Momo

Good question! This subject has been discussed at some length before, which lead Nero to post some interesting hypotheses on why it wouldn't be the best idea for you to tattoo arcane geometries onto your body unless for very simple spells. Some of the ideas listed were: ~SMN/SCH/ACN Books are known to use both powerful aether conducting inks as well as high quality pages to properly channel aether for spells. These aether conducting inks would most likely be poisonous to the body if used in any large amount on the skin, and without the pages themselves, the skin may be a questionable method to conduct with, thereby being somewhat weaker. ~Geometries are visual guides, and therefor would limit the user to placing them on the body in such a way as to be able to see them, so having one on your back or legs, or even your neck, would be a hard sell as to being usable for your spell, as you can't see it, and wouldn't be able to properly channel the aether to your desired outcome. The general consensus on this is that it is possible to do this, but as said above, would probably need a fair amount of aether to produce anything, and would be more of an emergency rather than something of steady value to these specific jobs. I am certain there are more opinions on this, perhaps the search for an aether conducting material that could be used on the skin which wouldn't be considered a poison to the body would be something to look into? Good luck!

Thank you for posting this, so excited for Starlight, and that song...so magical... All my Starlight Gifts safely tucked away for the time to come, get out your Starlight clothes, we will get out the Mirror Apple Cider, throw a log on the fire, and a Starlight Log on the table, and all be merry! Happy Holidays to RPers! Hope you get lots of RP and ERP in your stocking!

This week in House of Oschon: Endless Void Ark runs! Hoorah! Arboretum, Arboretum, Arboretum! And Ishgard RP! (Damn it is cold) Top mention: Mokai! The House of Oschon's very own butler, a sort of stray that we fed and he just kept coming back, now has a nice warm bed (on the floor) in our FC, and we have been supporting his venture to take it all to 60! (a.k.a. he makes us stuff, and thinks RP is cute, a.k.a. he work work works for us and we give him the pleasure of our company in return!) Who knows what wonders next week holds?! P.S. Arthur...is it Starlight Celebration yet???

Along with the examples we have of Dark Knights and with what Sounsyy just gave us, in reality, he became more of a Dark Knight than he intended. While not part of the Dark Knight faction as stated, he wields a great sword, and the Heaven's Ward eventually saw themselves as Judge, Jury, and Executioner, or perhaps always saw themselves this way, and simply did this affiliated with a governing body so as to make them unquestionable. I wonder...had he been given the job Lord Commander of the Temple Knights...might he have chosen a different path towards light as Aymeric did? Admittedly I think now, for the most part because Aymeric is a virtuous man, and hard worker, and the job given was given on merit which we see time and again he deserved, but the atmosphere among the Heaven's Ward...that could likely turn anyone bad, intentionally or not.

Thanks for taking an interest! We would be happy to chat about that at some point.

::Sigh:: I truly think this whole thread is in response at least partially to a thread which many here posted in, about the subject that has been mentioned already twice here. People can have opinions, people can have standards, people can express those in ways you like, or don't like, but it isn't any different to just assume that person is a jerkface and is never anything other than a jerkface because of a single thread in which they reply, or because of a single discussion of which they were a part. That isn't any different than what is being said from the other side of this whole thing. It is also a little harsh when it is an opinion thread, where the question asks for opinions, which will be shared, and people are free to share on a discussion forum, whether you like that opinion or not. There are people who come in just to be a jerkface, and that is clear when you look through their post history, they will literally just come in and bash, or curse, or in general be contrary to things without any reason other than to simply be contrary, but there are also people who love their RP, and their community, invest good amounts of time into it, and are protective of the standard of good quality RP across the board. We will always be around, and I think in the long run people like that aren't as bad as they are made out to be. We also have enough sense to see, even if we think an idea is bad, vehemently or otherwise, that the person who posed the question is not just downright a crap person, whether we bring up examples of the past or not. For example: Warren (could be any Warren, you don't know!) and I, our very first interaction from what I can remember, was a heated discussion with very different opinions. We had it out in every sense of the word there. In my head, did I plot all kinds of evil? Sure, in the heat of the moment, I was all out cray-cray with evil plans, I am a Lalafell at heart, it is just how we are, did I actually go out and partake in my evil plans until sated? No. Did I forever relegate Warren into oblivion as a possible RP partner? Nah. What I did was avoid him for a bit while I let myself cool down, talk (only to my close personal friends about my evil plans, but these are also people who have fun listening, while acknowledging I would never actually go through with anything, and that it was harmless venting of emotions) it out with others, and eventually I just didn't care anymore. Did my opinion change on the subject we discussed? No, it has never changed, and the subject was Lalafell rights, a subject I give no ground on as I genuinely love the race and never entertain any other race except on alts and only for short periods of time as a basic stranger. Later, Warren and I found some common ground, we agree on some things, we haven't RPed with one another, but assuming it wouldn't be battle RP (which I rarely if ever engage in aside from PvE), that we would work out just fine. The bottom line is, we are opinionated, and we are passionate, we give our opinions when asked, and we do so vehemently, but from either side of an argument, you don't let that cloud your mind forever, you observe for a bit of time, whether in person or from afar, and come to a conclusion on how you feel about them, and go from there as far as sharing your creativity with them. Don't be out to purposely shut someone out, but don't lose your opinion, don't give ground on what you honestly think, but don't don't let others make your one opinion into some cloud or shadow which covers the whole Forum with evil or some of other thing, we have new threads, we have different opinions, we agree and disagree, it is ever better to strive to be more than one-dimensional and to see others as such, but it doesn't make what we feel any different individually.

