Hydaelyn Role-Players

Gooood morning!


Googling 'FFXIV roleplayers' has landed me here, so.... introducing myself! 


I've been an RPer since the 2E days of Dungeons and Dragons, including forum play by post and old IRC chatrooms and text-only MUDs (yes, I'm old).  My first MMO roleplay experience was in The Secret World , where I have mained an Illuminati character for four years and am co-lead of the oldest still-active heavy RP guild in the game.

TSW's been slow lately, and my character arc is, after four years, all but wrapped up, so I've been exploring other MMOs looking for something fun.  FF has gotten my attention, and I like the game play enough to have subbed for a while and moved over to Balmung where some friends play.  But, I'm still trying to get my feet wet RP-wise, which is a little difficult because, honestly, I don't know what I want to play!

Right now I'm tossing back and forth ideas between:


1)  A traditionally-raised Miqo'te male who's generally both good-natured and short-sighted, a bit of a womanizer who enjoys the mild fame and free drinks adventuring brings.  He left to roam the world as a rebellion against said upbringing, but has started to appreciate some of the 'old wisdom' as he's learned other points of view.


2)  A male Au Ra arcanist and naturalist who is newer than new in Eorzea, just barely speaks the language, and is still learning how to operate in a new culture.  He's an exile/outcast from his clan, for reasons unknown, but his short-shorn hair is a visible mark of whatever dishonor or punishment he's undergone.  Quiet by either lack of desire -- or lack of ability -- to speak freely, he observes and learns the world around him, while awkwardly trying to fit in around people who are often half his size and from races he's never seen before.


3)  A Roegadyn female from a formerly somewhat-well-known lineage, who firmly believes that said lineage makes her Better Than You.  Her family were sailors and pirates, like most, but of a hardnosed and ruthless stripe, until her grandfather's generation either gave it up, or lost it.  As a result, she feels both the weight of expectation of her history, and the weight of the reputation's loss.  She favors the bow as a tactical weapon and a mobile one, and tends towards a general's tactician mindset.  Argue about its effectiveness against an axe,and she'll be more than happy to show you how easily a properly made bow, with proper Roe strength behind it, can fire an arrow into platemail.


I won't mention the fourth just yet

...but, I don't want to play three characters.  Maybe two.  Maybe just one.  So, still trying to decide where I want to go.


Needless to say, I'm a heavy-RP type, and I like stories that have depth and gravity to them.  My TSW guild specializes in darker, grittier stories -- but that's the atmosphere over there.  I know FF won't be as dark in most aspects, so I'm not expecting that same level of somberness and hard choices, but I do prefer to have more than Bar-RP when possible.

I'm also an English major and an aspiring author, so I'll admit I'm kind of an RP snob when it comes to grammar and such.  >.>

My next month or two will be slow in FF regardless, due to wrapping up an MBA program in March/April, but after that I expect to have actual free time again, and hopefully have a better grasp of both the game, and whichever character I decide to main, and can jump into things more fully at that point.

First of all let me start by wishing you welcome to FFXIV, Balmung, and RPC from a fellow TSW player.

This is indeed a very good place to start as a roleplayer in FFXIV, although there are many roleplaying groups that don't make an appearance on this forum. And Balmung is, as I presume you have already figured out, THE server for RP.

A few thoughts on your character concepts:

For a male miqo'te roaming the world is practically the norm. This is especially true for Keepers of the Moon, but I think it is quite common for non-Nunh males of Seeker of the Sun tribes as well.
So doing it wouldn't be much of a rebellion

The trouble with playing a quiet character who don't speak much and mostly observes is that it will be hard to get much RP or make IC contacts. Not impossible, but certainly much harder than it would be for an outgoing character who is ready to speak with any stranger.
Not much Au Ra lore is known currently, but I suspect we will learn a lot more once the upcoming Stormblood expansion is released - since part of it will take place in their homelands.

The one you should play as your main though is: The one you want to play.
Unhelpful I know, but really - only you know for certain what you like or don't like.



Much like in TSW each character can (potentially) learn and do everything so from a gaming point of view one character is quite sufficient. From an RP perspective more than one can always be nice, although it is hard properly developing more than one or two characters at a time.

I do recommend creating one character in each of the three starting cities and going through the early quests in each of them though - there are some quests and information you will only ever see if you start in that city. That can be done in a couple of days though.



If you want dark have no worries, things can get very dark and gritty in Eorzea as well.
FFXIV does not highlight or spell it out to the same degree as TSW does but if you pay attention it is very much there. I do not know how far you have got in the game yet so I will not give examples for fear of spoilering things, but trust me when I say that if you want dark you can get it.

The good thing about a large RP community like the one on Balmung is there is probably a group specializing in whatever type of RP you may be looking for. Only trouble is finding the right one....
Many can of course be found by looking through the Free Companies and LInkshells sections on this site, but others also exist.

Hey there, and welcome aboard to the RPC and to Balmung! 

Personally, I'm of the mind to focus rather narrowly on developing and writing a single character at a time. More-so in FFXIV than in other games, investing solely into the progression of a single character tends to be rewarded (especially with things such as being able to class-change at-will, cross-class skills, and not having to repeat the MS questline over again to unlock all the game's features).

