Wymsical

Sorry, I mean as a player. I am forced to make my Au Ra leave for whatever reason. The reason itself isn't important. Nomad works for my purposes but it'd be very neat if we could play Au Ra as natives in a world we're currently exploring like Dravania.

I'm only slightly exaggerating. Some of my acquaintances gave me a lot of crap for coming back to FFXIV specifically for Au Ra (and astrologians.) I played a Miqo'te before and even now we've had people saying some very harsh things about the Au Ra females that have implications for anyone who want to play them. I know it can come off as childish sniping but it's a long-time frustration over my entire MMO participation. If you're playing a 'cute' or 'pretty' race, there's always a significant portion of the roleplayer population that's rather dismissive or condescending toward you. There's plenty of it in this very forum. But I really don't want to be combative. I suppose I'm just a little bitter. I do apologize.

I daresay that's going to be the issue that all Au Ra are going to run into. Oh no, how dare people roll as a new race that was added specifically for us to love and play.

I'm a super big fan of all the lore revealed so far. I definitely have my class and clan decided now! Also, I think it'd be neat if some Au Ra RPers assigned themselves to various Xaela tribes and would have additional conflicts in Eorzea. ... Maybe I just want to see random street brawls erupt.

Actually, I think a better way to phrase the complaint against 'normal' is not the world 'normal' at all. It's 'common' or 'average'. It applies to real-life things as well. The majority isn't 'normal', persay, it's just 'common', the literal majority. To that end, think of writing a roleplay character (or any character, really) as a matter of addition. The more unusual factors (or really, any factors in general), the higher that end number turns out. And sometimes roleplayers can have a knee-jerk reaction to a character with a particularly large mental number because it's often used as a shortcut to be interesting. Let's go through that infamous example, the Miqo'te-Ishgardian dragoon. Let's make them a male Seeker too, just to ramp it up a little. So we have Miqo'te + male + Seeker + Ishgardian + lancer + dragoon (yes, lancer and dragoon are two entries). Breaking it down, Miqo'te have very particular tribal lore that makes them a little less common to see around, particularly male Seekers and female Keepers. So first, you have to explain why that male Seeker is no longer in his tribe - or was never part of one to begin with even with the Miqo'te social structures. There's already a lot of factors to bear in mind. To continue on, now you have the issues between Ishgardians and others and estimating how common your particular race would be (using NPCs as a general statistic). Lancer isn't a particularly unique factor, it's just a matter of training, who would train them, ect, how many years they've put into it. Then we have to add on dragoon, because it's a very particular, iconic and significant practice with ample lore behind it. The odds of getting training in that study, again how many years they've put into it, how skilled they are... let's not even think about any other additions they might have, like particularly traumatic backstories, how old they are, so on and so forth. That's a lot of factors to be woven together into a coherent, believable whole. That's not to say what I just said is impossible or should be frowned upon, just the opposite. Many people see it as a 'you could, but why would you?' sort of question and it's up to the roleplayer to give an adequate and interesting answer to it. If you're just racking up that number without much thought, planning or interest in the lore behind it, at the end it might seem like a careless attempt at making yourself unique and special without actually being interesting. Others can often resent this attitude (or the appearance of it) and that's why you see people protesting 'but keep the lore in mind!' or 'but that's not common at all!' because of half-baked characters that reel off a ridiculously complex backstory or design and are all the more uninteresting for it. Sometimes they expect to be the center of attention or simply just want to be extra special while having a cardboard personality. The bottom line is, many - if not most - ideas can be done, and done well. It's up to you to justify your character design in a fashion that's engaging and interesting - both for you and those you interact with, ideally while keeping the tone and lore of the world for immersion purposes. Roleplaying is a community effort, after all. oh god that looked like less blather when I wrote it

We technically have that already! There could be more specific ones, true. I'm curious if you mean emotes and gear that are meant for very particular 'roles', possibly limiting players to which one they can pick? That would be the real significance in such a system, not letting everyone take each quest and rewards. That'd probably work better in a game that doesn't promote doing everything on one character; in FFXIV this means everyone would have all of the vampire, werewolf, dancer and ect abilities simply because the game has a 'gotta catch 'em all' design. I think the real downfall of the link you posted is the focus on supernatural abilities instead XIV-centric things. Therefore, promoting it might imply an interest in that instead of the mechanic (which already exists in a more minor, less focused form). This exactly; feedback is all I (and presumably the others) meant.