(((All of the below is in reply to the post before Melphina's, which wasn't posted when I started typing, but in reply to Melphina, you specifically said in your post that you "didn't have time" to get through the lore of the game, though it seems you are well read and thought out. I don't think you specifically un-creative, but I do think the idea of world hopping into an RP community as such in every incarnation, and so don't take my thoughts on "those who posts these threads." to heart, as I am speaking of my experiences, rather than you in particular, and how those experiences shaped my opinion of "Just no please.". ))) I actually never use the term special snowflake, that is the first time I have ever used it on these forums, or even in my personal thoughts. I am not unreasonable at all, forcing my ideas on others, I am stating my opinion with sound arguments in reply to some of the nonsense I have had to listen to over the years of being on this site, and in this community. I am not just making things up and generalizing, I am looking at the sort of people that make these threads, and looking at the sorts of arguments against what I view as beyond the reasonable content of the community, from first hand, not from random thoughts. Over the years, there has been an unceasing flow of people who want to not only just have their way with their not just "a little special or different" characters, but extraordinary characters, designed to the enjoyment of that RPer alone. Sure, some of you think "Yes, why not, could be fun? Could be fun to imagine this person is crazy, could be fun to let them play out this nonsense story-line, could be fun to imagine they are crazy, or playing a game, or god knows what else just because they should be allowed to", but what is really being said is, that even though we value our community, we should just let someone trample all over it by doing whatever they please. By allowing someone the rudeness of just coming into a generally fun and pre-established community while making whatever character they want, we are saying to prospective members of the community, and veteran ones alike: "Hey it is okay to just do whatever you want and ignore the rest of us, as long as someone RPs with you, who am I to say no?". Okay...sure. We will go with that, we will go with the fact that someone else gets to be rude to those around them by being totally ignorant of the norms of the community which allow most of us to have fun in an environment without worry of crazy randoms the internet often throws out and into MMOs, but to any of us who want just say, "No, please don't do that, because the community isn't just you, it is all of us, and we may have to RP with you at some point, and would prefer you had a character that wasn't so far-fetched as to be completely annoying and awkward to the point of ruining the enjoyment of others around them." we are out to ruin fun. Guess what? I say NO, we aren't ruining other people's fun, we are trying to have fun ourselves, and we are trying to uphold some of the scant norms of the community so that when we all get together from time to time, there isn't this glaring black-hole of stress at having to ignore, and being ignored in a social situation with creative little souls we work very hard on to protect and grow. Let me come at you from the prospective of the actual person I am, rather than the person you believe me to be, shall I? As I said before, and this is in no way a popular opinion: Magi of all types should be allowed to play their roles as their characters. Someone wants to be a white mage? Let them! Elementals cannot control succor, they cannot take all the teaching away literally, and they tried to leave no trace of them before, but the practices still remain in some places, so I say, "Let them eat cake!", but less accidentally hypocritically, and more literally. Be a white mage, find a soul stone lost from the time of Amdapor, learn the ancient arts that brought about a Calamity, because you know what? Not every white mage was that powerful, not every single one was out to abuse their strength, and not every person is going to come along and claim all-powerful white mageness to themselves, because they know, that there are other people in this community who would like to play with them without having to jump through hoops for a conversation or adventure. Wanna be a black mage? Please do! Mhach was one of the greatest civilizations to ever grace Eorzea. They were strong, ruthless, and their power unmatched at the time, and the Void Ark flies free! Somewhere, at some time, a black mage soulstone other than the singular Gem of Shatotto has been dropped, has been left behind by its dying master, only to be picked up again, thought nothing of, or sold as a precious artifact on the blackmarket, or hell, is still somewhere in the many ruins of the nations which rose out of it! Please do, it isn't popular, but guess what: It has actual precedence in the game! We know of the warrior of light being one right now of course, but the many jobs we have seen, some of them aren't hidden behind the gate the community builds around the lore of those jobs, and as we know much more about things than we might, things that we know that carry over into other jobs, we know that it is possible to have more than one soulstone per job, it is possible that anyone skilled enough could create one, and while not as likely, there are still more than three instances of it happening in the game and lore other than that of the WoL, so do it! Approach with caution, these are jobs which aren't popular, but I think are well within the lore to do. You don't have to be a Thaumaturge forever, or a Conurer for the rest of your character life never to advance, because minimalism will win the day now, but at the start of the community, it wasn't like that at all, and I am sure sometime down the road, these jobs will likely become more widespread in the community. Hey, some of those claimed minimalists, have characters so grandiose and nonsensical, that I can barely even hear them talk about the character, much less RP with them, so don't let them tell you that you can't be a powerful mage, work for it, work up to it, be creative and do it! See all that up there? Those are just a couple of my actual opinions on things, rather than me just being a person who generally crushes the hopes of all creativity. I am not like that, there are people here who are, but that isn't what I am asking. I have lots more opinions that are similarly "unpopular", and in reality, because of many of my opinions, I don't consider myself to be a very popular part of this community, but that is okay, because I am not afraid to share my opinion whether people think it is PC of whatever. I will be the first to tell you that this community has changed, and not always for the better, but I am not trying to "retake it for freedom!" or what have you, I am doing my thing and hoping to be a no-nonsense sort as I do so. I am asking people to very specifically: 1. Be actually creative, don't say, "Hey I am doing something new, that is creative!" but tell yourself, "Hey, I love this character, this character has worth and meaning, now how can I genuinely bring that worth and meaning into another world, so that I can share that with others while still actually playing with them, and not in a majority against them?" 2. Call on your sense of sharing the community, don't act like a victim because nearly every person asks, why do something like this when you can literally do a thousand other, genuinely shareable and interesting ideas without making the rest of us bend over backwards to include you? Just want to be with us, want to be a part of the community, and want your character to function with a variety of people, and not just "some that accept you", because you are cutting us off and yourself off, but blaming the rest of us who gave you perfectly good reasons not to do so, and plenty of space with which to build on. 3. Don't generalize others opinions so that it gives just cause to do whatever you want. RPing isn't about doing "whatever you want", none of the lasting characters who have been with the community for years now, came here, to a Coalition of RPers, and said, "Hey, I am just going to do whatever I want, and screw you guys, I am freedom and liberty, and more nonsense like that!" No...just no, we didn't, we thought: "Oh hey, more people who love to do what I do, we should get together and colab on stories and have fun together!" You aren't the nail which sticks out and gets hammered down, you are the child at the end of the row still trying to fit a square block into a round hole and refusing to see how others do things so that you can get the enjoyment of figuring this all out with us. There is a much longer list around here somewhere, but those are a few of my thoughts pertaining to this particular discussion, so I will leave them at that. Furthermore (yes really), forget the Atomos and Void, it isn't going to happen for you, you can't make "fetch" happen. The Atomos no longer lives, it's Maws are inactive and permanently closed (Except Abyseean ones? Which still transferred you to a given place as far as I know.), and to be honest, whatever "mysteries" the world of XI or XIV holds for us, in both instances, these stories have been very clearly thought out. Besides the three trans-dimensional mover and shakers, we have not one single other "normal" person who popped through, we do not have a single bit of flavor text that has ever been mentioned by any of the numerous NPCs which have lore bits so obscure as to point out nearly every other plot point outside of the MSQ, but apparently, they "forgot, or didn't pay any attention to" the admittedly big event of trans-dimensional travel...right, please keep that hope alive. Also...each final fantasy is worked on by a team, there is no hivemind of creators in the FF world, where they all have a say, a boss (or a board of them likely) chooses a director for each game, they put together a team, and work on their own project, just because one person says somewhere down the line that "all the FF worlds are connected" doesn't mean that every single director or writer has to agree on that, and certainly, like many of the things in the cash shop, i.e. fantasia, and the like, this is an MMO...some things have to happen to help keep the game interesting and accessible, whether they are canon to the lore or not. Lightning? Gimmick. Iroha? Gimmick. Shantotto as I said (whether we assume her to be Shatotto or otherwise in our own heads (mine)), is one of the most powerful characters in XI, and her way of transportation is through a spell of her own design, so figuring you used the same spell, now we have to take you as an all-powerful mage strong enough to match Shantotto as well as a trans-dimensional traveler...hmmm, sure, that could be fun, would you like to be the WoL too? I see no one backing that claim. :roll: If nothing else, one should take Shantotto/Shatotto as their precedence of what to do with their XI character...adapt them...

