RP Events - A Discussion

Wyrmrest Accord
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Hey, so…I have a discussion with some other people tonight about RP events, so I thought I would pick your brains:

  • What kind of RP events do you like to attend?
  • What ones do you hate?
  • Small roll system or no rolls/free form (no rolls, everyone on honor system)?
  • What makes you want to go to an event?
  • Do you only attend events when you’re bored, or are they your main reason for being in WoW?

Do we have:

  • not enough events
  • too many events
  • too many of a particular type
  • not enough of a particular type
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I’m always ringing the “one-on-one/small scale RP is where people get what they really like out of RP” dinner bell, so I’ll expound a little.

I feel like RP events struggle a lot when they’re not designed with opportunities to allow people to break off into groups, like you might at a mixer or a party. I feel like a lot of people are looking for dramatic, character-building events and those are appealing for a very obvious reasons–everyone likes the drama and we all want our characters to be at the center of it, but it comes with the very real problem of being kind of alienating for anyone who isn’t in that guild or knows that character.

Or, if not alienating, it doesn’t give them a lot to do.

RP events that have open-ended goals and the opportunities to make genuine connections are a winner, IMO. The big goal should be getting people together.

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I wish there were more rp pvp events honestly, whether it be through d20 or in game pvp mechanics honestly, though there are many fantastic events on WRA as it is as well, so I would like to help be able to add more of them to the mix!

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I prefer small scale events that allow me to form connections, or at least have the chance to run into the same characters multiple times. It’s too easy for me to get lost in the crowd, and I tend to just shut down after a point. I only got so many spoons, so I’d rather they count.

So, it’s probably not surprising I don’t like huge events or sweeping one-size-fits-all stuff. I find my capability to make connections is pretty limited in those. Anything railroaded is similarly boring.

Free form, definitely. I want to focus on my dude.

The more the event feels personal, the more I want to attend. If my character has a direct stake in an event, it’s much easier to want to be there and contribute. Otherwise, it’s some mixture of trying to figure out “Why would Yraun be there?” and “Why would he be there if he has no connection to be there?”

It’s a mix. I love spontaneous RP, and I get a lot of that with my guild already. There’s also good time for doing walk-ups in Orgrimmar, or hanging out at some tavern event. The real meat is the stuff I run with the campaigns for driving character development.

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I like more story focused events rather than generic meet-n-greets. Like, I like having a purpose for my character being there beyond the mundane “social situations.” I like having specific mission goals, criminal activity, rituals, combat, whatever. Things that get people engaged and doing things rather than standing around and just talking. I typically enjoy dice systems, but it’s not a necessity. I usually don’t have interests in many of the events I see advertised because, honestly, they really seem dull to my preferences. My time is limited on the week nights and usually I have other higher priorities to do in-game rather than rp. Weekends can be more free, but if the event was right (for me), I would try and be there.

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I enjoy just about every kind of RP event, with my only exception being events that solely exist to aggrandize a group or guild. I’m here to RP, not to watch you RP. Oh, and date auctions. Sorry guys, but they’re kinda weird!

Depends entirely on the type of event, but I tend to prefer more defined /roll systems. Something with at least some rules.

So long as I’m in the mood and the event looks like it’d be a good time, I’ll be there.

I’ve been out of the WrA RP scene for, uh, awhile now, so I’m not sure how current this complaint is - but I got real tired of cross-faction RP events as an Alliance roleplayer. Horde had a bounty of both Horde-focused and cross-faction RP events to attend, whereas it seemed like everything A-side was cross-faction.

It didn’t help that a lot of these events were pretty miserable to attend as an Alliance character. Best case scenario you and the other A-siders were largely ignored. Worst case scenario Zugmug Orphancleaver would call you a knife-ear or a “lazy blueback” or go on a rant about how every Alliance baby MUST be set on fire and/or eaten while the “neutral”, “peaceful” organizers just kinda look on and shrug. It wasn’t a good time a lot of the time, is what I’m saying.

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A story driven one is my favorite. The highest form of it being one that helps develop my character, but ones that are more story driven to help someone else’s character development is good too.

