Havoc Snow

This was actually exactly what I had in mind for recruit, which was why I wanted to create a LS and FC that were linked, but separate entities. You'd first join the LS as a staffer basically, for whatever business we decide on, and after working there for so long you'd be black bagged or something, taken out into the desert, and then interrogated. If you passed the test, you'd be invited into the order. I hadn't actually considered a tavern though, so that's a definite possibility, especially after they introduce FC housing we could always try to set it up as some kind of tavern and leave it open to the public. One of the key things is anonymity, so I had also intended to utilize some kind of guild specific garments, even if it was something as simple as like a hempen cowl and your racial gear (something that can be worn by ever class and is easy to obtain even at early levels). One of the other ideas I had too was colorizing ranks, for example even though everyone is shrouded with masks or hoods you can tell rank by someone having a blue robe, or a red robe, etc. Initiates would have an undyed robe, while an officer might have a red or black robe, something like that. One of the reasons behind a hempen cowl (beyond how easy it was to get) was that I felt it would humble people. You might be a level 50 Paladin who runs around in shiny white and gold armor outside of the order, but when you are with your brothers and sisters everyone is equal. P.S. I actually like the idea of having different names with matching abbreviations, that's kind of cool though it might be difficult to do that with BoN.

So I have a group put together already, however the ideas that I have are still fluid and I'm continuing to work on them until launch when I'll be finalizing what I have. So far the idea is that I'll have both a LS and a FC that will be linked to one another IC, the story behind it is that they are supposed to be a secret society of "black knights" (not to be confused with Dark Knights) who serve the same purpose as a typical order of knights, to protect and serve the realm, but do so by sacrificing honor and renown for steely dedication to do absolutely anything to protect Eorzea. That means even if they would need to sacrifice the lives of a small town to save thousands of lives elsewhere, they would do so without hesitation. They make hard choices others cannot, and they do so in secret or behind anonymity. The society itself is a well guarded secret that has existed since the Sixth Umbral Era, somewhat based on real world secret societies like the Knights Templar or the Free Masons/Illuminati, and like the Free Masons I wanted to give them a very public front that had to do with some form of crafting/gathering. So effectively there'd be a small office or shop that would be the public face of the organization, a place where members can come to receive orders anonymously, or where people who are in the know could contact the order if they needed them for something. Now down to the point where I need some input, I've decided that the best way to accurately portray this would be to have two different bodies, a Free Compan which would serve as the secret order part named the Blades of Nald'thal, and then a Linkshell which would then be the public face of the group. The logic behind the idea was that while you could only join one Free Company (and thus requiring you to be a full fledged member of the order to join ours) you can join up to 8 Linkshells, which meant that the Linkshell could contain outsiders, such as freelancer contractors, contacts, fences, or regular clients. So from here I have three questions that I'm seeking some advice/input on. Firstly, what would be a good company to use as a front for an organization like this. I had considered perhaps going with a sort of freelance Carpenters Guild, (aka the Free Carpenters, instead of Free Masons) however this would require everyone to be carpenters in it and that's just not feasible. The other idea I had was that it be some kind of just freelance craftsman guild in general, for any kind of worker whether they be a miner, a weaver, or an armorsmith. Another idea I had as well was that they work sort of like a bank or money lender, and while that might be interesting and definitely something EVERYONE would deal with in a normal fantasy setting, I realize that the retainers effectively serve as banks (both in the sense of keeping your money and your items). So I'm looking for input on what would be a cool idea for a front company that isn't being used a lot already (especially by other LSs). The next thing I'm kinda looking for help for is a name. While I already have a name for the FC I don't think it would be a good idea if the LS shares the same name. If you heard some shady rumors of a secret society that lurked about Ul'dah, and then there also just so happened to be a shop in the market ward that shared a name with the rumored secret society it might be a bit too obvious. So I was trying to think of a cool name that would work well for the group, or whether people think I should even bother with a separate name. Lastly, I wanted an opinion on how viable people thought this idea even was in an RP sense. The idea is that the LS and the FC will somewhat support each other. The LS will contain most of the groups crafters and gathers, while the FC will contain the groups combat characters. Now this isn't at all to say that the two are mutually exclusive, just that when I plan events for say the LS I'd be more focused on "shop" type roleplay and things like that, while the Free Company would be more focused on dealing with threats, taking out an NM, or protecting a hamlet. If a person wants to play a DoH or DoL primarily they'd still be welcome in the FC, just the same as someone who wants to play a DoW or DoM can still freely join the LS. Anyways, this is getting way longer than I meant for it to be. I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts on the ideas, and whether you guys think it's a good idea or perhaps a bit too ambitious.

