A Living Character or a Scripted Scene

[Sekatsu]

Now I will be honest this is coming from a noob's perspective but I have been reading and am trying to gain more understanding on how in game role playing works. I have been hearing the reference to scenes. Does this mean most things are scripted out beforehand, or is it simply the word used to describe an event in the happening? When I think of role play  (remember this is from someone with little to no experience ) I think of a living character in a living world. I think of it as something that is not scripted but as a character living in the world, making friendships, experiencing losses, etc. When I think of a scripted scene it sounds emotionless and sort of robotic. I am not sure if my words are describing exactly what I mean but I guess what I am trying to say is when I think of role play I think of something more freeing, another life adapting to his or her environments and situations. Is there anyone else who feels this way? Perhaps someone could clear this up for me.

[Nox]

Your character is a living being in a living world. Scenes are, as you pointed out, just the term used to describe a series of events. I can see why there might be some confusion. If the whole thing was scripted, there would be no reason for us to be here. Now, there will be some things that we have to script. No matter how much you fought in 1.0, the Calamity still happened. But, to answer your question, no. Rping is not scripted. I've been around rpers who wanted to script me and it was no fun whatsoever.

[Desmond Aryll]

Now I will be honest this is coming from a noob's perspective but I have been reading and am trying to gain more understanding on how in game role playing works. I have been hearing the reference to scenes. Does this mean most things are scripted out beforehand, or is it simply the word used to describe an event in the happening? When I think of role play  (remember this is from someone with little to no experience ) I think of a living character in a living world. I think of it as something that is not scripted but as a character living in the world, making friendships, experiencing losses, etc. When I think of a scripted scene it sounds emotionless and sort of robotic. I am not sure if my words are describing exactly what I mean but I guess what I am trying to say is when I think of role play I think of something more freeing, another life adapting to his or her environments and situations. Is there anyone else who feels this way? Perhaps someone could clear this up for me.

 

When I get together with others to role play to a specific goal or progression, I do it with people who I have gotten to know beforehand. So I have an idea of where they are coming from.

 So for instance if you plan on having an argument with another character, you would have a general idea of how they will react. You don't tell them what you want them to say or do but you can make an educated guess. Kind of like with people you know irl.

I'm in the camp that thinks you should just kind of let RP happen. But to do that outside of a fun casual session (which are super fun too) where it will affect your character's progress, I do it with trusted players who's style fits what I'm looking for.

The" meet and greets" and tavern RP are great places to make new friends and take mental notes on who might play a part in your own deeper RP.

[Amiabelle]

I'm glad you asked about this, Sekatsu.  I, too, wondered about the "scripted" RP.  I've been away from online RP for a while and wondered if this was some new development (or if it was specifically FF-related).  In the past, most of my RP has been of the go-with-the-flow style.

 

I remember one time, however, when a player decided to delete a character and set up an elaborate death scene, inviting other players to "witness".  Since most of the participants knew the outcome in advance*, I suppose that could be considered "scripted".  Am I correct in making that assumption?

 

*There were some players who just happened to be in the area and didn't know what was about to happen (you could tell by the comments they were making), but fortunately, they sort of went along with it.  Who knows, that may have been their introduction to RP!

[Teardrop]

I think "scripted" is not so much rote word-by-word scripting of what exactly is to be said and whatnot, but an understanding of what events might be taking place that advances a particular story line.

 

For example, in GW2, our group frequented the beach-side tavern in Lion's Arch. I was leading the advancement of the story, and would be re-introducing a nemesis from the past that would be an integral part of the continuation of the group's tale at that night's usual gathering. The script was that was the plan; this thing would unfold at this particular meeting. How the actual events play out are left to the devices of the character's themselves, but the situation they are initially faced with, when introduced, might be thought of as a scripted event. People and organizations create story lines for their characters and members; how those are introduced may be through scripted events...events that unfold with an initial plan, but are played out as they will.

 

That's my thought, at least :thumbsup:!

[Saefinn]

To my mind it's a living character. It wouldn't be interesting to me otherwise, because everything would be so...forced. I think you can go into a roleplay with certain pre-determined aims to bring everybody on the same page, but I personally like being spontaneous, when I did student radio, I tried scripted shows, but making stuff up on the spot is so much more fun in my opinion.

