Yssen

Just a note but whilst this is technically true very little is actually done to enforce it. Most people don't bother reporting it since even if it is taken seriously the legal chaos isn't something a lot of people want to endure. Laws also differ from country to country and the internet isn't very well regulated in general. I suspect that those responsible realise this and thus act out because they can, essentially, count on getting away with it in many cases. I actually dealt with slander on tumblr, and I can attest that they will do nothing about it. I reported it, explained the situation. And I got messages back stating "Tumblr cannot say what Slander is, so we will not police our users' content in this regard." And said for me to take it up with the police themselves. Technically, when it is on the internet is is libel. Also, libel and slander are civil matters and not usually overseen by actual law enforcement, in most cases. The response given from Tumblr here is a bit nuts. The wronged party says what slander and/or libel is, not the forum in which it was done. Further, not taking steps to remove libelous content can leave one pretty darn exposed in a legal sense. Though I am sure they have some sort of blanket CYA loop hole to jump though. Further fun fact, you only have to prove libelous content is untrue in order to have a legally ordered/binding retraction published. Malice only counts if you are attempting to go after specific damages. I have seen more than one person forced to publish a retraction on their blog/facebook/live journal/you tube vid/whatever over libelous content. That said, given super fun happy times of some Tumblr posts malicious intent is really not a hard thing to prove at all. ;p Moral of this story? It pays to remember that the internet counts as a broadcast medium when posting stuff. Remember people, you absolutely have a right to free speech. You also have a responsibility to accept any and all consequences for what you say. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go scream "FIRE!" in a crowded area and accept what will be coming to me. ;p

"Yssen you should take off your mask." "Yssen can I take off your mask?" "Yssen what is under your mask?" "Why are you reaching for a weapon, all I am doing is reaching for your mask?"

So to pose the writing prompt to you: Let's say Square-Enix retcons out the old 1.0 lore regarding vengeance orders. Or maybe they expand on the lore and a mention comes up that Duskwight Elezen are not and have never been accepted into the Immortal Flames due to rampant racism. How would you handle adjustments to your character, their history, your headcanon, etc I would use or shift what was taken out with what exists to do as minimal an amount of shift as possible. In your particular case we'll start with the Vengeance Order. It is there to state that there is an active consequence for Yssen's straight up murder of a Monetarist and several of his goons, beyond the normal "authorities are looking for you." The device is just as easily shifted to something like a group of bounty hunters, or a huge sum of money being paid to the Thaumaturge's Guild for bringing him in. Probably easier to say there is a large bounty with a large signing fee, and several Thaumaturges and others took the bounty in the past. As for his being in the Flames. Well the easiest answer is that Yssen is more often than not being deceptive in some way when he does things. Easiest explanation, he joined, but didn't tell anyone he was a Duskwight/took steps to cover up his being a Duskie. In this case probably a last "screw you" he put out there when he resigned his commission. "I quit, oh and by the way... I AM A FRICKEN DUSKWIGHT!" *raises middle finger to flame officers* The same incident is covered and serves the same purpose to the character's story as his original quitting did. Slight changes, minimal overall impact on character's story. Yar.

The fun part is that we are finding out more and more that things are not that rigid. There are many Dragoons (Heavensward Trailer), there have been and are other WHMs besides the Padjal and the WoL (Y'shtola and Amdapoor Secrets), and so on. It also works both in the opposite direction, we recently found out that Au Ra are not specifically draconic in lineage. Wildwoods found out in the Gelmorra Lore Bomb from a while back that they might have very much been in the wrong as far as their conflict with the Duskies goes. That same lore bomb, and other snippets have turned a Gridanian RPers idea that the Elementals are a force for good a bit on ear by talking about what they do, and revealing that they were not always in the Black Shroud. There are countless other examples going all the way back to 1.0 (hully crap, miqo culture. among other examples). Lore is a living breathing thing. As the story of the game rolls on we will find out more and more stuff. More and more stuff will be hinted at. (We've been hearing that Garleans have third eyes since 1.0). We should all be prepared to be thrown sideways by Lore from time to time. What we should not do is deal in absolutes, and commit to a strict stance because of those assumed absolutes. One just ends up being wrong in their strict stance half the time when that happens, and I have yet to see too many people say "Whoops I was wrong" at all when it happens. On either side of whatever issue. To pull an example from outside the FFXIV, no one saw a ton of support for R+L=J when they first read GoT. Several books, a show, and some re-reading with analysis a later and it is a widely supported theory. We must emphasize theory. We don't know for sure until it is in print. We exist in the same place with regard to the game's lore. In conclusion we must be flexible. None of us knows all of anything. We didn't write any of this world, we just play in it and read it as the secrets come out. We all have theories, but none of us is more right than anyone else until we see it in print. We should remember this as we take stances on things.

