Virella

I agree though it can be double-edged if it gets a lot of people you don't want (like non-Rpers) I do find it's an awesome way to be reminded about events. There's also a few Event linkshells that post reminders. Well it beats the "Miqo'te femboi looking for daddy dom~ ♂+♂ only ♥‿♥!!" in party finder. I don't think I've heard any PvE/PvP people complain about legit RP events being advertised. Besides, think everyone has resigned to the idea that RP/PvP/PvE folk live happily together anyhow. There's a few divas on certain sides, but eh, I really don't think people care. Also as much as I love those Event Linkshells, and I do think they are a great help for certain people, you can't expect people to join those. Also, limited LS slots and limited people allowed in a LS. So no, I don't think using party finder to promote RP events is a bad thing. It also isn't against the rules either, so that isn't an issue either thankfully!

I think these threads are very damaging to the community in truth. They scare off new roleplayers potentially, they make certain people look entitled. It is a complete mess on both sides of the fence. The thread name alone already made people wanting to go for the OP throats due to her statement of basically going 'You're all dicks, fuck you for not giving me RP, you damn cliques' attitude if you don't read into further. I know now that it wasn't her intention. And if your new to the RPC? You're just going to be given the impression the community is a huge clique. While it is not. These type of threads are just... not helping. They set the RP community in a very bad daylight, while I'm certain most roleplayers on Balmung don't even use the RPC, let alone check it regularly. I really think this could have been a good discussion (and it still is to some degree), if the OP didn't start pointing accusations from the start. If it was a "LF help finding RP" thread? Even a change in the title alone would have gotten a lot better and more positive replies. You reap what you sow. Also, no, I have no experience using party finder to look for roleplay. I do however seen people use it to promote their events; what I do think is a cool thing to do, and from what I've heard its quite successful.

I don't get this. I never got ignored. And I roleplay nationalistic jaded religious assholes who have little to no compassion for people they don't care about. Aye they get spat on every so often, especially my Ishgardian, and well deserved so even, but it is still RP? No one goes to ignore them? I really don't get it. Personally I think what you've done is approach it the wrong way. At these 'huge' events, you are simply going to get lost in the chatspam; hence why whispering people beforehand is MORE succesful. Go to events like the Grindstone. You get paired up to RP with people. Go to the Sea Breeze Market. Yes you still have to approach merchants, but you will get RP out of it as well. Pick your battles. Don't go to huge events like performance events and expect people to actively roleplay back, especially the main organisers (I think people forget how much goes on OOC while running these things often). The chat scroll is insane. People are not doing it on purpose. Go to things like the Grindstone were you are guaranteed to have someone to RP with. You will make connections from it. If you can't spar? Go as a healer, I think any sparring event always has need of healers. You will get roleplay out of this as well. Or perhaps I just don't see it because I don't ignore people to begin with. I don't know, I never had this issue when I came on Balmung either and wasn't known at all. I simply gone out there and looked for people. There were some bumps in the road, but I made lasting friends IC and OOC by just... getting my ass out there. And once more, I can promise people don't ignore you on purpose. It mostly just gets lost in the scroll, or they don't even have say and emote tab open at bigger events. I certainly don't. Luck is NOT a factor, and I will fight anyone who claims it is. Being social is a skill, in real life and in roleplay. If you lack the skill in real life, yes, you're going to have a hard time in roleplay, but that is a you problem, not a community issue. But if you think change is needed? Be that person yourself to walk up to those shy wallflowers if you feel that obliged to care. Putting out a carpet so to speak is never a bad idea, I do it with the Resistance events as well. But I have no time nor desire to drag people out of a corner and make them walk over this carpet beyond social nights. Funny thing is? With those social nights, I offer people publicly on every event notice that they can whisper me if they want to be dragged in if feel shy. You know how many PMs I've gotten when I've offered this out on posters and events announcements? Zero. So please don't go saying Balmung is oh so toxic, because I know more event organisers do these type of things. It is you just not picking your battles right.

