Question about an OOC Free Company and IC LSes

[synaesthetic]

So, being an RPer myself and all, I'm headed to Balmung. I've got a bunch of friends who want to run an IC Linkshell for roleplaying and I'm pretty excited about the idea, but they aren't wanting to involve PvE content with the RP LS.

 

As an aside, I've been wanting to form an endgame-focused Free Company once the game launches as a sort of safe-space for LGBT people who want to be able to run endgame content and use voice chat (mumble et al) without having to worry about being made fun of or having people disrespectfully use improper pronouns.

 

Anyway I'd like to list the FC here since a great deal of the people running the thing are RPers, and one of the major issues I've encountered when playing MMOs and RPing is the inevitable "do I choose an RP guild, or do I choose an endgame guild?" It's a hard thing to decide, but fortunately ARR gives us the option to have a Free Company in addition to up to 8 linkshells.

 

So I figured that people here might be interested in joining a PvE-focused Free Company that won't make any roleplaying demands upon them, leaving them free to join whichever IC Linkshell they want.

 

The FC's called Unity (or Unity in A Realm Reborn) and we've been working on getting our website ready to go, it's nearly there, and I'd like to have it listed here for those roleplayers who want an endgame FC that's sympathetic to the needs of roleplayers.

[Naunet]

As someone who has had to face numerous times the dilemma of roleplay guild vs. end-game guild, I can totally get behind something like this - and I have! :3 *waves*

[Corin Winterborne]

I run a LGBT/Friendly Linkshell (possible FC).  I sent you a PM, maybe we can work together to create a free company.

[Momoji Momochi]

I view RP as something I'd do occasionally, since most of the activities in the game are not very conducive to RPing. Having the entire free company be an RP zone would put a tremendous amount of extra pressure on players doing content that is hard enough as is. People who RP very regularly might be able to pull it off, but most RPers have to stop and think about what they're character would say or do, and that takes quite a bit of effort on the part of those involved.

 

To be honest, I wouldn't want to be in an RP free company unless the RP is a planned event. Otherwise it will turn RPing from being fun into a form of work.

[Elisea Renyven]

I view RP as something I'd do occasionally, since most of the activities in the game are not very conducive to RPing. Having the entire free company be an RP zone would put a tremendous amount of extra pressure on players doing content that is hard enough as is. People who RP very regularly might be able to pull it off, but most RPers have to stop and think about what they're character would say or do, and that takes quite a bit of effort on the part of those involved.

 

To be honest, I wouldn't want to be in an RP free company unless the RP is a planned event. Otherwise it will turn RPing from being fun into a form of work.

 

Exactly that. When we did our plan and structure discussion. We did not want our Free Company to be in character at all, because it was going to be the mainstream hub for social activity, endgame etc. While at the same time, a linkshell could easily be used as our in character chat... especially with FC having 512 members or so and an LS having 128. So we also wanted to set up an LS for alliance chat between FC's that we're allies with so we could group up for things as needed or cross communicate. Basically, its having your social fun and endgame, while having fun in-depth rp with folks you enjoy being around.

[Xeon]

Well i had already planned on joining a FC for game content, and linkshells for RP. Raiding and endgame is a huge part of my mmo experience, so i thought it best to have a nonrp FC and RP LS's.

 

-Xeon

[synaesthetic]

The Unity FC is not an RP Free Company. RPers can join, so can non-RPers, and RP isn't part of the scheduled or planned guild events that will be happening. Unity is dedicated toward clearing PvE content, so you can have your Linkshells for roleplaying stuff.

 

If that sounds like something you might be interested in, let me know.

[Tyriont]

Wild Sky's OOC Free Company is designed with exactly that principle in mind - a Free Company for RPers to do endgame content with each other without having to worry about character interactions. I'm not sure what kind of cross-company content (if any) will be added since it sounds like you've got your own one founded already, but we'd be more than happy to work with you in future

[synaesthetic]

Wild Sky's OOC Free Company is designed with exactly that principle in mind - a Free Company for RPers to do endgame content with each other without having to worry about character interactions.  I'm not sure what kind of cross-company content (if any) will be added since it sounds like you've got your own one founded already, but we'd be more than happy to work with you in future

 

Yay potential alliances! Please keep me on speed-dial; I would like to possibly work out an overflow agreement or something.

