balmung Maelstrom Command RP LinkShell Community <<FLEET>>

[MoenMoen]

Maelstrom Command RP LinkShell Community
AKA <<FLEET>>

Grand Company / Military / Law Enforcement / Adventuring

We are a LinkShell focused RP community – meaning that while we do have a Free Company, no one is required to join the Free Company to be considered a fully fledged member of the community. You don't have to leave your FC friends to play with us!

 

We're always accepting new members, and we love helping out with events for other RP groups too. For more info on how to join, or how to ask us to help out with you event, read the info below!

 

(Last updated on 10/18/2018)

Though we are a military group, our IC flavor is a little bit different than your typical military setup. In a nutshell, the Maelstrom is comprised of former pirate crews, each whom had agreed to serve whichever Admiral might be sitting in Limsa's high seat at the time. When Merlwyb won the most recent Trident competition, declared martial law, and essentially established herself as the permanent leader of the Limsan Navy, many former Knights of the Barracuda made the switch to the newly reestablished Grand Company of Limsa Lominsa (the Maelstrom). Overall, they're an organized military group, with a clear rank and uniform hierarchy, that operates in a slightly more chaotic good/chaotic neutral alignment than similar groups.

 

OOCly, we are a largely community run group, meaning that the members are given as much creative power as they would like in creating events and deciding what direction we would like to go as a group ICly. We are constantly collaborating: planning events together, taking turns DMing, finding ways to tie our character's backstories together, etc.! Our focus as a community is to help each other move the personal stories of our individual characters forward, using the backdrop of Limsan lore and a loose military structure as a force that helps drive it all forward – with Sylb (MoenMoen) acting as the safeguard/protector, and the social main tank, for the community.  We value quality over quantity, and real life events over RP pretendy time. Event attendance is never required!

 

Above all else, we are determined to be a safe place to share ideas, grow as creatives, and to have fun, dangit!! We avoid drama like the plague, encourage one another, and have each other's back at all turns.

 

As a bonus, we have cultivated an atmosphere that is a genuine safe place for members of the LGBTQA+ groups to hang out without worry of judgement or bullying.

 

Who we are ICly:

Officially commissioned personnel in the Maelstrom Grand Company!

• Maelstrom Soldiers
• Knights of the Barracuda
• Yellowjackets
• Foreign Levy (Adventurers)
• Privateers (Trade, War, & Black Sails)
• Mealvaan's Gate assessors

Who we are OOCly:

Friendly nerds who love to chatter and hang out and goof around!

• Human meme generators
• Housing fanatics
• Glamour savants
• Artists & writers
• Emoji addicts
• Mighty Punishers

 

Interested in learning more? Check out our RPC Club page for the full deets on how to join: 

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by MoenMoen
formatting

[MoenMoen]

Songs in the Deep

September 2018 - December 2018
Story leader/DM: Khebi

 

Strange sounds, signals, and reports begin to filter in through the Maelstrom airwaves, each from beacons in the far reaches of the sea. The Maelstrom is sent to investigate, but the more they uncover, the stranger things become.

 

Do you believe in ghost ships?

 

If you'd like to participate, join the LS community!

Edited October 18, 2018 by MoenMoen
updated current RP Campaign

[svash]

I transferred To Balmung from another server that was absolutely horrendously toxic and joining Fleet and the Maelstrom RP community was like winning the lottery. I've RPed in dozens of MMOs and communities and I can honestly say that no other community, in over a decade of RP, has been as kind and welcoming as Fleet has been. It's a group of wonderful, mature and empathetic people and it's been an absolute joy to be a part of.

 

10/10 would rp again

[Avali]

I got chased off RP by some bad happenings a few years ago, but one of my best friends convinced me to join Fleet after she had been a member for a while. Best decision I ever made! Awesome stories, awesome characters, and most importantly an awesome and supportive cohort to just chill and hang out with even if you're taking a break from RP or the game. I prefer to have a good OOC relationship with the people I RP with, and Fleet definitely meets that bar. They're all very caring, hilarious, and communication is king.

 

To echo S'vash, 10/10 would derp with again. (Also tbh I was sold on joining on a description of S'vash as a character, 10/10 best judgement call.)

[uragaaru]

I've been on Balmung since the free server migrations in 2013 from Gungnir. At first, I only transferred into the server because my 1st FC chose the server. Soon after I left that FC and found my first RP FC. Over the years, I've been a part of several RP FCs which have been a mix of good, great, and not so great experiences. I came onto FLEET about a year and half ago (possibly longer) and I will say that they are one of the best spaces on Balmung. The people are by and large open, friendly, funny, and respectful. Events are organized well and have good structure (Disclaimer I have run a one-off event here and there for the FC). Open RP nights are good chances for people to meet and create more emergent RP. Finally, as someone who hasn't had time to devote to RP (and have focused on PvE content), I still feel part of the community at large. If you have any interest in the Maelstrom or roleplaying in the Limsa Lominsan context, FLEET is a great linkshell/FC to anchor your vessel.

[Lexicon]

I've been on Balmung since 2014. I started in one FC and had zero intentions on roleplaying after several experiences that ranged from 'bad' to 'extremely toxic'. I tentatively joined the FLEET LS in 2016 on, for me, a trial basis: if I caught the slightest whiff at something wrong or unsavory, I'd just leave immediately. 2 years later, I am still a member of FLEET's LS. I became a full-fledged member of the FC last year. I have never been involved with a RP community as open, supportive, and respectful of its players as FLEET.

