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+--- Thread: Cats. And things that look like them. (/showthread.php?tid=7880)
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - FreelanceWizard - 08-06-2014
(08-06-2014, 11:56 AM)Zhavi Wrote: Oh yeah, I def use it for emotions when she's strongly feeling something -- but more than that. You know, like using it to point, or tap someone, or using it like people use their hands when they're really engrossed in a topic of discussion. Using it to carry something light when the character's hands are full, that sort of thing. Typically for me, unless it's an emotional thing, it just hangs there dead, unmentioned, unless she's trying to hide the kink in it.
Huh, I never thought about using it that way.
I guess it never occurred to me that the miqo'te tail might be prehensile and not just something that serves for social signaling and balance -- though I have had L'yhta poke people with it to get their attention or tap it on a chair or table to enumerate points. I wonder if there's any other examples of miqo'te tail behavior in the game's storylines?
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Zhavi - 08-06-2014
(08-06-2014, 12:43 PM)FreelanceWizard Wrote:(08-06-2014, 11:56 AM)Zhavi Wrote: Oh yeah, I def use it for emotions when she's strongly feeling something -- but more than that. You know, like using it to point, or tap someone, or using it like people use their hands when they're really engrossed in a topic of discussion. Using it to carry something light when the character's hands are full, that sort of thing. Typically for me, unless it's an emotional thing, it just hangs there dead, unmentioned, unless she's trying to hide the kink in it.
Huh, I never thought about using it that way.
I wonder if there's any other examples of miqo'te tail behavior in the game's storylines?
Not necessarily prehensile, but just under direct conscious control. As long as it can be curved upwards, it can carry something (as evidenced by the numerous times I used to hang light toys off my parents' dog's tail *coughcough* ) . If you can move it, you can use it to gesture, or point, or tap things; I don't personally think it would be prehensile, but as long as it's under conscious control why not utilize it?
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - McBeefâ„¢ - 08-06-2014
I don't RP my character physically much like a cat. Her physical abilities aren't much different from a hyur, and I never emote the ears and tail.
I do give her a personality like a cat though. We can all imagine how much fun it would be if a cat had the body of a person.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_mVb-G1v1I
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Naunet - 08-06-2014
(08-06-2014, 05:32 AM)Theodric Ironheart Wrote: My grim and serious Sunseeker is pretty lonely and only really interested in interacting with members of his own kind who aren't just a walking parody/stereotype.
*shifty eyes*
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Oscare - 08-06-2014
I like to think of miqo'tes as just "cat-like people". They have cat ears and tails, but they're just normal people. They might have honed senses like smell and sight, but otherwise... they're not cats. Their reflexes would be like those of normal people (except, of course, if your character trained to have cat-like reflexes).Â
That's how I imagine them, anyway.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Dogberry - 08-06-2014
Look, I'm just saying. The appeal of Mi'qote is that they're sexy athletic looking cat people, right? But, you know, other races let you play sexy athletic looking people. So if you're super into Mi'qote, odds are it's not the sexy athletic thing that does it for you.
(Please note that the views and opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of Dogberry, Inc.)
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - McBeefâ„¢ - 08-06-2014
(08-06-2014, 01:13 PM)Dogberry Wrote: Look, I'm just saying. The appeal of Mi'qote is that they're sexy athletic looking cat people, right? But, you know, other races let you play sexy athletic looking people. So if you're super into Mi'qote, odds are it's not the sexy athletic thing that does it for you.
(Please note that the views and opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of Dogberry, Inc.)
It makes perfect sense.
![[Image: jla9CPd.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/jla9CPd.jpg)
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - FreelanceWizard - 08-06-2014
(08-06-2014, 01:13 PM)Dogberry Wrote: Look, I'm just saying. The appeal of Mi'qote is that they're sexy athletic looking cat people, right?
Well, I mean, it could be the lore around the race, and how that shapes characters through their backgrounds.
I've always found elezen interesting for that reason, too (more so after finishing the MSQ, especially the latest stuff in 2.3).
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Aerghwab - 08-06-2014
(08-05-2014, 05:03 PM)LiadansWhisper Wrote:Yes, it does make sense. But I wrote that in response to the notion of Miqo'te having "better sight and hearing than the other races." The wording used in official materials for both elezen subraces makes me think Miqo'te eyesight (as a general thing, at least) wouldn't be as good as most Wildwoods and likewise for their hearing compared to Duskwights.(08-05-2014, 04:45 PM)Aerghwab Wrote: Even elezen? The Wildwood blurb on the website makes a point of saying they have an incredibly keen sense of sight, which factors greatly into their unparalleled expertise as archers. Likewise for Duskwights and their hearing: "They have developed an acute sense of hearing, capable of detecting the faintest of sounds."
