Grott

I think the difference is that IC racism against most races is usually based on some type of personality stereotype that the race has. For instance, Elezen being snooty, or Miqo'te being promiscuous. If someone RP'd a racist character who disliked Dunesfolk for being thrifty and cheap, or Plainsfolk for being simpleton farmers, I'd be fine with that. It's the short and cute jokes that have really turned me off to the race itself. In addition to that, more lalafell players seem to enjoy perpetuating this stereotype than not, which is a real let-down as I think playing the little badass underdog archetype is a lot of fun. Also, I did see Ship's argument for lalafell's super-human strength and I totally believe him, but lalas still at least appear to be the physical underdogs.

That's a damn shame. I guess the most you can do is kind of bite the bullet and give it your best shot. One of the reasons I wanted to make a serious lalafell was because as someone who is short IRL I hate the short-cute-physically-inept stereotypes that run rampant in games like this, and I wanted to take a shot at breaking the mold. Of course, you seem to be already working on that, Ship, but the more the merrier IMO. Another reason is because I like the idea of the world seeming bigger and more dangerous. Sure, lalafell are just as skilled at combat as anyone else, but even the most serious and hardcore lalafell still has a shorter reach and a frailer body than everyone else. In GW2 I played an Asura and he was pretty badass, but when the giant world event happened (around halloween-ish time) I still felt like a normal guy because of my height. It gave me the sense of "My ass-kicking to poor genetics ratio is off the charts, but in the end I am still just this little dude and it's going to take all of us to save the world." ^ That was a bit of rambling but I hope it made sense. Long story short, the little characters who have a lot of heart and take themselves seriously can be very complex and a lot of fun to RP. I just wish there weren't ridiculous player-made stereotypes following them around.

Well, it's erupting now. Maybe I'm insensitive but I just didn't interpret any attacks in any of these posts until recently. Every time I stated anything I made sure everyone knew that it was merely my opinion and that people were encouraged to disagree if they so chose. Others in this thread took the same approach. To add on to what Beatric said, which I believe was in reference to the "race change" thread, I find it completely ridiculous and almost unbearable that there are so many people who don't know how to avoid turning a difference of opinion into a fight. We're all adults here (probably?) and we should be able to disagree without it getting personal. There are people on this forum that I disagree with quite frequently, but I still respect their opinions and let them know that there are no hard feelings. It's not hard to be a decent human being while still sharing your opinion. EDIT: It's my 200th post... yayyyyy!

I still don't see why this thread got onto the subject of Ryanti's feelings. It should be pretty obvious to everyone that the world of Hydaelyn supports both pretty and rugged character choices and everyone has their own play style. It's baffling to me that this became a debate, and that it morphed from that into a large-scale discussion dissecting the psychology of Ryanti and his motives for posting what he did. He spoke his mind. Whatever. Who cares? We've all got opinions.

I already have "Shut your godsdamned mouth." prepared for the most dire situations.

People do that? I was mentally prepared for things like: "Hey, short stuff." "We shouldn't bring ___ with us, he probably would be too short to hit the enemy." and "Oh my gods, a lalafell in armor! Can you please dance for us?" But the example you just gave would really piss me off. I realize that it's kind of the risk you take when choosing lalafell, but it still bothers me. No RPer should just assume they can man-handle anyone's character. Just because someone is playing a smaller character doesn't mean the rules change. Hopefully with my lala alt I'll be RPing with players who have manners, or at very least the logical sense to know that a lalafell in full plate armor with a large shield isn't going to be thrown around like a pillow. I only have a few flimsy ideas for my character, but I already know he'd be pissed IC if that happened to him.

I'm starving.

Hahahaha as much as I really do love Kung Fu (don't even get me started on it. Omfg, kung fu movies are sweet.) I was thinking more like a battle-hardened Toon Link from Wind Waker. Sword, shield, maybe some sweet gadgets (that would be played out as paladin magic) since lala are really smart and he has to find a way to close in on his enemy. Except instead of being a child, he'd have sideburns and full plate armor. His personality would be the one mentioned earlier as "the complete opposite of Ship". Thinking Plainsfolk with tan skin, dirty blonde hair, blue or green eyes, and huge ass ears. I would RP him as Dunesfolk though probably (I just really want those sideburns).

