Suko'to

This, I feel, would only create more discord over the situation if SE actually did do this. Punishing players who have broken no rules, even if it was under the old system of rules, in my opinion, isn't a valid solution. One house per account per server is something SE should have done in the first place, but lacked the insight to do so. However, even SE realizes how much of a problem they'd cause if they actually did take away housing that those people worked to get, even if they do own multiple houses. If you want to blame someone there, blame SE who created the system as it was, not the players who didn't do anything wrong (even if it might've been selfish, especially those who own an unusually excessive number of houses). All that said, I really do sympathize with the OP. This hidden timer on auto-demo'd houses isn't a good solution at all either. Not only is it still based on incredible luck just like the old system was, but now it forces people to waste exorbitant amounts of time. As a member of Balmung who has seen people selling plot relocations, and been on the receiving end of this abuse, I know how frustrating it can be. In my opinion, the only positive step SE has taken is limiting the number of houses a single player can acquire. Any other steps to discourage flipping has been a bust, from my point of view. FC houses still exist to be used as a direct means of flipping, and, now, instead of personal housing being flipped, people are selling relocations. For those of you who are unfamiliar with how this works, I'll explain. I'll use Mist as an example. Say you have one of those three small plots in Mist that are -right- on the beach. Those small plots are -highly- valuable. A player who owns that plot can say they'll sell a relocation to, say, an unwanted plot in Goblet for an exorbitant amount of money (I've seen amounts in the ballpark of around 30-40mil). Then a player who has a less than diserable plot can relocate to the plot of their dreams once the dream plot becomes available, having paid the flipper's fee for relocating their plot off of it. By now, I hope you get the idea. On any server with all plots filled, this can be a highly lucrative way of making gil. All it takes is waiting for a plot to become auto-demo'd, making it possible for the flipper to strike a bargain with someone who might want their plot. All in all, SE hasn't really eliminated flipping at all, just shifted its focus. Lack of insight once more. The only way they're going to eliminate part of this problem is by placing a new restriction on relocation. However, it still leaves FC estate flipping.

Okay, okay, seriously. This isn't -exactly- a thread to rave about the idea of Beastmaster being one of the next jobs to be released in FFXIV. It is, but I'm proposing something just a little bit different. I know the argument has been made that "we should have another pet class", and I'm sure an argument has been made against the idea as well, otherwise, summoners wouldn't feel as special as the only pet class available in the game. What I propose is drastically different, but, I think, possibly just as fun (if not more so). Recall for a moment all the speculation made before Ninja was released in FFXIV and how it will play as a job. After its release, it was determined it was fundamentally different than how it was played in FFXI. Good or bad is irrelevant in this scenario, as I'm not arguing whether it was for the better or not. I'm speculating about how different it was from its predecessor in FFXI, as well as previous appearances the class makes in the Final Fantasy Saga. Red Mage was also very different. If you look back to the original Final Fantasy, you'll see Red Mage was simply another mage that could cast both White and Black magic spells. Throughout the series, it's evolved into what we see it as now - not just another mage, but also something that can fight in capacities other than purely magic, i.e. the rapier. If you recall, it's also very different from its predecessor in FFXI. I think you're starting to get the trend I'm setting here. If you go by said trend, wouldn't it make sense to assume that Beastmaster may very well -not- be a pet class at all? After all, it's one of SE's jobs to release classes/jobs that are interesting to as many players as possible. Many of you might not be able to look back this far, as some of you are still very new to the Final Fantasy saga, and frankly it's an often overlooked thing for most who can. The official wiki states, in FFVI, Relm was the closest thing to what we know as Beastmasters, but only because of simply one ability she possessed - Control. Otherwise, she's what could only be described as a Pictomancer. However, I highly disagree with this assessment and chalk it up to mere coincidence. It's also stated in the Wiki that the different "Beastmasters" that appear throughout the Final Fantasy saga have one thing in common, their ability to control monsters and use them to the party's advantage. Recall you a character named Gau? True, a Beastmaster's defining feature may be the ability to control monsters, but what about the ability to BECOME LIKE the monsters they encounter? Those of you who recall, Gau had such an ability, and yet, even though it's fundamentally different from what we know of Beastmasters, I would label Gau as a Beastmaster as well. Hence, I propose not a new pet class, but something perhaps more akin to that of a Blue Mage, except we're not talking about aether. No, we're talking about the ability to study, learn about, and master the ways of monsters themselves, to emulate their very moves and their very natures. Would something like this be harder to implement into FFXIV? Maybe, maybe not. However, I think the idea has potential, and, not only for the job itself, but also storyline. That's not to say how we already know Beastmasters isn't valid. I'm simply proposing this as a possible alternative, so as to create a new way to look at the Beastmaster archetype. What are -your- thoughts on this? Am I stepping out of line with this proposal? Do you agree? Disagree? Why?

