Grott

This took me days to think about. Uther Skystrider is cunning, agile, and makes a living fighting flying monsters. Felt this was appropriate...

LOL, yeaaaah. There are no action bars in XI, but lots and lots of macros that you have to make yourself, otherwise you'd have to manually select each ability and item that you wanted to use at the time... I think the default for movement was something like... the fucking arrow keys and then the number pad? Something really messed up like that. You can change the settings around a bit, if I remember correctly. But, the game is really old and has a weird interface. I'd suggest looking up some guides online to help you transition a little better. Ahhh good times with the FFXI controls. Every time I pick that game back up after quitting for a few months/years I have to sit down and stare at it for about ten minutes and figure out what the hell is going on.

That mute-with-a-twin idea sounds really cool. I'm sorry to hear that you won't be spending too much time on the game. I can't wait to interact with your character. Either way, welcome aboard. Glad to have you here. :thumbsup:

And we both have Dragoon character concepts. Hello, internet doppleganger. I just really like to read. All kinds of books. I will admit I read more cyberpunk and historical fantasy than anything else, but I really take time to read the classics, and Moby Dick is absolutely one of my favorites. I especially like stories about the sea. Moby Dick, Treasure Island, Horatio Hornblower, etc. I grew up on and around the water, and always dreamed about sailing. Also, Megadeth is awesome. I saw them only once, back in 2004 with Exodus. That was an amazing show. "High Speed Dirt", in addition to being the unofficial song of the US Airborne, is the perfect fight song for Dragoons in my opinion. I just recently got out of a Jules Verne phase. I'm really getting into historical fantasy as well. I've been reading The Once and Future King and I love it. But really I've read pretty much every famous classic from Le Morte d'Arthur to The Call of Cthulhu. I read a lot. I saw Megadeth in 2007 during the United Abominations tour and again in 2009 during the Endgame tour. Went into the pit both times. Almost died both times. Being 5'3 at a metal concert is a challenge. As for Dragoon, I love the classical feel of the class. Something about the phrase "Dragon Knight" just feels so classically medieval. I was a huge fan of Kain Highwind in FFIV and I played Dragoon in FFXI, so I have some attachment to the job.

I don't know who you are but you've brought up Moby Dick, Treasure Island, and Shakespeare since you've created this thread. As a huge fan and collector of classic literature, I have to say I'm excited to see what you come up with for your character. Also, just noticed your signature. I've also seen Megadeth in concert twice.

This is the best thing I've ever heard. No one has drawn Uther yet and it's all I want in life.

I'm happy that pup is so adorable. I'm happy that I'm halfway done working night shifts this week. I'm happy that I finally have a FFXIV character that I really enjoy working on and coming up with new stories about. I'm happy that I found this community, since with most games, once my friends quit after the first month or so I get bored and lonely and quit too and I really like this one. I'm happy that I found the art style that will best capture the feel of Uther Skystrider's "draw my life" (I'm unhappy that I have no artistic talent so it'll be a while). I'm happy that the book I can't seem to find anywhere came in the mail today. (The Once and Future King by T.H. White) And I'm happy that this thread was made, because lately I've been feeling unhappy.

Dude, this is awesome. Side note: I'm still impressed that you managed to make a badass Lalafell that actually works. Most people's attempts turn into some cutesy "I'm big and strong" failure of a character. Forever jealous.

Yeah, really. What just happened? lol

That's fair. There's certainly nothing wrong with keeping your character open to different styles of combat, especially if he's young. I'm just saying it angers me when someone RPs that they're the best at every job ever. On a side note, I'm all about aging characters. Even in games I don't RP in, I've done it. In WoW I played the same character from day 1 of vanilla to MoP launch, never RP'd, but I still used the barbershop function to gray his beard and recede his hairline, since I had been playing him for something close to 8 years. I really hope there's a function like this in ARR. Of course my character is only 25 at launch so I don't think the game will be running long enough to need to gray his hair, but giving me the option of having him grow a beard or cut his hair in favor of a more mature look would be outstanding. That was off-topic. My bad. :blush:

Damn. It sounds like I missed a great experience. I find myself wondering how Uther Skystrider would've reacted to that. I brought it up in his wiki very lightly, but without actually experiencing it, I can't really attach much emotion to it for him. What a shame. Hopefully us new guys will get to make up for it with some great stuff come ARR launch.

Well, they could do one of two things to fix this problem in my opinion. 1. Create a new RP server that allows for both new and legacy players, and offer free server transfers to legacy players at launch. 2. Label Balmung as an official RP server and, once again, offer free server transfers to legacy players at launch. That way, those who want to RP can have their own server and those who don't want to RP can leave. It might break up a few of the more casual linkshells with members who haven't stayed in contact since 1.0 went down, but it's the cleanest way to solve the problem.

I didn't mean you should literally be RPing that you're learning dragoon or monk or black mage for years. I meant the game's lore kind of implies that it takes years to master each job's art. My point is if you envision your character as something, they should at least have some loyalty to the job. I'll use Uther as an example. Uther was born in Ishgard and is a third generation Dragoon. This explains why he's great at it the second I unlock the job. I'll dabble in other classes and jobs of course, but say I wanted to play Paladin as my main job and not play Dragoon anymore. The Dragoon job is so ingrained in Uther's character that I would have to create a story arc as to why he's becoming a Paladin, and I wouldn't RP him as a master of the trade for at least a few weeks or months. (Not years, because frankly who has time for that? It's a game.) This doesn't mean I'd play the job poorly on purpose or I would level it slowly. I just wouldn't RP that I'm a boss as a Paladin after one day of running around killing squirrels. Sorry for the confusion.

