Eva

I favor RP that focuses on what I guess is a slower pace and deals with things in as realistic a manner [for a fantasy world] as is possible in a serious manner. I have a long list of pet-peeves, many of which I'm willing to endure for good RP, few of which I'm not. I prefer to RP in smaller groups with similar-minded characters. I prefer to leave the "higher fantasy" elements behind and generally don't like 'special snowflake' type characters. I don't like when other RPers latch on to some oddity or nuance that may exist or be rare and cite it as precedent for their own similar/like quirk. I prefer ordinary characters thrust in extraordinary circumstances. I prefer to look at things more psychologically. I love characters who fit into the world rather than obviously being pigeonholed into it by their player for whatever reason. I like it when things are believable and real and having long and insightful conversations that keep me glued to my computer into the wee hours of the morning when I should probably be sleeping. I like when other characters make my character think, or react, or feel. As one who plays a reactive or reflective character I like when other RPers are proactive, but not to the point of being unrealistic. I will go to bigger events (though I tend to prefer smaller ones) and sit on the sidelines and still enjoy myself even if nobody tries to strike up a conversation or any such thing. I like when other RPers speculate or question or OOC communicate about their thoughts, habits, motivations - but I don't want to spend more time talking about it than actually RPing. I'm not a mind-reader though. I know my thoughts and feelings can occasionally rub folks the wrong way. I don't harbor grudges, but I don't spend all my time worrying about stepping on others' toes and cannot be bothered to dance on eggshells. I demand an IC/OOC line that does not blur. Because my character doesn't like your character doesn't mean that I dislike you. I am happy to communicate OOC. I want to explain, and I want to understand. But I also want to get back to the RP once that's clarified. I favor the simple. I like combat/sparring RP and I don't mind use of dice to assist this, but don't want to get bogged down with some complicated system of character sheets and dice rolls. I favor guide lines to hard rules. I want to get to the meat of things and keep to the RP and have the action move fluidly but realistically. I don't come from a tabletop background, and I don't have that sort of patience. I like comic relief, but in very limited doses. I don't like when RP feels "silly" (a word I'm using loosely since this is kind of arbitrary) all of the time. I favor serious/heavy RP, but not without an occasional break. I love that this character can enjoy tea with friends one evening, then the next day be out defending a hamlet from the Ixal. I like drama that is real and IC and capable of changing a character's outlook. I don't like when people are petty OOC, create drama, blur the IC/OOC lines, are uncommunicative or unclear, deflect blame, or place unrealistic expectations on others. I have not encountered very much of this sort of negativity in my time RPing in XIV for which I am thankful, and overall view the overarching RP community as a positive entity. I am the kind of RPer that is very easygoing and tolerant of most other RPers (and it was not always this way) but I am also the kind of RPer who has very specific preferences and I've come to learn that my own expectations tend to be a bit more elevated and lean in favor of those who are similar in style and approach. I will RP with most anyone, and I will probably enjoy it. But I will admittedly enjoy certain types of RP and with certain types of RPers more than others. I don't think this means anyone is "better" or "worse" so much as similar-minded.

Eva's father was quietly biased against miqo'te (albeit not openly since he was for a long time a business man). Some of this imprinted itself onto her in a sense. While I wouldn't call Eva racist in any capacity, she carries certain traditional values about family and a 1:1 individual heterosexual partner relationship. While she is a generation-and-a-half removed from her original upbringing, these values are still important to her, and she has observed that the values of many miqo'te whom she has known seem to be quite different. She is far more accepting of this than her father was, but there is a sense of wariness, and while far from a haughty character, she may sort of look down on those who are particularly promiscuous or of looser moral fiber, even if that is what is dictated by their tribal customs or such. She is also initially wary of most new Wildwoods she meets. This is not because she dislikes them. Rather she grew up a Duskwight in Gridania and assumes many of them may be prejudiced against her.