[align=center]Winter's Knell Celebration[/align] [align=center][/align] What: A Merry Winter’s Knell Celebration for all - Ala Mhigans and Non-Ala Mhigans are both welcome. Who: Anyone who wishes to join in the fun. Whether you’re wanting to perform, hold a speech, just join in for the Snowball Fight Tournament, or just want to enjoy the atmosphere? You’re all welcome to join! You don’t have to be Ala Mhigan!! When: Saturday, January 14th - 5:00 PM EST Where: Coerthas Central Highlands - Click for Mini Map - x30 y31 Contact: Avelyn Firestone. [align=center]Snowball Fight Tournament[/align] When: After the ‘main’ events are over. Rules: Be as creative as you want! First one to hit the other with three snowballs wins. Grindstone rules. Prize: Bragging rights winning Rhalgr’s favour in the tournament. Yes, even with snowball fights. Performances, speeches and the like are very much welcomed and encouraged! As always, there will be spots left for people to say and do their thing without signing up. But if time starts to run short? You might not get a chance to. If you want to be certain of your spot? Please contact Avelyn Firestone either in game (or RPC) or shoot us a message trough Tumblr. If you have any questions left? Please do contact us as well! But we do have a handy lore post about Winter’s Knell, if you have no idea what the festival is about. Click For Link. You don’t need to participate, observers are very much welcome as well! ~ May Rhalgr smite your foes.

[align=center][/align] What: A Merry Winter’s Knell Celebration for all - Ala Mhigans and Non-Ala Mhigans are both welcome. Who: Anyone who wishes to join in the fun. Whether you’re wanting to perform, hold a speech, just join in for the Snowball Fight Tournament, or just want to enjoy the atmosphere? You’re all welcome to join! You don’t have to be Ala Mhigan!! When: Saturday, January 14th - 5:00 PM EST Where: Coerthas Central Highlands - Click for Mini Map - x30 y31 Contact: Avelyn Firestone. [align=center]Snowball Fight Tournament[/align] When: After the ‘main’ events are over. Rules: Be as creative as you want! First one to hit the other with three snowballs wins. Grindstone rules. Prize: Bragging rights winning Rhalgr’s favour in the tournament. Yes, even with snowball fights. Performances, speeches and the like are very much welcomed and encouraged! As always, there will be spots left for people to say and do their thing without signing up. But if time starts to run short? You might not get a chance to. If you want to be certain of your spot? Please contact Avelyn Firestone either in game or shoot us a message trough Tumblr. If you have any questions left? Please do contact us as well! But we do have a handy lore post about Winter’s Knell, if you have no idea what the festival is about. Click For Link. You don’t need to participate, observers are very much welcome as well! ~ May Rhalgr smite your foes.

Where has this game been all my life? You will believe this, until you realise no addons, and thus no MRP : < There's flaws as well! But the RP tag does help immensely. People tend to only use it when they are actually IC though! What is... very hopeful in turn as well. And most folk put some information about their characters, however limited, in their search info. And there's always the RPC wiki! But you can't expect people to read that before/while RPing with someone. But it's nice to have.

Oh that said! Conjurers are really powerful as well. Lots of people think just because the 'job' is the better version of the class, in roleplay it doesn't always work that way. You can still be a conjurer and kick some serious ass. Also, if you think "Blargh, boring healing this CNJ" I strongly suggest you to have a peek at the 1.0 version of the class. And no, it isn't retconned! It simply isn't taught any more (I think). 1.0 CNJ Skills Link On top of that many races have shamans and the like. The Ala Mhigans have them, and the Xaela, so that might be something looking into as well! We ain't 100% sure what they are though, but given the Ala Mhigan Shamans use conjuration spells, they are probably some sort of conjurers. Next to that you get Arcanist, Scholar and Astrologian, although Scholar is a bit iffy seeming you have to find a certain soulstone of an ancient civilisation. It isn't unheard of, but it is a bit like 'do you really want to be that person who HAPPENS to find that stone' type of deal. But that comes down to personal taste and roleplay style ultimately. Arcanist is a healer as well. Not as 'diverse' as a Conjurer, but they get pets and the like again. You don't HAVE to use your pets after all though! But they are heavily focused on mathematics and patterns unlike Conjurers. Astrologian? It was unheard of in Eorzea until Heavensward came out. The Sharlayans have Astrologians, and its being taught in Ishgard since Heavensward came out. So you would either need to have a Sharlayan character, a character who has travelled there in the past to be taught, or a 'newbie' trainee from Ishgard. Also they are basically some sort of time mages. Ish. In any case, there's a cheap of ways you can go as healer without being the dreaded White Mage. According to some vague lore who they never explained further, there is a way to become a White Mage without the consent of the Elementals, but we don't know the details. So I personally wouldn't go down that route either, because you probably cripple yourself more then add to you roleplay beyond being 'special'. Basically; any other healer is viable lorewise if you adjust your character. White Mage is simply off limits, looking at a purely lore perspective. But ultimately, if you want to go crazy and be a White Mage? Go ahead! But as with all roleplay communities; you can decide who to RP with, and what styles you mesh with, but so goes for others. In any case, good luck!

