#probably better than ffxiv's own base game ever did

[thegreatyin]

finished the base game of gw2 today!! honestly i went in expecting an experience equivalent to ffxiv's arr and was very pleasantly surprised by it. i'd give the personal story a solid 6.5/10 relative to usual mmo plots, though it's more realistically a 5.5/10 relative to normal rpgs. really looking forward to seeing how living world and expansion content pans out

[c0rpseductor]

also like its kind of funny bc in terms of video game franchises dragon age actually DOES do fairly (?) well when it comes to representation of lgbt characters. at least by sheer volume. and a lot of games whose writing i prefer fall extremely flat in comparison. so it probably seems silly that im so much more ready to tear da apart

like in ffxiv, emet-selch isn't actually gay despite how many posts i make about his loving joan crawford and dolly parton. he's heavily queercoded (ESPECIALLY in the localization) in order to remind you he's the bad guy. like, it's cheap; the best xiv can do in terms of lgbt rep among its cast is Heavily Imply a relationship between ryne and gaia, and i don't deny that it's really great that they did that, but it's also like...not much. and i think it does suffer from this pitfall of like, "we intentionally chose pretty teenage girls in a very chaste relationship to Imply Homosexuality About, because male homosexuality is gross." like i'm not saying Less Lesbian Rep Is Good or something or that it's a contest or some shit like that, i just think it's clear in this case they made this choice bc the devs have kind of evinced a bit of disgust toward gay men. most of the time (not all the time!) when male homosexuality or homoerotic imagery with men is brought up in the game i think it's sort of as a gross-out joke. also, as sort of an aside, transmisogyny is like. A Gag That Happens Way Too Much. However i think xiv is a much better-written game/series as a whole and i will be sucking it off until the end of time.

dragon age is like, nominally a lot less homophobic and transphobic, but i feel a lot more critical of and less generous toward its representation of lgbt characters because this is also a Big Selling Point for them. bioware i think has sort of built this image as like a really character-driven sensitive liberal crunchy kind of studio (i just really wanted to say crunchy lol) and seem to kind of pride themselves on having this really deep tactful groundbreaking lgbt rep. so if it falls short of those standards i'm going to be mad at being ripped off, naturally, and at bioware for patting their own asses for doing ultimately very little.

ffxiv did not at any point try to sell me Gay Rep. ffxiv did not say "hey, we're square enix and we're a really cool progressive company, we're going to make an mmo for the gays!" square enix looked me in the eyes and said "we have an mmo. our character creator has catgirls, and almost every single outfit in the base game is unconscionably hideous," and i said "HOLY SHIT CATGIRLS!!!" and have been playing it for nearly a decade now. i've never felt cheated out of sensitivity square promised me. i kind of know the score with them, as a company they can be pretty regressive and that often reflects in how they handle real-world issues in their games.

to use a food metaphor here, if i'm told i'm going to be given the most enormous delicious tasty stake ever and then it's like...good enough but ultimately very average, i'm going to feel a little cheated and probably be meaner about that steak than i would if i were simply told "i made steak. have some." i might even appreciate a kind of middling or even Not That Good steak without complaint if i'm not hyped up for no fucking reason first. this is kind of my feelings.

[captainkurosolaire]

Things I Like RP Partners to Know

I like to be called: Captain, Kuro, Zach, Degenerate, w/e. I'm typically not nerved by really anything, mostly chill. (Went in-depth and tagged below cut)

One thing you should know about me: I really just write for passion anymore, I don't care about this whole Post+ stuff, it won't play a factor in me. Tumblr has really everything that allows me to write and further myself. However, it ever goes away, even if becomes Myspace 2.0, I'll probably still maintain writing here off and on in spurts. --Now if they shut-down, I might convert over somewhere that's identical, cause Twitter couldn't handle my girth. I'm mildly autistic and suffer from a few other conflicting health aliments, writing is my obsessiveness and remedy. Used to be gaming, but I became less of a gamer, and replaced it more for writing cause It's a place where I can contain and throw all my thought's to usage. My mind overlaps with so much thing's at once, I get side-tracked, misplacement, my concentration shifts horribly, before I know it, I haven't slept for twenty-four hours or more. Lot of stuff is just me being redundant by fault. Or I become overwhelmed with a story ideas, that impulsively takes me, but majority of my best thing's are sudden. Not the one's that are ever planned. But I don't live to make excuses never care to be defined, by one thing, or person. I don't aim to attain much of anything in life but be a better me, until my end. And by analyzing your mind, you can do or achieve a lot I've discovered. So I repetitively no matter what jog down my WIP's and unleash, or my errors, I put them all on badges displays, then I go back and repeat until I show progress. That's how I have to learn. But passion is a candle, so when it burn's out I lose a lot of what I learned, it's natural after that to be discouraged, but instead, for me, that gets me going again. Cause mean's I can come at thing's with a whole new mental perspective and different flow, then compare, and again, adapt and improve. One thing you should know about RPing with my character(s): Everything is a factor and story with me. Losses, they matter. My character originally was highly killable almost every session, but advanced due to the actions of others, because of them, he found the value of his own life, and that's how I like to do my characters. Even the win's my character gets from stories, will most likely have a 'bad ending' occasionally or result into something new sprouting from it eventually, however that doesn't define at-all how permanently it effects them. But seasonally they go through their struggle. Life for real, is up and down's, these are the component's I factor in. Realistically, sure we fall. We never truly decline unless we allow it. Our character's philosophies, their mental judgement, dislikes, etc, all these thing's become ingrained they decide how much they want too fight and live, they step to improve or sometimes stumble under roadblocks, but not truly devolve. So the more people he interacts with or meets and encounters in RP, they are factors, they're meaningful to meet again, or live, their short teachings are insightful. No matter how small or large or incomplete stories went or passed-by. I created a character who was filled in by others initially. Even one-shot smuts, they're important experiences. Lot more to appreciate when your character learns on their own how to surpass their weaknesses and suffering organically. Still do RP with others but typically I do collaborations, or pre-established or short things, or Discord, one-shot in-game stuff, screenshot things that can convey RP. Want to build this Crew as their own functioning characters, not so much minor throwaways, but shippable, and highly in-depth. Essentially building an optional anime for my partner's, one-day. Long-term with me right now just isn't something I'd ever ask or expect from me. I'm too jumbled and a mess. But it's not a never, I do have two people who are among all my stuff and involved. I'd include anyone in my stories too if they wanted partaken. First language: Gibberish / English. Age range: under 13  |  14–17 | 18–22 | 23–25 | 26–29 | 30+ | 40+ | 70+ Am I okay with NSFW?: yes |

