Eva







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Character: Eva Zelorius

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Reputation: 66 The Grey Priestess The Role-Play Handbook | #1 03-07-2013, 01:35 PM (This post was last modified: 03-07-2013, 01:36 PM by Eva .) Show Content Table of Contents

* Introduction

* What Role-Playing Is

* In-Character versus Out-of-Character

* Different Styles of RP

* The Lore and How to Use It

* Reasonable Deviation from the Lore

* Naming Conventions

* How to Get Started

* Communication

* Respecting Other RPers

* Pitfalls to Avoid

- Godmoding

- Metagaming

- Retconning

- Copycatting

* Building Friendships and Relationships Between Your Character and Others

* Events and Event Planning

* RPing Combat Effectively

* Death versus K.O.

* RPing Injuries and Healing Methods

* Teleportation

* The Echo

* Gil and Wealth

* Groups, Cliques, and Linkshells/Companies

* Supplements to In-Game RP

- Forum RP

- Chatroom RP

- Storywriting

- Journaling

* Consistency within RP

* Conclusion







Introduction



I've been role-playing for a very long time and have found recently that it may be helpful for many new and returning RPers to have a sort of handbook to refer to in order to help answer some of the more common questions many new RPers face when starting out in the world of Final Fantasy XIV. I wanted to build a bit on



So often these days MMO's have been reduced to a grinding marathon, and building one's "toon" up to be the strongest and best-equipped. This drive I've found sometimes seems to trump what really makes the MMO experience great - the interaction with other players. While it's unfair to say that most role-players don't care at all about progression or personal advancement within the game, it may be apt to say that many regard it as a secondary goal, and I think most would probably argue that it's one that they do not wish to lose sight of.



This guide is not meant to be regarded as a hard-and-fast list of rules that must be obeyed on pain of banishment from the RP community. Most of the RPers that I've met in my time have been very amicable and eager to help. The truth is we are a minority in the MMO community and we are very eager to welcome anyone who wishes to join us in what we do. But we are also all human, and we are all different. Some of us exhibit more tact than others. Some of us are very accepting of styles of RP that differ from our own, while others may not be. We all have our own individual preferences, and it's from this diversity that a lot of the truthly great interactions between our characters are born.



Rather than a list of rules, please look upon this guide as a series of guidelines which you may use to help enhance your role-play experience in Final Fantasy XIV. Most of us have agreed that there are certain elements within the RP community which are acceptable and some which are not. There are certain conventions that are practiced globally in RP, others apply more to MMO's, and some are very specific to the world of Final Fantasy XIV. I hope to discuss these in detail. One may always feel free to defy convention if one chooses, if he or she feels it will be more enriching to the overall experience. But at the same time, some regard must be given for the people with whom that RPer interacts. This will be discussed in greater detail later in the "Pitfalls to avoid" section.



Once that balance is struck between what makes you as a role-player happy, and what fits in line with what the rest of the community deems acceptable, realistic, and reasonable - then the real fun begins and you will watch with some amazement as your character is thrust into new and unusual situations, makes friends with other characters that he or she likes, feels friction with more disagreeable characters, and participates in all manner of adventures and interactions.



What is most important is that you are having fun. Role-play is something which you may potentially spend a very long time doing. If it is not an enjoyable experience for you than something is wrong and that should certainly be addressed. Perhaps the character you have created is not as much to your liking as another would be, or perhaps the relationships your character is forming with other characters are not fulfilling. These sort of situations can be remedied fairly easily by expressing any concerns. The RPC features a forum called



Role-play is a rewarding experience for most, but at the same time what you take out of the experience - like most things in life - will be proportionate to what you put into it. I would encourage any new role-player to create a character they like, seek out a group that seems like they would fit, and simply observe and listen to other role-players. "First your ear, then your tongue," was a motto I prescribed a long time ago to newer RPers just getting into it.



Once again please bear in mind these are just suggestions and not rules or demands that the RP community exerts over anyone. They are intended to help you get more mileage out of your RP experience and not to stifle you in any way. These are also largely based on my own personal observations from over a decade of RP experiences - but I freely admit there may be opinions expressed here which conflict with others. Debates on the







What Role-Playing Is



Wikipedia defines role-playing as "the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role ... consciously to act out an adopted role." The page goes on to say how in role-playing games that "participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterisation, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, they may improvise freely, their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games." While the rules referenced here seem geared towards something like a tabletop-styled RPG, role-play in Final Fantasy XIV (or really any MMORPG) is not a great leap from that. Rather than rules, many role-players adhere to a set of guidelines - or a rough structure of standards and assumptions believed to be commonly held within the community - to help them get through their interactions with other characters. These guidelines may vary from one RPer to the next, but the principle values are generally the same. We will be discussing many of these values and the variations within them throughougt this article.



Role-playing may be regarded as being similar in many ways to improvisational acting, whereby you have no rehearsed script by which to determine your own character's actions and responses. It may also be regarded as collaborative story-writing. A group of RPers whose characters have similar goals and enact a group storyline may even wish to draft a story outlining their experiences. I can certainly understand how some might even find the experience to be a sort of muse for one's own story-writing. There are many ways to define role-play, but this guide will be aimed at how that applies specifically in the world of Final Fantasy XIV.



You may find that some will talk about "good RP" versus "bad RP" as you meet other RPers. Generally speaking this is more a matter of opinion than it is an assessment of one's skill at playing make-pretend. The only real requirement for "good RP" that is pretty universal would be an ability to communicate your scene/story/character in an effective or enjoyable manner. Different RPers will have different styles, and these at times may conflict with one another. The most important thing, from my experience, has been to be both respectful to other RPers, but also tolerant of their style. No one should ever demand that you participate with any type of RP that you don't enjoy. You can always politely walk away from it. At the same time, you should be prepared for others to feel similarly about your own style. This is why this community is made up of several smaller groups - each with its own style and list of preferences and guidelines.