To add to the posts above, people rarely enough express their IC racism trough roleplay. Most player characters tend to be very tolerant, however lorewise the races, and nations, do have some friction between them! Gridania is awful for Duskwight Elezen and Miqo'te Keepers of the Moon for example. Limsa on the other hand has zero qualms with people, even beasttribe individuals can live their lives there, unlike the other city-states. So basically, yeah! There's a lot of racism and nationalism going on, but you rarely see player characters acting upon it. There's still a few around here and there though!

Worst advice given so far. Running from your issues as a shy wallflower aren't going to be magical fixed. In fact, I imagine you only have to try HARDER to get noticed on a server with barely any roleplayers.

Staff for Monk when oh wait it's still stuck on being region only bullshitery for China at this time and point :L

Only thing I could pluck quickly out of you what might be of use is in the German version. Mind you, my German is eh okayish at best. Now mind you. German is wonky to translate, and I wish I could poke a native speaker but either it is... "One of the Nald'thal (order?) Shatotto's stone." or "The one Shatotto's stone of (the) Nald'thal (order?)." And "Exactly! Shatotto's precious stone! The sign of authority to be adept in black magic." So basically I don't have you much to offer either. If I find something more by chance in the German translations, I will give you a poke. But I fear beyond saving you some time, I'm don't have much to offer you!

Tbf that still wouldn't stop her from just waving a rapier around. But yeah, I'm super curious to see the lore behind the Stormblood classes.

Hey there. Day night cycle goes super fast in game, so people just tend to ignore it completely. There's a few LSes who are for EU only folk. We do have on Tumblr page keeping up with EU friendly events. There's a discord or two as well I believe. In any case, I'd suggest poking the people who run that Tumblr page to help you out ^^ https://balmung-eu.tumblr.com/

Hey there. Everyone is basically on Balmung. There's a few people doing attempts at RP on other servers, who I salute for their effort, but ultimately Balmung is PROBABLY the server you want to go. It is however a pain to get on this server. Character creation is always locked. However unlocked WoW, you can transfer up to 8 character for the same amount of money, so that's an option I'd highly recommend As for RP? There's plenty to be found! Admittedly its a bit hard to find walk-up RP compared to something like WoW (although I can only speak for EU Alliance side). But it is packed with roleplayers! http://balmungrpcalendar.tumblr.com/ - might be a good idea to see for yourself how RP is. In any case, best of luck if you do decide to join FFXIV.

Really excited to see how this class works. Whether I will roll it IC? Doubtful. Ave is what she is, and so is Vi. However I got my fourth character who's completely blank on what her class is, and can go so many ways still. Basically, I'm first and foremost going to wait for the lore before deciding to go either way.

Pls make it ancient Ala Mhigan sport pls No seriously tho, I hope they add it

o/ Feel free to toss me a poke in game. I will be online for the time being still

Snek lady primal ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

You might not like what I'm about to say, but sometimes characters just run their course. There's nothing wrong with just waving goodbye, leaving a nice story behind and move on to the next. I see it as "Well you had your main series, do you really want to go for the shitty spin offs?" type of deal when I get in situations like that. If you don't feel her story is there any more? Why not roleplay something else (on an alt) for a bit? See if you can get more and new roleplay that way? Even if it doesn't seem that way, Balmung is HUGE. You will always find new people to roleplay with, even if it feels you can't. Personally I was in a similar situation a while ago, and I just rerolled something new. I have no regrets whatsoever! Maybe that will get you over your writer's block. Starting over again on a new character is not a bad idea you know? You don't have to get rid of her after all! Yes levelling an alt is tedious, but I can suggest it if you need a (temporary) get away from a character who just doesn't do it for you any more.