Well, for whatever reason, the thing ate my first response. Â But, I think Wildwood having sharper eyesight while Duskwight have sharper hearing makes sense, given their divergent lifestyles.
Zyrusticae Wrote:And just for completeness' sake, I should note here that real cats have both. Like any animal with complex eyes, their pupils will dilate based on the amount of light hitting their cornea at any one point in time, hence they will tend towards slitted (closed) pupils during the day and round (open) pupils during the night. If Squeenix wanted to be accurate, both Keepers and Seekers would have this feature, but programming functional eye muscles is probably more work than they're willing to put in for a single race.
I'm going to venture a guess that how cats' eyes work is common knowledge to everyone here.
But, as has been pointed out ad nauseum, Miqo'te are not "real cats," and their eyes don't adjust themselves in that manner. It's not a programming limitation, it's simply the way the two subraces have evolved according to lore. I've even seen some Keeper roleplayers account for their light sensitivity in their RP - wearing tinted glasses during the day, for example.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Mercurias - 08-06-2014
(08-06-2014, 11:56 AM)Zhavi Wrote:(08-06-2014, 11:51 AM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: I try to work the tail into my RP as much as I can, because I think it's a great RP tool. It often accentuates something L'yhta's saying or betrays her feelings when she's trying (and largely failing) to be deceptive. This thread has some tail motions that could be used in RP.
Oh yeah, I def use it for emotions when she's strongly feeling something -- but more than that. Â You know, like using it to point, or tap someone, or using it like people use their hands when they're really engrossed in a topic of discussion. Â Using it to carry something light when the character's hands are full, that sort of thing. Â Typically for me, unless it's an emotional thing, it just hangs there dead, unmentioned, unless she's trying to hide the kink in it.
Though I still don't use it often enough for emotions, really.
Sato is fairly expressive with his tail. He doesn't use it to point with, but he will occasionally do things like brush it against someone when he's being affectionate, largely because I think that would be something a Miqo'te would still do. Not every motion a cat would do sits well with me, but the playful aspect of that, plus it being away of showing ownership, would seem about right.
The ears are a lot of fun, too, and people seem to respond well to that sort of expression. Ears swiveling, perking up, flattening back irritatedly, drooping when sad, and twitching a bit when thoughtful all sort of make for fun, vibrant body language.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Kailia - 08-06-2014
Way I see it, if I wanted to play a human-like char, I'd just play a Hyur. Instead, I wanted a species that better fit the remake of my old World of Warcraft character who was a druid that spent a lot of her time as a cat.
So Miqo'te I approach as being feline with human qualities, rather than the other way around. To me, it makes the race a lot more interesting and plays off of their feline characteristics than just being an every day human wandering around a city.
And what I've observed in videos from 1.x, and what I've seen in game, miqo'te do fit their own stereotypes, such as amazing jumpers, graceful like a cat in their movements, and can seem to always land on their feet.
Now Miqo'te eyes, we see the keepers with large rounded retinas. Suggesting they see quite well in the dark. But I imagine as keepers, they really have to squint in the daylight, or wear shades to protect their eyes when out in the open sun.
Seekers though have traditional cat eyes, narrow slits, which give them an advantage during the day, and helps their vision during the daylight time, but night time they'd probably have a hard time seeing. In fact I'd go so far as to say they probably see worse at night that a Hyur. Opposite end of the spectrum for keepers. Outstanding night vision, horrible during the day.
And lore does say they have good sense of smell and their hearing is more than likely up there with Elezen, only with the ability to point their ears in the direction of the sound, can be a lot more focused than Elezen or Lalafell.
Taste though is probably no different than a human, and reproduction is the same as humans as well. But the Miqo'te biology for some reason, produces far more females than males.
The fact we also see their tails move with their emotes, especially when expressing feelings, suggests they are very cat-like in that regard as well
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Zhavi - 08-06-2014
(08-06-2014, 02:17 PM)Mercurias Wrote: Sato is fairly expressive with his tail. He doesn't use it to point with, but he will occasionally do things like brush it against someone when he's being affectionate, largely because I think that would be something a Miqo'te would still do. Not every motion a cat would do sits well with me, but the playful aspect of that, plus it being away of showing ownership, would seem about right.
The ears are a lot of fun, too, and people seem to respond well to that sort of expression. Ears swiveling, perking up, flattening back irritatedly, drooping when sad, and twitching a bit when thoughtful all sort of make for fun, vibrant body language.
