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+--- Thread: why do people play as a Job? (/showthread.php?tid=7072)
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why do people play as a Job? - Aduu Avagnar - 05-02-2014
I'm lead to believe, through my readings, that other than some (Paladin, and to an extent, Summoner and Scholar) that the jobs are meant to be super rare, especially white mages, where the storyline PC is the only non padjal to be granted the teachings, and thats due to being granted what is essentially the essence of a previous white mage.
Therefore, I pose the question in the thread title, if these jobs are so rare, (one person out of all of the people in Eorzea) do people rp as the Job, rather than the class?
RE: why do people play as a Job? - FreelanceWizard - 05-02-2014
First off, putting on my admin hat, if this thread acquires the acrimony most threads about Job vs. Class RP have, I'm gonna lock it ASAP. All, please don't make me do that.
Taking off my admin hat and speaking personally, I think a lot comes down to the mixed messages of the game. First, you can be those things in game; you can be a White Mage and use Regen, Holy, and the like in game, so why shouldn't you be allowed to RP it? While I don't think this is an especially strong argument (after all, you can wield the legendary Thyrus in game, but one wouldn't advocate RPing it as that specific weapon), it's very strong for some. Its strength is bolstered by the narratives on the official site, where they say things such as...
Regarding Jobs generally: "Jobs refer to those martial paths that thrived in former times but have since fallen into disuse. Recent developments, however, have occasioned something of a revival in their popularity."
Regarding White Mage: "Although the art subsequently became forbidden, it is now in the midst of a revival at the hands of the Padjal, chosen of the elementals."
So, the official site purports that the Jobs are being revived and that the rarest of the rare by its own quest lore (White Mage) is actually in the midst of a revival. When you combine that with the fact that we as RPers generally discard or make generic parts of quest lines that purport the player character as the One True Hero, a person could write a narrative that explains how they have access to the power through a means different than that proposed by the quest line in game and have lore support for it. Many RPers are willing to accept a plausible narrative justification in these circumstances.
Finally, adventuring PCs are a significant minority of the population of Eorzea. So, one might argue that rarity is still enforced even if every PC adventurer uses a Job, because adventurers themselves are a tiny group of people compared to the masses who populate the continent.
Full disclosure: my character is not RPed as having access to any of the Jobs, except for Summoner. So, I'm just summing up the arguments I've seen; I don't personally RP a character that uses them.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - Ares D'Argent - 05-02-2014
(05-02-2014, 09:59 PM)Nako Wrote: I'm lead to believe, through my readings, that other than some (Paladin, and to an extent, Summoner and Scholar) that the jobs are meant to be super rare, especially white mages, where the storyline PC is the only non padjal to be granted the teachings, and thats due to being granted what is essentially the essence of a previous white mage.
Therefore, I pose the question in the thread title, if these jobs are so rare, (one person out of all of the people in Eorzea) do people rp as the Job, rather than the class?
The answer for me at least is quite simple. Â I do it or rather I intended to RP a Job class because I was interested in RPing a dragoon and not some second rate lancer. Â Actually that class/job was the sole reason why I came to play since it is my favorite one in the Final Fantasy games. Unfortunately I found out the lore behind that class was very poorly done.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - synaesthetic - 05-02-2014
(05-02-2014, 10:17 PM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: While I don't think this is an especially strong argument (after all, you can wield the legendary Thyrus in game, but one wouldn't advocate RPing it as that specific weapon), it's very strong for some.
Actually it's fairly bluntly stated during the story of "A Relic Reborn" that your Thyrus, or Stardust Rod, or Bravura or Curtana or any relic weapon is simply a copy of the original design. The Zodiac Weapons questline has already made it clear that a "relic" is simply a type of weapon, a methodology for recreating or mass-producing ancient Super Prototypes and that the old man wants to see if they can be improved via soul infusions.
In fact, during the BLM Job questline and again in the BLM Relic quest, it's stated and shown that Ququruka is the mage who actually has the Stardust Rod (the original one that Shattoto wielded). Yours is just a knock-off!
