Paradox

Well, a lot of the reason Shantotto's appearance is compared to that is that Shantotto herself kind of *is* a Calamity. She wasn't thrown across dimensions, she didn't step into a gateway and wake up in Eorzea, she kicked down the door all by her lonesome, and set up shop. She's a Black Mage in a world where Black Mages are rare, and generally don't speak up because they're outlawed to holy hell and gone, and she's powerful enough to wipe out whole armies on her own without breaking her rhyming. The actual act of moving dimensions isn't necessarily a major event on its own. It all depends on the why. We know very little about the void and how it connects to other worlds in the XIV sense, if it does. As of right now all we know is, a bunch of demons live in it. We know gateways can be opened to the void from Eorzea. So is it the same Void as Exdeath's Void? Who can say. With the suspension of disbelief present, one could say it's entirely possible for someone to have come across the void. Gilgamesh is the biggest offender. He specifically travels via the void to other Final Fantasy universes. Yes, it's a gimmick, but joke character or not, he's still a character in the lore of the world. A lot of people dismiss the fact because of his hilarious sidekick status, but the fact remains he does exist. Just because he doesn't meet people's 'standards' of what makes a character viable doesn't mean the viability isn't present, just that their opinion is to dismiss it. Now, there are some things that are silly. I'd say if someone wants to import an older character of theirs as I do at times, there are ways to go about it to make them fit and still keep the original being. Or if you want to bring in a character from another final fantasy, make sure it's an OC, not a canon character or related to one. That's really Sue territory anyway, even in its own world unless the forum being played in specifically lets one play canons, but I digress. But there's a great deal of fun to be had. If you had someone who was a mage from a different FF reality, suddenly they have to adapt to Aether. What if their personal aether in *this* reality isn't enough for them to become a mage? Maybe they were an offensive caster, and now they have to use Conjury because they can only draw from outside. Certainly being from another FF, they're used to odd things happening, so being a stranger in a new world would be jarring at first, but they were from the home of flying gods and dancing moogles. Some things would still be familiar to them (like the moogles, spell names, certain monsters like Morbols, and the like), so adjustment could be moderately easy once they figure things out. And while I know that some say things like Crystal Tower aren't necessarily canon, that's up for debate. maybe Eorzea is similar to Memoria from FFIX. A place where memories are stored, kept, brought into physical form. Maybe it takes things form other realities, like the Crystal Tower, hell, Xande's whole empire, and adapts them into itself to create its own history. if Hydaelyn is the mother goddess, and the One Crystal, it was seen in FFIX that *all* memories came to the Crystal at the end of all things. Maybe Hydaelyn contains the memories of all those realities in herself. Maybe that's why we see Krile from FFV, yet she's different from her original self. Maybe that's why Xande and his tower exist but have a history as an empire here that's very different in ways from FFIII. The Cloud of Darkness. Made a voidsent, but still no less dangerous. Eorzea might be the next world being repopulated with memories from many others. This could also explain why there are multiple warriors of light (Yes, multiple, get over it), in terms of numbers much higher than the usual four. Because they're all being transitioned, and created anew. Maybe that's why the world is under such stress at times. In this case, someone could easily be a minor person from FF??, and it still be well within a potential lore theorycrafting. Maybe they didn't actually come here from another dimension. Maybe they were from another dimension, another final fantasy. But their world ended. Time is subjective. When does Eorzea happen? IN the same timestream? Outside of it? Hydaelyn is a High Goddess, so that means that time is irrelevant to her except in its passing on where her nature is currently present. This being the case, to build this current world, she takes from others. A person begins to have memories of themselves from their other life. Or they just woke up one day, and the world is wholly different, to them. They were indeed born here, but perhaps spontaneously. Who can say? there's a thousand possibilities or theories to tie other worlds (Edit: Final fantasy worlds at least) in and still technically be *from* Eorzea and still have 'traveled', but too many think traveling has to denote 'moving from one world to the next via portal or gate' or some such. Perhaps it's just 'being reborn while retaining memory' or 'incomplete transition from the central memory of the crystal'. You never know.

Meh. I had a long reply post written out, but considering it further, it seems like you've already stated how you feel and nothing said will change that set of opinions. I'll simply agree with the OP in that the productive discussion is over and nothing more can be added to it. I'll only add that next time I suggest avoiding throwing around terms like 'void of creativity' or 'special snowflake', first time saying it or no, as there's a difference between not being PC, and being borderline condescending. And while it's hard to read tone in text, it came across far less like the former, and much more the latter.

