K'dath

I can see this side of it, but I do wish more people opted to play the older characters. I'm not saying there should be a ton of AARP members running around fighting monsters, and no one should be young. I just think it's a very cool character type that isn't used as much. Not everyone should be 50+, but I think we need to throw in more 30s-40s characters. Maybe it's a Western thing. I don't have much interest in manga or anime, so correct me if I'm wrong but they all seem to be much younger than characters like say Batman or Aragorn or most Western fiction heroes. I'm always a fan of the seasoned badasses. And for the record, I would definitely rather play Auron than Cloud. I suppose it's all preference in the end though. It is certainly a cultural difference, coming from someone who's long preferred western RPGs to eastern ones. Anime and Manga both glorify youth far more often. The most heroic characters are somewhere in the realm of 14-20 and are always very 'pretty' for lack of a better term. It might sound very presumtious of me to say so, but I think it more or less goes back to the warrior culture which is still glorified in Japan to this day. As I recall, the creed of the warrior was to always choose death when there was a choice between life and death. They were meant to live very brief, very purposeful lives, which no doubt meant you did not see many old warriors. That's why the image of the sakura petals (cherry blossoms) are so prevalent in samurai lore. They live only briefly, but are the most beautiful flower, and with Bushido it is desireable to live such a way. That is all me trying to recall the half a dozen reports I wrote in high school on the matter though. I may very well be wrong and simply pulling things out of thin air to justify my thought process. The western fantasy tradition has widely grown from Tolkien's influence, who had strong elders like Aragorn and Gandalf. Tolkien was also a former combatant himself in The Great War, and a lot of his experiences and disdain for it are reflected in his writing. Warhammer, Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons, and other staples of the WRPG draw heavily from that 'war is hell' tone than resonates more with the battle hardened character.

There's a lot of interesting discussion going on here. Though for my own two cents, I believe the vast majority of people play younger characters because of the associations with adventure and wanderlust falling on the shoulders of youth. How many Final Fantasy protagonists are older than early twenties? And how many of those that are play a prominent role in the action? A few come to mind, and they're all great examples of how to play the part, but most people would rather be Cloud or Balthier than Barett or Auron. And even then, these character are barely scraping mid-thirties. I opted to play a younger character out of convenience more than disdain for the elderly. I am new to the scene, new to the lore, and all in all going into a new experience. It seems beneficial to myself to have 'ignorant youth' as an IC excuse for OC behavior that might be nonsensical or uncouth. Which is to say, a parting difference from my usual older, seasoned veteran characters, which I personally find more interesting in the long run (it tends to be more about the story and less 'who's on who's jock'). The problem is selling the angle that older characters are not just brooding grandpas who remember what it was once like to hold a sword... not that there's anything wrong with playing that character either. A sweeping majority of your player base simply can't make the connection that age isn't a bad thing. And that's why this will always be an unfavorable character-type, regardless of whether or not it is favorable in lore. Or at least, that's my opinion. I'd personally welcome a main character that isn't Gackt.

MMOs are an old hobby of mine for which mypassion and dedication is only exceeded by my love of wordcraft. To me, RP and RPGs are an inseparable combination. I never did play Final Fantasy 14 in its original incarnation, as I'd been advised against doing so. But I've grown exceedingly fatigued with 'heroic raiding' and 'progression' that other MMOs have demanded of me. Their Role Playing communities are abyssal, if they're there at all, and the people pushing content seem to have long forgotten that they are paying to play a game and that games are fun. That's how I found myself sitting upthe other night, looking over the Square Enix store, wringing my hands over the heavy decision to simply abandon years of raiding... Obviously Idecided to take the leap, or else my presence he would seem rather silly. I spent the first couple of days sort of bum-rushing content, just to get comfortable with the interface, the commands, the terminology. Once my primary class had hit level 20 I had decided to go ahead and begin investing time on my character. As this appears to be the definitivecommunity for FFXIV:ARR RP, as my Google-Fu seems to indicate anyway, I was curious as to your input and advice. I've been informed to seek out Linkshell and Companies that specialize in RP, but I would not know where to begin my search. People don't seem to just advertise these things in public, though it's more likely I've missed them while racing around Eorzea to get my bearings. OoCly I think I radiate the wrongimpression that I am some sort of jerk elitist. I usually don't initiate conversation with people period, not because I dislike them or don't have time for them, but because I generally assume they are busy with their own devices and will contact me if they desire my attention. I'm honestly not the broody sort, I'm very friendly, just a bit of an isolationist. So if my persona offends that's certainly not my intent. I would like to get a fresh start, after the grueling years and bad reputations, and leave all that negativity and bias at the door. So hi, I'm new here, and I'd like to befriends.