Hate the tavern sort of public social events.

If the event has action, blow on my dice baby! If the event is more investigated, don’t roll them too hard. And, if it is purely informative/lecture, no dice please.

First and foremost, an event that happens during my free time is a must. If multiple choices are present, then guild hosted is a priority. Although, if it is evilish or Forsaken centric, then that could make me want to go over a guild one.
Now, advertising helps make me want to go too.

Events have become the only reason i still linger on WoW. Pvp requires practice, keys and all that maxing stuff takes up too much time, but RP makes the world feel more like a place worth being interested in.

I think WrA could use more temporary adventure type of public RP events. I know how hard it can be to host with strangers, but still.

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Honestly, I find it really difficult to attend RP events that are too performative and structured, like when it’s just a guild that is essentially putting on a stage play for everyone. It can be very entertaining to watch, but doesn’t encourage much participation from the people who show up. These types of events are great for getting a specific guild or group in the limelight, where you might draw in a couple of recruits from the audience… but do basically nothing for public RP in the same way that I’m probably not making new friends out of thin air at the movie theatre once the credits are rolling and everyone is getting up to leave. I almost never attend these events because they don’t really provide an opportunity to do anything interesting with my character.

The kind that I do like is more of a… broad directive. Like, “this weekend, we are going to be running a macro-storyline in Tanaris” with multiple groups doing their own micro-events in different corners of the map, breathing some life into the zone. That way, not everyone is awkwardly clustering around one singular hotspot and competing for attention. But I can also understand why that isn’t as common, because the logistical demand is much, much higher.

Personally… I’m not a huge fan of public events that involve rolling, especially if it requires some specific addon. It’s just demoralizing to be stuck doing homework in the lead-up to an event if you aren’t already familiar with how it works, or how much time it takes to set up correctly.

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I’ve always enjoyed events that require at least some input or form of interaction from my character. Whether it’s a d20 event or social event. Events where I just sit there and feel absolutely horrendous if the tag appears next to my name don’t grab my attention, like story circles (no shade, just not my cup of tea)

As far as roll systems go, and as blasphemous as people may think of me to say, I enjoy the conquest d20 rule system that Moon Guard has. They incorporated skills and tweaks that means each character can do more than just “attack and wait”. Designated roles for healers, casters, different armor classes - sure, it sounds like I should just go play D&D, but utilizing a ruleset and the setting in Azeroth is just another way of playing the game I like.

Scheduling is what makes me want to go to an event, mostly. Being on the east coast and being an early 1st shifter is a rough existence. Especially when I also try to do other things to avoid burnout during the week. (Stream Mon / Tue nights, will eventually have sparring practice on Wednesdays, Weekend nights are ttrpg nights with friends, leaving Thur / Fri open and on the table)

I go to events if I know about them ahead of time and greatly enjoy myself.

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I like non-combat events where meeting and interacting with new people is the whole point.

My favorite are tavern games/campfire activities like truth or dare (as long as there are boundaries put on dares), never have I ever, scruples, round robin storytelling, 2 truths and a lie, would you rather, platonic "speed dating"etc… Sure, these things can be silly, but they’re great for characterization and forming new bonds/deepening old ones.

Even with more traditional campaigns and combat focused events, I still like when making new connections is prioritized. This usually takes the form of breaking off into smaller groups for a portion of the event/storyline. One way I’ve seen it done is to sort into 2 or 3 roughly even teams teams of magic users, healers, fighters. Another was to sort characters by their roles. Think scholars, medics, and combat characters all doing their own thing simultaneously at the first half of a campaign and then having them all work together for the second half.

If I’m running things, I like to do little interconnected micro events with 2-3 other people and then give them reasons to interact with other players to further their own stories. This works best in a guild setting, but any small, dedicated group would work as well.

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I hope it isn’t too late to throw my hat in!

Overtime, I’ve found that my ideal event is a smaller or medium-sized one, with or without dice; I’m talking ones with maybe 5 to 10 people in attendance with a distinguishable plot. In all my time in this hobby, nothing ever seems to beat a more intimate, focused affair where each character’s input is much more likely to be noted and make a real difference in our stories.