A few things here. In your opinion. Some are still discussing it. Also, unrelated, I find the words 'special snowflake' generally tend to come form people who like to crush the ideas and creativity of anyone who wants to be different and not 'fit in' under the assumption they're doing it just to draw attention to themselves. And such statements are generally given, I've observed by a person or persons who don't try to see why people make the different types of characters they do. I recommend asking a person their reasons before deciding why they made it. Telling someone why they made something because you said so is IRL godmodding, you know. You prefer to think within your own specific box, and that's fine for you. But don't talk down about others as 'special snowflakes' just because you don't like what they do. This kind of character and idea shaming has become more and more prevalent in roleplay communities of late I have found. The narrow mindedness saddens me on a lot of levels considering the community I originally came from was more interested in learning a character's story and the whys of it than judging the character or their player for their ideas, even if a bit of lore bending was done. To be fair, there's no evidence that it isn't connected to or leads to the void either. Since there's been no specific topics on this by the Lore devs, we'll simply have to assume for the sake of creativity and potential situations. No lore is a hundred percent concrete, and there will always be loopholes, holes, inconsistencies, and openings in a lore that leave leeway for many possibilities. Just saying 'it can't happen because we haven't seen it' quashes potential creativity. Speaking of creativity. In your personal opinion. Just because that's what you think, doesn't make it a fact. And while one is entitled to their opinion, a sweeping generalization like that demeans those that find a way to do it and put effort into it. You don't like the idea. That's fine. But saying it's 'void of creativity' is a very broad brush when you may not know the reasoning behind it and just decide that's the way it is without even being told the reason. It's excessively rude to tell a writer, even one just starting out that their idea is 'void of creativity' just because you think it is. If you have the time to say something mean, you might try being more constructive in your approach to the matter. You very likely have no idea if someone has interest in being part of the community or not based on character idea alone. You have your own perception, and that is all. Except the fatal flaw in this argument is that generally, the game only tells the story of major players in the first place, so of course there's little to support it that we see because most games specifically focus on the main characters and their immediate supports. There's all kinds of NPCs in every universe. Let's look at Gilgamesh. While we can argue he's mostly comic relief, he hardly got into the void by being a 'major player'. He sort of just fell into it, and has appeared in various places. Interesting isn't it? He was never a main villain. He was a sidekick at best. He was never a great hero. He was this derpy guy meant to make people laugh, and yet here he is, going from world to world. No will of the goddess. No will of the crystals. Just Exdeath being a dick and chucking him in the void. And..wow, something like that could happen to anyone if they were in the right place at the wrong time. It's not for anyone to say 'you can't do that' unless you can absolutely prove beyond a shadow of all doubt it can't be done. And one absolutely can't, because no lore is 100% foolproof. And some of it is even left open for the players to grasp onto and make of it their own. Lore is meant to be a vehicle with which to launch creativity, not chains with which to stifle it, and sometimes the vehicle is driven a bit off-road. Again, a very broad, sweeping generalization based on your own opinion. I know the lore of the world, and yet I could think of many reasons to play such a character. And you wouldn't know any of those reasons, because you can't read intent or minds. It's interesting that you mentioned such a character is 'void of creativity', and yet the very nature of what you're saying voids any creativity anyone might have in doing such a thing. There's little in your argument other than a thinly veiled judgmental viewpoint obscured by a few random facts spattered here and there because you don't like the idea. If you don't want to roleplay with someone who chooses this method, then that's fine. But telling someone basically that wanting to play a character who's ended up from another world is just them wanting to be 'special' or 'void of creativity' is frankly insulting. Maybe they like the idea. Maybe they want to put forth the effort of this difference. Because doing it well does take effort, and can be done. If you don't want to be included, that's your right. But it's no reason to insult the people that do. I might have made an error in what I said previously, though. Perhaps you are right that there's no point in continuing the discussion further. Because if discussion at this point comes to where we're judging with the snowflake comments and telling someone their idea is void of creativity just because it doesn't mesh with what one thinks is right, I think one can no longer call it a discussion at all. Really all I have to say on the matter, and I think it's time for me to withdraw. Happy roleplaying all.

_fIVLJYaggM

It actually has little to do with a 'special origin' in the case of most people and the fact that some become very attached to their creations. As a writer who has roleplayed and written solo stories for some twenty three years, there are certain characters who have long histories that I move from world to world whenever possible because those characters have lives I've designed, and shared with others throughout many lifetimes. While it is possible to just make someone new to the setting with the same name based on them, it unfortunately loses a lot of the love and work that went into one's creation. The unfortunate thing is, a lot of people have your way of thinking that it's just 'something that can't be used by anyone else' or just a 'special origin story'. The idea that everything different from what the lore bible thumpers is a 'special snowflake' is something I've seen that's very prevalent among the FFXIV mainstream roleplay crowd, and I see a lot of creativity and potential sacrificed because of it, with people forgetting roleplay is about fun and not living up to people's expectations of what they should be playing. But that's off topic, and I apologize. The thing is, if I'd hypothetically played FFXI for x amount of years and become very close to my roleplay character, but say..a lot of my friends had left, or the server RP community had faded, but I didn't feel I was done with my character's story, and that they had more to do, and found out 'hey, these worlds can interconnect', I'd love to do such a thing, because it means my character could grow in a whole new way. Perhaps as a stranger in a strange land, trying to adapt. Perhaps they would think they'd died and were dreaming, only to find out later that they were wrong. There's so much potential there, and unfortunately too many people only see 'well you just want to be special, why not just roll here and settle like everyone else'? Not everyone is everyone else, and their character's story may not be done yet in their view, regardless of whether the environment of their original game allows them to finish it. Roleplay is about fun, diversity, and creativity, not 'everyone the same origin story as everyone else'. I'm with the other gentleman (or lady?) a few posts above. If you want to do it, do it, because there is potential for it to happen, and it's not up to us to judge that they 'just want to be special'. It may just be that they love their character, and I'm just fine with that. But it isn't always just because someone want to be 'special' or 'different'. That's a broad brush to paint with, and it's not a good idea to put one's own standards or perceptions on the actions of others. Asking is more polite, and may even make you new friends.