 

All the players are funny, kind, and welcoming, and events have been well-thought out and organized. There's a healthy level of support for players to present ideas for events or advancing a character's personal story. If anything, I'm honestly overwhelmed, because I have typically been used to things going so badly I have to write off games and storylines as a complete loss. 

 

If you have any interest in participating in some Limsa Lominsa based stories, give FLEET a look.

[Diskwrite]

FLEET is home. That's really the best way to put it for me. It's not every day in an RP group you get to roll with a bunch of folks you hope will be lifelong friends, so when you find something like that it's as important as it is special. The group is full of humorous, creative, and compassionate people who enrich the lives of the people around them. And we're also queer af. Which- it's one thing to say you're an LBTQ friendly group. It's another to actually be one. It's one of the things that makes me most proud to be part of this community, to know that people from all walks of life are able to come in and feel safe not only being part of the group, but also in sharing those parts of their lives as they so desire.

 

I love this group, and I love my friends, and I love putting on the DM hat and watching them suffer. It's a hobby. 

[Sarah Madain]

After five years ghosting around in FLEET I can claim two things: I have grown as both a roleplayer and a person in this group of wonderful individuals.

From someone who struggles with intense anxiety disorders I could hardly roleplay more than once a month for nearly two of those years. But every time I chimed in, or returned from a hiatus, they welcomed me back with open arms and would always promptly update me on all I missed. It was like my character had never gone, ICly I was welcomed back just as strongly. IRL comes first and game second. But when the time for the game comes? Ask for RP and you will FIND IT. Anyway, for four of those years I became bolder. I made those RP connections and slowly but steadily grew in confidence. Until finally, in the tail end of this year, I've successfully hosted my first small-time events, have helped others DM their own, and created a consistent schedule of roleplay for myself every other week. Whenever I asked for help doing these things a plethora of members jumped to my aid and it made all the difference.

 

Furthermore, to emphasize what Diskwrite said above me, not only are most of us queer as fuck but I've found in FLEET a consistently open community in which we feel safe to discuss ourselves and our identities. So many members have stepped up to the plate in this; willing to productively educate and actively support each other in who we are. I've learned so much. I've literally discovered more about myself, my identity and these people have captured my heart for it. Not to mention plenty of our actual characters are SO damn queer and much our discussion and support directly translates over to character development.
 

But to address the elephant in the room: when anything, and I mean anything, crops up that is either uncomfortable, ignorant or hateful - the reaction has never been to hand wave it away. It. Is. Addressed. Our members often react with a level head, but if some don't? Others always come to aid as communicative and validating forces and our leader steps in. Moenmoen will ALWAYS step in. She has an extensive track record for professionally approaching all parties and I've personally seen her do so to suss out details and determine how to react appropriately.  

TLDR:

<<FLEET>> may be the safest of spaces to both exist in and create your character without fear of toxic players. If you are looking for a roleplay community with Maelstrom Flavor™, an FC with multiple connections to other FCs and a willingness to competently collaborate with the server at large? Look no further.

 

<<FLEET>> is the home that found me and kept me.

Edited February 11, 2019 by Sarah Madain

[Krys'a Lyrabhe]

I'd just like to note that I would have given up on RPing in Final Fantasy were it not for the awesome people of the Maelstrom Command RP linkshell. I found them by chance and timidly began attending events. I was scared and ready to be asked to go away, because that had been how other groups had treated me in the game. And I did go away a few times, not because they pushed me away, but because I fled in an effort to protect myself from possible pain. I feared I would not fit in, that I would not be welcomed as a part of their community. I worried that my character would not be the kind of character that was wanted, because that had been my experice on so many previous occassions with other groups. I had a lot of fears.

 

What I found was healing. Their kindness, and genuine caring for others, gave me the safe environment I needed to mend the wounds that had been left on my psyche from other roleplay and freecompany experiences. I found people who accepted that sometimes I just wanted to hide in the corner and watch others roleplay. At the same time there was a gentle and very welcomed inclusion and efforts extended to help me ease out of my shyness and find RP with the group. The Maelstrom Command linkshell is everything that the people who posted before me here has said and so much more. And while some of the posts here are old by now - the group is still everything they had said when they posted their comments.

 

To give you an idea of where I am coming from in my perspective on this group: I have been officially diagnosed with acute social anxiety, resulting in PTSD nearly on par with soldiers returning from war. I hide away from even close family for fears I don't even fully understand. The kindness and support that the Maelstrom Command linkshell shows to all of their members has made me feel safe and comfortable in ways that I can never thank them for enough. Most important for me is that when I hide from the world, or life forces me away from the game, the members of Maelstrom Command are supportive and welcoming when I return.

 

The kind of RP that they do might not be for everyone, but in my experience, and obervations of Fleet, they try hard to find ways to help and welcome any seeking a safe place to RP. They try to nurture the kind of open and inclusive community where everyone can thrive and create the stories that help us all escape the hardships of life, even if only for a few hours a month.

 

I'll shut up now before I rable for another four paragraphs, just know that if you have been battered around by the storms or have had poor encounters with toxicity, Fleet might be able to offer a safe harbor where you can heal as they did for me. I have even got brave enough to co-host an event recently! I'd like to say I am over being afraid, but instead I will post this before I either hypervhentilate, or erase it, - or both. TY to all the members of the Maelstrom Command linkshell communuty for making it such an awesome place to be a part of!