(12-15-2017, 09:50 PM)dametualma Wrote: Server Selection
To begin, my first question revolves around server choice. I've learned that there is a lot of controversy around the unofficial RP server, Balsomething, being hardlocked. Mateus is suggested as a secondary, but that one is currently locked, too. How do I make sure that I pick the right server? It would be very unfortunate to pick...say Faerie, and learn that the RP community is dying/dead there, and I'm stuck on a dead server. What's the dealio on that?
Balmung is FFXIV's biggest RP server, but it is locked for the foreseeable future so no new players until then. Mateus is one of the next biggest RP servers for NA timezones, while Omega is considered the RP server for EU. There are also a number of smaller communities on a number of other servers, such as Lich, but we don't hear as much from them. You can look through some of the linkshells (chat channels) and free companies (guilds) on other servers by clicking on the "Free Companies" and "Linkshells" tabs near the top.
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(12-15-2017, 09:50 PM)dametualma Wrote: Character Customization
I wasn't able to see a store or some way of looking at outfits. How many different choices of attire are there? I RP'd in SWTOR, and they have sooooooo many clothing options, whereas BDO has bupkis in comparison. Where does FF fall? Can I make something that looks unique, or are there 4 overused outfits that I have to choose from?
While there's a few who consider the character creation to be a little limited in comparison to a few other games, there's still a good bit of customization to be had. There's definitely a lot of outfits to choose from, as well as a glamour system (and a new revamped glamour system coming next patch) so you can adjust how your character looks at any time after unlocking the ability to glamour via a level 15 quest in Vesper Bay.
That said, there are a lot of outfits that people tend to favor, so while there's a huge variety of outfit pieces to choose from you'll see a lot of people wearing many of the same or similar sets. Sometimes different pieces are harder to find or farm, while others are so uncommonly glamoured you'll see few on the Market Board so learning to craft might come in handy depending on your server's economy.
You can check out some gear pieces over on XIVDB. A quick armor > body/chestpiece search yielded 1289 results.
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(12-15-2017, 09:50 PM)dametualma Wrote: Lore
I've never played a Final Fantasy game. I know who Cloud is and I know what a chocobo is. I think I saw the CGI movie a long time ago? I know 7 is known as the best. How screwed am I for RP? Obviously, I'd learn as quick as possible what the basics are, but is his universe very unique in the way it is created?
You don't have to have played any FF game to pick up on this game's lore. The FF universe pulls inspiration (even copy and pasting entire themes, cities, monsters) from previous games, but the lore behind Ifrit in FF7 is vastly different from the lore behind Ifrit in FF14. This game in particular has a lot of fan service to the series. So if you're wanting to RP in FFXIV, you'll just want to look into lore for this game.
That said, you'll find individual free companies or roleplayers with a wide range of views on lore and how closely they follow it in their roleplay. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, try to find roleplayers who feel similarly. Most people will tell you that you don't need to know everything there is to know about the world of Hydaelyn to start RPing in it.
If you're wanting to learn some stuff though, I've got an index of lore posts I've made in the past HERE or in my signature below. There's also a pretty good timeline of the last 1600 years or so found on Gamerescape here. If you have questions, feel free to ask them in the Lore Discussion forum on the RPC (or, if it relates more to developing your character in the Character Workshop forum instead). But avoid ffxiv.wikia if you're looking for reliable info.
Hope this helps! ^^