Semi Off-Topic: You know, whenever I see the whole Wildwood/Duskwight thing going on and how much they're not fond of each other, the first thing I see is this. http://www.nuklearpower.com/comics/8-bit-theater/081129.png Back on topic. I think straight anything is hard to find in this game because there's a large LGBT community, and Elezen are rare already as it is, so odds as they are basically fall on very few straight Elezen men. Not that they don't exist. For the record, my main Elezen is bi with a strong female preference, but. On the Duskwight, yeah. I'd like to see more about em. And more Elezen in general. #Elezenmasterrace.

I have several Elezen males and they're my favorite race by far. We know a lot about them..more than some races, which is great for character building. My biggest problem is that they just..they look like they have the dietary habits of a wild supermodel. I'd love to get sliders for the sole purpose of adding a *little* more structure to them. They don't have to look like Highlanders, but I keep being afraid some Dragoon is going to grab my Elezen instead of his lance one day by accident.

So much this. The Lalafell are the 'Kawaii' race that tends to be prevalent in most Asian games. There's one in just about every Korean or Japanese MMO. Lineage 2 for example, the male Dwarves were..well, dwarves. But the female dwarves were flat-chested, pigtailed, doll-like things. It's actually kind of funny because to me, L2's dwarves looked way too much like little girls for my comfort zone. I don't feel the same with Lalafell because much as was stated, they don't resemble children to me, but more like evil little dolls. Sadly, Miqo'te and Lalafell suffer from a lot of negative connotations, not just because of their player base (though that can be a huge factor), but also because of OOC biases against those kinds of models, which leaves their RP options in some communities severely limited. The thing is, when that happens, they feel forced to play the stereotype, which reinforces the negativity that that's all they are, which forces more into it. It's a cycle in the RP community in general that's facilitated not just by the players of said race, but by those that encounter them and apply their real world stuff to what they see in a fantasy world. I'm of the opinion that Lalafell can fight, can romance, can be snarky, sweet, evil, or good just like any other race. We've seen Lalafell are capable of fighting on equal ground with the other races. I distinctly recall a cutscene from 1.0 with some pretty strong Lalafell. Call it fantasy physics, call it that they have more dense musculature and more mass despite their size, or perhaps because of it. Whatever works for you. The leaders of the Thaumaturge guild are Lalafell. Can they be silly? Sure. Does that make them childlike? No. It just means that physically, they're easier to fit into comedic situations. Which is something that (if we're going on real world similarities) has been done with little people in the past. If you notice, a lot of people in the real world have trouble taking little people seriously as well, and a good many have been cast in the past into stereotypical 'cute' roles. Sad but true. But the fact is, Lalafell are people. They get married, form bonds, get drunk, have kids, fight in wars, and conduct business in the world of Hydaelyn like anyone else. And that's how I treat 'em. Way I see it, if someone lets a real world bias affect how they treat Lalafell, that's on them. Play your character to your heart's content, and if they treat you like a child or not how your character is portrayed..fuck 'em. Lots of fish in the sea to RP with.

Indeed. All part of the risk vs reward. Although, clothing can be patched. It wouldn't be out of the way to sew something akin to, as was mentioned the riddler's question marks, only geometric patterns, and seal the ink into the patterns. You could sew them in between the clothing layers, so they wouldn't show on the outside or inside to the visible eye, though it would make the cloth a bit stiff to move in at times unless you only transcribed a few spells. It'd be a limited solution, but it would at least be something.

