Ignacius

Is it possible to include on the Member List a column that would allow us to sort or filter by server?

Your character is not "beautiful." Your character may be "tall", "muscular", "unblemished", "well-proportioned", "vuluptuous", "perky", "dusky", "chiseled", "angular", "alien", "flashy", "well-kept", "clean", "gritty", "unshaven", "strong", "sleight", or "willowy". Your character can have "dazzling blue eyes", "a crooked but sincere grin", "a full beard strewn with braids and beads of his culture", "eyes that seem to flicker with intelligence", "a smile full of perfectly white teeth", "a voice that seems to almost sing as he speaks", "a scar across his cheek, seemingly ritual in nature", or even "well-manicured nails painted with clear varnish." You character can "sit ramrod-straight in his chair", "lean against the wall casually and light a cigarette", "sit with shoulders stooped, nervous at the public setting", "lean across the table on one elbow, pointing across it with his knife", or "sit leaned back, never uttering a word, but eyes burning with contempt." But your character cannot be "beautiful." That is at the discretion of the audience, and you'd be amazed at the wide variety involved in their reactions. For example, in addition to not finding Lalafels "beautiful" (rather common) I also find Miqo'te well-night universally unattractive (rather rare). I don't like how young they appear and how sleight they are; it's not my thing. At the same time, I know that Orleans isn't universally attractive. Even if someone thinks he looks handsome, Orleans' mannerisms are sometimes hostile and aggressive, not every woman's thing. So just describe your character. Aim to get something about the personality across in the presence (as it often does in real life). Be illustrative. But don't try to demand the reaction.

Let me know if you ever end up on Gilgamesh, I'll get you connected to the local scene. Even if not, welcome to the party!

Yeah, water and plumbing might (like many things in Ul'dah) depend heavily on your wealth. I doubt the common folk, especially those living outside the cities, have universal access to an infrastructural network of plumbing (that's still the case in parts of America, so Ul'dah likely is in worse shape than that). You can probably have it built into your manse if you're wealthy so that you get a split off the aqueduct, or you could do it Roman style with an atrium, but I'd assume your average Joe Lalafel is still porting his own water from the public font. We're adventurers, though, even the poorest of us can afford to use aetherytes at leisure. I'm assuming our rooms at inns are first class and we can pay millions to afford housing. We likely haven't been without running water, even in Gridania, since we killed Ifrit.

There appears to be some sort of Roman style plumbing system in use in several places, as there are various aqueducts around (particularly in Revenant's Toll). However, Anything Limsa Lominsa and Ul'dah have can be almost completely explained via that route. I don't think they have a mess of New Deal-era piping infrastructures, though. We don't have any evidence of spigots or any access areas I've seen, which would be intrinsic to that level of water delivery. I also can't recall seeing an irrigation system. They'd also need a water storage system somewhere above the rest of the city and some manner of reservoir for that. But, this is Final Fantasy. None of it makes any difference. The cities have exactly as much water and infrastructure as Square needs for narrative purposes.

If you end up on Gilgamesh, we're fairly centralized in the game. Contact Adolar Stone if you don't see me, he'll get you hooked into the infrastructure.

Our communities are set up on Balmung and Gilgamesh. Both have similar problems (they're not-so-coincidentally the two largest servers), but both have good RP communities. Balmung is larger, but a little more specious. Gilgamesh is smaller, but a bit tighter. Either way, you'll be fine. I'd keep an eye on both if you don't have a preference, hoping you get onto either. Because they're so heavily populated, it's sometimes hard to start a character. To dissuade RMTs, the servers have a certain amount of characters they allow to be made on a somewhat random schedule. So you sometimes have to try to log on during off-hours to make a character. You can get around this by starting elsewhere and transferring, since character transfers ignore character creation restrictions.

Balmung's probably the most populated, followed closely by Gilgamesh. Either or, you'll be fine. The communities are a lot different in organization and tone, though.