This thread was made to be specifically about her character, and then derailed into something wholly other. Another similar thread already exists and isn't more than a couple months old at this point: http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=12533&highlight=dimension There is little reason to continue this circular discussion on why some should be more special-er snowflakes than others. The original poster, specifically stated that she had a hard time covering the lore of this world, and a dedication to her character on XI. Conversely to my own statements, Some points: Atomos in XI are dead. At the end of the 4th expansion, it states that the Atomos of both timelines, sent to watch over the happenings of each world by Cait Sith (empowered by Altana herself), and judge them accordingly, is now dead and frozen. So post that time, it was impossible to travel through the Void using an Atomos, as when the Atomos deemed the two simultaneous timelines as unworthy of keeping, it tried to swallow them both, thus effectively overwhelming itself, causing self-destruction. Basically you did not come over through a Cavernous Maw, unless you went through one pre-Wings of the Goddess. Further more, there is no evidence, nor is it ever said that other than being a "Voidsent" that the Threshold which the Atomos and it's Cavernous Maws are connected to, is the Void, or leads to the Void. Another point which some have brought forth as a means of travel between worlds, are the Swirling Vortexes located in Valkrum Dunes and Qufim Island. These do not transport you through the void into other dimensions. They have set destinations, as do the other swirling vortexes, namely: Lufaise Meadows, Misareaux Coast, and Apollyon. These are parts of the Emptiness...the Epmtiness is not the Void, it is the manifested will of Promathia, slowly destroying existence. Hence, you did not take a swirling vortex to Eorzea. And so on and so forth, on and on, until you have nothing left to propel you into this world except for the sheer magnitude of brilliance, strength, and will which are contained within Shantotto herself, thus propelling you to major characters status, and therefor justifying your transport into the world of XIV from another FF...good luck with that as I said, that kind of character creation is basically void of creativity, or an interest in truly being part of this community (flawed or not). This all leads back to what I was saying, just don't bother. There is no evidence of "Ooops, I have fallen into a wormhole and ended up in this strange land called Eorzea, herpderp!", there is so far only evidence of, "Oh look, I am a major player where I come from, the will of the Void, the will of the Crystals, the will of whatever god/goddess or otherwise, has chosen me to travel through a portal to interact, and have an affect on the world of Eorzea." or "I am Shantotto, I have in my great power ad brilliance, made a gateway here to affect the world of Eorzea, causing the rise of a nation and consequently a Calamity. As well as creating one of the most powerful weapons in existence, and teaching ever greater forces to the mages of this world." So if you are willing to allow your characters to fall into these categories, go ahead. There is little else to support some random character of lesser importance falling through a portal into another FF world. Besides mostly the desire of either a person unwilling to learn the lore of the world that the community loves, or a selfish interest in only continuing their character from before, without taking into account others.

