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Zedrick Pendragon · **07-11-2015, 02:16 AM**

There's something that's been bothering me as of late. I just returned to FFXIV and decided I wanted to Roleplay again. So I server jumped or to Balmung. I have had the hardest time finding a good RP FC because I RP as being from Vana'Diel. Sometime during the Wings expansion my Character was sucked through a Cavernous Maw and Ended up in Eorzea. But this is too lore bending for those FC's, and I don't understand why?
First and foremost I understand that FFXI, AND FFXIV ARE DIFFERENT GAMES SET IN DIFFERENT WORLDS. So before anyone jumps on me for that let's get that out of the way.

Ok here we go with my rebuttal. FFXI, and FFXIV are two different games with two different worlds, with strikingly common similarities. Hyur, Hume. Galka, Roegadyn. Mithra, Mi'qoute. Tarutaru, Lalafell. There's even a damn Lalafell in the main quest line named Tataru. Gustaberg, and Thanalan have very similar landscapes as does Bastok compared too Ul'Dah.

So with all these similarities is it SOOOOOOO farfetched and lore bending to have a Character from Vana'Diel? I've even RPed that my character is ill, due to the adverse affects on his body due to the Aether, which he isn't use too, yet still I get turned down left and right by FC's stating that this is too lore bending. The similarities between the 2 games are uncanny. Granted same developer but that makes it even more plausible that these worlds have something in common and exist parallel to each other in either time or Universe. I could see complaints of lore breaking if my character were from WoW or Tera, Guild Wars, but is it too much to be from a world that could Very well be interpreted as an extremely alternate time like say far in the future, or past. Or even a parallel universe Running right along side each other.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this subject?

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **07-11-2015, 02:29 AM**

Most people I've seen in the game (and in my own personal oppinion) choose to RP as having been born and raised somewhere on Hydaelyn.

Sure, the races sorta match up. But there are a decent amount of differences as well.

Roegadyn are gendered and have no tails.

Miqo'te (there's no u) do not have fur. The males are generally free to roam and hunt as well. Yeah, they're rarer, but it's a very different society.

Lalafell aren't all stuck with the weird brown nose thing.

So....yes, the games look similar, probably have related elements, but are not the same worlds. They're connected through the void, as SE has said every Final Fantasy title is, but for the most part, the average RPer isn't from another world. Isn't generally a Warrior of Light. And many are not even Echo-enabled people. (There are people who have the Echo / RP the main scenario quests. But this is a little less common around the people I happen to RP with.)

I wouldn't call it lore-bending, since we know it -is- feasible, but I would put it under far-fetched. The lore behind how your character might've had a certain job or class in FFXI doesn't map to how it would work in FFXIV.

On a side note, why must your character be from FFXI? To me, that feels like you want to disregard the FFXIV story and lore, which could possibly be what others thought as well.

Telluride · **07-11-2015, 02:43 AM**

(07-11-2015, 02:29 AM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote: On a side note, why must your character be from FFXI? To me, that feels like you want to disregard the FFXIV story and lore, which could possibly be what others thought as well.

On the other hand, SE's made it Canon in game features that stuff from other worlds just sneaks into FFXIV all the time - Shantoto's special appearances, Lightning's guest appearance week, Cloud and Squall on TT cards, The Gold Saucer (coincidence there, but a big one) and the like. If someone wants to be from another linked world, they're frankly no more guilty of busting the 4th wall and the lore than SE themselves. They might have a tough time of it, but you can't waggle a finger at them without waggling that same finger at the whole franchise. You're gonna need a bigger finger.

Uther · **07-11-2015, 02:45 AM**

Your character can't be from FFXI because this game is FFXIV.

It's the same reason you don't see Bilbo Baggins hanging out in King's Landing. They are two separate stories with two separate universes, regardless of similarities.

It isn't hard to just switch your character's minor details.

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **07-11-2015, 02:57 AM**

(07-11-2015, 02:43 AM)Telluride Wrote:
(07-11-2015, 02:29 AM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote: On a side note, why must your character be from FFXI? To me, that feels like you want to disregard the FFXIV story and lore, which could possibly be what others thought as well.

