Dare I ask?

[Raina]

As a past member of Fabul, I find it intriguing that, given our merger, there are now noticeable pockets of role-players on our server. After finishing a successful moogle run, for example, my LS buddy BigC and I quite randomly discovered a group of Role-playing cohorts hanging out in the amphitheater in Gridania. We sat and listened for awhile, then awkwardly attempted (meaning all due respect) to join in on the banter...but mostly we were ignored.

My question is (and I'm a professor of English, so I'm genuinely curious), how does one "role-play" in game? Do you "play" only as your character? Do you speak only of "game" events and surroundings? Is it a type of micro-fiction, wherein you are a character with a part to play? Do you "break" from your role-play? Do you stay in character on Ventrilo or Mumble? Is the whole enterprise a literal practice in the suspension of disbelief? How does one negotiate gender, if one's character is of the opposite?

Clearly, there are rules. Clearly there are lines drawn. (I just read a few "drama" snippets related to one of the RP Linkshells, for example) But what are they?

I ask a lot of questions (Sorry!) If you have knowledge, and feel like sharing. I'm listening.

[prymortal]

Actuly a good question, im not into RP but since im on a RP server im interested whats involved so i dont offend anyone or anything like that.

[Duuude007]

The first rule to RP is:

You don't talk 'about' RP. You simply live the life you were given.

[Deltara]

The second rule of RP is:

You don't talk 'about' RP.


If this is your first time RPing.... you HAVE to RP.

[Kerwin]

It's interesting to role play. Many people simply don't because they feel it would be akward and/or don't have time to do so. It can really change your gaming experience to find a group of people to interact with.

If you want a good example go to youtube and search "Larping"

lols to be had.

[Rau]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l03MykQSeM

[ArkNova]

Can I role play with star wars kid?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR3PT...eature=related

[Castiel]

Hello Raina! Thank you for taking interest in the RP community. I don't know how well I can explain this but I'll try.

Role-play involves creating a distinct personality and history for your character, and then most importantly, staying true to those elements throughout your RP. Through storylines and regular interactions with other characters, your character may evolve and change in a number of ways. When looking at RP, it's kinda best to think of any number of tv drama shows. There are stories and complex characters being revealed constantly over time. The difference between RP and a tv drama is that the RPer is both the writer AND the actor. And due to random interactions with other characters that you don't control, you can only create so much of the script yourself. Much of the script is going to be written spur of the moment and mesh together with other outside scripts. RPers often create their own "NPCs", such as family members/mentors/etc, to help with their character development and storylines. This is one reason why you may have seen numerous posts on the general forums about people wanting multiple character slots, so that they can actually create these NPCs and give more life to the story.

There's a pretty vast pool of terminology and rules in the RP world that ordinary players may not know of (or maybe some have heard of but don't grasp the full concept). Here are some terms explained in depth that may make things a bit clearer.

Out of Character (OOC): Being out of character is basically what every non-RPer is doing when they talk about whatever they talk about. Real life, game mechanics, Internet shorthand, and so on are all considered OOC. They have no place in RP sessions. (You may see a role-player place sentences in parenthesis like this sentence is.) That's our way of saying that that particular sentence is OOC and is not what the character is actually saying. Generally speaking, RPers are OOC by default when doing dungeon runs or whatever with pickup groups (unless with a group of fellow Rpers). This entire post, and 99.99% of all other posts on the official forums, is OOC.

In Character (IC): In character is the opposite of OOC. This is when we're 100% speaking as our character would. One of the biggest rules in the RP world is to keep IC and OOC always separated. They cannot mix together for a myriad of reasons (it creates OOC drama as seen in one of the below threads, it destroys immersion, etc). The reason you were possibly ignored may be because you said/did something that could not possibly be taken as IC. Internet shorthand (such as "lol," "omg," ect) has no place in IC chat. Game mechanics (such as "my ring has +2 dexterity"), has no place in IC chat. Real life events (such as "my wife is calling me on my cell phone") has no place in IC chat. The denizens of Eorzea don't know those types of concepts and thus can't possibly react to them in a believable way. Essentially, you have to take into account your character's personality and background and speak as he/she would based on that. And no, IC chat does not involve talking with "thee" and "thou" xD.

Metagaming: Metagaming is a term RPers use to describe when someone crosses IC and OOC together in a way that's harmful to the RP session. It's a HUGE no-no. For example: If I post on the Role-Play Coalition forums that my character was secretly hiding an artifact in a coffer out in La Noscea, that's OOC information that nobody's character should know. If a RPer suddenly knows the hiding place without any explanation, it's because they took something told to them OOCly and made it IC knowledge. That's metagaming, and it's heavily frowned upon in the community.

God Mode: This term, like metagaming, is a big no-no to RPers. It basically means someone is making their character a little too perfect. They can dodge any and every blow, they're a master at every possible form of combat, they can't be outsmarted, etc. These people tend to isolate themselves if they don't learn to tame their characters fast since nobody likes RPing with such characters. Obviously, some exceptions are made with storyline villains since villains need to be "larger than life" type of people. But even then, there are lines that need drawn.

There are a TON of other guidelines out there that you mostly learn as you go. To list them all here would create a massive wall of text that would likely span multiple pages. There are guidelines for proper and believable emotes, "realism" within Eorzea (such as no aliens, royal heirs, etc), the concept of time, usage of instancing (using a location in game to represent a different location), RP combat, and so much more. But the basics listed above are far and away the most important.

I'm sorry you were ignored. I wasn't there so can't tell you what you may have done wrong. But my guess would be that you said something that couldn't have been taken as IC or something, and as such may have been mistaken for a RP troll (we have to deal with them from time to time). I don't know if any of this helped but if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!


If interested, here's the link to a guide of sorts that the Role-Play Coalition created quite some time ago: http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/forum/v...php?f=5&t=1414

[Kagato]

It's essentially turning your character into a real Final Fantasy Protagonist/Antagonist, turning your character into someone that is truly part of the world and interacting with similar people.

There's no true rules because everyone is different. You'll find a lot of people who are casual about it and freely talk as themselves, using everyday terms and speaking like it's a game.

...and then you'll find the hardcores. the ones who will block you the very instant you break character because it ruins THEIR immersion. You know the type. Post "lol" once and they'll throw fits equal to a 2-year-old's temper tantrum of not getting an ice cream cone.

If you're interested in RPing, just go as far as you want to go. Otherwise, don't worry about it. Just... don't expect to walk up to 2 people RPing, ask them "Hey, wanna party up and do some leves for exp," and have them react in any other way than in a RP fashion. Hell, last time I did that, I got about 3 paragraphs of someone basically RPing just to say "no thanks."

RPers are the only people I know that can turn small talk into a novel.

[WinnipegJet]

You say RP, all I can think of is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_ekugPKqFw