Would you take an anime-esque character seriously?

[Mithril Specs]

Well, I don't quite think one could compare this to how RP is being handled on Tumblr? Or at least it just feels a whole lot different than in a game, if that makes any sense? I've been roleplaying over there for quite a while and most of the time you don't see preexisting characters being divorced from their setting, at least as far as I've looked. And, hell, depending on what you're writing for, you're gonna need a couple folks taking on the role of some key characters to make the whole thing work, if you're in a group that stays very close to the original setting and whatnot.

 

Maybe it's a personal bias of mine, but what works on a blogging platform or via messengers just feels...odd in a game like this? Especially the whole thing about taking a character and just basically FF-fying them? Of course everyone here's free to do as they please and write what's fun for them, the only thing you'd have to be aware of that a character like this could tend to just be seen as "the Final Fantasy version of ___" and that might be a hard trap to avoid.

[Erik Mynhier]

Hey fellow RPers!

 

I'm planning to move over one of my characters to Balmung since the other server I'm frequently playing on has become quite empty, thus I want to fully transfer over to Balmung now.

 

My Couerl character is called Fate Testarossa and based on the Anime Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha if anyone knows it. (It's one of the few GOOD magical girl series btw!)

 

Now since I really love this character I wouldn't want to change it at all, but I know that I might not resist going into IC with it either since I love RPing. So my question is would you take such a character seriously at all? I mean a version of this character that is split off from the actual anime but kind of like another version of it based on FFXIV?

 

I'd like to hear your thoughts on that matter!

 

Everyone who plays with Erik knows he has a magical girl transformation macro. I can send you a copy if you like.

[Tiergan]

I've never RPed on Tumblr ever, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Tumblr RP probably has its roots in fanfiction. If that's the case, I can definitely get why it would be frowned upon to drop in your original characters into Tumblr-RP-land.

 

Fanfiction is (generally) all about people writing stories with and about the characters we all fell in love with when we watched/played/read a certain movie/show/game/book. As a dorky teenager, I read a buttload of Final Fantasy fanfics because I loved the games so much that after I finished them, I wanted to keep enjoying the characters I came to care about. The last thing I wanted was for some guy/gal to drop in their original character that I didn't give a damn about and read about them rubbing elbows or attempting to be some BAMF with my favorite characters.

 

This might be why some Tumblr RP groups find original characters icky. If a bunch of folks are doing some RP based off of Naruto and some guy has his original character doing stuff that's just as wacky and 'badass' as all of the main characters, it just feels off.

 

In contrast, MMO RP obviously has it's roots in MMOs where we all start of creating our very own unique characters in the character creator. Unlike with fanfics, we generally don't go into the MMO already knowing the story and having favorite characters -- and even if we do (like with World of Warcraft) we as players can't play as those important characters. No one can roll up Thrall or Medivh for example. (Or you can try, but it shatters a million basic RP rules if you were to attempt to RP them.) MMO RPers take more pride in coming up with a unique character that also fits in the setting. It's typically frowned upon here to take a character from a totally different setting/game/movie/etc, made by someone else, and drop them in.

 

Plus, it can sometimes be pretty immersion breaking for RPers to have well-known characters from other franchises suddenly appear in Eorzea -- just like it's probably immersion breaking for Tumblr RPers to suddenly have Bob the Original Character being all buddy buddy with their favorite characters from their most beloved franchises.

 

I know I would avoid the heck out of someone literally RPing they are Son Goku or Kirito in Eorzea.

[Zyrusticae]

Especially the whole thing about taking a character and just basically FF-fying them?

Funny thing: this is exactly what I did.

 

Mind you, she's still my OC so only those who played with me on my previous games would ever know, but I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a character you already had and just transplanting them into Eorzea - provided you do so with at least some level of care and attention to detail. I actually find it an entertaining exercise, trying to think of how my character would retain traits that she possessed in her previous incarnation but would change in the context of the new setting.

 

But as far as characters that aren't your own creation being transplanted into the game? Hmmm... Well, I can't say I look too favorably on that. Besides the copyright issue, it just feels like cheating in a way. I don't think it would be too difficult to just base your character off of another character you like, while changing enough about them that the reference is obvious but not overwhelmingly so. After all, once you change enough aspects of the character (including their name), they'll be quite distinct from the original to begin with.

[ArmachiA]

^ THis.

 

When you come from a table top background, you certainly role your own characters 90% of the time. Tumblr is a whole different beast rooted in Fandom, MMO RPing is not the same. Not even a little close.

[Tiergan]

Tabletop is actaully an excellent analogy. I would even go as far as saying that MMO-RP has its roots in Tabletop RP.