Yup! Though cats provide helpful examples of things to do when determining miqo'te behavior, I agree with you and Oscare -- they still aren't cats. Miqo'te aren't going to mirror all the things cats do. It's why I tend to try to think of the ears and tail not as exclusively catlike in how they would be used. Zhavi isn't a cat. She's not going to use her tail and ears exactly as a cat does.
Iunno, at the end of the day my choice to play miqo'te was purely ooc and not in relation to what I wanted to rp. I could have used any of the species for that, really, as the core would have stayed the same. I think the ears and tail are cute, particularly because I can't own a cat (second choice was a roe, because they are fabulous). I love cats. SO is allergic -- so I cannot become a crazy cat lady (at least not until we're old; if he dies first, all bets are off). So, during rp, I tend to rp the character more as a human than anything else. Then it becomes a game of how a person would use ears and tail, and how closely it would follow animal behavior. It's really loosey goosey, because I don't know much past the google and pet owner understanding of animal behavior. But it is fun to try to work into rp, and it is fun to think about. And it is interesting to see how often I forget Zhi has cat ears and tail, even when I'm rping in game and they're right in front of me.
(am I rationalizing my choice? Yes, yes I am. I got irl ribbing for it, too. ;_; )
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Zyrusticae - 08-06-2014
Since we're on the subject, quite literally the ONLY reason I went with Miqo'te for T'rahnu was because it was the only race with something close to what I had in mind for her height and facial features. If another race had a face like the one she has now I would have gone with that. (And if Lalafell were less rotund...)
Anyway, I will admit I have a bad habit of ignoring the cat ears and tail when it comes to expressing emotions. Doubly unfortunate considering the emotes in-game make it far too clear that the tail is highly involved with any gesticulation of any kind, so not using it is really a disservice to the race as a whole.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Enteris - 08-06-2014
As far as I see it, we have two things to truly pull from to be able to stick to lore. The information in writing given to us by Square, and the avatars in the game themselves.
Regarding the information from Square, it is said straight out that: "Adaptation to a hunting lifestyle has fashioned them with a keen sense of smell, powerful legs, and a tail which provides them with exceptional balance." This is a direct quote from the character creation screen and has already been mentioned in this thread. It mentions the eyes of Seekers having vertically aligned pupils, while Keepers have longer ears, rounder eyes, more pronounced canines, and longer, skinnier tails.
That is all that is stated, to my knowledge, by Square regarding the biology/physiology of miqo'te.
So, looking at the in game avatars, the words are more-or-less well represented. Granted, with the help of sliders, ear length, tail length and bushiness, etc. can be changed, but overall everything else is as stated by Square. Seekers have the vertically aligned eyes, Keepers have rounded eyes. I haven't personally looked close enough to check the canine issue, but that's not really a talking point in this thread at the moment. Beyond that, the miqo'te look very human/hyur-like. The have all the same features a hyur has, save for their ears and tails.
Going a bit deeper and using the emotes, it seems that the tail and ears merely lend themselves to further solidify the emotion of the miqo'te. as has already been stated in this thread. That being said, nothing that I see would serve as evidence for the tail being able to be used for much more than wagging. Carrying a small amount of weight while still being "upright", maybe. Pointing at people and things, or even being prehensile enough to actually grab and hold onto things... or carry their own weight while hanging from a branch (like cartoon monkeys...) not so much....
So, using the evidence given to us, to be able to stick to the known lore... one would play their miqo'te as being fairly human/hyur-like, with ears and a tail capable of mirroring their emotions, having good sense of balance with powerful legs, and with a powerful sense of smell. Anything else would simply be conjecture on the player's part.
That being said, the night vision/day vision points in this thread would be a fairly logical conjecture. Being a little more sensitive to certain smells (good or bad) would be a fairly logical conjecture. Reacting to "cat nip" in a way that would differ from a hyur... eh... probably not. Any other physical differences (like what was oddly enough brought up in this thread)... also probably not.
RE: Cats. And things that look like them. - Coatleque - 08-06-2014
Alright, time for the more important questions.
1.) Do they claw the furniture?
2.) Do they like getting their chins scratched?
3.) Do they raise their ass in the air if you touch the base of their tail?
4.) Do they bury their poo in sand?
5.) Do they run when you spray water at them?
6.) When they leave the Quicksand do they often turn around and come right back in?
7.) Do they sleep on things you're trying to read?
8.) When given an expensive toy you bought, do they instead prefer to play with a dead leaf that just blew inside?