Stormfalcon

That's pretty much part of the reason why my Mateus character, Daphne, goes by that name rather than the one she was born with as a Xaela (Boljigchi Qerel). She decided it was much, much easier to let others use a name for her that they could pronounce easily than spend the time trying to get them to pronounce her birth name properly. (Other part of the reason is that the isolationist tribe she was born to declared her dead to them when she decided she could do more good in the outside world. What better way to mark a new life than to start anew with a new name?)

I saw the news earlier today and was saddened by it. I really enjoyed the series and he was a big part of that. May he ever walk in the light of the crystal.

Managed to create a character on Balmung between 8 and 9AM PST, so some of us are getting through!

Yeah, Mateus is the other RP server for NA. Balmung's been completely closed off since Stormblood's launch last year as part of SE's attempt at balancing server loads, but it's supposed to be reopened this week once the downtime is completed.

I can't speak to Omega since I'm in America, but of the two RP servers there, only Balmung is truly closed off...at least until this week's downtime. After the downtime, I imagine it'll be more like how Mateus is now: new character creation restricted to off-peak times. You can still make the character, but you'll have to wait for times in the day that the server isn't quite so busy. A tip I have is that, if you're trying to create the character but it's still peak time and can't get the character in, save the character appearance data so that when things ease off a bit, you can simply reload the appearance data and save time in the later attempt to get the character in.

I've played both genders in my decades of playing MMOs, but I would have to say that most of my characters have been female. Of course, there's the fact that they usually wind up looking better, at least in my eyes. However, there's also the challenge of playing a gender you're not, as well as getting an idea of how things are on the other side of the fence. As someone who's done writing as a hobby in the past, I also find it helpful in improving how I write female characters, though it's not always a perfect tool for that. It can be a bit tricky when it comes to ERP however. I've done it in the past, though I haven't been involved with it in the past few years at least (and not certain if I'd get back into it again). It's a tricky matter trying to figure out if you're acting and reacting as the opposite gender would in intimate situations, or as you fantasizing how they would do so instead. And of course, there's the risk of things getting messy if you let on to your RL gender in a haphazard or ill-thought-out manner. Having read through this thread, I must say that this has been the most mature discussion of the topic I've seen in a long time. Too many other places, when the topic of playing the opposite gender comes up, it usually and quickly devolves into people passing judgement on others for the way they enjoy RPGs that seems icky and perverted in their eyes. I'm glad that this is getting a much more level-headed discussion here in this community!

Took this shot of my character towards the end of the Beach Party event on Mateus this evening! I liked how it came out. (edit: finally got a link to work!)

Regarding Discord vs the forums here, I think part of it is that Discord also has mobile clients available that can make it easier to keep tabs on while you're away from the PC or PS4, or if you're a PS4 player, you can have it going on a smartphone or tablet while you're playing on the console. It's a bit more convenient that way. It is possible to read the forums on a smartphone, but you'd have to flip the screen to landscape and zoom in a bit to make it readable. However, I see the two as filling two different needs, as others have pointed out. The forums here are great for lore dumps and much more detailed discussions. The Mateus Discord, on the other hand, is a much more free-wheeling on-the-fly chat that can bounce from topic to topic. On the other hand, I do see more Mateus event postings there than I do here, and that's a bit unfortunate.

Thanks for the welcomes! It's been interesting so far retreading familiar territory (rather than migrating an existing character, I started from scratch, and just got to where Daphne crosses paths with Haurchefant in the MSQ), but being on a much more lively server makes it even more fun!

After lurking for a while, it's time I've introduced myself and my character The Player: While I'm still relatively new to Mateus server (Daphne has only reached level 36 earlier in the week), I've been playing FF XIV since November 2013, mainly on Sargatanas. Before coming over to FF XIV, I've played several MMOs over the years, including EQ/EQ2, FF XI, WoW, CoH/CoV, and Guild Wars/Guild Wars II. However, I haven't done much in terms of roleplay since my WoW days, aside from some time on a MUSH or two. I've also played some tabletop RPGs as well. I started on Mateus not that long ago after learning that it became the spillover RP server after Balmung got locked down, and I was curious as to what RP was like in this game. I've come to love how lively the server was and I've been spending most of my time there now. The Character: Daphne Tamaris, a member of the Xaela tribe, had felt drawn westward from The Steppes since she was young, but she did not undertake her eventual journey to Eorzea until the past year. After much time and many miles of wandering, she found herself managing to sneak into Gridania like some Ala Mighans had as they fled the Garleans. Having developed a talent for the bow over the years growing up, she worked her way into Gridanian society as a member of the archery guild. This was despite her distinctness as an outsider, being dark in both skin-tone and scales, and wearing her pink hair in a ornate hairstyle that stood out, in a society known for its struggles with xenophobia. As she rose in stature and began travelling the three nations, she found herself interested in Ul'dah in particular, seeing that it was a hotbed of activity. Seeking to understand the peoples she finds herself defending from time to time, she spends some of her downtime at the Quicksand, quietly engaging in people-watching, though she may come across as aloof since she has not interacted much with the people around her yet.