Tyriont

Perception's a bitch. That's basically what it boils down to and what I feel like the key issue you're running into is. Mine is a "sort of outsider perspective but not really". For those who are confused by that statement (which is probably all but about 5 people), I was a member of Crystalline back in FFXI days. I've had no interaction with the shell during 1.0 (which I dropped out of not long after it started billing) and the limits of my interactions thus far have been bouncing over to the forums to see who's still around that I remember and to try and rekindle old friendships. On which note, good to see you're still bald, JJ. Fact is, a fair amount of the more active posters in the more popular threads tend to be affiliated with Crystalline in some way. Gerik's fantastic art thread naturally involves a lot of Crystalline members, for example, while I constantly see Aysun posting all over the place and generally being awesome. This is a FANTASTIC thing and while I don't remember those two from FFXI days (unless names changed) they both seem to be great RPers that I'm hopeful to get to play with once the game launches proper. However, this combined with earlier things mentioned like Kylin being a Crystalline member can lend to this perception of control or elitism, especially when coupled with the closing off of recruitment - which I get, incidentally. Assuming the status quo persisted, I can personally vouch that Kylin and Eva disagree quite frequently >.> In fact, when the two of them instantly see eye to eye it's usually a good idea to pay attention because there's a 99% chance whatever it is, they're right about. So, what's the solution? Well, there's not a clear and simple one. Never is, especially when what you essentially have on your hands is a PR situation. Language is key here. I'd be genuinely curious to see if what you've heard would be different if your recruitment status said 'pending' (much more open to possibility) instead of 'temporarily closed' (in which the use of closed sounds very final, piss off, go away). It's one of those odd things where you can say the same thing two different ways and people react very differently. Disclaimer: my adventures in self-promotion have given me a crash course in how important that is to people's perceptions >.> On the flip side, the 'problem' such as it is isn't only yours. Perhaps other shells can be more public in their activities? Not saying that they're not already, but even more so? The whole concept of a 'top shell' referenced in Ellie's above post really sets my skin to crawling and isn't a term I've heard referenced before so I really hope that's not getting thrown around a lot. Every single shell should be considered equal in my mind. At the end of the day, I would worry less about the shell's overall reputation. The glorious thing about the RPC is that so much cross-shell Roleplay is possible. I know that I personally couldn't care less about a shell's reputation. What I want to know is which individual person I want to roleplay with - see my earlier comments regarding Gerik and Aysun. Focusing more on that - encouraging a shell's members to get out there, roleplay with as many people as possible and generally be all around awesome - will fix the shell's perception as a by-product. The thought process will be "Hey, all these awesome people I've played with are in the same shell! That shell must be awesome too!". My thoughts probably rambled all over the place there, as they are wont to do. So I'll wrap up by saying politics suck, perception is hard to manage and neither should ever be such a concern that it detracts from the reason we're all here - to bloody roleplay!

I went to RTX about a week ago to advertise for the podcast I work with and I'm going to be at Dragon*Con this year doing much the same thing (as well as fanboying over Jim Butcher). So I figured it might be cool to see if anyone else is going to be hitting any conventions and possibly organize some meetups. Feel free to threadjack for any other cons (SDCC, PAX etc) for similar purposes. But my initial mindset is - anyone else from the RPC going to be at Dragon*Con this year?

Steam ID: Tyriont. PSN: TyriontGaidal. While I do have and love Civ V, I've not been able to pick up Brave New World yet. Sadface. D:

I'm down. Skype name: tyriont. Shockingly.

Well you two should hit me up in a PM and we'll work something out! I've not roleplayed online since my old RP shell in FFXI disbanded years ago and I've been feeling the bug more and more over the course of Phase 3. Manaani, as far as gil goes...Ty is fairly soft-hearted (despite what he tries - and for the most part fails - to portray) so a sufficient sob story will likely help result in a sufficiently low price ;D