You're all forgetting that the travel between worlds we have so far, has been the travel of important characters, which make an impact in the world in which they eventually appear. Now, if you were say comfortable calling yourself the next Lightning or Shantotto? Go ahead (because that would go over about as well as the proposed idea, which is to say: "Like a lead balloon.") We do not know what method Shantotto used to travel into this world (other than a spell which appears to be like Return or Teleport, using the travel of the body much like we do in FFXIV), and we have no proof that Atomos do in fact have a link here, as all the ones we have here linked only to the Void, which has specific purpose and form in our world. Not to mention, Atomos in FFXIV, were all closed and dead by the end of the 4th expansion, making them an excuse for travel unfeasible. Lightning uses a decidedly similar form of inter-dimensional travel, with her signature powers adding in the feather affect. What is clear still, is that those who may travel between world in the FF universe, Shantotto, Lightning, Iroha and so forth...they aren't just normal people walking around, suddenly thrown into our world, they are important, powerful, world-changing characters (in their own world, and at times in ours), and the use of this method of travel and character creation in the world of FFXIV can be viewed as no less than pompous or in ignorance of the RP community as a whole. Characters, their likes, dislikes, origins, everyday play style, these can all change, but that doesn't give one the right to deviate so far away from the community norm that one may choose to alter the realm using a character not of FFXIV. You will not find many supporters should you be a world traveler, and let me be the first here to admit, that at times, RP in this community is already tough enough. To finish, I am a supporter of White Mage characters and Black Mage characters, I think done well, nearly all ideas can be done in our community to some amount of support from good creative people, but not this idea. To most, this idea will automatically signal a lack of interest in learning lore, in blending in with the RP community, not necessarily to the point of total disinterest in your character, but in the way that this community as any RP community, only works if we all have a general level of belief. That alone, is enough to turn any RPer away, because, as much as I loved XI when I played (or any of the FF games), I love FFXIV, I love the lore, I love the characters, the great story that we have in the game, but also of a realm we hoped to love, then pulled out of the flames and given new life by Yoshi-P, and that is what we hope translates to others thinking of joining with us to tell our stories. Best idea I can offer you to soothe your desire to continue your old character: let the transform creatively into a new character, let go of their world in your mind, and capture their creative essence to then place into another character, have faith in your ability to create a new interesting character in the ever-growing world of FFXIV, and have faith that character can survive and carry on the legacy of your XI love.

You can do this, I am not sure how fun it would be, or to what success it could be done just because of the dedicated RP it would take to accomplish this. but it could be done. Right now...from what we are seeing of previews for the new MSQ, it may be possible to have more than one warrior of light or warrior of darkness, which would lend itself to a team of RPers, but again finding those sorts of people willing to do this, not to mention what this "team" of warriors is, we aren't sure totally. Lastly, and this is the most important, you are cut off from the community at large, meaning: no events, no random RP, no nothing that doesn't involve your circle of RPers only. Now that may be okay, some people don't do many things outside their own FC, but then of course, you would need permission to use the other characters in your own FC, and have them agree on a narrative before-hand...which I think would become somewhat boring. I think you should consider the more interesting story to tell, the stories of the non-WoLs. Pick an instance in the MSQ you love, and try to fit an additional character into it from the perspective of an adventurer which experiences it. There are many MSQ moments which you could probably do this from, and done the right way, with a decent theme, you could really tell an interesting story, maybe more interesting than the MSQ, which we all already know.

This is shaky at best, but I had never questioned unmentioned Race origins to come out of the Allagan Empire, simply on the origin story of the Gods and of Hydaelyn and the Eorzean region. It is stated that the Warring Races drove out the gods in disgust from our Realm, and that to me says that there were certainly more than Hyur, or Hyur and Elezen to start with. There is something that we are missing in all of the origins of each race, and that is the the start of life and magic on the Planet of Hydaelyn itself. It seems to state that the Eorzean region (or maybe some sort of Pangaea-esque land) , consisting of more than one continent, was once the origin of both life and magic in all the world, and that perhaps, and I take this from the example of the Dragon race itself, races fanned out at one point, traveling to different parts of the world before eventually creating their own civilizations and coming back to Eorzea, perhaps after some Calamity drove them out? As I said, this is all theory, but it makes sense to me, that if all races and magic started in Eorzea, per the creation tales, that whatever event caused their creation and then whatever event caused the separation, are things both connected, and points to which we are eventually coming -to- in the MSQ at some time. Not even to mention or get into the fact that if the world that we now call "Hydaelyn" itself, was once simply a well-placed planet which was barren of life, and a cross-universe traveling mass soul such as Hydaelyn chose to possess, her soul and aether kept centrally inside the Mothercrystal housed in a base dimension of the planet which then: gave rise to Gods, whether that power was taken (>.>) or otherwise, the Elementals, the Warring Races, and which called forth Midgard from space with her vast amounts of power...well as I said, not even getting into that...because I have lots lots more to go with that...lots and lots...or Hydaelyn the cross-dimensional traveler...nope not going there...