After looking through that thread, my first thought was: that person played TESO. That's pretty much exactly how that game handles unique states of being and additional skills like vampires, werewolves, Mages Guild, ect. But TESO has a completely different method of handling skills and emotes from XIV and I honestly think incorporating that idea would just add a bunch of needless clutter to a very specifically designed system (also, looking through that thread, the person suggesting it clearly just wants vampires). The non-combat state where you can equip everything would be more than enough and that does seem rather unlikely to be implemented. What we should be asking for, in my opinion, is more quests for neat emotes, more /cpose, more cosmetic items and more facepaint/features options that add neat looks, scars and suchlike.

Not race, actually, but culture, origin and so on. I do plan on playing Xaela, so that's one thing. But up until today, we didn't even have any real confirmation with their circumstances in Doma. This is our first real tidbit of lore. Before this, we just had their appearance. Yugiri could've been the exception. We literally knew nothing besides 'well there's at least one in Doma and they have some dragon features' until today. There were theories about them being related to Shiva, about some manner of tense standing with Ishgard, all kinds of ideas and we still don't have any real idea about their circumstances and why they're now in Eorzea. A refugee would have a much different mindset than a nomad, for example. Differences in culture, mindset and background could've been (and still could be) as drastic as Highlander and Midlander. I admit this is more of a personal preference thing but sometimes knowing where you've been can really help with deciding where you're going. Especially in a setting like this; most of the playable races have very important context and background.

I fully intend to Fantasia my inactive-RP main to one at launch, but I'm honestly flabbergasted people are RPing them already. Not to pass undue judgment on others' RP, but we know very little about them and only just now do we have a little info on their varying cultures. For a while people still thought they were a product of Shiva's... uh, heretic gallivanting. I'm a little lost on how you could even begin to start RPing a race when we had practically no lore on them. It just seems so hasty and short-sighted. I have a feeling there'll be some retcons once we get more information about them. Oh well, I'm still eagerly awaiting more information!

This is actually why their armor is so spiky. Harder to eat! Who knows, maybe that dragoon managed to get some stabs in while the dragon was trying to swallow. I especially like the mental images of Ishgard battles being 90% dragoons bouncing through the air like spine-covered pinballs.

Nice to see incredible jumping powers used from non-WoL people. I've always been of the opinion that with aether being what it is, that plenty of clever or determined individuals (especially adventurers?) have the potential to learn some very flashy skills/magic. My personal favorite part of the trailer was actually that first little snippet of Ishgard, with the civilians and soldiers just moving about. It was very brief but I liked the subtly implied tone of the people's lives. There was a certain air to it that was a little different from what we've seen of Eorzea so far (or I'm massively extrapolating, that's possible too). I'm very interested to see how Heavensward's general 'mood' is.

They at least could have told us what are those unique naming conventions the Xaela use... If only. That will probably get released closer to the benchmark since Au Ra will be in it. At least I now know I'll probably want to be a Xaela.

To be exact, here's what was said on the forums: "Au Ra Raen and Au Ra Xaela. Au Ra Raen have been closely related to the Domans for long time, so their names are somewhat Japanese-like. The Xaela on the other hand have led a nomadic lifestyle for some time, and they have a unique naming convention." So that's a little info to start concept-crafting!

After going through it all (and wow, there sure was a lot), I'm left pleasantly surprised and a little staggered. It's a pity the other Scions will probably show back up again later. It would have been a fine send-off for them to go in such a way and leave room for new characters. One thing in particular actually stuck out to me; Alphinaud's arc. He'd been having a relatively smooth rise to stardom for a while and I was beginning to get worried he was going to be a ridiculously overpowered and obnoxiously 'perfect' character (Trahearne, anyone?) But no, it was all to rip it away from him for a rather spectacular fall and now I'm realizing there was foreshadowing for it this entire time. I've always been fond of the wonder twins and I'm really hoping this is going to be lasting character development for him. Fingers crossed we see more of Alisaie too. She's clearly been up to things if she can figure out bad stuff is going on in Ul'dah and get a rescue to her brother in record time. SquareEnix, please give us the minions of them... I need them both.