[plutosams]

CTPA is an LGBT friendly FC and although we are going to be running endgame content ourselves we would love to join in an alliance with a FC like yours.

[Asyria]

The thing is you cna have multiple LS but just one FC.

If it was me, I'd put my RP into a themed FC and my endgame into a LS (since it's just a chat channel, and it,s all I tend to need for endgame.. a list of people to do things with and a way to coordinate with them.)

My endgame experience however is minimal because that's never my main focus in a mmo. The closer I get to endgame, the more casual I get. ^^;

[synaesthetic]

Thing is, Free Companies have infrastructure built in that's useful for endgame guilds (shared bank, perks, etc) that aren't especially useful for roleplaying. It's clear that Squeenix wanted to update their "guild" infrastructure to match the more modern MMOs' examples, but they left Linkshells alone simply as sort of permanent private chat channels.

[FreelanceWizard]

Alas, there is one thing that FCs get that is useful for RP -- guild halls as part of the housing infrastructure. Personally, I'm with Asyria that I'd rather do endgame (if at all ) through alliances and stick with an RP FC, then use linkshells as chat channels. That's just me, though.

[Elisea Renyven]

When we wanted to put our Free Company together. We had to do some important research to see how many ranks you could have, what features was available and the pros and cons over a linkshell. We decided to use our similar structure model concept from another game to assist with it. First of all, you have 15 ranks, easy to use for a group that has non-roleplayers and roleplayers, so you could set up ranks easy enough so people knew where they stood oocily. Secondly, the guild hall and other features is just too good to pass up for in character. The guild bank, its something everyone can use.

 

After weighing the pros and cons, we decided the best choice was to use the FC for OOC chat, questions, etc and use the linkshell for roleplaying if we're not all together. Reason is based on the structure, the amount of folks etc. There was quite a bit of thought in this regard, so I can't consider the FC a full ooc one based on certain components being used. That's why I agree with Asyrian and Freelance to a point, because the FC just has so much great stuff in it for RP and it does take a certain structure to make that work. (The fact guild halls do so much is amazing)

 

The other big thing about us, having a good chunk representing roleplaying and end game is also vital in my opinion. I will admit, we are not casual for end-game, I consider us more softcore in understanding the class, figuring out mechanics and being dependable during a raid. But not everyone a part of us will be softcore, they may be in it for the family and the rp. That's also why I like having an LS for Alliance chat too, it makes us stronger for end game and out of rp activities. Structure is just so important to me.

 

I can say one thing about us, we are a family above all else and we do put aside things like religion, politics and stuff of the real world. Because many of us enjoy having a family to belong to and be supportive. I remember when my hardrive had a melt down, one of my guildies drove 3 hours to meet me and help bail me out. Can't really get much more awesome than that.

[synaesthetic]

I didn't think about the FC housing, that's a good point and probably explains why some RPers who have contacted me are still on the fence about joining Unity.

 

Regardless, I'm still going forward with Unity because I believe it fills a much-needed niche, and because I personally am 30% RP and 70% PvE, and it's been a long, long while (FFXI in 2007-2008 was the last time, really) where I was really able to get into the meat of a game's endgame content.

[Twinflame]

As someone who alternates between 100% RP and 70% RP (as in, I will always be a heavy RPer, and will RP every character I play), I've got no real reservations about using a non-RP Free Company. I know a number of the people in the Free Company are RPers, the officership specifically, so I'm not worried about not being able to use the FC house for RP. Though Unity won't be an IC group, we will still be RPing with one another, and I'm sure we'll be using the FC house as some kind of IC gathering place.

 

I also know that Unity has skilled PvEers, and I personally wouldn't want to attempt doing PvE seriously without the resources the Free Company provides. Especially not the scale of PvE that ARR is going to deliver. I think one thing to keep in mind is that, while Unity is open to casual and hardcore players and everyone in between, there's going to be a core of very progression-focused PvEers. I will be one of them, even as I RP very seriously on a (hopefully) daily basis. To me, the resources of the FC are integral to that.