Olofantur

Hey Brave, If you click and hold on the chat title ie "Event" or "Battle" and drag it, it'll separate. General is the "Host" window, so you can move it, but not separate it iirc. I keep two up as well, one for validating my combat log against my parser how ever.

Hello Sillmeria and welcome to the RPC, I think Gilgamesh has plenty activity, but more specifically i'd suggest checking out the Linkshell hall postings particularly http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=3116 which is the Gilgames OOC hub where you can get to know other RPers and where they might be. As far as events, they wax and wane as time goes on, I know at least on Balmung, maybe a half of what might be publicly happening ends up on the Calendar since a lot of people coordinate via word of mouth in game. Hope that helps, sure enough if you make some connections on Gilgamesh (and feel free to post on the linkshell hall entries if you'd like to make contact with them.) you'll find a lot to keep you busy! See you around Eorzea, and good luck in your journey.

I suggest messaging the leaders, posting on the entry or contacting one of the members. That will usually give you an insight into activity. You can also check them on the lodestone in the case of free companies. If you're looking for an OOC Linkshell that does a lot of connecting among RPC members I would suggest intermission (also listed in the LS Hall) which I believe is on its 3rd pearl iteration due to the number of people, but you'd have to message them to get specifics. There is of course the http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=4812 Thread about "Rping right now" as well as other entries in the events area for a given server advertising given events/groups and narratives that are at various points of creation/implementation. If you do intend to make a Linkshell, best of luck with your endeavor. You can of course message me in game if you prefer contact that way.

Welcome to Balmung then!, You can always take your time posting the wiki, i've left my own bare bones due to a couple people I used to interact with dropping the game and i'm still working how to fill those gaps. As always, feel free to ask questions about anything you might not be clear on, lore, wiki editing, etc. There's a whole host of knowledgeable people in the RPC that will be more than willing to help. Until then, good luck in Eorzea.

Pointed out the "First time" note in my post when I mentioned them Also as I said in that post, "this information is for the OP", not for every veteran that chimes in along the way. Clearly you understand the mechanics as does everyone else with a 50, this thread isn't for them.

As a note, the advice i've offered is for EVG, not you as you already sound to have a set path and aren't the thread OP. But not doing them? Really? I always make a point of making sure new people have run through them, while they introduce mechanics they also reward a very large chunk of XP, its kind of bonkers for the amount of effort required. Like the Hunting Log. At least I know that my FC always runs people through them before they're allowed to do HM's & AK with us since the level 40 8-man can be taxing if people don't pay attention. Again just another tool in the large set Squee has provided. EDIT: my attempts to sound less like an ass.

I was lobbing fireballs and leveling A sub character for Teleport. Made a few forays into potion making but it was kinda... blech and I had little patience for advertising myself in those days. I can understand the sand box comparison, I suppose I meant it more along the lines of people yelling at me over Ventrillo not to enter certain areas because Ogres would beat the daylights out of me so I got used to exploring and sneaking around. The list should show up on the red button area under actions iirc?, but i'm not at home to bring it up at the moment. Maybe some one who can RDC from work and check could chime in with a screen shot, if not i'll take one when I get home. Back to the topic at hand, have you also made sure to do your Guildhests? they're a pretty sizable chunk of exp for the first one. Not worth farming, but (on the later ones.) a decent intro to 8-mans for people still leveling.

Yes you can get it back up on screen, as to the rest, I suppose i'm just used to having quests being tucked away in the corners of the world, EQ and 1.0 were a harsh mistresses. I wasn't saying its easy, just providing an outside resource, the Srirachi sauce to an otherwise bland meal.

Seconded, never touched FATEs on my WHM, which was the first one I leveled that wasn't at 50 from 1.0. I made a point of stopping by pretty much every high level zone and snagging the 3-4 quests that had to do with the Beast tribes in each area. http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Category:Sidequest/26-50 Sorted by level and look at the size of the 45-50 group, while spread out, and hardly as numerous as lower level, I don't get how people seem to think FATEs are the only option. (most efficient cost/effort yes, even with the Dark Devices nerf)

Welcome to the RPC Khona, Though you already have "WINGS" listed as a linkshell, i'd like to point out that you can also take a look at the linkshell hall here for any additional groups you might be interested in. They range from mercenaries to merchants and everything between. If you'd like to take your time, which I certainly did, go ahead and lurk the forums, read up on the wiki, maybe check out an article or two on the Lantern, get to know the people and maybe when a conversation comes up that you particularly enjoy, you can jump in! Remember, the RPC is by roleplayers for roleplayers, everything is here as a tool to connect, communicate and coordinate in your journey to enjoy Eorzea to its utmost. Best of luck out there and feel free to chase me down if you ever see me running to and fro! :chocobo:

Yes, I was hoping/Implying that along with the Calamity perhaps something darker is occurring (and I should have clarified as much). Considering the other overhauls and rebuilds I have a hard time believing that in Ul'dah, the height of civilization in Eorzea, they're having an issue with repairing the structure. Missing tomes? dark secrets I could understand, and dearly hope a story comes to light around it. Speculation of course, but I do so love to indulge.