Adding these by request. Landebert: When a nation shakes, lowly folk like us are the first to feel it. Mark my words: something bad's happened in Ul'dah. Landebert: The high lords and ladies are being tight-lipped about it, but that only serves to reveal how dire the situation is. I don't know what's afoot right now, but it'll lead to no good end. Muttering Merchant: Since the victory feast, one consortium after another has been going under, and with nary any warning. Only the Syndicate has the power to do such a thing, but to what end? Could the rumors of revolution be true? Nervous Nanny: Is it just me, or are there more soldiers on the streets of late? Everywhere I go, I feel as though I'm being watched. It's downright unsettling, I tell you. Garrulous Gossipmonger: Oi, did ye hear? Some adventurer─an' a bleedin' famous one at that─went on a rampage durin' the victory feast. Fair tore down the Fragrant Chamber, 'tis said. Rumor has it (s)he's an imperial spy sent to do for the sultana. Crystal Brave: You shouldn't be here! If they find you, they'll arrest you like they did the others! Crystal Brave: Look, I didn't see you, alright? If you know what's good for you, you'll put a hundred malms between yourself and Ul'dah. Momodi: Twelve be praised, you're still alive and well! When I started hearin' rumors about what happened at the feast, I didn't know what to think. Momodi: I tried gettin' answers, but the Brass Blades've made their rounds. Folk around here're carryin' on as though naught's changed. Momodi: But deep down, they know it's a lie. It's only a matter of time before the questions come, and Lord Lolorito better have some good answers by then... Rand: We've received some peculiar orders of late: we're to report any sightings of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Rand: I...I don't understand. Aren't they the ones who oppose the Empire and fight the primals? Aren't they on our side?

In regards to the WoL's lack of uh... action throughout these events, I must say that's one of the biggest failings of the MSQ. They're trying so hard to make the WoL apply to every player that they're actually unable to really do much of anything. It's gotten to the point where the WoL really does seem like an air-headed dunce who just goes to murder wherever they're pointed at that particular moment. It's frustrating enough that I actually tend to speed through any dialogue about the WoL in particular and just watch for all the various bits of world lore instead. ... Also, I'm so disappointed that we don't seem to be getting a proper Au Ra introduction prior to Heavensward launch. This lack has me very curious what the actual race lore will be. Their arrival must not be a very dramatic occasion. In fairness, that does leave more possibilities open for RPers.

Holy crap, I remember getting very confused in the recent MSQ updates when I had on Japanese voices and Haurchefant was being his eccentric self. It was so different from what I knew of him that I thought he was being mind-controlled or had his personality altered. Did a little searching around and turns out... he was always like that in the Japanese version and they just cut that out for the English one (and also apparently his attraction to the player character as well?). It's a pretty jarring difference and I'm disappointed they did it for the sake of apparently keeping Coerthas' story more serious. I'd hope they won't keep doing it but I'm sure Heavensward will be much the same.

Brand new. I retired my old character (who I hadn't played for months anyway) and am now awaiting 3.0 to actually begin RPing again. Probably not even right off the bat too; we might find out more about Au Ra lore in the actual Heavensward part of the expansion and I won't be seeing that portion for a little while since I'm switching to astrologian. There's so much about Au Ra that we simply don't know yet that I can't imagine RPing one already. We don't know about their native culture, the circumstances of their arrival to Eorzea and ect. So many fiddly details! They might be in similar circumstances as Yugiri or she could be an exception. We don't even know naming conventions yet. I'm very excited to see what info is revealed in the upcoming patch and any other updates via the forums or lore reveals. I'm sure the new benchmark will also have more lore, especially the basic differences between clans.

Now I'm intensely curious what the Japanese version of the KotL dialogue is... too bad there's no 'subtitled Japanese' version. You'd think they'd try something like that, with all the popularity of anime. Since I use Japanese or French voices, I definitely notice the difference with the text. I guess some things can't be fully translated with the significant language differences.

