Melkire

I'd like to sign up for Antlings with Haruko. If someone new wants in (fresh blood, w00t!) I'll happily step aside for 'em.

fills out survey Excellent idea, OP, thank you.

As has already been mentioned, there's a common theme throughout fiction that gets brought forward into the limelight in certain genres (heist, noir in general, etc.): Smart criminals don't advertise. Most of the time, you only catch the dumb ones. Substitute "villains" for "criminals" and you have the fundamental problem with "bad guy RP," which is that the overt ones don't last long and the covert ones don't get noticed. This is further compounded by hero types outnumbering villain types, which only incentivizes more caution and discretion on the villain's part. This is even FURTHER compounded by competing interests in conflict resolution, and that gets more complicated in an open setting compared to a private one. Sadly, villains in FFXIV RP work best as one-shots or as central figures in a private storyline with a DM a la pen-and-paper gaming. That's not to say that a villain in an open setting doesn't work. It just takes a lot more effort (planning, communication, inevitable drama, and so on). A lot of that is owed to the gravity placed upon criminal or morally reprehensible activities in XIV's RP scene. There's an appreciation for the significance and "weightiness" of murder, for instance, that parallels and is most likely drawn from attitudes on display in FFXIV's Main Story Quests.

Steel Cyclone now has sustain akin to Inner Beast and Storm's Path.... Ha. Aha. Ahahahahahahaha. Yes. Good. I shall be taking out the trash. All of the trash. All of the time. (I still miss Bloodbath-Vengeance, damn whichever developers took that away from me) The other WAR changes seem really nice. Letting them stance-dance without cost was kind of a no-brainer, as that's how the kit was designed in 3.0. Make {Shake It Off} actually useful, UNCOUPLE THE SHARED CD BETWEEN UNCHAINED AND INNER RELEASE FFS, and that'll be it as far as much-needed QoL fixes for WAR.

Be prepared for more of this, and not just on Chaos datacenter. From what I've been told and the little research I've seen, the servers -- read: the physical machines -- for each world A) have not been upgraded yet, and B) are identical. That would mean that a congested world like Balmung and a relatively empty world like Zalera are running on identical pieces of hardware. IF IT'S TRUE...! This would explain why there's been a lack of further investment in the infrastructure: the capacity is there but it's not being utilized. So you'll see what's happened with Omega happen elsewhere: incentives will prompt communities to agree on a particular world to populate, and once it's been populated Square-Enix will shut the gates on that world and continue offering incentives to transfer elsewhere. This will probably continue until the existing capacity has been filled... or, at least, the distribution of players grows to be more level than it is now.

To address this, even though I've not finished 4.0 MSQ either: Doma and Hingashi are two different nations altogether. The port city of Kugane belongs to the latter. Ergo it stands to reason that no, they'd not have that jurisdiction... although extradition wouldn't be off the table. Again, not finished with the story but unless there are some major fundamental changes in the latter half of 4.0 MSQ, I'd not expect Sekiseigumi to venture out of Hingashi in an official capacity. Not often, anyway. It'd be like a Brass Blade trying to exert their authority in, say, Limsa or Gridania. You might see them, though, in a similar capacity to the Brass Blades in Kugane: as guards, bodyguards, escorts, etc., for official representatives.

While I do applaud your post, there's some bias here that I want to point out. Your last bolded sentence should have gone as follows: Mateus is not a threat to Balmung, and Balmung is not a threat to Mateus. It's the feedback loop that's so dangerous and toxic to cooperative efforts and peaceful coexistence. Defensive Mateus natives and quick-to-take-offense Balmung natives (I freely admit to occasionally landing in the latter category) feed into each other if they're not careful to step back when discussion stops being civil.

There's this age-old adage about those who don't learn from history. I forget how it goes.

