Racial RP: How do YOU do it?

[Dravus]

On a side note, critique is a thing. You don't necessarily have to like it but not everybody is going to bend over backwards to lace their words with sugar. What matters is whether or not they back up their words with more than just sniping and ranting.

 

We're all wired differently and a healthy community is made up of lots of different people. I don't think there's much need to try and 'baby' people for being more blunt than others unless they're specifically breaking an established rule.

 

Three different words in play here, though. "Critiquing" is not "sniping" and calling that out is not "babying." You can be plenty cross with people without being a jerk about it. Hell, that's kind of my whole MO. Are they awful roleplayers? Of course. Is it anyone's job to point that out? No, the red flags should stand for themselves.

 

Openly hoping people can't roll alts is hostility, not "being more blunt than others."

 

...and for all we know the post could have been written partly in jest. For all the talk of not judging others I just find it strange that that is exactly what's happening. Even if it isn't written in jest then there's obviously a reason as to why the guy feels so strongly about Au Ra.

 

It's not a great thing to wish on the realm but I can certainly see where's he's coming from.

[Kage]

 

I definitely agree. The current thread name puts a bit of a negative spin on it, rather than offer a potential for suggestions on how to spice up your RP with more racial antics.

 

After the little back and forth with Kage has me tempted to put little ear-twitches into Chachan's emotes when he's curious about something, for example. I think it'd be cute.

 

"Hey, my Chocobo just had her chicks. Wanna see?"

*ear twitch*

 

This is a test to see who jumps on to point out that chocobos are all male in Eorzea, right? DID I WIN? AM I A WINNER?

 

Wait what, they are?

 

Even the pinku ones!?!?!

 

ESPECIALLY the pink ones.

 

#effyourgenderstandards

 

Maybe pink is a MANLY color in Chocobo standards. Don't be pushing your non-avian culture norms on my birdRP! :tonberry:

Best Male Keeper friend who dresses in ALL the MAN mode Pink wear confirms.

[FreelanceWizard]

Telling others how to enjoy themselves in RP is generally always the worst approach you can take. If something bothers you in what others are doing with their characters, move along and leave the area. It has been working well for me.

 

Very much this. To tie back to the Au Ra, I'm not going to even consider concepts for one until I know some lore about them. If I'm asked, "Hey, Freelance, what do you think about my Au Ra concept?" (as if anyone ever asks me for advice ) I'm going to give my honest opinion, including, "I don't think you should come up with one until you know more of the lore, because the risk of being clobbered by lore is too high." However, I'm not going to tell people writing an Au Ra before the expansion drops is flat-out wrong. I will advise against it if asked, though.

 

All you need to make your RP work is not go too far off the lore and the realms of sanity and have narrative justification for things that are weird. That's all. I think miqo'te players -- at least the ones represented here -- are doing that, and we should be supportive of the efforts. I feel bad that anyone isn't getting the RP they want, but conversely, everyone has constraints on what they can do. I'd like to play a more tribal miqo'te, and in fact I even have one created, but I simply don't have the time to do that, and RP my current character, and be an officer in an FC, and run the RPC forum, and do content, and live my real life. I've only got so many hours in the day to spend on fun stuff.

 

Also, I'm changing the subject line 'cause it's giving the forum software fits on replies.

 

EDIT: Oh. Looks like I've been beaten to it.

[Warren Castille]

On a side note, critique is a thing. You don't necessarily have to like it but not everybody is going to bend over backwards to lace their words with sugar. What matters is whether or not they back up their words with more than just sniping and ranting.

 

We're all wired differently and a healthy community is made up of lots of different people. I don't think there's much need to try and 'baby' people for being more blunt than others unless they're specifically breaking an established rule.

 

Three different words in play here, though. "Critiquing" is not "sniping" and calling that out is not "babying." You can be plenty cross with people without being a jerk about it. Hell, that's kind of my whole MO. Are they awful roleplayers? Of course. Is it anyone's job to point that out? No, the red flags should stand for themselves.

 

Openly hoping people can't roll alts is hostility, not "being more blunt than others."

 

...and for all we know the post could have been written partly in jest. For all the talk of not judging others I just find it strange that that is exactly what's happening. Even if it isn't written in jest then there's obviously a reason as to why the guy feels so strongly about Au Ra.

 

It's not a great thing to wish on the realm but I can certainly see where's he's coming from.

 

Just so we're clear, you're referring to these lines:

 

"Best possibility I've read about AuRa and Heavensward in regard to RP in days, not even being sarcastic, I hope it stays locked."

