FFXIV RP Community Idea- Your feedback requested

This was sent to me in a PM and I got his permission to post this for your guys feedback:



Heya! Zarik representing Sylph's RPing community here. This is just in regards to FFXIV stuff.

Anyway, I’m basically wondering what plans (if any) Asura’s roleplayers have with FFXIV? Are some/most/all of you planning to make a permanent switch to the new world? As of now, both Sylph and Leviathan's RP community stands fairly united in their future vision for Eorzea's RP community.

My personal vision for the new RP community involves quite a few things. First, I’d love it if we were able to get all or most of us on an “official” RP server even if SE does not designate such a server. This will obviously take some communication and I already have a website and forums ready to launch for that purpose. It won’t be a guild website, but rather a coalition of guilds. I don’t expect us all to join into one big RP guild due to differences in standards and styles. However, being on the same server as fellow Rpers is a huge step forward that was never accomplished in Vana’diel. Timing is of course a very crucial element when it comes to succeeding at this. If I were to launch the site/forums too soon, we’d have people disappearing quickly before the game even launches. If the site is launched too late, many may make other plans to be on a different server with some non-RP friends. Thus, I’ve determined the best time to begin putting Rpers together is right around the time open beta begins.

I would really like to see a stronger and less divided RP community than what we currently see in FFXI. Assuming we’re able to get most of us on a central server, I can see us holding cross-guild events every now and then such as tavern nights, fishing trips, etc. Heck, we could even end up doing endgame with fellow roleplayers this time around instead of having to join different guilds. I’d also like to see a more respected and influential RP community, one where people actually know we exist.

Before I start rambling on and on, I guess I should draw this to a close. I basically wanted to know what’s going on with this server’s RP community and their future plans. As of now, the RP communities of Sylph and Leviathan are on board for this plan and I'm going down the list of every other server's RP community. Let me know either way. I’d really appreciate it.


Warm regards,

~Zarik

Last I recall former CoA members were already planning to create a new RP group for FFXIV. The shell's (Children of Altana) initial founder, Akio, is supposed to be leading this. But I think finding a dedicated server might be a good idea, it'd save others from having to start all over on a new server just to play with other RPers.

Establishing an unofficial RP server is a big step forward for the FF RP community and I think working with others would be a great way to go. Koge and I will be moving to FF14 for sure, and maybe even starting a guild, but not sure on that part yet.

An RP server sounds good to me. I'm up for uniting.

I know that game is a definite for me too. But like I said, former CoA members are already planning to unite again for a new linkshell/guild in FFXIV. I believe it was going by the name of T.A.L.E., if you asked Niami she could probably tell you more about it.

*whines* Don't leave me alone guys...

Since the site came up with more info on the game world I've had some pretty neat ideas for a guild I was thinking about starting up. Basically a disgraced trade company that due to some horrific accident has put them trying to redeem themselves and the company name, giving it a back story and a strong purpose to drive a more group based instead of character based storyline using a few tricks I picked up from some EQ guild leaders.

Overall I'm really looking forward to 14 <3 <3 it looks so pretty and looks like SE is finally going to give crafters more attention this time around.

Tryn wrote:

Since the site came up with more info on the game world I've had some pretty neat ideas for a guild I was thinking about starting up. Basically a disgraced trade company that due to some horrific accident has put them trying to redeem themselves and the company name, giving it a back story and a strong purpose to drive a more group based instead of character based storyline using a few tricks I picked up from some EQ guild leaders.

Overall I'm really looking forward to 14 <3 <3 it looks so pretty and looks like SE is finally going to give crafters more attention this time around.

I don't know about the whole trading company thing, as long as it's got nothing to do with mercenary jobs. From what I've experienced doesn't seem the whole mercenary business deal works out too well...