I. Basic Info Characters:Tyriont Gaidal, Wandering Lion, Denavial Calgar, Salaah Latifoh, Agile Wolf, other members of the Phoenix Pirates likely to rotate as needed. Primary character:Tyriont Gaidal Linkshells:N/A Primary RP linkshell:N/A II. RP Style Amount of RP (light, medium, heavy): Heavy. Views on RP combat and injuries: I avoid direct RP combat when at all possible. Past experience has shown that it doesn't tend to work out very well. That said, when it does come up it'll only be with somebody I've roleplayed with extensively and trust to handle themselves appropriately. I dislike ignoring character levels and vastly prefer to take that kind of thing into consideration. Views on IC romance: Ty is a man-whore. Flirty, confident and with a fear of commitment that is only rivaled by his fear of heights. Part of the reason I'm playing him this way is that I've seen too much RL conflict arise from roleplayed relationships, as well as people being left with no way out when their RP partner just drops off the face of the earth. Therefore while I'm fine with casual flings, I'm not looking to settle Ty down. That said, neither am I big into ERP. It just doesn't ever seem very well done, in my experience and just makes all parties feel awkward. Fade to black is the way to go, in my book. Views on non-romantic RP (family ties, etc): Ty's family is set and I've got some IC reasons as to why I won't be looking to add any player characters as members of the Phoenix Pirates (OOCly, this is again because I'm worried about people vanishing). That said, I'm more than happy to work with people who want to set up some kind of prior ties. Ty and his crew travel a lot, so there's a lot of options for allies, grievances and past flings to aid/bite him as appropriate. Views on lore: Lore Whore. I stick as close to the book as possible. If there's no in-game justification for an ability, I don't like using it. Similarly, if something is established in-lore as rare I don't like seeing 75% of people running around with it. Views on chat functions (/say, /linkshell, etc): Be courteous to non-roleplayers in a party setting. Accept that in that case, dropping OOC is often the best option. With the way linkshell chat is structured in FF14, I don't see any reason for OOC chat in a designated IC pearl - just set up a second one for that and have them run simultaneously. I have the attention span of a gnat and like my RP fast paced. If I've been sitting around for three hours having a conversation that takes five seconds to read...that's not fun for me. I like incorporating emotes and using the tools we have to feel as alive as possible. Also - unless it's in a crowded area where it'll bother non-RPers I prefer to RP in /say. That's how new RPers get drawn in, after all! III. Other Info Country:English born, residing in the USA. Timezone:Central (GMT-5) Contact info:Feel free to add me to your friends list in-game and message me no matter which character I'm on at the time. Skype: Tyriont [align=center][glow=blue]~Special announcements can be found in the posts below~[/glow][/align]

Part of what I'm working on for the explanation of what Ty and his crew have been doing during the last five years involves a lot of...less than legal work. Some of the slightly less dubious things they're likely to have undertaken though is offering passage for those who need it. For a price, of course. Should you wish, I'd be happy to work something along those lines out with you - assuming you're the kind who doesn't mind associating with pirates, that is. Alternately, if you'd rather keep things your own then that general idea is still an option. The Limsan storyline makes it clear that while the 'golden age of pirates' is over there are definitely more than enough crews still around - the type of people who would be more than happy to undercut the obscenely priced official ferry and aren't likely to ask too many questions.

I went screenshot-happy last night trying to grab reference materials for Ty's crew, as well as nabbing some dungeon and story shots. Here's a few of my favorites.

That outfit at the 0:41 mark...I may need new pants now. Perfect pirate gear.

I'm 29 and extremely happy to see so many in the late 20s-early 30s age range. I'm currently happily single, a very good status since I'm planning to relocate halfway across the country next year. I've also been roleplaying since I was a kid, around 15 or so when I discovered Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. I didn't do much in the way of structured RP until FFXI, although I'd done some freeform chatroom stuff before that. Since this info was being thrown in too by others, I'm currently working as a Software Engineer although I'm shifting that into attempting a career as an actor. Because I evidently hate money.

Yes...all the friend codes! Now I just need to go pick up New Leaf... 3239-2848-5765 Gonna go through and add all of you now.

This was a really fun experiment!

Drunk Ty is drunk.

Ty and the rest of his crew will have stayed behind. After various RP-related events in 1.0, Ty and his crew basically said 'screw this' and went off to do their own thing. Which I was considering having them sucked into the battle anyway, the more I think about it the more I'm thinking that it's highly unlikely they would have been around for it. It's not the type of conflict Ty likes to involve himself in.

More beards, you say? I can manage that.

Control your screams of glee and arousal, but yes...everyone's favorite dashingly handsome pirate captain is back. Ty has returned and is here to drink, wench, "treasure hunt" and probably fall off things a lot. I give you the one, the only, CAPTAIN TYRIONT GAIDAL! The rest of the Phoenix Pirates are in existence as well, I just didn't think to get any screencaps of them during beta testing. Because I'm super-smart that way.