[Mithril Specs]

Oh yeah, I should have worded my post a bit more clearly there, in hindsight. As far as one's own characters are concerned, anything goes, really. I myself ended up changing up some of mine this way , mostly due to not really feeling a setting anymore, but not wanting to waste a perfectly good character, so to speak. Or overhauling a really old character you haven't written in years - that's some way to get the creative juices going.

[Seriphyn]

There are, uh, a lot of anime-esque characters in Balmung I've noticed. Particularly, er...Midlander males. Like, just their characterization and the way they're played.

[Nebbs]

I will RP with most folks and adjust my style to try and accommodate the RP. The things that will make me walk away are below and not so much your character concept:

 

Too much OOC

Way off the lore

God emotes

God powers

[Lyriell]

Just going to leave this here

3.5 Naming Right. You may not use any name or other intellectual property belonging to Square Enix or any other third party in your use of the Game (for example, naming a character after a celebrity, company, product, or superhero).

I don't take that too seriously to be honest. I've been playing with that name for about half a year and it's pretty common that people use names from all sorts of different platforms.

 

I think I'll just stick to more light RP with Fate since the community seems pretty torn about the subject, which is totally fine with me ^^

[Leomoon]

My own character is a newly becoming demi god but I do make to dark as it should be, in one moment my toon grabbed a bandits head by a single hand and ripped part of his skull off. Hell there is a story where she is amassing power by fooling common travelers with the promise of gold for relics to make her stronger.

[Rythulian]

Just going to leave this here

3.5 Naming Right. You may not use any name or other intellectual property belonging to Square Enix or any other third party in your use of the Game (for example, naming a character after a celebrity, company, product, or superhero).

 

 

The least upheld rule in the game. And by 'least' I really mean 'not upheld at all'.

[Berrod Armstrong]

I tend to take all characters seriously at first -- especially if they approach. As the interaction goes on, I simply use my discretion to determine whether I want to continue or find something else to do. Sometimes having my character react to that sort of portrayal can be fun -- but I have my limits! Those limits lie around where things seem more like trolling than roleplay, however. 

 

Otherwise, if someone is playing a broody yellow-spiky-haired guy with a big ol'sword, and approaches me, I'll play with 'em and see what happens.

[Roswyn]

Just going to leave this here

3.5 Naming Right. You may not use any name or other intellectual property belonging to Square Enix or any other third party in your use of the Game (for example, naming a character after a celebrity, company, product, or superhero).

 

 

The least upheld rule in the game. And by 'least' I really mean 'not upheld at all'.

 

GM's won't proactively change names it typically has to be reported first.

[Kellach Woods]

Just going to leave this here

3.5 Naming Right. You may not use any name or other intellectual property belonging to Square Enix or any other third party in your use of the Game (for example, naming a character after a celebrity, company, product, or superhero).

 

 

The least upheld rule in the game. And by 'least' I really mean 'not upheld at all'.

The reason it's not upheld is that, essentially, they need active reports in order to do anything, and nobody really cares. Anyone who comes from a superhero MMO background knows the deal since even there, that rule was only enforced if you reported.

 

Yes, it's a giant system of snitching.

[Kage]

It essentially means you're good until someone decides to actually report you. In which case they take you to GM jail from what I hear and tell you to change your name.

 

 

i think people explained why the viewpoint is taken so seriously. RP on tumblr and Livejournal seems stemmed from fanfiction where if you had an OC insert most people are -way- more concerned about mary sues and gary stus. It doesn't mesh all too well with MMO RP.

 

 

I know you don't want to change the name and honestly I say you can keep it. But IC and during Roleplay scenes I'd suggest just having the character say "-some name not actually derived from an actual characters' name-" If they do say something about your name, you don't want to RP with them anyway cause that's meta-gaming.

 

And yes I realize my name is a complete weaboos but I've rolled with it... and people have done the same... but it's not an actual characters' name.

 

 

I'm just going to say this here now. I fucking love Nanoha and Fate. If I met you in-game and you did use the name I might roll with it but i would be -seriously- -fucking- -judging-.

[SayonaraRevival]

@Mithril -- I don't see how it isn't comparable actually. if you've even been in a tag for a fandom as they're called, for even just a minute, you are going to see AUs. they're literally everywhere. people write fanfiction of other Final Fantasy games' characters in modern AUs. people will RP x character in y setting all the time in those groups of canon characters I mentioned. I've noticed it happens far less with the OCs/player-made characters. people will even draw AUs -- for example, a modern anime's characters in a Final Fantasy AU itself. just look at this: https://www.tumblr.com/search/au (apologies in advance for anything you might need brain bleach for.) then there are the AUs where characters are slightly different, or something happened in the AU differently, or so on and so forth.