Mm. Just a couple. 1. Speed Grapher - Very messed up, but also very good and full of noir bits. Sadly, the original opening to "Girls on Film" is something we do not get to have. (Stupid song rights for jerks.) A very nice Conspiracy/Horror/Supernatural anime. Slight warning, you will probably have a couple moments when the logic behind how people get their powers comes to like. It is just a tad bit disturbing. 2. Hero Tales - The other project done by the artist behind Full Metal Alchemist. A pretty spiffy fantasy anime. Especially good if you are a fan of Kung Fu movies. I watch more of this stuff than I care to admit sometimes, but these are two series I occasionally re-watch and have not be disappointed for doing so. Yar.

The farther this goes, the less reason you have to play your character. This is not a general you. This is a specific, Kale-centric, you. You do not need to play an officer of the Immortal Flames, or a member of the military in general. These are outward trappings. It is Kale's character that makes them interesting. You do not need to play a gladiator or somebody trained as such for the same reason. It is the personality that counts. Likewise, none of us need to play in a setting that relies on magic, exotic races, or fantasy in general. Why can we not ignore these trappings? It's our character that makes our characters interesting. This is the same argument that disparages fantasy and places value only in realist fiction. Why are we using it for this? For the life of me, I can not find any spot to re-insert myself into that behemoth (or steaming pile of shit depending how you look at it) thread I created. However, this quote has actually been another discussion I've been meaning to start. I'm not going to go on a spiel about it because I think people basically get the general idea of it. To use Verad's example of my character, he is right. I actually play him according to an ESTJ type as a guideline, and this is not contingent on anything existing in the game world. A no-nonsense, upfront, diligent communitarian. If I inserted Kale as an Ishgardian knight, a Lominsan naval captain, a Gridanian ranger, or a Garlean centurion, he would be exactly the same. He would express his views in the same manner, but it was just be tailored according to his nation of origin. It would still be in the same vein of "you are part of a greater whole" either way. I feel this is a core aspect of character building. "My character is an Ul'dahn Sultansworn/Ishgardian Dragoon/etc". No, let's not do that. Let's boil down our characters to the most generic level that they could exist in any fictional setting. "My character is paternalistic and society-oriented worker soldier", or something (even soldier might be too specific!). I feel everyone will come up with greater characters if they look at who their character is first, and what their character does second. Part of the issue is that people seem to be predisposed to thinking that a person has not done any character work at all, simply because they are playing something that might seem irregular. They write them off instantly because the character they are playing is a Miqo Ishgardian Dragoon, or some such. While it is true that there are people that have not done a lot of character work that play something irregular, it is also true that there are people who have done some really in depth character work. Just as it is true that someone playing something more "normal" can also not have done a lot of character work. In short, irregular character concept and in depth character work are not mutually exclusive. Nor is playing someone playing something irregular reasoning to assume that someone has not worked hard coming up with their character and concept. Yar.

You need to know how to use the Cure spell, but that does not necessarily mean that you have had to spend time at the Fane. The casting guilds (from a lore stand point) are much more about a character's approach to casting, not the individual effects of that casting. A THM casts cure the THM way, by channeling the energy from himself, etc. etc. etc. Yar.