In-Character versus Out-of-Character



Throughout this guide you will see the abbreviations IC and OOC (or the selfsame adverbs: ICly and OOCly). This refers to your character speaking in-character or out-of-character. That is to say that there may come times when you'll need to explain something to someone in a way that you as the player will need to do as opposed to the character. Most often this is done through the various chat channels by the use of single or double parentheses. For example: "((This reminds me of something I saw once on a soap opera!))" or "((I need to go afk to take a quick restroom/WC/bio break))"



I have also seen other methods of expression OOC such as {braces} or -- sometimes text after hyphens. But generally the preferred method is parentheses.



Speaking only for myself, I use [brackets] to express if the following text is being spoken in a particular manner or tone. This can be used to indicate sarcasm, annoyance, jubilation, a sing-song voice, etc. You cannot actually convey this through the text itself, so it is sometimes helpful.



As an example: [sarcastic] "He was /really/ helpful..."



The degree of acceptance of OOC varies from RPer to RPer and from group to group. Some are more tolerant of it than others, and this is one of those things to be mindful of when selecting a group with which to RP. As a general rule of thumb - when others are RPing and behaving in-character, you will want to avoid disrupting that as much as possible and conduct yourself in-character as well, unless there is some specific reason not to. The ratio of IC to OOC also seems to be one of the biggest differences between RP that is classified as 'light', 'medium', or 'heavy.' This conveniently brings us to our next section...







Different Styles of RP



You've probably heard or read about "light" or "heavy" RP and might have wondered what these terms are referring to. As it turns out, most roleplayers tend to be humans (at least on one side of the keyboard) and so there's a wide swath of styles, modes, and types of roleplay that they prefer. Like any other metric that we might try to assign to individuals in a group, it's important to understand that these modes are a spectrum rather than a definite category. In other words, most people will find themselves somewhere between the light and heavy ends of this particular scale and they may even move around on it from time to time. Occasionally heavy RPers take a break with some light RP or vice-versa. You might rightly wonder how such a changable distinction could be useful, and for the most part it probably isn't. There is no style of RP that is inherently right or wrong. The only practical use I've found for these descriptions is in matching up different players with reasonably similar roleplaying modes. The simple fact of the matter is that light RPers tend to have more fun if they're in a group with other light RPers and vice-versa for heavy RPers. So by figuring out which end of the spectrum you lean towards you can better gauge what sort of RP you'd prefer to get involved with.



Note: Just to reiterate, this chart is only meant to show examples of the opposite ends of light:heavy roleplay. Most roleplayers will probably fall somewhere in the middle of most of these examples.

A light RPer might... A heavy RPer might... enjoy a more casual style with less emphasis on detail or continuity enjoy a more immerse level of RP and carefully track their character's story make up their stories/characters on a whim or as they go without much regard for the game's lore or past events pay close attention to the game's lore so their stories and characters don't conflict with it use a character's class to help define their character choose to define their character purely through their story, perhaps even ignoring their in-game class all together make use of in-game mechanics (attack moves, consumables, gear, etc) in their stories may forgo any of the in-game mechanics to tell their stories, perhaps to the point of ignoring their character's in-game class prefer a more flashy or dramatic style of storytelling prefer a more "everyday" style that focuses more on the routine life of their character than regularly occurring grandiose events incorporate elements from other games (hearthstones, aliens, Chuck Norris, etc) or even real life (modern technology, religions, etc) into their story only use those elements that they could find evidence of within the game itself have their character appear wherever/whenever convenient put a fair bit of effort in keeping track of when and where their character would be at a given time to include tracking travel times where applicable view RP as something "extra" to do when they aren't involved in another aspect of the game's play (raiding, pvp, questing, etc) view RP as the sole reason to play the game keep their character consistent so it's easier to play over time have their character progress and grow over time as part of their story

You may also notice that some RPers take a much more proactive approach to their experiences, introducing many characters and plot points and often seeming to be at the center of the story arcs they work so hard to create. Others seem to prefer the sidelines, or proudly cast their characters for the "best supporting character" role, and seldom take any sort of active steps towards creating events and incidents, but respond to the people that they surround themselves with and allow themselves to get caught up in their stories. Both the 'proactive' and 'reactive' styles are perfectly fine, and like so many other things this too can be seen as a sort of spectrum on which RPers may sit somewhere in the middle - where they create some of their own story elements in the hopes of hooking others into them, but at the same time play into other characters' stories as well. As with most other things in RP there really is no right or wrong here, and you should participate in whichever way feels most natural and fun for yourself.







The Lore, and How to Use It



Hydaelyn is an expansive world, full of intricacies. It's the staging area for a war between an Empire and three city-states that have their own interior issues. There are other nations remarked upon as well, including one which was conquered 20 years ago. Five races make up most of the playable characters, each race broken further into two distinct clans. Moreover, other beings exist such as Padjal, Moogles, Beastmen, etc. Polytheism is the norm for most Eorzeans, and Twelve deities are celebrated across all of its nations. There is limited technology, and the use of magic is described by relations between the elements and what is known as "aether" - which is also a sort of life-force that flows between living beings and the planet. The scope of this guide doesn't aim to include the lore of Hydaelyn, but rather encourages any new RPer to seek it out. I'll include a few helpful links to aid you in getting started. Once you're more familiar with the world in which your character will be residing, it will be easier to develop his or her mannerisms, preferences, and other important characteristics. Taking some time to learn this will pay off exponentially.



