Zyrusticae

I'm already prepared. Only thing I need to do next is clear Steps of Faith... and that's about it. As soon as the expansion hits, Machinist is getting a go.

It's worth noting that home ownership could actually be a rarity in Eorzea, and that would explain why the lowest-end houses start at roughly 3 million gil. Then again, housing prices make absolutely no sense when you consider there is no upkeep cost - when, in a separate reality, owners of those properties would definitely be paying property taxes at the very least. Speaking of taxes, I wouldn't be surprised if that was a significant proportion of the money that goes into the coffers of each city-state's respective government. Also worth noting that billionaires do exist. I remember during the final Beast Tribe quest that the villain spent some billions (it might actually have been trillions - it's been awhile) of gil on his crazy little contraption, so while even us adventurers are most definitely upper-class citizens with our many millions, there are still NPCs with such wealth that they are untouchable for anyone save the absolute wealthiest of PCs (though I don't think there's a single player who has 1 billion gil in existence yet... or rather, maybe I just haven't heard of it). I don't think using NPC-vendored food works for judging value, either, considering that in an actual reality that food would most definitely be dealing with supply shortages that video games with infinite quantities do not deal in. This is especially true when you consider that Eorzea is still not a heavily industrialized area, and modern agriculture is not yet a thing there (though they do, at least, possess some level of mechanization). If anything, I would expect that any given food item in Eorzea should actually be more expensive than their equivalents on Earth. We have huge quantities of food here relative to what we had in past eras, and TONS of it goes to waste. Eorzea likely deals with food in a very different fashion. All this to say that, really, trying to deal in hard numbers here is likely to only add to your confusion. At the end of the day, it IS a video game, and lots of abstractions have to be made for gameplay concessions over lore. A bit of a shame if you really like the virtual world aspect of the genre, but it is something we just have to deal with.

Very marginally so, yes. I wish it were more substantial. It'd make my life a whole lot easier. For the record, the difference is like 2% more parry damage reduction for 100 more Str, which is... not a lot, and it's not like you're parrying anywhere close to 100% of attacks anyway. Doesn't matter tho, Str tank all the way here. Gotta have dat DPS. I find I have no problems tanking expert dungeons, and usually, if I die, it's because I made a mistake or the healer had issues. We have so many mitigation tools that, yeah, that HP buffer is basically completely unnecessary for the majority of content. Only in Coil, and even then, only as the MT would I say you should be running with VIT accessories and assigned stats. It's worth noting that the healer should be able to keep up with the damage, and if they cannot, a 1.3-2k HP buffer will not save you. You'll die just because the healer can't keep up with the attrition. This rarely happens, and if it does, it's usually because they are either woefully undergeared or are doing something very wrong. The only exception is when the boss is putting out an attack that takes out your entire HP bar in one go, or very nearly one go (to the point where they can kill you on the next auto), but then again, that's what Holmgang is for.

I feel like this is a really important point. Realistically, in a universe like Eorzea, how well would someone with a crippling mental disability be able to survive in such a world? Someone who is a particularly disabled individual would absolutely require assistance from others just to survive, unless they were just that good at compensating in other ways. I mean, I could see someone with severe SAD living a life as a hermit if they had the survival skills to manage on their own. But if they lived in a city like Ul'dah, life would be quite difficult, especially with how crowded it can be in the city. And, indeed, it's not something that just 'goes away' or gets 'cured', even with modern medicine and science (though, to be fair, we don't know exactly how much is possible with aether and magic, I would argue that, if such a thing were possible, we'd have seen examples of it already), and it's never just conveniently on or off. Still, a lot of this does depend on the severity whatever it is they're dealing with, and indeed, a number of individuals would be able to survive merely as dependents of other, less disabled individuals. All the same, a lot of folks would certainly be struggling, and many more would probably be dying off, likely before they could even bear children. Eorzea's a rough place to live even for those of perfectly sound minds and bodies, after all. Well, most likely psychology is not really a field that exists in Eorzea as of yet. I certainly would never have a character use such terms ICly, especially as a number of terms are named after the people who discovered them, and as such would make absolutely no sense in a fictional universe unless there was some kind of absurd cosmic coincidence. On the other hand, if such equivalents existed and psychology was an active field in Eorzea, it's not as if they'd write out lore describing what Eorzean equivalents of RL psychiatric diagnoses would actually be. I guess it'd be in the hands of the community at that point. I mean, if it existed. Which it doesn't. Heh.