A couple of things. 1. While the Archbishop video can be a good source, it really only proves that there are only Elezen in that chamber with the Archbishop for whatever ceremony is going on. Using it as proof that there are no miqo in it and thus no miqo in the Ishgardian military would also mean that there are no other races other than Elezen in the Ishgardian military. Which we know to be incorrect. Natalie has the right of it here. It only serves as proof that there are only Elezen in that presentation, for whatever reason. 2. Assuming that the Dragoons are the most prestigious thing to come out of Ishgard is quite the assumption. There is no evidence that they are more prestigious than the Temple Knights. If they were the end all be all of Ishgard's forces, why were none of them present (other than the Azure Dragoon) for the battle at the Steps of Faith? The Temple Knights were the only elite forces in that engagement. This would seem to reflect that both orders are on somewhat equal footing as far as being elite goes. If you are not going to toss out a bunch of Dragoons when a giant dagron attacks, when are you going to throw them out?

What you've described is essentially cultural appropriation, and yes, I would agree it is quite wrong. However, the issue I take with the OP is that the comparisons in game are not accurate to begin with. Ala Mhigo is not all Highlander, as I detailed in this earlier post quite extensively. Nor are all Ishgardians Elezen/Midlander. Nor are all Domans Midlander. Nor are all Ul'dahns Lalafellin despite a significant population of these majority races being presented to us in game. There are native Roegadyn NPCs in Gridania. There are multiple Elezen hailing from Limsa Lominsa. YET, the egregious misconception that there are race locks persists despite evidence presented to the contrary. One Doman Lalafell is labeled an "exception" whereas one Doman Au Ra is taken as part of the norm. Why? One Ishgardian Miqo'te is the "exception" but the Temple Knight's second-in-command is Garlean. No one bats an eye, why? A more accurate RL comparison is to look at Hollywood Films that are set in 1800s England, and when the director is asked why there are no PoC in the film, they reply with something along the lines of "We're trying to keep it true to the time period." As if blacks, asians, or other non-white minorities did not exist in England at the time - which is outrageous. What the OP has said, essentially, is that because my character's race (Miqo'te) is not apart of the Ala Mhigan majority race, that makes her "inauthentic." She is not "true to the setting/time period." Despite one of Ala Mhigo's greatest heroines in lore being... Miqo'te. This is correct. We are dealing with a lot of assumption and educated guessing when it comes to Ishgard. None of us have been there, and won't be there until June. While there is nothing wrong with an educated guess, throwing up a barrier to explain how someone is "doing it wrong" based on assumption and such IS wrong. Lets take a little speculative lore walk. We know that after the fall of Gelmorra some of the Duskwight Elezen went to Ishgard to seek refuge. They did this because of hostility, ire, and violence thrown their way by the Gridanians. As close off as Ishgardian culture was, it was a better option than staying in the Black Shroud. Now, Keepers of the Moon also made the Black Shround their home and faced the exact same ire, violence, and hostility as the Duskwights. It is not too far fetched to think that there would be some Keepers in the way back past who made the same decision as some Duskwights did. A few generations of a Keeper population living in Ishgard later, and you probably have some Keeper Miqo'te Dragoons. Granted, the above is all speculation. It is still fairly reasonable speculation, however. We need to remember that the City States are more diverse than we think. Prior to the fall of Ala Mhigo, there were constant wars between City States over territory. Displaced refugees would have migrated and settled constantly, creating the diversity we now see. While a City State may have been founded by X race, that does not mean that X race is the only race that has populated a City State over the centuries. Yar.

If you are uncomfortable RPing in a world with anime influences, perhaps you should not be rping in the second MMO to come out of one of the longest running JRPG series out there. I am not trying to be overly harsh by stating that, mind you. It has been stated before. Anime and High Fantasy influence is cannon. Deal with it. MNKs can close distance and super speed and punch giant metal things without breaking their hands. They can surround their bodies with elemental aether to various effects. PLDs and WARs can take dragon stomps to the head, get roasted by flamethrowers, blasted apart with energy, etc. and live. NINs call down lighting, fire, and ice at will. They can curse the earth beneath them, channel wind to move faster, and toss an overly large shuriken that would in no real way ever be combat effective. BRDs sing resistance downs at enemies, fire an impossible amount of arrows down from the heavens, charge arrows with venom or wind, and hum a ditty that inspires people to move faster. Those are just a few examples, and we are not going to get started on the casters. I have seen everyone state that they are not just targeting DRGs, but that isn't really so. There are not near as many threads that devolve into this sort of debate about the other Jobs. By all appearances the whacky things that the other Jobs and Classes do are completely fine. Start talking about a DRG and it is all OP this and unbelievable that. There is a stigma that everyone trying to RP a DRG is out to be some sort of completely overpowered, power gaming cheese weasel. We get it, some of you don't like DRGs or the people that RP them. Neat. To each their own. Can the rest of the community discuss the DRG (and other galvanizing RP topics) with out negativity and hostility thrown all over the subject now?