That said, I can’t say there are many events I really hate. I truly enjoy public, free-form/social events; on top of being a blast, they’re 1001% needed to keep things fresh, get us out of our cliques, and bring in newbies! I especially loved them when I was in a guild and a bunch of us showed up together; it’s like we’re having a filler episode where characters can cool off, bond in a lower-stakes setting, and meet new characters!

I don’t think I’ve had even a handful of truly bad event experiences here on WrA, but if you held me at gunpoint, I’d say that I really don’t like events where it’s clear that there’s a small set of “main” characters while the rest of us kinda just follow them around like a glorified audience. I don’t think anyone does it on purpose, but if we can’t really affect the story at all and most of us are ignoring each-other, I tend to quietly dip out halfway through. I know I’ve made the right choice when I can do that without anyone noticing. :sweat_smile:

As I’ve probably implied, I have a much better time at any event that comes packaged with plenty of opportunities for players to actively engage with each-other IC. Markets, combat, debates, investigations, competitions of any kind, etc. – so long as we all have something to do, and we’re doing it together!

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Next set of questions (answer as many or as few as you wish, ofc):

  • What kinds of events do your guild run (if you’re in a guild)?
  • Have you ever done one of those mass event campaigns where several guilds take several weeks to set up, organize and coordinate? If so, what did you like about them? If not, what made you decide (or would make you decide) not to take part?
  • Why don’t you go to walk up RP (assuming you don’t)?
  • Do you ever participate in RP events that your guild doesn’t participate in?
  • If you were going to plan an event, what would it be? Can be a general or detailed answer.
  • Do you do Discord RP? Does it tie in to your in-game RP?
  • Grimdark - yes or no?
  • Has anyone actually asked you for limits and boundaries when setting an event? Is this something important to you?
  • About how many times a week/month/year do you RP?
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To echo a previously stated sentiment, I prefer the events I attend to be more than your standard meet-n-greet affair. If I’m going to go out of my way to attend something scheduled, I want it to be something I couldn’t easily do bumming around Stormwind on MG. I wouldn’t say I hate social gatherings, rather I’d just prefer a scheduled event be more than that. Barring something like a story circle or some more peculiar cases, I tend to see events like those as glorified walk-up opportunities, if my previous statement didn’t already give that away. I also find it’s a bit easier actually getting in rp with events that present a goal to pursue.

I tend to prefer medium to small groups, mainly because they’re easier to keep track of. It’s also usually easier for a slower typist, such as myself, to keep pace in a smaller group, or at least that’s how it usually feels. I tend to prefer working on an honor system as well, as I find rolls can be somewhat restrictive in what you can feasibly do, not to mention the heavy reliance on luck which I also don’t care for. At best I tolerate rolls in most cases and accept their situational necessity. I even encourage their use in larger groups or competitive events as they tend to make things more efficient for those conditions. Overall if I can avoid it I likely will.

I most appreciate variety in themes when it comes to rp events. Events that emulate things not commonly depicted in-game, or anything that just builds upon the world itself, I generally appreciate to some extent, even if the particular thing might not be something I’m personally interested in. Sometimes it may even encourage me to attend, even if it’s something I wouldn’t usually partake in, if I find the going theme interesting enough. I imagine more than a few of the things I have in mind, lessons on particular forms of magic to give an example, might be pretty niche and appeal to too few people enough to realistically be worthwhile, but they are the kinds of things I find ideal. The rest is stuff I imagine would be more the realm of a guild dedicated to it, events focused the activities of particular factions or similar groups.

My attendance depends on a few key factors including:

  • How interested am I in this event?

Especially when it comes to public events if its something I’m not super interested in, more often than not, my likelihood to attending is almost the same as if I didn’t care at all. This sometimes changes if I feel my attendance would make a big difference, which I rarely do.

  • What time is it? will I manage to remember?