[align=center]Winter’s Knell - An Ala Mhigan Festival - Lore[/align] [align=center] Given the next upcoming event with the Ala Mhigan Resistance Linkshell regarding this Ala Mhigan Festival (more info to come soon on that), we figured it would be handy to give people some information on this lost 1.0 festival! Lore sadly enough got lost with the Calamity, but thankfully there’s still some, if not most, stored in the depths of the internet. [/align] If you want to read more onto the celebration yourself? We got links provided. (Also as usual a shout out for @mirkemenagerie / Sounsyy for providing said links ♥ ) But for the sake of easiness, a summary below! [align=center]What is Winter’s Knell? Is it just Ala Mhigan Starlight?[/align] Winter’s Knell is an old Ala Mhigan festival to usher in the winter. It speaks of the Gods of Winter. It probably, just like Ishgard still has some old traditions left, is still something remaining from their Pagan pre-Twelve worshipping days. It has nothing to do with the Ishgardian tale of Temple Knights and orphans, that we know for certain. So what does Winter’s Knell focus onto? The cycle of life actually! They believe winter and the cold are an essential part of life as well. Whereas it is seen by outsiders as strange to surround a festival around the cold and death to a degree, in truth Ala Mhigans don’t see it that way. The Ala Mhigans celebrate it in a rather jolly way and even take the time to pray for the well-being over their loved ones. They after all see the winter (and even death) as a necessity of life. Halting that cycle would after all cause more damage then it does good. Even non-Ala Mhigans, such as the botany guild and the conjurers, see the importance of having a winter as well. [align=center] [/align] [align=center]So has Starlight has absolutely nothing to do with Ala Mhigans?[/align] Hard to say! Starlight originates from Ishgard, that is for certain. Winter’s Knell was a strange and unheard of festival to the rest of Eorzea when these quests were introduced, so it’s probably safe to say Winter’s Knell is not celebrated by anyone else but the Ala Mhigans because they simply did not know of it to begin with. However what is a logical possibility that due to the Ala Mhigans being actively in touch with the rest of Eorzea ‘thanks’ to their refugee status, that some Starlight traditions might have seeped their way into Ala Mhigan culture in the more recent years. But before Garlemald took Gyr Abania over? Doubtful. But cultures and festivals do spread when nations trade and travel between one another, so that is something to keep in mind for certain. Only thing we can safely say Winter’s Knell has nothing to do with Ishgard’s Temple Knights and orphans story, nor with Nymeia for that matter (in fact, we imagine mentioning Nymeia is about to ruin quite a few (older) Ala Mhigan’s festive spirits in current days: but don’t take that as fact). It is purely a festival to usher in the winter! Our best guess? The two might have intertwined over time, they might have not. Maybe they did to some degree. Only thing we know right now that Winter’s Knell and Starlight appear to have different origins. [align=center] [/align] [align=center]How is it celebrated?[/align] We don’t know all of it, merely a few aspect of it. There’s is more to it then we know at this current point and time. There’s a brief mention of praying for loved ones, but they don’t really shed more light onto how it is done. We also don’t know more on the Gods of Winter, beyond them being Gods of Winter. But one of the things we do know a bit more in detail involves building a giant snowman named Father Frost! We imagine back in Ala Mhigo it was a lot more impressive. The snowman in 1.0 was big but not extremely huge by any means. But yes, Father Frost is a huge part of the celebration. More on Father Frost below! [align=center]Building Father Frost[/align] So you think Ala Mhigans do this the normal way? Oh no. They hurl snowballs all together at a reasonable sized snowman to make it bigger, children and adults alike, while chanting “Winter is coming” at Father Frost. Yes, you heard that right. You will have your excuse to hurl snowballs at a snowman while shouting Game of Thrones quotes. Insert mandatory Frozen and Game of Thrones jokes here. It also had a bucket on its head for a