 

"So...you're hoping new character creation stays locked throughout the release of the expansion...?"

 

 

"Yes, anything to stop people from ruining AuRa the same way they ruined Miqo'te."

 

as being written in jest? And if they aren't, no one should be upset he's hoping nobody can roll Au Ra to "ruin" them? So nobody should ever be reprimanded for what they say, especially if they've got a reason for saying it?

 

I believe we're at an impasse if so, sir.

[Berrod Armstrong]

On a side note, critique is a thing. You don't necessarily have to like it but not everybody is going to bend over backwards to lace their words with sugar. What matters is whether or not they back up their words with more than just sniping and ranting.

 

We're all wired differently and a healthy community is made up of lots of different people. I don't think there's much need to try and 'baby' people for being more blunt than others unless they're specifically breaking an established rule.

 

Again, this ties into what I was stating earlier about many people here coming from all sorts of different backgrounds and communities.

That is the purpose of etiquette.

[Zhavi]

On a side note, critique is a thing. You don't necessarily have to like it but not everybody is going to bend over backwards to lace their words with sugar. What matters is whether or not they back up their words with more than just sniping and ranting.

 

We're all wired differently and a healthy community is made up of lots of different people. I don't think there's much need to try and 'baby' people for being more blunt than others unless they're specifically breaking an established rule.

 

Three different words in play here, though. "Critiquing" is not "sniping" and calling that out is not "babying." You can be plenty cross with people without being a jerk about it. Hell, that's kind of my whole MO. Are they awful roleplayers? Of course. Is it anyone's job to point that out? No, the red flags should stand for themselves.

 

Openly hoping people can't roll alts is hostility, not "being more blunt than others."

 

...and for all we know the post could have been written partly in jest. For all the talk of not judging others I just find it strange that that is exactly what's happening. Even if it isn't written in jest then there's obviously a reason as to why the guy feels so strongly about Au Ra.

 

It's not a great thing to wish on the realm but I can certainly see where's he's coming from.

 

Not everyone has been saying to be judgement free. My point has been that it's incredibly silly to hold anyone to the lore when the lore is outright dumb in a lot of ways. It's poorly constructed, because the purpose of things like culture is most often flavor, and it doesn't make sense to expect an entire species to stick to one culture like they're some sort of hive mind.

 

But it's my opinion that disagreeing with people and stating that you think there is a better way to do things, and advising to do that, is part of being a community. Yes, it means that some arguments will never have an end, but you know. Anyone can have whatever opinion they want -- but just don't be surprised when someone disagrees with it (or judges you for it, for that matter. Part of being people). Hell, I expect people to disagree with me a lot of the time (I'm more often surprised when they don't). Isn't going to stop me from potentially saying that I think they are capital w Wrong, and isn't going to stop them from saying the same thing to me.

 

edit- my point, because I keep losing it: criticism of any opinion is gonna happen, and it should. It fosters discussion. Yes that means sometimes it will get circular. Mods are here to keep things from getting out of hand, let them do their job and leave the rest up to discussion.

[Dravus]

On a side note, critique is a thing. You don't necessarily have to like it but not everybody is going to bend over backwards to lace their words with sugar. What matters is whether or not they back up their words with more than just sniping and ranting.

 

We're all wired differently and a healthy community is made up of lots of different people. I don't think there's much need to try and 'baby' people for being more blunt than others unless they're specifically breaking an established rule.

 

Again, this ties into what I was stating earlier about many people here coming from all sorts of different backgrounds and communities.

 

I disagree. I think that bluntness has it's place, and that's when people ask for it.

 

If no one asks for your blunt opinion, and it could be construed as something that isn't constructive, then you should keep it to yourself.

 

Keeps us Admin from having to step in every two seconds because someone answered blunt with snarky.

 

We'll just have to agree to disagree then. Sites such as this tend to attract a wide range of different personalities and to be honest...I hold the belief that anything posted on a site such as this is open for debate unless explicitly specified. 

 

Again, some people are just naturally more blunt than others. Just like some people are more friendlier than others. Sometimes it's a culture thing and in other cases it's a personality thing. Either way I find it enjoyable to have a wide variety of different posting styles to read through.

 

Obviously the site rules should be adhered to at all times but I do thing debates such as this would benefit more from agreeing to disagree instead of claims that someone should never, ever do something.

 

You're very welcome to PM me though if you'd like to carry on the debate as I don't want to drive the thread off-topic into a debate about posting styles and the like.

[Dogberry]

M'aiq Tia knows many things.

