Succor, to clarify for anyone reading this thread who doesn't know, is giving aid or assistance in times of hardship and distress. That's the actual word not the FF version of it. When they said the 'art of succor' I was thinking the 'art of giving aid' but I guess it's actually the name of their magic.
Many games make a playable class or race 'rare' in lore but totally accessible for you as a player. Mostly because they're not caring so much about a roleplaying community that'll use their lore as weapons or shields against one another so much as the gamers who want to play through the story line. There's nothing stopping someone from being a master of all the arts they offer, and some people might carry that over into character. Likewise, there's nothing that prevents you, lore-wise, from being no more than a simple merchant or a dancer since many RPers don't want to take classes or abilities into account any more than level or gender or restrictive hair styles.
We basically pick and choose what is acceptable for ourselves and (sometimes in some not-so-great cases) for other people out of the mechanics, the lore, and the gameplay.
That being said, it -is- a bit weird that they chose to define White Mages this way for FF. Many of the other groups have an origin definition, like Dragoons, Paladins, Pugilists, etc. that don't really make it absolutely necessary that you come from the area where the profession was at its peak or was best known for. White Mages, on the other hand, are restricted as a class to being a lot of Padjal (whom I think many RPers on this forum in an old thread suggest that you not try to RP) or people who are directly accepted by the Padjal (which is still pretty shiny. It's like saying you were trained to be a ranger by a Dark Ranger in Warcraft, which is enough to make most people roll their eyes). Yes, we can try to wheedle our way around them by using loopholes and not going the 'I'm a sparkly magic person that was so great the Padjal made me one of the raaaaare Whiiiite Maaaages....' route but the base-line is still a pain in the bottom.
I'd have thought, knowing there'd -be- RPers and knowing that -many- -many- people are going to choose the main healing class, they would've given something a bit more broad or something with a bigger number.
All the same, I'm personally ready to accept any reason for a White Mage. I think it's acceptable to play a character who has innate healing potential. Maybe nothing as classy and refined as a full blown White Mage but someone who is just naturally proficient at bending aether in small feats of healing. Maybe we should concentrate more on offering other ideas for how people can play -Healers- and not specifically -White Mages- for the benefit of our fellow RPers.
Many games make a playable class or race 'rare' in lore but totally accessible for you as a player. Mostly because they're not caring so much about a roleplaying community that'll use their lore as weapons or shields against one another so much as the gamers who want to play through the story line. There's nothing stopping someone from being a master of all the arts they offer, and some people might carry that over into character. Likewise, there's nothing that prevents you, lore-wise, from being no more than a simple merchant or a dancer since many RPers don't want to take classes or abilities into account any more than level or gender or restrictive hair styles.
We basically pick and choose what is acceptable for ourselves and (sometimes in some not-so-great cases) for other people out of the mechanics, the lore, and the gameplay.
That being said, it -is- a bit weird that they chose to define White Mages this way for FF. Many of the other groups have an origin definition, like Dragoons, Paladins, Pugilists, etc. that don't really make it absolutely necessary that you come from the area where the profession was at its peak or was best known for. White Mages, on the other hand, are restricted as a class to being a lot of Padjal (whom I think many RPers on this forum in an old thread suggest that you not try to RP) or people who are directly accepted by the Padjal (which is still pretty shiny. It's like saying you were trained to be a ranger by a Dark Ranger in Warcraft, which is enough to make most people roll their eyes). Yes, we can try to wheedle our way around them by using loopholes and not going the 'I'm a sparkly magic person that was so great the Padjal made me one of the raaaaare Whiiiite Maaaages....' route but the base-line is still a pain in the bottom.
I'd have thought, knowing there'd -be- RPers and knowing that -many- -many- people are going to choose the main healing class, they would've given something a bit more broad or something with a bigger number.
All the same, I'm personally ready to accept any reason for a White Mage. I think it's acceptable to play a character who has innate healing potential. Maybe nothing as classy and refined as a full blown White Mage but someone who is just naturally proficient at bending aether in small feats of healing. Maybe we should concentrate more on offering other ideas for how people can play -Healers- and not specifically -White Mages- for the benefit of our fellow RPers.
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