I haven't been involved in any way, shape, or form so take this with a grain of salt, but from what I've heard it came down to a matter of "advertising in the right place at the right time". Which is not to say that other servers aren't advertising: I've seen ads from both Jenova and Faerie elsewhere (and I know they've threads here on RPC), and they seem to be doing well for themselves. That said, folks from Mateus were quick to take advantage (as they should!) of Balmung's closure. Now, mind you, the RP communities of FFXIV are not the only ones grappling with server closure. Gilgamesh is shuttered as well, and they are more or less the PvE hotspot. The difference with them is that you won't find much success in the way of an organized effort from PvE fans to situate large clusters of themselves on the same server. Word of mouth is how they learn where to go and where NOT to go, and I suspect we'll be seeing the same thing happen with roleplayers. It's saddening to hear of toxicity and tension -- much of it very similar to the early growing pains of the RPC itself with the whole Balmung-Gilgamesh debacle -- but in the end it'll play out such that people will end up where they want to be, with the exception of the now-closed servers. As for other servers... everyone I've ever met from Goblin or Sargatanas via Duty Finder has been a complete sweetheart. But yes, Jenova, Faerie, and Siren are other alternatives to Balmung.

Same. Extension of that: private security. Not all guards are for royal personages. I'll also second the notable lack of "merchant" or any such generic umbrella terms, probably owing to too much of a focus of the poll on in-game classes.

As far as the EN is concerned, the patch names are taken directly from quotations from Edmont a.k.a. the count of Fortemps. Each patch ends with such a quotation, iirc.

Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! A "Merchant, Marine" Synopsis Osric -Guilty of Already Being Guilty -Guilty of Circumstances Beyond His Control -Guilty of Eating Ledgers Tengri -Guilty of Slow-Motion L'Oreal Hair-Flip -Guilty of Breaking Travel Rules Concerning Communication -Guilty of Fruitless Efforts of the First Degree Leanne -Guilty of Sedition -Guilty of Justifying Said Sedition -Guilty of Guilting Others for Not Approving of Said Sedition S'imba -Guilty of Taking A Bath -Guilty of Operating on Impulse -Guilty Because Hydaelyn Said So Yheli -Guilty of W.M.D. Development -Guilty of Fruitless Efforts of the Second Degree -Guilty of Ignorance Concerning Naval Procedures and Protocols Gallien -Guilty of Abetting Sedition -Guilty of Grand Theft Crystal -Guilty of Making the Crew of the Immersabilis Feel Inadequate Liadan -Guilty of Caring Too Much -Guilty of Racial Tolerance -Guilty of Respecting Haelstyrmm Tiergan -Guilty of Caring Too Much -Guilty of Chivalrous Tendency to Protect Damsels In Distress -Guilty of Breaking Familial Prohibition on Sweets Lurial -Guilty of Showing Interest But Not Following Through -Guilty of Extended Absence from The Storyline -Guilty of Rightfully Suspecting Gallien Vyese Orrin -Guilty of Minimal Involvement -Guilty of Posing as a Sadist -Guilty of Attempting to Sneak a Vacation at Costa Del Sol Aya -Guilty of Believing The Best of Everyone -Guilty of Violently Pole Dancing By Way of Garlean "Volunteers" -Guilty of Missing Too Many Shifts at the Quicksand Virara -Guilty of Being Everyone's Friend -Guilty of Assaulting Potion Sellers -Probably Guilty of a Flying Drop Kick Zanzan -Guilty of Making A Lot of Sisters Cry -Guilty of Actually Attending A Training Course -Guilty of Catamaran Shenanigans Qara -Guilty of Crimes Against Paint -Guilty of Loving a Vegetable -Guilty of Catamaran Shenanigans Chahka -Guilty of Tsundere Tendencies -Guilty of Vegetable Hatred -Guilty of Murderous Murderlizard Murder Aigiarn -Guilty of Fantasy Prone Personality -Guilty of Enabling Ding-Dong-Ditch on Gloam's Doorstep -Guilty of Extensive Knowledge of Borealis-Class Stealth Assault Bombers Hihisa -Guilty of Panicking -Guilty of Playing with Daddy's Toys -Guilty of Getting Daddy in Trouble with Daddy's Friends Anstarra -Guilty of Showing Up Late to the Storyline -Guilty of Flirtatious Displays Unbecoming An Officer -Guilty of Murderous Murdercatte Murder Ojene -Guilty of Showing Up Late to the Storyline -Guilty of Being Wright to Holsk's Edgeworth -Guilty of Believing Everyone Else to Be Several Cards Short of a Full Deck Khunbish -Guilty of Showing Up Late to the Storyline -Guilty of Not Being Guilty of Anything Else -Not Guilty (Excepting the Aforementioned Guilt) Edda -Guilty of Charity -Guilty of Association with Monetarists -Guilty of Character Development Eamon -Guilty of Nobility -Guilty of Mercantilism -Guilty of Profiteering -Guilty of Treason By Way of Collusion With The Garlean Empire -Guilty of Getting Away With It -Guilty of Being Sir-Not-Appearing-In-This-Storyline -Guilty of Being Too Handsome For His Age -Guilty of Being The Subject of Too Many Slash Fics -Guilty of Being Shipped with Commodore Haelstyrmm Eynarhmsson -Guilty of Being Most Guilty -Guilty of Being Guilty of Being Most Guilty

