Hmm in regards to lala's mixing with other races. It could be because I am young, not really a child, but not an adult either. That it is kind of grey for me. I can see the struggle adults would have OOC and the mentality of not wanting to be courting a child. I have had people refuse to role play with me just for being a teenager even. So children makes it even worse. But I also feel that from a IC standpoint there is no problem. And for some really really heavy role players totally immersed in the lore, they can overlook these things. Although most people are not that heavy.
I do believe it is mostly and mentality thing though. The idea of seeing lalafell as children and coupling that with the wrong idea that you would be dating a lalafell only for the reason that they physically look like children is what I think causes most of the fear. But I believe most roleplayers look for things more than just physical attraction, as role players tend to be even slightly more into the details of things. And from a role players perspective I don't really see any problem with people doing the unconventional, and normally expect them to have a deeper reason for why they choose to do things.
Something I would suggest. To help you stray away from the mentality that all Lalafell are children, (Really while I can understand the basis, they seem far too exaggerated for me to consider them children) is to think of it in reference to other MMORPGs. When a person asks me "What is a lalafell?" I normally tell them it is this games version of a gnome or a hobbit. And that is often what I end up thinking of them as. I don't know anyone that has any problems with relationships with gnomes or hobbits. Heck Lalafell males even have the hilarious facial hair you might see on a gnome in WoW. It is simply because this is an asian game, asian developers tend to go for smoother more cuter visuals than its western counterparts. Which is just a cultural thing. To them they think nothing of it. It is just our culture that has such an overblown stigma. (I suppose you could consider Japan irresponsible if you really wanted to though)
Another thing is that most people who play FFXIV are people who most of the time are at least minorly interested in Japanese culture, or the culture that is brought forth and presented in the game (Also a part of Japanese culture) and the traits above are stuff generally things that if people were against, they would not normally be playing an asian game. So that coupled with the fact this is subscription based and not filled with random people, leads me to believe we all have somewhat common interests in respect to the game and can get along with the game presented guidelines.
So I can't change your all's minds if you are set on it. But I wouldn't have too much of a problem having my characters date lalafells. I am a bit biased because I am younger myself and it is less of an issue, I am fairly well versed in/and a follower of Japanese culture, and because I somewhat struggle to see them as children (Maybe because I am younger myself and the closer I have to come to comparing myself to their exaggerated ridiculousness/childishness, even if it was when I was younger, the more it makes my brain hurt.)
That is just my two cents. Take it with a grain of salt.
I do believe it is mostly and mentality thing though. The idea of seeing lalafell as children and coupling that with the wrong idea that you would be dating a lalafell only for the reason that they physically look like children is what I think causes most of the fear. But I believe most roleplayers look for things more than just physical attraction, as role players tend to be even slightly more into the details of things. And from a role players perspective I don't really see any problem with people doing the unconventional, and normally expect them to have a deeper reason for why they choose to do things.
Something I would suggest. To help you stray away from the mentality that all Lalafell are children, (Really while I can understand the basis, they seem far too exaggerated for me to consider them children) is to think of it in reference to other MMORPGs. When a person asks me "What is a lalafell?" I normally tell them it is this games version of a gnome or a hobbit. And that is often what I end up thinking of them as. I don't know anyone that has any problems with relationships with gnomes or hobbits. Heck Lalafell males even have the hilarious facial hair you might see on a gnome in WoW. It is simply because this is an asian game, asian developers tend to go for smoother more cuter visuals than its western counterparts. Which is just a cultural thing. To them they think nothing of it. It is just our culture that has such an overblown stigma. (I suppose you could consider Japan irresponsible if you really wanted to though)
Another thing is that most people who play FFXIV are people who most of the time are at least minorly interested in Japanese culture, or the culture that is brought forth and presented in the game (Also a part of Japanese culture) and the traits above are stuff generally things that if people were against, they would not normally be playing an asian game. So that coupled with the fact this is subscription based and not filled with random people, leads me to believe we all have somewhat common interests in respect to the game and can get along with the game presented guidelines.
So I can't change your all's minds if you are set on it. But I wouldn't have too much of a problem having my characters date lalafells. I am a bit biased because I am younger myself and it is less of an issue, I am fairly well versed in/and a follower of Japanese culture, and because I somewhat struggle to see them as children (Maybe because I am younger myself and the closer I have to come to comparing myself to their exaggerated ridiculousness/childishness, even if it was when I was younger, the more it makes my brain hurt.)
That is just my two cents. Take it with a grain of salt.