 

However, I think in order to do that you need to know a certain amount about your character, what kind of people they are and so on so you can manipulate them more convincingly. Though I'm by no means a veteran, but to me, planning a script would suck some of the fun out it. Sure, I enjoy script writing, but a game is too interactive for me to then to treat it in a much more static way. I've never heard of anything scripted at least.

 

In other words, roleplayers are like Ed Gein, they put on other people's skin.

[Abaigeal]

Hi there!! I thiiink recall you saying you were a forum RPer.  Soon maybe this will help.

 

you know how sometimes you start an open topic and label it open. You have an idea in your head and write up a blurb about who what where and when. That is kinda setting a scene. Or an interaction. because as you go youhave no idea how the other poster will react or what will happen.

 

it works the same way in game. Only you don't have to set the where as you both can see it. You don't have to do the when because its that isntance. And you don't have to wait for replies. Its all infront of you. If you are in a tavern and see someone you might want to rp with or you think is interesting you csonka just start a convo. Just as you would in a thread.

 

as for planning there can be some just as you would on forum. Send a pm/post on a plot page. Excect in game you would send a tell(personal message) and you could say...oh hay wanna rp how our characters met?? Or say you did a fight and you koed. But omeone in your party revived you. You could spring board that and saywhat injuries that were recieved...

 

I am hoping this makes senseand sorry for the typos. Smartphone makes me sound dumb. And brick walls of offices suck....

but most rp is free and organic.

[lady2beetle]

As someone who loves to plan out plots ahead of time, I suppose I should weigh in here. I'll try to keep it short, but I may not succeed.

 

First, scenes are, as the others have said, just ways that we describe an interaction between characters, like chapters in your character's story. You can imagine characters as actors in a play but it's an impromptu play, with no script. You decide the setting and the characters and maybe a prompt or topic and then just let things happen. But the phrase "all the world's a stage"? It totally applies to RP.

 

 

Now, when it comes to designing plots, there are different kinds. Let me give you a few examples.

 

1. A Group event. A festival. A birthday party. A Story Circle. These things are often scripted in that a group organizes them. They can be more or less structured, but there's definitely some OOC behind the scenes planning to make it work. Once the event starts, however, the characters that come will make it unique. Think of it like a Murder Mystery Dinner that you might host at your house. You set up the game, invite the attendees, design the rules, even prepare the meal. But every person brings their own flare to the event and in the end you never know quite how it will turn out.

 

2. A Group Plot. A lot of times, groups such as Free Companies and Linkshells may organize plots. This also can require a fair bit of OOC planning, but you should think of it as more of a framework. You build the framework of the house, then let everyone else paint the walls. Let me give you an example. I spoke with Teardrop in an earlier thread in which she said her character sometimes works with large businesses on behalf of her employer. One of my characters is a member of a merchant LS, so I suggested to her that we arrange a plot where her character comes to 'investigate' our merchant company for some reason. No further discussion has yet happened, but if something like that were to happen, we'd probably want to plan out a few landmark mileposts for the plot to follow (if any), and if there is going to be a conflict, I prefer to know the result of the conflict - it minimizes the temptation to godmod. If this were an RP between two large groups (say, if Teardrop and I both were members of large LS's and everyone was encouraged to participate in the interaction between them), then we might not share all of our OOC plans ahead of time. But those plans would be there. It drives the plot.

 

3. Character Development Plot. Personally, this is my favorite type of plot. I'm a writer at my core, and I believe 100% that whatever doesn't kill (or maim) my character will make her stronger. So, if I don't have a plot going to help my character grow, I feel listless. That said, these plots can have a variable amount of structure depending. Typically, if it is a plot based on interactions between characters, I usually minimize the structure and let the characters be free to interact naturally, so long as I have an open line of communciation with the other player or players. I've found that OOC communication is important in instilling trust in other players. For example:

 

• If there is a physical altercation, I will almost always ask before doing something. Yes, I could just say "Runa would give Josette a pat on the shoulder if Josette allows it," or and some people do that. But I prefer to communicate with Josette's player instead, so that I understand what Josette would allow Runa to do, and explaining what Runa has in mind. This way, Josette's player a) knows what my intentions are, b) is assured that I have no intention of powerplaying against her character, and c) is knows that she can ask me to tweak a post if I do something she doesn't like. Meanwhile we both have the freedom to post in a way that the scene reads more smoothly.
  
