First of all, hello everyone! I got into RPing through play-by-post games close to two decades ago, transitioned to tabletop games through college (and especially afterwards with the DnD renaissance we've got going on now), and now I find myself finally wanting to try MMO RPing. Basically, I adore Hydaelyn/Eorzea and want to explore this world, but short of dragging my friends kicking and screaming into a campaign I DM myself, this is the only way I'll get to.
I've an old character concept that I'd like to work with. Nomolun, a Xaela girl from the Goro tribe who, due to a traumatic trampling at an early age, is absolutely petrified of horses (and chocobos). Naturally, this didn't go over well with the Goro, and despite repeated attempts to "cure" the pariah, she freaked out and fled on her wedding day. This resulted in her family giving up on her and tossing her to the dogs in Reunion. Nomolun found herself in Kugane, and the humanoid traffickers found her even easier prey. Weeks in the hold of a ship later, the Maelstrom intercepts the pirates and frees the cargo, and Nomolun finds herself in Limsa.
Because of the absolute ton of Xaela characters I've seen (with good reason; they're awesome), I made a Raen variation of the concept that hits all the same points, but differently. Kaede Shirako, like so many in her family, was born with albinism and ostracized because of it. They lived in a very secluded, backwater village and revered the kami above all. Eventually, Kaede made a mistake (or was blamed for it) and the kami were angered. As tradition mandated, the kami must be appeased, and so she was made an example of. Beaten, exiled, and named Yaridama by the elders, she found herself in Kugane and the same events happened from here on.
Now to beleaguer you all with questions that I haven't found a good answer to.
What is the relative concentration of Xaela characters in the RP community? I don't necessarily need to be a special snowflake (because we all know nobody ever uses albinism as a character trait, right?), but I will find it very awkward playing a Xaela if there's a decent chance she could run into someone from the same tribe or something similar. From what I've skimmed here in the intro forum and the character pages on the wiki, it's quite a few. I've seen far fewer Raen, but I should probably ask the same question of them too. I've got a Duskwight idea in my back pocket if I feel I need to abandon this concept.
How should the Echo be handled, if at all? I really love the idea of the Echo, especially after the lore bombs in Shadowbringers. What is the community's stance on characters possessing it? Is it considered bad form? Overdone? At least for the Nomolun/Yaridama concept I don't intend on making it part of her backstory, but it might be interesting to RP awakening to the Echo down the line if I can orchestrate a starshower-like event.
How should using canon characters be handled, if at all? I'm not talking along the lines of being Alphinaud's childhood bff. However, in order to get them neatly to the Arcanists' guild, I was going to strongly imply that K'lyhia was the one who spearheaded the rescue operation. It makes sense for that character, given her history with those kinds of bad actors, and would give my character a friendly face in Eorzea and a strong reason to at least dabble in arcanima. If this was a DnD campaign I'd have few reservations about doing that, but this is a massively shared world. Should backstories be more hands off with the canon in this medium?
How do people usually do aliases? If I go with the Raen over the Xaela, which should be her listed character name? Yaridama, the "scarlet letter" she was branded with, and the one she goes by, or her birth name Kaede, which after some character development she will likely start using again?
That's all folks. I hope you made it this far despite your eyes glazing over, and I thank you if you did. I love words entirely too much for my own good, and I'm already greedily eyeing the play-by-post forum. I'll likely make a post in the character workshop if I feel I need more guidance, but these three-and-a-half questions were the ones bugging me most.
Bonus round: Mateus or Balmung? I've read a lot of debate, but I wouldn't mind hearing more. As far as I understand it, Mateus is a little more open, but Balmung has the majority of the FC and linkshells. Is Balmung clique-ish?