[allgivenover]

When I want more of something (and I'm not finding it hard to rp like I am at the moment), I work to create a space where that sort of thing can flourish.  

 

I never thought of that before! I'll just hop back on my male Keeper Miqo'te and start a traditional clan based group that's highly matria-

 

Whoops.

[Gegenji]

When I want more of something (and I'm not finding it hard to rp like I am at the moment), I work to create a space where that sort of thing can flourish.  

 

I never thought of that before! I'll just hop back on my male Keeper Miqo'te and start a traditional clan based group that's highly matria-

 

Whoops.

 

T-talk to people? You know, people with FEMALE Keepers? Seriously, now. :?

 

The point is to try connecting with people and seeing about creating that RP scenario you want to have. Find other people with similar interests, or might be at least willing to give the concept a spin. Griping and lashing out at people will not achieve that.

[Warren Castille]

When I want more of something (and I'm not finding it hard to rp like I am at the moment), I work to create a space where that sort of thing can flourish.  

 

I never thought of that before! I'll just hop back on my male Keeper Miqo'te and start a traditional clan based group that's highly matria-

 

Whoops.

What, exactly, is stopping you from making a Making Connections thread wanting to gather people to buck societal trends? I mean, there's a god damned Garlean FC and you're upset there's not a pre-existing off-beat RP culture for you? I said it in another thread today and it stands: Nobody here is obligated to cater their precious RP time serving someone else's need for a story. You want a traditional clan-based RP group? Then gtfo of the cities and go back to not being a part of traditional Eorzean society.

 

Whoops. No one's allowed to judge me, I've got my reasons for being more blunt than others.

[Zhavi]

When I want more of something (and I'm not finding it hard to rp like I am at the moment), I work to create a space where that sort of thing can flourish.

 

I never thought of that before! I'll just hop back on my male Keeper Miqo'te and start a traditional clan based group that's highly matria-

 

Whoops.

 

First step: find someone to play the matriarch. You have specific wants. It's more likely you'll need to convince someone you know and trust to play this person. Alternatively, use a NPC placeholder and build around the role until you have someone to play it. Yes, playing with NPCs in game is a pain in the ass. How badly do you want this?

 

First step.5: set up some concrete goals, taglines -- the things that you want to remain even when things change as people come and go and the rp happens. These should be short and to the point.

 

Second step: find one or two other people to join you. At least one needs to be someone you trust to stick around -- this person is necessary because when you start looking at new people you have no idea how long they will stick around. Having someone to keep your plot threads moving and constant is utterly important.

 

Third step: recruit. Recruit, recruit, recruit. Super frustrating because you don't want just anyone -- you want people you'll enjoy writing with. This is, imo, the most time consuming. You have to send people pms, or else be prepared to be super patient hoping you run across people in game. Personally, I prefer ooc communication.

 

Fourth step: have a rp hook to draw people in that makes them excited to start with you. Collaborate with other rp plots (even if they're small and insular) if you can.

 

 

I could not find anyone doing the sort of rp I wanted to do in Limsa when I first joined. I spent so much time writing people, trying to work out rp times, trying to find people interested who wanted to work with me. It wasn't just luck that I found goodfellow, melkire, shay & enteris, ruru, hut and all the others who stuck with me -- it was time, and effort, and gradually expanding through contacts of contacts.

 

Yeah, what you want is a small subset of the rp community. I get that. Yeah, you have to work harder than others, I get that.

 

Either it's worth the trying, or it's not. And if you've already done all the above and still nothing, then I'd go back to the drawing board and start trying to figure out how to change how I approach people (am I somehow misrepresenting myself? am I not exciting enough? do I need another way of approaching people?), or what about the way I'm presenting things isn't appealing.

 

I'm sorry your experiences have been so frustrating.

[Berrod Armstrong]

When I want more of something (and I'm not finding it hard to rp like I am at the moment), I work to create a space where that sort of thing can flourish.  

 

I never thought of that before! I'll just hop back on my male Keeper Miqo'te and start a traditional clan based group that's highly matria-

 

Whoops.

What, exactly, is stopping you from making a Making Connections thread wanting to gather people to buck societal trends? I mean, there's a god damned Garlean FC and you're upset there's not a pre-existing off-beat RP culture for you? I said it in another thread today and it stands: Nobody here is obligated to cater their precious RP time serving someone else's need for a story. You want a traditional clan-based RP group? Then gtfo of the cities and go back to not being a part of traditional Eorzean society.

 

Whoops. No one's allowed to judge me, I've got my reasons for being more blunt than others.

One may need to appeal to others to nourish that sort of initiative, and it seems that the poster in question is determined to do anything but.