On the other hand, SE's made it Canon in game features that stuff from other worlds just sneaks into FFXIV all the time - Shantoto's special appearances, Lightning's guest appearance week, Cloud and Squall on TT cards, The Gold Saucer (coincidence there, but a big one) and the like. If someone wants to be from another linked world, they're frankly no more guilty of busting the 4th wall and the lore than SE themselves. They might have a tough time of it, but you can't waggle a finger at them without waggling that same finger at the whole franchise. You're gonna need a bigger finger.

This is an excellent point. I want to make clear that while I could not do so (having never played FFXI, I imagine it'd be hard for me to have a character there), it's not an impossible situation to be in. But even in the crossovers, the game has explained that it was through extraordinary or unknown powers that allowed people outside of this realm to have crossed over into the FFXIV universe.

But like many of the other things RPers wave fingers at, would a person from Vana'Diel be quick to admit they are from another world? I'd rank it about as high on the "potential for people to overreact" meter as say, being a WHM in public to people who know what a WHM is and the "rules" behind it. Or a BLM publicly casting a flare in the city to proclaim he's learned the dark arts or something. For public RP, it'd likely ruffle a lot of people's feathers. I would suggest keeping such knowledge private or among a small/trusted group.

Eorzea is pretty open to outsiders. Now everyone needs to say where they're from, right?

OttoVann · **07-11-2015, 02:57 AM**

(07-11-2015, 02:45 AM)Tancred Wrote: Your character can't

Negative.

Actually let me edit this, the character can do what the writer can, not what you deem is appropriate. It might not even be minor considering if they can write up a good story, their differing background may be more enjoyable to interact with.

Vareal · **07-11-2015, 03:00 AM**

I actually have some experience in this matter, though my character wasn't from FFXI, she was however from a different world, so I'll share my experiences and thoughts.

Long ago, when 1.0 was still a thing, I had a character by the name of Eternal Darkness, of course this was just a code name she had received, her full name was D'vislian'l Linnel. She went through several character changes before I finally dumped her, but her original origin story was that she was from a totally different realm, totally different world, a world I had created and based of Norse mythology. I forget what I called the place (hell, I even made a map of the world) however, Eternal did something bad and to punish her, the ruler of this world threw her into a temporal vortex which whisked her away and pooped her out in Eorzea and she awoke a Miqo'te.

This presented a few different problems: first, anyone wanting to truly get to know her would have to learn of her past and of different lore separate from FFXIV. And that was a whole heap of a lot. To get around this, I had written an entire story that never got fully published on the RPC forums, there were even some issues with that; however the story was OOC so even though the player knew, the character didn't.

Second, she would have had to learn the entire Eorzean lore, history its races, which isn't all that hard, but again its a whole heap to pile on and take it slow to learn over an extended period of time.

Third, and this one is up for debate, there would most likely be a language barrier. I'm quite sure that, in a non semantic way, the language spoken in FFXI is quite different from the language spoken in FFXIV. But again, that's up for debate, or not.

It's simply more fun, fast and easier to hit the ground running if your character is from Eorzea or one of the other nations like say Doma or the Garlean Empire, than to say they come from a completely different world which, as you've come to find out, turns a lot of people off from your character. It's not that its impossible or even improbable, its just that some people might not find it original and won't want to deal with that. And also, many people have never played FFXI so they won't want to go ahead and learn the names, places or races that the game comprises of. Its just too much in a game thats so rich with lore and story to introduce an ENTIRE, separate world into it as well.

However, an alternative route might be to take your character from FFXI and simply adapt, not import or transfer or implant, but adapt him into FFXIV. By this I mean say if your character were born in Jeuno in FFXI, then simply change his/her birth place to Ul'dah and so on and so forth. That way you're not loosing too much and you're keeping the general idea of your character. I've heard of people attempting this in the past, though I'm not sure how well it worked out for them.

Personally, I would say to scrap the idea that your character comes from FFXI and either adapt him/her or just make a new one. Have fun reading the lore about the different countries that comprise the game, the city states and all that. Go nuts on learning the naming lore for Miqo'te and Roegadyn's, read about all the different Era's, on how the Miqo'te ancestors migrated to Eorzea during a sort of ice age where they crossed frozen oceans in search of food during the 5th umbral and make a descendant of those people. There is SO much lore to shuffle through its almost mind numbing. Just get creative.