 

to be honest, I think what 'works' on Tumblr or messengers just varies from person to person, pretty sure it's just personal bias for the most part -- but there's no way I'm going to let people here think OP is the only one who would RP using an AU!Fate. I guarantee there are people out there RPing an AU!Fate or RPing with one. while the canonical RPer side of tumblr is a different breed than MMO RPing usually is... rejecting a mix of the genres seems a little more like "this is different and I don't like it!" (ie. personal preference) rather than a complaint that is capable of being discussed. yes, personal preference is 100% okay to have, I realize this, and I also realize I might be sounding way too persistent -- but I am trying to tell people in this thread that this isn't as abnormal or weird as I get the impression they think.

 

as for the exact name...  while SE having a rule against it is one thing that OP would probably do best to keep in mind, overall -- there's really not a lot of problem besides that? how far can you bend the policies of "no names from other mediums/products"? given that copyrights can protect a character's basic appearance/name/traits, I can understand why that is a problem given SE's rule... but how far can you take it? if we assume someone with a very generic name is a celebrity, will a username need to be changed despite the popularity of the first/last name beyond the celebrity? and what constitutes "celebrity"? a legal contract with a company... ? how far does that bend?

 

but the legality regarding the situation in this topic ultimately falls further into the "is fanfiction illegal?" spectrum. if you guys want to talk about that, it's out of my ballpark -- the legal issues, anyway.

 

---

 

@Tiergan -- you are 100% right. Tumblr RP has roots in fanfiction. that same era where "OMG MARY SUE" used to be thrown around at every writer who even attempted to write a female character that wasn't a canon. (hell, even canons got trashed as a Mary Sue.) of course, most of what I saw was hormonal teenagers writing fanfiction, so of course they'd be rather opinionated. (that's still the case tbh.)

 

when you say "some guy has his OC doing stuff just as wacky/'badass' as the main characters" I say it doesn't have to feel off -- because while I agree that, say, saving the world ten times is probably a little much, I also think that for an OC to be an interesting one, they need to fit in well with the universe AND give something to it, story-wise. otherwise you have a boring OC. but that's what I see happening to so many OC players -- they're terrified of making an interesting OC because of people disliking OCs simply for the fact that they're original. and there's the inherent problem with that sort of view. thus, to skirt the "original characters can't be awesome (like the main characters)" stigma around canon characters, the OC players just settle for a boring character.

 

in MMOs this isn't as big a problem given that all the characters RPed count as OCs anyway, but on Tumblr, where the age ranges generally younger, as an OC player you tend to end up worrying more about if this or that RPer will RP with you or not. they might not even care. they might not even try. they don't even have to try, given that RPing is for fun, but it doesn't change the fact that it hurts to be told "I won't RP with you because of my personal bias against OCs." and I see no arguments thus far that those who refuse to rp with OP's AU!Fate would be absolutely the same type of superficial stigma, but in a reverse situation.

 

(here I am, challenging the norm again... )

 

---

 

@ArmachiA / Kage -- I'm tempted to ask why you both say MMO and tabletop RPing is too different from fandom RPing to be compared?

[Mithril Specs]

No, it still seems like quite a false equivalency to me, because an MMO and a bloggin platform just are two very different platforms , for starters. Over there, you pretty much got a blank canvas where everything goes and where "canons" are sometimes needed in a group setting, while here it's pretty much all OCs, so taking a character from a show is going to cause some intense headscratching.

 

You're right in that AUs are a popular thing on Tumblr, but thus far I've seen the whole thing being implemented in a different fashion than is suggested here. You got your coffee shop AUs, or , yeah "what if" instances of how a character might be in another setting, but the thing I've yet to see a kind of "fandom shift" who would actively seek out another community. To elaborate: that'd be if someone would take ol' Ash from pokémon, do a, hell, Attack on Titan imagining of the character with the same name and then do the extra mile of interacting with said tumblr community. Now there's something I haven't seen before, well if someone did that, there'd be the same amount of headscratching going on, despite the canon bias.

 

I really don't want to end up being inflammatory here, but I want to say that just because something is seen as a bad idea and discussed honestly doesn't mean that there's some unfair stigmatisation going on.

[FreelanceWizard]

Naturally, you can, of course, RP whatever you want.

