Flickering Ember

This is in no way a common thing across MMOs and has more to do with FFXIV's male models not all being steroid beefcakes - the same reason a lot of women play male high elves or male castanics in TERA. Oh don't get me wrong, I totally agree with you. I was pointing out that most female characters are played by guys, and the counter point to that was how there were so many more female players than I was giving credit to, so I countered that with the fact that many female players also play male characters (for much the same reason most guys play girls). More often than not it has nothing to do with gender identity (not to say that this isn't the case some of the time) but more to do with liking the way dem pixels come together. Most female characters aren't played by male characters though. As 'allgivenover' mentioned, this is all anecdotal. But recent research has shown the idea that there are 'no girls on the internet' is a very outdated belief. In your experience, most female avatars are played by men. Your experiences differ from others' experiences as well as the various censi lying around. That does not mean your experiences actually pull weight in a discussion. Additionally, it is rather foolish for businesses to ignore minority demographics. The differenceis that there is a vicious cycle in society that places white straight men as default human beings. This means that not only can straight whit men relate to their own demographics but minorities can too. Businesses do regard minorities and are foolish should they choose not to. They just don't put as much effort into targeting minorities because it is presumed that while minorities can relate to straight white men, straight white men can't relate or respect minorities...according to marketers.

You're joking, right?

I don't need a massive character creation tool to be happy. I was happy with WoW's, actually. The difference between Wildstar and WoW is that there is no real variety between races, IMO, while the races from WoW are clearly very different from each other. A game does not need thorough character creation but what is there should be generally likeable and not feel alienating to its audiences. If there aren't a lot of character options then the options the creator does have should count and allow for variety. A small creator that offers only more of the same doesn't feel like a character creator.

I'm Confused... While both those were taken before the body types were introduced... Where's the half-dressed pin-up? (Some of the runs are kinda silly though yea. Especially mechari and mordesh... I love the aurin run, though - it's very bouncy! - and the human isn't so bad.) I am talking about the poses the female races have -before- you start to customize them. Your idea of pin up may be different from mine but the most common pose I remember was "hip swayed far to the side with hand resting on it complete with smirking bad girl expression". The poses can be easily ignored since those aren't their idle animations but it gives you an idea of what you're getting into when it comes to the very WoW-like approach of female characters. The women stand in positions that basically looks like they are trying to thrust their boobs and ass out at you. TL; DR though the models aren't for me. I like being able to connect with my avatar on an emotional level. Can't do it in WS and that is a deal breaker.

I prefer cartooniness/stylized video game art to realism. It really surprised me that I was able to get into FFXIV at all since the game is so pretty, leaning towards realism, and has mostly human player races. Wildstar really feels like it is the sort of game that would appeal to me more in its art. But it didn't. I got into the beta, got to the character creation screen and was immediately disappointed. It goes far beyond the whole "men are triangles, women are hourglasses" thing. Before you even start your game, unless they changed it since I was in beta, all the women stood in poses that looked like they should be on a pin up calendar. That was your first introduction to player female characters. Your female character starts off half dressed while the male is properly covered. Your female character will walk and run in stereotypically feminine way. Sashaying is a requirement, not an option. But the hourglass bothers me too because you can at least tell there is a difference in body types between a male aurin and a male granok. You can't do the same with a female aurin and a female granok--they have the exact same body type. The hourglass may be exaggerated in a comical way but it comes at a time when people are clamoring for better representation of women in video games. Their attempts at cartoony smell more of the same old stereotypical female characters rather than something pleasantly nostalgic.

The game honestly isn't too lore heavy but there are lore aspects of jobs that make it fun. I don't RP my character as having a Job but some of the history and lore around these Jobs is interesting enough that it feels like a wasted potential not to. In other MMOs, the lore based around my class helped add character. I really very enjoyed tapping into the various aspects of my class on how she interacted with the world. I've only leveled one class to 50 though so I don't know if this applies to them either, but my class doesn't have any lore to it at all while as its associating Job class. It's not that I particularly want to be a special snowflake, I just want to be able to RP my class the way I always have in other MMOs. When no one really RPs the general storyline anyway it seems silly for there to be, for example, only one non-Padjal white mage. I don't have to RP my character as any class or Job but I wouldn't mind if character development happened and she somehow got to the point she could have a Job. But there are other RPers who it is more important for and just want to be able to RP what the game says they are. RPers are generally good about not claiming credit for things in game storylines. (For example, I alone killed Arthas!) Not claiming credit for something you see on your character everyday is much muddier of a topic that really does deserve consideration from its RP community, though.