As it is now, the game's lore is somewhat fragmented, but the following two links may provide a place to look up particular information:

http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/wiki/index....=Main_Page

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIV



Those curious about the Eorzean alphabet may look no further than the following link:

http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/10973-eorzean-alphabet/



Moreover, a map of Eorzea may be viewed here:

Show Content Map of Eorzea

Here is a handy guide with the name of many of the geographical locations as well:



* Hydaelyn - The entire planet

* Eorzea - The smallest subcontinent of the planet where the entire game (so far) takes place

* Aldenard - The main continent of Eorzea (pretty much the entire game map except for the islands)

* Sharlayan - The city state to the northwest. Culturally focused on knowledge and rumored to be currently in ruins. (currently closed)

* Dravania - A mountainous region between Sharlayan and Ishgard (currently closed)

* Ishgard - A towering city in the mountains (currently closed)

* Coethas - An area leading to Ishgard

* Xelpkatol - More mountains north of Gridania (currently closed)

* Ala Mhigo - A city state in the western high-lands conquered by the Garlean Empire in 1542

* Gyr Abavia - The area surround Ala Mhigo

* Gridania - A city state directly west of Ala Mhigo and one of the three cities a PC can start from

* The Black Shround - A thick forest surrounding Gridania. Also known as the Twelveswood

* Mor Dhona - A barren area between three main city states. This area has been the site of two major battles between the Garlean Empire and Eorzea.

* Ul'dah - A mercantile city state on the southern edge of Aldenard and one of the three cities a PC can start from.

* Thanalan - A desert-like region surrounding Ul’dah

* Vylbrand - A large island of the southwest coast of Alenard

* Limsa Lominsa - A nautical city on the coast one of the three cities a PC can start from.

* La Noscea - A hilly, grassy region immediately surrounding Limsa Lominsa

* O'Akomoro - A region covering the northern end of Vylbrand

* Garlean Empire - While not a geographic region per se, the Garlean Empire has expanded from the small country of Garlemald to cover most of Hydaelyn. This area is not shown on the map so we do not have any specifics about its size or location.



S-E recently gave us a



Moreover, we have a few threads here at the RPC which outline certain aspects of the game's lore:

The "Useful Sites" post

Eorzean Lore and Facts

Explanations of Lore from 1.0

The Coming of the Seventh Umbral Era

Time and Measurements in Hydaelyn

A Discussion of the Game's Timeline

More info from Fernehalwes

Some Other Interpretations (a bit dated)



There are certainly more out there but you may need to do a little digging.







Reasonable Deviation from the Lore



At times you may find that some characters will conjure up elements in their stories for which there is no basis in the game's lore. For instance, a character may have been raised in a village which doesn't actually exist in the game, or has ties to a seemingly made-up faction. Usually this is deemed to be acceptable for most, so long as it's done in a way which doesn't encroach upon anything that is within the lore of the game. At times this can be risky because as NPC's are added and the game's lore expands you may find that what was once a genuine possibility is negated by something that new lore states. This could then result in a certain amount of backpedaling. It happens, and most times other RPers are willing to play along with this so long as there is no direct impact on their own stories.



If you regard the game's lore like a block of swiss cheese - there are holes in it where you may take certain artistic license and add certain elements to make your character and his or her backstory a bit more tangible and interesting. You may find that some RP groups are more or less free with this, depending of course on the nature of the deviation from the game's lore.

In certain cases, some RPers may go so far outside the scope of the game's lore that they're bringing in elements specific to other games, television, mythology, anime, etc. The lumping in of these non-lore elements is often frowned upon by those RPers who adhere more closely to the game's lore, but these are merely guidelines and are very much open to interpretation. Some groups will be more or less accepting of this sort of thing.







Naming Conventions



There are some generalized naming conventions for each of the race/clan pairings. Before you create a new character you may or may not want to check out the following information, which could help you create a name that is appropriate to the lore for that character's background. It may also go without saying that certain names, while perhaps humorous, can also serve to completely defy a sense of immersion and some RPers may find it difficult to interact with a character with a very unusual or whimsical name, even when there may be some in-character basis for it. The







How to Get Started



"First your ear, then your tongue." Advice from the Introduction that I would reiterate for its importance. Too often I have seen folks new to RP try to dive right into a character - whether inspired from another character they know (or possibly even have RPed) - and get frustrated at why they're not regarded in the way they might expect to be. The simple fact is that most realistic characters will often be suspicious of someone overly comfortable in new and unfamiliar settings or willing to divulge their entire life story to a complete stranger over a pint of ale. While some characters may be very comfortable around strangers, a RPer must keep in mind that this is only half of the equation and they can have no control over how their character will be perceived by others. Many RPers find this daunting or frustrating. Some I've found want to be liked by everyone, and this seldom is possible. In the end it's best to make a character that you, yourself, will find interesting and fun to be.



There will be linkshell directories, and the RPC forums may be utilized to introduce yourself and describe your style, and also read up on what sort of linkshells and companies are available with which to participate. Most folks there will be glad to guide you to like-minded RPers based on your own individual preferences. Speaking to the leaders of a group or even observing an event may help give you an idea if it's something you'd like to join.



Take some comfort in that very early on you can always decide that you don't like the character, and re-roll and create something different. Perhaps you find a linkshell you really like, but the sort of character you were planning to RP has already been done. Or maybe you're adamant about RPing that sort of character but there's just no niche for it and you want to explore some other linkshells/companies. It may take awhile for you to find a sort of groove where you feel your fit comfortably with another group of RPers.



Almost certainly the best thing you can do early on is observe what other RPers are doing, how they're behaving, and think about the reasons for that behavior. Eventually you'll do this for your own character, but I've found it helps to take notice of it first in others.