I can see your logic with the knight training thing, Khit. I really depends on whether or not Dragoons are required to train as knights before training as Dragoons. Since there seem to be some very distinct divisions as far as the Ishgardian military goes I tend to think they are not. We know from old 1.0 lore that they have a standing army that was second only to Ala Mhigo's, which is further divided into more specialized units, Temple Knights and Dragoons. We also have to throw in the knights that are attached to the various noble houses. I tend to think that while the Dragoons are specialized, they are snatched up after basic military training in the standing army, which would probably not take that long. They take potential Dragoons from the best performers in Basic taining, and train them specifically to be Dragoons. Those not selected, or who wash out of the Dragoon training move on to become knights for their houses, or the Temple Knights. I mostly get this impression from the fact that we see teenager Dragoon recruits and that they it is specifically mentioned they are Dragoon recruits. It points toward branched training beyond the basic. While knights of old did have a long period of training, they were not just learning the arts of warfare. Administration of lands, how to behave at court, the specifics of how their place under their Lord/specific knightly order, law, and other specialized training was part of the package. Knights were a professional soldier class. Dragoons seem to be the same thing, just more specific to Ishgard's needs in the Dragonsong War. Where I am coming from is that Knight and Dragoon are effectively equivalent, just with different tasks. But as you say, we do not know for certain yet. Yar. ^ ^

Age is not a huge factor. People from the RL historical eras and societies the setting draws from as a base went to war as young as 13 or 14. There are teenage Dragoon recruits in some of the Ishgard quests we have already. Further, it does not take that long to get good with a spear. That is the entire point of the weapon. Put it in the hand of an untrained farmer, and after some drilling you have a fairly competent soldier. I think people would honestly be surprised at how short the training period to be very good with a weapon would be. Mastery is simply a matter of constant and dedicated practice, with some practical experience thrown in for good measure. To be honest, what I am seeing here is a completely different and repeated problem. This is not the place to discuss it, though. We'll try doing that somewhere else.

Sound military judgement? Yes. Sound political judgement? Maaaybe not so much.

It is not covered up. Well. While we can tell from NPC dialogue that people in Ul'dah are trying to suppress what happened, dialogue out side of Ul'dah says tells us it is not working well. Both Baderon and Miunne know what happened, and more than a few other NPCs also talk about knowing what is up. While the full details are probably shrouded in a haze of misinformation generating from Uldy, not everyone is buying it. The NPCs are talking, and the Syndicate is not strong enough to suppress people not in Ul'dah. I do not think the misinformation and silence on the part of Uldy is to prevent people outside the city-state from knowing the truth or talking. The NPCs are putting out a story to prevent the situation from getting worse. They know what happened, but the streets would run red with blood if someone with authority confirmed it publicly. It prevents further chaos. To be fair, the conspiracy is not concerned with what people in other nations know. The other nations cannot act with out basically going to war with Ul'dah. My personal prediction, Uldy is being Black Wolfed like Ala Mhigo. Someone (or someones) on the Syndicate is allied with the Empire. Chaos is being spread and a powder keg primed for eventual Garlean takeover. Random details in spoilery tag.

Except... he never did. He clearly explains his motivations and outright states that Raubahn was fair game because he'd betrayed his fellow Ala Mhigans... somehow. At best, it explains why he did what he did when coupled with that. His own are the Ala Mhigans - and probably when Lolorito fucks them over once more he'll have to eat his words. And then goes into the whole ramble about how the sultana softened him up and shit. I think Soussy meant Raubahn's arm being cut off. Also, dude is still a traitor.

