Roleplay, the act of playing a character with other people and writing stories with them, is honestly a great way to refine writing skills. While I was in a writing slump, I still roleplayed, which kept my writing very strong. I started video-game-wise in World of Warcraft but have moved on to Final Fantasy XIV. I have to say, it took me a while to get hooked, but now I really am hooked pretty well!
In this article, I wanted to talk about my experience in the game itself, and why it took me so long to actually get attached, up until now where I am REALLY attached.
I left World of Warcraft for FFXIV in February of 2021 due to absolutely hating Shadowlands, but that’s a discussion for another time. Abandoning my characters and stories was hard to do, and it was very hard to get attached. The first part of FFXIV was very boring to me, so I did something atypical – I bought a story skip. This is rightfully frowned upon, but in order to get me to actually enjoy the game, skipping to the part with dragons was important. From there, I at least got attached to the story. To my credit, I went back and did the parts I skipped on another character.
Anyway, I couldn’t get into roleplay in the game like I did with WoW, and I could not figure out why. It’s like starting a new fanfiction and knowing about the franchise, but having no idea, attachment, or character ideas. Yes, I had characters who have backstories, but it didn’t click.
I think my wariness of people in general kicked in, delaying things considerably. After all, roleplayers can be an elitist bunch, and I had bad experiences in WoW. However, once I got going with my friends and made stories with them, it helped a ton. What also helped was getting a large house that my group made our ‘Castle’ in the game. Something hard to do – housing is unfortunately limited. Player housing, the ability to design a house and space to write stories in, is AMAZING, though. It’s something WoW lacked.
The game has its issues, and things I wish were better, but all in all, I really love it and am attached now. I love making tons of characters, which is rough because the game is very ‘alt’ (for those not in the know, this is like a ‘side character’ in gaming, they don’t get as much playtime) unfriendly. I make do, though, and writing stories with all of my friends on there, coming up with plots, and developing characters is just too much fun.
In the end, roleplay refines my writing, and I am so thrilled to write stories in my gaming life with my friends! My endgame? It’s roleplay. Yes, I’m that much of a story nerd.
Check out my MAGICAL COLLEGE novel, Cobratongue University: Professors & Kings! It’s got high action, romantic subplots, and the typical twist I do with creatures like vampires.
Des M. Astor 