I don't think it's too much for me personally. I think I can save up that much money before it comes out. There are more ways to make money now which is nice although all the money-making in this game seems to be reliant on you playing the market board. There's not much of a better way to make good money so maybe the prices are unreasonable for most players.

-Name : Flickering Ember -Which composition you would like : Full body -Color/Multiple char request? : Color -Char. Ref (Screens/link to wiki) (Click to Enlarge) http://i.imgur.com/fWMlA41.png -Background color? -Background request if applicable : If possible, for it to look like she's on the beach. -Any other information : Ember is blind so her eyes tend to not focus on people or objects. I'd like for her to be holding a seashell as if she is showing it to someone. I imagine her expression would be a mixture of excitement and pride. Ember doesn't know a lot about the world and she happens to love seashells. She's also often seeking the approval of others so she'd be happy to show off her awesome find to someone else. If you could draw her in the blue outfit from above but with her sleeves rolled up that would be great! It's kind of hard to see because of her facial markings but she has a scar on her left cheek and a scar across her nose. Her hair is mostly red but the front has orange highlights to make her hair look fiery.

Do you have room for another person on the waiting list? If not, no biggie. Definitely interested, though.

As many times as you want. It just costs 2000 gil each time.

Oh yeah, I definitely feel sad, angry, or happy depending upon the RP. I have even cried over sad RPs. I feel this is a natural part of roleplay in the same way we sympathize with our movie protagonists. Although, I find it is also important to not let these emotions reign you in. For example, I mentioned I can feel angry during RP. This is merely myself channeling my character's emotion and I should never ever direct that at someone who is just RPing their character. And if I let sad emotions take over then I just won't have fun. I do feel negative emotions during RP but I see these as extensions of my character and am able to look fondly on the RPs afterwards thinking "Man, that was some GOOD IC drama!"

I find it irritating, annoying, RP-destroying, and completely unnecessary. I do like the XIV tutorial but chat is one of the most basic elements of an MMO and I guess I find it weird that there's a tutorial to how to use it when the game has already been out for this long. I mean is anyone really benefiting from something like that? I guess it's fine from a non-RPer's perspective, if a bit silly, but as an RPer I wonder if this will be hub-destroying or not in the long run.

I completely support this. I'm not volunteering as I can't see myself as being able to fulfill the role very well but I love that you are doing this. MMO-based RP is my favorite style of RP but I often recognize that there are some big hurdles and flaws concerning this style of RP. In other forms of RP, tabletop specifically, we have DMs who assume the roles of NPCs in an ever-changing world. But because there is no DM making the NPCs act out, the game environments of MMOs can sometimes feel static, stale, and lifeless. NPCs as they are in MMOs don't contribute to anything or interact with us which is why sometimes players just flat out ignore them. This is all to build up to me saying that I find it fantastic when someone temporarily assumes the NPC role of, well, anyone because they are helping make the RP of the game feel more alive. And it's not like anyone is trying to claim ownership of that character.

Hey, Rurutani, what times do you play? I have been RPing for years but being shy OOC sometimes makes it hard for me to break into RP. Maybe we could try pestering people for RP together?

I'm not really looking at new MMOs coming out since joining XIV. The main reason why I join MMOs is to RP and I don't have the focus or drive to split my attention between two. If I don't RP in an MMO then I just don't have fun since there is no emotional connection to my character or other characters. I was looking forward to Wildstar but not anymore. The gameplay looks really interesting. The combat, paths, jumping puzzles...I love it! I love cartoony graphics. I think they age better. And I enjoy good humor too. But too much of one thing is a bad thing and I like humor and seriousness to complement each other. Wildstar doesn't take itself seriously....perhaps a bit too much for my taste. If I can't take the world seriously then how will I be able to take RP seriously? Player character models of both genders and all races irk me. There isn't a lot of variance between the different races in body types. The female ones are both sexualized and objectified which makes it virtually impossible to try and RP the types of characters I want to. That said, Carbine looks like they are really taking care of the RP player base. I admire their dedication where other companies don't seem to care or are ambivalent to us. Other than that I'm curious about WoD but not too optimistic about it being good.

My character, Flickering Ember, hates the cold and Coerthas but she unfortunately (for her) has business there as of late. I think it could be fun for Ember and your elezen to somehow meet up in Coerthas and find a way to leave together.