There will be no need to draft a longwinded character backhistory. You don't need to know everything about your character's preferences. In fact, a lot of this will kind of develop itself as you go along. Maybe you'll draw upon some aspects of your own personality and embellish upon them. Maybe you'll idealize some things. One important quality that many characters have that makes them both realistic and also interesting is flaws. No one is perfect, and a perfect character would be boring. There are lots of ways to introduce flaws to your character. Perhaps they're arrogant, or vain. Perhaps they're not so bright. Maybe they're physically weak, or unable to use any sort of magic. Maybe they're prone to gambling or drinking too much or any number of other things.



Ideally you'll want to try and strike a balance between creating a character that starts off small in some way so that he or she may grow as their time in Eorzea passes. They should have some positive qualities as well as some character flaws. There are a myriad of wonderful combinations, and then you can even begin to think about the reasons for these characteristics. This may even help you flesh out the character's history, as you think on it. Really, the sky is the limit!



But no matter what you ultimately decide for yourself and your character (or characters), you will certainly want to understand the people with whom you will be RPing, and the best way to do that I've found is just to kind of quietly lurk and observe. By all means talk, and engage in friendly conversation, but it is often wise to hold off on making any grand plans for your character without fully understanding how he or she will fit into the rest of the puzzle. Showing interest and asking questions will also help you get a feel for things and may help fill any "dead air" if it happens to be a group that is quiet or isn't as active. You will probably know when the time is right to step up participation or introduce more of your own character's story to the rest of your friends.







Communication



This is that two-way street that is vital for avoiding unnecessary conflicts between RPers. Some RPers have thicker skin than others, and some tend to be offended more easily. While I tend to think nobody has bad intentions, disagreements do happen, and keeping an open channel of communication when RPing can help keep these conflicts down. I should clarify that I'm speaking of the OOC flavor of conflict. The in-character sort or friction is what makes for interesting rivalries and fun stories. Sometimes you may want to shoot a /tell to someone to reassure them that the conflict is strictly between the characters and that you're having fun. This may seem unnecessary, but there are times when that line between what is in-character and what is out-of-character can get blurred and re-establishing that sort of clarity is helpful in preventing misunderstandings.



There are also times in RP where clarification may be needed. So long as there's not a large number of participants, it's usually not a bad idea to ask OOC for more details. This should be done privately unless there is a concern that others are also confused.



RPers by our very virtue tend to be dramatic souls, and misunderstandings can easily give way to arguments and hurt feelings. I cannot stress enough the importance of communication between RPers.







Respecting Other RPers



Most every RP group I've belonged to has had a set of rules, and at the top of this list is almost always some blurb about showing respect OOC to your fellow RPers. This should almost go without saying, but it bears keeping in mind that they are not merely sub-characters to your story, but rather the main characters in their own story. Trivializing others will make it so that they don't want to spend time RPing with your character. I have encountered some characters in my time that seem to want to always be at the center of things; to always have the spotlight on them. This is fine, sometimes. But there should be an understanding that other RPers want to advance their own stories as well, and that you may be, in fact, a supporting character in their story arcs. While it is plausible that two events may happen concurrently, it's usually considered disrespectful to begin RPing something in the middle of someone else's event if it's totally unrelated. What you may consider would be asking the other RPer if they minded if you took the opportunity to try starting something of your own in the middle of their event. The worst they could say is no in which case you could still perform your story ideas at a later time. And in the best case you may be able to find some way to integrate the two stories together in some way.



One thing to bear in mind is that a character is not the same as the RPer behind that character. That distinction can easily get muddled sometimes - such as when another character is having an argument with your character. While there should be no expectation that any character must respect another character, there should be an expectation of respect from the people behind those characters. If there is ever any confusion about the source of a character's disrespect, a simple /tell to inquire would certainly be recommended to help clear any confusion (please defer to the 'Communication' section just above this one for more information.



Moreover, in roleplay it's always good manners to keep your proverbial hands to yourself, especially when it comes to laying those hands on another roleplayer's character. Confused? Allow us to explain.



You know by now that in roleplaying you take control of your character and no one else's, but what happens when you find yourself in a situation where your character is trying to interact with another person's character? Suppose you are attempting to have your character grab another character by the arm and pull them into a room. You can ask the other player OOCly if he's all right with your character pulling his into the room if you want, but are you going to bring the roleplaying to a halt every time your character touches another? That could grow to be very annoying and tedious, especially if you're doing something as involved as a fight scene.



This is where we would recommend using something we've dubbed "unassuming language". Here's how it works: Suppose we were going to have our character pull another player's character into a room. Normally we would write something along the lines of:



"Fred reaches outside the doorway and grabs Zed's arm, pulling him into the room."



But this assumes we have permission to yank the other player's character into the room, which is not what we want. Instead we need to make it so that our character Fred is performing the action, but at the same time give Zed's player the choice to succumb to the action or reject it, as if we had just asked him for permission. You might write something like this instead:



"Fred reaches outside the doorway and grabs at Zed's arm, attempting to pull him into the room."



Do you see what we did there? Instead of writing "grabs Zed's arm" — implying that the grab was successful — we wrote "grabs at Zed's arm" — implying that he made an attempt, but not saying whether or not it succeeded, allowing the other player to either allow Zed to pull away from Fred's grasp or allow him to be grabbed and pulled in. Get creative with it too, because if you keep using "(verb)s at" and "attempts to (verb)", you're going to sound a little repetitive. Here are a few more examples:



"Ayla slams her fist against the side of Jephthah's face." vs. "Ayla hurls her fist at the side of Jephthah's face."

"Warner puts his arm around his comrade's shoulders." vs. "Warner moves to put his arm around his comrade's shoulders."