I think I speak for everyone when I say no one is trying to make him feel bad about playing a pretty character. I couldn't care less about how he envisions his character, and I don't expect he cares how I envision mine. I do think he got unnecessarily defensive, but maybe the rest of us seemed like we were insulting his choice. Whatever the reason, it was unintentional so let's just leave it at that.

That's a good point. I'm on the shorter side of the scale IRL so I enjoy playing and seeing short characters that have a badass aspect to them. (I'm a big fan of Marvel's Wolverine and the Dwarves of Middle Earth.) Lala are a little harder to make rough and badass and I was disappointed to find there were no scar options for them in the character creator. Both Ship and Rho brought up good points about differing stereotypes for no-nonsense lalafell that I, as a huge dwarf fan, didn't even consider. I'm seriously considering making a lala alt now because of it, but it's going to take a lot of thought to separate from the dwarf mentality that I've had in MMOs for almost a decade. Also I could see the lalafell meta-game stereotypes bothering me as well. I dislike the fact that many lala are seen as one-dimensional short or cute jokes, when a lot of lala players put in a shit load of work to make their character deep and memorable.

And that's a perfectly fine way to view it. There's a lot of room for interpretation in this game's lore and it makes for very interesting and unique player characters. I will never attack anyone for playing a pretty character, and I hope no one will ever attack me for playing a rougher-looking character. Both are completely viable and make perfect sense in FFXIV. Personally, I just enjoy consequences more than many others do.

Not trying to start an argument or belittle your opinion here but.... ...You do know that the world was almost completely destroyed by a giant dragon monster who came out of a moon that crashed into the ground right? I can't say a world rebuilding itself after an apocalyptic cataclysm strikes me as something that would be "pretty." Sure, the scenery is nice, but that's just because nature is cool looking. I knew a guy who paid $40,000 to climb Everest last year. Said it was amazingly beautiful, but he also talked about becoming sort of desensitized because there were a lot of dead guys who just collapsed on the mountain from altitude sickness and couldn't get back down in time. Just because something looks pretty doesn't mean it's not fatally harsh at every turn. Not everyone has to play a gritty character, of course. I would never suggest that everyone needs to be dirty and gross. But on the same hand, Hydaelyn is a very viable outlet for that kind of character.

Don't worry. It's being seen as one anyway. Everyone is so defensive and for some reason they think any difference of opinion is an assault on their kingdom. It's a lot of "WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO RUIN MY ROMANTICIZED WORLD?!" when no one is. Those of us who prefer a world with consequences are apparently the bad guys for playing a game the way we want, even when we don't impede on anyone else's style of play. The irony that people like us are "trying to ruin someone's idea of their world", despite them doing the same thing to us by complaining about how we RP a more gritty reality is pretty ridiculous to me. It's a lot of hyper-sensitivity and belly-aching if you ask me. Uther Skystrider keeps it real, and he always will.

It's definitely right to presume that it's up to the individual on how dirty and gritty they want their character to look. Some of us just prefer a sense of realism in our fantasy. Despite playing half a dozen Final Fantasies, I've never been a fan of anime or the stylized Japanese look. I've always been more of a Western Fantasy type of person, and in much of the stories I read, play, or watch, there's a sense of "Yes, this is fantasy, but we're not making excuses for our world. People still get dirty and beaten." which I admire. No one has to be gritty and realistically filthy if they don't want to be, but I choose to bring that feel to my character.

Uther is definitely going to age as the years go on. I really enjoy seeing characters' appearance change over time. I played WoW for eight years, and at the time I wasn't a roleplayer, but my friends and I had enough respect for story and realism that we each had our own back stories and we aged our characters appropriately. It was really cool to see my troll friend, who started the game on day 1 of Vanilla with a full head of wild green hair, retire right before MoP with male pattern baldness and gray hair. I couldn't age my horde character, who was a walking corpse, but I did age my dwarf from mid-length bright red beard (Vanilla - WotLK), to long dark red beard (Cata), to gray beard. (MoP)

1. I totally forgot about mentioning other characters. I had an undead warrior in WoW and he was as realistic as I could make him for a dead guy. In life he was a foot soldier in the Lordaeron army. He retired to become a farmer and fell to the plague. When he came back he was, initially, completely fucking horrified at what he had become, and then jealous and vengeful against the human race. Then, after spending time deployed with orcs, he became an extremely skilled warrior and picked up an insane savagery and brutality to temper his vengeance with. All-in-all, his predicament had driven him into being a total psychopath. Which I think makes sense for a man who wakes up as a sentient corpse. He looked like shit, he smelled like shit, and his armor was haggard and unfitting. I also had a dwarf rogue, but the undead warrior was the more interesting of the two. 2. Don't worry about rambling about your characters. I just did it twice.