no | some nsfw I came solely off that, my reputation, was known as 'That ERP guy' on Balmung OG day's, I'm one of the degen's from that era. But character's evolve and adapt as do their people, they become more, but maintain their origins to degree. Those perspective's and things learned from NSFW are very paramount to a lot of SFW too. My favorite/most common thing to RP is: angst | fluff | smut | crack | action | plots | AUs are fine | Violence | Darker themes |  I dunno. * I'm pretty open-ended in all things. It's all fascinating for me to attempt at improving. Reason finally pulled the trigger and made a diverse Crew for Captain was give off different interactions and also more reason's to write beyond my usual trends. I'll tackle eventually every genre... now doesn't mean I'll excel in those fields more than my specialties, but I'll do it. Canon Character RP Friendly?: yes | no | depends * I stick with the sandbox but I'll stretch out all the space and limits of it. Building skyscrapers and UFO's with that sand, just happens that this Universe has magic, science, alchemy, holograms, all-around unlimited absurd possibilities, more than even D&D, which makes this game the best to RP within. When comes to interacting with anything Canon base, It'll always dwarf me though. Most likely I'll write my own legit WoL's, thinking of making an 'antagonist' one, but more 'protagonist too' (maybe hunk viera male?) I like making construed lines between characters, that's really complex, it's avidly up to a reader to decide who's in the right or wrong or if they're rooting for the villain or good-guy. I see most lore characters as Celebrities which my character would be rightfully cultured in, and they're untouchable, least for my characters. To me the source of what, who, or with you're writing is what determines a lot. But yeah RPing with anything Canon related, I switch to being a just minor gnat. And there's going to be a lot of consequences, that come if there's anything that does effect something that matters in the Universe. Just cause my pirate is causing havoc and having fun for now, doesn't mean law's don't catch-up or something else doesn't. Cause and effect always. RP blog: does contain ooc posts | doesn’t contain ooc posts | occasionally contains ooc* I would do more OOC if did asks, or inbox related things and was wanted, but outside occasional updates, I stick to my role. That's just write stories and screenshots and practice everything. I'm thankful for anyone who does enjoy anything I share or supports me, It's what brings me back faster and I do always think of you too when I want to get better, it's uplifting and inspiring, alongside boosting. If I do bring any motivation to anything, I do. Then that's the best payment I could get. I like seeing others thrive, or soar higher than me, and unleash their creativity. Tagged by:@spotofmummery (Thank ye my treasured friend!) Tagging anyone/everyone: @roguestly @scholarlybreadbun @under-the-blood-moonlight @lettersnorth @violet-warder @lukawarrioroflight @eligos-venator @corpse-dancer @silvernsteel @silvertail-ffxiv @roxinova @lavender-hemlock @fracturedfantasia @zhauric @fair-fae @avwalya @yuki-yukichan @crow-iv @cadrenebula @spellsandtales @casualcatte @seascrapes @mishivymendi @thorcat @aqueerfishtheyis @ljoturyalre @seabound-dragoon @scornedjustice @laylahcousland @layla-grey @moonstruck-ffxiv @snow-covered-moon (Apologies if missed anyone. If there's more who'd like to be tagged again on all these type of things, let me know.)

[merelliahallewell]

Community Organization - A Kul Tiras RP Postmortem

I should probably preface this whole ridiculous thing with the fact that I genuinely don’t want to upset anybody with it, but just do something of a postmortem. I removed all names save for those people I’m explicitly calling out for being great and handling this community well despite what’s happened to it. These are genuine observations from somebody who’s tried to both run events and be as involved in Kul Tiras as I can be for the last yearish.

I wish there was a way to make Kul Tiras roleplay a thing again but I genuinely don’t really have the connections to do so or the time to put together a lot of events personally- I already run two communities on Moon Guard and officer for a small guild. 

I’ll keep ranting after the jump I suppose.

The early cross-realm Kul Tiras community started off with a huge bang. I think despite how bad the gameplay of the early expansion came out to be, there was a lot of energy around the setting and a ton of excitement for Boralus as a whole. We had not one, but two in-game communities that had a good deal of crossover in membership between them. Surprisingly, BoralusRP and PortRP proved that in-game communities could still remain strong despite the total absence of a Discord to back it up. It broke the conventional wisdom I’d heard about how in-game RP was dead and there was RP to be found in abundance during the early days. While a discord server was later created for PortRP (now Living Kul Tiras), the in-game communities always remained far more popular and active than it. 

Unfortunately, I think the biggest blows to Kul Tiras RP weren’t sharding, but more that those who had created the communities didn’t necessarily have very many intentions past making the space for roleplay to maybe happen. Were it not for the awesome and very regular bar nights being hosted in the early expansion, we’d very quickly realize that there was nothing actually going on in the communities besides them. People made these groups with seemingly no intention of hosting events- unless it was a guild event that had open invitation.

What was more, there wasn’t any support from the leadership of these groups for the kind souls willing to run these awesome events. Nobody in leadership was interested in helping event runners get the word out regarding their stuff or otherwise promote them save for leaving calendar invites open. I know firsthand, after all, having tried to run the Shadows over Duskford arc back in October 2018 and having a hell of a time trying to invite Kul Tiras-based guilds to it. 

A number of dramatic things also seemed to undercut the efforts being made in the community- Having a prominent community member wind up to be a neo nazi didn’t help the image of Kul Tiras, nor did one of PortRP’s admins getting in a huge fight on the forums and caught using alt characters to back themselves up. 

Kul Tiras limped along on life support after the new year. Community events got hosted still and I can only voice utter appreciation at that. I absolutely adore my memories of the Shattered Glass (miss you a heck of a lot, Mac) despite this fact, but things were rough in January/february. 

Hype about the addition of Kul Tirans as an allied race infused the community with new life, at least for a little bit. Three new discords were created for each of the zones in preparation for this infusion of new people the community expected to get...

...but then we didn’t really get a lot of new people. What was more, the community suddenly found three new discords to have to be involved in, but the Tiragarde Sound and Drustvar ones were basically just empty and dead most of the time. It was the same discord just copy/pasted for the zones, with the same leadership team. While I’ve heard the Tidesage one was active, by the time I joined long after it was made, the place was incredibly quiet. I don’t really know a lot about the leadership teams of these discords, but I don’t think any major events came out of them.

On Moon Guard, the Boralus Law Project (a sort-of clone of the very popular Stormwind Law Project) was started in June, had one meeting, and then barely ever met again. While the effort was earnest, the delivery was... lacking, really hard. The solitary meeting was mostly argument over Drust relics and being told where we were allowed to stand. 

At this point in time, about a year after the trio of new Kul Tiras servers got started, all five public discords related to it are dead and most of the stuff in that vein is over, save for what I’ll list below. 

Some Praise

The only time I’ve seen life infused back into the Kul Tiras community as it was fading was the hosting of @caelin-tautstring​‘s Kul Tiras Market. I know things have gotten quieter there, but I think he’s absolutely done the best with what he’s been handed. I wish the market had more patronage than it does now, but I’m not really a huge member of WrA’s community and MG’s Kul Tiras groups are laughably distant, small, or don’t play retail so I have no real way of getting the word out about it. 

Jacquell has been at it hosting bars in Kul Tiras for as long as I can remember. Seriously, it may not be every week but that’s absolute dedication that no other event runners have had. I wish I made it to more of these just to show up and support her because she absolutely deserves it. Go give her forum thread some love and go to the next event on the 6th. 

@atc-wra runs the HARBOR GAMES. Gosh, those are awesome. go to them! support them! Support Kul Tiras. They’re really cool people and I wish I had gotten more opportunity to interact. 

Some Takeaways

Don’t start a community unless you intend to provide for it.

I appreciate the various Kul Tiras communities being founded. I absolutely, 100% do- my own character wouldn’t be around there if I hadn’t been given a great place to be. However, my main gripe with the people who founded these communities is that they just made them as a place to congregate, and very little else. 

The same goes for the trio of discords that got founded- where are the events? Bar nights, roll events meet & greets, stories. We’re all here to write stories, yeah? I feel like it is the role of moderators or leaders to do their best to provide for these communities with events, support, and most importantly, direction. People need to know what a community is for, rather than just being “the kul tiras community” or “the tidesage community.” 

Support community events!

Seriously, I remember being discouraged when my events weren’t supported. If you can’t make the event, then hawk it to your friends or guild members who can. Hell, make a guild event out of attending. Give them praise, feedback, anything. People who make events are the lifeblood of communities. They will die if they do not have a variety of events happening at frequent intervals.

If you’re going to abandon something, pass ownership off to somebody else in the community.

BfA sucked. yeah, we all know. I don’t blame anybody for going to FF14 or ESO or any other game, but I do blame them for leaving and failing to put other people in charge of the communities they ran. If you don’t want to host a bar event anymore, then give it to one of your customers or take on an apprentice or something. If you don’t want to run a discord, see if a community contributor can help.

I think the community would have been better off if they weren’t left waiting for things that weren’t going to happen.

A couple of prominent event runners left people waiting for events that never came. I feel like it’s important to be communicative, and if necessary, pass popular events off to other people if you’re no longer interested in running them. Promising how there will be more bar nights soon, or that you’ll do an event in the future, and then never following up on it? That sure sucks, especially if the event runner moved to FFXIV or Classic. 

I’m grumpy about Moon Guard’s Kul Tiras community.

Nobody is responsible for supporting a community if they don’t want to. That is very important to preface this with. However, I do feel like if one is trying to position themselves as the center of Kul Tiras roleplay, they should engage themselves and their entire guilds in the community. Refusing to show up to the cross-realm events (or host anything) despite having like... at least 20 people around in your guild really sucks. A golden opportunity to beef the RP up was lost. If you want an example of what should have been done, <Kul Tiran Admiralty/Commonwealth> hosted open events for people to come to, supported other events, and generally was super active. 

