Returning player is troubled...

[SaintOfAether]

Hello everyone. Name's Saint, aka Corim. I am returning after about a 4-5 year hiatus from FFXIV (been playing about a month now since my return) and I am...quite worried, to be honest. When I last played, RP was abundant in every where I looked. I could go to Ul-Dah and meet up with people, go to Limsa's bar, there were TONs of events often shouted in the streets advertising to come to FCs and the like...

 

Now I arrive with random people from other worlds trying to be memelords and random ERP alts flooding the Quicksand (it's Moonguard all over again...). Trying to find RP with my character has become nigh impossible with random people, and my FC, while awesome, is very small with very little activity during my timezone. I transferred -all- of my characters back in the day to Balmung because I was told it was the RP hub on FFXIV, and now I see not a drop of it out in public anymore. While the gameplay, new classes, storyline in MSQ, and all that is amazing, what made me love this game was the roleplay and meeting new people. There are only so many times I can "go to X's tavern" and get a drink....

 

In short: What the hell happened to kill off public RP in the RP server?

[Teadrinker]

You'll ask this question to different people and get a bunch of different answers. Personally, I observe the same things you do and I agree. It's not quite what it used to be. As for what caused it, I think there's a few answers and the following is my opinion from what I have observed. 

The community is just far more insulated than it used to be. People tend to congregate on private discords and rp in small communities and not venture outside them. The reasons for this vary from they don't feel they need to just they don't feel comfortable for one reason or another. You will see a lot of "walk ups welcome" in notes but the reality is there is a lot of anxiety and fear around random roleplay and walkups to the point where it has borderline ceased to exist in favor of private communities and LFRP posts.

Watching party finder is still a good way to find popup rp. Whenever I do a pop up event I advertise via party finder. Watching the RP calendar on this website as well is a for sure method for finding events that suit you. Likely not all of them will but...just don't go to those.

For what it's worth, the most walkup rp of quality I have found is located in Ishgard but it's very Ishgard flavored. Could keep an eye out there and see what happens.

 

[Dat Oni]

I have reservations about why its like this and they're not very positive, especially based on my experiences with the community. I may be biased, though, so I'm not gonna share. Regardless, I can tell you that as I have traveled around I have found multiple indications of organized rp happening sporadically across Balmung. I stumbled upon a massive FC rp event just trying to complete stormblood quests, which was nice.

I will tell you this much, don't go to the quicksand for Ul'dah rp. The ERPers have completely taken that over, and /shout in the steps of nald is completely unbearable. Instead, go through the doorway to Peal Lane in the Steps of Thal, you'll find a lot of non-erotic roleplayers hanging out in character there, and even, y'know, talking. I know right?

 

 

[Mua Viras]

I keep a look out for linked carrds and such in players search info.  I'll dm them and see if they're free to rp.  Most of my best rp experiences have come from that.  Basically, at least in my experience, don't be afraid to reach out and talk to people first, even if they aren't in character.

[Gospel Lightfaith]

Hey there, Corim!

 

If I'm out and about in any of the cities, I'm almost always in-character, but if you see me running around somewhere and I'm not RP flagged I can generally be coaxed into it with a poke or prod.    I know it doesn't help you in the grand scheme of things, but I'm always happy to make new contacts and connections for my characters.

 

More often than not, I go by the motto of:  "RP is where you make it."  If I don't find RP to my liking somewhere, then I'll make my own, making posts IC that people can react to if they're nearby.  There's a difference between posting reactionary things and just 'wallflowering', though.  Trip and fall.  Knock over something, Bump into someone.  Initiate the contact IC and see what comes of it.  If no one bites, move on and try again.  

I also make it a habit to check out carrds and profiles when I'm idling around and sending compliments to the authors along with invitations to RP.  Sometimes these pan out, sometimes they don't.  It's all really luck of the draw and whether or not you really click together as writers and players.  It's a process of elimination, really.  Try one thing, if that doesn't work, try another, and another.  Something will eventually pan out, I promise.  

[Madness]

Hey Corim, I fully get what you mean about the public roleplaying spaces, so many non roleplayers that random roleplay is drowned out somewhat.

 

I started roleplaying on Balmung about 2 years ago and in that time I have seen a decrease in the number of EU timezone friendly events, FC's and players. I know that some have headed over to Omega where there is a vibrant EU roleplay community(it's presence is just basically non existent on this site). But there is still some out there.

 

On the FC front the only one I can recommend first hand is Winter's Wake(I'm a member, though have recently returned from a hiatus so am not roleplaying myself atm), mostly EU based roleplayers though it does have some NA and events are based at EU friendly times. The FC concept is essentially a mercenary guild but one with a conscience. The number of events and amount of roleplay is a bit less than usual atm I believe because of the place in the expansion cycle. Feel free to DM me and I can put you in touch with the leadership etc.

 

I wish you luck in your search!

[SaintOfAether]

Well, thank you for the replies and it shows I am not the only one who has seen these negative changes, but I will say that FC-driven or Home-Driven RP events seem to have increased a ton! I have also seen a SKYROCKET in the quality of RP, so I suppose not everything is bad. I also have met a ton of skilled RPers that I never would have met had they not introduced the cross-server thing. Being able to meet people from Omega, or Mateus or whatever RP servers there are has been a joy. 

 

I have, however, heard that one RP staple that was all the rage back when I was a regular is STILL around! I was so happy to hear people still do Grindstone/Runestone! 

[Faye]

Welcome back! I've been playing since ARR's launch and I haven't really seen a decline in the amount RP. You just have to look for it in different places than you might have a few years ago. Ul'dah pick-up RP has moved from the Quicksand to Pearl Lane right outside of it. RP events are still abundant--probably more abundant than ever. Sadly a lot of those newer events are "clubs" and "brothels" that tend to be light on RP especially of the non-ERP variety. The other RP events are still there; you just have to sift through the night clubs to find them. A lot of RP is arranged through FC's and Discords now. If you're content with your FC, then I'd recommend joining some of the community Discord servers.