Even if it's an OBT you'll still need a key (though I imagine if you've been in the previous phases you're already registered for phase 4) because you still need to register the service account (which requires a key). All it being an OBT means is that anyone can go in and sign up to get a key instead of waiting to be picked.

In respect to FFXIV Magic comes from an energy source known as Aether, which is produced by the planet itself. I may be mistaken, but there are several methods that casters use to channel Aether. For Conjurers they draw it from nature and the elements, acting sort of like Druids in the setting; while Thaumaturges draw their Aether from an internal reserve which makes it destructive and chaotic (which explains the fluctuating auras they have). One can only assume that the source of the Arcanists power is something similar to this, or perhaps a combination of both, or perhaps they draw power from symbols and words which explains the use of a book as their weapon. If you're familiar with the lore for Final Fantasy VII, think of Aether in the same way as Mako. It's a form of energy that permeates from the planet, in large quantities it can be poisonous and even mutagenic, and under certain circumstances it can crystallize into Aetheryte.

I started playing Phantasy Star Online 2 again after the end of Phase 3, and plan to keep busy with that until Phase 4 and Launch.

-7/26: Updated the main tab info with a bit more detail, added the "Origins" tab to explain the background of the organization, and changed our theme to be a bit more accurate. Also added a few more FAQ type Q&A bits to the Introduction tab.

As someone who has a LS and FC based around Nald'thal I can say with complete honesty... this pleases me.

I personally see the idea of claiming territory as a very bad idea. As mentioned before, there's no method to enforce ownership, if your group claims they own some random tavern in Ul'dah for example, nothing stops my group from coming in when no one is around and just setting up shop, or even just totally ignoring your existence and claiming it anyways. You also have the issue of larger guilds trying to coerce smaller ones, and later on down the road new rp groups will feel discouraged from trying to join the community because everything is already taken. From where I stand there are only cons, no pros, to this method because it will only lead to drama at some point down the road. Nothing stops a person from holding events in a particular establishment or what have you, but I say leave the land claiming to your plot where you plan to build a house.

Phase 4 is supposed to have the Coliseum available, so we'll have the opportunity to test it then. They wouldn't be able to allow us to test it in Phase 3 because it's not in the current build, they'd have to release an entirely new client just for a single weekend of testing. I believe the PVP Coliseum was delayed til launch/patch.. Shippuu can correct me if I'm wrong. According to one of the recent interviews I read it's still slated to start in Phase 4, it's the Frontline or whatever it was called PvP that won't be introduced until post launch.

Get a Nathan Fillion vibe. I haven't really taken any new pictures in a while and I don't know anyone yet so I may wait a little bit to post mine.. I was thinking the love child of Nathan Fillion and John Barrowman.

If we do ever see an official RP designation on a server I doubt it'll be anytime soon, adding a tag to a server doesn't really change a lot, so it's likely at the bottom of their things to do list.

I don't know that, sorry. I'd imagine they get their own distribution because of how the branching jobs will work in the future, but that's just me making a guess. That's exactly what I was hoping for, mainly because I assume Scholar won't benefit very much from Intelligence, and Summoner won't benefit from Mind so if you were forced to spec one way or the other to be the best at your role you'd be lacking in the other and make it almost useless to level the second Job.

Not every new player wants to start on a fresh start server, as mentioned above there are pros and cons to either side of the argument and no side is really right or wrong. In either case it doesn't really matter because a month or two after launch there won't be any difference between Legacy and Non-Legacy servers, both will have a stabilized economy, both will have their fair share of players who are at endgame. Six months after launch Yoshida has said there will be no such thing as Legacy servers because they'll be opening all servers for server transfer regardless of whether you are a 1.0 character or not.

What about regarding attribute points, do Jobs have their own attribute points or do they use the distribution from your Class?

So this is kind of a newb question, but it's been something I've been curious about for a while. I didn't really play far enough into 1.0 to unlock any Jobs, so I never got to experience that aspect of gameplay, but I was wondering if Class and Job levels were independent, or linked? I know that you just equip an item to transform into said job but I've also seen mention of leveling jobs and what not. If I'm, for example, a level 50 Thaumaturge, and I equip to Black Mage soul stone am I also a level 50 Black Mage? The reason this came to mind was actually because of Arcanist, Scholar, and Summoner. If we assume that Arcanist can become either Job, and not one or the other, and we assume that Scholar relies on Mind while Summoner relies on Intelligence, does that mean that you need to spec your attribute points a particular way based on which Job you really intend to play, thus sort of limiting your ability to play the other? That's assuming that the Jobs are linked to your Class level and use the same Attribute points, as I said I don't know which is the point of this thread! In short, can someone please explain how Jobs work as far as levelin and attributes go?