Hell, MG’s most active Kul Tiran groups were <Boralus Merchant Marine> and <Outliers> and they were both really small guilds. I love ‘em and I wish I’d helped support them more. The big ones should have taken lessons from their involvement, because at least they did it.

Now the people who ran the big guilds complain a lot about the death of the community, and i’m like... hello?? You had your chance and didn’t bother until it was too late. 

- - - 

This has been an extremely long rant about Kul Tiras. Is it fair? Maybe? I don’t know. I’m trying to throw out whatever I can for this without being too harsh. 

[lavender-hemlock]

the be honest meme. - ALL OF THEM! -From ya know who.

Breathes. I am going to kill you. Everything of the honesty meme is under the cut you absolute fruitcake @kazexvoss . 

1.     What would prevent you from following someone?

Possibly if that person isnotoriously opinionated and hateful towards any opinion that opposes theirs.That’s about the only preventive thing. Just unbearable and toxic people. 

2.     Are aesthetics important to you? If they are, why?

Sure, I think aesthetics aregreat outlets to demonstrating outside of screenshots and prompts what yourcharacter is about in an array of colors, art, or examples. It’s beautiful.

3.     What current rp trend do you hate? Taken.

4.     How do you explain rp to someone in the real world?

Hahah- I don’t, but I would probably compare it to my lovefor literature and writing if I had to. I’m writing stories and adventures.

5.     Do you prefer interacting with male muses or female more? Why?

I don’t have a preference!

6.     Do you prefer writing male muses or female more? Why?

I write female muses because it is simply easier for me to put myshoes in the shoes of a female muse. For obvious reasons I should hope. However,I have written with a male oc in the past. I want to, just haven’t found theright dynamic yet for ffxiv. I had a male Au Ra by the name of Xathun- but nowhe is simply my retainer that brings me stuff he deems is shiny. 

I love himeven if he brings me level 5 rocks.

7.     What’s your opinion on call-out posts?

I think they are both useful topoint out harmful individuals who have harmful or greedy intentions – andharmful because some call-out posts I believe are just posts to continue a potstir off the platform itself or off the drama seeping from another dms. Thereis a time and place for all things.

8.     Name any three things about the rpc that bother you. Taken.

9.     What is your opinion on exclusivity? Do you practice it? Why / why not?

I think exclusivity iscompletely up to those who choose to practice it. I only practice it on whetherI am comfortable. Very few people can make me feel uncomfortable- but my guthas yet to fail me in this. I will not RP with anyone who makes meuncomfortable or if they are just looking for ERP. I’m not about it.

10.   Have you everhad a bad experience with commissions? As either someone who makes them or assomeone who buys them?

I have not had a bad experiencewith commissions. I really need to seek out one.

11.   What do youknow now about rp that you wish you knew when you first started? Taken.

12.   Have you beeninvolved in drama? Do you regret it?

In this community, I have onlybeen involved in one instance. It was during my first few months joining FFXIV,super early on. A RPer tried to guilt trip me for not responding to them forone day. One day caused a lot of drama from someone else’s greed and possessivenature.

I don’t regret it. It just demonstrated another example for me to be wary of everyone’s intentions. Unfortunately. It isthat split-second decision that you want to think the best in everyone that brings the failure. Oops.

13.   Have you everthought about leaving rp? What caused it? What changed your mind?

I probably considered leavingRP when I was leaving a forum base that I had invested eleven or so years of mylife into. I had grown so much through it and watched as it died out bit by bitonly for trolls to really remain. None of the inspiration was there and noone truly seemed passionate about anything but bars. Taverns. 

I changed my mind when I joinedFFXIV. At first I played the game because it was something to do. I wasbored and things were dying down for me. I have loved the FF series for such along time, so I thought, why not? Screw the pay wall. I just played through AtRealm Reborn and focused that down in a binge. Over time I got the itch Iwanted to write, and that had propelled me right into the RP crew in Siren.Then that branched onto the Tumblr. Creating my blog has led me to meet such wonderful people along the way. 

14.   Do you think rphas had a positive or negative affect on your life or you as a person?

Positive for sure. RP helped meduring the years I was unsure who I wanted to be, what I wanted to express, andhelped me communicate more when I said so little. I was so much moreintroverted, and the writing RP brought was so uplifting.

The character, Haine, I madeyears ago is a force in my life that influenced my traits as a role model. She’llalways have a special place in my heart.

15.   How has rpchanged you personally?

I suppose this builds on thelast question, huh?

Without finding RP as anoutlet, I don’t think I would have been ready to embrace what I could be.Things could have been far worse in my life, and I like to think some of thetraits I had crafted Haine to be throughout the years helped me remain true towho I should be rather than what everyone wanted me to be- or knock me down tobe.

16.   If you couldchange one thing about rp on tumblr, what would it be? Why?

I don’t think I want to changeanything- I would just want to encourage others to write and express themselvesmore in their outlets. Which can be writing, drawing, aesthetics. You do you.The passion is my favorite thing to see in others.

17.   Have you eversent a message to yourself on anon? Why?

No. Why would anyone do that?

18.   Have you eversent hate to yourself on anon? Why?

Why… would anyone do that? Arethey okay?

19.   Do you deleteanon hate or post and address it? Why?

I am content to say I havenever received anon hate. Yet.

20.   Have you everfelt pressured to write something you weren’t comfortable with?

No. I refuse to put myself inthat position.

