Iex

In the case of Grave Shadow... it stemmed from my GW2 Charr. Originally, all my Charr characters in GW2 failed to follow the naming conventions... which honestly I did not mind TOO MUCH, but when I finally settled down on a character to get to 80 (it took way too long to pick a class.) I wanted the character to follow some sort of the scheme. So Iex Graveshadow was born. When I came to FFXIV... I attempted to find a way to recreate the name, I went through about 5-6 different races and such from I'ex Tia to Iex Graveshadow. However, I ended up with a Hellguard with the name Grave Shadow and the nickname of Iex. Though I fantasiaed him into a Seawolf for a nice face, he is still a Hellguard. Apparently... the name Grave Shadow is more clever than I thought.

It is hard to say what is not possible in FFXIV because the development level of cultures are vaaaastly different, even between the city states. (Gridania seems extremely primitive compared to the others, but that is merely because of the culture of being one with the shroud.) We also have genetic experiments of sci-fi levels, Lasers, multi-shot guns, airships, bombs, magitek, power armor, and good old fashion magic with alchemy. If you have done the Alchemist story.... the limits of alchemy seems very blurred. Something as simple as a match, I would be hard-pressed not to believe possible, even if it is just a TINY TINY fragment of a fire aspected crystal surrounded by an ignitable compound on the end of stick. (Or maybe a fire crystal turned to a fine sand and adhered to the stick.) Impact on the fragment causes heat and flame. ignites the compound, and slowly burns the stick.

I had to have mine removed last year. Granted... I waited a day or two after the pains started to actually go see a doctor. (clever right?) I wouldn't worry too much, basically the second you get into the hospital you will be drugged up and won't feel a thing. The doctor who handled mine... had done three of the same surgery previous to mine.... so it is pretty run of the mill for them. The more miserable thing is if you are a guy, you literally will not be able to go the restroom despite if you feel like you need to, for anywhere between 6 to 24 hours. The most miserable thing is getting used to not moving in certain ways while recovering at home. Just take it really easy... get a heating pad and just relax for a few days. (Gharen's description of how it will feel is spot on, but it will ease up over a few days and only hurt if you twist in the wrong way.)

Hmm, lot of Echo talk but most folks in this thread do notseem to RP a character with it. So I will pipe up as a character who as the Echo. Grave Shadow has the echo… and hates every damn second of it. First, I guess, his particularly only really triggersmemories around death or the dead. That is pretty much the only time I directly RP it, and rarely at that. It is used as a jumping point to start an RP, the hook to fish up something much bigger. In the end you don’t really care what hook you used… so long as you get a nice fish. Naturally, he has other benefits, such as immunity to being tempered by primal since he already is tempered and occasionally I RP him being able to understand the Doman who are speaking ill of other people in (Different Language). He personally would rather not have the echo. To him beingtempered by Hydaelyn is almost as bad as being tempered by the other primal. He did not have a choice in it and now he is supposed to be some figure of hope and preordained destiny. It bothered him so much he spent a good five years attempting to root it out like a weed in his soul and even did some things... unbecoming of someone ‘touched by the crystal of light.’ All that work only resulted in altering how his body reacts to the echo when it triggers (it isn’t pretty or pleasant). Most the time he has to consider if what he is doing is really his own desire or the influence of a being beyond his own will. To that end he grinds his teeth when people say ‘may thecrystal protect you’ or ‘go with the light of the crystal.’ Grave, personally, believes until both Hydaelyn and the Dark One are rendered powerless and merely become part of a neutral and non-sentient aetheric flow there will be constant war beyond the control of the mortals on Eorzea. Also that… until that time, people cannot really be held up high or judged for darkness because all the deeds for good or ill are influenced by wills beyond the mortal realm. Mortals are just pawns in a constant game… rather than players. The Echo to Grave’s character is a ‘big part’ but hardlyused to elevate him to the spotlight. It is more used to form the ideology and back story of the character. Despite him having the echo… he is NOT a warrior of light. Edited for... formatting?