But I digress. I do not mean to tell you what you can or cannot do, I am only offering an insight to the issue. Technically, the main aspect of roll playing is that you have the freedom to do whatever you want with your character, you have that creative right. So do whatever it is you feel you want to do and have fun doing it!

Zedrick Pendragon · **07-11-2015, 03:04 AM**

Unnamed Merc, and Telluride thank you for credible example and comments. Tancred you're buffoonery is not welcome nor appreciated here. Your reasoning is not credible to explain why I can't have a character from FFXI roleplayed here in FFXIV.

Unnamed Merc in response to your comment, I don't disregard FFXIV lore. I love the lore, but I thought it would be fun to explore the RP aspects as a Character from a different World. Kinda of like Tidus in Final Fantasy X. Mysteriously transported to another time or World. With similarities between the two it'd be fun to play confused yet sure he knows of this world, then be questioned at every turn. As far as what made him the class he is. FFXIV 14 makes that simple to by pass as a simple weapon of choice as opposed to a Job like in FFXI. Equip a Spear you're called a drg. As opposed to talking to your Moogle to change your job. Simply put I'm not seeking to be all powerful or important, I just chose to come from a different background with a different understanding of the world around me.... Namely clueless.

It is absolutely not a Disregard of Lore, more of an IC learning of it.

Telluride thank you for backing my claim with a credible example that it's not farfetched.

Zedrick Pendragon · **07-11-2015, 03:09 AM**

(07-11-2015, 02:57 AM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote:
(07-11-2015, 02:43 AM)Telluride Wrote:
(07-11-2015, 02:29 AM)Unnamed Mercenary Wrote: On a side note, why must your character be from FFXI? To me, that feels like you want to disregard the FFXIV story and lore, which could possibly be what others thought as well.

On the other hand, SE's made it Canon in game features that stuff from other worlds just sneaks into FFXIV all the time - Shantoto's special appearances, Lightning's guest appearance week, Cloud and Squall on TT cards, The Gold Saucer (coincidence there, but a big one) and the like. If someone wants to be from another linked world, they're frankly no more guilty of busting the 4th wall and the lore than SE themselves. They might have a tough time of it, but you can't waggle a finger at them without waggling that same finger at the whole franchise. You're gonna need a bigger finger.

This is an excellent point. I want to make clear that while I could not do so (having never played FFXI, I imagine it'd be hard for me to have a character there), it's not an impossible situation to be in. But even in the crossovers, the game has explained that it was through extraordinary or unknown powers that allowed people outside of this realm to have crossed over into the FFXIV universe.

But like many of the other things RPers wave fingers at, would a person from Vana'Diel be quick to admit they are from another world? I'd rank it about as high on the "potential for people to overreact" meter as say, being a WHM in public to people who know what a WHM is and the "rules" behind it. Or a BLM publicly casting a flare in the city to proclaim he's learned the dark arts or something. For public RP, it'd likely ruffle a lot of people's feathers. I would suggest keeping such knowledge private or among a small/trusted group.

Eorzea is pretty open to outsiders. Now everyone needs to say where they're from, right?

So I totally see where this is coming from, but.... I've never explained this IC. Merely played an Amnesiac, again like Tidus does in FFX. I told the recruits via OOC chat kind of where I wanted to come from.... Apparently this is too much, but out of respect I wouldn't want to drop this bomb later, only for them to be like "Nope you can't do it." Then throw everything I RPed out the window for however long I choose to withhold that Info.

Warren Castille · **07-11-2015, 03:13 AM**

There's absolutely zero reason why you can't be from XI, barring the expected language gap.

Barring that, there's nothing to keep you. Except I guess the vast difference in world expectations and ability and knowledge and mythology and world.

There's nothing to stop you from being from Vana'diel or Earth or Universe 616 or the DC Flashpoint World or Earth2 or Alternate US History or The Wheel of Time series or Game of Thrones or....

I hope that illustrates the point? If it doesn't, there's an awesome lot of XIV-specific lore that lends to storytelling. As someone who loves and adores XI, there's no reason to pick up here. It's fantastic (and my XI main is an alt of mine) but it doesn't really do for XIV.

Dis · **07-11-2015, 03:15 AM**

As someone who plays a world traveler as their main, it's doable.Â Glioca has an entire history from Eorzea before she became Glioca.Â It's all lined out on her wiki.Â Glioca herself plays off as having the Echo.Â The body she inhabited belong to someone who died during the Calamity.Â She took the body, took the memories, took the soul.Â She's both people now, technically.Â

She's told maybe three people in Eorzea who she really is and where she's really from.Â She refers to far away places as that, far away.Â She plays herself off as a traveler.Â She's been to other places in Eorzea that others might not have seen.Â She gets surprised by some things, and not by others.Â

Example, in her backstory, she spent time in Doma.Â So the Au Ra boom that is happening now?Â Doesn't phase her much.Â She's familiar with them, at least in a cursory fashion from being out in and around Othard for a while.

Point being, there are ways to explain it that don't get your idea slapped around by people who want to adhere to the lore so closely that they feel the need to avoid your character.Â A lot of it is about being plausible, and finding people who don't mind that style of play, to play with.

[sub](Minor edit, because I realized one word in a sentence sounded passive-aggressive and accusatory.)[/sub]

Vareal · **07-11-2015, 03:16 AM**

Exactly what Warren said. Thumbsup

Uther · **07-11-2015, 03:16 AM**

(07-11-2015, 02:57 AM)OttoVann Wrote:
(07-11-2015, 02:45 AM)Tancred Wrote: Your character can't

Negative.

Actually let me edit this, the character can do what the writer can, not what you deem is appropriate. Â It might not even be minor considering if they can write up a good story, their differing background may be more enjoyable to interact with.

Lol really? This is like when you ask your teacher if you can go to the bathroom in third grade and she says "DURR I DON'T KNOW, CAN YOU?"

Replace "can't" with "shouldn't" and add in "because this is ridiculous"

As for the second part of this: If you rely on a universe-hopping gimmick to make your character interesting, you should try sitting down and re-evaluating what you think makes a good character. "I'm from another world" is more annoying to most RPers than it is intriguing. If I picked up a book that was based entirely on being from a different desert town than the current desert town, I'd throw it in a fire.

You shouldn't do this, because it is not good writing. It is a writing supplement. No one will think this is clever and fun, and most people will avoid you.

Save yourself the heartache. Just switch some words around. These settings are not so different that you could never recreate the magic you had in FFXI's story.

But yes, as was unnecessarily and ludicrously pointed out, you CAN if you want. TECHNICALLY.

**Unnamed Mercenary** · **07-11-2015, 03:24 AM**

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Zedrick Pendragon · **07-11-2015, 03:24 AM**

(07-11-2015, 03:16 AM)Tancred Wrote:
(07-11-2015, 02:57 AM)OttoVann Wrote:
(07-11-2015, 02:45 AM)Tancred Wrote: Your character can't

Negative.

Actually let me edit this, the character can do what the writer can, not what you deem is appropriate. Â It might not even be minor considering if they can write up a good story, their differing background may be more enjoyable to interact with.

Lol really? This is like when you ask your teacher if you can go to the bathroom in third grade and she says "DURR I DON'T KNOW, CAN YOU?"

Replace "can't" with "shouldn't" and add in "because this is ridiculous"

As for the second part of this: If you rely on a universe-hopping gimmick to make your character interesting, you should try sitting down and re-evaluating what you think makes a good character. "I'm from another world" is more annoying to most RPers than it is intriguing. If I picked up a book that was based entirely on being from a different desert town than the current desert town, I'd throw it in a fire.

You shouldn't do this, because it is not good writing. It is a writing supplement. No one will think this is clever and fun, and most people will avoid you.

Save yourself the heartache. Just switch some words around. These settings are not so different that you could never recreate the magic you had in FFXI's story.

But yes, as was unnecessarily and ludicrously pointed out, you CAN if you want. TECHNICALLY.

Tancred I appreciate your insight now that it's more clear, but this is still conjecture, and regulated opinion.

You're forcing you're close minded opinion on me and trying to pass it off as the opinion of "many other" when obviously you're opinion on this thread is solitary. I've heard the opinions of Unnamed Merc, basically stating that it's possible but ill advise due to difficulty, and those that full one support my claim. You however have merely stated "don't do it, because I don't like" clearly you are entitled to your opinion, but if you don't like it, stop reading this thread. Clearly you have nothing constructive to add.

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Why can't my Character be from FFXI?

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