shdwsng

IMHO, the way things are going these days having some form of the Echo is quite common. At the very least, the "I cannot be tempered" kind of Echo. Because otherwise the fact that the beast tribes are summoning primals left and right and getting them smacked back down likewise left and right kind of stretches belief. Like everything else, it's a tool in the story-teller's arsenal. Whether you have it or not isn't OP, it's what you do with it.

...and Yini beat me to saying it. I will say that we were RPing last night and a couple of trolls wandered up. She brought out that approach? They left nicely, with no hurt feelings on either side. Just stay polite, ask nicely that you not be bothered, and if they persist in being a jerk remind them about Harassment being a bannable violation of the Terms of Service and that you're getting screenshots of this. That usually gets the ones who don't NEED to be banned off your back.

I'll say right now that anyone who wants to be pen pals with Rheya? Just send me a friend request and let me know it's about this. I'll gladly swap letters with everybody. That being said, I usually just send a tell if I catch someone on and free. It may be a bit awkward, but I haven't had anyone I asked turn me down yet!

IMHO, having used the 550ti both solo and in an SLI setup, unless you think THAT's defective you could probably put off upgrading the 560ti. I originally had a 1st gen Intel i7 chip and got decent performance out of it about three and a half years later but upgraded for the same reason you are. Most of the problems I could lay on an underpowered system... With an i7-3770k that's been overclocked to 4 Ghz and a GTX 660 I'm running FFXIV at the highest settings I can at 1920 x 1080. Aside from some shadows acting a wee bit odd when the sun was setting, I've had zero problems, and been easily getting between 40-60 frames a second if not more. Anything in the Core 2 range? Your CPU is definitely your bottleneck.

First off, there's nothing wrong with just being a reactive RPer for awhile. That's been my role for most of my MMO roleplaying career. Sure, I occasionally come up with stories that I want to have people help me tell... But that's like once every six-eight months. And half the time they never really went anywhere. However, the advice someone gave really struck a chord. Find another player you like RPing with and ask, "How can I help you further your story?". People who can do that? Worth their weight in gil to an RP group. Twice their weight. Because if you successfully do that a couple of times and word gets around? I guarantee your RP dance card will not empty fast. And once you get him tied into a few plots, then feel free to play off them. Shoot, look at all the RP going around and see if there's ways to make things tie together. Always make sure that crossing plots is okay OOCly first, of course... Some people have issues with other players you might not know of, some people might just want things resolved a specific way, but I'll bet that better than half of the people will go, "Sure! That sounds fun!". Help other players, build bridges between groups, and don't be afraid to leapfrog off other people's RP ideas. Especially if you can turn around and suck them right back into it. Because the one thing we all love is More RP!

Well, it's not GAMES lately, but e-books. That being said, if I let a game eat my brain these days it's likely to be X-Com: Enemy Unknown for right now. That might change to Borderlands 2 depending on brainpower, but we'll see.

For the OFFICIAL "what the heck happened" post, here's the thread that lays it out. FFXIV 1.0, the Official Lore Post. It's from the localization director and lore guru, and it makes me sad that 1.0 was such a steaming pile on the back end. This was a very epic Final Fantasy story... But I can't wait to see where they're going with it for the endgame stuff! And I think most people aren't playing time-jumpers. Partly because it gives them that five years to work with in character development, partly because EVERYONE playing the game can't be a Warrior of Light!

I blamed the Pen Pal list ICly on the Adventurer's Guild. We can always say that they're looking to network people in order to cut down on the "oh crap I'm dead" problems they've been having. That way, we can get more friends! Also, thanks to our lovely Lalafell I got the ball rolling with an in-character note. Only to realize that 200 character limit? BRUTAL. So don't be afraid to send a "TBC" series of letters, or use the forums here if you have to write a novel. (To Be Continued, by the way.) Either way, I love the idea and if anyone catches Rheya on please send me a friend request, tell, and a letter!