Well to me knowledge the only person canonically to leave the Empire was Cid, but he wasn't Military he was R&D effectively. I'm not saying you couldn't do it, just that it was my impression that they used crazy brainwashing techniques to keep all their troops loyal and in line. Maybe your character suffered some kind of head trauma, or has amnesia? That kind of thing would work to rid him of the indoctrination.

My Seeker was raised by a Midlander, so... no, not really, though I suppose I follow the naming convention for Hyur?

Ashren the "Albino," sadly Keepers of the Sun don't get anymore pale than this.

The universes have really never been separate, we just haven't had a crossover as blatant as this before. Gilgamesh is stated as always being the same Gilgamesh in ever game he appears in, and counting all the remakes I believe Gilgamesh at this point has appeared in every single numbered title, and even some unnumbered titles. Dissidia also shows that all the universes are connected, and yes I understand the characters (with the exception of Gilgamesh again) are not the real characters, but that the game takes place in a plane that connects all the universes if it can pull the essence of characters from their universe. If they were separate, this wouldn't be possible.

Good point, if nothing else I can say the little cross on the mask was actually a lense or something.

I do yeah, but one of the things I noticed that I'll have to figure a way around was that the only eye I can put a scar over (which was why I picked it for his partially blind one) is the same eye that is uncovered by the Black Mage AF helm. One idea I had was perhaps saying that he embeds a crystal shard into the eye which could allow him to see Aetherial flows through it, but I'm afraid that might be a bit much.

This isn't exactly input, more of a question relating this type of character, but I thought that all Garlean troops went through some type of indoctrination (like we see them doing to Eorzean captives in 1.0) that made them unquestioningly loyal to the Empire?

So I've been working around with ideas for my character since February now, and while I haven't managed to get it all down in one coherent form that could actually be read, I think I have a solid grasp of what I want to do and where I want to go with it. Before I do actually sit down and try to flesh out all the details into a story I want to post here and get some help/input from the community to see what everyone thinks, and make sure I'm not breaking lore. So without delay, here is the nitty gritty of it: To start out with my character is intended to be a Seeker of the Sun, he was born without a name and was abandoned by his tribe because he was born with a physical deformity, albinism. He has pale white skin, pure white hair, and light pinkish eyes. In early times albinos were believed to also be infertile, so for a male to be born with a physical condition that not only made him useless on a societal level for reproduction (or at least believed so) he also had to shun the Sun because of its harsh effects on his body. Because of this his tribe believed his birth was an ill omen and he was abandoned on the steps of Ul'dah just outside the city. His cries were heard by a merchant who was traveling into the city, and unable to leave an infant in the sweltering the merchant rescued the small child but had no means to care for him, the infant was left in the hands of a Priest at the Temple of Thal. The Priest hesitantly accepted the task of raising the child, giving him the name Ashren. He was raised at the temple and trained in the many rituals and burial rites that the clergy performed, it was here that he was first exposed to the potent affects of Aether, often sneaking away to watch the Thaumaturges train in the temple and awed by their shows of wielding ice and fire like a Gladiator wielded sword and shield. We skip ahead several years and at this point Ashren has become a full fledged Thaumaturge himself, his latent aetherial prowess awakening early on and he eventually becomes an adventurer to answer the call to arms and help the Eorzean Alliance fight back against the Garlean Empire. Eventually he finds himself at the Battle of Carteneau, fighting tooth and nail against the Empire alongside his best friend, a Gladiator he grew up who gave him the name Snow because of his pale white appearance. In an attempt to defend Ashren, his friend (who will be named later) leaps in front of a bolt from some Magitek Armor, the blast destroys his shield and sends him flying backwards while a chunk of debris from the shield hits Ashren in the face causing him to lose most of his vision in his right eye. Ashren collapses just as Bahamut appears, though before he can fall into unconsciousness the last thing he sees is a blinding light as Louisoix' spell takes effect and jaunts him five years into the future. That's pretty much the synopsis of my idea, once I'm certain it'll pass and get some input I'll work on actually writing it all out along with how he started the Blades of Nald'thal. Anyways, thoughts?

I could honestly see any of the small towns/hamlets being used regularly for RP given there are so many interiors and every place tends to have some great scenery. Vesper Bay will probably see some regular use in particular given its relation to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn (and being a seaside town), like you said Costa del Sol will definitely be a hotspot since it's designed like a vacation resort complete with bar and everything. That little area just west of Quarrymill in South Shroud that just has the tavern in it seems like a prime spot for mercenaries to gather. Like Trickery mentioned, the Adventurer's Guilds will probably see the most traffic because they're the traditional tavern/inn style establishment that many adventurers like to gather in.