It's a strange thing, looking back on something written over four years ago and disagreeing with oneself. While I think the topic is interesting, I think I would have preferred to see a new thread created to discuss it rather than one that hasn't seen an update in so many years. I'm inclined to agree. While I'm sure my overall aim at that time was perhaps towards steering a then-much-smaller RP community from what many at the time would have considered to be somewhat self-destructive styles of RP. I also think many of us back then were a lot more comfortable with one another and sharing experiences about our own personal backgrounds with RP. In short, four years ago I posted more often and didn't feel a need to censor myself so much as I do lately. So I admit this is a bit humbling, or a bit humiliating. Or a bit of both maybe. The community has grown. I have grown. A lot happens over four years, and the landscape now is much different than it was then. Now the community is much larger. There is a greater pool of RPers and the likelihood of similar-minded folk coming together is greater. My style isn't for everyone. Just as other peoples' style isn't for me. Most can find a group here that they mesh well with though, and that's what's important. As others have said, pretty much everything can be boiled down and called cliché and I recognize this in my own characters as well. I don't really have much else I wish to add beyond that. I also think Myxie's post is extremely throught-provoking and I hope many RPers truly read it and give it thought. Thank you for sharing!

I think the weapon glows (and the augmented robe/armor glows) are neat! But I feel like if this trend keeps up with future updates, we're all just going to be walking around, glowy balls of light that RP and interact with each other. :lol: In response to what FreelanceWizard said about customizing colors/brightness of the glow, I think I read somewhere recently that they're looking into making it such that you can glamour previous iterations of the zodiac weapons if you preferred them more. I actually like a couple of the animus glows better than the novus glows.

Until Coerthas becomes an option, Eva will be making her home in the Twelveswood.

Eva: - Has a difficult time keeping her hands still. She often knits or fidgets with some object to keep herself occupied when she is idle. - Always keeps a dagger in a sheath strapped to her thigh - advice her father once gave her. - Has very little practical understanding of aether/magic. While she utilizes white magic with a high level of proficiency, she does not effectively comprehend exactly how she is able to do what she does. - While she is by some standards an attractive woman, she does not like the fact that she is buxom and would favor a more lithe figure. - She does not like to wear revealing garments, and inwardly looks down upon others who wear skimpy outfits. She does, however, like tight-fitting clothing as she feels it makes her look more slimming. - Downplays her level of experience, knowledge, strength, and understanding of a variety of things. She is not by any means arrogant and would rather strangers and potential rivals view her as weaker than she actually is. - Loves to swim and will take to the water even before/after the summer season, often catching colds in the spring/autumn seasons because of it. - Is obsessive-compulsive about cleanliness. - Albeit somewhat uncharacteristic, Eva was taught a great deal of sleight-of-hand and is able to perform some amusing parlor tricks. - Plays the concert harp, just never in public. - Is a good listener, and makes a good friend, but tends to keep a certain distance from the people closest to her. (I intentionally keep my wiki page brief because I would rather character traits and details manifest themselves naturally through the course of RP rather than an encyclopedia of sorts. I've been considering expanding on it a bit though.)

Absolutely. We hemmed and hawed a lot around killing Eva off during the events of the Calamity - in part because it seemed pretty clear that most of the folks I RPed with were going to survive. In the end we hatched a story about how she came to be at Carteneau Flats and she survived. As odd as it may sound, I do sometimes regret this and wonder at how different things might be if we used that opportunity for a character rename and appearance reset to start something totally new - a character that "fits in" a little better maybe. I guess for all her quirks and tragedy and awkwardness, we do enjoy RPing her and the sort of strained relationships she has with her peers. Would we perma-death now? I'd still think about it, if a situation arose where it would make sense perhaps. As she's a single mother now there would be considerations to make for what would happen with Liv and Len. And the thought of leaving behind orphans seems to complicate matters. Would another character step forward and take them? That could drastically change their story, in turn. That could be a good thing or it could be a bad thing. If we were going to quit things or start a new character at this point I don't think we would kill Eva off. Instead we might just have her settle down somewhere in Coerthas and kind of give up the adventurer lifestyle and live quietly and raise her children. There's a certain allure to being able to still call upon her (perhaps as an alt) for those instances where someone might want to go and visit her.