 

ANYWAY. HIGHLANDERS. I'M CURIOUS. How do you roleplay your characters? Well-integrated into their respective pieces of Eorzea? Clinging to the ol' warrior tribe in the mountain ways? As pretty princesses? TELL ALL!

[Dravus]

To play the role of devil's advocate I think it's possible he's already tried appealing to people in the past and it met with little success. I wouldn't be terrible surprised. Heck, some of the people branded 'blunt and unkind' are the friendliest people I know in-game. On the other hand, some of those who desperately lace each word with sugar or just generally claim to be approachable have turned out to be the most manipulative and nasty individuals that I've ever encountered.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

ANYWAY. HIGHLANDERS. I'M CURIOUS. How do you roleplay your characters? Well-integrated into their respective pieces of Eorzea? Clinging to the ol' warrior tribe in the mountain ways? As pretty princesses? TELL ALL!

 

Clearly, only swords, axes, fists and grunts.

 

But that's a joke. (fake laughter here)

 

While Franz isn't a Highlander, he's still using the model of one in the game. I'd say he's fairly well-integrated into society. ...or as good a Garlean with some messed up memories could hope for. Some people seem to have even taken a liking to him some of the time. ...maybe one day he won't feel the need to hide that third eye with a glamour to feel comfortable in a group.

[Zhavi]

To play the role of devil's advocate I think it's possible he's already tried appealing to people in the past and it met with little success. I wouldn't be terrible surprised. Heck, some of the people branded 'blunt and unkind' are the friendliest people I know in-game. On the other hand, some of those who desperately lace each word with sugar or just generally claim to be approachable have turned out to be the most manipulative and nasty individuals that I've ever encountered.

 

And if you've already done all the above and still nothing, then I'd go back to the drawing board and start trying to figure out how to change how I approach people (am I somehow misrepresenting myself? am I not exciting enough? do I need another way of approaching people?), or what about the way I'm presenting things isn't appealing.

 

I've had to go begging way too many times to think that there is literally no other person willing to do specific, small-appeal types of rp.

[allgivenover]

Sarcasm aside Zhavi, I've been all up and down that road (aside from actually posting on the forums, I prefer to approach people more directly, anyway) and it's been ruined every single time. I frankly just got tired of trying after a year and a half.

I'm a picky RPer, and obviously I've considered doing it myself, but by now I'm so disgusted by my experiences that I just chose to give up entirely.

[Aduu Avagnar]

Eh, I have an entire NPC family group for Nako, I just don't have people to play them, though would be happy if people wanted to.

 

also, Zhavi, a while back, you commented about how a lot of fantasy developers just plop down a human culture and use that for /all/ people of that species, I know this is unrelated, but I suggest reading the Belgariad series by David Eddings, pretty much exclusively human, and all different cultures for the different nations.

[Zhavi]

Sarcasm aside Zhavi, I've been all up and down that road (aside from actually posting on the forums, I prefer to approach people more directly, anyway) and it's been ruined every single time. I frankly just got tired of trying after a year and a half.

I'm a picky RPer, and obviously I've considered doing it myself, but by now I'm so disgusted by my experiences that I just chose to give up entirely.

 

And there is no one that you respect as a rper, who you have either rped with yourself or seen as someone worthy of your time who is willing to roll an alt to rp with you?

 

Half of me wants to split into another thread or send you pms because I just can't wrap my head around that. I really can't.

 

I mean hell, I used to stalk people on the wiki. If I liked their writing and their ideas, I sent them a pm. I'm sure some of you remember how I would post on just about every single new person who showed up and showed interest in criminal activity or limsa. Yeah, most of the people I approached didn't work out. But I mean, I just -- this is such a big rp community.

[Dravus]

Sarcasm aside Zhavi, I've been all up and down that road (aside from actually posting on the forums, I prefer to approach people more directly, anyway) and it's been ruined every single time. I frankly just got tired of trying after a year and a half.

I'm a picky RPer, and obviously I've considered doing it myself, but by now I'm so disgusted by my experiences that I just chose to give up entirely.

 

My advice would be to not let it unsettle you too much. I can't offer you Miqo'te role-play but if you ever fancy crossing paths with a wandering Hyur than you're very welcome to poke me in-game sometime! I'm very fond of having two character cross paths out in the wilds so if that's an angle you'd like to explore - great!

[FreelanceWizard]

So, I suppose it's time for me to be more direct.

 

Zhavi is correct that the discussion about setting up specific RP that caters to specific groups should be a new thread, since it's off-topic here (and as someone whose FC arguably falls into that category, I have some thoughts on that. ) Please feel free to start a new thread for it.