• In a conversation, my characters can often be abrasive, sarcastic and generally smart asses. I like to toss a quick OOC comment of appology every once in a while so the players are reassured that I am not as mean as my character is. I find it opens them up and gives them the freedom to RP without worrying that I am attacking them OOCly. I also let them know that any reaction on their part is perfectly acceptable and I will not take it personally. When I am interacting with the player OOCly, there is less of a risk that we will confuse the line betwen IC and OOC.
  
• When a possible plot has arisen ICly, I will often take the time to chat with the other player (or players) OOCly. If it is a relationship, for example, I want to make sure that it's okay with them and get a feel for where they see it going. There's nothing as frustrating as having two people with different outcomes in mind for the same event. That said, I don't write it all down in stone or anything. It's usually enough to have an idea as to where our characters will end up and then let them get there on their own.
  

Finally, I said that I like less structure when a plot is interaction-focused, but sometimes there is a plot that has more action to it. Someone is kidnapped and we have to rescue them. Someone else (NPC or PC) tortures and interrogates my character. Stuff like that may come up. In those cases, I'll often try to plan it out with a little more structure (similar to the milestones in the group plot example). *This* happens, then *this* happens, then *this*. HOW they happen can very well change, andwhat is said and done along the way is still free for interpretation. But, basically if it has any sort of physical conflict, I prefer to have some idea of what will happen to prevent people from just saying, "I'm so invisible, I just sneak in and free the captive."

 

Okay. I babbled. Sorry! Did that answer any of your questions?

[Felix Sideris]

Now I will be honest this is coming from a noob's perspective but I have been reading and am trying to gain more understanding on how in game role playing works. I have been hearing the reference to scenes. Does this mean most things are scripted out beforehand, or is it simply the word used to describe an event in the happening? When I think of role play  (remember this is from someone with little to no experience ) I think of a living character in a living world. I think of it as something that is not scripted but as a character living in the world, making friendships, experiencing losses, etc. When I think of a scripted scene it sounds emotionless and sort of robotic. I am not sure if my words are describing exactly what I mean but I guess what I am trying to say is when I think of role play I think of something more freeing, another life adapting to his or her environments and situations. Is there anyone else who feels this way? Perhaps someone could clear this up for me.

 

Role Playing, for me, is just like being an actor for a movie. The main difference is that you don't have a script. You become, or at least I do, one with your character. By that, your character is brought to life. It has it's own life, personality, emotions, ideals, likes and dislikes, and carries out his or her life as he or she desires.

 

Scripted events in role play are usually events that players coordinate OOCly for more clarification and then play through along those rules or guide lines.

 

For example: Two players could get together OOCly and say that they want to do a family role play together, so they would coordinate their backstories and characters history/personalities/ect to make that possible.

 

Usually, from my personal experience, you don't literally read or type from a script. How you respond is often spur-of-the-moment unless your character has put more thought into his or her response.

 

I suppose in summery I could say that Role playing is putting yourself into your character and giving it life. A lot of people role play characters that have different personalities from themselves, but to start it can sometimes be easier if your character has similarities to yourself.

 

A few questions that might help breathe life into your character:

 

"What would my character do in this given situation?"

"What is my character's daily routine?"

"What is my character's biggest fear?"

"What is my character's biggest desire/goal?"

 

Answering those questions can give you a general idea for your character. Once you have your character's personality, it is much easier to put yourself into the role and act it out.

 

Role players are all actors!

 

Sorry if that was wordy, I'm much better at articulating myself in Role Play than when I am out of character, ironically. If you need clarification, let me know!

[FreelanceWizard]

Let me throw in my two cents here, because I think the confusion may be nomenclatural.