Kupo, mothermooglers!

Waves crashing against the shore. Gulls crying out from above. Sand crunching beneath feet. Thomys looked up from his bottle… from the stone upon which he sat… to look towards Costa Del Sol. His brother stood some two dozen fulms distant, hands in his pockets, waiting. “Late as -- hicc -- late as ever, Ossy! But at least you came, aye, kept your promise, say no -- hicc -- more, say no more!” He beckoned to Osric with a wave, and as his brother sighed with relief, Thomys could not help but feel that old enmity rise up his throat like bile. Always you. Always about you. To my everlasting regret. He turned back to his bottle and took a swig from it as Osric sat down on the sand next to him. He couldn’t remember how many bottles in he was, today. Did it matter? He supposed not. What was done? Was done. “Thank you,” said Osric without preamble. Thomys snorted. “For what? For not -- hicc -- shreddin’ your letter? For writin’ back? For actually listenin’ to what you had to say?” “...I was in the wrong, Thom. I’ve made my peace with that. How many more apologies will it take?” The youngest Melkire -- nah, see, I ain’t youngest anymore, now am I? -- barked a laugh. “Take your swivin’ apologies, Ossy. Don’t -- hicc -- don’t want ‘em. Same as I ain’t wantin’ a lecture.” Osric nodded, but eyed the bottle anyroad. “So where’d you…?” “Master Gegeruju likes his coin and hates your threats.” His brother chuckled and it reminded him of-- the click of a latch the clock of a lock the chuckle of the little man at the door as he shook his head and turned to set down his belongings safe and sound back in his own home --of days better left forgotten. “You want t’know somethin’?” The question caught his brother’s attention, so Thomys went on. “I had me one o’ them epi-what’s-its the other sun… about three bottles in….” The other midlander smirked as he looked to the ocean. “Epiphanies?” “That! Gods-be-damned eureka moment, was what it was!” two feet slamming into him as the Hyuran lad lands atop him the struggle the yelling the questions dagger too slow he’s too fast scrambling throw miss draw another dagger the book he’s got his “So there I am, aye? Thinkin’, alright, mayhap Ossy’s right ‘n’ I should turn from the drink. But… the ache, y’know? No family around… no friends… I needed somethin’. You were -- hicc - you were gone for weeks, left me waitin’... some trig cove I am, to think you were comin’ back….” a shining emerald wall sprang up between them i roar i slash my steel useless against that familiar sight sparks flying the hoarse screams of rage as the little man sees my face clearly in the light eyes widening recognition “You,” he says, “you’re--!” “...so I thought, why the hells not? And I went back t’drinkin’. Ain’t hard, pinchin’ a flask here ‘n’ there. Sold what I didn’t like, got me enough coin for ol’ Ul’dahn Ugly up there with his pretty women….” dropped haunches hands on the edge of the rug i pull and the carpet flies out from under the little man and the codex leaps out of that little hand lost slipped say sorry and as he falls the light of adloquium fades get after him before he can “...so I’m three bottles in, aye? And I get to thinkin’... you know, I been doin’ swell since I took up these side-jobs for my brother. Gettin’ a hold o’ rosters ‘n’ all… hicc ... might be I’ve a talent for somethin’ other than drinking and thieving, aye?” got him by the lapels red overcoat small man lift him off the floor and slam him against the wall and the little man cries out in pain boo hoo you swivin’ bag o’ shite here’s