While I’m pretty flexible with my time, I don’t work too hard on remembering when events start, so there’s a good chance I’ll forget and/or recall the event long after it started or is already done. I tend not want to enter an event late as I get anxious at the prospect of joining such things while they’re in progress, especially public ones.

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Bloodbound runs a mix of RP-PvP, tavern socials, and I’m trying to get small group campaigns off the ground myself within the group. That said, I’m open to pulling in people from outside, too.

I used to run some of the mass event RP-PvP stuff back years and years ago, and while I enjoyed doing it, I realized that the sheer scope of it tends to mean nothing for the rank-and-file people who show up. It’s mostly leaders/officers. Having been on both sides of it now, I prefer not doing the mass stuff anymore.

Orgrimmar walk ups are good stuff. Sure, you get a mix of quality, but you find the diamonds too.

I like supporting small independent events that aren’t guild related.

Discord RP is alright, but overall I prefer to be in-game when I can be in-game.

The world is dark enough without grimdark in the RP too, so I trend more towards something lighter.

I do RP weekly, if not daily!

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Always.

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Grimdark is tough because everyone has a different idea of what it means.

Some people view anything with more conflict than Stardew Valley as grimdark and some people think you need to be tearing butts apart with chainsaws 24/7 for it to count as grimdark.

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What kinds of events do your guild run (if you’re in a guild)?

  • Our guild uses a simple homebrew roll system. We have three events a week, two of which are typically roll system events. The third is a social night that alternates between camps between campaign events or Mead Hall Cask n Anvil.

Have you ever done one of those mass event campaigns where several guilds take several weeks to set up, organize and coordinate? If so, what did you like about them? If not, what made you decide (or would make you decide) not to take part?

  • Yes but I didn’t go since I had IRL conflict. I also don’t do well in big noisy events, even with addons like Listener to help alleviate the noise, it’s a bit rough for my ADHD brain to stay focused.

Why don’t you go to walk up RP (assuming you don’t)?

  • Personally I don’t do well in large noisy areas, even with Listener. It’s why I get grouchy about Horde RP being crammed in such a small area in Orgrimmar. Otherwise, I found a guild and folks I’m happy to RP with so I don’t really feel the need to do walk up anymore. Also I just don’t have as much free time as I used to. Oh and there’s actual content in the game I want to do now.

Do you ever participate in RP events that your guild doesn’t participate in?

  • Not as much anymore, same reason regarding walk up RP. I am pretty happy with the RP I have with my guild and my free time is also more limited.

If you were going to plan an event, what would it be? Can be a general or detailed answer.

  • Probably just something fun for the guild side story night.

Do you do Discord RP? Does it tie in to your in-game RP?

  • My guild has some RP channels but I’m not very good at keeping up with them. Also some folks run a side RP discord but again, hard time keeping up with them.

Grimdark - yes or no?

  • Eh, depends. I like to laugh and keep things fun but sometimes darker story/writing is good. I will not participate in RP that includes SA or gratuitous violence.

Has anyone actually asked you for limits and boundaries when setting an event? Is this something important to you?

  • I would appreciate it though if folks are up front about any touchy subjects so I can opt out. Fortunately this isn’t something I have to worry about with guild events.

About how many times a week/month/year do you RP?

  • 3-5 times a month, give or take my schedule. I can usually make our Sunday socials easier than our weekday events because of work.

What kind of RP events do you like to attend?

  • I typically like roll events that aren’t too convoluted. We have a good system that is easy to follow and fun.

What ones do you hate?

  • I don’t hate anything but I find galas, raves/dances pretty boring. I could possibly go to a gala if there’s some substance/story behind it. Perhaps if I played a socialite/noble character and there was some intrigue/story strings behind it that could be developed into something these could be more fun for me. However my current roster of characters are stupid idiots and these don’t really suit them.

Small roll system or no rolls/free form (no rolls, everyone on honor system)?

  • It just depends, if it’s just a small group free form is fine but rolls do add a bit of fun to things because you can’t control it and it can lead to fun character development you weren’t planning.

What makes you want to go to an event?

