ansemaru

I haven't noticed anything of the sort, though there is one rather abrasive individual who has pushed himself into prominence in the server's RP community. Of course, he is also someone who requested his own removal from these forums when people raised objections to his rude and puritanical demeanor, so he's not exactly around here anymore. I just see him on his main and alt in-game constantly advertising for a FC/LS and being generally rude about certain types of ERP. Though I guess there's also that intentionally antagonistic thread asking people to justify playing Midlander Hyur, created as a response to someone asking why so many people play Miqo'te? And the usual amount of generally well-meaning debate about ERP and Miqo'te lore, but that's hardly new, and it's mild as far as "drama" goes.

It's really just in terms of NPC distribution. It's a story element that a lot of refugees from the Calamity and the fall of Ala Mhigo before it ended up in Ul'dah, and the main hub of Ala Mhigan Highlander refugees- Little Ala Mhigo- is south of Ul'dah. Geographically speaking, Ala Mhigo is separated from Thanalan by the region of Gridania, but you don't see many Highlander NPCs there outside of a few in the village of Quarrymill- this is most likely due to the highly xenophobic culture of Gridania. They wouldn't want to be flooded by refugees from anything, and thus the Ala Mhigan people ended up having to pass on through to Thanalan instead. But there are Highlanders in every city-state- they just occur with greater frequency in Ul'dah.

I am all for having other conjurers for Ahlek'zi to clash with over their views. He's... a little prickly, to put it mildly. If I see you online on the FC roster, I'll log in with him and add you (since right now I'm doing stuff on my main and all).

The good news for you is that the Hyurs migrated to Eorzea centuries before your character would have even been born. There are likely more Hyur born in Eorzea than anywhere else at this point, so that's really not a concern. But you mentioned playing a Highlander? They're a bit of a special case- many Highlanders are either refugees from or descended from refugees from the nation of Ala Mhigo, which was conquered by the Garlean empire about 15-20 years before the present day in the game. Not all of them are necessarily Ala Mhigan in ancestry, but the majority of that nation's population was Highlander prior to the invasion, and thus a large number of Highlanders trace their ancestry back to Ala Mhigo. When your character gets to a level in the mid-20s, you'll actually end up going to an Ala Mhigan community in the Thanalan region, and learn more about how they are living in the wake of losing their homeland, if you're at all interested in that backstory. But if you don't want your character to be from there, there are Hyur in every major city-state, including the Elezen-dominated Ishgard. They've certainly been around for a long time, too, so don't worry about having to play a Hyur who has only recently migrated to Eorzea. You typically see the most Highlanders in and around Ul'dah, if that helps you at all to know.

If you have any questions about the lore at all, the people here will doubtlessly be willing to answer them and get you situated for whatever you need to know to play your character. We're a dedicated, passionate bunch, and we've made knowing all there is to know about the world of the game our business, so to speak. So I guess what I'm saying is: do you have any questions?

Given the age difference, Nalani's traditional family, and Ahlek'zi's shyness, I get the feeling they'd have known each other, but not been very close. Three years age difference does feel a lot bigger when you're a kid than when you're an adult, after all. I don't think they'd have been on bad terms, though. Well... now that they're both conjurers, there might be differences between them, but we'll see when they actually interact, I think.

I'm still hammering out the details and specifics, to be honest. I just know that there was a collection of families living near Gridania, mostly merchants and members of the various crafting and combat guilds, and that specifically Ahlek'zi's parents were healers associated with the Conjurer's guild- presumably much like Nalani's family. The community itself wasn't particularly old, only a couple of generations, but was tight-knit enough that unrelated families considered each other kin enough that the current generation of sons were given the successive name suffixes, despite being from different mothers. (So in short, it's a very elaborate justification for him having only one biological sibling, but the 'zi suffix.) I have Ahlek'zi at around 19 years old- he was 14 at the time of Calamity. Depending on Nalani's age, there's a decent chance they'd know each other!