Something I wanted to touch on that Merak talked about in the original post is once again, this idea of Soul Gems containing actual souls. In some cases they seem to do just this, but with that being said, not all soul gems house actual souls, and their creation is replicated with technology, therefor I wouldn't feel safe to assume that simply because in a certain case there is a soul attached to one, that all of them or even most of them house souls. We discussed this somewhat extensively in last Soul Gems thread, but it seems that soul gems, whatever they are made of, can contain traces of a soul, memories, summoning contracts, and even in the one case you mentioned, an actual soul. Above all, it seems that they especially contain downloadable knowledge, which opens the gate to lost arts, or unattainable arts for those who do not have the talent or time to do so on their own. Whether that means we just have all these memories of arts unknown suddenly, or simply new instincts that allow us a greater level of inherent learning, cannot yet be ascertained. Next, we have the difference between Aether and the Soul, as well as the physical form. We have discussed this at length as well, particularly in the case of the body which can remain until decomposition, or in some cases can seem to break up into Aether upon death. As in the case of beings who are possessed (purposely or otherwise) by Primals, this seems most true, and in the case of Dragons, that perhaps due to higher aether content in the body, that the body does not remain when great damage is dealt to the outer form, but instead immediately decomposes into the lifestream. I don't have examples, but I wouldn't be surprised that whose with high "anima" content in the body, can choose to "dissolve" rather than naturally decompose. Perhaps as usual, Sounsyy can back any of that up with links and the like, or I suppose, dispute it haha. Whatever the case, time seems to make clear, an idea pertaining to the level of each form of existence the body has within it. The equivalence of a soul, the equivalence of aether, the equivalence of anima, the equivalence of the physical form versus the aetherial content of the body. And all these in my mind, tell me that perhaps we are thinking of each thing too single dimensional, and that each layer of the being in Eorzea is actually the body inhabiting more than one realm at once, and greater levels of certain qualities drive us to exist in certain ways rather than others. As I question each of these planes and forms of existence, I begin to be led to questioning each realm that we know of, the Void, the realm of Hydaelyn versus the world we know. But that may be a whole other thread for another time.

Being an Elezen...I suspect isn't always easy, and Ishgardian one at that, considering all the tensions in the game from different sides. We actually just happened to run into Solenne and a gentleman Elezen who was less than a gentleman (which I found fun btw!) as we entered Camp Dragonhead, but of course I run with two Elezen, one who is Ishgardian but not of noble blood, and one who is not Ishgardian, so their attitude towards things is just a bit different, being that they very much are the sort of "Adventurer Mentality". To me, Elezen aesthetic form and movement, are both exceptionally beautiful. I actually think that Elezen faces can have non-traditional beauty to them, that I find I quite like, somewhat like a sexy European man that maybe by "American Standards" not everyone would like. They have an unusual gait yes, their lovely hips and long limbs account for that, but being a Lalafell, you aren't getting a stranger gait than that, so to me they offer something exotic. Perhaps because of their lack of popularity, it makes them special to me, but probably also because those who choose to RP them, seem to be each skilled in their own right when it comes to RP, great stories and plot execution, greater sense of character than some other races! I think that FFXIV really makes a wonderful atmosphere for that, and so it makes me love them even more. Ozma, they are out there, they can be rare, I think they are growing in number though, but they are out there, and should you find one, you can usually expect great RP, so good luck!