I prefer the english dub. It has been really fun to see how people have improved since 1.0. There are some terrible voice choices to be sure. Raubahn comes to mind as the weakest performance, but they have gotten better over time/familiarity with the character. Thancred, Merlwyb, and Aymeric are my favorite performances so far. All of the imperials are done well to, particularly Gaius and Livia. Lucia is pretty neat. Given the nature of VA work, particularly in MMOs, it has been super neat to see some of the VA work improve as the actors understand and get more familiar with their characters. You usually do not see that too often with roles like these.

Or "IT WAS FANTASIA!" to the appearance/disguise questions. Though this would also be less fun. The bright side of character creation is when you answer the questions that lead to character ties. Which is sorta the case with the current problem. Probe the IC sworn (past and present) and let the character ties and good times roll in! I'd love to help in the connection area, but Yssen has a general disdain for "sworn swords" and "knights" and "paladins." Mostly due to an awkward set of morals (and the fact that he often adds the air quotes when talking about them). ;p

Hmm. Well, the only concrete information on where the Au Ra come from we have is that some of them are from Doma. We also know that they are more generally from the Othard continent, but as far as exactly where with respect to the continent, we got nothing. Yet. Not until Heavensward (or possibly some tid bits in the Au Ra creation benchmark). Please look forward to it, hai. That said, it is slightly plausible that a Doman refugee could become at least a free paladin from a backstory standpoint. Difficulty with this comes from ones interpretation of some of the Main Scenario details. I will hide the specifics behind the following spoiler tag. Ye have been warned.

Yssen reads and researches. At the moment he is pouring over some things various others of asked him look into; non-aspected crystals, blood magic solutions to other icky blood magic, personal aetherial theory... He also plots. He trains. He hides. He goes on walks while being hidden. He also spends a fair amount of time meditating and figuring out who he is/which thoughts and feelings are genuinely his. He spins his coin. He stares at it. When he is assured he is absolutely alone he occasionally sings.

You may be making a little too broad a statement here. While exploiting grey areas should not be used to break what is conventional accepted to be so but not explicitly stated in lore is true. it is not the same thing as adapting the grey areas of "we don't know" to justify something like being a PC WHM. Apples to Oranges in terms of degrees. In short, someone who is looking at the lore and trying to figure out what is justifiable in terms of their character, should not be compared to someone who wants to defy all convention. They are not the same thing. Also, what would be the issue with a short burst of flight being the thematic for someone's Aetherial Manipulation, or laser eyes being a thematic for someone's Fire spell?

The lore team has also said that there is only one WoL (YOU!), but also many WoL in existence as well. The point somewhat open to interpretation, not that I am saying yours in the wrong way to go. The lore also supports that the Elementals and the Padjal are not the end all be all of who gets to be a WHM, that there were WHMs before the Elementals were in power, and that there can be again. We just do not know the exact details of how. Which is more correct? Which thing should we adopt? No one has claim and everyone has claim. All can be seen as equally valid. Yar. EDIT - It has also been implied and shown several times since 1.0 that the Padjal and the Gridanians do not understand or are being outright deceptive about the nature and motives of the Elementals. We do know from lore that the Elementals are not the end all ever eternal power of the Shroud that they would have us believe.

To clarify. I am not saying that your individual opinion makes you a dick. I am saying that there are ways of stating your opinion that come off as less dickish/mean than "You are doing it wrong, you don't exist, and I refuse to interact with you because you disagree with me." Your opinion is your own. Go for it. Own it. Rock on with it. Do as you will. I am simply advocating that stating your opinion in a more civil manner than absolute exclusion, or keeping a more open mind about where someone is coming from might be helpful. Particularly when trying to prevent these discussions from getting to a point where the mods have to lock them because everyone is screaming at each other, and the whole thing has devolved into everyone making/seeing everything as a personal attack. I am not here to tell you how to play your character or RP in the game. No one here can. There is no right, there is no wrong. Heck, new lore can come out and everyone can be end up on the wrong end of it. Notable examples I can think of include - some of the Garleans are a race unto themselves, the Elementals were not always in the Shroud, how many Dragoons actually exist and what they look like, or some of the various cultural details of the races. There is a lot of "we don't know" out there that is not absolute, and treating someone as lesser because we treat some of that "we don't know" as absolute is probably something we should all avoid. We should try to keep an open mind as far as the "we don't knows" go. In short, the opinion you hold does not make you a dick. How you treat/react to people because of the opinion you hold does, potentially. How we phrase things to others does, potentially. We must strive not to forget that there are other feeling, thinking humans on the other sides of our screens, and try to treat people like they are anything less than that. No matter what our opinion may be (or what we agree or disagree on) we do not have the right to treat someone poorly or act like a jerk because of it.