A'rklonn uses what he calls a 'unified magic focus' since he's trained in several magical disciplines. he isn't that great a conjurer, and has very little healing knowledge; most of his knowledge in it is elemental/offensive, but that's sort of off topic. He has a staff he crafted from proper thaumaturgical components, but it's hollowed out in the central 'staff' area. Inside he has a wooden focus that allows him to use his Conjury, and has carved the inside and outside of the staff during construction all over with geometries inked in. The crystal also forms the geometries, cycling through them using glamour imaging methods, similar in a way to Freed Justine's 'Jutsushiki' from Fairy Tail, which is very, very similar to Arcanima in a lot of ways with the inks made into the forging itself as a partial catalyst. The tradeoff to this is that a universal focus is a: expensive to make, b: very time consuming to construct, and c: as it acts as a focus for multiple types of magic, more stress is put on it. So he keeps other foci on him in a pinch, like a ceremonial dagger, a small cliffnote arcanima book for basic spells (diary sized), and a simple unworked wooden focus for his conjury if his unified focus happens to crack or break under the stress. The smaller foci will naturally not produce magic as destructive or effective, but can generally handle normal targets long enough for the problem to be solved. As far as inked in tattoos, it is entirely possible. However, a better alternative for those that want to go this method, is the Riddler method. That is, a robe with all your inking done on the inside of your clothing. Transcribe your better spells on the cloth with special inks, inside the outfit. That way it looks like you're disarmed, or are not carrying a focus, but in reality your clothing actually is the focus. You might only be able to put a limited number of spells on such a thing, but in a pinch, it could save your life if your book burns or is damaged. The key to using magic in battle is resource and battlefield control. Mages are smart; a good mage always has a backup. Just like a good fighter always has a dagger in his boot or something hidden in his clothing in case he loses his sword or axe, a good mage will have a smaller focus or alternative focus item on his person in case his primary one is removed form his possession. In the instances I just choose to say a smaller focus can only handle a certain number of uses, or maybe it can only use certain spells. But that's up to the roleplayers in question, so it's situational. Go with what works for the group, more or less. But don't sell your mage short. No caster is going to be dumb enough to not carry backup foci. Also, if we pay attention to the MSQ (slight spoiler here), Y'shtola casts without holding on to her focus (It's still on her belt), meaning you only technically need to have it on your person, but that's likely only if you're trained enough. I'm guessing that 'holding' the focus is a method that makes the casting easier, but when you're stronger, you just need it there in contact with you in one way or another. That's my headcanon anyway.

Back in the good old days of the HTML chatrooms which is where I made my legacy, places like Webmaze, DWBN, Chatropolis before they became an all porn chatsite, Chatlantis and Pairody's Palace, the way you fought was by calling your attacks more or less, and then the defender chose which hits to defend against. The method we used was that you got three attack actions and two defense actions, that way you were legally required to take a hit no matter what you used to defend yourself. This was basically how you prevented barriers or godmodding. You could call it auto hitting, but we referred to it as 'interrupt style' posting or fighting. the gist was, you called the effect of your hits, on the basis the hit landed. This basically gave the defender the option of choosing which of the three hits they'd accept, and which two they'd block, or redirect, or whatever their abilities allowed them to do. The idea was that sometimes hits would combo into other hits, so you had to think ahead, observe your enemy's abilities, and make sure you chose the correct way to defend lest you end up making the wrong move. Fighting for us was much more like a dance of creative writing than anything, and I genuinely miss it because there was no bullshit. Everyone save a rare few played fair until the cliques got really bad around the early 2000s. We didn't use the T1/T2 etc names for it, we had our own terms. Much of it was WoD stuff, but it was also custom or D&D mixed in too, even some WH40k, but it was all freeform fighting. Another thing back in our day was, there were few safe zones; basically if you were out and roleplaying, and someone wanted to fight, you responded. And there was no permission needed to kill you either. You basically had to git gud, or if someone or their clan held a grudge on your character it was a conga line of asswhoopin. Still, we managed to keep it really civilized for as chaotic as it was. It was a golden age from 1996 to 2004, then it started to turn to shit with people controlling a bunch of things and a lot of the old vets leaving. But yeah, we had all type of tenses in our RP, future, past, present, various X-person point of views. For us it was all good as long as everyone was having fun, and there was way more combat Rp than anything, which is what I came to enjoy. On a side note that's why it's so hard to adjust to the RP combat community for myself in this game because A: it's small the amount of people who enjoy martial conflict at its finest, and B: it's mostly dice-rollers to make it 'fair' or 'you can't fight me without permission' players who kinda live in this magical no face-punching bubble. But man, yeah, speedposting, goddamn. I remember those days. I never got involved in 'the fastest typer wins' fights, cos the places I played were super cereal multi para heavy detail grimdark WoD RP places. Kinda regret I never got to experience it. Heh.

I use quotations in /say simply because when my character is speaking, it just seems proper to use quotation marks. It's how dialogue is presented in books, and it's also how I've always played. The environment I came from was chat rooms from back in the 90's, and while we had location pulldowns in our rooms, there was no /em or anything like that. Mind you, some people put their actions in italics and their speaking in normal text, but I always did quotations over speech. Mostly because all my posts were italicized. Yeah, I was that dick that made you squint to read my posts. But more or less, putting quotations in /say is just a reflex action to me because my character is speaking, therefore it seems like the correct thing to do. Just my two gil.