I haven't read any posts on this thread yet except this one, but I'll get back to you all once I do if I have anything to add. I have to agree completely. I'm all about being realistic and dirty with my character. I even go so far as to make my character seem like he's fallen from grace and had a rough few years. Uther Skystrider comes from a knightly background. He was trained in the ways of combat and court from an early age, but he's mostly dropped the latter and become a dirty, wandering, brawler with a spear. I even wrote a description of his appearance to practice my writing before I jump into fan fiction. I looked at this picture for reference. exactly[/i] what type of world he lives in, and while he tries to be as valiant and chivalrous as he can, it's not always an option. Sometimes you have to take the messier road.

Ishgard is a little sketchy to make a story out of, but honestly if you don't get way too into the woods with it, it can still work. I've managed to make a fine Ishgard back story for my character without lore-breaking. To avoid any post-calamity complications, I just had my character leave before it happened. If you base it around things you know and avoid things you don't, it will still work out for the most part. I know I'm not alone in this. While I only know of maybe one or two other Ishgard characters, I know there are at least a handful of Ala Mhigo refugees out there. Long story short, Ishgard is a viable RP option, just tread lightly and watch your step so you don't unintentionally lore-break. That was a bit off-topic, but I always feel the need to speak up whenever Ishgard is mentioned.

What Xen said. You pick a Grand Company at 20, so that kind of becomes your allegiance. Nothing is stopping you from being a Marauder, starting in Limsa, then choosing Gridania as your GC and pretending the whole thing never happened. Trust me, I won't chase you down and yell that you leveled Marauder in Limsa. Sometimes the game mechanics don't support RP and vice versa. It's just something we have to work around. I'm in a similar situation. Uther is from Ishgard, he left on the eve of Bahamut's attack in hopes of helping the Grand Companies. He later became an instructor at the Lancer's Guild (which works because as a lancer, I start in Gridania), but I really want him to choose Limsa as his GC once his adventure starts rolling and he has to leave Gridania. There's no IC reason for it yet, but I love Limsa and I want Uther to reside there.

The problem with making a badass Lala is that it's hard to do without looking like your copying Ship. He's pretty much got a monopoly on it because everyone knows that he is the badass Lala. Even if you never met the guy and had the idea on your own, it'd still make people think of Ship when they saw it. It's unfortunately just one of those ideas that there seems to be only room for one of. Plus, to Ship's credit, it's hard to not become a parody of yourself when making a badass Lala. I considered doing it myself, just because in all my other MMOs I've played dwarves. Felt I was accidentally making a carbon copy of Ship no matter what I did, so I canned the idea. It was for the best though, since this Hyur is one of my favorite characters I've come up with in any game. That was off-topic. My bad.

For a nature-loving Lalafell, I would go Plainsfolk. But there's nothing saying you can't go Dunesfolk. No one would attack you for lore-breaking because of it. Plainsfolk are generally the agricultural little dudes, while Dunesfolk are more urbanized and indoorsy people. Still though, nothing is wrong with a nature-loving Dunesfolk. In the end it's all just stereotypes. The only reason I always pick Plainsfolk over Dunesfolk is because they get the option of sideburns. I mean, hell, look at Ship. He's atypical of every Lalafell I've ever seen, and his character is awesome.

From what we know of Ishgard, they appear to have a system of nobles. Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong but their crest is representative of the four largest families. They also, to me, seem very medieval. They fight dragons, they have knights (Dragoons), and they value strict religious practices much like Medieval Europe. I'm sure most people probably know this, but "knights" historically were wealthy noble land-owners who were trained in combat and had the most expensive armor and weapons. By that logic, it seems only natural that knights of Ishgard work the same way. Uther is the youngest in a long line of Ishgard-born Dragoons and, as such, I RP him as someone who comes from wealth and was brought up with a formal education. Just some food for thought.

Well if that's not the coolest shit I've read all day... Really though, looking dirty and mean is so underrated these days. My last touch-up to Uther was adding in the blush from the face paint option and coloring it gray to make his face look dirty. Haven't decided if I want to keep it yet.

Nice.