Playing as an NPC

[Kallera]

I've seen my share of haurchefants and hildebrands, but never in any rp setting. given the situation though I would probably unfairly consider them of the godmodding variety.

 

not saying it's right, hell roleplaying an npc would be great, but established characters from the msq considerable clout, power and riches? their plot armor is usually as bad as the WoL.

[Ellmida]

 

2.  If they are trying to SERIOUSLY RP as that character?  My character will treat them as someone delusional, touched in the head or drunk.  Because thats the only way it would make sense.

 

I keep seeing people post this in every thread this is brought up. I find this reaction to be mean spirited and contemptuous. And it doesn't seem to be in the spirit of role play. It's weird where people draw the line between "okay, I'll pretend your character is/has this, but if you say they are/have this I'm going to be derisive and try to make you feel bad.

 

I think Kilieit explained it best as to why it is a problem for most and why most people might react this way. It's not mean spirited so much as it is someone trying to find a way to accept that character without feeling they are being forced to accept someone's NPC RP as canon and then incorporate it into their RP.

[Mia Moui]

Newp.  Not into it.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with them doing it but I wouldn't participate.  I might watch tho.

 

I don't think that EVERYONE should play some nobody/bland/vanilla background character. Everyone is a somebody once you get to know them.  But most of us are not nationally or even regionally known.  I personally wouldn't have clue one how to portray a famous person or someone with great political influence.

 

My reluctance to encountering someone playing an NPC is that my character MIGHT have already established a relationship them.  This would be a relationship that the NPC player would not know anything about.  And the more important the NPC, the more likely it is that other players have established relationships with that character in their own head canons.  And why should they have to substitute that canon for someone else's interpretation?

 

My character tends to stay off the map and deals with persons, places, and things that are based on the MSQ & side quests but doesn't necessarily follow any of it.  I'd never suggest that Mia has an ongoing feud with Zana Lyehga because in the MSQ, I'm pretty sure I killed her. Every one on the Gladiator quest line has killed Zana Lyehga.  But, Mia does have an ongoing feud with a Miqo'te who is more or less identical to Zana Lyehga.

 

But it would be weird to see someone playing Zana.  But because she's somewhat low on the totem pole of NPCs, I'd be more likely to RP with them than someone playing Minfilia or Admiral Bloefhiswyn.

[Warren Castille]

Here's a thought, as well:

 

Eorzea is a land with a distinct caste system in the various nations that comprise it. There's also failingly little evidence of photographs existing, and there's definitely no television. If you AREN'T a part of the high-ranking adventuring class, how does anyone even know what these people look like? Who the hell is Thancred? What's a Ser Grinneaux? We as players know what these names mean, but unconnected player characters can reasonably doubt someone being who they say they are. This leads to...

 

Playing an NPC requires a certain degree of decorum, sort of: If you're playing Raubahn or the Sultana or a Scion, it sort of forces the RP to acknowledge that person exists. As mentioned above, it's difficult to imagine running into Johnny Depp at a coffee shop, but if it DOES happen you can guarantee that the topic of the scene is going to be Johnny Depp At A Coffee Shop. It has the capacity to derail anything else going on when you cash in a character's celebrity.

 

I don't really understand why people like roleplaying canon characters, so I can't explain the appeal. To someone like me it kind of reeks of "Give me attention" and I logically know that isn't the case, but I've seen enough instances of someone sucking the air out of the room trying to swing that unearned clout and it doesn't settle well with me. That makes me feel bad for the people like the OP, who are just doing it to present a scene for their friends.

 

I'm alright with it happening for planned arcs, but I can't really explain away why the Azure Dragoon is hanging out with pirates in Limsa and getting drunk.

 

edit: And truthfully, I'd rather not have to. It's the same as when people do hugely-dramatic actions in public places: Magey explosion fights in the open streets, giant military maneuvering that would have major consequences in the MSQ, and the random "A primal appears in the Canopy and slaughters tons of people" kind of stuff does more to splinter a community than it does to bring one together. Someone Important turning up in public isn't on that scale, but the impact is the same: You either go with it or you don't, and that can splinter coherency in some awful ways. Shared communities don't handle one person or group telling them what the RP canon is, and yes, even in trivial things like "Minfy and Tataru Buy Dresses."

[Aegir]

I guess I just don't see treating someone's character who is not drunk or insane as being drunk or insane because I don't like their character idea as diplomatic.

What do you suggest otherwise for people to do IC if they don't want to deal with people roleplaying NPCs? I think beyond flat out ignoring them, tell them to shove it OOC, there's very few legit IC options left to handle the situation beyond writing them off as insane.

 

There's little to win here if people are not consenting to their roleplay. In your opinion you're rude if you try to handle it IC by writing them off as insane/drunk. If you ignore them, you're rude according to some. If you play along with them while you don't want to, the player who's approached doesn't think it's enjoyable roleplay and just wishes it didn't happen. If you retcon, you're being mean in some people's eyes as well.

 

So what do you propose then? Because I really can't see any winners here if you don't want to roleplay with NPCs and they still insist onto RPing with/around you.

 

I think if people told them (politely) OOC that they are not interested, and they stay around despite that, you are in your full right to just ignore or write the character off as insane at that point. Consent is the main key here. If I'm not interested in RPing with x person because of x reason (including them RPing a NPC), that's my full right to do such, and those of others as well.