 

There's a few different uses for the word "scene" that you might find among RPers. Let me walk through them:

• An interaction between characters with a beginning and an end: This is, I think, what most people mean when they refer to a "scene." It's just a time demarcation for when you RP with one or more people. When I say, "I had a scene with X, Y, and Z last night," I mean that I RPed with those people last night, and then we went our separate ways. It doesn't say anything about the nature of the RP. The term comes from tabletop RPGs that mark abstract time that way.
  
• A scheduled event: A scene can also mean a scheduled event. For instance, I might say, "Hey, our characters look like they might get along, do you want to do a scene later where they can meet?" I'm basically just scheduling RP, then, and maybe setting up how it'll happen. For instance, I might say, "For this scene, let's have our characters have both been sent to this dungeon to investigate it, and we were told to look for other people here." A scene in this sense still isn't really scripting anything; it's just providing a schedule and a basic setup. In this fashion, the term derives from improvisational acting.
  
• A scripted event: This is probably actually the rarest use of the term. Here, the parties involved have scripted the flow and results of the RP, and the scene (in the first sense) is likely closed to others. Value judgments on this aside, this is actually pretty uncommon.
  

 

So, "scene" really has three different meanings depending on context. RPers usually mean the first, sometimes mean the second, and rarely mean the third.

 

In general, though, most RPers are playing, as you say, "living characters" that go through the world and act and react as appropriate. It's like massive improvisational theatre. The only form of scripting that's common is coming up with a brief setup for why one or more characters might interact if it's not obvious how that'd happen, and that's basically at the same level as the setup in improv. Fully scripted RP is rare, usually restricted to private events and storylines (or, at least, it should be), and typically only found in an LS/FC setting.

 

Does that help?

 

EDIT: Oh, there's one more possible meaning, too:

• The situation in which a scene (as described above) happens: This is the meaning when people refer to "setting the scene." It's just the circumstances and situation in which a "scene" (as described above) happens. So, someone might say, "Okay, we're meeting for RP, set the scene," and that's a request to setup where the characters are and what they're doing before the RP starts.
  

[Sekatsu]

I want to thank everyone for posting and helping me understand. I have a much clearer picture of how it works now. One of the things that threw me off that I forgot to mention was when people would say "disrupting my scene" or "intruding on my scene"in their posts. As Abaigeal mentioned I have RP'd on forums but  I have never encountered that idea of intrusion before. I have an idea of what it means. I am assuming it means not to throw yourself into other people's personal events. I suppose I am trying to figure out the proper etiquette. If my character see's two others talking about something he finds interesting could he jump in and try to have a chat or should I OOC first asking if it would be okay. I mainly do not want to leave a bad impression on people OOC wise as a bad role player.

[Dehqon]

Scenes, as I've come to know it in RP, means an event whether it was meant to happen the way it did or it was completely unplanned. Personally, I try to do a mix of organic and scripted.

 

Example: A character never learned to swim in their background and I'd like them to learn at some point.

 

Note: I'd LIKE them to learn, meaning it could very well never happen if other players never say or do anything that would lead my character to learning.

[Desmond Aryll]

I want to thank everyone for posting and helping me understand. I have a much clearer picture of how it works now. One of the things that threw me off that I forgot to mention was when people would say "disrupting my scene" or "intruding on my scene"in their posts. As Abaigeal mentioned I have RP'd on forums but  I have never encountered that idea of intrusion before. I have an idea of what it means. I am assuming it means not to throw yourself into other people's personal events. I suppose I am trying to figure out the proper etiquette. If my character see's two others talking about something he finds interesting could he jump in and try to have a chat or should I OOC first asking if it would be okay. I mainly do not want to leave a bad impression on people OOC wise as a bad role player.

 

I would ask OOC first if it's ok. I know there a many out there that play fast and loose and would welcome you crashing but it's safer to be polite.