Vampires. Hm. Well..I'll give my two gil on this matter. The first major question would be 'is it possible to create something akin to a vampire in game?'. My reply to that would be very likely yes. Aether exists in the body and spirit, and it's likely blood can be used as a method to transfer Aether form one source to another as a catalyst. So as has been stated, someone becoming Voidsent-possessed or somehow enhanced could create an individual who gains increased physical or magical ability, and in turn has to consume blood (drawing Aether from it) in a method much like a vampire would. However, traditional vampire weaknesses such as sunlight and running water likely wouldn't do anything to the person so afflicted at all as it's more like a demonic boon than an actual vampiric curse. So it would more be an Aether-eater who uses blood as the transfer method than what we consider a traditional vampire by our own real world legends. The major difference is there's one other thing that most vampires are able to do that such a creature wouldn't be able to. And that's create other vampires by the usual method. Voidsent curses, from what we've seen, are tailored to the individual (Amandine for example). While she attracted other voidsent with her presence, there's no indication she turned anyone into one in the mansion in Haukke. This means that a vampire as exampled above, in order to make new vampires would likely have to convince an individual to make a similar contract to the one they made, thus making vampires in this game more or less a type of voidsent cult rather than undead. And actually, if you think about it, with what we've seen with the Lambs, a vampire-inspired voidsent cult might actually make a fun story arc or something. But as far as our more traditional Nosferatu, it's unlikely it'd be the same.

Everyone will have an opinion of whether a character is beautiful based on the person's description of their character in Roleplay. Which is, pardon the pun, the beauty of it. For my part, this is how A'rklonn views himself, which is all that matters to him. Edit: Stupid links, ugh. Just watch the I'm Too Sexy video, you'll get the idea.

I like sad, or tragic RP. I like conflict, drama, and antagonism. I like when it's not clear who the bad guy really is, because everyone is the bad guy. Fear, anger, and loss are meaty and delicious, while warmth, gentleness and love are a nice sweet dessert. I've always been the kind of guy who likes it when the hero gets fucked up, and becomes not the hero but also not the villain because of personal fear and sadness. That said, while I love me a good tragedy, some less tragic stuff is good too. I mean, every day doesn't have to be a crisis of identity. Sad RP is an ongoing thing. Someone who is sad because of an event or loss will still be so as time goes on, but how they cope with it is also part of the fun. Will they fall into a black pit and never return? Will they dig their way up til their nails are blooded with scars to show for it on the inside? Will they bounce back carrying the burden but be optimistic about the future? So many choices. That's what makes it fun. So come at me, Sadbro.

I think I'm one of the only people that doesn't care how skilled or unskilled anyone's character is, as long as they don't shove their roleplay standards in my face. Ie, the 'your character is too strong/too this/too etc so you're a mary sue/special snowflake/so edgy' or other condescending crap that tends to come out of the mouths of people who think they're the resident RP experts. I don't care if your character is a god among men, or a fumbling beginner, an expert in one field or an expert in ten. Admittedly I like certain styles of RP others may not. But if your character interests me in other areas than the ones I'm prone to dislike, I will play with that character because interest is fluid. If your character is better, harder, stronger faster than mine..who gives a rat's ass? I think people get far too hung up on how powerful other people's characters are because they don't want to have a diminished sense of usefulness by choosing to play someone who isn't as skilled. But at the end of the day, that's just the rub isn't it? Personal choice. You chose to play someone who isn't powerful or a certain level of strength. That does not mean someone else is not permitted to do so, and many have this bad habit of making people with strong characters feel bad because they're not on the same even level playing field with everyone else in the playground. If I have a strong character, I don't feel a need to justify their strength. I'm not here to make a spreadsheet about why my character may or may not be able to beat someone's face or fast talk them out of their gil. I let my play speak for itself. If people don't like it, then that's fine. We all play this game to have fun. Some groups of roleplayers likes stronger characters, for various reasons. Others don't. Also for various reasons. The bottom line is, what's too much is a matter of opinion of each individual roleplayer and has no specific status quo. That's why discussions like these generally always degrade (but I'm glad to see this one hasn't! <3) But! Powerful people exist in the world, and weaker people exist in the world. Life isn't fair. There's always a bigger fish. And if that bigger fish is someone else's character, then, that's just how it is. As long as that person isn't antagonizing you unnecessarily, then there's nothing wrong with strength..especially in a fantasy world that basically runs on a mix of Wuxia fighting mechanics, explosions everywhere, and the Rule of Cool. I know some people like hardcore realism especially in abilities and skills of a character, but this is Final Fantasy. The world itself is basically nonsensical in the 'power' department. So sometimes you need a little suspension of disbelief as to someone's level of skill. So when is a character too skilled, the topic asks? That's up to each individual to decide. There is no blanket right or wrong answer, because everyone has their preferences. If you think someone's too strong and diminishes others around them by your own opinion, but I don't think the same, then obviously one of us will be playing with that person, and one of us won't. If a large majority agree that person diminishes someone and they're not just following the crowd when saying it, but it's their real opinion, perhaps that player is being a bit too bombastic in how he portrays his strength, but the measure of his strength itself may not be the problem. Feeling like one needs to be a certain way or maintain a certain power level or skill level to adjust to the common law opinion of a community majority who likes a certain type of play at the exclusion of all other types kills RP rather than encourages it. I myself have a standing rule I'll RP with anyone unless the *player* is specifically antagonistic or pushy. Hell, I'm more likely to play with a superman character than I am with someone's character whose player is quoting lore at me in PM because one tiny thing on my profile or one single letter in my name isn't *exact* to the high lore standards that player happens to hold. Basically, in my opinion (And just my opinion) there's no such thing as too skilled, or too unskilled, if played in such a way that it makes sense to the environment they are part of the story and still allows others their own opportunities to mesh in the play itself. We can't make everyone happy. Play to enjoy with the whole, or with small groups whichever suits you, and find your niche with people that think like you but at the same time try to not be closed off in the process and see from all angles, even if they don't suit you at first. Expand your horizon to the idea of what skill or strength even is. Use suspension of disbelief to a point, without throwing all reason out the window. The number of characters good at 'everything' is surprisingly rare from what I've seen, so it shouldn't be a huge issue in the long run. Game on~.