"Sasmia sticks her leg out into Lila's path and trips her" vs. "Sasmia sticks her leg out into Lila's path, hoping to trip her."



One other thing to be mindful of while RPing is that often some pre-existing RP may be ongoing when you log in. It is normally all right to actively create a scene or "borrow the focus" when it seems quiet or nothing is going on. "Stealing the spotlight" is often frowned upon by some RPers though, if there is currently something else going on. The polite thing to do is usually to communicate OOC (via /tell) to see if this is something you can integrate your own intentions, or otherwise just to wait until the ongoing series of events has passed. It is realistic that multiple things may be ongoing at one time, but some RPers may feel that you're intentionally trying to take the focus away from something they've worked hard on. Consider how you might feel if you had spent some time preparing an event of some sort and another RPer suddenly attempted to remove the focus away from that. As with most things, a little OOC communication will go a long way to prevent misunderstandings and hurt feelings. You should never be afraid to reach out OOC to another RPer to make sure something is all right before moving ahead with it. It's just considered good etiquette. I've been role-playing for a very long time and have found recently that it may be helpful for many new and returning RPers to have a sort of handbook to refer to in order to help answer some of the more common questions many new RPers face when starting out in the world of Final Fantasy XIV. I wanted to build a bit on Brin's How-To Guide and Kylin's Role-Play Etiquette Guide , which are both still very effective.So often these days MMO's have been reduced to a grinding marathon, and building one's "toon" up to be the strongest and best-equipped. This drive I've foundseems to trump what really makes the MMO experience great - the interaction with other players. While it's unfair to say that most role-players don't care at all about progression or personal advancement within the game, it may be apt to say that many regard it as a secondary goal, and I think most would probably argue that it's one that they do not wish to lose sight of.This guide is not meant to be regarded as a hard-and-fast list of rules that must be obeyed on pain of banishment from the RP community. Most of the RPers that I've met in my time have been very amicable and eager to help. The truth is we are a minority in the MMO community and we are very eager to welcome anyone who wishes to join us in what we do. But we are also all human, and we are all different. Some of us exhibit more tact than others. Some of us are very accepting of styles of RP that differ from our own, while others may not be. We all have our own individual preferences, and it's from this diversity that a lot of the truthly great interactions between our characters are born.Rather than a list of rules, please look upon this guide as a series of guidelines which you may use to help enhance your role-play experience in Final Fantasy XIV. Most of us have agreed that there are certain elements within the RP community which are acceptable and some which are not. There are certain conventions that are practiced globally in RP, others apply more to MMO's, and some are very specific to the world of Final Fantasy XIV. I hope to discuss these in detail. One may always feel free to defy convention if one chooses, if he or she feels it will be more enriching to the overall experience. But at the same time, some regard must be given for the people with whom that RPer interacts. This will be discussed in greater detail later in the "Pitfalls to avoid" section.Once that balance is struck between what makes you as a role-player happy, and what fits in line with what the rest of the community deems acceptable, realistic, and reasonable - then the real fun begins and you will watch with some amazement as your character is thrust into new and unusual situations, makes friends with other characters that he or she likes, feels friction with more disagreeable characters, and participates in all manner of adventures and interactions.What is most important is that you are having fun. Role-play is something which you may potentially spend a very long time doing. If it is not an enjoyable experience for you than something is wrong and that should certainly be addressed. Perhaps the character you have created is not as much to your liking as another would be, or perhaps the relationships your character is forming with other characters are not fulfilling. These sort of situations can be remedied fairly easily by expressing any concerns. The RPC features a forum called "RP Discussion" for exactly this sort of scenario. Other role-players in the community will be glad to hear your concerns and sound off with possible solutions. As I said before, most everyone in this community is friendly and eager to help. We all want to have fun, and we all want to see one another having fun as well. After all, that's likely the primary reason for being here in the first place!Role-play is a rewarding experience for most, but at the same time what you take out of the experience - like most things in life - will be proportionate to what you put into it. I would encourage any new role-player to create a character they like, seek out a group that seems like they would fit, and simply observe and listen to other role-players. "First your ear, then your tongue," was a motto I prescribed a long time ago to newer RPers just getting into it.Once again please bear in mind these are just suggestions and not rules or demands that the RP community exerts over anyone. They are intended to help you get more mileage out of your RP experience and not to stifle you in any way. These are also largely based on my own personal observations from over a decade of RP experiences - but I freely admit there may be opinions expressed here which conflict with others. Debates on the RP Discussion Board abound with regard to how specific elements of RP can and should be handled. This guide takes a rather broad scope, but doesn't delve too deeply into any particular issues. If you have any questions, I've tried to provide links to relevent discussion threads, but if none exists please feel welcome to create your own and begin a discussion. That is why that forum exists, after all! You may also feel free to send me a PM if you prefer. I'm always happy to provide a little insight if it helps make RP a more enjoyable experience for everyone. So let's get on with the guide, shall we?Wikipedia defines role-playing as "the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role ... consciously to act out an adopted role." The page goes on to say how in role-playing games that "participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterisation, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, they may improvise freely, their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games." While the rules referenced here seem geared towards something like a tabletop-styled RPG, role-play in Final Fantasy XIV (or really any MMORPG) is not a great leap from that. Rather than rules, many role-players adhere to a set of guidelines - or a rough structure of standards and assumptions believed to be commonly held within the community - to help them get through their interactions with other characters. These guidelines may vary from one RPer to the next, but the principle values are generally the same. We will be discussing many of these values and the variations within them throughougt this article.Role-playing may be regarded as being