Kenteko

I guess all that makes sense, it's just weird thinking about a few things in the overall spectrum. Obviously, we're not the WoL in the massive spectrum, but by the same token if we're RPing adventurers, we have some level of fantasy durability. I understand that every RP group should have different ideas, and now accept that the Grindstone is obviously something that should not be used for setting a bar, but what about things like the Danshig Naadam? What kind of wounds would someone face spending a full day in there (or really, any PVP area +- the Feast/Rival Wings). This is more a curiosity than not, but I feel OOC content can educate IC content. I think at the end of the day it is somewhat context based. While I accept that the best case scenario is finding people and groups that mesh with my style, in pick up RP it's hard gauging the severity of wounds. I find myself sometimes asking whether or not to mention things like trauma or shock, but then realize that in a fantasy situation people may not want to RP or acknowledge that. About the only universally disabling attack I've seen in any given context is the low blow, and most people tend to react in the exact same way as it seems to be accepted to always hurt. I suppose a takeaway from this is that when faced with pick up RP and wounding or the like specifically, extend my suspension of disbelief substantially to the point of almost legendary resistance until proven otherwise. I think I'd pivot the question more to someone who would likely face constant combat then, i.e. being in an active warzone or an active participant in Frontline/Rival Wings/the Feast or is it bad form to take those IC'ly?

So a recent situation within Grindstone (and truth be told, any time I see people dueling) brought up a question: How durable are characters in Eorzea? We know at least from Heavensward that it's possible to be mortally wounded from what is arguably a targeted wound, but by the same token we/adventurers constantly face massive monsters, sometimes even kaiju sized, and come out smelling like roses. This begs the question of where in realism does our durability lie? Now, obviously this is a bit of character may vary as a fragile, sickly miqo'te is not as tough as a healthy, strapping roegadyn but I feel like any sense of realism offered by the game is often thrown out the window. It is easy to accept that we all have some level of "anime durability" in that we're not going to often be dealing with internal injuries or shock, but by the same token where is the line drawn? The event in question, at least what I saw, was a smaller miqo'te getting hit in the head by a roegadyn with an ogre club, i.e. something bigger than him. In any meaningful situation, that's a near instant fatal wound if not a crippling one, but due to the rules of the tournament and suspension of disbelief he obviously just soldiered on. The reason this bothers me is because it overall sets a lack of tone for combats between players. If we look at PVP (I know) as a point of comparison, PCs are actually more durable than RL humans, but still rather squishy when dealing with equals. A tank with a dedicated healer can stand up to several people, but after something like four or five, even a tank will crumble. All of those characters are regularly hit by the big name abilities from the game (flares, huge axes, apex arrows, et all) and even raw destruction (the LB) can be walked off if you're lucky. Even in Halatali (HM) the fighters are fragile, but can take several hits and keep walking. On the flip side, you have people in duels who get borderline run through and walk it off. You also have people acknowledging the deadliness of weapons and using "blunted" versions, often forgetting that they're still 10-30 pound clubs (race depending) that can and will murder someone through concussive damage. This isn't even getting into how healing works and the complexity behind that, as many, many, MANY people use it as a slap on band aid that solves even the most grievous wound when the story depicts it as more slow barring some stronger spells. So what's the real way to take these situations? Obviously, we're not going to be straight one to one with reality, but I find my suspension of disbelief is often stretched watching duels where there's either a gross mismatch of reach and/or strength, or someone blatantly doesn't care about lethality (the more common situation). I realize the Grindstone isn't the best situation, but I find the concept of wounds and pain interesting especially since it can and does make for writing some great scenes. Not everyone likes crumpling from a kidney punch, but is/does it make sense that the ridiculously magical nature of gear (the stats) mean that everyone is exponentially much more durable than real life or are maiming/savage (neck, crotch, knee, eye, heart) hits meant to be crippling if not lethal? Sorry for the rambling, but this was something weighing on me for a while that I wanted to get out for the sake of conversation.