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So for a while now I have been doing a sort of Final Fantasy marathon to get ready for FFXIV. I just played through VI and watched the ending tonight. During one part it shows a table with a book. After that it starts to cycle through different items then says the character's name that is linked to the item. (I guessed most of them before it was said. I missed Shadow's. It was an apple. But when his name came up shuriken flew into it so... yeah) I thought it was interesting that we could figure out what character they were talking about from a single item laying on a table. So I started thinking... if my Final Fantasy character had an item laying on a table, what would it be? I decided that Garryson's item would be the beads he always wears around his wrist. I am not going to say the meaning of the beads because that is a huge spoiler in my character's story. But if someone heard his story or played a game with him as the protagonist, they would instantly recognize the item. So I'm curious as to what other characters items would be? If your character had a game of them, and in the ending sequence there was piano music playing and a single item on a table, what would it be?

8/12/2013 Update: Added our new website link to the page.

Haha so awesome. Just a quick note to all who's expressed interested on this thread, our website is officially alive! Click here to check it out. It is going to be a bit bare bones for a while, but it'll slowly have more and more. It is open application so feel free to join the site and use the forums.

When Beta opens up come RP with us. Even if you don't end up joining, we'd love to get to know your character. Ooo I like this. And I'll admit I have been keeping an eye on people's classes as they come in. I'm hoping we can form a full team for dungeons and everything. It looks like we might be in business!

Hahahaha! Literally one of the first questions my character was gonna ask Mysterium was if they can make bombs. Garryson has a fascination with bombs and fireworks. XI:7 will make it rain with gil for bombs of all varieties.

It sounds like you'd be a good fit for the job. This particular spot will be working closely with both me and Taryn who is head of our CRISIS division. Details after that will be up to you. I'll basically give you freedom to create your own sub-group with any titles or anything else up to your choosing. (Though I will say the title "Commander" is taken. Anything else is free game. ) @Pastry Army, Like I mentioned, any titles/names are your choosing. So don't think you'll be stuck with "Labor King." I'd love to have ya as part of the crafting/gathering side of things. After release we're going to try and build some relations with the crafting guilds, so it should be oodles of fun. Once Beta opens up I'll be throwing out linkshells until we can get the FC officially formed. But feel free to PM me on here to discuss things before the game goes live. We can even start RPing people in via Skype, or anything else if you are as impatient as I am to RP.

I found this picture of Locke from Final Fantasy VI and it kicked me right in the feels. That whole story is so tragic.

~~This whole initial post is highly out of date using an older model. Please refer to later in the thread for the updated information.~~ Hello everyone! I have recently started building a new Free Company for the Balmung server. In short, it is an umbrella corporation that will be buying out and starting new businesses to create new technology and fund the war efforts to protect Eorzea. So any departments (or sub-groups within the FC) will be made by members to custom fit their characters. (Click here for the XI:7 page) As Taryn and I have been building and tweaking the group, we realized that there were a few positions we'd love some people to come in and take over. So we wanted to advertise and see if anyone has a character that would like these opportunities. General/Strategist This could be both in one, or two different characters. Taryn is heading up the more secret agent part of the group (I don't want to say they are Turks, but...) so we could use someone to lead the general military force of XI:7. Along those lines I would love to have a Strategist or Advisor for the company to be professionally smarter than the higher ups. Lawyers/Administrators This one might be more of a stretch to fill, but I can dream. I picture corporate lawyers and hard working administrators who pull out swords and guns and blow up Empire soldiers. (I might be willing to pay an in-game gil salary for something like this) Labor King I wasn't sure what else to call this one. Someone who heads up all the Disciple of Hand type ventures. We would like to have our own Cid, even if our Cid is a Miqo'te girl with no facial hair. Research & Development We are starting to form an alliance with our awesome friends over at Mysterium. (Click here for their page) Both our groups are interested working with anything Aether or Magitek related. A lot of XI:7's projects will be done with them, but it'd be great if we could get someone with us to dabble in these research projects and make XI:7's magical technology stronger. (A mad scientist or two wouldn't hurt...) Creativity If there is any business or team that XI:7 can fund, we will do it. We are excited to see what members will come in and create within our sandbox. People to RP With Finally, we're really looking for anyone to have fun with, inside or outside of our group. If your character or your RP group is looking for more plot and people to meet/work with, let us know! We want to do our best to form ties all throughout the community so we can all have a more expansive experience.