hat, but we can safely assume that back in Gyr Abania his head probably got graced with something better than a simple cheap red bucket. In any case, building Father Frost together is meant to be a jolly occasion for the people involved, and individuals are HIGHLY encourage to hurl snowballs and chant “Winter is coming!” towards the snowman. They did have some trouble building it back in 1.0 due to the lack of snow. But they used ice shards to ensure the snowman didn’t just vanish instantly and also used them to conjure snowballs out of them. [align=center] [/align] [align=center]The Heart of Winter - Ice Elemental trapped in Stone[/align] Father Frost isn’t completely with an Ala Mhigan relic placed onto its chest, called the Heart of Winter as seen on the screenshot above. The gem is considered to be very precious relic from Ala Mhigo. The Ala Mhigan quest NPC claims it has been around for dynasties. Getting the relic back in the hands of the Ala Mhigans in the Shroud was a troublesome affair. They had to smuggle it out of Garlean occupied Gyr Abania at the cost of many lives. But that isn’t all! The Ala Mhigan Relic turned out appeared to have an Elemental trapped within in! It did break free. When it was defeated by the Adventurer the Elemental did in turn promise to bring winter again to the Shroud, claiming that the snow and cold has to be a part of harmony the Shroud needs. And worry not, the relic was safely return to the Ala Mhigans albeit without it’s shine. Also that leaves us to question how did the Ala Mhigans get a stone with an Elemental in it? Do/did they have the knowledge to do such? Could the Ala Mhigans Shamans have something to do with it? Questions, questions (who will probably never have answered)! But back on topic. [align=center]Are gifts a part of Winter’s Knell?[/align] If giving presents is a thing what belongs to Winter’s Knell? We really can’t tell for certain either. It seems something more connected to Starlight than Winter’s Knell. At the end of the Questline you do get something gifted, but it isn’t certain whether the gift comes due it being connection to Winter’s Knell, or it just merely being a sign of gratitude. It is however said they do pray for well-being of their loved ones. Who knows that involves giving them protective talismans or something along the line. And once more, Starlight and Winter’s Knell might have started to mix together at this point. We don’t know what is right or wrong, so roleplay whatever you think what fits with your character! [align=center] [/align] [align=center]But uhm, aren’t they are war with Garlemald? Don’t they have better things to do?[/align] The festival was organised to not only to give the Ala Mhigans some well-deserved joy and take their mind of their troubles for a little while by engaging into a cultural festival from their homelands, but also to smooth things over between non-Ala Mhigans and Ala Mhigans alike! Next to that it is also of importance to point out at the time of the 1.0 quest, the conjurers of Gridania were getting desperate that the winter would not come, to the point they allowed and helped the Ala Mhigans to organise their festival in the hopes of ushering in winter. Even at wartimes people still celebrate their festivals and the Ala Mhigans are no exception. [align=center]Can a Non-Ala Mhigans can participate as well?[/align] Totally! However in the quests outsiders do find it rather strange, and no one ever heard of it before. But plenty of folk are happy enough to aid them and partake in the celebrations. So if you want to just see a heap of Ala Mhigans throwing snowballs at a giant snowman, or want to participate in the madness? They in fact encourage it! The festival was celebrated to usher in the winter, but also to smooth things over with the locals in the Shroud. So yes, outsiders would be welcomed at such an open and public event. [align=center] [/align] [align=center]Last Words[/align] But ultimately we don’t know what everything entails regarding the festival beyond what we got! So please by all means, go wild and enjoy your Ala Mhigan winter festival in the way you think is fitting. And if all else fails? Just blame it on your Ala Mhigan’s clan having their own little rituals and means added to it in the ye olde days. [align=center]Have a Merry Starlight Winter’s Knell! [/align]