So yeah, actually, it's fairly plausible for a zillion relic-wielding adventurers to be running around all over Eorzea.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - Kailia - 05-03-2014
I've been rping as a white mage. From an IC standpoint, my char acquired the soul gem of a white mage teacher back when white and black mages were super popular, and learned from it. She has since become an Elementalist, using both conjurer elements, and thaumaturge elements, with still heavy leaning towards white magic.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - LandStander - 05-03-2014
You know...I always thought of this question myself. I think it comes down to preference. I personally prefer to just play more normal people. None of my characters are jobs IC and only classes. I think the lore around the jobs makes a lot of them too difficult to put into a good story that obeys the lore. But then again my view has always been that it takes years and years of training in order to really achieve something like advanced classes. I have always twitch a little bit when I see teenagers and people in their early 20's running around with this advanced form of magic or battle abilities. Denn has literally been trained since she could walk in the art of warfare and combat and yet I keep her a pugilist IC and yet she still kicks ass
. I don't think you need to play the advanced jobs in order to have your character be a skill combatant. Conjurers can heal, Arcanist can summon, Thm (Im not going to try to spell this ) can blow things up, MRDs can go all crazy.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - synaesthetic - 05-03-2014
I play Aeriyn the way I do because it's somewhat important to the plot I have, the story I want to tell and the ways I want to play with the lore. ICly she's a black mage and there's a plot reason why this is important... not just so she can fling Flares around. It's just as plot significant as her knowledge of Allagan tech.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - Ignacius - 05-03-2014
Honestly, I don't play the job. Â In fact, I play Ignacious as personally being learned in the use of a few weapons (specifically, spears and bows), so technically he could be considered two classes. Â In reality, he's neither. Â He picks up skills along the way. Â He was originally trained in the use of the spear, but since then he's picked up dragoon jumping abilities. Â I never specify when he learned them; he's obviously not an Ishgardian and he personally dislikes them. Â However, he certainly picked them up. Â He's also very skilled with a bow and may become a bard, but I won't play that he's specializing in a martial path. Â He's just like any good contract soldier, he's constantly learning anything he can to give him an edge on the street.
But I'll never say he's a "dragoon" or a "bard" since he has a REAL problem with authority. Â I can see that working into some people's stories, so it's certainly on a case-by-case basis. Â Some people become dragoons and want to really play a dragoon, so they're part of that order. Â I have a tendency not to do that unless I'm really wringing something out of it I didn't have before. Â Otherwise, it's too much of a handcuff.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - TheBlob - 05-03-2014
As I was intent on having a healer for end game and had it in my head that my character was going to be a super book worm come doctor/surgeon, I knew from the start she would play as a scholar and alchemist. She deeply involved in problem solving and more than less involved in actually fighting. I tend, though, to keep her magical healing to a minimum and only to be used in a pinch to give her allies boosted stamina and vigor during battle, not really to *poof* heal a wound, she leaves that for the rare occasions that she calls on her fairy.
Plus I love her artifact uniforms.
That said, my other toon is a monk. I don't play her to her class/job at all. She's a feisty little whoremaster ( *ahem* Madame) come sailor. While she's able to hold her own in most fights by merely refusing to give into people's threats or calling in some muscle she definitely isn't doing it with and more training than that which was given to her by a bunch of sailors.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - Nebbs - 05-03-2014
I would not sweat it, just treat it as a more specialised role.Â
Bard.. why would that be so rare no one had ever seen one?
Paladin.. they are all over the place
Summoner and Scholar just seem to be more specialised Arcainists
The others I have not played so much so won't comment. Oh and I won't mention people playing multiple Jobs.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - ArmachiA - 05-03-2014
I play Armi as a traditional Bard - she sings and stuff and just happens to use a bow. You know... I haven't actually thought about whether or not she is FFXIV's version of a bard - with magic songs or whatever. I'm going to say no. She's just a stereotypical Bard like thing who happens to use a bow.