8/11/2013 Update: Uploaded new finalized logo. Special thanks to my friend who designed our logo from scratch. Also added a short Mission Statement.

8/10/2013 Update: Changed the text for the CRISIS Division under the "Departments" tab.

8/9/2013 Update: Merged "Why Join?" and "OOC" tabs. Added "The Story So Far" tab to include an introductory story. Added "Departments" tab to keep track of current departments made by our members.

8/8/2013 Update: Changed the tabs and their content, fixing many of the grammatical errors. Took out the [iC] portion of the text to add a full IC story background in the next update.

1. What do you think is a main character? I pretty much agree with what you said about them. A character that someone spends most of their time on. Save for severe altaholics, most people I've known have one character they spend a majority of their time on, and side projects here and there. 2. What do you think makes a character an alternate character? Its different for people, but generally I think alt characters are projects to work on when you need a little break from your main one. 3. Do people have a responsibility to make certain "mains pair with mains" if you sense an interesting relationship (friends/rivals/lovers/enemies/long-lost relatives) forming or is it okay that someone's just not going to be around at random or for long periods of time? I think its courteous to tell a player if your characters start to like each other that its only a part-time character. Especially if you are forming important relationships and stories between them. That way everyone knows what to expect and decide accordingly. 4. Have you ever discovered that your main was paired off in one of those situations with someone's alt? They just didn't play them at all or played other characters? Did it stall out your story? What did you do? Countless times. It actually drove me crazy. I'll use City of Heroes as my example, because before it shut down that was where most of my RP happened. I led a supergroup that had a certain perk. If a member joined they would get their own room in our base that they got to design. I wanted it to feel like it was a home for all our heroes. So people would join. We would RP a few times and make plans for fun things in the future. Then I'd build them a room then let them put whatever they wanted in it. And then I would never see them again. I ended up with a bunch of rooms for characters that were never around. This has happened a lot for more romantic settings, as well. A lot of my characters I play are somewhat lonely and crave affection. So relationship RP actually helps build my characters personalities a lot. So general scenario: My character meets a girl. They like each other. Few meetings/dates later they decide to be boyfriend/girlfriend. I add them to friend's list. Spend day after day seeing them online on different characters while I'm stuck twiddling my thumbs. Break up with them ICly when I actually get some of their time. One got so bad I basically had to send them a message saying "We're breaking up" because they would turn down RP with me for two or three weeks. Sorry for the rant, but this topic hit a spot for me. Now let me say people are free to play however they want. Its their fun. But I do think its polite to keep communication open OOC about things. I've had stories with people's alts no problem. But most of the time my character is just left gearing up for something (relationship, rival, heroic partners, etc) and doesn't see them again. 5. What's the biggest stereotype you think of when you think of people who only have one main character? I don't know if this is the biggest, but mine would be that they have time to RP with you since they only have the one. This is not always true. There are some insanely popular RPers you gotta like... make appointments with. 6. What's the biggest stereotype you think of when you think of people who suffer alt-itis and swap characters often? I think the biggest one here is that they can be bad at sticking to on-going storylines or relationships. 7. Which are you? A single or two main characters? 5 main characters? A bunch of alts? I have the opposite of altitis. I can't make alts. I've tried. I just can't. I love focusing on one main storyline and developing it. If I do make alts they're usually my characters main nemesis or something like that to make cameos in events. 8. How did you usually break up your time between your main characters? Play on demand? Always on one, demand for the other? One with one group and when they all sign off switch to the other? The rare times I've had alts was because of people wanting me to be in their groups. So I'd check in, see if anything was going on with the group. If not I'd go back to my main.

Haha, you'll get there if you want to. My stories have gone through a lot of trial and error. My first drafts are usually like "And, uh... he was strong. Like real strong. lolhax. And all the ladies liked his style."