If it makes you feel any better, I was listening to Jag Panzer on my way to work today. And then this on the way home. I've got folk metal going over lunch, too. DXKwVe1SBTA

Again, and I'm not trying to shoot anyone down here, but I generally assume most people make their characters and are playing for at least a short while before trying to find an organized RP community. I mean, I don't want to put an arrow in the heart of the RPC here, but I imagine most people have a server already by the time they find this place. They're either willing to reroll or server transfer, or they're usually already invested in the server they're on. At least that's been my impression; most of the new player posts aren't players without a character yet. So this may all be academic. If people really want to pay to transfer anywhere or reroll somewhere, I honestly doubt it will be a flood to a tertiary server. Either people will transfer to Balmung or Gilgamesh, they'll sit on an off-hour day and slide in, or they're not going anywhere anyway. This ONLY works if there are a lot of new players coming here to the RPC specifically before they put a few weeks or months on their characters on another server.

Can I pipe dream? I know it won't likely happen, but it'd be nice if Square kicked off a new server, and you could only start/transfer there if you wrote a short essay about your character. People would have to go far out of their way to grief there, the RPers could be transferred for free to a new server where the population would be just them. Trolling could get someone returned to the server they were on without it being a big fuss. Just a dream, but we can always try to raise a petition or a stink about it. Seems better than designating yet another unofficial RP server where we'll have the same problems.

In a way, it's Square's fault that it becomes a piece of the puzzle. Since we don't have an official RP server, we have to coexist with people who not only don't like RP, but don't have a way to avoid our chat scroll without blisting us. I mean, if you're on an RP server and trolling, that's one thing. If you're a non-RPer who, for whatever reason, dislikes having it around, you're surrounded by targets and you can't really escape it. Honestly, it's always worth having an RP server, or an RP phase mechanic, in every game. Yes, there will be people reporting trolls, but trolls get reported for annoying everyone, not just RPers. You just get a lot more trolls without one because there are so many people for whom RP was not a part of the package they signed up for on that server. No excuses for ruining people's fun, but it's not like a chunk of it isn't avoidable if Square would just designate an RP server (or, more realistically, just do away with servers and institute an RP phase mechanic on a universal phased server).

If there was any justice in the world, I wouldn't have to introduce anyone to Jag Panzer. Life's not fair... Covered them on Metal Monday this week, though. A2YHC5DWtdU

I know Gilgamesh is the other big RP server, but it's certainly not low population. If you ever show up here, I can help get you connected.

Yeah, Gilgamesh is the other RP server. It's a bit harder to get into than other servers, but there's quite a community here and it's easier to get onto than Balmung. Get in touch with Adolar Stone over here. Run an alt over here if you're looking to see what it's like. It's a little different than the Balmung crew.

It depends. Romance has to be organic in some way. If you're looking for it, it becomes detrimental to the character. IRL, I'm married, so I've been VERY reluctant to get back into RP romance. Too many females playing female characters have experienced a bit too much bleed, and taken it personally when I haven't reciprocated the IRL feelings. However, there's an organic way to do this; make a character that isn't very lovable. The past two games I've RPed in, I've played Houngan Seeger and now Orleans Ignacius. Seeger was something of a weird, sociopathic voodoo-heavy witch doctor. Horrible mercenary character. Orleans is somewhat similar. Paranoid, sociopathic, a criminal and a mastermind. In RP, you can essentially make someone difficult to romantically connect to. Taking Orleans specifically, he literally does not trust anyone that isn't a tribesman, and even his tribesmen look up to him. Most women who would be interested in him want nothing to do with a man who looks around every time he leaves a building. Those that would be interested in him despite that are looking up at someone in a position of authority and leadership who sees his people as employees and, at best, charges. Like an alpha wolf, he doesn't see equals around him. Most people avoid him, though, and he hasn't really been flirted with yet. He has too much authority in the way he speaks for people to really relate to him in a personal way. People looking for an interpersonal connection aren't getting it unless they're tribesmen, and so far the tribesmen aren't really romantically involved. And a bit of that is intentional. Being in a romantic IC relationship always carries that risk of OOC bleed, and there comes a point where you just don't want to deal with it.

