(06-24-2015, 03:13 PM)Gegenji Wrote:(06-24-2015, 02:57 PM)Dogberry Wrote: This is a fantastic question.
Can the character equip gear that would be practical for a skilled swordsman to wear? It doesn't take a whole lot of levelling to achieve that look. So the character claims to be a Flame Sergeant. Can the character equip the Flame Sergeant set? That's only what, level 20 gear? It's entirely believable for a level 20 character in Flame Sergeant gear to be a skilled swordsman, and be taken seriously in character. I don't think "skilled swordsman" is an outrageous claim for a character of that level and gear. "Legendary swordsman" would be pushing it.
But if you're not even willing to level up your flame sergeant character to that level, don't start barking orders in my ear like your Gunnery Sergeant Hartman.
Supplementary question. Let's say they add enough vanity gear that you can make a level 1 character look like a Flame Sergeant. Preordering the next expansion gives you a set of dye-able Sergeant-looking gear that is all level 1. Said working mom does this and dresses up her level 1 swordswoman - wearing that gear and her starting sword.
Would she be considered any less than if she had leveled to 20 and gotten the "proper" Flame Sergeant gear?
Or, alternately, someone decides to play a Highlander refugee street-brawler who runs around in shorts and sandals looking for a good fight. He can easily looks the part he is trying to RP - a streetwise, underhanded fist-fighting thug - even at level one. He even goes so far as to portrays his Weathered Hora as being a set of knuckles he's been using for years and have worn down to the point that they look weathered - since he can't afford to replace them and they have sentimental value. Would he be considered "too fresh" to be taken as a weathered brawler with years of combat under his (possibly made of rope) belt?
Another fantastic question.
I suppose this comes from my penchant for RPing actual game content. If I met this character in Ul'dah, and they came across as an authority figure, I would most definitely treat them as such. That ends when they leave the city and they are et by a 'bon. That would likely lead to snarky remarks about how they'll make anyone a Flame Sergeant these days oo-rah hooray Maelstrom.
In the second instance, it's entirely possible to play a streetwise, underhanded fist-fighting thug at level 1. Characters lead lives before we create them, and if that's been his life so far, it's fine, people can spend years in mediocrity and obscurity before they make their major break. Level 1 for me represents the first break from mediocrity. The point at which your character first shows a spark for greatness, and it can happen at any point in someone's life. You can claim years of experience, but not mastery. I have years of experience playing the guitar, and I can shred reasonably well but I am by no means a master on the level of Yngwie Malmsteen. If I lived in an guitar-based MMO, I would say the moment I make a breakthrough in my playing from "hobbyist" to "amateur" would be the point at which I hit level 1.
![[Image: BZneHYK.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/BZneHYK.jpg)
No Gods and Precious Few Heroes
