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+--- Thread: [Discussion] Community Opinions on RPing Hybrid Races? (/showthread.php?tid=20304)
Community Opinions on RPing Hybrid Races? - infamousviolet - 08-07-2017
Hello!
I wanted to start off by saying that my fiancé and I are new to FFXIV, and are planning to move to one of the RP servers once we having our baring's straight of the game.
I was wondering what the overall view and attitude was of roleplaying hybrids? I particularly loved Hilda's model, which inspired me to possibly roleplay a similar hybrid like her.
Thanks! And I hope to hear from some of you!
RE: Community Opinions on RPing Hybrid Races? - Lydia Lightfoot - 08-07-2017
Though the existence of hybrids is plausible (given evidence you already mentioned), it's also very very rare, if we consider the NPCs we have access to in the game to be any indication of population density. Thus, while playing a hybrid isn't in any way lorebreaking, you will doom yourself to the following two probable situations coming up on a regular basis:
1. Some players will consider it snowflakey, especially if the fact of being a hybrid seems irrelevant to the character's story/background. If it's a major component and arguably defines their outlook on the world and the manner in which they interact with others and pursue goals, then it will seem less snowflakey because it becomes a critical plot point rather than a cosmetic detail.
2. You will have to constantly, and repetitively, make note of whatever prominent visible features exist on the character which other characters can see, but you can't represent on the avatar. For example, when playing a hybrid hyur/elezen, if you use a hyur avatar, you'll have to constantly include in your emotes references to the character's pointed ears, lanky limbs, etc. On the other hand, if you use an elezen avatar, you'll have to constantly reference the character's rounded ears and squatter-than-elezen limbs. This is the only way to ensure that other players can recognize you're playing a hybrid (putting it in your search info or wiki isn't enough - many won't look and will just assume the character is the race represented by the avatar).
If those two things are palatable to you to endure on a routine basis, then you'll be just fine.
RE: Community Opinions on RPing Hybrid Races? - Nero - 08-07-2017
Here is the relevant info from Fernehalwes about hybrid races and interbreeding.
It's improbable, but possible. So yes, you can roleplay a hybrid and be lore-compliant, and it'll be totally fine.
That said, I would personally advise you to deliberately avoid the more common pitfalls of the "half-breed character".
Don't make hybrids superhuman (why are hybrids inexplicably portrayed as better than everyone else?), don't make every conflict into a racial conflict (e.g. Hilda's conflicts with the Temple Knights is expressed as one of social class rather than race, even if the latter does play as a factor in the former), and when you do have racial conflict, be very careful about centering that racial conflict around your character's specific hybrid.
The general stigma towards hybrid characters comes from the fact that many hybrid characters are written as fairly blatant Mary Sues who consider themselves very self-important in everything they do, who will shout about their hybrid status to the streets with a megaphone in one sentence and then angst about how everybody's racist against them the next.
As long as you can avoid that kind of extreme, I see no reason why it shouldn't go swimmingly.
RE: Community Opinions on RPing Hybrid Races? - infamousviolet - 08-07-2017
Thanks for the replies thus far!
I am not really looking to roleplay a special snowflake class, or one that has god-like tendencies to know everything and know every skill trait out there. I thrive off of unique character flaws. I have a serious love for half-elven beings in any form of fantasy, so when I saw her, I was kind of hoping the overall option of the hybrid was relatively positive.
Coming from the WoW RP community, I am aware of the concern for special snowflakes. Though as Lydia kind of said, that if I do it, I should do it right; then there shouldn't be a problem.
Hope to hear more of the communities input!
RE: Community Opinions on RPing Hybrid Races? - Sounsyy - 08-07-2017
In general, I have very little problem with mix-raced characters. Interracial relationships and children exist in the lore, albeit a rarity. Most issues I see others cite have to do with preferences towards how these characters are portrayed. So perhaps heed as many of the warnings others may give in this thread and proceed how you feel is best.
In my own experience, I've had good reception to my mixed-race characters and characters who've come from interracial family units. I don't shout it from the rooftops and I don't put the information in my search info (I usually just reserve that for "rp > age > profession > maybe nationality"). I actually had some people I RP with regularly for over a year now just find out fairly recently that one of my characters is mixed. I drop a mix of subtle and less subtle hints that it's the case where appropriate. Sometimes people pick up, sometimes not.
Some people might ask why bother RPing a mixed race if it's not central to who their character is on a day-to-day, but as someone who RPs mostly older characters (30+) I feel as though their lives have gotten past the stage where they angst about their circumstances. Either they've faced 30+ years of discrimination or they've had mixed experiences. How has that shaped them? How does growing up in a mixed household inform their opinions of the world. This interests me more than the simple fact that they are.
More often than not, you won't find outgoingly discriminatory characters in your un-planned RP. So bringing it up to the forefront seems to rarely elicit the conflict you're hoping for anyways. You're more likely to get a "cool" or "cool, yeah my wife's _________" and now it seems like you just brought up this thing about your character just to show off this thing about your character. So you can spare sharing the information unless you're more sure it'll work out the way you're wanting - such as a longterm partner or someone who's frequently been a bigot in public ICly. Is it so terribly relevant to the inception of a walk-up RP to mention that your character looks like a Hyur but has pointed ears? Not always.
Anyways, I also wanted to drop off some of the lore regarding the mixed-race topic that you might find helpful to your RP or character in the spoiler tab below!
RE: Community Opinions on RPing Hybrid Races? - Drej - 08-11-2017
I've never had an issue with mixed-race characters, so long as it's a hybrid that's physically possible.Â
Now, I'm not 100% sure exactly how mixed-race works in this universe - most accurate thing I've seen is that the child usually gets most of the mom's attributes. So, human mom + Au Ra dad might produce a mostly human child, to my understanding. And all of the races are....well, "human" enough to make reproduction viable between races (I'm thinking of Elder Scrolls where a human and an argonian would very much not be producing a baby).
I think as long as you're not making your hybrid character an overpowered super snowflake or constantly having them angst about their half breed status (insecurities are fine, but don't overdo it), you're fine.