Slowly gripping the helm, Garryson was flooded with memories of his time at sea. All the hard work and feeling of belonging were gone. One moment they were there, and the next they were behind him. It doesn't get any easier... losing everything you love. It seems death is the only thing I can count on sometimes. I suppose we all will die one day... but how do we go on without those that gave us strength? Garryson stood on the small lifeboat watching it happen. It was right in front of him, but it didn't seem... real. The Defiance was sinking. Everyone he loved was aboard. His home was being taken away by the waves. The tears drenched his face the moment he saw the last of the ship dip beneath the surface. It was gone. He was all alone again. Once more he had survived and was forced to keep on living. He curled up on the boat for what seemed like days. The current floated him along as the agony ebbed deeper and deeper into his heart. Once he could finally sit up, he looked over the edge at his reflection. The skin on his face was still healing. One of his eyes and a chunk of his hair was now white. I should have died out on the sea after that. Just another time I should have died. But I didn't. I survived. I kept drifting. The boat shook violently, waking him up. He opened his eyes and saw something in the distance. Getting to his feet, he saw destruction rain down upon the land. What was happening? What was causing it? An eerie calm came over him as he realized that this might be the end of the world as he knew it. There was some sort of figure he could barely make out in the distance. Garryson grabbed a jug of rum and slowly raised it up to the figure. Keeping a solemn expression, he kept the jug held out in honor of it for a few long minutes before taking a long drink. A shockwave sent him flying off the boat. He felt the cold water then there was nothing but blackness. Back then... I wanted the world to end. I wanted everyone to lose what had made them smile. I wanted everyone to be like me. But despite myself... I survived. I found yet another life. His eyes slowly opened. He heard water, and tasted salt in his mouth. Taking a while to gather his strength, he pulled himself up enough to look around. It seemed he was on a small fishing vessel. Sitting on a small crate smoking a pipe was a gruff looking Highlander man. "Did... did you save me...?" Garryson asked, coughing up some water. The man merely gave him a small nod. For some reason, Garryson asked, "Why...?" The man seemed to consider that himself. Plumes of smoke danced in the air as he thought about it. Finally in a low, somewhat raspy voice he answered, "Because... you look a little like what my son would have looked at your age... had he gotten the chance." Garryson frowned as he realized what that meant. This man had lost his son. Garryson had lost everyone else... but he had never lost a son. The thoughts of how painful that would be dominated his mind until he passed out once again. The days of my smiling adventures were over. I was about to learn the uncomfortable truth of what it takes to be a man. Those were the most miserable days of my life. I was constantly afraid and in pain. But... I am glad that they happened. I would never want to re-experience my days with him but... I learned things I could not have learned any other way. Garryson's hand slowly slid along the grip of the helm. So many happy memories. So many painful ones. All of them making him who he was. Whether we choose for it to or not... time keeps moving forward. The world changes. There is no stopping, no turning back. Once we accept it... Once we flow with the ebb of time... That is when we gain control.

A corporate lawyer? That actually sounds insanely awesome. Let's chat sometime about your ideas. I think we could work out somethin' real fun. Absolutely! Let's get together and brainstorm. I think this could potentially be really good for both our FCs. Let me know a time that works for you and we'll see what we can come up with.

Yeah, definitely keep in touch. We're not so much concerned with getting members as we are just people to RP with. So even if your character wouldn't sign up, there is still some fun to be had.

Thank ya kindly. Hopefully we'll get to see you IC sometime!

8/7/2013 Update: Changed the name from "XI:7 Industries" to just "XI:7" to more accurately portray what the group is. The new logo will accurately portray the new name. Edited some of the text, and added further information to be clearer on some areas of the group.

Thank you very much! It is actually just a filler for right now. Me and my insanely talented friend are working on a more artistically stylized version.