Man, you guys are great. I really appreciate the support. I'm... uh, well, I'm still a bit anxious, and kind of had to force myself to even look at the thread, but it certainly lightens the load to read some of these comments.

Well, I confess this thread made me anxious enough that it affected my sleep. Heh. Perhaps this was a mistake. Well, ignoring it won't make me feel any better, so I'll just keep going. I realized something earlier - I think I've developed something of a blind spot for this sort of thing because I've been mired in Japanese moé culture for so long where they have absolutely no objections to exploiting highly visible character flaws for that sort of appeal. I always thought that sort of thing was at least a little gross (especially with particularly unrealistic saccharine-type characters that are more bags of tropes than characters), so the thought that I may have been subconsciously engaging in similar behavior was pretty eye-opening. I have this thread's posters to thank for that, so good work! (That's not sarcasm, by the way. Just making sure.) That being said, people keep mentioning characters being overpowered by traits or exploiting them unfairly, and I feel compelled to mention that, well, that's pretty obviously bad writing. Of course you want characters to feel more like well-rounded characters (i.e. human beings) than a collection of tropes and plot devices. I don't think it even needs to be pointed out since it's such a matter-of-fact thing, but this is something I internalize on a daily basis, so maybe I'm not the target audience for those statements. On another note, I keep seeing people emphasizing shyness =/= social anxiety disorder. I'm sure folks are just trying to make sure people are on the same page on this, but I keep getting this implication that people feel I am being disingenuous on my claims of possessing such a disorder. As I don't feel like doing an impromptu psych eval or listing off symptoms on a public forum is very appropriate, you'll just have to take my word for it that, yes, I am very well aware of the difference between the two and I am not co-opting the disease for my own gain (although what sort of gain that would be, exactly, I'm not sure). I've already explained why I try to look at these things positively despite the hardship, so I wager I don't need to repeat myself here. At any rate, I'm still glad I made this thread despite how anxious it's made me, as I am learning quite a bit here and I really appreciate the varied perspectives. I hope I haven't hurt anyone with some of my insensitive statements and I'd like to be able to leave the thread alone with no hard feelings, so don't be afraid to let me know when I'm being a moron, yeah? (Though I would hope you would at least be a little nice and understanding about it, eheh...)

Wow. I only looked at it for idle curiosity, but now I'm hooked. This is surprisingly fascinating stuff. It turns a lot of what I thought I knew about women in history on their heads.

Well, I suppose we can say there are two extremes here, from 'your illness isn't real' to 'you're forever broken and have no chance' (and plenty of space in-between), and indeed, every disorder has varying levels of severity (what can be mildly inconvenient for one person can be completely crippling for another), so like Warren said, this is a really heavily subjective topic. I can appreciate that my experience is not necessarily going to parallel another's. That's a large part of what makes this whole thing so interesting. So many varying perspectives and views.