I don't think there's an awful lot of debate about the solution. Just, technically speaking, it's probably not going to generate the mileage you want. You can play whatever you want and there's nothing wrong with having a character be intergender or intersex, but RP being a social activity and genitalia not being traditionally on display for all to see in good company, it's not likely to be a "big deal" for many other characters. We're talking about a lot of forethought for a one, maybe two, person payoff.

What are your answers? 1: That his paranoia has gotten the better of him and that he's truly gone insane. However, pointing that out to him might make you a target of his paranoia. 2: The kind of thing you have to get rid of it afterwards for... 3: Around his tribesmen, he's brotherly and caring. Around his non-tribal associates, he's cold but loyal. Around everyone else, he's suspicious and brutal. 4: Maybe, if he needed a public image boost, though most of the "charity" he does is just to make him more loved by the poor and clannish than the law is. It's all self-serving. 5: He'd kill them. And their friends, if he could. Most likely their families, if he could do that. He has to, people NEED to fear him. 6: Yes, unfortunately Orleans is both highly intelligent and constantly paranoid about what he isn't seeing. 7: I wouldn't say the fear of catching a knife in the back is irrational, though it might be in irrational places. 8: Orleans loved them. However, when he left home, he never saw them again. The tribe is his family now, and he'll die to protect them. 9: Every day breathing in Orleans' world is an achievement. Anything else is a bonus. 10: It's hard, sometimes, to know if Orleans even has emotions. Part of it is being guarded, part of it is being a bit of a sociopath. 11: In a way, he was. At the time, he was high on psychedelics. He felt good. 12: Security. Then again, he doesn't believe it really exists, so... 13: Vulnerability. You do something, you plan it out and you do it right. 14: His best friends are tribesmen. He smooths those out himself. That's part of his tribal duty. 15: Yes, in a bizarre way. Essentially, he doesn't believe in good people that actually do good things without people like him making it possible. 16: Unfortunately for society, yes. Orleans can make some very messed-up people feel very well-understood and respected. 17: Does splattering the wall with someone's innocent best friend in order to draw them out count as sociopathy? 18: Orleans completely, totally, and honestly believes that, to take care of people, only the nastiest people in the world can actually provide for their own. Say what you want about the murder described above, Orleans takes care of his tribe, his employees, and many of the downtrodden. He sees himself as a provider and a protector, in addition to a businessman. 19: When everything goes according to plan. 20: Probably, though he tries to keep this to a minimum (bad blood is part of the plan, and anything that isn't planned for is a liability). 21: He doesn't carry an axe for possible fire escape situations... hurting people is how you generate fear, take goods, and manage your business. Whether physically or emotionally, one needs to employ the right weapons. 22: Orleans shows some tribal brotherly respect and love, but he's a very stoic person. He's spent enough time using other people's loved ones against them to know better. 23: Yes... basically everything. To new people, he's just a businessman. 24: Generally, the person can look forward to being visited by death or misfortune, and quite possibly the group if they join in. If not right then and there, then certainly later. 25: After killing whomever is responsible, he would probably simply move on. His loved ones die all the time; the other Dancers are always looking for trouble and many pay the price. 26: The possibility that, one slip, and he could be dead, imprisoned, or on the run. Paranoia is a way of life. 27: Escapism is a good way to slip. Even playing the Gold Saucer games, he's constantly aware of what he's doing. He's making money the fun way, but he's not pretending he's someone or anywhere else. 28: Killed the guy on a street corner after school, at night, where there are no witnesses. 29: He tries to be diplomatic with his people, and he tends to be destructive to anyone else. 30: Try to tell him he's a bad person.