 

I guess I see open RP as an uncontrollable environment, like real life, where you aren't going to like or agree with everything everyone is doing around you. I don't have the automatic assumption that if a person plays X (whether X is a canon character, a White Mage/Dragoon/Fist of Rhalgr, voidsent/voidtouched, whatever) they're automatically going to suck and I'm not going to like it. I've met a lot of interesting characters with some really weird backgrounds and I'd kick myself in hindsight if I hadn't given them a chance.

 

I've never had a canon rp-er shove themselves down my throat before like you have, but I think I would handle it in the same way I would an aggressive ERPer or someone behaving inappropriately. I'd probably just ignore them. I wouldn't try to bully their idea by going: get a load of this nutjob, though. 

 

I'm not sure where in my previous post I wrote that you /have/ to RP with them. If I made that statement, I apologize. I feel like I pissed you off and that wasn't my intention.

[Tyndles]

 

2.  If they are trying to SERIOUSLY RP as that character?  My character will treat them as someone delusional, touched in the head or drunk.  Because thats the only way it would make sense.

 

I keep seeing people post this in every thread this is brought up. I find this reaction to be mean spirited and contemptuous. And it doesn't seem to be in the spirit of role play. It's weird where people draw the line between "okay, I'll pretend your character is/has this, but if you say they are/have this I'm going to be derisive and try to make you feel bad.

 

It's a very clear line to draw. "This is my original character that I created for role-play in this world." vs. "This is not my character, it already has a story, but Im going to just pretend that lore doesn't exist."

[Ellmida]

I guess I just don't see treating someone's character who is not drunk or insane as being drunk or insane because I don't like their character idea as diplomatic.

What do you suggest otherwise for people to do IC if they don't want to deal with people roleplaying NPCs? I think beyond flat out ignoring them, tell them to shove it OOC, there's very few legit IC options left to handle the situation beyond writing them off as insane.

 

There's little to win here if people are not consenting to their roleplay. In your opinion you're rude if you try to handle it IC by writing them off as insane/drunk. If you ignore them, you're rude according to some. If you play along with them while you don't want to, the player who's approached doesn't think it's enjoyable roleplay and just wishes it didn't happen. If you retcon, you're being mean in some people's eyes as well.

 

So what do you propose then? Because I really can't see any winners here if you don't want to roleplay with NPCs and they still insist onto RPing with/around you.

 

I think if people told them (politely) OOC that they are not interested, and they stay around despite that, you are in your full right to just ignore or write the character off as insane at that point. Consent is the main key here. If I'm not interested in RPing with x person because of x reason (including them RPing a NPC), that's my full right to do such, and those of others as well.

 

I guess I see open RP as an uncontrollable environment, like real life, where you aren't going to like or agree with everything everyone is doing around you. I don't have the automatic assumption that if a person plays X (whether X is a canon character, a White Mage/Dragoon/Fist of Rhalgr, voidsent/voidtouched, whatever) they're automatically going to suck and I'm not going to like it. I've met a lot of interesting characters with some really weird backgrounds and I'd kick myself in hindsight if I hadn't given them a chance.

 

I've never had a canon rp-er shove themselves down my throat before like you have, but I think I would handle it in the same way I would an aggressive ERPer or someone behaving inappropriately. I'd probably just ignore them. I wouldn't try to bully their idea by going: get a load of this nutjob, though. 

 

I'm not sure where in my previous post I wrote that you /have/ to RP with them. If I made that statement, I apologize. I feel like I pissed you off and that wasn't my intention.

 

Rereading this response and it doesn't look like anyone is angry, just trying to explain their point of view. That there is a disagreement on how certain rp preferences should be handled should not be interpreted as bullying. I think what people are trying to get across is that if they cannot wrap their heads around someone playing as an NPC they should not be forced to accept it into their rp just as those who like to rp outside basic lore should not be forced to adhere to a strict set of guidelines for what kind of character they can have.

 

I think that's all anyone is really trying to say

[Warren Castille]

 

2.  If they are trying to SERIOUSLY RP as that character?  My character will treat them as someone delusional, touched in the head or drunk.  Because thats the only way it would make sense.

 

I keep seeing people post this in every thread this is brought up. I find this reaction to be mean spirited and contemptuous. And it doesn't seem to be in the spirit of role play. It's weird where people draw the line between "okay, I'll pretend your character is/has this, but if you say they are/have this I'm going to be derisive and try to make you feel bad.

 

It's a very clear line to draw. "This is my original character that I created for role-play in this world." vs. "This is not my character, it already has a story, but Im going to just pretend that lore doesn't exist."

 

I don't think people are intentionally disregarding canon most of the time barring continuing to play the dead folks. That's the problem with fan interpretations of existing characters, though. One of these is questionably writing fan fiction, and the other is definitely writing fan fiction.

[Askier]

I think this is a pretty dividing issue and would avoid role-playing a npc just to avoid any fallout. Sure you might not have an issue with it, but you don't know if others will.

 

I recall an event that an RPer held years back where the Sultana showed up and, while it was tastefully done, probably caused more headaches for the planners than it was worth. The fallout wasn't very pretty.

 

So, I advise just let Square do the npc thing and craft a OC. It's more challenging Imo and far more rewarding.