Hello EVG, just to check have you used the "suggestions" tool in game to see what quests might still be available? Mor Dhona and pretty much any area with the beast men strongholds will have 40+ Quests (Camp Overlook, the U tribe in South Thanalan, the Slyph camp outside the Sylphlands ect.) It is slim pickings to a certain extent, but you can make a go of it with the first character at least. Hope that helps!

Orange stuff- Depends on where you're talking about, the wide world coming out of buildings and the big splash in La Noscea that has blue crystal around it? Bahamut likely enough, Mor Dhona? Agrias/Midgardsormer. Collapsed looking Aethryte? Long story, mixture of Atmos, beast tribes and all of the above. The Garleans have patrols in the east shroud, you fight them off as part of a quest, and you can see Castrum Oriens from Amarissaixs' Spire in the East shroud. I see the Elementals as the "Living Wood" itself, the Trents that chase Papalymo and Yda upon your arrival in 1.0, the spirits (read physical elemental manifestations) that attack you during the conjury quest as part of "calming" them. I can provide some screen shots of the quest if you like, but its pretty spoiler heavy and a great story line to be honest. I treat the Faeries/Carbuncles slightly differently, but largely benevolent. The Primal-Egi's would be malignant if you did not suppress them, so perhaps you could ask them to do some things, but trust them to do it? I wouldn't... Hope that helps!

Might I suggest taking a look at the Linkshell hall in the above bar? It lists a few groups that are RP or coordination focused. You could also make an entry on the "Wiki" which would allow people to get a rough idea of your character before making contact. People are often surprised by just how many unique page views the wiki can get (twelve knows I was). If nothing else feel free to send me a tell in game and i'll see if I can't point you in a direction or two.

You can't really take into account other games when speaking about XIV and the lore. There are some changes. Black Magic is destructive, but so is White Magic (according to the White Mage quest). And as Olo pointed out, both draw from the Aether of the world (the literal life force). At one point, the conflict between Black and White Mages nearly destroyed the world (and ushered in an Umbral Age). White Mages are much, much more restricted now, with Conjurers themselves being restricted as to which parts of Succor (the White Magic) they can access by the Elementals. But Ul'dah is home to the Thaumaturge guild, which are basically less-powerful Black Mages from what I've seen. And as Olo also pointed out, some of the issues with Thalnalan's environment may be tied to this fact. It also isn't a question of whether the magic is actually evil, but how it is perceived by other people. And given the destructive power inherent in Black Magic, it could very well be perceived as evil by those not intimately familiar with the the art. To expand on Liadans point about Thaumaturgy in Ul'dah The home of the Black Mage tutor (or at least his go between) in 1.0 the Sacrarium, has been closed as of 2.0 (perhaps some calamity?) and during the 1.0 quest line, the guild receptionist is extremely skeptical of any claims to the lost gem of Shantotto. She is surprised by Lalais appearance let alone the master who comes to teach you, being that he has escaped from a deep jail for a heinous crime. As further evidence of their taboo nature, even the beast tribe representatives who teach you the art are shunned and in one case exiled from their homelands for the practice. To touch on the idea of "lobbing fireballs" Thaumaturgy is the art of manipulating ones own Aether, which has set limits, any one with enough talent can perfect Fire, Frost or Thunder. That is the Danger of the Blackmage, it is checked by no inherent limitation, its power (like White Mages) is subject to the whims of the user.

Hello X'yue, Welcome to the RPC! I'm a waffles fan myself, the ease of syrup and butter containment makes them preferred over pancakes, but they're on the same level as french toast depending on the morning. While both Gilgamesh and Balmung are supported servers for the RPC I hope you're able to meet lots of interesting people on your new home. If you have the chance take a look at the linkshell hall for any groups you might be interested in joining or at least getting to know. There's also the forums themselves where you can get to know people and discuss things you might be interested in or want clarification on. As far as other resources go, the wiki (which you've linked to) is great for getting to know a bit more about the people you might have met along your journey, as well as some player made lore. Feel free to browse the Lantern for some IC character musings, The Calendar for a list of events, as well as the RP handbook posted by Eva on the front page. (there's a welcome post there as well if you'd like to know a bit more about each of the tools available here.) Please let us know if you have any questions or comments, the RPC is an open community with a lot of interesting people and plenty of opportunity. Hope to see you in Eorzea!