21.   Have you everfollowed someone because you felt like you had to, not because you wanted to? Taken.

22.   What would makeyou block someone?

I try to avoid blocking becauseI believe most things can be recovered- because if I put you on that block list,I am never looking at it. You’re gone. You must be very toxic to get put there-or annoying. There was that one guy…

23.   Have you everstolen something from someone else?

Does luck count? Because Iswear I stole someone’s luck once and it was the funniest thing I had everwitnessed.

24.   Have you everhad something stolen from you? If so, how did you handle it?

Yes. I’ve had the alias Hainefor over ten years. I carried that name from my old RP community and thisperson that I used to call a good friend disappeared. She came back under a newname, and then I went on a hiatus. I come back, she’s going as the name “Haine.”She pretended she was just an anonymous person and not the friend I always knewbut playing stupid never was her skill.

I was… indifferent at first.Yet, it felt like a part of me was being violated. I knew her. It hurt. I hadmade Haine as this love child of my creativity. I tried to be reasonable butthen this person began to start discourse so it would go. “Did Haine do this?” “Whydid Haine do that?” It was confusing to always say “It was the other one.” Whenoften duplicate alias’ were not typical.

It was upsetting to say theleast, and after a while, as above it as I like to be- I started getting prettyangry. It was never pretty. I can regret a bit of it.

25.   Are you open toduplicates? Why / why not?

As in duplicates acrossservers? I do that! I had stared on Siren originally before I made a characteron Balmung before world visit opened up. I think duplicates are helpful in caseyou want to keep your strong attachments in both data centers.

26.   How do you feelabout vague posting?

Vague… posting?

27.   Do you followpeople even if they don’t follow you back?

Of course! Someone I followdoes not have to follow me back. I love their content and I want to stay tuned!That is the entire point! If they follow back, it is just equally delighting.

28.   Do you readpeople’s rules before following or interacting?

If they have rules, yes. Ithink it is very important to have OOC communication to express what you willallow or what you find inappropriate.

29.   What is youropinion on “reblog karma” and do you practice it?

I don’t.. understand.

30.   How have youresponded to popular slang used on tumblr? Do you use it in every day life? Doyou use it at all?

I don’t follow tumblr trends enough toknow?

31.   Is theresomething you don’t know the meaning of but you haven’t asked anyone becauseyou think it’s supposed to be general knowledge? Was there ever something youhad to ask someone to explain?

OH! I think I did this once. Beingnew on Tumblr awhile back, I did not understand a lot of things. So some of theterms was lost on me. I think I remember asking what on earth a “mun” was. Itwas lost on me.

32.   Have you everexperienced discrimination?

Yeah.

33.   How do you feelabout personal blogs following your rp blog?

The more the merrier! I thinkthat makes it more flattering to see. It makes me think that something on myblog had to be nice for someone to want to keep up on their personal blog.

34.   Have you evercried while writing a reply?

Oh go- Yes. Recently. The plot lines that make me feel things are the best kind. Happy, excited, nervous, bittersweet, thrilled. I love it. 

35.   Do you readother people’s threads or do you only read your own?

I read other people’s threads,and my own. I read mine several times because I figure it can be better. I love reading thewriting of others.

36.   What’s onething that other people seem to hate that doesn’t bother you? Taken.

37.   How do you feelabout tagging triggers? Do you tag them? How do you determine what istriggering content and what isn’t?

I don’t feel anything for themor tag them.

38.   What advicewould you give to someone new to rp?

 Embrace what you want to be and do not divert from what youare comfortable with. Feel free to go to public places and watch others work.If I know the person who is new to RP I would usually offer to be their partnerto get them into the cadence.

This exhausted me. I felt things throughout this journey of asks, and through it all I give to you- 

[aeolian-mode]

aeo’s guide to RP

Hey guys!

I’ve been roleplaying for the better half of my life, and I had the thought today, ‘you know what? It could be cool to make a thing about RPing that may help new RPers or young people learn more about it.’ So I made this. Read if you feel like it ^^ (FYI, this is all for text-based online RP things. Tabletop RPs are not part of this article.)

So, what is RP? I’ve always defined roleplay as ‘collaborative storytelling.’ You take control of a character that you invent, and write what your character will do in a situation with another individual.

Writing a book by yourself is sometimes difficult, because you have to rely solely on yourself, your own life experience, and your own resources. When you write a book with others, it’s a lot different. Your RP partners bring in their own interests and experiences. There is also the layer of mystery- you can’t predict what they will write next, which makes waiting for the next post exciting.

So if you have an original character you want to introduce to the world, RP is a great way to stretch your creative muscles and become a better writer before you try to tackle writing novels or making comics.

How do you RP? There are many ways to find a community of like-minded storytellers. First, you have to figure out what kind of RP you want to do. There are RP groups for fandoms, furries, original universes, and more! If you’re really interested in something, chances are, there is an RP community out there somewhere. This is the most important thing to understand: you should try to interact with others first rather than expecting them to find you. Most people are always extremely grateful and excited for the attention, and they will very likely return the favor. If you have anxiety, that’s ok- TONS of RPers struggle with anxiety, and I haven’t met a single person who has ever been upset or displeased to be approached by someone for RP. You will delight them, they will feel good to be included! 1. You can join an instant messaging RP such as a Discord group. (It’s sometimes more difficult to find these unless you already follow a lot of RP groups and have a lot of friends interested in RP. Post about it on your blog, see if anyone in your friend group is in one!) 2. You can create an RP blog on Tumblr. In order to find people to interact with, you will probably have to interact with other RP blogs first. The way I did it on my TF2 RP blog is to send messages to other blogs, draw the characters of every person that followed me or interacted with me, and tag my RP posts #tf2 rp. People LOVE drawings and direct interactions. 3. You can search for an RP forum to join. One of my go-to places is the RPG Directory: http://rpg-directory.com/ Sometimes, simply googling for something like “pokemon forum RP” helps, too!