Loki is, at present, an Arcanist. My original plan was to make her a Summoner - my FC has even fought Garuda once ICly (And was shocked to live to tell the tale!) with her in the party but I haven't had her make that conversion yet. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I am with it. It feels really special snowflakey to have had to maneuver so much around the the lore just to get her to be a SMN. I mean, it's still possible, but I just haven't pressed the button yet. I want it to be a natural transition and not "HA HA I'M A SUMMONER NOW"
The Jobs are supposed to be Rare - I treat them as exceedingly rare.
My problem is I don't like playing characters who sit too far out of the box in specialness - which means most of my characters will not have the Jobs ICly. I really believe if you have to force specialness on your character to make them special, then they aren't that interesting in the first place. Armi and Loki are normal everyday girls who weird, abnormal things happen to and people find them interesting with knowing they are the only White Mage or the greatest Monk ever.
Also relics may be "copies" but they are built with the originals as a base, aren't they? He basically just reconstructs the broken relic into what he thinks it should look like.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - Zhavi - 05-03-2014
(05-03-2014, 03:26 AM)LandStander Wrote: You know...I always thought of this question myself. I think it comes down to preference. I personally prefer to just play more normal people. None of my characters are jobs IC and only classes. I think the lore around the jobs makes a lot of them too difficult to put into a good story that obeys the lore. But then again my view has always been that it takes years and years of training in order to really achieve something like advanced classes. I have always twitch a little bit when I see teenagers and people in their early 20's running around with this advanced form of magic or battle abilities. Denn has literally been trained since she could walk in the art of warfare and combat and yet I keep her a pugilist IC and yet she still kicks ass
I tend to rp the same way -- it's why Zhi sucks at combat. She's spent her life focusing on staying fed and staying ahead; she hasn't had the time to train, much less find someone who could teach her. It always makes me chuckle a little when I see a character who learned how to fight by themselves and expect to go toe to toe with someone who has trained religiously with a master. (I am so looking forward to the dagger class! Zhi carries a small dagger as a last resort weapon and also to literally stab someone in the back if the chance arises and she feels she needs to
)But um, back to the OP's question: why does anyone do anything in rp? Because it interests them. Because on some level they have connected with the idea and it's fun for them. I think that if they really want to make it work with the lore, then they'll figure out a way to do it. If it breaks my own immersion and enjoyment, then I won't rp with them. But neither am I going to go up and tell them how to rp -- they aren't hurting anyone, and mmos aren't umm . . .regulated rp communities where there's a barrier to entry, so I'm not going to take up that role. Not that there's anything wrong with having a discussion about it, either. Discussions are good. I like discussions.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - Rinh Hallani - 05-03-2014
Well, I RP my paladin as a gladiator and my summoner as an arcanist. I suppose it's possible to RP the job instead but the base classes fit ICly so I've never bothered trying to come up with a feasible reason to RP their jobs. That said, I don't mind if someone else does want to RP their job; just not something I'm interested in doing myself.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - Flickering Ember - 05-03-2014
Quote:Why do people play as a Job?The game honestly isn't too lore heavy but there are lore aspects of jobs that make it fun. I don't RP my character as having a Job but some of the history and lore around these Jobs is interesting enough that it feels like a wasted potential not to.
In other MMOs, the lore based around my class helped add character. I really very enjoyed tapping into the various aspects of my class on how she interacted with the world. I've only leveled one class to 50 though so I don't know if this applies to them either, but my class doesn't have any lore to it at all while as its associating Job class.
It's not that I particularly want to be a special snowflake, I just want to be able to RP my class the way I always have in other MMOs. When no one really RPs the general storyline anyway it seems silly for there to be, for example, only one non-Padjal white mage.Â
I don't have to RP my character as any class or Job but I wouldn't mind if character development happened and she somehow got to the point she could have a Job. But there are other RPers who it is more important for and just want to be able to RP what the game says they are.Â
RPers are generally good about not claiming credit for things in game storylines. (For example, I alone killed Arthas!) Not claiming credit for something you see on your character everyday is much muddier of a topic that really does deserve consideration from its RP community, though.
RE: why do people play as a Job? - Aduu Avagnar - 05-03-2014
very interesting replies, I thank you all.
This wasn't a thread to defame one way or the other, simply to see other peoples standpoints.