We had a little fun with this, but not enough time to tailor them to specific levels and such, but I suppose these can be looked upon as the third tier for each, and probably shouldn't be taken too seriously (although these aren't nearly as goofy as what we came up with originally lol): Eva: WHM-Divine Embrace - The Priestess invokes the blessings of the Twelve upon the party. Each member receives a temporary regen effect, a gradual MP replenishment, a gradual TP replenishment, and a boost to spell/skill speed. Moreover the effects of Protect, Stoneskin, and Galvanize are augmented for the duration of the effect. DRG-Nymeia's Needle - The Priestess invokes the blessings of her matron deity, planting her weapon into the target enemy and calling upon her weapon to be used as a conduit of the divine. The target is bound and suffers moderate damage and a moderate DoT for the duration of the effect. Eva cannot attack further, and all party members are bound in place to the Spinner's Grand Design, but each gains a significant boost to HP and his or her primary stat for the duration of the effect. Blynbhar: WAR-Rightious Indignation - Blynbhar swings his axe at the ground before him. Hellfire and brimstone erupt, causing powerful damage, enmity increase, and a strong DoT to all enemies as well as any allies unfortunate enough to be caught in a conal AoE in front of Blynbhar.

This is neat for all the reasons already mentioned!! I would love to see an option for earrings to toggle 2-ears or 1-ear (or maybe even specify which ear) for some of the existing earring options. This doesn't matter so much for Eva since her hairstyle mostly covers any earrings anyway (but not giving that up, even if 5 kabillion others are using the same hairstyle since they made it available to other races). Mostly I think Ben would look more charming with an earring on one ear (even just a plain old glamoured rubellite), rather than it being worn on both ears.

Priest/Priestess Robes (with the various symbols of the Twelve emblazoned on the chest or back - or both!) Elegant gala dresses and ball gowns (and suits for the gents!) and for the love of the Twelve, a one-piece swimsuit. Not all characters want to rock the skimpy bikinis....

I actually really like "High Above" Please nothing too cheesy. There's been so much cheese lately and I've lost my fondness for the flavor. :dodgy:

Your post makes me realize that the static to which I belong is a rare and beautiful gem, even if somewhat unpolished. It seems like more casual raiding groups are something of a hard sell. Even in our own group I think there's 2-3 who wish our schedules allowed us to grind at it a little more, but most of us are happy with the casual pace (we average twice a week for maybe two hours each time). And we have fun! And mistakes happen and it can be easy to blame someone, and we do sometimes (but playfully so!) and shake it off and keep trying. There's no animosity or lingering resentment. I think most of us are genuinely happy to lift each other up rather than feel any sort of selfish grind for gear and increasing our own individual iLv. A little over a month ago we had a sort of hiccup and stopped raiding for awhile. There are a number of reasons this happened and in retrospect it's not even really all that important. After resorting individually to PF to do T6 a couple times just for the sake of continuity, I realized I missed it. We had been raiding together since first coil T1 for almost an entire year, and we had a couple members bow out for various reasons, but otherwise the entire group has remained intact, occasionally having to replace someone if there were circumstances preventing them from making a raid time. I think we're mostly adults with vastly differing job schedules so trying to find two evenings a week for all 8 planets to align is our first greatest obstacle. When I was left to solo for a month or so, my last PF group invited me into their static. It would have been a bit more demanding, but fit with my schedule. I wasn't sure what was happening with the long-term one, if it was disbanding entirely. Someone suggested putting it back together and the configuration changed a little bit so in a way we were having to re-learn T6 (a couple new members, and one fellow on a different job than before). While it was flattering to be invited based on PF, I'm happy I decided to stick it out with my current group. They're fun people and I don't think the promise of faster progression or better gear can really replace that experience, where you're smiling and laughing with friends, even when something gets borked up. I recently learned that the other group I was invited to had blitzed through T7 and T8 and was working on T9 now, and while I'm happy for them I do not regret my decision to stay with my friends at all! We will get there when we get there, after all. I hope that you find a group that brings you this same sort of satisfaction and enjoyment. As others have said, it's a game and it's supposed to be fun. When it stops being that, you should take a good hard look at the underlying reasons and root causes and see if there's any way to enact some change. I think that there are a lot of good people here and I hope that you find your niche or a good static group that brings you smiles and laughs instead of upset and frustration.