the dagger up against your everlasting THROAT and Osric shook his head but he nodded all the same, a wry grin on his face. “Go on.” “So I was all, well shite, I could be a real good hand at an honest-to-gods career, ‘cept I’ve got t’quit the drink somehow….” he sees the hungry look in the lad’s eyes and that’s good aye good for him let the bastard see me shaking from two week’s abstinence press the dagger in closer there we go my cullies look at it draw blood, “Wait,” he asks, “wait--” and i scream my defiance tears down my face i don’t care “We were talkin’ again,” he croaks, “finally talkin’ again” “...so I thought to m’self, hells, who does manage t’climb their way out of an addiction like mine? And I thought, that’s obvious Thom, the folk who’ve hit rock bottom! So I resolved....” ”and you TOOK HIM FROM ME! YOU!” weeping now openly weeping and the little man looks desperate but there’s a glint of oh twelve is that pity i don’t want your pity screw you sideways “He was comin’ back for me,” i’m sobbing now fuck me i need a drink and Sasatomo is pleadin’ with me but i say… i say... “Never again” as “...t’drink my way to rock bottom. As often and as fast and as -- hicc -- as hard as I can.” His brother’s eyebrows shot up at that. “You’re going t’drink your way out o’ drinking?” “Why not? I’ll grow sick of it soon enough, won’t I? Just like I’ve grown sick o’--” as i twist the point into his skin and punch up through the soft spot beneath his chin his jaw up and into his brains his body sags against the wall and i’m still crying and still screaming something is it never again no i think it’s “no black spots no black spots no black spots” and i slump to the floor with his corpse and i can’t help it rise fall rise fall goes my steel as i plunge my dagger into him again and again and again and “--Limsa.” Osric was frowning. “Are you alright, Thom?” “...aye.” He smiled over at his brother. “Lookin’ forward to gettin’ off this rock again. Tried it once. Wasn’t fun then… but that was before....” “...before what?” and i need a drink and i’m done i’m spent and silence and i’m on my knees and the lights flicker footsteps i hear footsteps i look up and there he is my benefactor in this venture this stupid rutting venture oh gods i need a drink he looks at me he looks at the corpse i ask him if it’ll all work out and he says he says “...before I knew that I had m’self a sister-in-law and two nieces!” He pushed himself up onto his feet, wobbling somewhat, and Osric followed suit. “So. Off t’Thanalan with us, aye? I get t’meet ‘em soon, aye?” His brother smiled, threw an arm around him, and nodded. “Aye. Forget all the rest. Family first.” Thomys frowned for a moment. “But… Haelstyrmm….” Osric sighed. “Was jus’ doin’ his job. Took me some time t’see it, but I ain’t goin’ after him for that. Nah. I’m done with vengeance.” he tells me all will be well all the holes will be difficult to explain but he’ll work something out no one will ever know he has his ways and his people have theirs and i’m relieved because it’s over i can move on i can go get a drink and as he offers me a hand up i take it and i throw him a smile it hurts but i smile and my accomplice this man this Tengri Geneq with his strange scales and horns and tail he bares his teeth as he smiles back at me. Thomys nodded. He gave the horizon over the Deep one last glance before he put one foot in front of the other and walked. He walked, together with his brother, back towards Costa and the ferry that awaited them… the ferry that would take them onward to the rest of their lives.