  • Excluding guild events - which I go because I like to hang out with my friends.
  • Public, it just depends on my energy level. I liked going to story circle a lot, generally chill and I fondly remember some really good stories, poems and other things folks shared at those. I know there’s a monthly(?) one now but it seems to fall on a night I have an IRL conflict. I also need to go to a theatre troupe event, I’m sure there’s some really great performances.

Do you only attend events when you’re bored, or are they your main reason for being in WoW?

  • I like to play with my friends.

Do we have:

not enough events
too many events
too many of a particular type
not enough of a particular type

I think we have plenty, I just don’t have as much free time as I used to.

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  • What kinds of events do your guild run (if you’re in a guild)?

My guild runs a variations of storyline campaigns or one-shots. When we take the “night off,” we start up public walk-up on WrA and invite others to come join.

  • Have you ever done one of those mass event campaigns where several guilds take several weeks to set up, organize and coordinate? If so, what did you like about them? If not, what made you decide (or would make you decide) not to take part?

Yes, but before WrA. On Earthen Ring many, many years ago, I hosted a Dragonblight Campaign in Cataclysm that consisted of a month-long in-game RP build up in Wintergarde and ended with multiple server-wide roleplay Looking for Raids. Dragon Soul was the first raid to have LFR and I saw it as an opportunity to make the raid story finally accessible to casual RPers, so that was the inspiring spark of the event. After a month of roleplay build up, we ran two simultaneous 40-man raids packed full of roleplayers on Alliance side and the next day, the Horde ran its version with one and a half LFR raids. The handful of pugs who queued in and weren’t roleplayers thought it was awesome, like watching an extra cinematic on top of the raid.

That said, it was pre-Discord era so much of it relied on in-game networking and a lot of ground work. It was also 2010, I was in grad school, and honestly had the time and energy to pull off such a thing. I didn’t do it again because I never had the free time to devote to such a grass roots campaign again. That, and the older I got, the less excited I got about large server-wide campaigns. Those were the norm for a while on Earthen Ring and our transfers carried that tradition over to Moon Guard. These days, I prefer rich guild/small group stories and keep community/public roleplay more simple. That’s one reason of many why I transferred to WrA — it more suits that vibe.

  • Why don’t you go to walk up RP (assuming you don’t)?

I either kick off or support walk-up 4-5 times a week these days. My goal has been to help make WrA-A roleplay more visible and accessible to players, as that brings more folks to the server if they can see roleplay happening throughout the day and not just during events.

  • Do you ever participate in RP events that your guild doesn’t participate in?

This is worded weird. My guildies are welcome to participate in any event that catches their eye. Whether we participate officially as a full-blown guild depends on if the event runner wants to scale it to that size.

  • If you were going to plan an event, what would it be? Can be a general or detailed answer.

It depends on the event. I’ve run weekly pubs, twice-a-month markets, potion shops, massive storyline campaigns, heavy RP guild campaigns, pop-up walk-up events… all take a different approach and I choose which type based on my current availability, where my creative spark is currently at, and the current Zeitgeist of the server.

  • Do you do Discord RP? Does it tie in to your in-game RP?

I only do Discord RP as after-scene follow ups or with folks whose sub has expired but we want to continue the story. Otherwise, I focus on in-game roleplay as I believe that better benefits the server to occupy the world and be visible in it. I don’t want Discord to be a substitute, as that takes away from in-game opportunities and bringing others in who happen to be passing by.

  • Grimdark - yes or no?

If either I am the DM and all my players completed a traditional D&D consent sheet, yes. Or I trust the DM and they’ve done the same. I’ve had too many negative experiences with boundaries to do it any other way and I don’t play around with that anymore.

  • Has anyone actually asked you for limits and boundaries when setting an event? Is this something important to you?

In smaller DM’d events, yes, and this is normal and encouraged. I very much run my WoW storylines like a DM runs a tabletop campaign. For larger, public RP, I’ve no issue if someone approaches me with boundaries. It’s my responsibility as DM/event runner to make it feel like a game for my participants, not a nightmare.

  • About how many times a week/month/year do you RP?