I think part of the reason for this is just how few elezen RPers there are when contrasted with something like the miqo'te... where there's probably something like eight miqo'te RPers to every one elezen (I may be exaggerating slightly but it certainly feels that way sometimes). Internally and OOC I feel a certain amount of joy at the fact someone else felt this race was in some way beautiful and worthy of investing time and effort into RPing. My Duskwight character shows no predudice (at least not towards Wildwoods), so where there may be a certain amount of reservation - more about how she'll be perceived as a Grey by whichever of the Greens she's meeting - she doesn't harbor any animosity or preconceived notions about them. The OOC sense of excitement at the opportunity to RP with other elezen thus gets somewhat muted in-character, since Elezen are theoretically supposed to be as common as any of the four other races. I think if the RP population were more balanced and more RPers opted for the Elezen race, we would see a bit more of the struggle that exists between the two clans. For now I just sort of accept things as they are. The fact that Eorzea is the great melting pot that it is gives us as good a reason as any why that strife is perhaps not as prevalent as we would otherwise expect. I'm rambling now though... <3 Elezen !!

This still occupies one of my slots though I seldom see much in the way of activity on it, which is a shame because there were a lot of great plot points and a lot of thought went into the initial development. Maybe I'll poke it IC this eve to see if anyone answers. :thumbsup: An all-elezen LS could be interesting. The fact that our two clans seem to have a lot more animosity towards each other than any other race might make this a bit difficult to achieve, however. This is not to say that my character is anti-Wildwood in any way, but I would imagine many are, as many of the Greens frown upon the Greys as well.

There was a lot of debate and gnashing of teeth in the fact that you can only join one FC but multiple LS's - some feel that FC's (with their buffs and perks) are geared more towards progression/PvE/endgame while multiple RP circles can be joined. Others are of the school of thought that FC housing makes up a perfect opportunity for that sort of organization that certain RPers aspire towards, and favor the FC mechanism. I'll plug Crystalline here a bit as a mercenary company with roots grounded in certain moral practices. "Mercenaries with Morals" is a catch-phrase we've been using. Most of the members (quite a mish-mash group) regard themselves as doing it for more than just the money that the jobs offer. And of course there's room for various plots that each individual brings to the group as well. We do utilize a LS as our primary means of in-character chat, and the FC housing is open to those members who may be unable to join the FC for whatever reason (in endgame FC, etc.) so we kind of sidestep it that way, and the /fc chat channel is utilized for OOC dialogue, setting up raids/dungeons, etc. So there are certain perks to being in the FC and we of course prefer that, but we also understand it's not always possible for some members, and basically we just want to RP along whichever channels it is possible. We do tend to be a bit on the "low-fantasy" and generally avoid the MSQ and similar plot lines which cast the character as "the one and only hero" and such. But at our core we are sort of a "charitable" mercenary company - more out for the betterment of Eorzea than lining our pockets with gil, as it were. Other FC's will of course have different (or perhaps similar) purposes, standards, rules, requirements, and expectations. I do strongly feel that the housing element lends itself very well towards RP, and the "one FC only" sort of then contradicts this. A rather unpleasant pairing for some of our members at times, I believe.

While the content of a person's character is more important, to Eva, there is a certain traditional reverence for the name. This has been something of a recurring theme - similar to how she has what some might consider an unusual view pertaining towards opinions on matters such as family and marriage. These are virtues that were handed down to her from her father and to which she clings pretty closely. This being said, 'Eva' is not her born name. I rather not give too many spoilers, but she is fairly direct and honest and would likely speak of it if the subject were somehow brought up in casual conversation. The event(s) that triggered her decision to change her name was significant enough for her to overlook this particular tradition in this instance. Generally speaking she does not think people should change their names willy-nilly. She goes to certain lengths to try and pronounce names properly, even the miqo'te names which are difficult for others to pronounce - she will make that effort to try and be correct. She views it as being honorable to the individual as well as the parents of the individual. She used to be much worse at remembering names, but with time and a certain amount of practice she is better at it. She very, very seldom uses nicknames for anyone. EDIT TO APPEND: Another note worthy of importance is that Eva took her fiancé's surname throughout most of the duration of 1.0 and was regarded by most as 'Eva Ianeira' rather than 'Eva Zelorius' - there are actually two separate reasons for this. The first being she felt it a way to honour the departed, and she would have taken his name had they married anyway. As time went on she realized how this was also unintentionally kind of a slight to her own family and upbringing and eventually reverted back to Zelorius to honour her father.

:love::love::love::love::love: You are wonderful!! Thank you!