If you like the name, I'd be more on the side of keeping it. I think you would rather have a name that you like than a name you felt like you "have" to have. There are simple ways to explain non-conventional names. My Miqo'te's name is Garryson Shipkeeper. Obviously not a Miqo'te tribe name. But my character was given the name by the Hyur who raised him. He was probably given a tribal name, but he has no idea what it is. Does your character actually come straight out of one of the Miqo'te tribes? Or was she raised in a city-state? If her background is more urban, I wouldn't see much of a problem keeping a more Hyur sounding name. Or if she left the tribal life to live in the cities, she could adopt a new name for herself. But that's just my biased opinion. My character basically thinks of himself as a Hyur with a tail.

I think this was very well laid out and (hopefully) not offensive to either "side" as it were. Coming from another non-veteran player, these are a lot of the same feelings I've been having. I recently decided that I'm going to be starting my own Free Company. Its already going through tweaking and organization, and its going to be a lot of work. But I've always enjoyed being a leader, and honestly I get frustrated when I'm in groups with officers/leaders who don't make things fun and get too serious. So what do I do? I make what I want to see. So the big question was: What server should I make it on? I was originally pulled to Gilgamesh for reasons you stated, it will be a lot easier to start things fresh and actually get a few people to have fun with me. But the more I thought about it, the more I leaned towards Balmung. There are going to be some problems, but like you said a lot of them are going to be temporary. Maybe it'll be a little difficult for us to break into something already established, but I believe in the long run its a better foundation. For all I know, my Free Company could be just me for six months. But its what I want to do, and I'm not going to let "What Ifs" stop me from having my brand of fun. Once the game goes live, I plan on making contact with the veteran groups and facilitating cross-group RP. To me that's a way of integrating old with new. We're all here to have fun, so I for one am going to put my stock in Balmung. Not to say I fault anyone for choosing Gilgamesh. I ABSOLUTELY see the appeal. Especially as a leader of a little fledgling group of nothing at the moment. I seriously hope the best for every single person on Gilgamesh. I have seen some of their dedication for their server, and its something to be admired. So coming from a non-legacy player: I'm going to be on Balmung. I hope you and the others with you find the place for you. You sound like an awesome person, and probably pretty fun to play with. Best of luck on making the decision for you.

[align=center] [align=left][align=center]The history of XI:7 is a complicated one. I won't tell you the whole story, but I'll tell you what you need to know. In the days following the Calamity, XI:7 was born as a small weapons manufacturer that wanted to help rebuild the realm. The vision caught the attention of those clinging to the hope that Eorzea could begin anew. So XI:7 grew rapidly, too rapidly as it turns out. The company flourished. It grew and expanded into more and more territories and business ventures. Everything from agriculture to establishing new trade routes and researching and developing the latest technologies. In my youth and my arrogance, I let the company fall from within. The empire collapsed, leaving nothing. That was the first of many of my failures. I rebuilt the company again and again as it faltered and struggled. I held onto hope that those with money and power could be the ones to steer the realm into prosperity and peace. The corporation has been quietly building once again. We now stand at the precipice of potential we once had. And now we set our sights to those that would overtake our homes. Garlemald. We will defend Eorzea on every front. We will train soldiers to defend the frontlines. We will send out operatives to gather and use information to cripple the efforts of our enemies. We will develop and build better technologies to rise to any threat. We will do whatever is necessary. We will rebuild Eorzea. And we will do it under the banner that swears no allegiance to any political power. Noblesse Oblige.[/align] [/align] [/align]

Alright, so I've been doing some adjustments to my character and have made a few versions that I'm debating between. I'd love some input from the community as I try and decide what to go with.

You know... I've read that before, but it never sunk in until now. Paladins are something very specific in this game. You guys make excellent points. At first I saw all those Paladin defensive CDs and got all excited. I never really connected that just meant "Click. Okay now I don't die as fast." I think Warrior is going to be my focus. I like that there is another resource to manage and like was mentioned, you live a bit on the edge. If something goes wrong, I like the little bit of panic it takes to get out of it. Not just "Its cool, I've got a shield right here on my arm." So thank you very much guys for your input. As sad as this sounds, this is actually giving me great roads to take my character down. And now I can have a big ass axe! Nothin' wrong with that.