Welcome to the RPC Senna, Glad to hear you've had some time to adventure through Eorzea. As a start to getting to know people, feel free to pop into the forums and indulge in any conversations you might find interesting, maybe pop into the Linkshell hall and scout out a group or two. (As a European timed player I can't recommend Europa & TTG enough, as well as Intermission, the RPC OOC linkshell.) Maybe take a look at the Calendar to see what events are coming up that you might be interested in. If you have the chance you can poke around the Wiki to learn a bit about certain people you might have met, or peek at the lantern to check out an IC publication of sorts. As always, feel free to ask any question you might have, both here and in game. Good to see that you have some outside MMO experience, I find it helps a lot in conversations when you can make corollaries with outside sources for explanations, and you'll find them in the forums with everything from Healing to Macros. Hope to see you around Eorzea, and best of luck out there.

Hello Eorn, An interesting topic, i'm going to break it down into a few small chunks and point out that perceptions are of course a personal things, not everyone agrees with me, and cultural/societal upbringings would of course provide a different context for each person. Warning, I will be going into slight spoilers of WHM/BLM/SUM/SCH lore as some of them touch on similar themes. The stigma towards Black Magic comes from a number of sources, I would first point to the ancient "Mage Wars" talked about in the Scholar opening (lvl30) quest, as well as White Mage, to surmise, (according to the scholar quest) some 15 centuries ago, a war of magic users erupted, and the power they waged was mighty. Black mages and White mages both have moments in their quest line that mention how their magic draws from the land and can leave it barren. (Some hints towards this in mentions of Thanalans Era-lost vibrancy, and the burying of Sil'dih.) A stigma can also be an evolution of the perception of Thaumaturgy, while in 2.0 the group is some what neutered of its moral ambiguity, at least in 1.0 the organization was clearly a gray area. For example during you're training you are sent across Eorzea to sell funeral rights to various people, and a Lalafell thaumaturge in training who is also setting upon the trial does not scruple to both sabotage you and she also uses some under handed tactics to see her mission done. I think, particularly outside of Ul'dah, agents of the Ossuary would not be treated as "welcomed guests" as much as some might have you believe. You could also touch on the power. Its been said many different ways in many different scenes, but most people don't distinguish between "Light" and "Dark" power when it's so grand, or even more so they don't distinguish between a Good person with a seemingly Dark power and the reverse. They just see people with too much power running around doing what ever they want and damn the consequences. This also runs into what it looks like. If we assume that most outsiders don't comprehend the technical differences of Aether manipulation, you could point towards the fact that a Voidsent, during the Thaumaturgy quest line is the closest example of Blackmagic you see up to that point... A demon in a jar, not the best harbinger for good intentions (Eh, Hoenheim?) Adventurers had proved themselves over a long stretch of time and great tribulations during 1.0 (IC) the group you see in the "End of an Era" video are arguably the "warriors of light" (yes yes, much discussion on this, not the point at the moment.) and had worked a great deal to aid Eorzea before the battle took place. I imagine the group that had bested Primals, and put down the White Raven had earned an immense amount of, if not respect, then at least acknowledgment. That and the leaders of each faction had not scrupled to utilize their seedier brethren in the fight for Eorzea up to that point anyways. It was a last ditch effort, no punches, how ever dirty, were going to be pulled. I made a point in character of never mentioning my capacity as a Blackmage, though it does exist. Some of those i've met have been scorned, other are warily dealt with, but rarely (outside of scholarly organizations) treated as openly as some of the more "goodly" peoples. As far as running into "Other Black Mages" I am usually (being interested in Aether manipulation) interested in hearing that story, but am often cautious as to their validity and mental stability. An Eras old Magic practitioner would certainly garner some attention, in character I wonder if some Thaumaturge may not just be puffing themselves up. If their role is proven, i'm cautious... I've even made a point of distancing myself from the Ossuary in character, Death obsessed, and potentially under the influence of monetarists, I try to make a point of explaining that I only interact with them so far as using them as a resource. Sadly this isn't something that has been explored in 2.0 nearly as much as I should like, it seems the Syndicates role has been down played since I met the up and coming in 1.0. I wouldn't go about screaming to the high heavens of your Black Magic also in part because they may relate you to Dalamunds fall and the Calamity. I make an effort to not outright judge the title of the person, but the context of how it came about. For example, while I do use "Black Mage" as a title in character, I don't strictly adhere to the story line applied during the game. I use the similar vein, lost knowledge, unspeakable act, beast men, ritual, but i've diverged myself enough that with confidence I could have some one stick to the story line and not say "Hey, I met the same Amalj'aa!". I don't use the other jobs, IC, only touch on using a few of the classes, but I try to treat them along the same lines. I hope that wall of rambling thought provides at least a little information you might find of use. Feel free to dissect it and ask for further clarification, I just enjoy rambling, especially about Magic. EDIT:: just went back and corrected a few notes.

