(01-29-2015, 03:45 AM)Graeham Ridgefield Wrote:(01-29-2015, 12:23 AM)Flashhelix Wrote: If you're going to roleplay in a game with established lore only to take huge liberties with the lore, why roleplay in a game with established lore anyway? There are other avenues that allow far greater conceptual freedom if amending a character's concept and/or story is too great a feat.
I just wish more people outright admitted that they had no interest in sticking to the lore instead of pulling out the card of 'I can do what I want, FREEDOM AND LIBERTY' that is becoming alarming common in debates such as this.
I mean, yeah - nobody is saying anybody can't do whatever they want. They're saying that if someone deliberately ignores the established setting then they're opening themselves to valid criticism.
If my character happened to be played as a relative of a major lore character then I'd fully expect people to offer constructive criticism, raise their eyebrows and even avoid me altogether. Nobody has an obligated to interact with role-players that don't align with their style, however nobody has the right to claim that they can never, ever be criticised.
I am in the "Why RP in an MMO with an established lore if you're not going to RP with the established lore?" camp. It's why I don't get why people would want to RP that they're Naruto from the Hidden Leaf village in FFXIV when they could go join some actual Naruto RP group or something and RP all of that over there.
My miqo'te characters obviously don't have conventional miqo'te names (I honestly couldn't stand the naming conventions even though I really wanted to play a miqo'te) - but other than that, I try to adhere to the lore as closely as I can without introducing elements I feel would directly contradict it. My characters aren't from random unknown locations. They're not secretly some unknown race. I don't give them skills and jobs that haven't been introduced to the game world yet. They're not secretly a Dragoon and White Mage rolled into one that has mastered both arts at age 15. They don't have any unique special powers or abilities that a normal person couldn't otherwise get through a reasonable amount of training.
That said -- I don't understand this pressing need to criticise people for not roleplaying the same way you do with the same exact level of lore compliance when they haven't asked you for advice. It's easy to stare your nose down at some guy RPing Naruto in Eorzea, but it can get dicier when it's something more subtle like "your miqo'te doesn't act cat-like enough" or whether or not someone should be playing certain jobs. (Example: Some folks think warriors are totally cool to play as! Other people think it's breaking the lore to RP any job-class other than Paladins! Who is right and who is wrong? NO ONE KNOWS because it's all subjective thanks to the Warrior NPC actively trying to teach people the art, but it having died out long ago, etc, etc. Please let's not actually talk about whether it's okay to RP certain classes, because that conversation has been done to death.)
As an artist, I don't go around offering critique to every single artist I come across, even if they're fledglings and really could use the pointers. Unless they explicitly ask me for it or present it in a situation where it is implied that they want critique - it's actually considered rude to drop unwanted, unasked for critique on someone's artwork out of the blue without them expecting it or giving some indication that it is welcome and they would use it to improve their craft.
By the same token, I earnestly feel it's not any of my business to criticize or tell someone how to RP their character unless they explicitly ask me for critique. make a thread asking for advice on how to make their character more lore compliant, or otherwise imply that they're looking to improve themselves and wouldn't mind someone telling them how they could do things better. If they do ask me for advice? You better believe I'm going to try and steer them towards reading up on the lore, choosing a backstory that is more realistic in terms of the game setting, and not secretly being Bahamut reincarnated in the body of a pink-haired bubble-gum scented female roegadyn. Constructive criticism on how to be a better roleplayer and RP within the setting are fantastic - but only if someone asks for it and sincerely wants to apply it.
Additionally, I think most people adopt the "People can do what they want" approach - not because they want to escape all consequences or criticism while RPing Titanium-plated Space Dragons with a secret yaoi cat man form in Eorzea - but because it is extremely easy for RP communities to dive down the slippery slope of transforming into a very hostile, aggressive police force that dictates every single aspect of what is acceptable in roleplay.
I think we have all been in one of those at least once in an MMO where there is a core group of people who enforce the most strident (and sometimes even incorrect) view of the lore and outright harasses people for veering just a little bit outside of that.
I have been in MMOs where RP communities went so far out of their way to dictate every little detail of what people are allowed to do or be that they actually told people what hair colors they felt were adherent to the lore and which ones they were not allowed to use despite the fact that the developer of the game itself provided us with multiple colors to choose from. It's the equivalent of telling all Moon Keeper Miqo'te that they can't have reds, yellows, oranges, and other similar colors that might too easily be associated with Sun Seekers while Sun Seekers can't have their hair be various shades of blue or purple.
I would rather have an open, accepting, friendly community that has a wide range of Rpers from magical sparkle fairy-vampires I don't really want to RP with to people who earnestly enjoy working within the confines of the lore ...than to have an aggressive, hostile, judgmental community that makes people feel like shit and scares off newer RPers from RPing openly for the first time out of fear that if they fuck up with the lore just a tiny bit, some asshole is going to jump down their throat for not getting it quite right.