Not sure if I'll be able to get involved in this, but best of luck regardless! It sounds fun. Also: If any Thaumaturges get involved, you MUST Hadouken. It's a rule.

Favorite Non town theme: Matoya's Cave (them nostalgia feels) Favorite NPC/Character Theme: Tie between Canticle and Hildibrand Theme. Favorite Raid (non boss) Theme: World of Darkness (more nostalgia feels) Favorite Town Theme: Ul'dah at night. Favorite Primal Theme: Three way tie between Garuda, Ravana (both songs) and Shiva (first song). Favorite Raid Boss Theme: Tie between Phoenix and Nael. Coil, y u so good music. Favorite Mount Theme: Discounting the primal ones, Magitek Armor's Terra remix. Favorite Dungeon Theme: Sastasha Hard Mode. Dat pirate beat. Favorite Dungeon Boss Theme: Midgarsormr's theme.

I acknowledge teleportation because the lore supports it. To not do so would be saying word of god isn't worth anything which is as lore brekaing as playing Goku. However, teleportation has some obvious limits. You can only teleport to a place you've attuned to an Aetheryte, unless you use a dangerously forbidden spell that can dissipate you into your component aether forever. Not really worth the risk to use it just to get somewhere fast. Teleportation also can't be done under duress. If you're being hit, you can't teleport. Running? Can't teleport. Fighting? More of the same.Teleportation takes a toll on your body as well. How much? Depends on your fortitude and aether content. I'd say it'd be easier for those steeped in aether to 'port a little more often. Or someone who's done a lot of endurance training. Do I do a lot of teleporting IC? It's never honestly come up. A'rk uses the Aetheryte as a convenience tool if he has to travel long distances when the alternatives would be more dangerous, such as say, he's in Coerthas during a major snowstorm but needs to get back home because his wife is going to have a baby early. It would be far more prudent for him to find a shelter, and incant the teleportation magic to get back home than it would be to wait out a long snowstorm or try to brave it by chocobo or horse. It's not something you do all day erry day, but as it does exist, it can apply to RP depending on context. Does it remove some of the gritty drama? Sure. But this is a magical world.

It was a mere example. I'll give you a more realistic one. This character called him/herself a "strategic genius". However, all the "strategies" he came up with were often extremely reckless and stupid. Instead of sneaking into an enemy camp, they wanted to storm in and rescue their friends while murdering everyone there. My character has a weakness to aether--First thing this person did? Send her off to the likes of Mor Dhona, of course. Kill enemies? Blow up a bomb at our home to send them off. This person had ideas like this--And referred to him/herself as a "strategic genius" Fair enough. I won't argue semantics at this point because I don't know the situation. And it seems like this one individual was just a bad example and not a majority. I haven't seen anyone say they were a genius character ooc and expect it to be acknowledged, so I suppose you've just have some really negative experiences with people like that. I haven't run into it, hell, I rarely talk to people OOC and just let their IC do the talking. Neither here nor there though. But yes, this entire topic has gone off topic I think, and it is a sensitive subject. In any case, it is possible to play a genius if you aren't, if you're willing to do the work. It just sounds like that individual wasn't willing to do the work. Seems more lazy then lacking in intelligence. But that's me.