 

Although I have to say I have sometimes stood close enough and watched with the intention of being noticed. lol  An in game *cough, cough*

[Gideon Aryeh]

Like some have stated here I like the improvisation random organic approach. The only things I will prescript before hand is community events. Now everyone is different and everyone likes different things. Personally I don't like scripted rp, especially if everyone is not on the same page because I've found that those who usually prefer to script rp can sometimes want to retcon things that don't go the way they want. I had an experience where someone wanted to do a semi scripted story, I told them that I don't like scripted rp but decided to be a good sport and go with it anyway and just let a friend be privy to the scripted details because me knowing the story beforehand would ruin the experience. Well a rp partner on the side of the scripter put the story in motion without the scripters knowledge, so myself and my friend rolled with the punches and rped the situation.  Come to find out that the original scenario scripter decided to not do the story and acted like the story didn't happen at all. (Even though her friend already put the story in motion and myself and my rp friend were already engaged in the storyline at hand). It caused a lot of frustration because I personally do not believe in retcons. I have always been of the mindset "the show must go on". It caused even more frustration because the scripter wanted us to acknowledge other things she was doing but not the fact that a storyline was put in motion by someone on her side without her knowledge. Worse yet instead of apologizing or asking for a retcon she didn't acknowledge her friends move.

 

 

 

  So yeah no scripted rp for me and I'll decline such instances from now on. Want me in your storyline?, just bring me in through rp and don't tell me what you are doing. I'll be just fine. And please...no retcons. As someone stated this is a game, its interactive. If I wanted to read  or write a book I wouldn't be playing a videogame.

[Abaigeal]

I want to thank everyone for posting and helping me understand. I have a much clearer picture of how it works now. One of the things that threw me off that I forgot to mention was when people would say "disrupting my scene" or "intruding on my scene"in their posts. As Abaigeal mentioned I have RP'd on forums but  I have never encountered that idea of intrusion before. I have an idea of what it means. I am assuming it means not to throw yourself into other people's personal events. I suppose I am trying to figure out the proper etiquette. If my character see's two others talking about something he finds interesting could he jump in and try to have a chat or should I OOC first asking if it would be okay. I mainly do not want to leave a bad impression on people OOC wise as a bad role player.

 

 

♥

 

I would do as you do on forums .send a tell/pm. Or even a ((mind if I join))  in a say. Most cases if its out in the opopular area its sometimes often welcome to hone in...butif someone is way off to the side in the middle of bfe. Its generally private. Its would be like joining  a  tagged thread that is closed to one character and in the middle you deciede you drop yours into i

 

atleasthat's how I look at it!

[FreelanceWizard]

My rule of thumb is, "if you're in public, your RP is public, and others are welcome to join in." Certainly, that's how I play it; if I don't want the possibility of random RPers engaging with me, I won't RP in public. And no, sitting in a public locale and using /party doesn't count as being private. I don't feel that anyone needs to ask permission before engaging with people talking in a public location.

 

It's important that we as RPers promote this point of view on our servers, because otherwise, people start thinking it's okay to exclude people from public RP -- and that, quite possibly faster than anything else, fires up the accusations of cliquishness and an exclusionary environment. Then, as the RPers so accused "circle the wagons," so to speak, and restrict their RP further to just those they know, they actually create the very situation of which they've been accused. (I'm sure WoW players are intimately familiar with this, since it happened on most, if not all, of their large RP servers.)

 

Let's not do this.

 

So -- to everyone out there -- if you want your RP to be private, do not do it in public. If you RP in the open, you're giving an implicit invitation to others to join in. Think of other people responding IC as the IC Consequence of your IC Action to talk in the open.

 

To the OP: if you see me around in public, please feel free to come up and start talking, even if I'm already RPing with someone else. That's part of the fun of RP. I would assume most other RPers would be the same way. There's no need to ask permission first.

 

EDIT: As others have noticed, there's in public and then there's, well, private in a public area (quasi-private?). This is not an exhortation to go find RPers anywhere in the entire world; chances are, if someone's gone somewhere off the beaten path that's difficult to easily stumble upon, even if it's not a private instance, and are using /party, they're intending to be private. In that case, an OOC tell is warranted. Both the people trying to be private and those wanting to engage should use their best judgment -- clearly communicating a desire for privacy can require some finesse.