Oh, you're Nalani's player! I haven't been able to make it to meetings lately either, but I'm sure we'll get to see each other in-game at some point. Anyway, as for the shared background stuff, it could actually work. Not all of the families from the community were wiped out- it's just that enough of the adults died or were scattered that the organization fell apart and everyone drifted away. If you'd like to make it so Nalani's family was one that survived the Calamity intact, faring better than some of the others, that would actually be really neat.

Ah, if you're comfortable having Kiht's clan have some shared background with Ahlek'zi's, that would be great! They definitely were involved in a fair amount of trading with other clans in the region, as well as with non-Miqo'te businesses and entities, so it's wholly reasonable that there would be some kind of connection. Mind if I add you in-game at some point so we can connect IC?

Well, whenever's good for you. I understand how busy things get for people around the holidays, so I wouldn't want to drag you into RP when you've already got things to do IRL. You can, if you're interested, add Ahlek'zi Ghria as a contact.

I'll look into joining up with the Morbolvine clan as my character's story progresses, in that case! It's almost certain that even if Ahlek'zi's family was unrelated by blood or membership to the Molkot or Polaali, they traded and interacted with them. I'd intended for the Ghria family to be less tribal in structure overall, but not alienated from more traditional Keepers. In the meantime, I'll read over this. Would you be interested in meeting up with Ahlek'zi in-game at some point?

Ah, given that my character is already named, he might be a poor fit for what appears to be a fairly well-established clan of Keepers. What I had in mind was a looser allegiance of families, anyway, so I don't necessarily know if this is going to be a great deal of help for me. But thank you nonetheless!

Well, that was very informative! I guess I've still got a ways to go on learning all the ins and outs of Seeker lore, and I appreciate you clarifying, FreelanceWizard.

Ah, you're right about that being in the lore! I must've missed that the first time reading through. But the reasoning of "a Tia who can't even beat a Nunh isn't going to be seen as a worthwhile leader" is pretty straightforward. As is the fact that tribes can have multiple Nunhs, depending on the size. So a Nunh striking out to start his own tribe would be way less of an uphill battle than a Tia doing the same, since he's more likely to be seen favorably by potential tribe members in the first place. As for the naming bit, I'm fairly certain that's just fanon that has gotten passed around long enough for the source to be obscured, and that everyone has accepted as more or less canon. It seems like a fairly harmless naming convention, though, so it's not really an issue in my eyes.

Having worked out more of my alt's backstory, I stumbled across something that could be a potential plot hook and a way to tie a fairly non-social character into interacting with others. I'm just wondering if anybody is interested in having a character be at all connected to this. Long story short, my alt is a Keeper from what used to be a middle-sized community of Keeper families living around Gridania. Typically members of the city's guilds, merchants, or farmers, rather than poachers or anything of the sort. Though they weren't all related, they acted a bit like one large family, even using the successive name suffixes for sons amongst each other (hence a child with the 'zi suffix not actually having eight elder brothers, biologically). But in the wake of the Calamity, many of the adults of this community died or were scattered across Eorzea, and the union of families was broken up. So here's what I'm wondering: does anybody have a Keeper character who they'd be interested in including in this backstory or scenario? I know a lot of people play characters who were variously orphaned, and many people play Keepers of the Moon, so I'm just curious if anybody else would want to tie their character into this (hypothetical) former community as a shared backstory element.