4. You can join a MMORPG RP community. Most big-name MMOs have dedicated RP groups on their RP servers. For example, if you wanted to join ESO’s RP scene, check out the ESO RP forum to make connections before you jump into the game. People are usually very friendly and helpful for new RPers and will help you settle in to the community. Here’s some things to help you pick the game that’s right for you (from the list of games I have personally experienced RP): FFXIV ($15 Monthly Sub): https://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/ WoW ($15 Monthly Sub): https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/1182815/ ESO (Pay Once, Play Forever): https://www.eso-rp.com/ LotrO (Free to Play!): https://www.lotro.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?539-Laurelin-EN-RP  Wildstar (Free to Play!): https://www.wildstar-roleplay.com/

(As a note, Free to Play RP servers tend to be a bit more come-and-go; the subscription-based games tend to have more player retention. If you want to make long term connections, be sure to get friend requests from people you’ve enjoyed writing with, as they might not stick around forever!)

RP flows differently depending on your medium. Instant messaging generally tends to be more fast paced, but results in shorter posts with less descriptions and exposition. Forum RP tends to be much slower paced, but posts are more detailed and lengthy with lots of exposition. MMO RP tends to be incredibly fast paced, but with very little exposition and description, focusing almost entirely on character actions and dialogue (as the video game environment already provides the visual, reducing the need for description). Pick a pacing that is right for you! For me, forums are currently easiest, because my life is busy and I don’t have to be online all the time to have a good story. What are the rules of RP?

A lot of people will say, “the 3 main things you need to avoid are ‘godmoding’, ‘powerplaying’, and ‘metagaming.’ “Godmoding” is taking control of someone else’s character without their consent. In RP, it’s important to write only your own character during interactions. “Powerplaying” is bending the story around your own will. Such as: writing your character as if they are impervious and can easily take over the world with their unlimited power. (For example, your partner’s character is angry with your character and throws a punch at them. Your character avoids the punch effortlessly, grabs the attacker’s hand, breaks it, then tosses them through a window.) “Metagaming” is giving your character knowledge that you have, but your character does not have. (For example, someone told you about the contents of their character’s secret journal out of character, but your character did not read that journal, you should not assume your character knows that information.)

However, I would say these are only symptoms of one simple issue: lack of consent.

Before doing something that could change the story in a significant way, simply ask the people you are RPing with if it is OK with them.

So, I would boil down the ‘most important RP rule’ as simply one rule: the Rule of Consent. It doesn’t just apply to mature topics. It applies to everything.

Communication is key! Chances are, people will be OK with accommodating your vision for the story, or helping you come up with a way to make it work. Before doing something extreme like instigating violence, coming across sensitive information, or introducing a significant conflict, simply communicate your ideas out-of-character to your partners before pursuing it. You will have a much better experience if you simply communicate!

Are there RP taboos I should avoid? How do I stay safe if I want to RP but I’m a minor?

This is a bit of a touchier topic, but the rule of thumb is: If it’s gonna be weird and hard to talk about in person, in real life, and out-of-character, chances are, it’s going to be weird and hard to approach in an RP context. Many people RP as an escape from real-world drama and difficulties; don’t bog down their fantasy with the sorts of things they may be trying to avoid. Go back to the Rule of RP: Consent. Make sure your partner will be comfortable with exploring heavier, taboo topics in their fiction and storytelling. TL;DR- Some people don’t like Game of Thrones. Some people don’t want their RP environment to turn into Game of Thrones. Some people enjoy writing about heavier, ‘adult’ material, but don’t assume everyone does. Try to assume your partner is a minor unless they tell you otherwise. (Obvious exception being, if you explicitly joined an 18+ forum, community, guild, etc. The admins of said community should be doing their best to enforce that everyone joining is 18+.)

Don’t be creepy. RP is a hobby, community storytelling, and should be fun for everyone.

If it stops being fun for you, tell your partner it is not fun. You are not obligated to RP with someone who makes you unhappy or uncomfortable. It is a hobby. If you’re worried that they won’t be your friend anymore if you stop RPing with them, ask yourself if that is because they are manipulating you. A real friend will not make you feel trapped.

And if you are a minor, make sure that you stay safe. Don’t join an 18+ community. Don’t ever give someone your personal information, even if they seem like your friend. It’s very easy to get emotionally invested in the stories you tell through RP, but predators are very good at manipulation. View RP as a creative outlet. Look for an RP community that is right for you, and surround yourself with like-minded people.

Practice emotionally distancing yourself from the content of your stories. It’s good and fun to get invested, but don’t become so invested in the story that it induces anxiety, stress, or makes it hard for you to focus on your real life responsibilities. If something is causing you anxiety, panic episodes, or difficulty sleeping and focusing, listen to your body. It’s telling you something isn’t right. Talk about it with someone you trust, and start distancing yourself from the RP.

RP is for fun! Always remember that. Everyone you RP with should respect that it is for fun, and not something to lose sleep over!

I’m having trouble finding RP partners, getting people to stay interested in my story, or staying interested in it myself. What do I do?

