(11-26-2016, 01:28 PM)Kilieit Wrote: Yeah, but then it's likeIt's not that people want to avoid being 'special snowflakes', it's that people who want to follow lore to a T want to be able to play their character without later going 'oh crap, this new lore came out and now my character's story doesn't fit into it', or realizing that the lore for their Job doesn't allow a lot of wiggle room with backstories (such as WHM vs CNJ for example). Maybe they don't want to be pigeon-holed into a class, or maybe they realize that soul crystals are generally rare at large, or maybe if it's a Job with less lore they don't want to have to rewrite the character later.
Oh yeah he wields a greatsword and he uses aether techniques and he has an impulsive side when it comes to injustices that means he can sometimes make reckless decisions and he has a manner that's unsettling to others and...
...so you're basically dancing around being like "oh yeah he's literally exactly the same as a dark knight but not a dark knight, because of reasons," just for the sake of, like... ~not being a special snowflake~? Which is just as pointless as adding needless complexity for the sake of standing out?
The reason my character has a DRK soul crystal in the first place is because another PC spotted his vigilante streak and was like "you're one of us" and gave my character said PC's own old crystal, even though I'd originally conceived of my character as someone who would be "like a DRK but not a DRK". It ended up with him becoming a DRK anyway just because of the natural flow of in-character interactions. I don't think it's far-fetched at all.
There are other reasons for people to play non-Job (or characters who skirt jobs) characters that aren't 'I don't want to be a special snowflake'. It's rather insulting to those who do play plainer characters. We have many reasons to play them; not everyone is going to have the same reasons.
DRK happens to be one of those jobs that didn't have a lot of lore, and now that it does, people are trying to figure out how to make their character 'legit' in lore. One of the easiest ways to do that without tying them to Ishgard is to be a 'just' a dude who uses aether techniques coupled with his giant two-handed sword. A way to skirt the controversy of lore with WHMs is to be 'just' a dude who can use Conjury and heal things without having Succor.