Guild themes only really work depending on how much work you put into them and how big of a population you have to back them. The EQ2 one I was running was doing fantastic until I had to leave the game for good (SoE decided to endorse RMT on all servers). From my experience groups that are thrown together just because always seem to end up with drama inducing headaches due to personality clashes and little reason why people are there dealing with each other which further leads to characters fighting over the guild spotlight. The issue with themed groups of course is you literally need a team of people to keep things running and on games with low RP populations, it doesn't really work. The population issue is one of the main reasons RP groups in FFXI general don't do well.

On a RP server in EQ2, a small guild is one with 1-25 people while larger RP guilds can have over 100 people. This difference is the main reason I high encourage RP groups picking an unofficial RP server so we can get a bit closer to a real RP environment.

I'd like to try 14 but I don't know if any system I have would support it and I'm not sure I'd want to completely abandom FF11 since I'd finally be able to do missions shortly and I would like more than one 75 before I quit completely.

Your idea sounds interesting Tryn. As far as themed guilds go the ones I was in for SWG and LOTRO worked fine.

Greetings all! Zarik from Sylph here for a general update. The week following the new year, I intend to make a public post regarding the FFXIV RP community. Zam, Eorzeapedia, and FFXIVCore are all on the list. Before I do that, I do want to touch bases one more time to ensure we're all on the same page. I've sent this message to all other RP groups server-wide and am awaiting each one's stamp of approval basically. So here it is for you as well^^

Warning: This may come off as a wall of text. The message is primarily aimed at prospective role-players for Final Fantasy XIV. If the roleplaying community is something you are interested in, please read on and take this all in as seriously as possible.

When it comes to Final Fantasy Online, the roleplaying community has often been small and practically invisible. We were never united in Vana’diel, tossed around from server to server with little idea of each other’s existences. By the time we all discovered each other, it was too late to have everyone jump servers to be more unified. In addition, the majority of the regular player base remained constantly oblivious to our existence. The “roleplaying” they thought they saw consisted of non-Rpers emoting silly stuff by the auction house. As such, our existence and true nature remained under the radar for most of these years. That mistake will most certainly be rectified this time around, though not easily.

If SE actually designates an official RP server (something they did not do for FFXI), we’ll be good to go right away. If they do not, it will take collaboration on our part to designate a RP server for ourselves. Even if they do happen to give us an official server, there are still issues that would need to be addressed to ensure a strong RP community overall. To do this, I intend to launch a site and forums to allow greater communication between future Rpers. This site, while far from extravagant, will be used to discuss RP standards and styles, form guilds based on individual needs, begin the character creation process (storylines, bios, etc), and most importantly to select a RP server by popular vote upon receiving a server list. It will also be used to advertise all future active RP guilds, giving future members a place to shop around for the styles and rules that fit them.

It would be naïve to think that all roleplayers can unite under a single guild. This is why the website/forums will -not- be a guild website. It will be a coalition of guilds. All former and current Rpers of Vana’diel, along with potential new Rpers, are welcome to take part in the discussions there. Non-Rpers are welcome to speak up there as well if they have useful contributions related to us. It would also be naïve to think that there will never be any kind of political OOC rivalries between guilds later down the line. Let’s be realistic. This isn’t going to be a utopia or anything and everyone should know that right away. Rpers have always been a rare breed in comparison to endgamers or just plain social guilds. Six months down the line, there’s no telling what RP guilds may start fizzling out, making their leaders possibly get desperate and do something they later regret. I estimate there to be approximately 9-10 main RP guilds from the onset, each different from the other. The best way to avoid these kind of clashes is to foster close relationships between each guild from the beginning. Cross-guild events (such as tavern nights, etc) along with server-wide RP hosted events would help bring the community closer together and prevent the potential disaster of competing for membership.

Now for the status update. I have spent the last couple months or so communicating with leaders and representatives of various FFXI RP linkshells. The general consensus is that the -vast- majority of Rpers are transferring to Hydaelyn/Eorzea. This is good in the sense that we’re looking at a large RP population from the start. It’s also bad because it means that Vana’diel’s RP population is practically destined to go extinct. In fact, Vana’diel is already on that thin rope. According to the information I’ve gathered, most RP communities have already split apart or fizzled out. Many of these people have scattered about to who knows where. This is going to make it difficult, though not impossible, to get ourselves organized.