When you've got a good handle on where you want to go though and plan to start throwing more time at the game and hunting down RP? I'd recommend tossing up a Making Connections post here on the RPC too. Beyond that, you can hit the Quicksand Adventurer's Guild in Ul'dah for PUG RP, and there are a ton of little hole-in-the-wall places you can go to in the housing districts as well.

The community is utterly massive, so there's a whole lot out there to explore and see!

Omg omg! Spell! Welcome to Final Fantasy!

You're going to love it no matter what character you ultimately decide upon, the story quests are amazing. I'm on Balmung as most, it's sort of the main RP server but unless you get really really lucky you will likely have to pay for a transfer to get over here.

Like everyone says the community is big enough to do pretty much any kind of story you want. Good luck!

I am still here!  

I have been quiet because I have been wrestling which with character I wanted to play, but I have finally decided on my Au Ra, with some modifications.  Later this week, I hope to add him to the Wiki and perhaps a week or so after that, make some connections.

I'm in the last 2-3 weeks of my MBA and slammed with finals, so my gaming time is down to zero short of a miracle.  However, I shall poke in with more once I have room to breathe :3


Hope to see everyone soon.

Hey, welcome to Balmung! I always wanted to give TSW more than a fifteen minute try, but the character customisation felt limited at release when I first played so I found myself drifting off. If you're interested in similar dark, gritty themes and possibly in search of a Free Company, I'd suggest giving The Blackguard a look and seeing if it's your cup of tea. I'm also available for any leveling or general game mechanics you might have while you're getting cozied in to FFXIV. Good luck leveling!

Edit: My phone posting is embarrassing.

Hello and welcome!

Kudos for deciding on your char and good luck with your MBA!

And once you get settled in with free time, you can try checking out the Community board for your making connections, character developing, lore investing, and Rp know-how ways.

May the path you choose be filled with the light of the crystal!

Welcome young one, yes you are not that old in this game you will find

I would say all the characters are great concepts and i love that they have character rather than a class. For rarity the Roe lass is probably the winner, with miqo'te being quite common among players.

What you could do is start each one and see which one grabs you. Play each to level 10 and you will start to get a feel for the game and setting. I think this will better shape things. The game has a lot of lore and that is revealed as you play.

Also don't think ffxiv is a fluffy rainbow game, it is quite dark at times just not in your face. What it isn't is gritty, that has to come from your RP. While there is a lot of epic hero saviour of the world stuff in the main story most RPers play more down to earth characters.

Hope you enjoy it, the game grew on me from originally disliking it, but the community more than makes up for the downsides.

Feel free to prod me in game if you need any help or RP, or to discuss the city states Vs Mintzberg's model. Though I come with a health warning on spelking and grammar.

Quote:A Roegadyn female from a formerly somewhat-well-known lineage, who firmly believes that said lineage makes her Better Than You.  Her family were sailors and pirates, like most, but of a hardnosed and ruthless stripe, until her grandfather's generation either gave it up, or lost it.  As a result, she feels both the weight of expectation of her history, and the weight of the reputation's loss.  She favors the bow as a tactical weapon and a mobile one, and tends towards a general's tactician mindset.  Argue about its effectiveness against an axe,and she'll be more than happy to show you how easily a properly made bow, with proper Roe strength behind it, can fire an arrow into platemail.

I really liked this small snippet about your Roegadyn Character, more then just being a Roegadyn. I like the fact she feel's she's better then 'me' I think thats a trait that's often missing in people's characters and its always a nice one to run across because it offers some head butting opportunities. The one aspect that redeems her is the lofty attitude she has but the fact she struggles with her expectations. As well as the loss of reputation which makes it kind of fun when your character has a air of importance to them.  I dig the conflict there.

Though I have no Idea how you Juggle so many Characters! I can only balance one. Whewy! Also as someone has said, There are plenty of Oldie's here.. I think you'll find the younger crowd balanced by the older as well as vise versa.

(03-16-2017, 07:36 PM)Ryslo Suramlo Wrote: [ -> ]I really liked this small snippet about your Roegadyn Character, more then just being a Roegadyn. I like the fact she feel's she's better then 'me' I think thats a trait that's often missing in people's characters and its always a nice one to run across because it offers some head butting opportunities. The one aspect that redeems her is the lofty attitude she has but the fact she struggles with her expectations. As well as the loss of reputation which makes it kind of fun when your character has a air of importance to them.  I dig the conflict there.

I ended up going for my Au Ra, who is a (alas?) much nicer individual.  I've added him to the Wiki:  Kurugane Nagae.

I did play all three of them originally to see which one "grabbed me", but Kurugane was the one who won out.  I'm levelling him up into Scholar going through the MSQ OOC, so I can get him at least some nice clothing and such before RPing.  

(That, and questing is somewhat mindless, so I can do that as recovering from schoolwork.)


I'm also inventing some Au Ra lore for my headcannon, including some cultural things and linguistic flavoring.  I'm not sure whether I should bother posting any of it, since I don't know how many people invent their own lore, but I'm keeping it as close to what I *do* know as possible, and handwaving most of it as, "Not all Au Ra, but definitely his particular clan/region".  Thoughts there also welcome!