There is a stigma with Lalafell, plain and simple. There are a number of reasons given at any time, most of them fairly predictable, and anyone who RPs as a Lalafell has probably heard them at some point. I have conferred with many other RPers of different backgrounds/races/intensities, and all have said these things at one point or another, while acknowledging that they are making statements which are trivial and predictable. The list of replies are as follows (in no particular order, though I could probably rank them too): 1) Lalafell are too cliquey. 2) Lalafell look too much like children for me to take them seriously, romantically or as characters in general. 3) Lalafell are too small. 4) Lalafell are a "troll" race. 5) Lalafell too often play to their cutesy appearance, which makes it hard to take the rest seriously. There are some more general lines you get, but these pretty much cover everything, and apply to the instance of romantic relationships in RP and often everyday relationships. If you aren't a Lalafell, then you will not hear most of these things, and when you do, you will think nothing of them, when in reality Lalafell players who came into the fold of our RP community not thinking about the kind of attitudes towards their character that they would inevitably face, kind of get blind-sided at first, which then evolves into a disdain for RPers (good, casual, heavy, whatever) who immediately fall into these safety net lines to avoid meaningful RP with Lalafell. A few things about how I view Lalafell, and I suspect about how many other serious Lalafell RPers view their characters that you should take into account before interacting with us (which you wouldn't apparently need pointed out in other situations, but apparently in ours is a "special case"). 1) Lalafell are not cliquey, we band together because it is in the nature of Lalafells to do so. I don't know why, but the people who RP or Play Lalafell tend to be a sort which likes to interact with others of their race. Some are staunch Lalafell supporters to the point that other races become secondary to us, and frankly, I am not sure where that doesn't fit in with lore anyways? But I will say, this is not how I am, I only support Lalafell so far against other races, because of the push I feel against us makes me do so. As an adventurer, a feeling of freedom of these sorts of things should really be the norm IC and OOC in my opinion. 2) Yes, okay, yes, we look young, we have a youthful look to us and our actions. As an RPer who thinks of their IC body as a physical extension of the character which lives in my mind and at my fingertips, I shy away from using many of our physically visible emotes because I feel them contrary to Momoto and how he acts. I use some of them ironically or sarcastically when necessary, but that is with friends who know Momoto's mood and general countenance, and who know I am not being cutesy. Bottom line, we are not young unless stated, if you can't tell then that isn't our fault, but we should be treated with respect and equality as RPers like any other race, and these statements shouldn't need to be made to any RPer, but hey, apparently that isn't the case! 3) We are small yes, thank you for your observation, we are indeed of a smaller stature. I primarily think of Lalafells as the "dwarf" race of the game. NPC Lalafells are more often than not, quite serious/evil/very much not children or cute in any way, and that should be a cursor for how you view Lalafell characters: not children. The whole appearance of our race is constrained as the other races are, by Japanese stylized designs. So unlike "traditional" western dwarves, we do not have long beards, or old man/santa appearances which would be a bit harder for the Japanese fan-base and home-team designers to process into the style of the game, but we should be treated as such: just as tough if not tougher than other races, sexual beings like any other, and often good-natured, but not necessarily cute upon first meeting. 4) I don't think this needs to be addressed, any race with obvious qualities that differ from others will attract trolls, Roes can be trolls for their immense size, Auri can be trolls for their stereotypical "anime" hair and general appearance, and so on...this is not a point to be made...put an afro on anything and it becomes a troll race... 5) Some of us are cutesy, because a girl or boy can think, "Oh what a cute race, I have a character which is jolly and happy and I think this race would fit well!" Well, okay...sure, but that sort of personality can fit into any race...a Roe can be jolly, an Auri girl can be happy and cute, and you may pat them on the head out-rightly or refuse to ERP with them or enter "serious" RP relationships with them, but they do not make up the norm, nor would you assume to treat others of the same race the way you treat them. Alright, well...yeah, that got away from me, I have been avoiding coming to this thread, because as my friends and acquaintances know, I have been a Lalafell since 1.0, when the RP community was entirely different, and we didn't really encounter these sorts of things, so when I returned to the RP community some time later, I was really surprised, then continuously disappointed by how interactions between Lalafells and other races would work out. That situation where this sort of thing happened, and it cut off avenues of RP over and over, sort of gets you down, then makes you passionate when the subject comes up I guess.

Something to consider along with Sounsyy's statement, Midgardsormr was supposedly the first, and Father of all dragons to follow. He was not one of the 7 legendary dragons, but in fact, he is before them, first charged with the duty to protect the waters and magic of Silvertear Falls (supposed to be the well from which all magic was created and flows), and bringing the seven eggs which would later hatch into the Seven Celestial Wyrms. As such, he may be unlike his children, in that perhaps he has more power and control over his form and spirit. Seemingly able to change shape and reform himself at will, we see a vision of him which has sentience and pierces our being to break the protection of light which then proceeds to form a minion which he speaks to us through, and then onto a mount which we can ride, and is recognized as the dragon himself. These abilities, unlike the others, may either point to his power and control as I stated, or may simply be a recognition of any dragon which is near his magnitude, and the powers they posses, and it is only that we see him more often because of his vested interest in the WoL. Whatever the case, I think it is apparent that the Dragon race as a whole, is entirely unlike other races, each of the Legendary Dragons and their Father, possessing vast amounts of individual power and innumerable long years of life. Through their eyes, able to reform themselves over and over until the absolute destruction of both comes, and not spirit remains. Something I would like to address for the original poster, is a theory that Midgard is omniscient in certain ways, and can see the fate of some of his children. This fact, and the fact that he even comes to the WoL, chosen one of Hydaelyn, and teaches us a lesson, could be something which speaks to his personality and his relationship with the world. He may not breath life back into Bahamut, whether he can or not, simply because there was a lesson to be learned there, which two of his children had to take part in, and later affect the WoL's journey, possibly a step towards ending the cycle of Eras. That is, as you say, only a crackpot theory, but one I feel justified in making! This is fun, hope it keeps going!

My goodness...are we only going to have one patch...because this is like Starlight come early with the amount of content they are bringing us! I can't decide what I am more excited for honestly, but I do know one thing...that had better not be a mortal wound that I am seeing being inflicted on Aymeric so help me Twelve, I will likely not forgive them should they do away with him no matter how many memorial shields they give me! I am furious right now simply thinking about it...

Is Momo a summoner in-character? Yes. Does it come up often? Not really. Momo has two of the three summons from various methods, but rarely feels an absolute need to use them, and never summons any kind of Carbuncle for the same reason, so in essence, yes, he is a summoner, but really he is a retired Free Paladin and foremost an academic. I am not much for minimalism, so I think it is okay to RP as your job/class. As long as you do it well and within the lore, you should be fine. Should you choose to do so without discretion, beware awkward social situations, and lack of steady RP partners of any quality. Have fun, but always remember this is an RP community, not just your world, so have some decency to allow others the same courtesy and play as close to the lore as you can while still letting yourself be happy!