I wonder if they ever met Phalanx before the calamity. @_@ Would be interesting RP to see a bit of backstory for Phalanx as to why he left Ishgard and the Dragon Knights as even Inessa doesn't know. Would certainly be an interesting angle. Eva's father was hardly a particularly agreeable individual and wound up essentially just walking away from the knighthood shortly after she was born for reasons that are intentionally left unclear (speculation ranging from his heart not being in it after his wife left all the way to rumors of him being in league with Dravanians). I have a timeline written up [albeit on another computer since I'm at work now] and would be glad to compare notes and see where perhaps they may have some sort of a link there.

Eva's primary role model is a Wildwood elezen fellow named Pater who was friendly with her father (it has been suggested but never directly stated that they fought together for Ishgard) and gave her employment at his book shop for 11 years. From him she has learned that things aren't as important as people, and how to read moods and a lot of interpersonal skills she never really possessed in her earlier life. She also eventually came to look up to her father after his passing. He served as a captain of a particular batallion of dragoon knights of Ishgard and as a single parent tried to imprint a lot of values and traditions. Much of this was not well-received until his health began to deteriorate though. Earlier in her life she did not have any role-models and her teenage years in particular were difficult for this lack of guidance.

From one who RPed as a Temple Knight in FFXI, I feel your pain. While your character may be associated with an executive faction, many times other characters will simply choose not to respect that authority. There are often a lot of assumptions made in either direction as to how capable (or incapable) that sort of personnel is regarded. I cannot tell you how many prison break-outs we experienced... It got pretty silly. The XIV crowd is much more mature though, and seems more cognizent of causality and the consequences that exist for particular actions. And, as others have stated, I've seen a certain amount of respect and reverence for those characters who align themselves with the various policing forces (Sultansworn, Yellowjackets, Wood Wailers, etc.) I find this to be encouraging, but I suppose all it takes is one to disregard your call to imaginary backup, etc. I wouldn't let it deter you though.

(Sorry, longwinded post alert. TL;DR is at the bottom) I admire your spiritedness Gus, and I'm sorry I was unable to attend your event. I think I met you on Blynbhar once at an event in Ul'dah and you were a lot of fun and I'm sure our paths will cross again somehow. I think the majority of my RP happens within the confines of the Twelveswood, but I realize we are a smaller company that is tailored more towards specific character types. And even as small as we are now, there is a very obvious schism within our own group, where most nights I look at the listing and see that half are RPing in the woods and the other half are at the beach. It is what it is. I'm just happy folks are RPing. Even that "drama" is kept mostly in-character and creates some interesting dialogue and IC problems to be dealt with. I do try to keep my feelers out there beyond our house and our company activity. Tavern events are a little awkward for both of our characters, but I don't mind finding excuses for one or the other to show up. Thus far it's been either alone or with a friend or two. If alone it's appropriately difficult to engage strangers in conversation (I honestly don't go in with expectations Eva's going to make a new best friend or Ben's going to strike up random conversations). I accept that is a factor of these two characters' personalities. I'm not going to stop going to them though. They're fun, and while they may sometimes bit a bit too crowded for my tastes, I do feel like I'm being a part of something bigger, and I do like that. I also try to hold an open gathering on a biweekly basis but I don't go to great pains to advertise it for the simple fact that I don't actually want too big of a turnout. In essence this is a spoken parable Eva gives periodically at the Sanctum for the Twelve in the East Shroud (the phrase 'sermon' is often used but Eva doesn't like that because she feels it's condescending) which is followed by a small group talk. It's a churchy thing and doesn't appeal to everyone, but the character is a priestess... Invitations are extended to people that I RP with in various groups and it's something Eva does entirely apart from the merc company. It has been a lot of fun in the past, but there have been a few occasions where it's been mildly stressful (the nonbeliever coming to challenge the belief in the Twelve thing is pretty tiresome and has been done to death - cuz those people always show up at church in RL to throw down with the minister). But yes, I don't post about this on the RPC however I will say in this sort of out-of-the-way post on a somewhat-related thread that it is a thing and if you're interested in joining just ask me in a /tell or something. (there is one scheduled for this weekend) Again, it's not a closed event by any means and walk-ups are always fun to interact with. I just wanted to avoid it getting so populated that it turned into a circus, so to say. I walked away from one in the past because some passers-by sort of heckled it. Otherwise it has grown in following, slowly and steadily, by word of mouth ICly (which I think is a cool advertising medium for that sort of thing). But to get back to the main point, I don't think anyone in this community can really honestly say they have an accurate view of what RP in the total community is like. We saw it a lot in XI where threads cropped up "amg RP is dying!!!" and it was always pretty far from the truth, but from one person's perspective who may not be aware of what else is going on. There are also a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings that stem from an unwillingness or unacceptance to RP outside of your own personal comfort zone. Oftentimes this turns out to be some of the best stuff, and where new friendships are forged. Occasionally it turns out to be a disaster, but then you just kind of chalk it off as a learning experience and move on. But to speculate on the direction of RP based on a handful of individual experiences is painting with a broad brush. I hope you are able to sway a few non-RPer into the fold, and more importantly I hope you have fun doing so! TL;DR (as promised): Everyone RP's differently and has different preferences. And everyone is awesome for RPing. Branch out however you like as long as you're having fun, because that last bit is the most important part! :thumbsup:

In 1.0 Eva had been issued a rather stubborn chocobo she named Shuttle (weaving being her passion and all). Alas this poor creature was claimed on the fateful D-Day (D for Dalamud here of course). More recently she has been issued by the Twin Adders another chocobo and named it Shuttle as well, in honour of her first beloved steed. This one is more even-tempered and cooperates a little better, but she selected it because when she first saw him, he was set apart from the other birds and behaved shyly and awkwardly at first. She does sometimes refer to him as 'Shuttle 2'. >.> On a sidenote, I have a difficult time personally rationalizing certain mounts ICly. While I don't fault anyone their decision to RP in whichever manner they choose, I often feel like anyone riding Magitek mounts would be shot on sight and such. And I think a Unicorn mount would actually be pretty perfect for Eva (the white one, not the crazy EX primal ones), but they are supposed to be rare, and I would rather preserve that notion than try and be a special snowflake.

This is one of those cases of "strict versus loose adherence of the lore" where you may find some people accepting of the concept without questioning it at all where others will stamp their feet and demand to know what the precedent for such a thing is. Personally speaking, I don't mind a bit of deviation from what we're given. I think that's to be expected, and the mood mask concept seems creative and innovative, doesn't step into anything that seems like it couldn't possibly exist in Eorzea, and isn't something that grants uncanny powers or anything godmodish. I wouldn't even seek too much to explain the "science" behind it. Perhaps call it aetherial magic and leave it at that maybe. I mean you can if you want, but I think that would just invite further scrutiny. I have taken similar liberties with similar such things. A warding spell that blocks noise is something I've employed, for instance. Protect is a spell. I see no reason why the flows of aether cannot be woven in such a manner as to block sounds instead of physical attacks - because duskwight ears are hypersensitive and Eva's babies are fussy and need sleep! :dazed:

Eva's weapons, armour, and tools are quite ordinary. She lost most of her worldly possessions with the Calamity and since that time hasn't placed a lot of value in 'things'. The one exception to this would be a spear that is a bit too heavy for her to wield herself without being awkwardly cumbersome. This weapon belonged to her father and adorns a wall in her room because she thinks it's beautiful - cast from an unknown crystalline material that resembles a blue glass and reflects light in a way similar to a prism. While this was admittedly a nod to accomplishments from FFXI, for XIV the weapon has no name and apart from being something of a curio, serves no other purpose than as a decoration for her home and reminder of her father and his time spent as a dragoon knight of Ishgard. She does have a staff (which she has regarded as a prayer staff and not anywhere as significant/relevent as the Thyrus we are given through the game's storyline). She also has a number of variously-designed polearms which are about as fascinating as anything else wrought of wood and metal. One additional note - she always keeps a dagger in a sheath strapped to her thigh as well. This is as plain a weapon as one can be and has needed to be replaced on at least one occasion. Blynbhar's weapon on the other hand is much less mundane. He has little regard for worldly possessions, but his great-axe is a thing he had forged after a figure whom he believes was Nymeia came to him in a dream and gave it to him as a gift. He awoke and had the weapon crafted to those same specifications. There is some artwork we had commissions of him wielding it (but I'm at work now and will post a link later if I remember). He calls it 'Threadsplitter' and while it is just metal and wood forged by a smith based on this dream, he considers it to be something divine.

Loss upon more loss A reason to everything Heartbroken faithful