Ceoile Stendan

X'an and Evie watching the sun rise at Costa del Sol, while wearing their new Moonfire bikinis.

Kadi and her girlfriend Vikki, attending the Eternal Bonding of some friends of theirs.

A misty sunrise in the Shroud.

And, now, for the good news. I camped on a vacant lot in the Goblet all evening last night; when I finally logged off around 2am, it still hadn't unlocked. I got up around 6am, and logged back on (I hadn't moved from the spot) -- when I logged on, the plot was still unoccupied, and it was unlocked! Thank you, all, for your advice and encouragement!

I came to FFXIV from SWTOR last year. SWTOR has its own issues (of late, a general lack of love and developer support from Bioware), but at least housing is straightforward. Strongholds (houses) are their own instances, so, for example, every single player on a server can own a Tatooine stronghold, because each one is a unique instance. Overall, I really like FFXIV 95% of the time. Housing is in the other 5%.

I've finally been able to scrape up enough gil to think about buying a house! Yay! I've since discovered the joy of trying to buy a house on Mateus. Ugggggh. At any given time, there might be three to six unoccupied plots across the four housing areas. And, as I learned last night, unoccupied plots have a hidden timer on them, and can't actually be purchased until that timer winds down. As far as I can tell, on a well-populated world like Mateus, you have to either be bloody lucky in checking a plot when it's just come off of its timer, or you have to camp on a plot for an unknown period of time (hours, at least, it seems) to get one. My understanding is that there are other worlds in which getting a house isn't a problem at all; it's a function of Mateus now being near capacity, as it became the de facto second RP world after Balmung. Not having a house isn't the end of the world, of course; I do have an apartment. I just feel like I've spent two months grinding on gathering, to raise the gil, and now it doesn't matter. Any advice? Commiseration?

Just a bard and her harp.

X'an Stormblade, pirate queen (on the left), with her beloved first mate, Evie.

Back in one of my guilds in SWTOR, we would do "Bikini Ops Runs." It was particularly appropriate for Karagga's Palace, in which you're trying to escape a Hutt's stronghold.

Keep fanning, Cabana Girl.

V'kadia, the adorable Miqo healer.

I can trace it back to my childhood: playing make-believe games, and telling stories, with my toys -- puppets, LEGOs, action figures, and more. I then discovered Tolkien when I was 11, and D&D a few years later. From the very start, when I was playing tabletop RPGs, I was doing more than rolling dice and killing orcs. I would come up with backstories for my characters, and loved to have conversations with the other players IC. I've played tabletop RPGs for many years, and for me, that sort of roleplaying has always been a part of the game. For me, my characters' backgrounds, relationships, and motivations are every bit as important as their in-game exploits. I finally got drawn into MMOs a few years ago, by a good friend who'd become my RP partner in a D&D campaign.

Yes, this is what got me to pretty quickly subscribe. Unless you're in the same location as another player, it's pretty much impossible to start up a conversation, because you can't initiate a /tell or a group. You can't join a FC, though you can join a Linkshell, but it might difficult to get someone to give you an invitation to a Linkshell, because of the /tell limitation. It's not impossible, as others said, but you may well feel very frustrated by the limitations.

I finished up the Seventh Astral Era MSQ tonight. The long cinematic story at the end was very cool...though, related to my struggles on "The Reason Roaille":

Given the fact that he has a pair of very sharp shears in his hand, it's even funnier (and scarier).

Thank you, all, for the advice! It turned out that the Echo buff was what did the trick. I just kept plugging away tonight without going off to do something else. By the 5th attempt tonight (17th total ;-) ), my hit points had gone from 6200 to over 10,000, and I'm guessing that both my damage output and defenses had increased proportionately. My attacks were crazy-good by that point, and even the Vanguard mechs in the last wave weren't hurting me much. So, done with it, finally!