 

That said, from my experience in MMO RP, most MMO RPers come from the tabletop and LARP worlds (or even the MU* world, where fanfic-like games were often less common than original universes or those derived from tabletop RPGs), where playing a canonical character is typically viewed extremely negatively. Even tabletop RPG players who play in licensed universes (Star Wars, Firefly/Serenity, Amber, etc.) generally don't play canonical characters, as part of the fun is creating your own character and placing them in that setting. Canonical characters are established as NPCs.

 

So, you can imagine that there's a significant clash between the fanfic RPers, who typically play canonical characters to avoid Mary Sues, authorial wish fulfillment, etc. and the tabletop/LARP RPers who find playing canonical characters to be abhorrent. My supposition is that those RPers who classify themselves as "heavier" RPers typically come out of the tabletop/LARP tradition, and that there are more players from that tradition in MMOs generally. Even if you reject those suppositions, though, while playing an original character in an MMO may grate on those from the fanfic community who are playing in an MMO, playing a canonical character in one will result in rejection from a significant proportion of the MMO RP community. Basically, it's a different culture and tradition of RP, with different norms.

 

In short: while you can do whatever you want, playing canonical characters (regardless of whether they jumped here via cross-universe portal or not) is likely to result in significant problems in your RP, so my advice is to not do it.

[Aldotsk]

I like Nanoha series too. 

 

I honestly don't care as long as you don't directly use Fate's backgrounds from the series. To my view, Testarossa is not a rare name  in fantasy world lores. I can see it being used by many players.  Fate? Some people actually have the name Fate in common world. 

 

It's not like we'll know that you are from alternate world. As a matter of fact, there has been many characters that has shown up doing dimensional traveling ie. Shantotto and Lightning. So all I can say is, go for it.

 

Also we had someone named Mineva Zabi, and I didn't discriminate. I actually befriended the person.

 

Just going to leave this here

3.5 Naming Right. You may not use any name or other intellectual property belonging to Square Enix or any other third party in your use of the Game (for example, naming a character after a celebrity, company, product, or superhero).

 

 

You try to change Super Mario's name in Balmung, I'll kill you >

[crowmeleon]

At the end of the day roleplay is for fun, and as long as you don't impede on others' ability to do the same I like to think you're free to do whatever you would like. However- In situations like this you really can't demonize people for not wanting to rp with you because you play something they are uncomfortable with. 

 

No one should ever feel obligated to participate in roleplay they don't want to. 

 

First and foremost let me say I respect your right to RP freely, and even if I disagree with someone on every other front I'd still encourage them to do what makes them happy so long as they don't infringe on others' ability to do the same. But for me personally, depending on the degree of similarity and congruence with lore I may or may not feel comfortable rping with such a character beyond short-term interaction. You could be the best writer in the world, but if you plagiarize or break lore too much I would no longer enjoy the RP. A difference in tastes, priorities, or principal doesn't make either of us a bad person. Just incompatible. 

 

Beyond that I can only give you advice based on my personal opinions. 

 

I would ask yourself what aspects of the character and magical girl trope appeal to you, and how you want to involve that in your RP. Thankfully this MMO is a very anime-esque universe, so I don't think it would be difficult to include these things. A character who takes the time before every battle to go through a transformation sequence could lead to some hilariously fun RP. It would probably be regarded something of a parody but I definitely think it could be pulled off with great results. Good luck!

[Lyriell]

I actually befriended the person.

 

Just going to leave this here

3.5 Naming Right. You may not use any name or other intellectual property belonging to Square Enix or any other third party in your use of the Game (for example, naming a character after a celebrity, company, product, or superhero).

 

 

You try to change Super Mario's name in Balmung, I'll kill you >

 

How about I'm going to befriend you? Nanoha-style!

 

MUAHAHA! *evil laughter and the sound of thundersparks in the background*

 

eh..ehem...sorry about that.

 

Anyway to get back to the topic:

 

My idea was to keep most of her personality as she usually acts during the series. However the background story will focus on FFXIV lore instead. I don't just want to copy each and every single aspect of her, and I think even if I would try hard I'm not going to be able to copy her personality a 100%. That's because there's always some influence on the character by the player itself.

[Kylin]

This is a slippery slope in my opinion. It depends on how far you take it. It's perfectly fine to draw inspiration from external characters and I'd say it's even okay to (partially) utilize names that you like. And if one is just simply using a particular trope, that's probably fine too. However, if you're outright using the full character and transferring it to another world, that's where the problem will be. Personal opinions aside, it comes down to one thing in that regard:

 

Copyright infringement.

 

Video games/tv shows/books/etc all have copyrights for a reason. Their characters belong to the original creators, and nobody else. And it's completely understandable. While I may not legally have copyright powers over my character (SE technically does), I'd be downright furious if I saw another "Kylin Felstar" that looked and had an almost identical history to my character. To me, that's stealing my work and passing it off as your own. And that's not okay with me. Likewise, it's not okay with other character creators out there. It's the very reason SE outright disallows names like "Cloud Strife." I challenge someone to find a character in XIV named that, exactly spelled like that. You won't. You'll find "Cloud' Strife" (lots of 'em) with an added apostrophe. But that's the closest you'll get. There's a reason for that. SE doesn't allow it. It's their character and their intellectual property.

 

Likewise, other character creators (such as anime characters) don't like their intellectual property being used without their permission. That being said, I very highly doubt any of these character creators are going to come after someone for using the character concept in an MMO RP community. But it doesn't make it any more 'right.'

 

Drawing inspiration from a character you like (whether a particular name or a specific character trait) is one thing. Everyone does that to some extent, even famous authors. Outright using the exact character of someone else is another entirely, and, in my opinion, should be avoided at all costs.

 

So to answer the question: For me personally, no. I wouldn't take such a character seriously at all. If I see someone RPing a Naruto Uzumaki, I'm rolling my eyes and walking the opposite direction. That's just me though.

 

I'd challenge you to isolate the particular traits of the character you like and use those as inspiration, rather than just outright using the character itself. Then let the character develop its own identity that's of your own making.

[Lyriell]

This is a slippery slope in my opinion. It depends on how far you take it. It's perfectly fine to draw inspiration from external characters and I'd say it's even okay to (partially) utilize names that you like. And if one is just simply using a particular trope, that's probably fine too. However, if you're outright using the full character and transferring it to another world, that's where the problem will be. Personal opinions aside, it comes down to one thing in that regard:

 

Copyright infringement.

 

Video games/tv shows/books/etc all have copyrights for a reason. Their characters belong to the original creators, and nobody else. And it's completely understandable. While I may not legally have copyright powers over my character (SE technically does), I'd be downright furious if I saw another "Kylin Felstar" that looked and had an almost identical history to my character. To me, that's stealing my work and passing it off as your own. And that's not okay with me. Likewise, it's not okay with other character creators out there. It's the very reason SE outright disallows names like "Cloud Strife." I challenge someone to find a character in XIV named that, exactly spelled like that. You won't. You'll find "Cloud' Strife" (lots of 'em) with an added apostrophe. But that's the closest you'll get. There's a reason for that. SE doesn't allow it. It's their character and their intellectual property.

 

Likewise, other character creators (such as anime characters) don't like their intellectual property being used without their permission. That being said, I very highly doubt any of these character creators are going to come after someone for using the character concept in an MMO RP community. But it doesn't make it any more 'right.'

 

Drawing inspiration from a character you like (whether a particular name or a specific character trait) is one thing. Everyone does that to some extent, even famous authors. Outright using the exact character of someone else is another entirely, and, in my opinion, should be avoided at all costs.

 

So to answer the question: For me personally, no. I wouldn't take such a character seriously at all. If I see someone RPing a Naruto Uzumaki, I'm rolling my eyes and walking the opposite direction. That's just me though.

 

I'd challenge you to isolate the particular traits of the character you like and use those as inspiration, rather than just outright using the character itself. Then let the character develop its own identity that's of your own making.

 

It seems it's highly dependable on the popularity of the character. As you said there doesn't seem to be a Cloude Strife character with that exact name. 

 

But have a look at this:

 

http://de.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/?q=Aeris+Gainsborough&worldname=&classjob=&race_tribe=&order=

 

Some of them are level 50 too. So I guess it depends on several factors:

The character being very popular, other players being a dick about reporting someone and the player with said name itself being a dick to other players or not (ties in well with players reporting him)

[Kylin]

I think the point was missed entirely, but that's okay. Having been in the community since forever, I know and accept that there are different camps for different things. And I doubt any amount of discourse will sway one camp or the other.

 

But it's important to know that fiercely clinging to the notion of using a character straight out of another universe is going to limit to some extent the people you're able to RP with. That's just the culture of many MMO RP communities. MMO RP, while certainly sharing similarities with other RP venues, is still a very different beast of its own culture.  

 

If you're happy with your character, then great! If you're able to find an acceptable chunk of the player base who is also happy with your character, great! Again, however, just know going into this that there is a sizeable portion of the population that has strong feelings toward this type of RP and won't take part in it. And you need to go into this knowing that it's their choice to feel that way, and that their opinion is no less legitimate than your own. As such, they shouldn't ever be labeled as elitists or jerks or anything like that when you actually start to see this refusal to RP with you in real time.

 

Regardless of what you choose to do, good luck and hope you enjoy your character :thumbsup: