Arelian Solin

Also, do people not remember To Catch a Predator? The people that got arrested during that program did not do anything beyond post lewd messages and messages of a sexual-nature to a minor (or someone they believed was a minor). They didn't have to touch a teenager or child to be prosecuted. WHERE'D THE TOPIC OF THE THREAD GO? WHO KNOWS!

The problem with claims like this is that no one ever actually cites such an event. Until one is produced I will continue to assume it to be standard paranoid hyperbole borne from other, similar-but-not-related events. That laws are overbroad, overbearing, and overly harsh and often don't actually serve to protect minors in any sensible fashion, especially because most of the measures are taken after it becomes extremely obvious that something has happened to the child. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The justice system is currently set up entirely for the latter, and is very poorly equipped for the former. I'm trying to parse this without being a total asshole and I'm, quite honestly, failing. So here goes. First off, it does happen. I knew a number of people who's parents actively chased off online sexual predators with the threat of legal action if their child was not left alone. Can I cite sources? Absolutely not. Why? Because 9 times out of 10, you aren't going to be privy to the dirty details about how the individuals met or the situation that led directly up to the arrest. A parent that punishes their child for failing to tell an adult (someone who should, in all circumstances know better) no is a parent that I have a hard time believing is anything other than a minority. I know it's popular to paint most parents in a fairly negative and negligent light, but the overwhelming majority of people I've come into over the duration of my life have been vicious fucking beasts the moment they feel like their child is being threatened, especially by an adult. Secondly, fuck you. The law is not overly harsh in regards to dealing with people that willfully and knowingly take advantage of a minor. I don't care how mature you think you are. A teenager wants nothing more than to be considered an adult and "fit in" and will oftentimes go to great lengths to be seen in a positive light by someone that can vindicate those feelings. It is the adult's responsibility (yes, the legal adult) to not take advantage of a person that is, for all intents and purposes, fairly easy to take advantage of. Maybe it's just me, but I have a hard time imagining a world where someone is willfully flirting with someone under the age of 16-17 without some kind of ulterior motive. Is that to say that you can't have a meaningful friendship with someone that's underage? Absolutely not! But it's also fairly easy to have a friend that you never romantically or sexually advance on in any way. Honestly, what do you want. A Minority Report situation? Every single negative behavior can only be addressed after the behavior has come to light. Can we do better in regards to protecting a minor from ever dealing with the situation? Absolutely. Certainly. We can always do better. All that said, I do agree with Coatleque 100%. It's always worth examining why you think something is reprehensible/unacceptable before you act on that. Especially if you're hoping for other people to go along with your feelings on the matter.

Escapism is only really a bad thing when it begins to effect how you perceive your actual reality. I'd say there's nothing inherently bad about wanting something to be different than it is. Hell, I'd go ahead and call that a good thing. The problem arises in roleplay, for example, when it's something less rooted in black and white (like your wheelchair and running example) and far more nebulous a quality. For example, someone playing a "charming rogue" archetype when the reality is the person is nothing of the sort. It takes a certain amount of skill to write that kind of character and it's not infrequent that people grow frustrated when the perception of their character doesn't match up with their internal wishes for said character. That frustration tends to--as the article states--bleed into how you the person begins to interact with people on an OOC level. It's the difference between someone that's writing purely for a story they find interesting and writing to fulfill some kind of wish of theirs. Roleplaying is a collaborative effort and you simply can't make things be true if you're unable to convince others of it. Another example: You want your character to be in a relationship with someone because you're seeking an escape from a potentially lonely reality. There's absolutely nothing wrong with seeking that kind of thing out until you start behaving differently when someone isn't interested in that character or if you take it as a personal slight. The number of people I've seen flip their goddamn lids at other people because they weren't interested in the character but still wished to remain OOC friends (or even an IC break up destroying OOC friendships) is absurd.

The vast majority of Sylas' relationships: Sylas and Lafi meeting: Dealing with the inevitable litter of kittens: Nigel's a little more, uh. Well. I'll let the gifs speak for themselves. Falling for someone (IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE CORNY, ALRIGHT? GEEZ): Aaaaand if he ever has someone:

Sylas coming to stay would be like... suddenly having a weird older brother, I think. He's quiet and keeps to himself but you know that nobody is gonna mess with you while he's around. He'd probably appreciate going to some movie and end up critiquing any action scenes. He'd also be incredibly confused at the fact that he can't just decide to work and get paid for doing shit. What do you mean, he has to get a job? He'd also end up being very, very confused if he ever saw Mads Mikkelsen, I imagine. Does he suddenly have siblings? Sorcery! Concepts like real-world racism would baffle him because why would you hate someone because they have a different skin color? Try coming from a world where potato-people run free! Nigel staying with me would be like having that obnoxious theater-major that everyone knew in high school/college suddenly being your roommate (sorry, theater-folk!). He'd sit around and talk endlessly, whether or not you were listening, while also reading every book on my shelf. He'd probably leaf through my Shakespeare collection and find the entire thing lacking while getting really into my Poe. The occasional blood sacrifice and bits of goat hanging out in the fridge are easy to ignore, right? He's careful to clean up after himself, at the very least.

I think it's important for people who prefer the more "realistic" approach to fighting to remember one simple rule. Most fights are about luck. Unless you are in a controlled environment with an emphasis on providing both combatants a way to prove their "skill" the vast majority of fights come down to a lucky hit. There are always factors that come into play that can dramatically skew the luck to one side, but an actual fight is nothing like one portrayed in media. If you're seeking to balance your "master fighter" character appropriately in accordance to the "realistic" rules, the luck factor is absolutely important to keep in mind! Especially when doing a more freeform combat style.

*Jazz hands* Maaaaaaaa~Aaaaaagic. But! It'll probably just be ignored. Sad.

It's likely referring to a lot of things. There are quite a few plots that are currently open that could have a dramatic climax happening shortly.

There is no confirmation as to what "Before the Fall" means in the context of the story. The only thing we have is that Before the Fall Part 2 will contain an event called "The Battle for Ishgard."

I'm thrilled to see that there's interest in this! I'm on Pacific time and I'm usually around starting around early-mid afternoon. Be sure to try and prod one of us ingame if you can manage it!

This sorta. . .is this a super organized sort of LS where everyone has to go along with plots that the officers cook up, or was this more in terms of keeping people on task in the LS and cracking down on drama/blowups/what have you? This is purely in place to keep things on task and to minimize drama! There will be very few shell-wide plots in place (though I imagine there will be a few, simply because a few of us are CONSTANTLY HAVING IDEAS).