Thank you, all, for your comments and advice. I've found the info on my gear level: everything (including my bow) is a 110, except for an Ironworks Ring of Aiming (120) that I bought in Mor Dhona the other day. So, I was probably mis-remembering the "average gear level 117" -- 112 is probably closer to the truth. I have enough Tomestones of Poetics at the moment to at least upgrade the bow to a 120 at Revenant's Toll. And, thank you, Valence, for the advice on Straight Shot, as well.

This actually gets me to another question -- how can I tell what level a piece of gear is? I can see my average gear level in my main character sheet (it's at like 117 right now), but when I look at the stats for a particular gear item, if there's something that shows what level it is, I'm having a hard time finding it. I suspect that I'm just not looking in the right place (yes, I know, noob question ;-) ).

I appreciate the thoughts on this, Kilieit! Assume that I don't know the game well enough yet to know that "XIV Legion Hippopotamus" is a Lancer, or whatever. ;-) I looked at upgrading my gear; I can buy what looks to be slightly better stuff (i.e., stats are a couple of points higher) with poetic tomestones in Mor Dhona. Is it worth doing so?

I know that this is primarily an RP community, but I'm not active in any other FFXIV boards, and I am utterly stuck on this fight. (Warning: this may become rant-ish.) I imagine that most of you have played through the MSQ, and you know the encounter in question; it's in the post-ARR, pre-Heavensward content. From what I've read, it *is* a notoriously challenging fight. A few more details behind a spoiler tag: I've tried this, literally, a dozen times. It seems like I'm getting close, but I have no idea if I'm otherwise doing something wrong. And, of course, this is a stinking solo duty, so there's no way that anyone else can directly help me. BTW, I'm playing a bard...and I've been told "ohh, yeah, that's a particularly nasty one for ranged DPS." Which is less than helpful. I'm not a particularly great player, and I know it. I'm not super-quick with my powers, which is why I don't care much for raids and the like. This mission is coming across to me as something on which I need to be letter-perfect to succeed, and I'm just not that good. Is there something that I'm missing? Is there something that any of you have discovered that might make this stupid fight winnable? I've really enjoyed this game in the three months that I've played, but I've become *really* frustrated here, and it feels like the only answer is "keep trying and get better at it." And, if that's the only answer, I'm particularly discouraged. Thank you in advance for any replies!

While playing with camera angles in the market in Mor Dhona, I got this lovely close-up of Ceoile. I really like the lighting effects on her face.

Thank you for the welcome! I'll look at creating a post for the Making Connections forum -- thank you for the suggestion!

Hello! I've been playing FFXIV for a couple of months, having been brought to the game by a couple of good friends (and RP partners) in the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, who had decided to spend more of their time in this game. Now that I've gotten my feet wet in the game story, and the world's canon, I'm starting to think more about looking for RP opportunities. Ceoile (pronounced "Kaylee" -- it's an Irish name, which roughly translates as "singalong") is a Highlander bard, from a small village in Gridania. As a teenager (~17), Ceoile and her boyfriend joined the local militia, and the two of them married just before the Battle of Carteneau. They survived the Calamity (though they remembered little of what happened), and returned home. Ceoile's husband died in a hunting accident some time later, and she eventually left their village, seeking to find purpose in her life (and, thus, bringing her into the game story). Though I'm new to FFXIV (and it's been my first exposure to any FF game), I've been playing other MMOs (mostly SWTOR, but also Champions Online) for almost four years, and I've RPed extensively in both of those games -- in-game RP, as well as writing fics (both solo and collaborative). I'm currently one of the officers in a small RP guild in SWTOR. Beyond MMOs, I've been playing tabletop RPGs for several decades -- mostly fantasy RPGs such as D&D and Pathfinder. Ceoile herself is based on a bard character which I played in Living Forgotten Realms (an "organized play" D&D campaign) a few years ago, and her surname, Stendan, is one she shares with several of my SWTOR characters. At the moment, I've been RPing with my two friends who brought me to FFXIV, and having a great time with them. I'm interested in finding other opportunities to RP Ceoile, as well. I'm looking forward to getting to know people here, and find even more fun in the game. Thank you for reading!