On the note of female Seekers leaving their current tribe with a Tia to start a new one- I actually imagine it happens fairly often. Even with the population ratio of male to female Miqo'te, there are still going to be a number of Tias in a tribe, not all of whom are qualified or willing to challenge the Nunh. In fact, if too many of them are present at one time, it would cause problems- they don't serve as active hunters for the tribe, and spend a lot of time squabbling over politics and trying to rally the tribeswomen to their side. Any more than two or three Tias under a Nunh in a tribe the size of the U would be unsustainable. So with that in mind, and given the precedent of many social animals that live in similar family groups (lions being the obvious most apt comparison) as well as human societies with comparable social structures, it should actually be far more common for a Tia to leave his tribe to start his own or latch on to a floundering tribe than it is for one to stick around and challenge his birth tribe's Nunh, or at least equally as common. And I don't think every female Seeker would balk at the offer to start a new tribe and leave her current one. We've seen that the allegiances of the U tribe huntresses are fluid, and though it's an upheaval from their established life, many people do feel fine moving to a new region or a new job, so to speak. Unless the situation was catastrophically abusive, or there were personal motives/fears in the way, most Seeker women wouldn't be entirely averse to leaving their current tribe and its Nunh. But it ultimately comes down to personal choice in that area. The Nunh might be a close friend, a father, or someone seen as more than just the guy everyone uses to sire children. Or he might have threatened those who seek to leave his tribe. The given Seeker might be unadventurous, and happy to stay close to the land where she was born, or scared of the outside world. Or she might really hate the Tia who's trying to leave the tribe. There are an equal number of reasons to leave as there are to stay, but it's pretty apparent that Seeker tribe allegiances are fairly fluid within what the canon presents us. As for the distribution of power, it is absolutely established as in favor of the men of the tribe from what we've seen in-game. There's a grey area, thanks to word of god from the devs, but the U tribe absolutely fits the bill of a patriarchal society, albeit one that is not actively destructive to the lives of those within it. You should definitely feel willing to use that grey area to your advantage for headcanon, fanon, and backstory, since there are definitely ways to interpret the system with Nunhs and Tias into something that is ultimately controlled by the women of a Seeker tribe, but from the baseline established by the basic structure of Seeker society and from what we've actually seen in-game, it's way easier to interpret Seeker tribes as societies where men hold true political power.

The traps-and-strategies side of geomancy definitely fits the stated role of arcanima in combat, but the actual means by which one uses the skills- the elements- are decidedly a Conjurer's purview. I could see it going either way, and given that Arcanist is already a class that can go two different ways at level 30, I wouldn't be shocked if we did get Geomancer as the DPS option for Conjurers. Or not! There are loads of classic FF classes out there, and it's not guaranteed we'll even get Geomancers at all. That said, I'd be really jazzed if we did. As a class, they've always sort of been underserved by the narrative and gameplay, so it'd be interesting to get things like an actual quest line for geomancy.

Well, the good news is that I've just hit level 15 on him today, and am in the process of unlocking all the major cities, so it should be doable! My character's name is Ahlek'zi Ghria, if you're interested. (I'll likely be making a page for him on the wiki soon, as well.)

Honestly, I'd be totally fine with people taking offense to his behavior IC. It's not exactly the stuff of being a good neighbor. Hrm, I guess what I really need is to just test run him in some RP scenarios that aren't just hanging around and talking in the Quicksand or what have you. And just get him out and interacting with people.

Don't feel bad about the WoW thing. Lot of people I know in FFXIV came out of that game- it's an MMO milestone, and more often than not is folks' gateway to the genre in the first place. Plenty of people don't care for it or feel competitive towards it, but honestly, you should be fine here.

I was going to mention that, too. :< The majority of trolls I see are playing Lalafell. That can make people reluctant to RP as/with Lalafell. It's honestly a shame that Lalafell are the go-to race for trolls. There are loads of great Lalafell NPCs, and the few Lalafell PCs that I've RPed with have all been really excellent, but I'm just not sure I could play one myself, given their reputation and the "feeling" I get from them thanks to it.