Multiple times a week. Sometimes I take a week or two off, especially when work is busy or my cat rescue takes on orphan bottle-fed kittens and I’m getting up every 3 hours to feed them. I also tend to be more active in the Winter because I do less rescue work (usually; if the Winter is warm, then I’m still busy).

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Loving all the insight I’m getting on our community, here!

Have you ever done one of those mass event campaigns where several guilds take several weeks to set up, organize and coordinate? If so, what did you like about them? If not, what made you decide (or would make you decide) not to take part?

I’ve attended them, yes! I love the sheer quantity of people who show up; I often find myself star-struck, seeing so many writers in one place, united under one goal/idea. Sometimes, it’s fun enough to just go around and watch all these cool, interesting characters do their thing(s), and I’ve walked away with new IC contacts from them before!

What I don’t love about them is how easy it is to fall through the cracks, sort of like I mentioned before; there are so many people at these events that it’s naturally difficult (if not impossible) to engage with the story in any substantial way if you’re not a well-known or high-ranking member of any of the attending groups.

I’ve had the most fun when I’ve found my character falling organically into a sort of “splinter” group and having a smaller C-story inside the bigger one, but that’s not a guaranteed part of the experience, even if you actively try to make it happen. And of course, you don’t want to accidentally steal anyone’s thunder or disrupt the event in general – that would suck!

If you were going to plan an event, what would it be? Can be a general or detailed answer.

I’ve got a few possibilities:

  • Adventuring parties: these would be huge for me. A lot of my events would involve groups of intrepid characters going to an interesting place to Do A Thing. Let’s hunt the beast that killed your parents, search for an ancient and powerful MacGuffin, or investigate an eerie disturbance! Let’s go study a mysterious phenomenon, or rescue an ally from certain doom! The consequences of that adventure may even lead to . . .
  • Combat: defending ourselves against ne’er-do-wells, marching out to drive away threats, doing battle alongside/against other player-run factions, or anything adjacent to that! Personally, I love using action as a catalyst for developing characters and forging relationships.
  • Competitions: man, I love tournaments and contests. Anyone can hop in, active engagement is king, and we can all leave with concrete IC achievements or brand new hooks for other witnesses and participants alike, even long after it’s over.
  • Markets: I enjoy playing as and with merchants and tradesmen/artisans IC. It’s a nice, easy way to play with world-building together and start forging new contacts outside of our current circles.

Do you do Discord RP? Does it tie in to your in-game RP?

Very, very rarely, and not at all if I can help it: if I’m doing WoW RP, I definitely want to do it in-game!

Grimdark - yes or no?

Sure, if a story-line calls for it! I consider my current active characters pretty friendly to a good range of tones, and I’d be quite willing and able to participate in stories that force them to deal with the more difficult, frightening, and/or morally ambiguous facets of life.

Has anyone actually asked you for limits and boundaries when setting an event? Is this something important to you?

No – I’ve never been in an event that seemed to warrant it – but personally, if a session/event is going to cover topics that are widely considered to be disturbing or upsetting, I’d certainly want to make sure people knew what they were getting into as a courtesy.

About how many times a week/month/year do you RP?

About 3 times a week on average, I think; I’ll be a little more or less active than that depending on what I’m up to IRL or how I’m feeling.

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The guild does guild story arc events with D20, character development side arcs with D20, and casual drink and greet events.

Last major public event which was coordinated between multiple guilds was the oath ceremony in Moonguard Ruins of Lordaeron. I like how it was not chaotic.

Would do walk up if had more game time. Right now RP by schedule is all that can happen.

Yes.

I’d like to host a sermon on the Forgotten Shadow. On an alt I’d get into hosting public discussion events in favor of Calia.

I really like Discord RP because there is a certain flexibility with a coordination of time and story. Naturally discord RP affects my character. I also like to tie it into active gameplay because you can give detailed OOC info without it cutting up IC posts in-game. I can also post illustrations for greater immersion.

No one has specifically asked for limits or boundaries, but there are the typical ones most groups have in place.

3-5 times a month in-game, depending on work schedule. And, 3-5 a month in discord, depending if my character can take part in a sensible way.