I think you're misunderstanding something here. What I mean is that people should avoid feeding into already-existent negative feelings and driving people towards depression (and possibly suicide). Constantly badmouthing people who possess disorders and telling them how damaged they are is not a positive behavior in any context. I am well aware that the disorders themselves are inherently irrational, and that even depression itself is not something that can be rationally controlled (oh, if only). I just think a lot of people can help by... not being overbearing with their attempts at personal assistance. But then, I'm someone who grew up with a mother and older brother constantly reminding me of all of my perceived faults, and absolutely resent them for it. That obviously skews my views on the matter quite a bit. Yep, we're going to have to agree to disagree here. Mental illness is constantly portrayed badly in media, and it's something I'm very tired of. I'm not telling you how you should RP (especially if you find it somehow cathartic), I'm just telling you I don't think it's very classy. That's totally fair. I'm willing to accept that judgment. I agree that it's portrayed very badly a lot of the time, and I can only hope that I don't add to the pile. In this case, I'm "writing what I know", so I do hope that gives me some amount of insight on the matter. (Not that it matters right now - after all, this is only a hypothetical, and I don't actually plan on playing the character any time soon.) It's... interesting that the next character you mention as having mental illnesses is the Joker. Going off topic slightly, I disagree that most people like the Joker because they find him compelling. Most people just like to see him kill people and cause chaos. His character has only been nuanced and layered in rather recent years. I would argue that he isn't so insane as he claims to be, but makes terrible, violent choices. I could go on about how his portrayal is actually rather harmful to people with mental health issues, since people with mental illnesses are statistically more likely to have violence committed upon them, rather than the other way around... But I'll spare everyone. Besides, I love comics, especially the characters surrounding Batman, and I enjoy them despite their problems. It's very interesting that you say that. I am personally not of the view that 'choice' is a particularly valuable concept, because of the way our brains are wired. This is starting to get into some very complicated psychological gobbledygook, but suffice it to say, we are not nearly as in control of our mental faculties as we like to believe ourselves to be, and that is a large part of why I believe the idea of 'judgment' is more detrimental than beneficial a large part of the time (even though, ironically, I subconsciously engage in it a lot of the time myself - which just helps to prove the point further, really). More to the point, I tend to evaluate by circumstances and situations rather than people, and try to view things from an emotionally detached position. As such, I tend to view, say, hardened criminals as products of society and circumstance rather than as terrible people making bad life choices, and as such, a large part of what makes a character interesting to me are what circumstances and events in their upbringing brought them up to the point they are at now. So I don't really think of someone as "having made terrible choices" in their life as much as I think of them being "the subject of terrible circumstances". I know my view is probably a minority view, but it is a view supported by plenty of evidence. All that said, the Joker is indeed a fictional character subject to the whims of his many writers, and indeed, he is NOT a positive portrayal of mental illness and we could probably do with a lot more positive portrayals of atypical minds and mental disorders. It's indeed a shame that a positive portrayal is not the first thing to come to mind for myself, and perhaps I should devote some energy to creating one as well. I certainly would not mind the challenge.

I got my decaying, infected, mostly-destroyed wisdom tooth pulled. Despite the pain, it's good to finally get that done. Damn thing was just a massive liability and a constant nuisance.

Splitting this off into another thread because it veers into off-topic territory and because I think the topic is one ripe for discussion. These traits are kind of a pet peeve of mine. Seeing mental illnesses being played a "cute" is frankly kind of disturbing. However, a lot of people here have made sarcastic entries, so if yours is as well, kudos! These are both things that I do IRL (though I don't stutter as much as I just go silent, which can be even more awkward). I am personally of the view that this sort of thing is better classed as 'personality traits' than 'mental illnesses' (hence why I put 'mental illnesses' in quotes), because they are extremely difficult to overcome and change, pretty much in the same way trying to change your personality is extremely difficult especially if you are already a functional adult. I would also much rather people see these traits as endearing rather than as crippling defects that must be cured, because, obviously, the latter is much more damaging especially to my self-esteem than the former. Indeed, I have seen comments on fictional characters with these traits (for example, Kunogi Ai from Shirobako) to the effect of 'she's insufferable!' and 'I can't stand her!', and that annoys me far, FAR more than those people who find her character to be 'cute' or 'adorable'. I have to wonder how devoid of empathy you have to be to see a character like that and want to shoo them away instead of help them and tell them everything is okay. That kind of mindset is exactly why that anxiety is so hard to overcome - just how many people, especially potential interviewers, are thinking in exactly that sort of way? It's absolutely terrifying. At any rate, I find playing such characters to be therapeutic and fun, and if they get a positive reaction, it helps me feel better about my condition. Ironically, however, I usually play characters that are the exact opposite of my personality, which can be quite... challenging... at times. I have fun with that too, but it's a very different kind of experience. I have to ask you - would you rather such traits be played as tragic and pitiful? Because, from my point of view, that's a far more negative track to take, especially if it's a "mental illness" that harms no one but the one who possesses it. I am still a perfectly functional adult, after all - I just can't function in social situations in the same way as others. I can understand why people would want to discourage me from being as asocial as I am - after all, there's a huge number of situations where being so leads to awkward situations and misunderstandings where they could be avoided - but at the same time, those problems can be avoided with understanding and care. And besides that, I live that sort of thing on a daily basis, so why would I want that to be reflected in my RP? At any rate, a lot of this is subjective, and for me, personally, I would much rather like to be seen as 'cute' because that's a trait that I find valuable and endearing, as opposed to just 'awkward' and 'weird' as people tend to see me now. If, on the other hand, you see 'cuteness' as a negative trait, then we will never see eye-to-eye on this! That's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. All that said, there are many other 'mental illnesses' that I would agree should never be romanticized - however, I don't possess those traits myself, so I can't speak for anyone who possesses them. Still, I can see why psychopathy, anorexia, schizophrenia, and so on, would be things you would rather see addressed seriously and with proper respect, since they truly can be debilitating in ways beyond what even my own social anxiety can be. (People calling naturally skinny people - like myself - "anorexic", just because they can see ribs, is particularly grating with how terribly misleading it is.) But this is a very nuanced topic, as each trait is very different and possesses its own unique challenges. It's all very interesting, really. Do you roleplay any characters with traits that can be classed as 'mental illnesses'? If so, how do you treat them, and how would you rather they be addressed? If not, how do you deal with other characters that do? I would imagine that this is something most RPers have had to deal with at one point or another, simply because so many RPers play characters with traits that qualify as such. Which makes sense, really, since these are qualities that help make people interesting relative to 'normal people' (and really, does such a thing even exist?).