 

Less nicely, the one thing I'm not going to abide here is people taking shots at each other. If I see any more of that, it's going to be warnings and post deletion/thread locking time. We're having a good discussion; let's keep it nice and not ugly.

 

#magicAdminHat

[Iex]

One may need to appeal to others to nourish that sort of initiative, and it seems that the poster in question is determined to do anything but.

 

ANYWAY. HIGHLANDERS. I'M CURIOUS. How do you roleplay your characters? Well-integrated into their respective pieces of Eorzea? Clinging to the ol' warrior tribe in the mountain ways? As pretty princesses? TELL ALL!

 

I am a firm believer that it is not the culture that defines the character. While aspects of a race should certainly brush some tone over their perspective of life and choices, it should not be the tool that chips away their monument of their life.

 

Unless, their life was in a highly regulated cultural thing.... then I guess uh?

 

However, I am also a firm believer that it is the life the character lives that will define how they are. A certain seeker we all know that likes his towers certainly isn't falling into tradition. If a character has lived a life where tradition and culture more... common to his race has less weight, he shouldn't actually end up being SUPER TRADITIONAL MAN. If he is, it should be a choice he makes based on his life rather than an archetype placed on the character.

 

In the case of my highlander... he may be from a certain lost nation that was destroyed by a certain mad leader, but he holds very little on to traditions and nationalism. This is HIS Eorzea not the land of men who now lay six feet underground.

[Chris Ganale]

As a self-titled ultra-loner who hates to do work getting RP, gripes all the time about going to fish for RP, always feels like an unwelcome outsider in well-established forums like this (and therefore feels that making use of the player connections forum would be a waste of bytes), and has admittedly written over half my characters into RP corners, I still take Chao to the QS at least once a week and fish for RP (badly; staring at one's notebook doesn't make for compelling bait).

 

Now that I think about it, there's really no point here and it doesn't contribute anything, but I'll leave it as a reminder to come back later and go into brief about some of my characters.

[Gegenji]

Sounds like we could easily segue into a philosophical debate on nature vs. nurture in regards to a character. One's nature (race) may incline it towards certain things, but how they are nurtured (family, friends, society in general) could skew them away from what people "expect" them to be.

[Zhavi]

One may need to appeal to others to nourish that sort of initiative, and it seems that the poster in question is determined to do anything but.

 

ANYWAY. HIGHLANDERS. I'M CURIOUS. How do you roleplay your characters? Well-integrated into their respective pieces of Eorzea? Clinging to the ol' warrior tribe in the mountain ways? As pretty princesses? TELL ALL!

 

I am a firm believer that it is not the culture that defines the character. While aspects of a race should certainly brush some tone over their perspective of life and choices, it should not be the tool that chips away their monument of their life.

 

Unless, their life was in a highly regulated cultural thing.... then I guess uh?

 

However, I am also a firm believer that it is the life the character lives that will define how they are. A certain seeker we all know that likes his towers certainly isn't falling into tradition. If a character has lived a life where tradition and culture more... common to his race has less weight, he shouldn't actually end up being SUPER TRADITIONAL MAN. If he is, it should be a choice he makes based on his life rather than an archetype placed on the character.

 

In the case of my highlander... he may be from a certain lost nation that was destroyed by a certain mad leader, but he holds very little on to traditions and nationalism. This is HIS Eorzea not the land of men who now lay six feet underground.

 

Culture does not equate to species or race. Culture is usually more locative, though not necessarily (ex - some indigenous cultures in eastern russia and western alaska share more similarities than differences). All the same, the larger the disparity in place/local ecology/method of survival (nomadic cultures vs farming cultures etc) chances are the bigger the gap in cultures.

 

Culture is also the baseline of what everyone knows in terms of how they act around others and what they grew up believing. It defines certain behaviors. While, yes, as you get older you can choose to overrule some of these things, a lot of them stick with you. Were you taught that you should have a firm handshake? Look other people in the eyes when you talk to them? Greet people when you enter a room? Wish people well on an endeavor? Be comforting when someone you know is grieving? Those are all cultural, and there are a ton more. This is why diplomats are so important -- it can be terrifyingly easy to offend someone from a different culture without realizing it. Many cultures share similarities, true, and those similarities increase as globalization occurs, but just look back to first attempts at diplomacy between cultures to see how this wasn't the case (Lord Macartney's trip to China being a big one).

 

which is why I was like 'screw u square' and tossed just about everything written about keeper culture.