(07-21-2014, 03:51 PM)Eva Wrote: I really dislike "alignment" in RP settings not only because it slaps a label or tries to pigeonhole characters in various ways, but also because more dynamic characters can change over time.
When I do use them, I tend to think of the two-axis D&D system, but rather than 3 hard categories for each forming a tidy tic-tac-toe board, I look upon each axis more as a spectrum upon which characters my fall where they will, and migrate over time as events transpire which may help define or shape them.
It's easier for me to define characters by their deeds and the psychology that exists behind them - what motivates them, and why. Â This isn't always a clear-cut "good vs. evil" or "order vs. chaos", etc. Â It may bear mention that "good" and "evil" mean different things to different people (e.g. different characters are generally going to view their deeds as serving some good, yet still may often be in opposition with one another).
TL;DR: Â Alignment labels/metrics bug me.
This is one of the underlying problems behind applying D&D morality in particular for me - it comes from a system where there are meant to be relatively clear-cut rules for what is and isn't good, evil, law, order, etc. That's fine for D&D because they have a number of mechanical effects to reinforce the concept. It matters whether something is good or evil because there are spells that can detect them and abilities that only work for them. In MMOs that tends to be much less the case. Well, most of the time.
There's also the fact that alignment systems tend to have a number of underlying assumptions about what is and isn't moral behavior, even outside of D&D, that might conflict with what's going on in the MMO to which they're being applied. For example, I'm hesitant to use the Nature/Demeanor system of WoD because that system is rooted in a game that is explicitly "Gothic-Punk," and is trying to portray a setting that is cynical and corrupt; accordingly, most of the traits available in Nature and Demeanor selection imply that the character is going to be a jerk in some form. Completely okay for WoD, but in more idealistic settings - and I'd argue that, for all the dark business in FFXIV, it's trying to be quite idealistic - it starts to chafe.
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Current Fate-14 Storyline:Â Merchant, Marine
Current Fate-14 Storyline:Â Merchant, Marine