Hi everyone! Some of you may recognize me, some of you may not. For those of you who don't know me, hi! I'm Sylas Peregrine. I like long walks on the beach, violent-ass-violent RP and playing characters that are on the slightly more gray side of the moral scale. What does that mean, you might ask? Well. That means my characters are more often than not willing to do just about anything (within a certain code of personal ethic) to get paid. Whether that's hunting down a particularly ambiguous bounty, selling drugs (and maybe doing them whoops), saving a kitten from a particularly high tree branch or escorting a little girl to her lessons for the day. As long as it pays well and isn't likely to get him thrown out of the Eorzean Alliance, Sylas will likely do it! While I'm definitely interested in RP for my character, this post isn't about that! This post is me bemoaning the lack of solid coordination off the forums in regards to some solid-ass criminal/morally ambiguous RP. What am I going to do about it? I'm going to start a linkshell. That's what. While I'm not entirely on board with the idea of an entire organization dedicated to doing moderately shady stuff (yet), I think an ingame resource for people to gather and discuss RP of the more questionable variety could be a boon. So I don't have a bunch of credentials to throw at you. I don't have a lot of fancy words to try and persuade you to join my linkshell. Who reads that anyway? I don't. What I do have is an idea that needs your help to succeed. For those of you that want to do something a little darker? A little more twisted, or even just plain ol' robbin' a bank? This is where you come in. Send me a message either ingame or on the forums. Let me know if you're interested in joining a linkshell that is OOC but built around the intention of getting likeminded people together to build character connections, get some plots rolling, and in general try to have a good time! Of course, these things need rules. Even the most snarly-toothed, pissy and grumpy person needs a good set of rules to not bring society to it's knees. 0) This is not a democracy. While everyone's input is always going to be considered, the officers will always have the final say in a matter. 1) Don't be a dick. If I have to explain this, you might be a dick. 2) Keep the chat as PG-13 as possible. I don't want to have to say it, but criminal/shady RP does not have to include things of a sexual nature. If that's solely where your interest lies, this may not be the group for you. 3) If you ever have any drama relating to this linkshell, screenshots and bringing it to an officers attention is the quickest way to get it resolved. Who are your officers? the people with a gold/silver star next to their name. 4) This group is 18+ only. Simple as that. Sorry youngin's. 5) In-character actions yield in-character consequences. This is the biggest rule. This is the crux upon which RP of this nature hangs upon. If you cannot accept that doing something of a shady nature can, and likely will, get your character in trouble--this is not the group for you. Now that the rules are out of the way, that's that! If you have ANY questions whatsoever, feel free to reach out to myself (Sylas Peregrine) either ingame or on the forums. Lafiaht Dwinani and Xavarian Mystrife are my officers, so feel free to bug them as well! Invites are at our discretion currently, but we're nice! I swear. (Lafi isn't. Help.)

Alright! DON'T MEAN TO THREAD JACK. SORRY. OH GOD. While it's certainly hard to maintain a FC that's openly "bad" within the realm of Eorzea, a linkshell or something significantly less... Sanctioned is certainly beyond doable. While I would love to do something of that nature, I currently am unable to. Mostly because this character is to be retired when I can make a dragonman BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT. The current plans are to do something post-Heavensward on the shadier side of the spectrum, namely a group of ne'er-do-wells and scoundrels, but that's a long ways away currently. So with all that said, I'm starting an OOC linkshell based heavily around the concept of letting those of us interesting in doing something a little more... well, criminally-oriented coordinate our ideas and begin building in-character connections. If you're interested in the details, I'll be throwing up a thread shortly or you can PM me here or ingame!

There absolutely is! It can be a little harder to find, in my experience (especially the more worthwhile plots) but there's a fair amount to be found! While my character isn't exactly the most criminally-minded individual, he is a bounty hunter and has a history of doing less than savory things to keep himself fed. I know a few others that are in the same boat. As far as FCs go, there's Tylwyth Narah (unsure how active they are these days!) and White Wolf Syndicate. I've interacted with a good chunk of people from White Wolf Syndicate and they're good people. Cyreed Phayr/Ha'dhami Cehtov and Keldion Aergwilf would be the people to get in contact for that particular group. Alternatively, if you're interested in setting something up toss me a PM! I've always got a few plot ideas kicking about that I'm more than happy to get other people involved with.

The Armorer quests have you making cobalt armor with the intention of stopping bullets. So unless the bullet-tech is significantly different than what currently exists, it'll be fine. Plus I'm not entirely sure what makes a bullet inherently more dangerous than spells in this case.