I’ve found that the best way to stay invested and get people interested in your story is to give your character a very strong, attainable goal. Here is an example of a “difficult to RP” character concept. Tim the Traveller is mute. He goes around the world looking for people to help, because he’s a very powerful magic healer. He has no family and no home. People have trouble communicating with him because he can’t talk. But he does his best to help. This character is difficult to RP with because he places the onus of every interaction on the other person. He is involving himself in their stories, but he has no personal goals or challenges to explore, himself. Plus, being mute, it makes it more difficult for him to carry on lengthy conversations with the people he encounters. This character concept can be done in a fun and effective way, but I’d say it is a challenge for someone who is just starting out. Let’s see what we can do to make Tim the Traveller a bit easier to RP with. Tim the Traveller suffered severe burns all over him from an incident when he was a child: a criminal set fire to his parent’s house, killing his father. He is searching the world for where the arsonist fled to. He only has a loose trail of breadcrumbs to follow in his quest for revenge and must constantly search for more information and change trajectories. He attempts to help those he comes across during his travels, but always takes his opportunity to press people for more information, describing the arsonist and praying desperately that he will find a trace of the man that killed his father. This sort of idea of a plot allows you to communicate to your RP partners OOC what your character’s goals are, give them information that they might help your character continue his quest, and in turn, your character also has opportunities to help them with their own goals at the same time. One RP I’ve done in the past that was fun was a case of a grave robber. My character was an incredibly poor street rat-turned-detective, and he was approached with an unusual case: a grave was dug up by a necromancer, the body tampered with, but it was placed back in the grave and the perpetrator was nowhere to be seen. My character was strongly motivated to find the perpetrator because he needed the reward money to take care of his adopted son. With limited information concerning the plot, my character travelled all over the city asking everyone he encountered for whatever information they might have regarding the tampered grave. This allowed me to involve a lot of people in the community and allowed my GM to construct opportunities for those involved to find more evidence, and developed into a very rich and interesting story.

A passive character is harder to RP with. An active character makes things happen.

 A wallflower RP character can be fun to play in some circumstances, but without an attainable goal, involving others in your story will be harder. Give them goals and motivations, communicate with your RP partners, and see what sorts of stories can be told!

My RP never goes anywhere. I write starters/approach people, but every interaction I have with people doesn’t ever result in anything. What am I doing wrong? I have found, in my RP experience, your connections will feel more in-depth and your RP more rewarding if you try and see how your character and your friend’s character can develop and change over time. This requires some thinking, plotting, and openness to new ideas. It also requires challenging yourself to write lengthier posts for your partner.

For interesting interactions that go deeper than simple introductions and “how’s the weather” RP, it is beneficial to try and include a few things in your starter post or scene. For me, I like to come up with 3 things to include for every starter I write.

1. A clearly defined setting. Like, what’s the time of day? Is it indoors or outdoors? In a city? Somewhere private? Etc.

2. A motive. Why is your character doing what he’s doing right now? What does he want in the scene right now? If he’s just standing around doing nothing, your RP partner has nothing to latch on to. In some way, what he’s doing should tie back to a goal.

3. A connection to your RP partner’s character in some way. Why is their character, specifically, involved in the scene? Know your partner, and try to learn about your partner’s character’s goals. See if both of your characters’ goals can converge.

If you have trouble coming up with an idea for your RP partner, it’s always nice to message them OOC see what you can plot together. If you approach, rather than be approached, and ask questions and try to plot, you will find you have a much easier time easing into RP with them, and you might make a new friend too!

And that’s it for now! The TL;DR to all this is: 1. Follow the Rule of Consent! 2. Give your character goals and motivations! 3. Learn about your partner’s character and actively involve them! If you have additional questions or want to know where I RP at, feel free to send me a message :D

[livvyffxiv]

My Story of being hurt mentally and emotionally

So before I begin. I will take the time to apologize if this is in the wrong section. I would also like to bring up now that this story doesn't exactly have a happy ending as of right now. I also want to address for people who might be sensitive to this topic, it's about a break up, and gender identity. The reason why I'm posting this in the FFXIV section is because these feelings are kinda bottled up for me, and it revolves around final fantasy. I feel like getting my thoughts into words and sharing this story instead of holding it to myself might... idk... find better self help for myself? Either way I can totally understand if this gets deleted, but this was my warning before I dive deep into this long story. I also will not be giving out names of my characters, or the person involved in this story to maintain both of our safety.

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My name is Olivia. I really don't like talking about this and I know I'm essentially "outing" myself here which I absolutely hate to do but it's totally appropriate to this story to give you the full jist of things. I can't possibly leave this out without any understanding the pain I've been through. So to get back to the point quickly, as I was saying, I'm Olivia, and I'm a transgender (MtF) person. I've been playing this game, Final Fantasy XIV, and I'm not new to the online dating scene. I've dated before online through games and other platforms. Usually ending terribly, but none the less I've done it.

I met this guy on Final Fantasy who randomly joined our FC. He was charming and nice, and we started talking. We spent most of the day together for a course of 3 weeks. Eventually later he brought me to a cute spot in the game (https://i.gyazo.com/416994d14694443a1d251820798ca395.jpg) where he confessed his feelings to me. I told him that I can't do anything until I address the fact that I was transgender. Obviously, it's wrong to go into ANY sort of relationship without telling someone the truth. So that's what I did.

He told me he didn't care and that he loved me for who I was, which I have to admit I started crying immediately because I've been ridiculed and harassed before and in-person about my gender, and even to this day I still get harassed in public for the way I look, or if I get "found out". We did everything together. We even got married in-game (https://i.gyazo.com/8b3163e7ab6fed1ec0069f272bac97b9.jpg). My FC came together and contributed gil to buy a house together. I was the "lease holder" so to speak, so even though he put everything in the house and decorated, I technically "owned" the house. Not that it mattered. We did everything together. We would always try to help each other out in-game and outside. I gave him help based on anything he wanted to know, like how to re-build your credit score from down low. Or how to program in Python or teach him an actual college course in HTML for free to get you started learning decent web design and fundamentals of setting up a website. He also helped me boost my self-confidence by helping me learn how to tank (in-game) and trying to keep me on voice chat longer and longer until I was comfortable talking to him, and in turn be comfortable talking to people in public the way my voice should reflect my gender.