[Gideon Aryeh]

My rule of thumb is, "if you're in public, your RP is public, and others are welcome to join in." Certainly, that's how I play it; if I don't want the possibility of random RPers engaging with me, I won't RP in public. And no, sitting in a public locale and using /party doesn't count as being private. I don't feel that anyone needs to ask permission before engaging with people talking in a public location.

 

It's important that we as RPers promote this point of view on our servers, because otherwise, people start thinking it's okay to exclude people from public RP -- and that, quite possibly faster than anything else, fires up the accusations of cliquishness and an exclusionary environment. Then, as the RPers so accused "circle the wagons," so to speak, and restrict their RP further to just those they know, they actually create the very situation of which they've been accused. (I'm sure WoW players are intimately familiar with this, since it happened on most, if not all, of their large RP servers.)

 

Let's not do this.

 

So -- to everyone out there -- if you want your RP to be private, do not do it in public. If you RP in the open, you're giving an implicit invitation to others to join in. Think of other people responding IC as the IC Consequence of your IC Action to talk in the open.

 

To the OP: if you see me around in public, please feel free to come up and start talking, even if I'm already RPing with someone else. That's part of the fun of RP. I would assume most other RPers would be the same way. There's no need to ask permission first.

 

EDIT: As others have noticed, there's in public and then there's, well, private in a public area (quasi-private?). This is not an exhortation to go find RPers anywhere in the entire world; chances are, if someone's gone somewhere off the beaten path that's difficult to easily stumble upon, even if it's not a private instance, and are using /party, they're intending to be private. In that case, an OOC tell is warranted. Both the people trying to be private and those wanting to engage should use their best judgment -- clearly communicating a desire for privacy can require some finesse.

Amen

[Naunet]

I'm with FreelanceWizard on this for the most part. If I'm RPing outside of party chat (which is 99% of the time), then it means we want to be heard. However, I will apply a slight caveat to this in that roleplayers wanting to poke into a scene should be aware of the setting currently being RPed. For example, in TERA there is a hall of rooms in one of the main cities (Velika) that a bunch of us have adopted as the go-to location for a friend's character's medical clinic. When we're roleplaying there, we're pretending to be inside a multi-room building; however to an outside observer, it just looks like we're roleplaying out in the open. It's not like we have much choice - there aren't a lot of places in the world where we can pretend to have a clinic. When someone approaches us, we gently and politely let them know where the front door to the clinic is; usually they oblige. But basically the lesson here is to be aware when you want to push into a scene - the RPers you're watching may not be exactly matching the location to the scene they're acting out.

[Myxie Tryxle]

My friends and I play a tabletop game called Fiasco that has an interesting take on the notion of a scene. It's a short game, designed to take just a few hours and result in generally terrible outcomes for all the characters involved. Here's how it works:

 

You take turns going clockwise around the table with each player making a choice about what type of scene they would like to play. You have two options as the primary: choice of scenery or choice of outcome. If you choose the scenery, the primary gets to set up what sort of scene you want to have and which characters, locations, and other plot points are involved, but everyone else gets to decide the outcome. If you choose outcome, the primary has no input into what sort of scene their character is thrown into but reserves the right to choose how the scene ends for his or her character. Whichever option the primary doesn't choose is then determined by the rest of the group. It should be noted that the outcome is held in reserve and doesn't need to be stated before the scene starts. In fact it is encouraged that you don't state the outcome at the outset of the scene. You can play the scene halfway through, see which way the winds are blowing, then decide the most logical outcome or even invoke an unexpected change in the character's fortunes. Also, the notion of success or failure with unforeseen consequences is encouraged.

 

While I'm not sure if any of this would be applicable to Final Fantasy roleplay, you may enjoy trying Fiasco out to get a feel for a system where the scenes are the core mechanic. It's a quick game as well. Every time I've played it, it's been hilarious and terrible (the good kind of terrible), and it only takes about two hours for four players.

[FreelanceWizard]

However, I will apply a slight caveat to this in that roleplayers wanting to poke into a scene should be aware of the setting currently being RPed. (...) But basically the lesson here is to be aware when you want to push into a scene - the RPers you're watching may not be exactly matching the location to the scene they're acting out.