I'm gonna poke a bit at your comparison here and the suggestion that Twilight and 50 Shades are so hated in some part because of being female-centric. Firstly, anything that garners popularity on that large of a scale is going to get a lot of scrutiny and attention. If the item in question doesn't hold up, it usually gets forgotten or derided. Twilight and 50 Shades are remarkable because they sold ridiculous amounts of copies despite being awful. Twilight especially so; it was everywhere in its heyday. T-shirts, posters, sneakers, 'Team Edward' nonsense and ect. I'm sure Facebook was drowned in it. But I find it interesting that you point to it when the character of Edward got much more rabid hate than Bella herself. Stalker, creepy, shitty vampire, so on and so forth. Jacob didn't fare much better, even managing to rack up 'pedophile' with the regrettable love triangle being wrapped up with his fate literally being bound to Bella's infant daughter with a single look. Meanwhile, Bella herself was... boring. She did nothing but swoon, obsess, and generally be a useless putz for nearly the entirety of the series. In fact, if there ever was an example of a true 'Mary Sue' in popular culture, it would be her. People have pointed out numerous signs that Bella is an actual self-insert for Stephanie Meyer, including the infamous 'dream I had' origin of Twilight. Ultimately, she is a foil for the two male characters and meant to be ignored in favor of them so the readers can replace her with themselves instead. 50 Shades' focus is much the same; it's all about Christian Grey and his downright worrisome fixation on Anastasia Steel. In fact, both series have subsequently earned a lot of ire for their depictions of relationships that border from unhealthy (Twilight) to genuinely abusive (50 Shades). Additionally, the books' apparent insistence that nothing is amiss and this should be aspired and desired have been roundly condemned. There is nothing ultimately redeeming about these books beyond the salacious 'guilty pleasure' of reading them. They're practically femsploitation. Add all of this to the absurd popularity that defied any logic and a lot of hate will brew from all sides. Fact of the matter is, a character is only as good as their writing and execution. Batman has had the benefit of myriad writers, stories, themes and character arcs, many of which have been critically hailed. He has struggled, failed, changed, evolved, triumphed and more. A 'Mary Sue', regardless of gender, lacks all of this.

Mhm. It's very discouraging to say the least. Don't let it be! If there's a niche that's not catered to by others, create something/run something/host something that caters to it! In fact, it should be motivation to provide a platform for representation more than anything else. Exactly this! Or if the already-existing stuff is understanding enough, why not bring up the possibility of being more open about certain niches? After all, feedback and requests are very easy to present here!

Because height-wise, they look like they're more about Midlander or Miqo'te size. I even looked at the Ishgard location video and the Au Ra female is clearly about the same size as the Midlander who passes her. Some people would prefer them to be taller. Not me, I adore contrast, but that's the reason for the complaint.

300% yes. I didn't even know they existed (taking a break from the game), two people I knew linked me the reveal about two seconds apart with 'THIS IS TOTALLY YOU'. And they were so right. That basically sealed me coming back (that and astrologian.) What can I say? I have a particular aesthetic that I really, really like. I was even more excited to hear about the 'demon' influences because that can lend a really interesting air to a character.

Dogberry touched on this but to reiterate; we didn't have female Roegadyn, female Highlanders or male Miqo'te before and now we have more choices for their addition. Variety that they didn't have to add and that is certainly welcome. Actually, something that might make players of the first two (and everyone) happier is having customization options for the vanilla races expanded. We know they're trying for different and more varied options on Au Ra, so why not an update to the old races to give them similarly numerous choices? Better variety would probably bring some people back to the vanilla races as well.

To be fair, I think their reasoning is totally justified, as much as it may disappoint those with a taste for muscular/larger-framed women. Hell no, they're compromising artistic integrity and game lore to pander to fans who can't handle strong-looking women. "Why do these genders look nothing alike?" "Because fans are basic" I... uh, I really like Au Ra females but I also REALLY appreciate the aesthetic of Roe and Highlander women. It's a personal preference, sure, and it happens to be a generally popular one. Companies, ultimately, do have to sacrifice some artistic tastes when they have 'can we sell tons of this' in mind. Especially since, by rights, this game was nearly canceled. Roegadames and Highlander women didn't even exist in 1.0. And it's a little hurtful to say that anyone who has a particular taste is 'basic' just because it's popular and sells well.