At this point, the examples are starting to get silly. No one in any right mind, even an idiot, would try to convince someone of anything like that IC. It's gone beyond a person who can't fully back up they are a genius, and are going into cloudcuckoolander territory. Anyone who plays a genius character and would even attempt something like that is trolling, and it's a terrible example to what is supposed to be a serious topic. There's a vast difference between a genius character getting a few details wrong a player may or may not have, and someone just spouting nonsense. I've never seen anyone who plays a character they're attempting to put off as highly intelligent do anything like that unless they were IC trying to make someone else look ignorant. I also want to know where all these people are who brag oocly about their characters being geniuses who then talk like idiots. Are they in the tall grass like some kind of Pokémon? Because I have yet to see any of them. I suppose it's hard to grasp an example of this when I haven't seen any such thing, but I guess that's just differing experiences. Edit: I agree, Berrod. I think that really is the best idea at this point. Berrod Obama for president of Eorzea, 2016. :3

The problem with the entire topic itself is that while you say it is to spark debate, the topic you chose is about sensitive subjects that can be perceived as inflammatory or judgmental to some. It is a risky topic, and risky topics have the result of creating often negative responses. The truth is, the very nature of your topic asks if a witty character can be played by the 'dumb'. The topic in itself is a veiled insult, and seems backhanded towards those who may or may not be dumb in the eyes of yourself or others. This is the cost for even starting such a topic and use such wording as dumb. Heat, kitchen, et cetera. But on to the topic proper. I'm no good with quote trees, they're annoying to read, so I'll grab what I can. What you're speaking about however, is not truly intelligence or wit in its own regard. That is also training and knowledge, which is not the same thing. You can have a 'talent' for math and learning math based subjects, but you still have to learn it. And that has to do with study, not just one's level of wittiness or smarts. You specifically addressed this as about wit, and originally intelligence. The situation you are referring to now has little to do with wit at all, but the difference in experience on a subject. You present being always bad at math with someone who has talent at math. Which is fine, but even someone with talent at math or someone who has bad ability with math can still both learn math. Indeed, you (in the example) will learn slower than the talented individual, but it isn't beyond your scope. And that's the crux of this isn't it? I keep hearing the idea of something 'beyond your limits', but it seems like the idea that someone can push their limits and learn what they need to isn't even present. Everyone has basically said 'if a person isn't smart enough they can never act like they are'. I'm sorry, no. I'm quite smart on paper myself so they say and no, I'm not bragging or anything of the sort, but conversely I'm not a great social talker by nature in real life because I'm shy. I have people anxieties in crowds. Never have been great face to face. I however, learned to fake it. I can smile and pretend I'm good at engaging in witty conversation. And my character tends to actually be a lot more suave than I am because I don't have to actually be near someone when my character talks. I'm moderate at math, and I have memory problems that hinder me in learning. I've had to re-learn some subjects multiple times because of it. But I'm not dumb or even not 'witty' just because I don't meet someone else's high standards of what is and isn't witty. Can someone be more trained than me in something? Absolutely. But that has no reflection on my character versus yours. This entire subject basically comes down to a few people's standards of what they consider a gate pass to playing a certain type of character. And I'm sorry, but again, no. It is judgmental form the get go, whether you use levity at the beginning or not to say in all caps you're not judging. If I play a genius character but I myself am not a genius in that area, it is not the player's place to make any kind of stand against that character. If the character lacks something because the player can't back it up, roleplay will sort it out. And that's how it should be. But arguing if someone not smart can play someone smart; that itself is dissonance. My character is interacting with your character. If your character has no knowledge of the subject, even if you do, your knowledge is irrelevant because roleplaying is not about what you know. If my genius character misses a few details and that ruins your immersion and joy of roleplaying with me, then I am genuinely sorry that your immersion is so shallow. But the entire so-called debate is basically thinly-veiled judgment on what you and others have decided is and isn't witty or not, and whether something is beyond someone's limits. Limits are not as cut and dry as some are making out, and the fact that that's the prevalent opinion to not do something 'beyond your limits', it makes me a little sad at the state of creativity and willingness to learn and teach exists in the community. Roleplaying is about being something you are not in real life. If you can't do this exactly, continue learning. There's too much of this nonsense about if you aren't smart enough, don't play x. I propose the inverse. If you are not experienced enough. DO play x. This will cause you to learn, to go out of your box, to become 'wittier' or 'smarter'. Ignacius says know your limits. I say push beyond them. I say learn as you go along and the experience becomes real. And for those that say it can't be done, you are incorrect. I've done it myself. The entire passive-aggressive stance of 'I never said I was one to judge wit, however..' is patently offensive. You are judging by the statement itself. Someone who can't roleplay a trait by your standards. Not everyone has the same standards of roleplay. Who properly roleplays what is not for anyone to say regardless of what you know. We're not talking about someone who shoots fire form their eyes and lightning bolts form their arse. People want to play something they are not in roleplay. It is for fun, it is not to prove they are or are not smart or witty enough for you to enjoy it. If you don't think they're witty enough, that is your failing, not theirs. They could be genuinely trying. But if the first thing someone sees is 'they're obviously not smart enough to pull this off', then that someone should not be roleplaying. Judging leads to negative feelings. If you think I'm not smart enough to play a genius, then that's your business. But if your character wouldn't know one chemical from another IC, and you OOC are a professional chemist and you dislike that my chemistry genius is wrong on a few things..well. I hate to put it this way, but too damn bad. The entire subject you put forth is truly about OOC/IC dissonance, and playing with someone who isn't what they present their character as, not wit or intelligence. It's basically saying 'I can tell this person doesn't know what they're talking about IC because the player doesn't know it, so because I do even though my character wouldn't know the first thing about it, they're upsetting me personally and that bothers me'. We play characters different to ourselves. Not everyone who's written a genius is a genius. I'm willing to bet that authors who have written experts on subjects had no expertise in the subject themselves and did something called research. Which a lot of people who want to play these types of characters do. I do so myself. Between research and bullshit, you can do a lot of things with a character to make them appear experienced or witty or more intelligent, even if you haven't studied it yourself as thoroughly as a real expert. But honestly, when you post a subject with the word 'dumb' in it for any reason, whether it's to spark debate or rant, or for any other reason, prepare yourself for what can come of it. Because whether you mean to or not, you're insulting or judging somebody passively. Reading this honestly watching the 'no you can't do it' crowd being back patted while the ones that say you can are basically deconstructed entirely has left me shaking my head. But, in any case, if we must get back to the subject. Can it be done? Yes. Absolutely. It isn't always foolproof, but it can be done with research and bullshit. Is it hard to do with people trying to shove their own personal knowledge ooc on you if they don't think your character or you live up to it and apparently this is a reason for your character to be discredited despite it really not being their place? Yes. Absolutely. And that's all I have to add on the matter.