You can actually bind to any Aetheryte for Return. When I'm doing leves in an area and I'm undergeared, I'll usually bind to the nearest Aetheryte. My typical bind point is Revenant's Toll, actually. Doop! I fail at this game =P

In the case of prisoner.... I would assume the health of the prisoner would affect the their ability to teleport. Also, I would assume the person may need to know where they are currently located... basically able to 'locate the stream' to take them home. The Titan MSQ revealed a few things about teleporting Pre and post the fight, mostly you need to know both start and finish locations to succeed. (Not to mention warded cells to cut off the aether of the prisoner from the outside world to prevent teleporting or scrying for the missing person) Also, highly unstable aetheric areas would make it risky at best to try to tap into the stream. (Hence why you can't teleport into trouble such as last bosses.) The RETURN spell, however, I think is a beast of a different color. It seems more of a OOC mechanic for the game. When Grave uses teleportation it normally involves tapping to the aether and mapping out a route, given he has the time he can carefully map out how he wants to go about doing it and not cost much to his person. In a rush I have him suffer consequences... from sickness to disruptions that could attract creatures from the void finding a weak spot between the worlds and piercing the veil. If we want to turn it into a pure IC thing. "Return" would be more... of a VERY common place your character teleports to so it is like... driving while half asleep to work (don't do this)... you have such a memory you can pull it off as long as you are on the right route, so it may not work as well if you are in unfamiliar areas. Similarly, the more expensive the 'route' indicates the further in the stream you must travel indicating a more exhausting and perhaps more dangerous teleport. Edit: It should also be noted return only works for Cities (well... I think), so we may be able to assume the Aetherytes there have some EXCEPTIONAL quality that allows them to shine like major cities at night in space. Easier to find, easier to get to and given enough practice if you know what you are doing... little effort for aethericly inclined individuals. (aka cost 0 return)

Mostly, I try to ignore that Drybone is wetter than the Shroud. Other than that... what Roswyn said.

Just a random point of comment. I see more distrust of 'Lightning/Snow' glamor than.... 'slut gear.' Also, it is very often when people say slut gear they are referring to the sexualized armor sets present in all MMOs and in some MMOs equally shared between both genders. They are not referring to player who has created a set of glamor using the armors presented to them by the developers. If it is used as slant at all it is to the game developers for designing such gear. "Slutty" clothing in general is clothing designed to bring attention to areas of the body that are often sexualized by anyone. It does not matter who it is on, someone will find enjoyment of it. I am sure someone out there looks at someone wearing hiking boots and a full-body snowsuit and has some sort of sexual thrill out of it. (And thank-you RPC... now my browser history has me looking up the exact definitions of slut and slutty) Frankly, when referring to MMO gear no one is using the exact definition of 'slut' or even 'slutty.' If anything its 'use' is made to remark about absurdity of design rather than character, player, or even gender of the character. I personally call some of my gear slut gear because I enjoy how it sexualizes my character... on maybe a deviant level. Do I ever call someone else's gear 'slut gear?' Only if they call it that first, means we both have an understanding by what we mean by it, otherwise I remark about how revealing it is. I also rarely make remark about the OOC character of the player based on the gear they choose... unless they are tank in all dps gear expecting me to heal them through a speed run pull. I am sure some people see my 'slut gear' and make some terrible assumptions about me as person or my character... some of which may very well be true. ICly is an entirely different matter. If a character looks like a whore to another character that is an IC matter. I do not assume OOCly much of anything about someone's character based on what they wear, but rather how they RP or if they make note of the attire in a note. One of my characters, Vulgar Beast, will call some a whore if in his eyes they look like one, but Vulgar Beast's player makes no such actual assumptions as best he can. (I mean... sometimes you look at how the person has dressed their character and make your little guesses.) As for the lack of balance between sexualized gear.... there is very little compared to other games. We don't have full plate armor that is just a metal thong and bra. Most of the 'medium' armor gear is identical between the genders save for the addition of more 'armor' to create a bra. The tricky thing is when you come to 'cloth' gear. The solution.. glamor away if it bothers you. I know quite a few male characters that glamor their gear to sexualized as much as possible. It isn't perfect even, but I honestly don't think it can ever be perfectly balanced, but the developers added ways within the art style of the game to achieve the look you want, be it 'slut gear/sexualized gear' or something more modest. In the end how a character dresses often does little to define the character's roleplay or the player. It is an accent designed to demonstrate some trait of the character. How the character looks is based on the particular likings of the player and how they would see their character present themselves tot he world. Some characters are modest, some are timid, some are dashing and grand, some are sexual, some are proud of how they look, some are ashamed and conceal themselves as much they can, some pick fashion over function, some wouldn't leave the house without seven pockets and three knives strapped to their legs, and some... just don't give a damn what other characters think of how they look.