RP communities throwing their much needed general support toward this united community include Sylph, Leviathan, Asura, Phoenix, and Kujata. I have so far been unable to reach CaitSith, Lakshmi, or Garuda. As such, I assume their communities have either ceased being or consist of only a small handful of members. This does not mean that they will not support this endeavor however. It simply means I have been unable to contact their leaders. The Siren community has already scattered and is probably going to be difficult to reorganize. I apologize in advance if I missed other RP groups.

So what can you do if you’re a prospective roleplayer? First and foremost, you should remain patient. I do not wish to launch a site/forums too soon for fear of people losing interest within a couple months and slowly drifting away, thus thinning our numbers before we even start the game. At the same time, I don’t desire to hold off until the last minute and blow our chances of getting fully organized. Hence, I intend to hold off until right before open beta has officially begun. And by the looks of that, it isn’t too far off now. So expect us to go live within another month, two at the latest. By then, we’ll also have sufficient information to begin planning our characters and storylines out.

The second thing you can do is mobilize all interested Rpers once we do start organizing ourselves. If you’re a former/current leader of a RP group in FFXI, you can do this by sending out mass emails to the users on your forums. For instance, I created a RP tribute video for Sylph and sent it out to over 200 of our 320+ past Rpers to hopefully get many in the mood for Rping in the new world. While I realize getting all 200 of those individuals is impossible, a good chunk is still quite realistic. If you aren’t a leader, you can help by getting together all of your RP buddies and preparing for the journey ahead. You can also sign up on the forums when we do actually go live. After all, that is where we will be selecting our server if necessary.

Finally, you can start brainstorming your character. I realize this may be difficult due to lack of lore and info. However, everyone can at least work on core traits and personality for their characters and tweak as needed. I think all of us want to see a healthy, vibrant, and high quality RP community. The more details you put into your character, the better.

I can’t think of anything else to add to any of this. Most discussions will take place on the future RP coalition forums. Please look forward to our future plans and I shall see all you future roleplayers in Eorzea! Stay tuned for future updates! ^^

Best regards,
Zarik and the RP community

PS: As a sidenote, all premier RP groups such as yourself will be invited to the coalition site/forums at least 1-2 weeks before the general public. This will allow those of us who know what we're doing to lay the foundation before opening the floodgates to potential newbies and whatnot. Let me restate that you are not obligated to join any guild or anything. This is just a -coalition- agreement. I'm fully aware that every server guild will very likely start their own individual guild to meet their own needs.

I'd like to add to the above that anyone who gets into the beta testing for FFXIV throws the suggestion for a dedicated RP server into the feedback given during the testing process. It might help give SE an idea that the RP playerbase would like a place they can gather to make it all happen.

SamusKnight2K wrote:

I'd like to add to the above that anyone who gets into the beta testing for FFXIV throws the suggestion for a dedicated RP server into the feedback given during the testing process. It might help give SE an idea that the RP playerbase would like a place they can gather to make it all happen.

I heartily second this. Koge and I have both applied for beta (like tons and tons of others, but fingers crossed) I have several people that I know that are wanting to hit up 14 from EQ2, FF11 and other things I've been involved in.

As a note Zarik, I am not an RP guild leader now, but I was one for quite some time and if you need any assistance setting up a website or forum for this, please let me know. I'm a web developer and willing to lend a hand getting things set up and pretty. If you're interested you can reach me at io@fantasywrit.com.

I've applied for Beta also and I'll help however I can. I'm always up to help so message me anytime Zarik.

I'm working on an RP video and I'll try to use that like you've suggested and maybe add a tag to my signature on Dreams in Vanadiel saying "Advocate for a United FFXIV RP Community!".

