it? Kind of like a... a magical fantasy Google Docs.

 

And that way, we can actually exchange addresses ICly and potentially start sending private letters from there. It would also give us the freedom to start communications with multiple people without having to search for an IC plot reason each time.

 

Am I overthinking this?!

 

I kinda like this idea. I want to volunteer Hien for the pen-pal thing anyway because it sounds like fun, but this would be really interesting too.

 

Hien is a collector of books and I could absolutely see him stumbling across one of these tomes. He'd probably end up a little obsessed with trying to figure out how it works and who the people he can apparently talk to are - if they're real people at all. But it'd definitely be a fun way to do 'meet' people.

[Rila]

Though also, if it's being operated mostly outside of game, is an LS necessary? A spreadsheet for people to sign up on with their preferred contact info might work just as well.

 

Also a fair point.

 

I kind of like the idea of an LS so that can it sit in the directory for posterity, since I suspect many more people browse through all of the LSes than read several pages back on the Making Connections forum. That way if someone wants to write and receive letters, say, a month from now, they'll know of a thing to join. And I missed the post I just responded to being stricken out, whoops

[Aden Dellebecque]

Ooh. The idea just came to me that in addition to starting a linkshell, we could set up some sort of plot where an artifact links us together. It would explain why we suddenly have IC pen pals from completely different backgrounds.

 

Like what if there's some kind of a fractal tome that exists simultaneously in multiple locations? And whenever one version of it is written in, anyone else with a copy can see it? Kind of like a... a magical fantasy Google Docs.

 

And that way, we can actually exchange addresses ICly and potentially start sending private letters from there. It would also give us the freedom to start communications with multiple people without having to search for an IC plot reason each time.

 

Am I overthinking this?!

 

I do feel like this is probably overthinking it--people have been doing pen pal writing IRL for a long time, often to random strangers they found by whatever means. There's a sort of charm in that.

 

However, for people who want this type of RP but feel like they need further justification for their characters, I think it could work. Perhaps it's the original basis for the list, but in function it's not what everyone is using? Keeping this sort of thing in place for people who want to seek something a little meatier than just exchanging IC letters would be both prudent and interesting.

 

Ancient Allagan listservartifact starts the whole thing, is perhaps responsible for keeping track of who participates, but is not responsible for all communications?

[Aden Dellebecque]

Though also, if it's being operated mostly outside of game, is an LS necessary? A spreadsheet for people to sign up on with their preferred contact info might work just as well.

 

Also a fair point.

 

I kind of like the idea of an LS so that can it sit in the directory for posterity, since I suspect many more people browse through all of the LSes than read several pages back on the Making Connections forum. That way if someone wants to write and receive letters, say, a month from now, they'll know of a thing to join. And I missed the post I just responded to being stricken out, whoops

 

You made a really good point here regardless. Perhaps we could get the thread stickied? Though if it goes artifact route LS would work.

[Rila]

So! Convenient lore-dubious-but-potentially-fun plot excuse vs. that quaint old-fashioned pen-pally charm.

 

I see strengths and weaknesses in both routes and would welcome thoughts from others who are interested!

 

Should I do a poll I wonder?

[Aden Dellebecque]

An interest survey might be good both to see how many people bite and to determine if there are enough people interested in one over the other to prioritize it.

[Koen]

Koen has over 30 years of stories about war, travelling Eorzia and plain life experience he can share bits of, if that'd float your character's boat. He's been looking for an armorsmith ICly, which could work as a link, or he could've picked up whatever device/artifact you're thinking of.