similar in many ways to improvisational acting, whereby you have no rehearsed script by which to determine your own character's actions and responses. It may also be regarded as collaborative story-writing. A group of RPers whose characters have similar goals and enact a group storyline may even wish to draft a story outlining their experiences. I can certainly understand how some might even find the experience to be a sort of muse for one's own story-writing. There are many ways to define role-play, but this guide will be aimed at how that applies specifically in the world of Final Fantasy XIV.You may find that some will talk about "good RP" versus "bad RP" as you meet other RPers. Generally speaking this is more a matter of opinion than it is an assessment of one's skill at playing make-pretend. The only real requirement for "good RP" that is pretty universal would be an ability to communicate your scene/story/character in an effective or enjoyable manner. Different RPers will have different styles, and these at times may conflict with one another. The most important thing, from my experience, has been to be both respectful to other RPers, but also tolerant of their style. No one should ever demand that you participate with any type of RP that you don't enjoy. You can always politely walk away from it. At the same time, you should be prepared for others to feel similarly about your own style. This is why this community is made up of several smaller groups - each with its own style and list of preferences and guidelines.Throughout this guide you will see the abbreviations IC and OOC (or the selfsame adverbs: ICly and OOCly). This refers to your character speaking in-character or out-of-character. That is to say that there may come times when you'll need to explain something to someone in a way that you as the player will need to do as opposed to the character. Most often this is done through the various chat channels by the use of single or double parentheses. For example: "((This reminds me of something I saw once on a soap opera!))" or "((I need to go afk to take a quick restroom/WC/bio break))"I have also seen other methods of expression OOC such as {braces} or -- sometimes text after hyphens. But generally the preferred method is parentheses.Speaking only for myself, I use [brackets] to express if the following text is being spoken in a particular manner or tone. This can be used to indicate sarcasm, annoyance, jubilation, a sing-song voice, etc. You cannot actually convey this through the text itself, so it is sometimes helpful.As an example: [sarcastic] "He was /really/ helpful..."The degree of acceptance of OOC varies from RPer to RPer and from group to group. Some are more tolerant of it than others, and this is one of those things to be mindful of when selecting a group with which to RP. As a general rule of thumb - when others are RPing and behaving in-character, you will want to avoid disrupting that as much as possible and conduct yourself in-character as well, unless there is some specific reason not to. The ratio of IC to OOC also seems to be one of the biggest differences between RP that is classified as 'light', 'medium', or 'heavy.' This conveniently brings us to our next section...You've probably heard or read about "light" or "heavy" RP and might have wondered what these terms are referring to. As it turns out, most roleplayers tend to be humans (at least on one side of the keyboard) and so there's a wide swath of styles, modes, and types of roleplay that they prefer. Like any other metric that we might try to assign to individuals in a group, it's important to understand that these modes are a spectrum rather than a definite category. In other words, most people will find themselves somewhere between the light and heavy ends of this particular scale and they may even move around on it from time to time. Occasionally heavy RPers take a break with some light RP or vice-versa. You might rightly wonder how such a changable distinction could be useful, and for the most part it probably isn't. There is no style of RP that is inherently right or wrong. The only practical use I've found for these descriptions is in matching up different players with reasonably similar roleplaying modes. The simple fact of the matter is that light RPers tend to have more fun if they're in a group with other light RPers and vice-versa for heavy RPers. So by figuring out which end of the spectrum you lean towards you can better gauge what sort of RP you'd prefer to get involved with.Note: Just to reiterate, this chart is only meant to show examples of the opposite ends of light:heavy roleplay. Most roleplayers will probably fall somewhere in the middle of most of these examples.You may also notice that some RPers take a much more proactive approach to their experiences, introducing many characters and plot points and often seeming to be at the center of the story arcs they work so hard to create. Others seem to prefer the sidelines, or proudly cast their characters for the "best supporting character" role, and seldom take any sort of active steps towards creating events and incidents, but respond to the people that they surround themselves with and allow themselves to get caught up in their stories. Both the 'proactive' and 'reactive' styles are perfectly fine, and like so many other things this too can be seen as a sort of spectrum on which RPers may sit somewhere in the middle - where they create some of their own story elements in the hopes of hooking others into them, but at the same time play into other characters' stories as well. As with most other things in RP there really is no right or wrong here, and you should participate in whichever way feels most natural and fun for yourself.Hydaelyn is an expansive world, full of intricacies. It's the staging area for a war between an Empire and three city-states that have their own interior issues. There are other nations remarked upon as well, including one which was conquered 20 years ago. Five races make up most of the playable characters, each race broken further into two distinct clans. Moreover, other beings exist such as Padjal, Moogles, Beastmen, etc. Polytheism is the norm for most Eorzeans, and Twelve deities are celebrated across all of its nations. There is limited technology, and the use of magic is described by relations between the elements and what is known as "aether" - which is also a sort of life-force that flows between living beings and the planet. The scope of this guide doesn't aim to include the lore of Hydaelyn, but rather encourages any new RPer to seek it out. I'll include a few helpful links to aid you in getting started. Once you're more familiar with the world in which your character will be residing, it will be easier to develop his or her mannerisms, preferences, and other important characteristics. Taking some time to learn this will pay off exponentially.As it is now, the game's lore is somewhat fragmented, but the following two links may provide a place to look up particular information:Those curious about the Eorzean alphabet may look no further than the following link:Moreover, a map of Eorzea may be viewed here:Here is a handy guide with the name of many of the geographical locations as well:* Hydaelyn - The entire planet* Eorzea - The smallest subcontinent of the planet where the entire game (so far) takes place* Aldenard - The main continent of Eorzea (pretty much the entire game map except for the islands)* Sharlayan - The city state to the northwest. Culturally focused on knowledge and rumored to be currently in ruins. (currently closed)* Dravania - A mountainous region between Sharlayan and Ishgard (currently closed)* Ishgard - A towering city in the mountains (currently closed)* Coethas - An area leading to Ishgard* Xelpkatol - More mountains north of Gridania (currently closed)* Ala Mhigo - A city state in the western high-lands conquered by the Garlean Empire in 1542* Gyr Abavia - The area surround Ala Mhigo* Gridania - A city state directly west of Ala Mhigo and one of the three cities a PC can start from* The Black Shround - A thick forest surrounding Gridania. Also known as the Twelveswood* Mor Dhona - A barren area between three main city states. This area has been the site of two major battles between the Garlean Empire and Eorzea.