It always is like this with armor and opinions from each person, I think people should look at it more like an overall aesthetic much like the comment a couple posts back about the "Gothic" theme, which wasn't being addressed properly. Personally, I guess we can call them lazy, but the FFXIV team has been working really hard to bring us a quality expansion, and the number of clothes/armor options we have, is nice in my opinion. There is a little something for everyone, and for most there are quite a lot of options for each character. Like some of the armor before, we may see some options to dye it coming later, for now, we have so many gears that I don't even see many people using to their advantage, mind you it seems like some people think their character will be dressed to the nines like a peacock at all times, while I usually view my character changing gear by day/night, terrain, desired mission, and so on, and then have an outfit I wear for general everyday/weekly use. Since we have acknowledged that we each want armor from another class, I guess I should point out that we also know that armor/glamour is basically endgame here, and particularly for RPers. This means you will probably need to lvl another class, even if just for glamour, and out of dungeons, which can be tedious, but is well worth it when you can bust out heavy armors IC for something fun to do with your group and to go along with possible background, or character progression in other areas away from your narrower job path. All that being said, I am not in love with the top hat, and I don't like the color red, so the caster outfit is no good to me, but the healer outfit is nice, and I agree that the tank outfit is really great, so I will try for those, while I enjoy the totally cool looking dungeons and lore we have coming our way soon! I agree with the statement about the new Void Ark armors being refreshing and cool as well, not to mention my absolute devotion to 24-man raids, so you can be sure to see me there ASAP, for both! I am kind of excited that I can have my big Amber Choco flying with another passenger on board too! That will be really awesome, and it will probably be the only choco I think actually looks like it could carry any size without breaking suspension of belief lol.

This is not the last feature of change to the wards, there will be a three step system to make changes over the next year, this is simply the first. No matter what your opinion will be, this will do something, though I think it will be a small change because as much as people complain about empty houses, I rarely if ever see these "empty" houses. This will either cause players to return, or houses to be up for sale later this year, and either of those things would be a good thing. Some things to consider that you have already discussed: ~Not all FC leaders are power and money hungry monsters! ~There are houses up for sale (nearly all the time), and the market is inflated yes, but everything on Balmung is inflated (including egos and personalities...#RPServer) ~There are ways of making a lot of money among FC members, and so the costs of most of the houses I am seeing be sold, aren't so far out of the range of reasonable as to gripe about it. (Though I agree, they should be sold not far over the original amount myself, some of those you buy from are selling for what they paid themselves!) ~If your FC is an RPFC and has no money, this may be a signal to actually play the game to make money to get the house you really want Some amendments to the above, I am an FC leader, an RPFC who has a small amount of members, but we make sure from the start that those members value game play as well as role play, and in the very short time that we have been together, we have generated tons of rank and money together, without even being very vigilant about it. If your FC cannot do this, it is time to rethink your priorities in the game, and place value in game play, so that in the future making money is much easier and faster. Some Cash-Raising Ideas: ~Dungeon Spams for rare items, schedule revolving among your group ~Look to your crafters, if they can make things, or have a real desire to craft, invest time and money in them so as to get a return that will help the entire group ~Sell everything! Make a week, or some times of the week, where everyone agrees to sell all their useless items, and donate that money to the FC ~Daily/Weekly/Monthly donations to the FC chest, make a minimum for all members of the FC to donate after a certain amount of time, not too much though! ~Le Gasp...throw an RP event with donations...we are groups of RPers after all, do something simple, and invite friends, and LSs, if you don't have many of those...back to the drawing board! And so on, these are just a few of the easier ideas, but they would each probably manage to help you raise a good bit of money for your own house. I cannot tell you, as someone who values FFXIV as a game and a mode of Roleplay, how frustrating it is to have people who do not care to contribute to a group through gameplay as well as RP. This is a game, and should you be joining with others to accomplish goals, be sure that you can handle the level of their goals, and be a contributing member, instead of a leech who "just feels like RPing", because it is not in anyway unreasonable for your FC, or hell, even your friends in general IG, to expect some amount of FFXIV gameplay out of you from time to time. If you didn't like this change, wait for the nest two! You will probably manage to hate those as well! In the coming months, to a year we will also be getting: 2. Moving and Trading Housing, so we sort of heard about the Ishgard housing transfer system, they said that this will be phase 2, and include proper trading of housing to other players as well as transfer from one place to another, or it was implied as such, not given a whole lot of detail 3. Add New Wards, this will be the last step in the process, and they have been stating that both new wards will be added and/or Ishgardian wards will be added, so it is a toss up on what they decide to include in this last step. The time frame they gave was a year or more for this last step to take place. So there is a wait for this last step certainly. To check the above information, please refer to the Gamescon 2015 interview! Now...let us go talk about Halloween stuff, because they are basically loading us up with junk we all absolutely need!

The appearance of what seems to be Krile, points to two things being relative to her from FFV, both the Void (Ark), and the new Zodiac Weapons quest. I think either is fairly likely, possibly both, and I am excited to see what happens!

