(08-12-2015, 07:56 PM)Caspar Wrote: Honestly it sounds like you want to have your cake and eat it too. You want to be seen as low powered, but win fights regularly and demonstrate mastery. This lets your charcter be the underdog and eschew aesthetics you dislike at the same time, while building them up as competent. You say it's subjective, but you want free leave to criticize the game's presented aesthetic; cool, I subjectively don't find that all that amazing, it's a really common theme on here. You say there are a lot of mundanes not seen; agreed, they're often mooks in comparison to a dragoon or a fist of rhalgr. And I agree that basic tactics can still function in a fantastic setting. Even in my case, my assertion has always been "there's no ultimate technique," and never use a tecnhnique that has no purpose when a simpler one does. I don't care about hard realism, though, even with what I know, and were I playing an unpowered character, I'd expect to have to fight dirty to stand even a ghost of a chance. I completely agree being the "badass normal" is cool, but for some reason, a lot of people forget why. They are innately weaker and must use guile or determination to triumph over those with abilities, which, assuming most of us are Job level adventurers, is quite a few people in the rp context, even if not in the larger population.
Give me that delicious cake. Â I'll stuff it down my throat and bake another. Â However, perhaps my point was not clear - a character is not powerful because they adhere to a certain style of combat, per se. Â Ultimately, the RP'er will dictate the power of the character, and then with the luck of the dice gods (in most instances), hope that raw luck will translate into sensible combat performance. Â Of course some RP'ers will ensure their characters kill them all or blow off their own foot - that's the magic of RP.
What does this boil down to? Â Well, an experienced combatant bearing a knife with a crazy look on her face should be just as terrifying and challenging, although in different ways, than a dragoon exercising a thirty foot vertical while in full plate. Â The confusion arises from assumptions about power and skill based entirely on a very aesthetic derived from the most fanciful of in-game lore. It's a pleasant aesthetic that is over represented. Â
And I confess, this is all awfully subjective.  I suppose the point I can't seem to get across is that - plain, boring [aka: awesome] combat and aesthetics are a major part of the game, too!  Hell, I'd go so far as to say that most of Eorzea (in a holistic sense) bathes in this style. We PC's simply don't gravitate to the themes as strongly, for a number of reasons.
But it's a beautiful, lovely part of the game. Â Try it sometime, if you haven't already (not just you, Caspar -- thanks, little buddy, it's been a while since I've traded forum posts like broadsides) Regardless, remember to stab them with the pointy end. Â Love you all.