Still alive and well!

^ We have so many places your character can be from! Your OOC starting city has zero influence on gameplay, nor people will care. Virella is Ishgardian, she started out in Gridania OOC. Avelyn is Ala Mhigan, she started out in Limsa. Really, don't sweat it!

I'm not exactly sure how to word what I'm asking here, so bear with me... but would it be acceptable to roll a class such as NIN but ICly just be something of a Rogue? Like, instead of being a highly skilled, disciplined ninja trained in [ok apologies I have no idea where they originate from], could I have it that my character is that class due to circumstance? For instance, I'm fairly certain that my character will belong to the Dhoro tribe, who are described as being elusive and that they employ the use of lookouts to stay out of sight. Could I roll a NIN with this being my characters' background, but avoid things such as artifact gear and roleplaying any NIN powers? No one will care what you are as a class OOC! Just level whatever you like. And that's also the great thing about FFXIV, unlike WoW, you don't have to reroll another character to be another class Like I run around as a SCH or WHM often because I like some of the gear, and use the (non job) gear just because I fancy wearing them for RP. Everyone does this I assure you. However with Ninja/Rogue you get different animations in your running style if you have the soulstone equipped! But really, your OOC class/job really doesn't matter ^^ Good luck!

Ahhh, I see. That's one of the things I was confused about when reading about the Dawn Father and Duskmother found in the description of the Xaela, then encountering the guardian deity option. The lore starter kit has been of great help so far! It was posted earlier by another user, but I'm glad I'm able to properly thank you for creating it. I'm currently trying to do this, though it's not an ideal scenario seeing as I've yet to play the game and don't know the classes/jobs as well as most. I've settled on tying my character to the Dhoro tribe, which is described as being a solitary clan which employs the use of lookouts. In honesty I haven't gone too far in planning out my character yet, but I'm imagining them to be something of a scout/tracker. Would the Archer class be the best fit for this, or is there something that could be better suited? There's also the (possibly kinda silly) issue of discerning between the class(es) I want to play and the roles I want my character to be tied to. Is it common for players to play certain classes OOC (for instance, if they enjoy playing a Warrior) but completely separate it from their character? For instance, I really like the look of MNK/NIN, but I'm not entirely sure if either of those will fit my character. /Rolls in at the mention of Monk Sadly enough the Job is really tied in with religious cultists from Ala Mhigo. Monk are Fist of Rhalgr! Their order is, as far as we know currently, considered scattered and their knowledge lost for the most part: They had their main temple purged by the Ala Mhigan army, and the elders of their order committed suicide to prevent said knowledge being taken from the Fists. We do know however there's a few temples (probably) left within the mountains of Gyr Abania however. Because we do have one NPC who was trained there after the purge of the main temple, and found his way into Eorzea. It's totally possible to be a Monk (trainee) if you REALLY wanna go down that route of being the 'chosen one' trope if some lost wandering Monk found you, or an absolute newbie, but your character, as far as we have seen, has to be religious; it well, being a religious group of folk who happen to be good at fighting. Fighting is just one of the ways they worship their God. What brings me to the 'problem' of being an Au Ra. They don't really seem to worship the Twelve. They got their own religion. On top of that, we haven't seen ANY Ala Mhigan au ra either (any other race would be totally fine for a Fist of Rhalgr though). But fret not! There's nothing wrong with being 'just' a Pugilist either. They still hit like a truck, use Aether in their abilities and what not! Just stay clear of the artefact gear for Monk (because it has some lore with heresy and the other garb flat out killing you), don't claim to have chakras, and bam, you're settled! In any case, if you want to roll a Monk by some weird chance religious fighters (although don't be mistaken, they were advisor and the like as well) does interest you in this setting? I'd suggested rolling an older character (40+ as the purge happened ~25 years ago) of a non-Au ra race, who was trained in these Ala Mhigan temples! As for Ninjas? It is probably a lot easier to justify that with an Au ra. If you were rolling Raen? Easy enough. They were ninjas just as much as any other race in Othard as far as we know! Hells, one of 'poster children' for Ninja in this game is a Raen Au ra. With a Xaela you probably have to still write them into living in a Doman village though. I'm not too knowledgeable on Ninja lore, and you probably want to ask someone else about that more x_X (I'd suggest finding one of Sounsyy's handy lore posts, they probably have one of them!) In any case, I'd strongly suggest just focusing on the character, the job/class next! Nothing stops your character from 'just' being a pugilist. Or just someone who happens to stab people with daggers! Good luck, and have fun o/

That's a really good way of making people feel welcome......not! Truth hurts. I know. By all means, continue not feeling welcome instead of taking care of your problems like a responsible roleplayer.