Just on the topic of Dark Knights, I wouldn't automagically assume that they're related to Ishgard simply because it's coming with Heavensward. This game has been pretty good at dropping hints of what's to come (looking at you, Thancred bein' a badass). 2.5 is very likely to include a pretty decent amount of lore on the Void/Darkness given that we're going to the World of Darkness. Seeing as how 2.5 is supposed to lead us directly into Heavensward, I think it's not too strange to think that Dark Knight is going to originate from something that happens in the MSQ (the end of 2.4 MSQ talks about the Isle of Val disappearing into the Void)/World of Darkness rather than being some Ancient Art That Nobody Has Talked About Yet. They like to include a lot of foreshadowing for things as opposed to suddenly dropping a ton of info at once. As for Astrologian, there's a big part of me that thinks it's actually Dravanian magic as opposed to Ishgardian. It seems suspiciously good at tracking the movements of Dravanian forces. Perhaps Ishgard stole the secrets of it from the Dravanians long ago. After all, a War started over something. On top of everything else, the dropping of classes from the new jobs makes me think that the jobs themselves are a lot less "special snowflake" compared to things like Monk and White Mage. More along the lines of Ninja where yeah, you're a total badass for completing this training, but a Ninja isn't some mythical job. It'd be really interesting if, for instance, opening the World of Darkness allows access to a wider array of Void-oriented spells and we see the beginnings of Dark Knight becoming a combat style with the end of 2.5/2.5 part 2.

Ugh, actually seeing them side-by-side actually makes it look... pretty gross. Of course my mind is firmly in the gutter here, but seriously? Think about this for a second. Those guys. Breeding with those girls. It makes. NO. SENSE. Ugh. Not a fan. Not at all a fan of that. And the scale patches look completely out of place on such smooth skin... How indeed...

The moment you feel the overwhelming desire to post a thread talking about how you feel victimized is the moment your feelings on the matter are invalidated. Having a victim complex is never attractive, and a thread of this nature only helps reinforce whatever negative connotations some people might already associate with your name. If you have a reputation you dislike. Change it. Don't whine about it. Do something. Grow some empathy. A bad reputation is not changed by telling people that the way they feel about you is wrong. It's changed by proving them wrong by being a better person than the one they describe. It is literally that easy! If someone says, "Wow, that comment you made is rude," you can never make that comment again! Suddenly you're less rude. If people are taking the time to point out your flaws, don't get angry. They're 100% giving you guidelines on how to stop being a person they dislike. That's not to say that you should change for other people -- of course not. But if you dislike what people are saying about you to the point where it's bothering you then they are not the problem. It sucks feeling like you're an outcast or like you're being bullied. It really does. So if you're the type of person that wants people to like them, sometimes that takes actual work. So my advice; advice from a total and complete stranger that has only heard whispers about you as an individual? Be kind. Have empathy. Don't say everything that's on your mind. Don't even type everything that's on your mind. Focus on the people that make you happy instead of focusing on how other people make you unhappy.

Howdy, howdy RPC. I recently returned from a semi-extended hiatus and I've come to the realization that most of my old contacts have disappeared from the game! So that said, I'm looking for some new people to meet and RP with! General character info can be found on the wiki (I would link, but posting from a mobile) but any questions can be PM'd and I'd be more than happy to answer them. A few brief keywords for my highlander would proooobably be: Protective, non-chalant, confident (but not cocky!) And well-spoken. Don't hesitate to reach out! I swear, I'm friendly.

Reminder: Our weekly tournament will be held tonight (11/16) at 10:00 EST / 7 PM PST at the Soot Creek Bridge in Central Thanalan. Come participate in the fights or just come out to hang! All are welcome!

Our weekly blood tournament will be tonight at 10PM EST / 7 PM PST! Central Thanalan near the bridge, as always. Bring people out, have some fun and get involved! Again, that's tonight (11/9/2013) at 10PM EST / 7 PM PST!

You da best. <3 I love it.

Oh, oh! Do me! Do meeeeeee! Ref pics: Yeaaaah!

Marauders/Warriors and Gladiators/Paladins are tanks. DPSing as a Marauder/Warrior is going to be very hard/impossible given the natural +enmity many of the abilities have. That said, Marauders are the more DPS-oriented tanks whereas Gladiators are more mitigation based.

I'm amused that every time I try to load the thread to post in it, it grows by several pages. That said, I just joined the 3102 group. It seems to be a problem with a character getting stuck between loading screens when the client loses connection to the server. The game doesn't know how to handle that. I could also be totally wrong!