This is also my entire opinion on the whole thing. Why does combat realism matter in a fantasy setting? Because it has more impact than laser-light rock concerts claiming to be battles. And even with the presence of magic, realism doesn't change. We can know exactly how a fireball spell would be used in the real world, because it doesn't really alter the fundamentals of combat. With a bit of research and a good amount of rational thought, you absolutely can make believable use of Holy. So if you're just out for a good ol' dick-waving contest, superhero fights are fine and dandy. But they don't make for a compelling story, so much as they end up being "who would win in a fight, the guy who shoots lasers out of his eyes or the guy who breathes mustard gas?" If they don't make for a compelling story, it is entirely the fault of the people choreographing the fight, and not of the nature of the fight itself. You can make any kind of battle compelling if you know what you're doing. Just because a lot of power is being flung around doesn't necessarily make something a 'dick waving contest', and I find that this general approach and attitude to anything above cavemen waving their clubs or knives around as being dick waving, or 'overpowered' or so on. It is entirely feasible to make a 'superhero' fight as you labeled it very compelling, equally as much as two sweaty gladiators clashing blades like something out of Spartacus. If it doesn't compel, then the writers have done something wrong. That's all there is to it. A fight doesn't have to be 'proper' by the rules of our own real world physical laws to have a compelling element to it. I've watched many a fantasy fight that had a lot of emotional, stirring, and compelling elements, just as much as I've watched more simple, dirty fights that are equally compelling. Then again, considering how dismissive some people are in the realism vs surrealism debate around here, the overall snobbery against 'superhero' fights rarely surprises. Especially considering we're using earth-physics to judge combat 'realism' in a world whose full physical laws we're not entirely certain of. The very presence of a fireball spell already violates a lot of realistic physical laws. But. /shrugs/ It is what you make of it. But if we are going to sue for 'combat realism', then I had better see a lot more people willing to let their characters die in an encounter after they are stabbed or burned. But most people refuse to let their characters die or get wounded mortally without 'express permission' and don't want their characters to die, so the argument for any kind of combat realism is moot. Because combat realism would mean a lot of dead characters with all the fighting liberties they take.

I wouldn't say it's offensive per se, but it's also somewhat embarrassing to correct them in front of people. In most cases if a few mistakes really breaks your immersion so badly you have to correct them to survive, doing so in private is the best thing to do. To be fairly honest, I myself don't correct people. Mostly because I don't care. I know several individuals that are very well spoken when they speak, but typo like crazy when they type or type run on sentences like they were going out of style. A lot of the potential offense also comes from the fact that while many people know exactly what they're saying, typing it is hard for them and they don't like being pressured. My policy is, if it's not largely unreadable, the human brain can decipher what they're saying well enough for it to be understood, and that's genuinely all you need.

I call these RPers "drama arsonists". I firmly believe you can attach any subject material to RP and as long as it's treated with the gravity and respect it deserves rather than a quick way to generate attention and a pity party for your character, then it can be done well. But if you set your own character on fire often and then have them bounce back to "full health" so you can set them on fire again I will cease RP with you entirely. Yeah, that's what I'm referring to. Kidnapped and tortured, suffers trauma for IC months/years? Good idea. Gets kidnapped and tortured every two weeks because you have nothing else to do and you want attention? Bad idea.