For discovering the thread, I'd say that alphabetically is good for now, unless you want to have one list for boys and another for girls. But that's why we have COLOR! Rheya Tayuun - Miquo'te

Rheya has a crippling level of low self-esteem, as well as a bit of a martyr complex. She's done horrible things in the past and feels she needs to atone for them. Which blends nicely with some prickly trust issues to leave her pushing away any sort of close relationship. However, she deeply, deeply craves that sort of close bond. She just doesn't believe she's worthy of it. Also, she's managed to divide the world into "Users", "Losers", and "Us". If you manage to get past her prickliness, you're a friend for life. Otherwise, you're either someone to kill, use, or run away from. And may the Twelve help you if she thinks you've betrayed her once she lets you in close... Because she will make you beg her for death, and she won't let you stop suffering.

As a professional geek and longtime gamer, this is a subject near and dear to my heart. RAM upgrades will get you more overall bang for your buck as long as you're under 4 gigabytes, but a graphics card will really make a gaming PC shine. The things to consider when choosing a graphics card are what you're playing and how big your computer's power supply is. Since you can pull a card and put it in a new computer very easily, this is one of those upgrades that you should go as good as you have budget for every time you look at it. Often you can get a really good card and have it last for a couple of years. What you're playing will tell you what tier of card you want to look at. If you're playing basic stuff on Facebook or feeding your solitaire addiction, then a lower-end card will serve you quite well. For older MMO's like World of Warcraft or anything in the Everquest series, a mid-range card would do pretty well. Final Fantasy 14, on the other hand, is a VERY pretty game with all the latest bells and whistles. You'll want to push the limits and get a mid-to-high end card to really get the most out of it. The other thing to consider is your computer's power supply. Most "stock" computers come with a 250 to 400 watt power supply these days, with the lower supplies being VERY common on the cheap end. Most mid to high end cards suggest power supplies of about 400 to 500 watts total, and if you're working with multiple graphics cards then you should be starting about 800 watts or more. The reason for this is to give your system enough juice to run the card without having to strain the power supply. Having done this once because I thought I had a bigger power supply than I did, it causes all kinds of frustrating little problems as various things need power and don't get it. So if you're upgrading your graphics card for something other than basic Facebook flash games? Expect to budget an extra $40-60 for a new power supply as well. And whatever the install costs for it are if you're not doing it yourself. The specific brand of card you get for the most part these days doesn't matter, although I prefer NVidia cards for their better driver support for new games. However, for the vast majority of people you can get similar performance for each brand of card in about the same cost point.