Not -exactly- what I was saying. Sorry if my response came out that way. Words are hard sometimes (XD). There -is- a realm of believability we still have to follow along, but I firmly believe there are very feasible ways of using aether in other ways than has been revealed thus far in the game. For example, my 'red mage' fights mostly using her 'jewel' which is actually an aether powered sentinel of some form that has the ability to absorbed aether based attacks, convert that aether into another form (for me, a kind of beam/light energy) then expends that energy at its master's discretion. Obviously, the aether used to control the sentinel isn't elemental-based. Heck, when I ran the Runestone, I fought a Samurai who was using aether attacks thrown out by their sword. I've also seem talismans used. Then there's also Blue Magic, which we don't know much about, but there's certainly a way to implement it that's believable as well. Although, to date, I haven't personally seen any players RPing as a Blue Mage, and I would love to see how players would portray them. Then there's also Chi, which could arguably be a form of aether, expended through Chakra in Monks and similar archetypes. I agree with you that anyone using the "it doesn't say in the lore it's impossible" rationale is probably just trying to be a special snowflake, I just haven't personally seen anyone go -that- far yet. If it's happening at the Invitational, then, yeah, should definitely be scrutinized/criticized, but also using the correct channels.

Well, again, my experience is limited to what I saw in the Runestone which could be vastly different from what people have seen in this new event. I haven't been to it to give a proper response, sadly. However, to answer your question "Why RP here?" I'm assuming the question is in line with disregard for set rules, and I would agree with you. But let me take it a step further. How much do we actually -know- about aether? I think it's perfectly plausible for other forms of its use to exist that aren't damaging to the realm like the use of Elements, White Magic, and Black Magic. However, in those three realms alone, you're perfectly right. If you want to disregard set lore/rules regarding specifically Forbidden Magic, there's little place for it in the open here, hence in an event held out in the open. If what Koro says is happening is correct, then yes, I'd be rather critical of it too, but I would also feel like the minority and keep my head down rather than say something because it's not just my $15 and not just me enjoying the game. That said, if one doesn't like an event, they're welcome to not attend. On the other hand, I don't think being silent and keeping your head down is wrong though because, even though it might not be the minority, it's respectful to do so during the event itself and contact the overseer of said event afterward to speak your opinions in a civilized manner, or by way of suggestion. I think that's really the correct way to go about this. Criticism is great and all, especially if it's constructive, but there's a time and place for it, and in the middle of the event isn't that time whether you're right or wrong. Edit: For typos

Even for non-armorers. There's Dojos and also people who might just like -collecting- weapons and armor. *looks at his Highlander* Totally agree though. Your first idea is also a great one! I never even thought of that one. And yes, moar Magitek stuff. One of my other characters has a laboratory, which I had to create using different combined pieces of furniture, and with some inspiration from Housing Snap. Just for him alone, I would love more Magitek, or even Allagan tech. :3

Okay, that's a bit simpler to answer. The lore clashes a lot with the game itself, so I guess it can really go either way, but from what I understand (and what I took from the questline, which I only did up to 60), there are some contradictions as to where Ninjutsu actually came from. WARNING! SPOILER ALERT In the original plotline (30-50) it's suggested that Ninjutsu -was- something that was learned in a village that was kept secret, and Karasu was believed to have betrayed said village and sold their secrets to the Empire. He did, but he also wasn't pulling the strings, as we find out at the end of that questline. In the questline 50-60, I didn't see any conclusive data that proved one way or the other. Yes, there was a princess who knew Ninjutsu, but I don't recall it ever being stated where she learned it. Nor do I recall it specifically being stated where Yugiri learned Ninjutsu either, just that it wasn't in Sui Sato, since she had to leave in order to learn Ninjutsu, effectively becoming an outcast from her people in order to protect them from the outside. Plus, it wasn't revealed outside that questline beyond the WoL. The WoL is really where lore and what we've come to expect clashes. Naturally, an outsider wouldn't ever be taught Ninjutsu under normal circumstances, but then there'd be no job, and no questline, and no point. I think that's about as far as the stated lore goes. Are there exceptions to this? Yes, as I said before. My Miqo'te is one of them, and I think I have a pretty compelling explanation for it, though I'm not going into it here. All things said, I don't really have to -agree- with you. It -is- your sub, it -is- your character. My opinion is irrelevant in the end. In the end, it's up to -you- what you do with your character, and people will support you no matter what, just not -everyone- necessarily. Not everyone's going to do things the same as I do, and I don't expect them to. To answer simply to the above question: "Yes and no, and yes and no." Is it realistic for them to learn Ninjutsu? It can be. Is it realistic to openly claim to know Ninjutsu? It can be. Will it be well received? It can be. Edit: Furthermore, I think it's plausible for knowledge to be passed on via the refugees in Mor Dhona. Unlikely perhaps, but possible. I think a small background leading to Mor Dhona would be necessary to cover yourself there, or maybe not. It's not uncommon, iirc, for adventurers to help out there. In fact, it was a place where recruiting happened for the Crystal Braves. Honestly, I'd forgotten about the Domans in Mor Dhona. Edit: For inclusion of Doman lore in Mor Dhona

