(01-28-2015, 03:46 PM)Iex Wrote:(01-28-2015, 03:26 PM)Berrod Armstrong Wrote: One may need to appeal to others to nourish that sort of initiative, and it seems that the poster in question is determined to do anything but.
ANYWAY. HIGHLANDERS. I'M CURIOUS. How do you roleplay your characters? Well-integrated into their respective pieces of Eorzea? Clinging to the ol' warrior tribe in the mountain ways? As pretty princesses? TELL ALL!
I am a firm believer that it is not the culture that defines the character. While aspects of a race should certainly brush some tone over their perspective of life and choices, it should not be the tool that chips away their monument of their life.
Unless, their life was in a highly regulated cultural thing.... then I guess uh?
However, I am also a firm believer that it is the life the character lives that will define how they are. A certain seeker we all know that likes his towers certainly isn't falling into tradition. If a character has lived a life where tradition and culture more... common to his race has less weight, he shouldn't actually end up being SUPER TRADITIONAL MAN. If he is, it should be a choice he makes based on his life rather than an archetype placed on the character.
In the case of my highlander... he may be from a certain lost nation that was destroyed by a certain mad leader, but he holds very little on to traditions and nationalism. This is HIS Eorzea not the land of men who now lay six feet underground.
Culture does not equate to species or race. Culture is usually more locative, though not necessarily (ex - some indigenous cultures in eastern russia and western alaska share more similarities than differences). All the same, the larger the disparity in place/local ecology/method of survival (nomadic cultures vs farming cultures etc) chances are the bigger the gap in cultures.
Culture is also the baseline of what everyone knows in terms of how they act around others and what they grew up believing. It defines certain behaviors. While, yes, as you get older you can choose to overrule some of these things, a lot of them stick with you. Were you taught that you should have a firm handshake? Look other people in the eyes when you talk to them? Greet people when you enter a room? Wish people well on an endeavor? Be comforting when someone you know is grieving? Those are all cultural, and there are a ton more. This is why diplomats are so important -- it can be terrifyingly easy to offend someone from a different culture without realizing it. Many cultures share similarities, true, and those similarities increase as globalization occurs, but just look back to first attempts at diplomacy between cultures to see how this wasn't the case (Lord Macartney's trip to China being a big one).
which is why I was like 'screw u square' and tossed just about everything written about keeper culture.