So many awesome FFXI characters they could have added...and they went with Prishe >< S'ok though. Just balances out the awesomeness from adding Laguna. Of course...putting in Vaan pushes the balance back towards suck again. Want Celes or Edgar this time around. Preferably Celes >.>

To add on to Castiel's point, the other thing a great deal of people seem to be either forgetting or ignoring is that when FFXI was first launched in the US, it had already gotten its first expansion. The bugs and whatnot that we're dealing with now aren't that different than XI dealt with during its Japanese launch or, as people already pointed out, what most MMOs deal with during launch. A fair portion of the FFXIV playerbase came from XI and were, for want of a better term, spoiled with the launch. Yes, there were some issues with it but the major problems that people are seeing with XIV were already dealt with before it ever hit western shores. But this all requires thought and logic to recognize, which is a lot harder than just going OMGRUINEDFOREVER like so many people tend to do.

Wandering Lion continued to look embarrassed, glancing around at the gazes of Ro'an and Chichiri who were watching the spectacle from their resting places as they readied themselves. He rubbed his head yet again, backing away from the terrified-looking girl. "Alrigh', lass...'m sorry. 'e ne'r mention'd anythin' like this. Ye jus'...take yer time an' leave when yer ready. Don' worry none...any friend o' Ty's is welcome 'ere." He hurried up the stairs himself still looking embarrassed, with the rest of the crew following shortly behind leaving Oria alone.

Wandering Lion stared at the cowering girl on the floor, his gaze passing from her to his hand and back again. He rubbed the top of his head and looked apologetic. "Sorry, lass...don' know me own strength sometimes, I reckon. 'ope y'ain't 'urt too bad...we c'n 'ave 'ana look at it f'r you if it needs." He stepped forwards over Oria's prone form and offered her a giant hand to help her up.

"So, you don't know anything. You don't know where he is, who took him or why they did...so why are you here?" Kira glared at Oria, tensing as she saw the woman moving towards the stairs so that she could tackle her if she made a break for it. Tension filled the room, the silence almost deafening...and almost simultaneously, a look of realization dawned on the faces of the present crew members. It had gone quiet. Completely silent. Nobody was snoring. Wandering Lion advanced from the massive hammock at the back of the crew quarters. The hulking Roegadyn had to duck slightly to avoid hitting his head on some of the crossbeams as he moved towards Kira and Oria, shifting his head sharply from side to side with a series of cracks. Bleary-eyed, understanding flashed across his face as he surveyed the two. "ere, you mus' be Oria! Ty told me 'bout you. Pretty lil' Hyur girl, smarter'n braver'n what's good for you. Reckon 'e was right', sneakin' in 'ere like this. Been lis'nin'...an' I reckon I know wha's goin' on. I know who took 'im..." his face darkened. "An' I know why. It's 'is style, leavin' lil' messages like tha' fer us. Tryin' t'taunt us, sayin' 'e's smarter'n us." He rubbed the top of his bald head, obviously frustrated and with a growing sense of anger. "Felix, run an' find Croix. Kira, go wake the lasses. We got work t'do." Kira looked from Wandering Lion to Oria before reluctantly turning and making her way up the stairs. Felix staggered out of his hammock, almost falling to the floor as he did so before straightening and scampering up the stairs himself. As they left to follow Wandering Lion's orders and the remaining men of the crew readied themselves, he clapped a giant hand on Oria's shoulder and attempted a comforting grin. "Thanks fer bringin' this t'us, lass. It ain't good news...but we know now. Ty's right...yer one o' the good 'uns. But the rest o' this ain't gonna be no place f'yer. Be real dang'rous an' I know it's break Ty's 'eart if you got involved. Gonna bring 'im back though. I promise y'that."

"I wasn't going to accuse you of being with him like that" Kira answered, cocking an eyebrow. "I think you protest too much. I don't care for people who sneak onto our ship in the middle of the night and refuse to give their name." "She's telling the truth, Kira" came a voice from off to the side as Felix sat up in his hammock, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "I've seen the Captain talking to her from time to time. Always seemed pretty friendly." Kira nodded to the youth and set down the gun, taking the hat from Oria and turning it over in her hands. She stopped as she reached the card tucked into the band and her eyes widened. "This is the card the Captain got from Galwind. He carried this with him...placed like that, it's a message. Whoever attacked him knew exactly who he was. Knows Galwind too, or at least his 'organization'. They most likely took him for a reason and they want us to know it." She looked around the room, completely silent except for the sound of the waves against the hull. Her gaze returned to Oria. "The question is, who?"