I suppose I am not understanding why most of those who need a soulstone, can't just RP a quest to find one? As shown here, by many of the people who study their job/class lore well enough, there are ways of obtaining soulstones apart from those shown in the game. Not all adventurers are strong...true enough, however barring being the actual WoL above all others, there is no reason, a learned and hardworking member of each and every job here, cannot work up to, and make themselves worthy of a soulstone, both in terms of IG and OOC goals. Not all soulstones are readily available...true enough as well, however! We know what soulstones are essentially. We know what it basically takes to make one from piecing bits of lore together, and each job has been blessed with beyond enough lore to make the search for one much easier than some would make it out to be. Do your homework, study down to the detail, find that place where Black Mages and their magic were most active, find that black market trader in Ul'dah where all sorts of rare stones can be found, and have your character feel it out. Invite your friends, hire an NPC, hire a PC, to be that person who helps you find or obtain that soulstone you need to continue your work. We are a creative community in general, and I think it is reasonable to assume, that given a goal, we can work that goal out with enough examination and cross-examination of the facts. For those of you who don't wish to use the soulstone to "upgrade" their class, be the best Gladiator or Ascanist or Thaumaturge you can, and forget the rest. If you are coming into situations where the kind of power those "upgraded" jobs are needed often, figure out what you think it will take to make your power at a reasonable enough level to handle these sorts of situations (also question your RP a bit, because these sorts of things shouldn't be happening everyday more than likely, though that is dependent on the character of course!) without needing to come into possession of a soulstone, or hell, lose a battle if you have to! ~~~~ Before anything is said to the contrary, the Gem of Shanotto is a soulstone, one of a kind as much as any soulstone is I suspect, and there is nothing that could stop one from not finding another, if anything, wait until Void Ark comes around, if it is all that it has been rumored to be, my guess is that a reasonable amount of information could be released as to point us in the direction of where Black Mages would be in concentration, or perhaps even have your character travel back into the ruins of the Belah'dia, and find a Black Mage soulstone hidden among the civilization which we believe came from Mhachi! There are ways to do these things, be creative! I am not 100% certain, but I think White Mages do not need a soulstone to access Succor as we have already established? Technically, Succor is accessible to those outside the blessings of the Elementals, but it is rather nicer to have it passed down from them. That being said...Lost City is still as open as ever it was to us, and wouldn't take all that much to RP entrance into, if for the soul purpose of obtaining your own, once lost soulstone from the ancient ruins of the Amdapori, the greatest nation of White Mages that ever lived. And so on and so forth with these sorts of things.... ~~~~ My top suggestion! Don't be so over embellished with your RP that you are the WoL come again to free us all from the rules of lore, but never be so minimalist as to lock out yourself and everyone around you, from having well thought-out and meaningful RP which is supported by current lore, as with the case of soulstones!

We seem to be straying quite far from Dragons, and their susceptibility to woodsin. Going back to something that was mentioned earlier, though Dragons are a "beast race", unlike other beast races, they are ancient. Older than we know in the history of the world, and certainly older than the other races we have encountered. Also, blessed apparently by their creators, with long lives and many offspring, as well as a vision and power over the worlds that are known and unknown, of a magnitude that few other races, beast or otherwise, can match. That being said, not all Dragons are old, many are young, and do not have long lives in comparison to their elders, but none the less, they are ancient, from a time before the warring races, and therefor possibly as ancient as the Elementals. This makes me think that they could have further immunity to the powers of the natural world (not to mention, a pact which could be termed "new" when matched against the terms of race whose eldest see years as fleeting moments, like that of the Pact of Gelmorra and Dragons) compared to that of other races, because of the origin of their race, and from what we have experienced of their power and affect on the natural order of the world should they so wish. This is more a speculation on the balance of power and aether among the ancient beings, rather than something addressed by quotes by characters IG, but I think is something to be considered when speaking on what does and does not have an effect on Dragons. I would also concede, that most of the lower Dragons would probably be susceptible to a greater degree than that of the their elders, again in part due to their lower rank and power among their race, and the more fleeting terms of their lives.

I would also think of it like this: just like any other civilization, yes, they were built on the principles and teachings of a certain group, but also like any other, they are a working thriving civilization that needs all the working parts of any normal society. Surely this extends into combat, and not just the existence of traders, culinary artists, non-magical healers, entertainers, and on that last note, perhaps some combatants continued to practice their melee arts not only as tradition, but as a form of live entertainment, much like the martial arts of today. So I certainly think it is safe to say that there were physical combatants still in use in those days, but I also think what you mentioned could have been possible. A body-guard can also be practiced in stealth rather than being a physical menace meant to intimidate. There is nothing more dangerous than an obvious threat being guarded by a secret one. That is something to think on, but I would also take into account, there is no lore behind that idea, so it could be harder to make sense of it in the Eorzea of today, or maybe easier, who knows?

I am kinda hoping they offer the Clogs in the IG vendor too since they didn't add them to the MS. We will probably have an IG vendor still I hope. One thing doh...are they giving a separate thing for the Anniversary this year? Or are we just getting this? What do you guys think?

I guess they are kinda lame and obvious choices, but quick list: Zelda Wii U...which had better still be for WiiU when it comes out since I bought one for the damn game specifically... Final Fantasy XV, I am just a FF fan in general, and I enjoy all male casts....I honestly think the unique design and aesthetic for this game just really make it feel different from the last few titles. I suppose it remains to be seen whether or not it has a very compelling story, but from the newest trailer...there is something there that if they really captured with the rest of the story, I will be captivated by. Fire Emblem Fates, I am hoping that they release the special edition with all content to the US, I want to get married to my man! Kingdom Hearts 3, which if Nomura would focus on for about 5 seconds, would have been finished ages ago probably, but seeing as he is offered and undertakes every job under the Sun, oh well, I am getting it soon now. FFVII Remake...I want to say I am only genuinely excited by the prospect of this game...but with Nomura coming back to direct, I know better. He is unafraid to do whatever he wants with stories and games, which is fine and all as an artist (I understand), but there are some thing that are sacred to the gaming community and this is one of them. Let's just hope that it isn't so changed that we can't recognize it anymore.