Part 1: The Basics 1.What is your full name? ~Rheya Tayuun. 2.Where and when were you born? ~A small fishing village near Limsa Lominsa. It doesn’texist anymore. 3.Who are/were your parents? (Know their names, occupations, personalities, etc.) ~My Da was F’Lohi Tia, my Mum was Naoh Elakha. Da was a Seeker of the Sun working the fishing boats, Mum was a Keeper of the Moon who worked mostly as a weaver and seamstress. I took after Mum, fangs and all, so I consider myself a Keeper. 4.Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like? ~I’m an only child. Mum wanted more, but when some nasty pox swept the village… It made it hard for her to have children. Shame, I always wanted a brother or sister. 5.Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place and the person/people. ~The Drowning Wench, by myself. I don’t have the money to get a place of my own, and don’t know anyone I’d want to share it with yet. 6.What is your occupation? ~Jill-of-all-trades, master of bloody little.“Adventurer” is such a polite way of saying, “I do the weird and dangerous odd jobs for money”. Of course, I also occasionally work with the Arcanists Guild to assist their assessors in customs. I’d love a full-time job there, but it’s too dangerous for me yet. 7.Write a full physical description of yourself. You might want to consider factors such as: height, weight, race, hair and eye color, style of dress, and any tattoos, scars, or distinguishing marks. ~Slightly above average height for a Miquo'te, moderately above average bust, but the rest of me is pretty skinny. Comes from a few years where I didn’t eat real well or real regular, and only got exercise on my back. Black hair with lighter highlights, a matching tail that’s a bit longer than average, bright green eyes, and my womanhood markings on my face are a flowing lavender. I’m ever so slightly nearsighted, and glad to finally be able to afford glasses to help! Fortunately, I can see things close clearly. It's only in the distance I have to squint to determine if that's a hedgehog or an adamantoise. 8.To which social class do you belong? ~Low, definitely. My parents were the absolute opposite of rich, and if Da hadn’t been a fisher then we’d have been lean as can be more often than not. 9.Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses? ~Aside from the slight nearsightedness, something that blooms in the spring around Gridania makes me sneeze something fierce. Fortunately, it’s only during the Second Umbral Moon that they bloom, and it doesn't grow around Limsa Lominsa. 10. Are you right- or left-handed? ~Right Handed. 11. What does your voice sound like? ~Um… Myself? It’s usually described as “soft andpleasant”. 12. What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently? ~Oh, Menphina, I wish I could tell you. I tend towards precision when I can, and silence when I can’t. Silence never meant a beating, or worse. 13. What do you have in your pockets? ~Gil, a hidden knife, and a collection of string andshiny pebbles. 14. Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics? ~I love to pick up odd shells, cutepebbles, and thanks to my training in fixing nets if I have some string I tend to make cat’s cradles whenever I’m bored. Part 2: Growing Up 15. How would you describe your childhood in general? ~Generally… Good. Mum and Da both doted on me, and they were deeply in love with each other. We were poor, but thanks to the bounty of Llymlaen the Navigator we had plenty to eat. Honestly, there wasn’t many people in the village that were better off, and we banded together to help those who were worse when they needed it. 16. What is your earliest memory? ~Mum singing something in a language I didn’t understandwhile braiding my hair as a child. Memphina, I couldn’t have been more than three or four. 17. How much schooling have you had? ~Very little formal schooling. Mum taught the villagekids to read, write, and do their sums. I was always best at the sums! My friend Maeve wrote better than I did, though. 18. Did you enjoy school? ~Sinceit was time with my Mum? Lots. 19. Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities? ~As an Arcanist, I’ve always had a head for numbers and distances. That translated into just “getting” the Sacred Geometry when I got my hands on a grimoire. Other than that, it’s the product of being a fisher’s brat. I know good fish from bad, I can fix nets, I have zero fear of heights and can climb the rigging like nobody’s business. 20. While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them. ~My parents, for the most part. 21. While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family? ~Splendidly! As their only child, I kind of got doted on.But I couldn’t be lazy enough to get properly spoiled since we ALL had to work hard to survive. But we had love, and it was allright. 22. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? ~A weaver and seamstress like Mum. She made all kinds ofpretty clothes! 23. As a child, what were your favorite activities? ~Reading hour with Mum, helping Maeve mend nets while we giggled about boys, and climbing the rigging of the fishing boat Da worked on. 24. As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display? ~As a child… I was all kinds of cheerful. That didn’tchange until… the Calamity. I still have the ability to take naps just about anywhere, anytime, as long as I’ve got a bit of a sunbeam to bake my bones. 25. As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like? ~My best friend was a Hyur, Maeve. We were inseparable as kids, and didn’t get much farther apart as we grew up. 26. When and with whom was your first kiss? ~With Maeve. She began to blossom shortly before I did,and conversating about boys led to a little bit of practice. 27. Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity? ~If you’re talking sex in general, that would be shortly after I started to blossom with Maeve. If you’re talking about lying with a man, that would be shortly after the Calamity thanks to Chase. 