Original post has been made on the 3 premier sites (Zam, Core, and Eorzeapedia). A few things. First is the general reaction to the above post. Before I send an actual PM to Core's admin, I want to know if I'm maybe looking too far into this. A staff member there moved the thread to a "misc" off topic section. I personally found this highly offensive. I figure if people can talk about endgame and social aspects of FF14, why would roleplay aspects be brushed aside as unworthy for "general discussion?" Am I overreacting or do you think I have a valid concern?

Another thing is a simple caution. It's going to take more than just me and other RP leaders to make this coalition thing successful. Every member, officer, and leader should be vocal on all of this. Especially when the coalition site launches and a ton of discussions begin. The members of each respective community are the ones who will really help make or break this coalition after all. This is one of the two primary reasons Bexb's attempt at a FFXI RP coalition sadly didn't work years ago. The members from each group didn't seem to give much support or input.

While each RP group is bound to disagree over some things, I want to stress the importance of staying on the same page as a whole. This is what I'll be stressing over and over again to each group. We have to stay on the same page for this all to work. I'm sure Asura has also seen its fair share of political drama around the Rp community and that's something everyone probably wants to avoid as much as possible.

Finally, I wanted to ask input on when you all think is a good time to launch the coalition site/forums. They are ready right now. All I need to do is remove ads and maybe some more minor tweaks. But when is too early and when is too late? Premier RP guilds from FFXI, such as this one, will have access to the coalition forums prior to the general population by about a week or two. So I'd really like to hear your opinions on a good time to start the open RP related discussions. As of now, I'm looking at either February or March. But I'm open to other opinions.

Also, regarding the mentioning of petitioning for a RP server during beta: I didn't add it into the message because I figured we could all talk about it on the coalition forums when it launches.

Looking forward to responses and hope to hear from you all soon ^^.

~Zarik

Hi Zarik:

Mind posting the links here? I might post them.

As for the moving of the post I'd ask why it was moved in a PM probably. I might just be something odd. You never know.

As for timing, I've started to see some people post in Dreams in Vanadiel for Linkshells so now might be a good time to open it up. Invite people to come onto the board and see how they can help etc if people's minds are ready for it. Now that people have applied for the Beta might be a good time.

Hey again guys. Really sorry for the long wait with the response. Just wanted to let you know that the coalition is almost ready for Team Asura. We're doing preliminary registration in waves. The first wave consisted of Sylph and Leviathan. We're now on wave 2, consisting of Alexander, Kujata, Garuda, and Lakshmi RP groups. Wave 3 will be Asura, Titan, CaitSith, and Phoenix.

Don't fret though. No major discussions on Rp standards or anything are going on. Most of the forums are still locked and I'm basically only allowing people to introduce themselves and nothing more. No Rp group will get a head start over any other in laying the foundation for the future RP community of FF14.

Here's the deal. I originally viewed Asura as one of the "Big 3" (with Sylph and Leviathan). By that, I mean I figured it would have the ability to mobilize a lot of RPers (20+) for the coalition. I've been told by other Asura Rpers that securing 20+ RPers will be next to impossible for you guys though these days. So we won't hold you to that quota. But when I do post the coalition site link, I will offer some suggestions to you in how to mobilize as many Asurans as possible. Whether you take the suggestions or not will be up to you. My question to you is: how many Rpers for the FF14 RP community do you think you -can- secure as of now?

Anyway, we're almost at 50 registered coalition members. Considering we're a few weeks away yet before we go public, that's pretty darn good. I'm hoping to reach 70 or more by the time wave 3 finishes coming in.

I'll be back soon. I'm hoping to be ready for you guys next week but wave 2 is coming in very slowly so we'll see >.>;

Zarik:

I'm sure, since a lot of the people who left 11 recently that I know expressed that they well be RPing in 14 if we can reach these people I defintiely think 10 at least might be possible to get to join. I'm not sure if they'll accept but its possible.

Right now I'm keeping myself busy with other games but I will be returning for FFXIV for RP and all that. I'll check out a bit on this gathering bit later on. I think a big concern of mine however may be the disputes that could erupt between groups. Each group right now likely has its own set of guidelines that people are expected to follow.