If I may. I think the issue that is causing actual conflict here is the way that people our phrasing their opinions just a tad. Everyone is absolutely free to do as the wish as far as RP goes. Inclusion or exclusion of an individual, and to what degree, is absolutely a personal choice. No real way to argue or debate that point. However, putting things in a snide or outright exclusionary tone is really not going to help anything. Statements that say pretty much flat out "If you do not conform to what I think is correct, I will just have you not exist," are not helpful. They are pretty much just come off sounding like absolute dick levels of exclusion. You are not stating you opinion at that point, at least, not entirely. You are stating your opinion in a fashion that is pretty much meant to make someone feel like crap for not conforming to how you see things. I mean, you are free to do that if you like. I am just advising that maybe you should realize you are coming off as just as stubborn, inflexible, and (to be completely frank) the mean/dick form of elitist. No civil discussion is ever going to be had on any subject if that is how people are going to continue to come across. Try to keep an open mind, or maybe just make less absolute statements. Only Sith deal in those, and those guys are dicks. No one here is the final arbiter of what is right or wrong. There is no pure truth, only the consensus. Try to add to that consensus in a kinder and more civil manner. I think things will honestly go better if we all try and do that. Just some food for thought. Have a nice day.

elitism - noun. the advocacy or existence of an elite as a dominating element in a system or society. - the attitude or behavior of a person who regard themselves as belonging to an elite. I simply love definitions, they can clarify so much. Time to delve into this a little. Elitism as a concept is not, by definition, what one would call inherently a bad thing. Are there people who are better an doing "x" than others? Absolutely, it is a simple fact of life and it comes with the territory pretty much everywhere. Inherently, there is nothing wrong with this, a group of people come together to do something and each one does what they the thing they do best. Awesome sauce, superior product of endeavor achieved. The problem lies in that second part of the definition. Ones behavior (meaning yours) because they (meaning you) regard themselves as belonging to an elite (group, like minded point of view, skill level, what ever the heck). In short, the problem starts when a person starts treating people as something lesser than themselves. They do this generally because they hold themselves to be more than that person because of "x". What is "x"? Doesn't matter. This is not about "x". This is about how you as a person treat other people because of whatever your "x" is. That is the defining/vector problem with "elitism". Attitude. You are free to act as you wish based on your personal "x" that makes you elite. However, it is generally accepted by most that if you are excluding people, talking down to people, or generally treating people as lesser because of your "x" (your arbitrary and only signifcant to you "x") you are making what most would refer to as a "dick move". You can seek to justify the behavior however you please, but when you get right down to the nity gritty of it. The chewy fun truthful center of it all. Whatever justification you choose, you are still treating someone (or someones) as lesser than you, and I cannot think of any point ever where that has been a good thing. No one likes to be excluded. No one likes to feel lesser. You wouldn't like done to you. Heck, most of us have probably felt how much it stings when it is done to us. So don't do it. Failing that, accept the nitty gritty of how your attitude is making you act and accept how others will judge you based on those acts. Whether they are good or bad. To wrap this up, I place a with a super nerdy quote at the bottom. Because it relates to the matter at hand, and is great food for thought. Have a great day, all. "There is right and there is wrong in the Universe. The distinction between them is not hard to make. Do right by all." - Superman, Kingdom Come.

You are probably correct that the limitations already in place effected design, to what degree would be hard to say exactly. Recycling seperate race models for genders and tweaking them a bit would be a fairly easy solution. Personally, I am liking that there is a pretty big disparity between the males and the females. It is a nifty way to go in terms of design, makes the new race stand out more. Also, am I mistaken or did they say at Fan Fest that Heavensward was the last piece of FFXIV that was going to have support for the PS3? Or maybe it was not Fan Fest. I recall them saying this around that time. I am wondering/hoping that they will go back and play around with some options that being limited by the PS3 currently puts the kibosh on.