(06-20-2017, 10:28 PM)Amiko Wrote: I know there are already RP FCs and for Brass Blades and what not, but would something be possible for a Sekiseigumi?Disclaimer: Personal bias/interpretations sprinkled throughout. Also bear in mind that I've yet to complete the 60-70 SAM story or the complete SB MSQ. Some unmarked spoilers may be ahead so that the post may flow better.
I like the idea of doing patrols and like likes. Interacting with other RPers, having a system set up where people can come report crimes, work with criminal FCs to make events or stuff like that.
Might just be me, but I'd like something like that.
On top of that what kinda race/character restrictions would there be? Obviously it'd probably be Samurai only but would you allow outsiders to join, be trained and work with them? I dunno if you'd have to open it up to more races just for the sake of inclusion in the RP community or not.
Again, I like this idea and would probably jump at the opportunity to do it. What do you guys think?
It would be possible, yes. Likely greatly difficult, but possible. I'd start with an OOC LS before taking any other such steps towards centralisation (I don't know if linkshells are used by Hingan forces, hence why I specify an OOC LS).
As for race/character restrictions, based on the NPCs, it'd be majority male Midlanders and "Hellsguard" (in quotes as the clan name Hellsguard is an Eorzea-specific thing only, they just use the same models) Roegadyn Samurai with some Lancers bearing the Iwa-toshi weapon available from Ishgard. While there appear to be female Midlanders serving as well, it appears, from publicly accessible NPCs, that females within the Sekiseigumi are a minority, at least as far as I know, since I've yet to complete the 60-70 questline (Edit: Unless there's a mass of female Sekiseigumi in the 70 SAM quest, Makoto is quite literally the only female Sekiseigumi we see so far in 4.0. Whether this is due to an in-universe reason or because SE decided that like... two or three male models was enough resources devoted to relatively irrelevant NPCs, I cannot say. Edit: There wasn't a mass of female Sekiseigumi. Honestly I think SE just wanted to save on resources and used the same three models.). Which makes sense, in a way, as I don't recall the Tokugawa era or Japanese society in general at the time being particularly egalitarian towards women (I'm not a history or sociology buff, so take that with a grain of salt). There may be Archers as well, as historically archery's also been one of the samurais' main things, but I haven't seen any, though it's likely that they exist or that they've upgraded to gunpowder weapons. I do not know if there are Au Ra serving. Given that the available NPCs are all Midlanders or "Hellsguard", I'm disinclined to say that there are Au Ra Sekiseigumi, but as I've again yet to complete the 60-70 SAM questline, I cannot say for certain.
In regards to opening the Sekiseigumi role to foreigners... I'd have to vehemently disagree on any non Hingashi/Kugane native peoples joining (Edit: it's mentioned that the Sekiseigumi is made up of commoners. None are from samurai stock. Edit: Kagetsu is from a samurai family.). Can't exactly stop people from doing it, but there's no evidence that I've seen to suggest such a thing occurring, and unless directly stated by a NPC that they accept foreigners (extremely unlikely and I'd be disappointed with the lore creators if they did), anything involving the WoL must be taken with mountains of salt due to their main character status. This is something of a tangent, but I've found that Westerners don't often seem to comprehend just how xenophobic the Japanese, and therefore by extension the Hingans due to their basis on Tokugawa era Japan, can be and are. While it's true that they may be welcoming of trade and such, bear in mind that that trade is restricted to one city and that foreigners who break Hingan law face extremely dire consequences (which may extend to the locals as well, I do not know for certain).
I foresee Sekiseigumi roleplay being a rather difficult beast to handle, personally. It's explicitedly stated that summary execution is the go-to punishment for those who break the law barring physical altercations between foreigners. A certain Doman NPC likely only got out of it due to a combination of his profession and plot armor. There's also permanent exile, which is stated to be an uncommon method of dealing with lawbreakers. Arrest is a thing, but it's not stated what happens after and still likely ends in the death or exile of the foreign arrestee (Edit: having progressed a bit further in the 60-70 SAM since writing this, I must say that the likelihood of this is dependent on the intervention of a corrupt official given that the bakufu is apparently ripe for such. Edit: A sidequest available immediately prior to the Scions' return to Eorzea shows that the Sekiseigumi do arrest and jail criminals, though it's unknown how long the sentence would be or if it's just something used to hold criminals prior to their execution.). That said, Kugane is a trade city, like Ul'dah. Behind the scenes bribery of relevant officials for release or exoneration is a thing shown, though it's a somewhat involved process. On the spot bribery in the public eye is likely to be refused outright and may even result in the death of the person offering, due to perceived insults against personal and organisational honour. So in the face of such severe consequences...
I personally expect that most RPers will outright ignore the law barring violence in Kugane (Edit: The same sidequest mentioned in an edit in the paragraph above says that foreigners have little regard for Kugane's laws, to my disgruntlement.). Sekiseigumi RPers will also likely be laughed at, abused, or blatantly ignored, similar to how things generally play out with Brass Blade RPers. Same with the consequences. Only thing you can really do is ignore the ones who godmod their way out of consequences and blacklist the people who do nothing but heap abuse on you. People are quick to rag on law enforcement characters because OOCly there's nothing that we can do to their character without them reversing the argument and accusing us of godmodding, so they grow bold because there's no perceived threat of consequences. Hence the high burnout rate of LE RPers, since more often than not, we have a negligible effect on a community that seems to be flooded with a "fuck the police/law" attitude.
All that being said, I've prepared a personal armored up Sekiseigumi glamour for my character, seeing as how there aren't any gear sets as of yet that I've seen that look anything like the Sekiseigumi stuff (something I sincerely hope will be rectified in the future) and will begin RP as a Sekiseigumi as soon as I hit the requisite level as SAM. (To be clear, I'm going to be using my character to portray two different characters dependent on which region I'm in for the sake of convenience and to save money i.e. an Eorzea based character and a Far Eastern one.)
Warren Castille Wrote:(06-20-2017, 10:40 PM)Amiko Wrote: Yeah, going outside of Kugane would be an issue. Around Doma would be easy but Eorzea is another matter.
I wont lie though, if Kugane becomes a bit of a hub (which I wish it would be), I'd happily stroll around in uniform just patrolling. I find relaxing RP like that very fun, and lets me meet new people.
I'm not done the entire story, but is there any example of them being in Doma proper? Kugane is ostensibly not a part of the nation due to their Swiss-like policy. I was under the impression that they only had jurisdiction and relevance in Kugane (but it's entirely likely I'm wrong).
To my understanding, Kugane is a part of the island nation of Hingashi. The only relation to Doma is in that they are neighbors. The Sekiseigumi most likely would only have jurisdiction in Kugane itself, the immediate outlying area, and matters directly related to the port city, and further outlying Hingan areas would fall under the control of bakufu (governmental) forces, though there are, of course, likely exceptions to the rule.