And then there's the variations of dedication. Some may be fulltime RPers where others are casual. Then there's chances RP groups in FFXIV may get too competitive and try absorbing the smaller groups around it. You've probably already figured out ways to combat this but I'd like to hear them.

Sair its not meant to be a super guild but a community board/coalition where Rpers can gather.

Starsider on SWG has done this very successfully for years.

I think I'll post the link for an example, since it might give Zarik some ideas:

http://starsidergalaxy.com/forum/

One of the things I loved about RP there was that people from different guilds got together and RPed all of the time. People sponsered events for the entire RP community. That kind of a community in FFXIV would be awesome.

Ah, thanks for that link! Could be helpful.

As for the concerns listed above by Samusknight: we're a coalition of guilds, not a super guild. The entire purpose of the RPC (roleplay coalition) is to discuss the very issues you brought up. We want to set some ground rules in order to avoid future conflict for every possible scenario. So we'd be kinda like the equivalent of the United Nations for the RP community. Aside from choosing an unofficial RP server, we'll also discuss and eventually vote on cross-guild standards. For example, one guild may have a different rule of godmoding than another. The RPC will set an official rule voted on by all RPers which goes into effect during all cross-guild events/gatherings/interactions. Thus, one guild can't dominate another's rules because there would be a universal one to follow. Every RP group will still be free to run things their own way in their own personal setting. The coalition standards and rules would only kick in when more than one guild comes together for some purpose or another.

If one guild was to become a major problem for all the others by creating unnecessary drama, the RPC could drop support for them and thus essentially cause the problem guild problems of their own. At this point, the coalition has support across the board from all RP groups. That means it would be political suicide for any RP group to -not- support it and its future standards. After all, new RPers aren't likely to join a "rogue" guild. I doubt we'll have this problem with any guild because everyone pretty much wants the same thing for the overall community. So basically, your concerns are exactly some of the many things that will be discussed. Nothing is set in stone yet until the majority of the community comes to an agreement on each individual issue.

And yes, each group will have varying degrees of dedication. I'll be classifying each guild advertised on the main site as "casual," "full-time," or "event based" in order to allow each future RPer to find the guild that's right for them easier.

Tsumi's last paragraph on the above post pretty much sums up what kind of community we all want.

Edit: I'll be giving you guys the link on Monday by the way.

Okay, I guess I can give you the link a day early xD. Ads aren’t removed yet since we’re not public yet, but they will be. The front page should answer any questions you have about what this coalition is. Please register to the forums when you can and feel free to post to your heart’s content, though some sections remain locked for now. http://www.ffxiv-roleplayers.com

We are currently starting the 3rd wave of preliminary recruitment. We’re drawing support from the RP communities of Sylph, Leviathan, Kujata, Lakshmi, Alexander, and many others.

You stated that you could possibly mobilize around 10 Rpers? I’d like to offer a suggestion on how you could possibly get more. Aside from sending out a mass email via these forums to all registered users (since not everyone views the forums often or at all), I notice that the Gauntlet and Tapestry forums are also still operational.

Tapestry: http://s3.zetaboards.com/tapestry/index/
Gauntlet: http://z14.invisionfree.com/Gauntlet/index.php?

I’m not sure who the administrator is for each or if anyone here can contact either. Gauntlet has 170 registered users and Tapestry has 67. While there is probably some overlap in members there and while some of those accounts may just be alts, a mass email via those boards could still potentially mobilize several more Rpers to the cause you may have otherwise missed. Even if you can’t contact the admin of one or both, you might still be able to pull off some emails from the member list if they’re not hidden.

Anyway, hope to see a lot of Asurans there and then in Eorzea! It won’t be too much longer until the other forum sections get opened up. And seeing as this coalition will lay all the foundation for the future RP community of FF14, you definitely want to be a part of it!

Warm wishes,

~Zarik

Tapestry and Gauntlet were our former linkshells before this one was created. Neither are actually operational anymore. In fact most of us came here from Tapestry.