Name: Ceceras Ceras Concept: Most Adorable Thing on Two Legs Race: Dunesfolk Lalafell Quote: "Ah, h-h-h... hello. Nice to m-m-meet you..." Character Traits: Totally passive. Has no initiative of her own. Suffers from pretty severe social anxiety. Avoids eye contact. This only makes her cuter. Loves sweets and is easy to bribe with them (though why you would want to, I'm not sure). Has very distinct curly red hair (#2 reason why she will never be made, unless Squeenix hears my plea). Stutters. A lot. Can be very grating at times, but also very endearing at others. She doesn't have this problem with people she's close to. Has incredible potential as a caster, but never fully realizes it due to a lack of training and circumstance. She does work as a scholar, but more as a scribe and researcher than as a caster. She actually possesses some level of respect among her peers. This can be a bit jarring for people who only ever see her cute side. Hates being treated like a child or talked down to, but unfortunately often fails to give a case for others to take her seriously. Her failures in doing so usually only make her look cuter. Basically, she's a character I'd play to unwind and just be cute and adorable for awhile. Unfortunately, Lalafell are too rotund for me and the lack of a proper curly hairstyle means she's kind of impossible to make as I imagine her anyways, which is a bloody shame, to be sure. Maybe for the next FF MMO, should one ever exist...

I assume you actually meant 'PCs' and not 'NPCs' here, or else you're stating the exact opposite of what is intended by the developers. Exactly this. Just because you SEE a lot more PCs than NPCs doesn't mean that that is what the reality is supposed to be within the fictional universe. In Eorzea's "reality", PCs are supposed to be the .1%, the elite of the elite, the exceptions to all the rules. Obviously, the game can't actually represent this because rendering out enormous, several-square-KM size cities with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants is pretty much technically impossible and also bad from a game design sense. Maybe some day in the distant future we will actually be able to do something like that... but not today. As such, a certain level of separation from gameplay and story is absolutely required.

Ishgard stays locked. Players can still access the surrounding Coerthas zones. Of course, if the new jobs are gated in Ishgard as well, we still have a problem, heh. Still very curious what level they'll start at, since they aren't starting at level 1.

Hipster RPers. Also a hilarious manifestation of (fictional) racism, but partly the blame goes to Squeenix for the weak character creation in this case. You can only deviate so far from the four given facial templates and the tiny selection of hairstyles.

"slightly challenging" If it were "slightly challenging", it wouldn't have been nerfed. Expert dungeons are "slightly challenging", at least at first. Getting players to do things they never did before is an entirely different level of challenge.

Nope. There's no point to buying the expansion if you're not close to clearing the Steps of Faith since you won't have access to most (any?) of the content.