I had this happen to me before in a different MMO and I wouldn't be surprised if I saw it happen to myself again. I got my character to max level, put in all this time, and the realized "Wow, I really don't care about this character." In my personal experience, no amount of trying to change the character has ever helped. I either like the character or I don't and if I don't then I need to start over completely fresh. Although, that may not work for you. And what may not work for me could work for you. Maybe you should try rolling a new character. Make a character concept you never play as well as a class you never play. See if it works for you. I have had some success with doing this, actually. Make sure to roleplay as you level so you can decide early enough if you like her or not.

This is one of the top things I want them to add. I don't know if they will as it will mean redesigning a lot of the world but I would be giddy with happiness if they did.

Due to some bad computer problems lately, my play times have become fewer and less frequent and I can't play during peak play times as often. Therefore, I am looking for anyone who would be willing to RP with me during the following times: 7:00 am to 2-3 pm EST. 12:00 pm to 7-8 GMT. Mostly on Mondays and Thursdays but sometimes on other weekdays. Weekends are completely off the table. I've been playing FF long enough where I want to focus less on leveling and more and RP so I am looking for anyone who would like to RP at these times. I am really looking for anyone but I'd also especially like to meet fellow RPers who: -Would be interested in bringing their RP friends or me bringing mine to create more RP scenarios than just 1 on 1 RP. -Would be interested in some manner of storyline that could occur during these times. Particularly something revolving around a journey. Although we don't have to do the two above things if the individual doesn't want to. I think it would be nice to add all different manners of RP scenarios for our morning/afternoon adventures.

Hey Natalie, I think you already have your bases pretty much covered. In your story, the primal your character is attached to is man made and an experiment. There are a lot of possibilities and routes you could take here as it is very likely an experimental primal would differ quite a bit from the other primals. You could create your own tempering effects according to what would be the most fun for you and your friends. Additionally, perhaps she could break from the tempering because of this. This could cause the primal's creators to ask themselves what they did wrong and what discoveries they have gotten out of this experiment or what they could do better. This could be an easy route since experiments are often prone to failure or may not perfectly replicate what they are supposed to mimic. I think the effects of tempering would create a change in your character even if she is already rather fanatic. Maybe it wouldn't be that noticeable to strangers. Or maybe strangers think she is very strange and pushy with her religion. Meanwhile, my view of tempering, even if your character was already a zealot, is that her friends and family would probably take immediate notice to something being very wrong as I suspect she would be even more zealous than normal and perhaps not in a way that people close to her would consider endearing.

I really hope not. I'm not much of a fan of the Grand Companies and RP a character who isn't a part of any of them and wouldn't want to be. I have heard it will either be rooms in a FC house or separate houses. I agree though that they will probably be smaller if they go with separate houses. I am not really sure how they can go any smaller since the small FC house is already pretty small.

I feel like it comes down to the type of RPer someone is. Are you the type of person who is "What you see is what you get"? Or are you the type of person who focuses on narrative and relies on emotes to overcome what is not physically there? The former will probably say there are a lot of male miqote. It is hard to pretend that large population away. While the latter may say that it is merely a coincidence that so many male miqote appear in one place and consider them a small fraction of the population. I don't see either as wrong but I have seen these different perspectives pop up often in other MMOs because there is always a population imbalance of some kind.

If there were rules that were only established between you and your partner and no one else then my suggestion would be to simply RP this sort of thing out in party. When you roleplay in Say, other roleplayers get a sense that this is an open world and that their player can potentially join in. But if you are open about other players joining in, I would probably shoot a whisper the moment the roleplayer has their character lay approach and lay down the story's rules. Explain that it is semi-open, but open only under these conditions. I definitely don't think the other RPer's actions were unreasonable but since it went in a direction you didn't want don't feel bad about speaking up and being earnest about your feelings. The other player might get the wrong impression and think that by allowing this stuff to happen that you are OK with it. It can be easy to get confused or leave with hurt feelings if we don't know the other RPer(s)' intentions sometimes. And if the other RPer isn't communicating about something that you find awkward or that you're uncomfortable with be the first to bring it up. You'll probably be glad you did!

The love of my life is much more of a Final Fantasy fan than I am, actually. I've never been too much of a fan of FFX but I've softened up to it over the years. We recently played through X together so we won't be buying this. However, we have both looked over the changes and they look absolutely fantastic. If you are a FFX this looks like a must-buy.

Any of the cities. Check the adventurer guilds. Also the Bismarck in Limsa Lominsa. Also seen RP in Aleport.