Three months down the line, I was going through a crisis because my vehicle was failing emissions test (check engine is on, and inspection is due which means if it fails, no registration for the vehicle, meaning you can't drive it without going to jail). I get a message from him saying hey I need to talk to you for a second. I told him I couldn't because I was panicking and trying to fix things with my vehicle, so I don't lose registration, but If he wants to talk I can either read it or talk over voice right now. He said no, and then waited until later and changed his mind and then proceeded to leave me a text message of him breaking up with me after 3 months because he couldn't get over the fact that I was transgender. For 3 months he knew full well, and we talked daily over voice for DAYS. He never once mentioned it, or brought it up, just did it right there on the spot. He said "even though you are a female, I can't get over the fact that your DNA make-up will always be a guy, and I know I personally can't deal with it like I said I would. I just felt like I was doing you a favor by trying at least."

This ruined me personally. I'm already dealing with the discomfort of my own body, the feeling that I'll never fit in, and that I'll be judged every time I walk out the door. The only one giving me the confidence was the one person now saying they are breaking me up for the exact reasons why I'm scared of living my life out right now. Coming from the one person who I thought cared the most, and the one I put most of my faith I ever could possibly put in someone. I ended up self-destructing. I refused to leave my room. I spent nights crying myself to sleep. Refusing to eat. It was almost a solid week of me starving myself before I ate anything. Then I started acting out harmful situations by getting in my vehicle and driving as fast as I possibly could on a narrow road covered in forest in hopes I'd lose control and just end everything.

I decided that I needed help, and I needed to snap out of it. So, I talked to my therapist and got an emergency appointment set up. My therapist immediately wanted me committed to a mental hospital. "Olivia the only reason why I can't FORCE you into a mental hospital right now is because you told me if I asked you to go home, you would, and that you don't have medicine in your house that you can overdose on. That's the ONLY thing stopping me from having you put in a psychiatric hospital." I was told that before work, If I don't come in the VERY next day to talk to her, that she was going to then force someone into the office and have me evaluated immediately on the spot. So, I obliged. However, I was still feeling suicidal and planned on going through with it. The only thing that stopped me was my brother, who I haven’t seen for years come pull me aside from the house and take me on a night to get dunkin donuts coffee and sit in his car and talk things out and catch up, and explain everything of how I've been feeling, and things he's been through. Stuff that really brought me closer to my brother than I thought I'd ever be before.

The story however doesn't end here. There is no exact happy ending here, because this is where I ****ed up.

A few months after getting over him, I managed to bump into him again. I did something and joined the same FC he did because I didn't feel like I belonged in the one I was currently in, and yeah, I did want to get closer because I missed him, and, I wanted the opportunity to make new friends. He started talking to me and we became "friends".

I'm going to jump forward a few more months because the stuff in between is irrelevant because nothing serious happened. I was smart enough to keep my distance, even though I did have set backs and did occasionally fight with him, but nothing STUPIDLY terrible, besides the fact of trusting him in the first place.

He later apologized for everything and came to me one night and said I want to try again. "I feel like you are the only one who really understands me and the one I mostly bonded with". Later on, then was said "In 3 months I'm going to buy a plane ticket, so we can visit each other, but right here right now I'm going to put my foot down, and stay away as long as it takes just to say Olivia [Redacted Marriage name], please come back home..." I said no. Not until he proved to me that he has totally changed and is willing to accept that he would be okay with dating me and can let go of my "DNA make-up". He promised his hardest.

Of course, I fell for it. I jumped right in. I left all the things that said he was an a****** and to not trust him, go. I was too quickly willing to take him entirely back. Just waiting for him to show me he cared. Later his "promise" turned into "I know you said no initially, and you have your reasons for wanting to take your time with this, but Valentine's days is right around the corner, and we are both technically single. Does it mean I'm going to try? Absolutely but I'm not tied down to this because it wasn't a commitment but a chase to the goal line". This was a ploy to really say I'll work things out with you but if something comes up in-between, I'm going with that.

On valentine's day. He messages me and says "Hey happy valentine's day! Do want to go to my wedding with this girl I've been talking to? I'm on the fence about dating her, I only want her as a friend, but actually we might take this seriously". The entire time he's been making promises with me to work things out and fix things, he was talking to some other girl. I broke down on my way home that I refused to go home and stayed at a beach and cried in my car for an hour or two before I decided to come home and then tell him how I felt about how destroyed I felt when he promised all these things to me. He thought I was personally attacking him and didn't respond to any of the key things of how I felt.

For days he hasn't responded until I just told him outright that I'm done. I'm leaving the FC, probably the game to because he killed whatever feelings I had left for him, and the game that I enjoyed, and that it was a mistake to trust him again. It was very clear he only cared about himself.

The so-called girl he was on the fence with, he still married to her regardless, and she even has his last name in-game. The so-called girl that he said he wanted her just as a friend but was on the fence about dating.

The lesson to be learned here, as much as I can't even take my own advice, is that you should love yourself for who you are, because only you can make yourself truly happy, and when you find happiness yourself, put your love into someone who respects you for who you are. Do not allow yourself to settle for anything less, and once you are out, don't think twice about going back.