Well, I guess I have to be the combo breaker. I'm the exact opposite - skinny to the point of being stick-thin, and no amount of protein shakes or fat ingestion has ever managed to change that. My body simply does not like to retain fat... ever. So I guess I'm an elf. I'd like to be a scout. I don't want to build mass because mass looks overtly masculine and I am anything but masculine, heh. Running is great for the heart and good for the soul, and I really should do it more often... hmmm. If only the weather here weren't so awful half the time. Either it's raining and pouring or it's too bloody hot to do anything other than stew inside the house. The only window I have is to run in the early morning when the weather is nice. I guess I'll have to make it a point to take advantage of those times.

I actually won't be logging into the game again until literally a day before maintenance for Heavensward begins. So, uh, there's my window.

"Shy" is one thing, but I have crippling social anxiety stemming from a severe and irrational fear of rejection from failure that prevents me from taking any positions of responsibility that includes especially leading any parties through difficult trials where everything going wrong is on my head AND THINGS WILL GO WRONG. When I am only responsible purely for my own performance, I excel. That's enough for me. When I am responsible for the livelihood of others, I stop having fun. It reminds me of going through group projects in school and having to deal with the pressure of having to perform, only to learn that the other group members aren't pulling their weight and I am doomed regardless because I cannot possibly carry the group to an A on my own and - let's be serious here, why in the Seven Hells would I WILLINGLY, VOLUNTARILY subject myself to that kind of hardship? Why, why, why would I do that when this is supposed to be fun and recreational and relaxing and not a bloody struggle to the finish? I mean, I already avoid raiding anything close to current Coil specifically for these reasons (and more), so why should I be forced into it in a mandatory story dungeon that gates an entire expansion's worth of content?! If anything, I would want them to remove the requirement to clear SoF entirely so I can just move the hell on with my life and do things I actually ENJOY doing! All I ask from my mandatory group content is that it be easy and simple enough to not turn into a frustrating slog, and Steps of Faith has been the exact opposite of that, earning my ire and hatred forevermore. Even after nerfs, I doubt I'm going to find any enjoyment out of this.

Thiiiiis. When all else fails, make friends. I believe we even have some linkshells showcased here on the RPC specifically for helping folks clear content. "make friends" I'm sure that's easy and simple for all you social butterflies out there, but for someone like me you may as well ask me to climb the friggin' moon. You may then (rightfully) ask me why I am playing an MMORPG, but then I would have to retort that this is the closest thing to a modern remix of the original Final Fantasy games we've had in close to a decade now and there are many reasons to play an MMORPG besides social interaction. And also, what Melodia said.

EXACTLY. You know how much control I have over how competent the other party members are in a DF run? If they can't grok these simple mechanics, what the hell is even the point in tryimg? I roll the stupid dice every time I sign up for this trial, and frankly, I have had enough. I'm done trying to corral mindless sheep. I don't play video games to deal with that crap.

Good! Fuck this stupid trial! I've only been in there three times, but those three times were enough to convince me to quit entirely. I don't pay a monthly fee to get stonewalled by the incompetence of other players, goddammit! At the very least, some kind of incentive would have helped A LOT, but that ship has sailed, apparently. Now, maybe I'll actually get the chance to play Heavensward when it finally releases instead of banging my already-fractured skull against this incredibly bloody brick wall so many times that my brain leaks out and my eyes bleed! As a further 'fuck you' to Square Enix I shall be skipping all of those expensive story cutscenes because I have a bloody MACHINIST to make! DON'T STAND BETWEEN ME AND MY DREAMS, DAMN YOU!!

I find this quote completely hilarious considering you basically listed everything there is to list about the Au Ra. I'm not quite processing how it is "petty" to criticize the very things that make the race what it is. It seems to me more like you consider anyone "petty" who dislikes the things that you happen to like, which is not a terribly high-minded route to take, it must be said. Which reminds me that I must also refrain from assigning qualities to others who make arguments and only address the arguments themselves. It is a good lesson to take. I would suggest that I am not the only one here who should learn to apply it. But enough meta-speak! I admit that I wasn't looking too closely at the non-forward-facing horn styles, so a lot of my concerns are actually kind of moot in those cases. It is also interesting to consider that, since the horns are indeed sensory organs for the Au Ra, that they may be acutely aware of their positioning in the same way we are aware of the positioning of our hands and eyes. They still have to be more careful, however. You do NOT want to fall on someone with those horns, regardless of how much control you think you have over them.