* Ul'dah - A mercantile city state on the southern edge of Aldenard and one of the three cities a PC can start from.* Thanalan - A desert-like region surrounding Ul’dah* Vylbrand - A large island of the southwest coast of Alenard* Limsa Lominsa - A nautical city on the coast one of the three cities a PC can start from.* La Noscea - A hilly, grassy region immediately surrounding Limsa Lominsa* O'Akomoro - A region covering the northern end of Vylbrand* Garlean Empire - While not a geographic region per se, the Garlean Empire has expanded from the small country of Garlemald to cover most of Hydaelyn. This area is not shown on the map so we do not have any specifics about its size or location.S-E recently gave us a LORE FORUM which has some good information; plus it appears they will be continuously expanding upon this!Moreover, we have a few threads here at the RPC which outline certain aspects of the game's lore:There are certainly more out there but you may need to do a little digging.At times you may find that some characters will conjure up elements in their stories for which there is no basis in the game's lore. For instance, a character may have been raised in a village which doesn't actually exist in the game, or has ties to a seemingly made-up faction. Usually this is deemed to be acceptable for most, so long as it's done in a way which doesn't encroach upon anything thatwithin the lore of the game. At times this can be risky because as NPC's are added and the game's lore expands you may find that what was once a genuine possibility is negated by something that new lore states. This could then result in a certain amount of backpedaling. It happens, and most times other RPers are willing to play along with this so long as there is no direct impact on their own stories.If you regard the game's lore like a block of swiss cheese - thereholes in it where you may take certain artistic license and add certain elements to make your character and his or her backstory a bit more tangible and interesting. You may find that some RP groups are more or less free with this, depending of course on the nature of the deviation from the game's lore.In certain cases, some RPers may go so far outside the scope of the game's lore that they're bringing in elements specific to other games, television, mythology, anime, etc. The lumping in of these non-lore elements is often frowned upon by those RPers who adhere more closely to the game's lore, but these are merely guidelines and are very much open to interpretation. Some groups will be more or less accepting of this sort of thing.There are some generalized naming conventions for each of the race/clan pairings. Before you create a new character you may or may not want to check out the following information, which could help you create a name that is appropriate to the lore for that character's background. It may also go without saying that certain names, while perhaps humorous, can also serve to completely defy a sense of immersion and some RPers may find it difficult to interact with a character with a very unusual or whimsical name, even when there may be some in-character basis for it. The LORE FORUM that S-E has recently given us explains in great detail the naming conventions for each of the races and clans. These posts are certainly worth perusing, even if you decide not to follow these particular trends."First your ear, then your tongue." Advice from the Introduction that I would reiterate for its importance. Too often I have seen folks new to RP try to dive right into a character - whether inspired from another character they know (or possibly even have RPed) - and get frustrated at why they're not regarded in the way they might expect to be. The simple fact is that mostcharacters will often be suspicious of someone overly comfortable in new and unfamiliar settings or willing to divulge their entire life story to a complete stranger over a pint of ale. While some characters may be very comfortable around strangers, a RPer must keep in mind that this is only half of the equation and they can have no control over how their character will be perceived by others. Many RPers find this daunting or frustrating. Some I've found want to be liked by everyone, and this seldom is possible. In the end it's best to make a character that you, yourself, will find interesting and fun to be.There will be linkshell directories, and the RPC forums may be utilized to introduce yourself and describe your style, and also read up on what sort of linkshells and companies are available with which to participate. Most folks there will be glad to guide you to like-minded RPers based on your own individual preferences. Speaking to the leaders of a group or even observing an event may help give you an idea if it's something you'd like to join.Take some comfort in that very early on you can always decide that you don't like the character, and re-roll and create something different. Perhaps you find a linkshell you really like, but the sort of character you were planning to RP has already been done. Or maybe you're adamant about RPing that sort of character but there's just no niche for it and you want to explore some other linkshells/companies. It may take awhile for you to find a sort of groove where you feel your fit comfortably with another group of RPers.Almost certainly the best thing you can do early on is observe what other RPers are doing, how they're behaving, and think about the reasons for that behavior. Eventually you'll do this for your own character, but I've found it helps to take notice of it first in others.There will be no need to draft a longwinded character backhistory. You don't need to knowabout your character's preferences. In fact, a lot of this will kind of develop itself as you go along. Maybe you'll draw upon some aspects of your own personality and embellish upon them. Maybe you'll idealize some things. One important quality that many characters have that makes them both realistic and also interesting is flaws. No one is perfect, and a perfect character would be boring. There are lots of ways to introduce flaws to your character. Perhaps they're arrogant, or vain. Perhaps they're not so bright. Maybe they're physically weak, or unable to use any sort of magic. Maybe they're prone to gambling or drinking too much or any number of other things.Ideally you'll want to try and strike a balance between creating a character that starts off small in some way so that he or she may grow as their time in Eorzea passes. They should have some positive qualities as well as some character flaws. There are a myriad of wonderful combinations, and then you can even begin to think about the reasons for these characteristics. This may even help you flesh out the character's history, as you think on it. Really, the sky is the limit!But no matter what you ultimately decide for yourself and your character (or characters), you will certainly want to understand the people with whom you will be RPing, and the