Dragoon is everything I hoped it would be and more. That's all I have to say about that video.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Can not stress this enough. I had a great time RPing a dwarf in an all-dwarf guild. We'd hang out in the residential areas and have giant banquets in our guild hall. While we weren't out troll-hunting, we would sit in the Prancing Pony smoking pipe-weed, drinking ale, and weaving stories about great dwarf heroes from other times in Middle Earth's history. It really got me into Tolkien's universe. I've even been trying to come up with ways to bring that vibe to my character(s) in FFXIV. I loved it.

Disinherited Knight

So glad someone caught this. :thumbsup: Also, what Momo said makes a lot of sense to me. The jobs and classes you have in the game are supposed to be learned over the course of years in a RP sense. For instance, and I don't mean to plug my own character as some sort of perfect example but, Uther is a dragoon. Even when I'm inevitably going to have to level Lancer, he's still a dragoon in my mind. He's been training to be a dragoon since he was five years old. So the idea of someone switching jobs on the fly back-and-forth in a fight from one extreme to the next is kind of a foreign concept to me and it doesn't hold much ground from a realistic RP sense. I would go as far as to say it's insulting to the lore, but that might be a bit extreme. Seriously though, the only other jobs I can see Uther as are Paladin and maybe one day Archer. And the Paladin shift I have in mind will be RP'd over the course of months. I just don't get why this is an issue. I strongly believe in RPing a character who is a master of his or her art, and has put in the dedication and discipline to truly earn that title. With that comes very few opportunities to switch from warrior to black mage mid-combat. I realize OOC complications may arise in combat, but if you're a competent player even that shouldn't be too much of a problem. This is just me though, and everyone is different.

That's fair. I'm going to RP that my character has nothing with him but what he brought, so pulling an axe out of nowhere isn't going to happen. The fact that you'd be changing weapons so frequently in combat is confusing to me. Unless you're fighting Jackie Chan in an armory, there's really no point as far as RP is concerned. My character will probably only ever use 3 weapon sets just by virtue of his personality and skill set. He'll only be Archer, Lancer/Dragoon, and Gladiator/Paladin, and never at the same time. When I pick a class or job, my character will only carry that gear. No one who travels as much as the adventurers in this game would be able to walk around with a bow, a quiver, a lance, a shield, a sword, and heavy armor. (except maybe Roegadyns) If Uther is called upon to battle or explore, he'll think about the situation at hand and grab his gear accordingly. Of course, problems arise and maybe it wasn't the best choice, but he's not Batman, and he's not coming up with contingency plans for every enemy. So, in short, I'll be only carrying gear for one class at a time, as it makes the most sense in a role-playing scenario.

I've been thinking about this as well, but for different reasons. Say I'm in a tavern, and someone invites me to go adventuring with them for whatever reason. I wouldn't already be wearing armor and weapons in anticipation of this happening. My solution is running into a backroom (if it's on your ship, it'd be your cabin. if it was in an inn, it'd be a rented room or something), changing jobs or putting on armor, and returning. Other people will do different things, but I like to think no one can just transform outfits. If someone comes up with a good magical explanation I'd be open to it. As for my character though, who knows nothing about magic, I'll be changing in separate rooms.

Very impressive.

I'm not sure I really understand what you mean by talking about abilities IC. I can see how it'd work for like "Burn him down" and using a fire spell, or "Slow him!" and casting Slow, but I can't ever see my dragoon saying "I'm going to use my Jump attack!" IC without everyone, including myself, laughing our asses off behind the keyboard. This isn't Pokemon. As for IC raid bosses, Eva brings up a very good point about needing some OOC to communicate and thus not completely wipe. I feel like most of the fight could be done IC though. I think if, before the fight, someone decided to throw out "((this guy does an AOE at 50%. Tank, I need you to work on your placement so we're out of his cone of attack.))" that'd suffice. I don't see why you couldn't say things like "I'm going to need some back up." IC if you need your off-tank to take some threat off you. Everyone can see your health, it shouldn't be too cryptic. At the same time though, heavy RPers should realize it is a boss fight and you might have to deal with "((got aggro))" or "((no MP))" instead of a long drawn out speech about how your power is waning and you lack the strength to continue casting spells or whatever. (Idk what the usual excuses are. I don't RP mages.) In the end, it's all about what's more important to the group: downing the boss, or making a good story... Though I can't really see how "we all got our asses handed to us by that boss" is a good story. Sorry, this has gotten terribly off-topic. I don't mean to spam your "What exactly is a linkshell?" thread with "THIS IS HOW YOU CAN RP IN A BOSS FIGHT!"

Fair enough. Thanks for the info.

Granted no one has all the answers yet and I understand that. But does anyone know just from other MMO experiences or from 1.0 what the likelihood of End-game RP is? I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to add into the RP experience, though in the games I've RP'd in, I've rarely seen it. As for the "base of operations" I think it's a great idea, though I can see a few Linkshells not needing one. While others, I can't see working without one. Maybe for 2.0 RP shouldn't shy away from the Free Company idea and instead strengthen the communication between RPers as a whole to make up for not being able to hop shell-to-shell? I realize I'm not a Linkshell leader, nor in any of the meetings, but I have noticed a big stress on communication, and community in general, recently. Just some thoughts.

I actually was wondering about this and I'm glad you reminded me. Do you know what the general consensus is on former Linkshells becoming Free Companies? I feel like being in a Free Company kind of helps solidify the idea that you're in a group of like-minded RPers working toward a mutual goal, (especially for former shells that see themselves as a company, militia or establishment) but my concern is that there are quite a few Linkshells out there that look interesting, and depending on the character, someone could easily fit into multiple shells. Do you know if Linkshell leaders plan on getting more serious and becoming Free Companies, or if, in an effort to convenience the community, are staying as shells so that members can join multiple groups?

Well that's.... Educational....