I don't know if it's worth making a topic about... hear me out. Gender and gender identity issues can be RP issues, but the problem is how they're made to be issues. The fact is that, played right, 99% of characters won't even KNOW. We're around transex people all the time; you can't pick them out of a crowd. So, at most, it's going to be known by a short handful of people, and most of those won't honestly care any more than any of us do in real life. Even if I know that my cousin, for example, has any other gender or sexual identity issues, it's not like it affects me or my relationship with them in any way. About the only person who finding out about their gender might be something of what I'd call a dramatic story element might be my wife. So, played right, it's rarely an external story element unless your character is consistently invited to weekly orgies, goes to prison, or has a severe cottonseed allergy and can't wear clothes. The reason this thread might be important is because there's a way it could become a major external story element, and man is that the wrong way to play that angle. Being actually transgender is a daily struggle of dealing with ignorance and a world that doesn't acknowledge any grey area between heterosexual males and females, but in FFXIV? We don't have bathrooms in-game to even be gender-specific. We don't have to worry about actual undergarment support. Altering one's appearance isn't any more than a fantasia potion away. So to make it an issue worth the mileage of actually putting in the development time on that single trait, you have to make your gender a major external issue. That generally entails some VERY gratuitous and aggravating RP on your part to make people care about your genitalia in a game that, mechanically and figuratively, does not care an awful lot about your genitalia. So.... I guess the summation of my advice here is to do it if you want, but the best way to play it is to NOT make it a focal point of your RP. The only ways to make it a major issue to more than a few people are going to be the kind of RP some of us avoid like ebola.

It depends. It depends on the role you're playing, mostly. Orleans has a pretty wide range of skills he's very skilled in, but he is something of a criminal kingpin. People look up to him for former work he's put in, so he has a broad range of skills related to smuggling, combat, etc. Because of his leadership position, it makes a lot of sense. By that same token, you can't be infinitely skilled. Orleans came up as a street-level crew chief (specializing in breaking-and-entering on installations while living in Garlean territory), then became an enforcer, but he has never, for example, produced drugs. He is familiar with and skilled with firearms, but isn't a master sniper. He certainly isn't an expert calligrapher, nor is he a master fisherman. Orleans might be able to get his hands on a lot of what might be Garlean goods, he can steal and pirate very well, he's an exceptionally effective bruiser, but he isn't a whole gang unto himself. That's why he has people with different experiences along with him. That's so that the other Dancers can have their room to shine. Orleans may be skilled, but as an RP character, he functions as a facilitator. And that's an important distinction. The more skilled a character is, the more you really need that character to move into the role of a facilitator. That means that your character becomes a person that keeps other characters busy. If you're playing a highly skilled character in several areas, but you intend to play that character as an actuator, people will be shut out, rather than empowered, RPing with you. So watch how highly skilled you are. You cannot be so highly skilled that there's no roles to fill around you. The entire point of RP is interpersonal communication. If you can do just about anything, you are basically making sure you have less need for other characters. That intrinsically harms your RP.

Hey there! I probably won't see you, as I play on Gilgamesh, but welcome to the RPC!

My honest take on it is that sad RP is just like any RP. Don't "aim" for an endpoint. You pick a theme, but if you're forcing too much as the GM to get the story you want, you end up just writing a story. Sad RP should be intertwined with everything else. In my first example, it's important to note that the sad (yet foreseen) end to the storyline followed probably a year or two of RP that went every way. Every session may have had a little sadness, humor, violence (actually a lot of violence), etc. I don't necessarily do "sad RP" any more than anything else. Just create the scene and let the emotions play around it. If I can be said to write anything, I tend to write criminals more than anything else. But "criminal" has meant a lot of things. A lot of glamour, a lot of tragedy, a lot of humor. I tend to run the theme, the emotional aspects aren't forced. They'll show up.

"Yeah, I've heard this kind of story before... it didn't work for that guy, either."

Probably the Coerthas Central Highlands theme. That got you pumped up for whatever was coming. Lr1TxAkejXE

"I don't care what she says about chicken salad, I'm telling you the bitch had liposuction or something. Honestly, I don't know why they're all ogling her all the time, my husband tells me he doesn't like girls that skinny..."