best way to do that I've found is just to kind of quietly lurk and observe. By all means talk, and engage in friendly conversation, but it is often wise to hold off on making any grand plans for your character without fully understanding how he or she will fit into the rest of the puzzle. Showing interest and asking questions will also help you get a feel for things and may help fill any "dead air" if it happens to be a group that is quiet or isn't as active. You will probably know when the time is right to step up participation or introduce more of your own character's story to the rest of your friends.This is that two-way street that is vital for avoiding unnecessary conflicts between RPers. Some RPers have thicker skin than others, and some tend to be offended more easily. While I tend to think nobody has bad intentions, disagreements do happen, and keeping an open channel of communication when RPing can help keep these conflicts down. I should clarify that I'm speaking of the OOC flavor of conflict. The in-character sort or friction is what makes for interesting rivalries and fun stories. Sometimes you may want to shoot a /tell to someone to reassure them that the conflict is strictly between the characters and that you're having fun. This may seem unnecessary, but there are times when that line between what is in-character and what is out-of-character can get blurred and re-establishing that sort of clarity is helpful in preventing misunderstandings.There are also times in RP where clarification may be needed. So long as there's not a large number of participants, it's usually not a bad idea to ask OOC for more details. This should be done privately unless there is a concern that others are also confused.RPers by our very virtue tend to be dramatic souls, and misunderstandings can easily give way to arguments and hurt feelings. I cannot stress enough the importance of communication between RPers.Most every RP group I've belonged to has had a set of rules, and at the top of this list is almost always some blurb about showing respect OOC to your fellow RPers. This should almost go without saying, but it bears keeping in mind that they are not merely sub-characters to your story, but rather the main characters in their own story. Trivializing others will make it so that they don't want to spend time RPing with your character. I have encountered some characters in my time that seem to want to always be at the center of things; to always have the spotlight on them. This is fine, sometimes. But there should be an understanding that other RPers want to advance their own stories as well, and that you may be, in fact, a supporting character in their story arcs. While it is plausible that two events may happen concurrently, it's usually considered disrespectful to begin RPing something in the middle of someone else's event if it's totally unrelated. What you may consider would be asking the other RPer if they minded if you took the opportunity to try starting something of your own in the middle of their event. The worst they could say is no in which case you could still perform your story ideas at a later time. And in the best case you may be able to find some way to integrate the two stories together in some way.One thing to bear in mind is that a character is not the same as the RPer behind that character. That distinction can easily get muddled sometimes - such as when another character is having an argument with your character. While there should be no expectation that anymust respect another character, there should be an expectation of respect from the people behind those characters. If there is ever any confusion about the source of a character's disrespect, a simple /tell to inquire would certainly be recommended to help clear any confusion (please defer to the 'Communication' section just above this one for more information.Moreover, in roleplay it's always good manners to keep your proverbial hands to yourself, especially when it comes to laying those hands on another roleplayer's character. Confused? Allow us to explain.You know by now that in roleplaying you take control of your character and no one else's, but what happens when you find yourself in a situation where your character is trying to interact with another person's character? Suppose you are attempting to have your character grab another character by the arm and pull them into a room. You can ask the other player OOCly if he's all right with your character pulling his into the room if you want, but are you going to bring the roleplaying to a halt every time your character touches another? That could grow to be very annoying and tedious, especially if you're doing something as involved as a fight scene.This is where we would recommend using something we've dubbed "unassuming language". Here's how it works: Suppose we were going to have our character pull another player's character into a room. Normally we would write something along the lines of:"Fred reaches outside the doorway and grabs Zed's arm, pulling him into the room."But this assumes we have permission to yank the other player's character into the room, which is not what we want. Instead we need to make it so that our character Fred is performing the action, but at the same time give Zed's player the choice to succumb to the action or reject it, as if we had just asked him for permission. You might write something like this instead:"Fred reaches outside the doorway and grabs at Zed's arm, attempting to pull him into the room."Do you see what we did there? Instead of writing "grabs Zed's arm" — implying that the grab was successful — we wrote "grabsZed's arm" — implying that he made an attempt, but not saying whether or not it succeeded, allowing the other player to either allow Zed to pull away from Fred's grasp or allow him to be grabbed and pulled in. Get creative with it too, because if you keep using "(verb)s at" and "attempts to (verb)", you're going to sound a little repetitive. Here are a few more examples:"Ayla slams her fist against the side of Jephthah's face." vs. "Ayla hurls her fist at the side of Jephthah's face.""Warner puts his arm around his comrade's shoulders." vs. "Warner moves to put his arm around his comrade's shoulders.""Sasmia sticks her leg out into Lila's path and trips her" vs. "Sasmia sticks her leg out into Lila's path, hoping to trip her."One other thing to be mindful of while RPing is that often some pre-existing RP may be ongoing when you log in. It is normally all right to actively create a scene or "borrow the focus" when it seems quiet or nothing is going on. "Stealing the spotlight" is often frowned upon by some RPers though, if there is currently something else going on. The polite thing to do is usually to communicate OOC (via /tell) to see if this is something you can integrate your own intentions, or otherwise just to wait until the ongoing series of events has passed. It is realistic that multiple things may be ongoing at one time, but some RPers may feel that you're intentionally trying to take the focus away from something they've worked hard on. Consider how you might feel if you had spent some time preparing an event of some sort and another RPer suddenly attempted to remove the focus away from that. As with most things, a little OOC communication will go a long way to prevent misunderstandings and hurt feelings. You should never be afraid to reach out OOC to another RPer to make sure something is all right before moving ahead with it. It's just considered good etiquette. "One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others." ~ Lewis Carol

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