 

That's a good point. If a group of RPers are in some esoteric but still public place -- in XIV, let's say the tavern in Outer La Noscea on the other side of the ferry -- and you see them RPing publicly but it doesn't seem to make any sense, a tell to ask what's up is probably warranted before you start interacting. This doesn't mean the group in the location has any claim or authority over it, but they were there doing their RP first, so being especially (one might say "overly") considerate is wise.

 

That said, if a group of RPers wants to change a scene's setting, they should probably use the most esoteric and off the beaten path place they can find, IMO. In CoH, before we had supergroup bases, we'd use the tops of very tall buildings in the corners of the zones as our "bases." This let us change the scene in a persistent way without having to worry about people accidentally stumbling upon us and getting confused.

 

I know this next part is really nitpicky, but indulge me. It always rubs me the wrong way when people talk about "poking in," "pushing into," or even "crashing" a scene, in addition to the "disrupting" and "intruding" terms the OP's evidently run into. It comes off -- to me, anyway, but possibly new players too -- as new participants being an unwanted imposition on those already RPing. I'd gently suggest that us more experienced types might use more inclusive language ("joining a scene," "starting your RP," etc.) to not come off as, well, cliquish.

[Eva]

As a point of note this happened with Everwatch.  While we would have liked to have Free Company housing as it is set up for ARR, it wasn't there.  We had "set up shop" in the area above the Adders Nest.  Most of the members of this LS and those who associated with us recognized that this was intended to be regarded as a multi-level facility with segmented rooms.  We did often conduct RP in /say and we did deal with griefers from time to time (even though most folks were just in there to collect their quest rewards or w/e and be on their way).

 

I also think that there are some things where an "instance" needs to be established.  Like to use an example we couldn't be in the Mavanix mansion, but some of us would RP in the Sacrarium and treated it as such.  Another RPer might have arrived and noticed some RPers probably talking (usually in /party for something like this) but there would need to be made some sort of explanation quickly that the characters involved weren't actually in the Sacrarium but using it as a sort of placeholder for more private RP.

 

I don't have anything against either style as long as it's communicated quickly and effectively.  If I come upon some RPers from another group and someone tells me they're not actually there but in someone's private estate to which I wouldn't have access, I'm happy to mozy along on my way and possibly retcon whatever greeting I might have offered.  This is along a similar vein to more casual RPers who are in "OOC mode" because they're doing progression stuff or their character is supposed to be ICly in an infirmary with a broken leg, etc.

 

The bottom line here is communication.  And we might also be a little bit away from the topic of the OP but I think it's an interesting discussion.

 

To address the point of the OP, when setting up a specific scene I try not to think of any specific outcome.  Characters themselves will determine that.  I like to give a general direction and nudge folks in that direction, but if it goes completely haywire or another way that's cool too.  Being able to react gracefully to the behaviors of other characters that you might not expect, or the arrival of new characters, or whatever oddities may come - I think that's what being a "living character" is all about.  So that's kind of what I would urge.  Not necessarily to go at it with no plan or concern for the outcome, but to allow that direction to be changed, and to allow the characters themselves to push and pull at that as they will and transform the experience from something amorphous into... well, whatever they (and you together!) transform it into.  ^^

 

God I can't wait to get back into it in ARR~  :love:

[Martiallais]

To address the point of the OP, when setting up a specific scene I try not to think of any specific outcome.  Characters themselves will determine that.  I like to give a general direction and nudge folks in that direction, but if it goes completely haywire or another way that's cool too.  Being able to react gracefully to the behaviors of other characters that you might not expect, or the arrival of new characters, or whatever oddities may come - I think that's what being a "living character" is all about.  So that's kind of what I would urge.  Not necessarily to go at it with no plan or concern for the outcome, but to allow that direction to be changed, and to allow the characters themselves to push and pull at that as they will and transform the experience from something amorphous into... well, whatever they (and you together!) transform it into.  ^^

 

You said it better than I could, thanks. In a way, I view running an event or a storyline/arc as being very similar to DM'ing a game or acting as the storyteller. Sure you can have a very loose outline, but always, always be prepared for players to do things you don't expect and be able to think/react on the fly to allow things to take their natural course....because no one really likes being railroaded.