Look, you take your freaking bubbles and gtfo, Jack. And i'm just sitting here with my Val'anyr crying softly to myself... At least I got mimys head before the nerf *sniff*

Hello Aranya, As a note about the groups on the Linkshell hall, while you can only have one FC, feel free to touch base with the staff of a given group, many of them have linkshell alternatives. All the following advice is based on the assumption that you're on Balmung. (If you could add your character and server to your character profile that would be helpful for any future suggestions.) Also feel free to take a look at and join any public events you might see on the Calendar. This might not be a long term solution, but there are quite a few drifters and many of the events will happen over a long enough duration you can play the "Slowly works their way into a more comfortable area" person without feeling rushed If (i'm understanding the desire correctly). While we haven't set a date for the third Coffer & Coffin event it will be open for all to attend. I suppose part of the problem may be that most "IC" linkshell require an invite or for you to already know a someone to be invited. May I suggest checking out the "Intermission" linkshell? its the official OOC linkshell for the RPC on Balmung, there is of course a Gilgamesh equivalent. This could help you find out where people might be for a while and what groups might be looking for some one to interact with in a given area. Hope that helps, and know that there's plenty like you quietly making their way in the world as well. I myself have made a successful effort to stay, more or less out of the way due to a mixture of IC and OOC reasons. Hope to see you around Eorzea.

*adjusts Old Timer Hat* There was in 1.0. The ferry between Thanalan and La Noscea was an actual ferry that you had to wait for and then ride. There were no pirates or sea horrors and the ride was short but it was a very cute little boat. I was heart broken when I realized they'd removed it. I remember the first time I went to La Noscea riding that damn thing. Or rather I remember the first time running up to the dock and watching it drift away. I sat there on my Chocobo for a good five minutes wondering what I did to deserve such fortune. I JUST WANTED TO GET A NEW FISHING ROD WITHOUT WADING THROUGH THE RETAINERS IN THE MARKET DAMMIT. Then there was the time I accidentally used the last of my anima to teleport to camp Longroot and spent the next 40 minutes using /walk to get past all the "true sound" level 70 mobs (a mixture of trents and raptors iirc.)

Not to de-rail the thread, but I wax nostalgic about 1.0 for this very reason. It seems like in 2.0, nearly every location has an express purpose in the game. 1.0 Thanalan caves were my bread and butter for the Wandering Mages (A small RP group at the time.) and the fact that Tam-Tara had its own Aether node speaks volume as to its size before the world reshape. Ah to make the journey to Long Root again...

They're both NA servers, for a full listing of data centers, http://www.arrstatus.com/ Should serve (it also shows "up status") Hope that helps!

Welcome to the RPC Yazaka, I would suggest EU or TTG as stated before (For the all hours aspect) you can also take a look at joining the "Intermission" linkshell, it handle OOC communication for a wide berth of people. As those before have said, both Balmung and Gilgamesh support strong groups of Roleplayers, so either is a nice home. If you haven't made a decision on which one in particular (why not both?) you could always take a gander at the Linkshell Hall and Directory for each one to get an idea of what groups and people you might meet. While i'm confident in saying that both servers will cover the majority of wants and needs, perhaps you have a particular idea or goal in mind that might lend itself to one more than the other. I don't think played time is much of an issue over a longer duration, if people can count on you not poofing into thin air, most groups will find a way or make a way to incorporate the people they're involved with into their events. Feel free to make use of all the resources you find here, the RPC is by roleplayers, for roleplayers as it were. So ask any questions you might have, make a comment or two, get to know a few people. Hope to see you in Eorzea, and Good luck out there.

EDIT:: I'm talking out my ass, its 3am IGNORE ME AND LISTEN TO RINH Hello Sil'tel, just as part of the preamble, remember that you have http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page and http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Wiki_Templates at your disposal. As a note, the classification modifiers are part of the tag system in the following lines of code. You can see an example of it in the templates and in most character wikis. this "info box" is what (like I touched on above) provides the information for the Wiki itself to query and sort by (such as race/clan/citizenship etc.) hope that helps! remember, it might take a moment for the update script to run and for things to be sorted correctly. (Though i'm not the wiki master, for specifics I would suggest speaking with Deirdre, whos' contact is listed on the wiki home page.)