Kira surveyed the woman for a moment. If she'd been here to do harm, it's more likely that she would have done something before she'd been discovered...and this was the first lead that any of the crew had been able to turn up. She slowly lowered the gun, although keeping it in her hands. Most of the rest of the room's occupants had begun to stir, blinking sleep away as they tried to take stock of what was happening. The sole exception was Wandering Lion, who still snored away at the far end of the room. "We figured that much. Who are you and what do you know?"

Wandering Lion shifted as he felt a strange gaze fall upon him in his sleep, but simply rolled over and continued to snore loudly. None of the other men of the Phoenix Claws stirred as the strange woman stepped into their quarters, instead continuing to doze quietly. The distinctice snap of a gun's hammer being set was heard from behind in the doorway, before being followed by the soft voice of Kira. "You'd better have a damn good reason why you're sneaking in here with my Captain's hat." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tyriont was too tired even to scream any longer. His body ached, covered with small cuts. Painful, but all except the one on his face cut lightly enough so as not to scar permanently. He was covered in bruises, his right eye puffed up to the point where he could no longer open it. He barely lifted his head as the door opened to admit a large, cloaked figure. He was too weak to even thing of resisting as the man raised a billy-club and struck the back of Tyriont's head, sending him into darkness.

Croix paced the deck of the Flame with great irritation. It had been far too long since the crew had heard from their Captain, who had himself created the rule about checking in routinely after the events four years prior. Wandering Lion, Kira and Felix had all returned from scouring Limsa with no real information. Galwind had confirmed that Tyriont had returned to the city, but his movements after that remained a mystery. To make matters worse, nobody had been able to make out the woman who had been yelling about him the night he had last been seen and therefore finding her was extremely unlikely. Wandering Lion kept repeating that he had a bad feeling and although Croix had been attempting to keep the crew's spirits up, he shared in that belief. Something wasn't right. ---- Tyriont's head swam as he regained his senses, a burning sensation on the back of his throat. His head was pounding and he could feel a large lump on the back of his skull. As his vision slowly cleared, he took stock of his situation. Wherever he was, it was dark. He could barely make out the outline of a table off to his right, the marks of stone slabs beneath his feet. He was stripped to his waist with his arms stretched out to the sides, heavy manacles around his wrists binding him to the wall. Similar restraints around his ankles kept his feet in place. He tried to think. He remembered the docks, making his way towards the Flame...but nothing after that. He tested the chains, tugging against them but accomplished nothing other than making loud clanking noises. He ceased his efforts and peered into the darkness, hoping his vision would adjust. It didn't need to. Small illumination was given by the candle held by the figure who had entered the room with the sound of heavy bolts sliding. It moved over to the table and set the candle atop it, revealing rows of vials, bottles and various alchemical instruments. The figure moved closer to Tyriont and pulled back the hood of the cowl it was wearing to reveal the face of a flame-haired Duskwight. Tyriont's eyes widened in recognition, his face twisting into a furious snarl as the man spoke. "Good evening, "Captain". It has been quite some time, has it not? Four years, I believe." Tyriont growled and tried to lunge forwards at the man, his restraints keeping him from moving more than a few inches. "Denavial! You bastard! I swear to the Navigator, if you've laid so much as a finger on my crew..." Denavial regarded Tyriont with mild amusement before letting out a dry, callous laugh. "Dear boy, I would not dream of it. Not yet, certainly. No, my interest for now lies in you. You see, I have learned much these last years. My ability with my art has greatly increased since we last...met. I have several new concotions that require testing upon a suitable subject. No finer option came to mind than you." Tyriont stopped struggling long enough to spit at Denavial's face, missing as the man took a step backwards. "How uncouth of you. You were not always this uncultured, as I recall. Perhaps you have forgotten." "What'd a scrag like you know about that?" Tyriont spat the words out. "I ain't ever forgotten. Not where I came from, not who I am. Not what you've done. None of it." "So I see." Denavial smiled, moving over towards the table and picking up a small, golden knife. "One as vain as you making no effort to hide that ugly scar?" He moved back towards Tyriont, gripping his captive's head and moving his hair aside to reveal the scar running across his left cheek. "Perhaps not enough was done? I wonder what you shall come away with this time?" He ran the edge of the blade slowly along the line of the scar, opening the wound and sending blood running down Tyriont's jaw. The pirate gritted his teeth, refusing to give his captor the pleasure of seeing him wince. "Stubborn as ever, I see. No matter." Denavial moved back over to the table, picking up a vial containing a dusty white powder. He smeared some over his right index finger before returning to rub it into the wound. Tyriont screamed in pain as the powder worked its effect, Denavial watching with a satisfied smile. "Interesting. Yes, I think our time together will prove quite educational."