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Khaze'to Zhwan · **07-27-2013, 12:23 PM**

(07-27-2013, 11:57 AM)C Wrote:
(07-27-2013, 11:29 AM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: I don't believe you're right, though. "Battle" and "survives" are pretty clear-cut terms. One typically wouldn't refer to tightrope walking or chess as "battles" in a fantasy setting; certainly my reading of other dev posts doesn't suggest that they regularly engage in such glibness. Note that nowhere in the dev post does it say that the "tia makes a challenge." It says, "the tia can challenge the nunh to battle" (emphasis mine).

The wording doesn't seem to permit other ritualized activities in a "normal, average" tribe. That doesn't mean that you can't have tribes that don't do it that way, but again, you have to have a reason why and be prepared for IC responses to that, because you're not doing it the way the lore specifies.

I want to politely disagree by pointing out that the above image depicts the beginning of a battle called upon by a challenger.

In all seriousness, though, my take on it is that the nature of the battle or the skill being tested is up to the values of the tribe. Some tribes might follow more closely the ways of their chosen totem animal, for instance. Carnivore-based tribes might have more vicious life-or-death scenario battles while herbivore-based tribes may simply call for feats of strength or cunning. If a tribe is more magical, it may require a show of mystic aptitude, or if it is more martial, it could just be a straight arena fight.

The use of "survives" does not need to be interpreted as "all tribes engage in brutal Battle Royale" but could be taken as "depending on the tribe, surviving a challenge may not be optional for the loser." So far, the lore given for FFXIV: ARR has been broad and open, deliberately littered with loopholes and exceptions to emulate the feeling of a real world with diverse choices, so I really don't see how that dev statement is special enough to be interpreted rigidly.

And with -at least- 26 tribes out there, combined with cultural interchanges with the "modernity" of the city-states and even the Empire, I don't know if there can be a singular and definitive normative.

This ^

Thank you C'io for explaining it better than I, my brain is currently melting Big Grin

Dominance Challenges: Seeker Cultural Conflict Explored

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes