Also, don't forget our own lore hunting thread and Merri's Garlean empire thread. There's a lot of good information in those.
I really can't get behind this sort of "accepted fanon" concept, because not every RPer goes to this site, and no matter how plausible your argument may seem and how many RPC members might agree with it, someone is going to disagree. (This is actually a good example, because my read of the Circle of Knowledge from ARR's main scenario quest is not that it's an academy, so much as it's a society of "wise people.") Those disagreements are going to cause OOC grief, whether by preventing you from RPing effectively with people who disagree or by allowing the existence of people who say, "this is the RP Community's Fanon, and we're the majority, so you have to do what we say." Additionally, retcons from devs filling in lore later are always a major concern.
So, my very strong recommendation is to stick to what's available and reasonable extrapolations thereof. Reasonable extrapolations don't, in my mind, include sketching out major NPC organizations. If you really want an academy for your character's backstory, you can:
One nice part about XIV having such a wide open lore and a big, largely unspecified world is that you have a fair amount of freedom to build your backstory within the boundaries of lore without clobbering others' stories.
I also completely agree with Eva that while a backstory is good, most of the interesting elements of a character tend to come from your IC interactions.
You can start with a fairly vague backstory, then fill in elements later as needed.
(08-02-2013, 08:24 PM)Evie Wrote: As there seems to be a very small amount of known lore (in comparison with other worlds such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc) is there a certain amount of openness with making thing up or making assumptions based upon what is known? And if so is there a place where this agreed upon information is based?
For example in my other post we were discussing the possibility that the Circle of Knowledge might possibly be an academy of learning for AFTER you've learned everything from a guild. If enough people agreed that this is the case, then it would become part of "accepted" lore.
I really can't get behind this sort of "accepted fanon" concept, because not every RPer goes to this site, and no matter how plausible your argument may seem and how many RPC members might agree with it, someone is going to disagree. (This is actually a good example, because my read of the Circle of Knowledge from ARR's main scenario quest is not that it's an academy, so much as it's a society of "wise people.") Those disagreements are going to cause OOC grief, whether by preventing you from RPing effectively with people who disagree or by allowing the existence of people who say, "this is the RP Community's Fanon, and we're the majority, so you have to do what we say." Additionally, retcons from devs filling in lore later are always a major concern.
So, my very strong recommendation is to stick to what's available and reasonable extrapolations thereof. Reasonable extrapolations don't, in my mind, include sketching out major NPC organizations. If you really want an academy for your character's backstory, you can:
- Assert the existence of one in a village or town somewhere and explain why it exists, particularly in a world where that's not the typical means of higher education;
- Connect with a guild that runs an academy (such as Unsung Heroes) and, with their permission, work them into your backstory;
- Hew closer to lore and remove the element from your backstory.
One nice part about XIV having such a wide open lore and a big, largely unspecified world is that you have a fair amount of freedom to build your backstory within the boundaries of lore without clobbering others' stories.
I also completely agree with Eva that while a backstory is good, most of the interesting elements of a character tend to come from your IC interactions.
You can start with a fairly vague backstory, then fill in elements later as needed.
The Freelance Wizard
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
