Thinking of dipping back into FFXI until XIV..

[Blade]

Hey there Promyvion. ^^

 

TalesOfVanadiel is still very much active and recruiting. Right now our schedule is based on how often people can attend sessions, this is usually twice per week, past couple weeks people have been busier than usual so it has slowed down a bit. I usually try to schedule in a social RP (none-mission based) at least once per week, usually on a Tuesdays or Saturdays, and a mission RP which moves our characters through the plotline. We had a back-to-back RP this weekend this past weekend (Social on Saturday, and Mission on Sunday). It has a side effect of being a mission static. This is not, however, a mission static that does some RP. This is an RP group that does missions, and the missions serve as a means for our characters to get to new places and explore all the details Vana'diel has to offer. We try not to rush these missions, and take the time to soak up as much material as possible.

 

Although we adhere to a schedule, it is really only an attempt on my part to set a 'minimum' level of RP. People are able to and encouraged to start up their own RPs, and the shell is a sort of 'open forum' for characters. There is definitely room for people to do more outside of the two days I set aside for it, its only a matter of finding out when works best for people. I know one girl in our group who is only there for RP, lol, I don't see her ever leaving city zones unless its to go RP.

 

I think we are a great group and definitely worth a look into. We have a lot of people here who are excited about RP, and excited about their characters. I'll be forward and admit that our shell is not without its flaws, as it originally emerged as just a story between three friends starting out their adventuring days until what it is now: a group of 6-9 working to stop the Zilart's plan. As we get more and more people (and have doubled and tripled the amount of people we started with), the rules have had to be adjusted and tweaked to help keep people on the same page. We are very much a work in progress, lol. Actually there are a couple new measures that I've proposed on our forums this past week, by all means if you join up with us, you will be able to (and encouraged) to give your say on these rules.

 

That all being said, I'll let you be the judge of whether to pursue us or not. ^^ My forum signature should have a link to our forum website, check out the OOC for IC forum for information regarding our rules (as well as the proposals I am making). If you like what we have listed, feel free to join and post up a profile, and comment on things. Considering how particular RP groups to tend to be, I'd encourage you to make a mule on Siren and have my introduce you to the crew first, to see if this seems like the kind of people you'd enjoy RPing with, and maybe have you sit in on an RP if you want. ^^

 

Send me a PM if you need any additional info or have any questions (either on this forum or on our forum)

[Nanapariri]

Sfant Umbra has a weekly RP night so I guess you don't consider it "active" by your definition.

[Merri]

Err, I didn't mean to offend, if I did. Simply put, in FFXI I don't exactly have any goals i'de like to achieve. I've completed all the expansions, leveled five jobs to 75, and geared them up fairly well. I feel like i've accomplished enough.

 

I tend to game an hour or two, sometimes more, every evening. I just think that if I didn't have a fairly active Roleplaying community to immerse myself in, i'de grow bored and just end up leaving once again.

 

I also understand that those expectations are extremely high for FFXI, due to it's dwindling roleplaying communities. But, I posted for the sake of doing so, as I really have no idea what's still alive out there.

 

So, before anyone jumps to conclusions on what I will and will not consider (Of course, I will admit that I was extremely vague and misleading originally), i'll take a glance at any and all information.

[headlessorpheus]

As someone who hasn't had much experience with FFXI, why exactly are the RP communities there dwindling? Also, do you think the dwindling state of RP in FFXI will be brought over to FFXIV come launchtime? I plan on trying to convert as many of my roleplaying friends from LOTRO, AION, and AoC to FFXIV come release . . . from what I've read so far of the game's lore and so forth, there is a whole lot of potential! Hopefully they game will have as much support as LOTRO has given to its community instead of say, what WAR gave to its loyalists.

[Kylin]

The problem with FFXI's RP community is the fact that it started out so fragmented. There was no "RPC" or anything like it (although such a group formed briefly later in FFXI's life, but it was too late). Role-players were scattered from server to server. By the time server transfers came about, it wasn't possible to get everyone united under a single banner since a) people had non-RP friends they didn't want to leave behind and b) many probably weren't willing to shell out the cash for the actual transfer. Thus, each server's RP group naturally went about their own business with little regard to any other server's Rp groups. These RP groups were certainly still successful, but one could easily argue that the true potential of the RP community was never really reached.

 

It's really a shocker that FFXI's RP community is even still alive at all. There are only about 3 RP linkshells left in the entire game. It's truly amazing to see role-players still hanging on with such small numbers remaining. It's also depressing to know that once those 3 shells eventually fade, so too will RP itself pretty much fade away in Vana'diel. I myself was fairly depressed when it came time to write the endings for my Sylph characters back in December.

 

Also, do you think the dwindling state of RP in FFXI will be brought over to FFXIV come launchtime?

 

In short, no. FF14's RP community is -already- far more successful than FF11's even though the game hasn't launched yet. With 5 RP guilds (6 if you go through with making yours) ready to go already and -hundreds- of potential role-players waiting in the wings, it's safe to say we'll see a very nice RP community that will thrive for years to come. This time around, we're fully prepared 8-)

[Blade]

As someone who hasn't had much experience with FFXI' date=' why exactly are the RP communities there dwindling? Also, do you think the dwindling state of RP in FFXI will be brought over to FFXIV come launchtime? I plan on trying to convert as many of my roleplaying friends from LOTRO, AION, and AoC to FFXIV come release . . . from what I've read so far of the game's lore and so forth, there is a whole lot of potential! Hopefully they game will have as much support as LOTRO has given to its community instead of say, what WAR gave to its loyalists.[/quote']

 

Well, part of it is that FFXI's player population has been going down in general, and with less players overall that would bring down the RP population. I think the groups that are still up and going are plenty determined and may still continue to RP past FFXIV's release date (my group will be one of them), its just there are less people doing it. It doesn't help that a lot of the 'hardcore FFXI players' tend to view RPers negatively and cast them in a bad light, often making fun of them. Which makes people feel self-conscious about doing it, which makes them speak up less, and as a recruiter for a RP shell like myself, makes those people a lot harder to find.

 

Also, what defines an active and 'dwindling' RP community is really to each their own. There certainly don't seem to be any RP Linkshells around on FFXI where you can just hop in and take place in some random RPing whenever you want these days. And it is my impression that even when there were more RPers on the servers, that was still hard to achieve. Biggest problem with FFXI was that the game was kinda unfriendly to RPers... it is a hard game to advance in, and it is hard to constantly RP and get anywhere in the game. For the most part you ultimately sorta end up having to settle for a middle ground between going through a lot of the game's BS and RPing. But there are still people who make it work. My group continues to grow today actually.

 

As for if this will carry over into FFXIV, I don't know. That's certainly what this group is trying to prevent, and provide a more unified place for RPers to go. A lot of it will have to do with how good the lore of this game will be, how hard it is to advance and do things, and also how other players will react to RPers. It's hard to say at this point but I'm hopeful. At the very least, RPers will have a good place to go to when they want to find out what the RP scene is like on XIV.

[headlessorpheus]

Thank you both for filling me in!

 

I'm officially excited for the FFXIV roleplaying community now. It's great to know that the future is looking bright for FFXIV! I can't wait to get into thick of things!