Actually, Investigator comes to mind here. It's been done via PvE quests (Manderville), just that specific character type (to my knowledge) and scenarios have not been done. There's a label for just about anything. Just gotta find it! She could be a FREELANCE Investigator, even.

I think it's been said a lot. I haven't read the entire thread. If I say something that's already been said, my apologies. This right here is contradictory to what a Ninja (that is, a Shinobi) actually is. I would think for your character to actually call themselves something, they have to perfectly (or pretty close) align with the actual stated lore behind it. That said, I think calling her a Ninja would be stretching it, seeing as they are trained in secret villages, thus their abilities and identities are supposed to remain a secret. Are there contradictions to this? You betcha! Look at the Ninja job questchains. Are there ways to get around this? You betcha. My rule of thumb: The more it goes against lore, the more you have to support it with lore. Essentially, it means in order to make something plausible, the more it bends lore, the more you have to know your stuff so you can explain it. Hence the different terms 'Lore-bending' and 'Lore-breaking'. One of my main characters is a Ninja, though not traditionally trained in a secret village, but was trained by a master. As such, he lives a double life. One life as an adventurer who pummels things with his fists, and a secret life as a Ninja (which no one knows about except for his employers). He's able to keep these two lives separate because he conceals himself in one of them (you can guess which). However, no one would know what he secretly does just by looking at him. It's kind of like one of those tropes that you don't really admit to because it's not conducive to immersion in most situations. Like openly admitting to being a Night Elf Demonhunter in WoW. It's an outcast life that needs a front to be plausible, but isn't really necessary to have a well rounded character. That said, your character doesn't -have- to be a ninja. The specific jobs don't have to be a thing ICly for you to have a good well-rounded character. You can create your character however the heck you want, but have a title for them that makes sense. Also, it depends on the scenario you see yourself in most. In General random RP, being a self-proclaimed Ninja isn't very conducive, unless you're intentionally trying to draw attention to your character and will accept any situation that occurs as a result, i.e. causality, or the repercussions of claiming to be a ninja. It's like a Black Mage suddenly proclaiming "I just casted forbidden magic". That's a whole other can o' worms, but you get the idea. What I would consider for your character, if you're looking for something more honorable, or a situation where you -can- claim to be a Ninja (or don't even have to) without incurring negative results, seek out an FC that's themed for a Far Eastern clan of some sort. Do your research on it, of course, and make sure your character would be plausible for the scope of said Clan FC. If you're just looking for RP in general, I would label your character differently.

I'll be honest, I didn't read all of this thread, save for a few replies, so if I say anything that's been said already, apologies in advance. Funny, to me, isn't just one thing. It's a mixture of many things. It takes the right situation, the right quirk, with a dash of spontaneity, and bam, you have a laugh! Even serious characters can be funny when presented in a certain way. One of my personal favorites is a character who is -too- serious. For example: I have a character who is very serious, but he has prosthetic legs. In an event I attended, we were traversing snow and ice. Because he had prosthetic legs, my character would fall at the most inopportune time. Sometimes it was funny as hell, and sometimes it worked to his advantage. The point I'm trying to make is that you should know your character, in any situation, well enough that you can create humor where it's appropriate. The key is to create a character with quirks, not necessarily one that's -trying- to be funny. Quirks are to humor as spices are to a meal. There are quirks that are appropriate to a situation, which will create humor, just as there are spices appropriate to a recipe that will create a good meal. That's about the best I can explain it.

As someone who was a Champion of the Mystic Runestone (ironically the week before I won the Grindstone), I didn't see anyone stepping out of bounds with Forbidden Magics, but there was a rule stating that its use, while not forbidden, was highly discouraged as an investigation following the tournament may ensue if any such magics were used. In other words, it was understood that if you used them, the overseers wouldn't do anything to you, but you just ousted yourself for an investigation by a third party witness to it. Worst I ever saw, personally, was someone trying to literally destroy the bridge. An overseer had to step in and overrule their post stating it didn't actually happen, how, and why. That said, I agree with most of what's been said. Public events that pertain to aether should adhere as closely to IC laws and boundaries, as well as the majority of character base, as possible, so as not to attain the ire of Authoritative bodies and leave out as few people as possible. Immersion, I think, is key in a public event. I will also agree that the location of the Mystic Runestone was odd, but, ICly, if I read the lore behind the event correctly, the tournament wasn't actually supposed to be held in Thanalan. Instead, everyone was supposed to be taken to an undisclosed location. At least, that's how it was supposed to be presented in the original event posting. How long that lasted, I'm not sure. I don't think it was intended to actually be right in front of Ul'dah's gates. I just think the overseeing of the event just changed hands, and that little detail got forgotten, at least long enough to say 'screw it' and just didn't mention anything about it ever again. What I -would- like to see is an event actually held in a more discreet locale, like in front of Haukke Manor, with an elaborate ploy to mislead and distract the authorities in order to properly hold the event. While it's often safer to just adhere to laws, there -are- ways around them, but for such things to be done well, they have to be done right, and it should be announced in the event's posting, and bolstered event itself to give players a chance to decide if they should realistically participate or not. Rule of thumb: The more against lore something you want to do is, the more ducks you need to have in a row to convince its validity. In other words, if you want to hold an event that caters to a minority that is lore-bending, the more you have to work to make it plausible and fun everyone else who aren't part of said minority. If you can't do that in a plausible way, then you should obviously rethink the event.

Not a lame reason at all! Despite the system put in place, I think housing is very appealing to a lot of people. Sure, it's close to impossible to get one, especially on a server like Balmung, but I also think that helps people to appreciate them more if they -do- get one. You're also at a good time when that first wave of inactives are hitting the 45 day mark, so it's possible to get one, just have to be willing to fight for it a little bit. Or get lucky. Anyway yes! I would definitely agree that the game needs more Wall-mounted items. My medium is a man cave, I call it the Baer Cave because my character's name is Baergrim. It definitely needs more trophies, and it's kind of difficult to fill it up with them when you can only have one of each kind of wall trophy. I'd love to do his beerhall with a bunch of Behemoth wall trophies. Definitely makes little sense to have only one of those. It's not like there's only one behemoth in the world. Wall and floor items have definitely seen the least love among the furnishing lists.

Hello everyone! This is kind of a semi-rant/wish list for furnishings that I think need to be (and surprised they aren't) in the game, but aren't. CONSIDER THIS MY PETITION TO SE! Anyroad, let's get this list started! 1. - Weapon Racks/Armor Stands - This one has boggled me ever since housing came out. Every RPG (mostly solo play games) have some form of this if there is existing housing available in said game. I find it very hard to believe that SE hasn't thought of this one yet, and I find it surprising that when they had the furnishing design contest NO ONE thought to suggest it! By the time I heard about the contest, it was already over, sadly. Even if it has a default armor/weapon(s) attached to them, I'd be fine with that, but I'd be even better with racks that you can equip weapons/armor to, in order to display your favorite models. This is something that should've been implemented a long time ago, imho. I mean, come on, they have the Hingan Armor Display and the Kotetsu Replica. I don't know how it just didn't click right then and there. 2. - Indoor Target Dummies - We have them outside, so how come we can't have them inside? I understand the whole concept of not being able to bring outdoor furnishings inside and vice versa, so SE would likely have to create duplicate indoor versions. However, I don't think that would be very hard to implement. Besides, I think the need for them is higher with SB out. I'm sure some folks out there have created their own Dojo by now (heck, I had one before even HW came out), and it'd be that much more complete with some target dummies, maybe like the ones you see in Kung Fu Panda. This also kind of ties into my first item, which can also be used in a Dojo. 3. - Shower Drains - How many of you have built a shower in your house/apartment, and people wanna know where the water goes? Problem solved. And it would provide some extra love to the Rugs category, which is the least diversified list among all furnishing types. Not saying there isn't a way to simulate one. There might be! I just haven't found a suitable way yet. Anyway, that's my list so far. What kinds of furnishings would -you- like to see SE implement, especially things you think should've been put in a LONG time ago, or things you're surprised to not see in game already? Edit: You're also possibly wondering why I'm not posting this on the Lodestone forums. For one, last time I tried to post anything there, it was slow, the character selection process was confusing, and sometimes didn't work at all. If someone wants to copy/paste the items found on this thread over to the Lodestone forum, feel free! For now, it's really just a discussion.