28. If you are a supernatural being (i.e. mage, werewolf, vampire), tell the story of how you became what you are or first learned of your own abilities. If you are just a normal human, describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today. ~I’m a simple Miquo'te, and nothing out of the ordinary.My parents taught me right from wrong. My best friend Maeve taught me how to love. Chase… taught me how to hate. That’s the lesson I wish I hadn’t learned, but I learned it to the dregs. Part 3: Past Influences 29. What do you consider the most important event of your life so far? ~The Calamity. My home wiped out, my parents killed, my best friend missing,that son of a leprous jackal Chase taking me under his wing… Without that, my life would be a lot different. 30. Who has had the most influence on you? ~It’s a tossup between my parents and Chase. 31. What do you consider your greatest achievement? ~Mastering the Sacred Geometry enough to summon Carbuncle. He’s so CYOOOT! 32. What is your greatest regret? ~Allowing myself to get bullied into accepting Chase’s“protection”, and then staying with him as long as I did. 33. What is the most evil thing you have ever done? ~Not lifting a finger to help a man who was kind to mewhen he was killed. 34. Do you have a criminal record of any kind? ~Was I a criminal? Yes. Was I ever caught? No. TheCalamity… shook up a LOT of things. 35. When was the time you were the most frightened? ~The Calamity striking and destroying our homes. I wassure I was going to die! 36. What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you? ~There are several things, but I can’t choose just one.Desperation trumps embarrassment every time. 37. If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why? ~After that first night with that goblin-humping worm-infestedpile of fewmets Chase, I’d have pulled his dagger and killed him instead of lying awake thinking about it. 38. What is your best memory? ~Telling Maeve that I loved her, and her saying that she loved me back. 39. What is your worst memory? ~So many choices… But it’s probably watching that wall of water rise higher and higher to blot out the stars, the moon, and our homes. Part 4: Beliefs And Opinions 40. Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic? ~Surprisingly… Optimistic. 41. What is your greatest fear? ~That I’d fall into the hands of someone worse than Chaseand be unable to break free. 42. What are your religious views? ~I revere the Twelve, but since they were powerless to stop Bahamut and the Garlenians… What have they done for me lately? Nothing. So let the gods tend to their own, I've got my own business to handle. 43. What are your political views? ~Politics is a game for those on high. As long as reavers aren’t raiding the coastline who cares whether some fat merchant’s making an extra hundred gil here or there. because of taxes. 44. What are your views on sex? ~Sex for fun, well… It’s fun! I love sex. That being said, I’ve had to use it to survive before and would much rather not go back to spreading my legs for a handful of gil. As far as men or women, I slightly prefer women since they haven’t hurt me as badly… But a right handsome man… Rowr! 45. Are you able to kill? Under what circumstances do you find killing to be acceptable or unacceptable? ~Easily. I don’t kill women unless they’re trying to kill me, I don’t kill children at all, but any man who wants to threaten me? They don’t get a second chance. Period. 46. In your opinion, what is the most evil thing anyhuman being could do? ~Take a scared, broken child and twist them into a warped form of dependence on you. 47. Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/ortrue love? ~My core as a hopeless romantic hasn’t QUITE beenextinguished. Yes, but not love at first sight. 48. What do you believe makes a successful life? ~Being happy, being secure, and being in love. Everything else is just details. 49. How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings (i.e. do you hide your true self from others, and in what way)? ~The blank mask of uninterest… I hide behind that a lot.Letting the tears slip free with a laugh and a merry quip? I hide behind that mask more than I care to. Letting people see how broken I really am? Well… I haven’t let people get that close in years. 50. Do you have any biases or prejudices? ~I don’t particularly like most male Seekers, especially those who go by “Nunh”. That’s my father’s fault with his occasional horror stories about growing up in a desert tribe on the ragged edge of survival. Male Lalafells aren’t my preferred lovers but other than that I try not to judge. 51. Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do underany circumstances? Why do you refuse to do it? ~Repeat with an innocent, broken child what Chase did to me. I’ll die before I hurt someone that badly. 52. Who or what, if anything, would you die for (or otherwise go to extremes for)? ~I’d die for my friend Maeve, if by some strange fate she’s still alive. Otherwise, nobody’s got that kind of hold on me. Part 5: Relationships With Others 53. In general, how do you treat others (politely, rudely, by keeping them at a distance, etc.)? Does your treatment of them change depending on how well you know them, and if so, how? ~Generally polite, because it doesn’t cost you much of anything. It might change, but I haven’t let people close for quite a while now. 54. Who is the most important person in your life, andwhy? ~Right now? Me, followed by my dead parents. 55. Who is the person you respect the most, and why? ~Um… Myself? I’m a bit short on friends. 56. Who are your friends? Do you have a bestfriend? Describe these people. ~See above. I haven’t let anyone close for quite a while, and I’m kinda lonely. 57. Do you have a spouse or significant other? Ifso, describe this person. ~Nope. Wish I did, though. 58. Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened. ~Puppy love with Maeve, but she got a boyfriend. And then the Calamity happened before I could win her back or get a boyfriend of my own… 59. What do you look for in a potential lover? ~Kindness, caring, and being endowed just well enough! 60. How close are you to your family? ~My parents are dead, and I don’t know any of my extended family. So... not. 61. Have you started your own family? If so, describe them. If not, do you want to? Why or why not? ~Nope. And I’m nowhere near secure enough yet. I need tobe able to make sure MY children don’t go through what I did. 62. Who would you turn to if you were in desperate need of help? ~Nobody. I’d manage on my own, suffer without, or die on my feet. 63. Do you trust anyone to protect you? Who, andwhy? ~Myself. Nobody else has proven themselves worthy. 64. If you died or went missing, who would miss you? ~Probably nobody except for Baderon. And only him because he managed to catch me in the bath the first night I stayed at the Drowning Wench… 65. Who is the person you despise the most, and why? ~That never-sufficiently-damned pus-swilling bloated tick on the genital warts of a leprous hyena, Chase. And that’s an insult that I expect every hyena in existence to try and kill me over. I'm just sorry that I never found out where his grave was so I could properly piss on it. 66. Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict? ~I try to avoid conflict, but I’ll stand my ground until the OTHER moon falls if I feel it’s necessary. 67. Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations? ~Depends on whether I know people or not. I usually just hang back if I’m the new person in the group. 68. Do you like interacting with large groups of people? Why or why not? ~Um… I can handle it, but I’m sort of shy. 69. Do you care what others think of you? ~To a point yes, but mostly no. I know where I stand, andI’m not going to make excuses for surviving. Part 6: Likes And Dislikes 70. What is/are your favorite hobbies and pastimes? ~I hate being bored with a fiery passion. So, I do a lot of things. The only constant is finger-weaving. 71. What is your most treasured possession? ~My Grimoires. Without them, I’m lost! 72. What is your favorite color? ~Deep water royal blue. 73. What is your favorite food? ~A certain kind of shrimp and dodo stew. Mum made it for my birthday every year, since dodo was often a treat. Unfortunately, I never learned to make it. 74. What, if anything, do you like to read? ~Anything and everything I can get my hands on. 75. What is your idea of good entertainment (consider music, movies, art, etc.)? ~Books, music, and paintings. I often don’t have the patience for plays. Although I occasionally make exceptions for cute actors. 76. Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to quit? ~I don’t smoke, because it messes with my nose. I don’t drink much, because I’m a very, VERY maudlin drunk. I definitely don’t do drugs, because breaking free of their addiction once HURT. I don’t know if I have the willpower to break free a second time. 77. How do you spend a typical Saturday night? ~Running odd jobs and killing things, not necessarily in that order. 78. What makes you laugh? ~I’ve got a decent, if rather black sense of humor. Most things are funny, unless they’re clearly not. Then they're hilarious. 79. What, if anything, shocks or offends you? ~Shocks? Not much these days. Offends? Anything where the strong prey on the weak for amusement and not pure survival. 80. What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself? ~Crafts, cats-cradles, reading, playing fetch with Carbuncle… Eventually I’d go kill things until I couldn’t see straight. 81. How do you deal with stress? ~The source of my stress usually dies. Or it gets yelled at until it leaves if I can’t kill it. 82. Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan? ~Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. 83. What are your pet peeves? ~People who are needlessly rude and full of their own self-importance. Yes, my friend, your fecal matter DOES add to the smell of the sewer. Get over yourself. Part 7: Self Images And Etc. 84. Describe the routine of a normal day for you. How do you feel when this routine is disrupted? ~Odd jobs and killing things. I don’t have a routine other than that to disrupt! 85. What is your greatest strength as a person? ~Willpower. I’ve learned the hard way that I’m a survivorand I’ll do what I must to stay alive. 86. What is your greatest weakness? ~Well… I’ve been told I’m a wee bit stubborn, a wee bit prickly, and I have a terrible habit of sticking my nose in other people’s business when it looks like someone’s getting treated like I was. 87. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? ~I’d much rather not have gotten so cold about life,death, and the maiming that lies on the edge. 88. Are you generally introverted or extroverted? ~Introverted, although I can fake the alternative. 89. Are you generally organized or messy? ~Organized. I’ve lived in squalor for far, far too long. 90. Name three things you consider yourself to be very good at, and three things you consider yourself to be very bad at. ~Good: The craft of the Arcanist, surviving, and swearing. Bad: Opening up to people I don't know, singing, and remembering names. 91. Do you like yourself? ~No. 92. What are your reasons for being an adventurer (or doing the strange and heroic things that RPG characters do)? Are your real reasons for doing this different than the ones you tell people in public? (If so, detail both sets of reasons…) ~I want the money to never go hungry or cold, and I want the respect to never have anyone think I’m an easy mark just because I’m a Miquo’te woman on her own. And finally, I want the resources to ensure that if I ever do start a family that my children won't suffer like I did. And the only way to do that is to claw the gil and respect out of the cold, uncaring world. 93. What goal do you most want to accomplish in yourlifetime? ~See above. Plus a harem. 94. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? ~Either living my dream, harem and all, or dead. 95. If you could choose, how would you want to die? ~In my sleep, peacefully, after a blissful day with the harem. 96. If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left. ~Tell the Admiral that she’s a damn sexy woman and that I respect the hells out of her. Drag her to bed for a few hours if she'll let me. Tell Baderon that he’s a lecherous fop, and then drag him to bed for as much of the remaining day as he’s got stamina for. 97. What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death? ~That I made a difference in the world for the better. 98. What three words best describe your personality? ~Stubborn, willful, and stubborn. 99. What three words would others probably use to describe you? ~ “That stubborn, frustrating, irresistible little bitch…” Okay, it’s five. But they go so NICELY together. 100. If you could, what advice would you, the player, give to your character? (You might even want to speak as if he or she were sitting right here in front of you, and use proper tone so he or she might heed your advice…) ~Don’t be afraid to dream big, and don’t settle foranything less than the best!