My remarks were in reference to the original post and classification and 'quality' of the individuals who fall into those classifications, as well as the motivation/need for said post. I was not remarking toward the merits and flaws of sexual interaction in RP. That in my opinion is entirely different matter than the original post. If someone offers up personal experience that is their choice to make it public... and I guess everyone's business? My apologies if I did not make that clear.

Which is a fairly ignorant statement and blankets RPers who do it. If you beleive sex serves no narrative point at all, you aren't even looking at any form of fiction over the last 10,000 years. Gosh I hope I quoted right.... I am in IT irl and can't use forums to save my life. Anyways, everyone has the right to their opinion. Even if you think they are wrong. The most you can do is work with the person individually to try to explain why you disagree and think they need to rethink things. Turning the matter into a 'community issue,' isn't going to solve anything, but rather alienate folks. Basically, the person you quoted has issues with intimate encounters being role-played... it is her opinion. It only affects her role-playing experience. If she does not want to Role-play with folks who do such... that is her right with the 15 dollars. The role-play content is purely catered to those involved. In reality, it doesn't matter if it is tasteful... well written... or full of drama, even if it is for a cheap kick or even for IRL self-pleasure (aka fapping). It is nobody's business except those involved. The moment the another person's role-play goes to private channels your opinion of what is happening is irrelevant to anyone but yourself. You can have it all you want, and decide how you personally will interact with the person, but you really cannot force them to share that opinion. Saying things like: "I only ERP tasteful, I only ERP when it fits the story." are your personal opinions as to when ERP is ok FOR YOU. However, you honestly do not have to justify the fact you engage in that sort of role-play. By creating this 'classification' of ERPs in reality you are just attempting to justify your own reasons for ERP, something in the end no-one has to do regardless as to what they are. (E-yep screwed up formatting.. sorry for making you undefined.)

Not to be that guy.... But is this discussion really necessary? So long as the parties involved are consenting adults and being respectful of those around them (and tack on a "is legal too"), what people do with their fifteen dollars a month is not really anyone's business. You can classify them all you want, but ... will that change anything? Folks will have hang-ups or down right despising of people who role-play intimate (or otherwise) encounters not matter what the 'conditions' of it occurring, but that is not on the community's head to try to police or educate folks on. You can tell an amazing story without once having characters be intimate and at the same time tell an amazing story and have the characters fuck every other scene. The role-play content is up to those involved and no one else. I agree there are some folks who fall into the categories mentioned and I agree if the individuals are not being respectful to those around them that is a problem, but frankly... does it serve any purpose trying to educate about or justify role-play that isn't really the business of the community at large.

Welcome, just be wary of which person notices you. It could spell trouble.

I watch a lot of RP in Quicksand, something to do while working. Occasionally, it will turn into RP. As for if I am IC, I tend to try to note in my tag if I am OOC, but generally I try my best to be IC any time I am watching RP in 'social places.' (Meaning, given that I see a message directed to me I will respond.) The whole concept of watching people in a Tavern is very natural. The Quicksand (and all main city taverns) is not a shady place where you expect folks to mind their own business. In fact, there are several cut scenes that do the exact opposite. Watching an RP in a different location, like down an alley, outside in a field, and pretty much any place where folks do not mingle, dine, and wine would cause alarm for the... "observee?" Someone following and watching you IRL like that would probably result in a foul time. As such I tend to make some sort of "/em is certainly not watching RP OOCly." to make it clear I am just watching the RP... not ICly spying\eavesdropping.