I recently rolled an alt, and I'm wondering how I should go about playing an element of his personality that could, but doesn't necessarily have to, incorporate actual gameplay. The short version is that he's a Conjurer who has more or less the opposite problem to Sylphie. Rather than neglecting the elements of earth, air, and water and focusing only on the healing, he scorns healing to a certain degree in favor of the elemental side of conjury. I've decided against him outright refusing to heal, but ICly he treats being a Conjurer more like it's a Disciple of the Land job or even a DPS class than like a healer. The reason behind this is mostly due to personal reasons- he is very interested and even emotionally invested in the balance of nature, and prior to the Calamity was content to observe and research the natural world without interfering in it. This didn't just mean being a pacifist and not harming plants or animals- he actively avoided preserving things past their natural lifespans and intervening in the circle of life. He's the kind of person who'd be at peace with letting an orphaned opo-opo starve, is what I'm saying. He's not entirely heartless, but he's definitely not a bleeding heart, and frankly finds it offensive that he's expected to be a field medic and not somebody who works to keep nature in balance in a horribly unbalanced time. In his eyes, adventurers and the people of Eorzea are just as much of a part of the grand cycle of nature as the plants and animals are, and he isn't there to save every person from dying, just because mending comes with the territory of studying magical ecology. So the issue I'm running into is thus: how do I keep him IC without being a dick to other players? Do I just treat all times I'm playing him out in the field as OOC, and only play his quirk IC when I'm in sanctuaries and places where I wouldn't be expected to heal other players in the first place? I wholly intend for his position on the matter to change over time as an element of his character arc, but in the meantime, I want to figure out a way to portray his qualms interestingly. In the original context this character concept was taken from, he was alright with regular healing but refused to use his power to raise the dead. In FFXIV, there's not much of a precedent for player characters capable of necromancy- that seems to be entirely the territory of supernatural entities like Siren- and IIRC skills like Raise don't actually bring people back to life. So unless I want to make him a lore-breaking Gary Stu, I can't really make his area of NOPE in re: healing be raising the dead. Thoughts? I'm really curious as to how you all think this particular characterization should be played in terms of RP and gameplay integration.

Ah, also, in regards to the question of Lalafell. I've found that they're a little off-putting to me as a player not because they're cute, but because they're the go-to race for trolls and RP griefers. I think I've sort of been stuck with the stereotype of them being rude and abrasive, even with examples like Tataru in the game's story proving otherwise.

The fact that there weren't any Bangaa party members in FFXII still haunts me to this day. YOU THINK I'M KIDDING? I AM NOT KIDDING. Anyway, I'm seconding those who highlighted the comparative lack of concrete lore for Midlanders. Some people want to play a character concept that isn't intrinsically tied to lore, and Midlanders are certainly much easier to do that with. Highlanders, Sea Wolves, Duskwights, and both tribes of Miqo'te have a fairly big part of their role in the world defined by lore, and playing one of them means you may have to incorporate stuff that you don't like or want to deal with all that much. Of course, you don't need to, but if you don't, you may find yourself having to justify why your Sea Wolf isn't a pirate, your Highlander isn't an Ala Mhigan refugee, or your Duskwight isn't a bandit. The point is that more than anything else, Midlanders offer freedom in terms of what they can be in the world of the game, lorewise. And, as stated above, familiarity. Their bodies, faces, and culture are the closest to those of people playing the game, and it's just easier for some to get inside the head of a character who's a human being like them. Most folks don't have the background to know exactly what it's like to live in a Seeker tribe or a Keeper clan, or how it feels to be two feet tall and constantly in danger of being eaten by piestes and ochus, or even what it would be like to have green skin. The magic of roleplaying is that we can insert ourselves into such roles if we want to, but many people do just want to play something that they don't feel as though they have to research lore, naming conventions, etc. for. Some people just think Midlanders look best. Not everyone's into cat ears, big bulky bodies, stretched-out limbs, or tiny stumpy characters. I know I prefer the presets available for male Midlanders to those available for male Highlanders, generally. They're less rugged, which is the type of character I tend to create in the first place, so it works out pretty nicely for me. Finally, this thread's entire premise was needlessly antagonistic, like I said before. Getting defensive over Miqo'tes is uncool if you're just going to start spite threads. Most people here love them and/or play them. You're hardly alone, and you don't need to antagonize people who play Hyurs to prove it.

Familiarity. I'm guessing this is to antagonize the poster of the thread asking about the prevalence of Miqo'te in the rp community. And/or a joke riffing on the theme, rather than you asking in good faith why anybody plays a Midlander. So I'm kind of side-eyeing this entire thread.