This. All of the This. Communications are CRUCIAL in relationships, whether IC or OOC or any other C you care to name. If you're roleplaying, then you have to be clear about what will and will not work for you as a player. The best times I've had with IC relationships involved them sort of happening organically, but then the players turned around and coordinated on the back end to make sure that we stayed on the right side of okay. That being said, I tend to also follow Aysun's way of thinking. IC drama is the fun kind of drama, and it does add depth to the characters. That being said, I've also been on the end of "argh life is crap and I don't want to DEAL with this drama right now". Which is why if someone's getting into a relationship with one of my characters I take the time to get them used to talking OOCly about it as well. If you're not up to dealing with the drama, then there's no shame in saying, "Hey, my day's been crap. Can we skip the fighting today?". I also usually have an alt or two sitting around so that I have alternatives if playing one character gets stressful. There's no shame in having an OOC alt if you just want to play the game. Finally? Naunet hit the nail on the head. If two characters get close enough to "go there", then that's wonderful for them. However, refusing to "fade to black" at the other player's request is a special kind of being a complete jerk and you shouldn't do it. You'll have much better luck getting them to play with you again if you're not a pushy complete jerk.

As far as I know, being a semi-professional geek, there's no difference in the CPU or GPU in terms of raw power between the backwards compatible ones and the PS3 slim. The only hassle I'd see would be the communications issue and possibly a bit of lag depending on whether you're wired or wireless. For My $.02, I'd say get a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. You can pair both with the PS3 and they work swimmingly. That way, you can choose controller or mouse/keyboard depending on whichever works better for you. The advantage of a gaming console is purely that the developers have a set hardware environment to work with, and they don't have to keep adapting their programs to all the different stuff on PCs. So you can tune a program to run tighter on the PS3 or Xbox 360 than you can on a PC. The DOWNSIDE of the consoles is you have a set hardware environment to work with while PCs are much, much easier to upgrade. So when you have a seven year old console, it may have blown computers away five years ago... But now you're having to build a "dumbed down" version for the console that doesn't have all the shiny of the PC version.

I'd say that multiple linkpearls would be handled by some sort of amulet or earring. That way, it's kind of like a radio with multiple channels. Tap the pearl you want to reply to, but it magically sorts out the incoming transmissions so you can understand them all. And if you REALLY have to handle the question of plumbing then you're demanding a level of immersion that quite frankly makes me go "ew". Having indoor bathrooms and plumbing in the large cities certainly makes sense, and in some of the larger villages even. But I have no desire to RP out the aftereffects of a evening of drinking except as an excuse to take a quick break IRL. Travel, on the other hand... That's up to the people. Some would be comfortable taking the air ferry over presumably well-guarded routes. Others would turn to the aetherite crystals. It all depends on what you want. And I'd say that unless you're using magitech, there is no electricity outside of lightning spells and the odd Pikachu knockoff. You want your morning coffee? Start a fire. However, I would say that there's nothing against using magic the same way. It may not be explicitly called out in the game, but some sort of "heatstone" that won't catch things on fire but let you cook food and not freeze to death? Gardania would be all over that. This sort of thing is probably EXPENSIVE, though. So unless you're playing a magical artificer, then I'd save it for when you strike it rich.