First off, it's not really a good idea to compared this game to FFXI in the sense of what can or should happen. This game is completely different in regards to UI, gameplay, and allocation of server resources, and comparisons like that are part of what caused 1.0 to flop. They tried to make it too much like FFXI, and the UI was a dying system that making improvements to was creating more problems than fixing them. ARR was an overhaul, and thus should be handled differently. I think such a drastic measure requires even -more- careful consideration now than ever before because, now, you're not just affecting players' communities, but you're affecting their FCs, their housing, all the money they put into the house/apartment they have, all the money they put into the private chamber they'd be losing by being separated from their FC. Sure, you can reimburse them, but you can't guarantee they'll get a house on the new server either. It's a more complex system than FFXI was. To my knowledge, you didn't have whole housing communities, just Moghouses. You didn't have FCs, just Linkshells, which were little more than private channels anyway. You didn't have a community you actively contributed to and were rewarded for, other than simply playing the game with others. A splitting of servers was more feasible in FFXI, but not so much for FFXIV.

For me, it started with D&D and CYOA Books as well. They opened up the realm, and set the base, I think. I didn't really start Roleplaying though until I learned about a little chat room on AOL called Red Dragon Inn. I was about 12, I think, when I started to really learn the idea of chat RP. From there, I progressed from public rooms to private ones I made myself, and I even got more into the RP communities that were on AOL, even joined some guilds who had rolling/gear systems. Eventually, however, the people in that community grew more and more sparse. So I got into other stuff, like Diablo 2, then FFXI. I was there until sometime after Chains of Promathia came out, which was about when Vanilla WoW was pretty well establish. I switched over there for a long time, especially when I realized Blizzard had set up official RP servers (something I think SE should've done a long time ago), and I realized the RP community was actually pretty huge! I stuck with WoW through Cataclysm, and a little bit into Mists of Panderia before I got into Tera Online. I was there for a little while until FFXIV: ARR launched, and I've been here since and never looked back.

I'd like to throw my two cents in here. First off, while I would agree with a lot of people that 'new blood' isn't a problem that will cause RP on this server to stagnate, I will say the RP community compared to the Non-RPers of this server may also not be as high as we all believe. Although, it's most definitely higher than that of other servers, I can say with confidence. If more than 10,000 active players are on Balmung at any given time, how many of those players can we actually say are RPers, how many PvEers, how many PvPers? This server's been around well before it was unofficially established a major RP hub for the game. It -is-, after all, a legacy server, so RPers aren't the only contributing factor here to its large population I think. Does this mean there's a chance that population will even out enough for transfers (at least paid ones) to open back up? Maybe, maybe not. My other thought I'd like to contribute goes into character creation as a whole, and not just on Balmung, but on all servers, and I think the idea would be a pretty decent solution for those afraid of stagnation. I don't get why, if you have a character/presence already generated on a server, you can't generate new characters on said server if it's considered a congested server. Having more characters on the server and having the ability to delete unwanted characters then starting fresh with a new character doesn't really change the amount of active accounts on the server. One thing WoW had over this game is that, if you already had a character on a congested server, you were still able to create a new one because Blizzard understood this fact. If it were a question of resources, I could see it, but character data alone doesn't contribute that much to the usage of resources. SE's already limited character storage, they've already limited housing, I highly doubt they've reached the limit of existing Retainers on the server. I don't know very many people who've hired more than 2 or 3 retainers (maybe a topic for another thread), and I know only one who has maxed out the number you can hire. I myself can have up to 3, which, so far, is all I need. Given this, I don't know how character creation for accounts already on server should be impacted, even if the server is congested. Edit: Also, wanted to add a little to my first point, since the thought didn't come until after I posted. I think it also would've been a good idea for SE to have done something similar to what WoW and Tera Online did, actually designate servers as RP, PvE, or PvP. I think this would've helped SE out in the long run to even things out a bit more, though, sadly, that ship has sailed.