Kilieit

As another au ra dark knight who has done this, I can actually recommend it from the other angle. I feel like it really helped (helps - the plot is ongoing) me write his journey in a relateable and engaging fashion. It took me a while to find someone to do the teaching, but it was well worth the effort IMO... and once the ball was rolling, I quickly found a lot of other people willing to give him pointers and assistance. He has about four tutors right now. FWIW, though, I would say about 60-70% of the dark knights I know are au ra (though, they're usually xaela). Probably something to do with our iconic job NPC being such... so while by lore standards they should be rare, I don't think it's anything that players should really have grounds to bother each other over.

I have a couple friends who put their female character's age in their search info. I tend to check the search info of someone I'm chatting to for details like that - stuff like "magitek left arm" "smells of sewage" "super gaudy clothes" "limsan accent" tend to make their way in there too, so I find it's usually worth a peek. It's a good way to make information about your character that isn't obvious from the model, but would be obvious to people looking at them, at least accessible without having to ask people to go to third-party websites. Mine always has my character's height (he's off-model), and I usually include any immediately obvious injuries there too. I will say that not everyone checks it all the time, but like - the number of people who react correctly to my character's height is higher this way than it would be if I didn't put the info anywhere.

For as long as Balmung is Congested, chances are there are going to be apartments popping open as people who had previously held them transfer away. They tend to stick around in subdivisions for longer, because less people are aware that subdivisions have their own buildings. So it's always worth double-checking them all - chances of finding one are much higher than they were before the server categorisation. But it's still far from a case of just walking up to your building of choice and purchasing one, as it is on Mateus.

It's worth noting that "fortnight" ("fourt(een) nights") in FFXIV actually refers to 16 days, because the week (referred to erroneously as "sennight", "se'en nights") is 8 days. So... the words are etymologically wrong, but... I think that's because while "octnight" is a bit weird-sounding but otherwise passable, "sexdecnight" wouldn't go down so well with the EN community. Okay, that was a joke, because I don't think they're using those prefix schemes. But I do think it is just to do with how clumsy it would be to try and invent similar words for eight and sixteen nights. Better to use the recognisable words for 1/2 weeks and hope no one thinks about it too much. Lominsan has a lot of stereotypical pirate speak, ie West Country as performed by Robert Newton. Other than that, it bears a lot of similarity to the "Commoner's talk" mentioned above. The Rogues' Guild slang is pretty much Thieves' Cant, watered down to be more comprehensible. You can find dictionaries of it online, or possibly in print. As with many languages, there are a zillion variations, so a term that isn't in one dictionary may be in another. The one I use is the 1811 dictionary by Francis Grose (available on Project Gutenberg, also amusingly slightly censored). Like, I'm almost sure you can do a search-and-replace of Jacke's speech, and it will turn out to be fairly normal. Seconding thieves' cant - they really did their research with Jacke and more or less everything he says is translatable using real-life dictionaries of thieves' cant from the time period FFXIV draws on (16th-18th century). I think this is an earlier edition of the dictionary you were referring to - A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (Grove, Francis), Third Edition, 1796? It's one of my favourite non-FFXIV-originated FFXIV resources. Definitely worth flicking through if you play a character who has cause to use Lominsan slang.

TBH, I would recommend dedicating a week or so to trying to find RP on each server, over necessarily joining a Discord. If the RP you want to do is in-game, then a Discord won't be representative of the people you're wanting to RP with. I regularly RP on Balmung... but I'm not in any of the general "Balmung community Discords" any more and, without going into it too much, I don't think I will be again any time soon. I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

That's literally it. You see castform shapes when you present equipment in the various crafting quest lines. And yet you have no way to do a similar thing and show off equipment in your house. Terrible for those RPers who delve into those roles - can't show off your work! This is already confirmed:

I've played a few, but I've yet to find one I "click with". My preference is for full narrative fights. In one-on-one or small group RP (I'd say about 95% of my combat RP is like this), I feel like by the time you get to the stage of asking/allowing people to make their own character sheets, you probably trust them enough to make the jump to full narrative anyway. I like to think that, in such situations, I give my character a fair win/loss ratio without me having to struggle for hours to fit him into the constraints of a character sheet. I certainly feel that the other people I RP with in those situations give their characters fair abilities in each of those ways. Another concern I've heard is that full narrative PvP will take forever - but again, when the two parties know and trust each other, I find it actually resolves quicker than Grindstone rules bouts do. For me, the place where roll systems come in handy is in larger groups such as medium or large roleplay free companies, or in pick-up-and-play groups where you're essentially roleplaying with strangers to start with. With full narrative, the owness is on everyone in the group to get to know each other well enough to have a good feeling for where their character's strength is in various areas compared to the others', and to trust one another not to go overboard in a given situation; to give others a chance to participate. In a group like a medium or large RP FC, that's impractical to do for every single member all of the time, and unforgiving of people who need to take an absence. It's actually more inclusive to place the owness on every individual to spend 30 - 90 minutes making a character sheet, once, and then be good to go for most of the scenarios they'll be faced with in that group. The same with pick-up-and-play groups - it's impossible to know if that random stranger you're starting off the scenario with is going to be weird about their character not being omnipotent or not, so it's safer for everyone to agree beforehand on an objective system to determine what's acceptable. If they have a problem because the system won't let them be omnipotent, then they're eliminated before the RP even begins, and can never cause any trouble for anyone. Those are the situations I think roll systems are a useful solution in, but... I must admit, I still view them as sort of a "lesser evil" compared to potentially allowing free power-playing and god-moding. As someone who "floats" between FC's in terms of whose RP I'm participating in, I've tried a few different ones - and they've all had the same problem for me. Rather than facilitating and enhancing creativity, they've limited it - people will come up with something cool to do, and the system won't let them through one mechanism or another. Honestly, my opinion is that that's a feature of using roll systems at all, and not a solveable problem with them... because as soon as you start trying to solve it by giving the system more verisimilitude, the time required to create a sheet rockets up, to the point where hardly anyone will bother. It's just something you have to bear in mind when reviewing the pros and cons of introducing one for the given RP scenario. (Fair shout-out here to the DM's I've seen who intervened when the system prevented something cool from happening, by the way. I do believe DMing is an art in its own, and that knowing when to call Rule Of Cool is a very important skill to learn when becoming one. Back again to smudging or throwing the system out when you trust the people you're playing with.) I do still use raw rolls occasionally in that small-group / 1-on-1 RP I mentioned before. It's typically because I can think of two scenarios that are equally compelling - usually in different ways - that are on either side of a decision my character makes, or an action he succeeds or fails. Sometimes, I'll ask the person (singular) that I'm RPing with which one they think would be more interesting. But other times, especially if the deciding factor is technically spoilers or meta-knowledge about my character, or if I don't want to stall the flow of a group scene - I'll roll. Those rolls feel satisfying, because all of the outcomes are satisfying... but that feeling is impossible to distil into a system, I fear. TL;DR: I think roll systems are a fair compromise to use when in a large group, or with strangers. I preferentially opt for full narrative outside of these situations.

(from here) There's no pattern, haha. Aghurlal is unequivocally my main and has been for a while now, but before that, the character Medic is based on was my RP main in WoW for years. The halfling edition of Caiden has been my Pathfinder Society Organised Play main since 2007 (yes, I've been on the slow track since it was introduced as an option, why do you ask lol). Cinu-a is similarly based on a character I roleplayed regularly for about two years before beginning to play XIV. As for my gender OOC? ...I'm nonbinary, which means I'm not strictly male or female. In a sense, none of my characters have the same gender as me, despite there being a variety (even Shuu - they're completely agender, and I am not). I guess that's probably not the perspective you were looking for, but it's the one I have to offer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In my experience, all they mean is the kind of "immersion" you can get from, say, watching a movie. When you watch it, if you're into it, you'll feel a little sad when something bad happens to the characters you like, you'll feel a little happy when good things happen to them, you feel a little scared when scary things happen, and when the movie ends you'll just feel satisfied that you enjoyed it. There's no lingering sadness/happiness/fear. But the immersion is still there - in the moment, you still feel stuff in relation to the on-screen events. And I think for most people, if there isn't that temporary emotional connection, you end up getting distracted, feeling disinterested, and not enjoying the movie as much. If something in the movie happens that doesn't make sense to you, then it "breaks your immersion", forcing you out of the headspace where you're focussing on the feelings and into a headspace where you're trying to rationalise what you just saw, and most people find that less fun. At no point is there any illusion that you're "in" the movie, that you as a real person are a real participant in the movie; (to take common examples of problems that arise from having no IC/OOC divide) there's no feeling that if something bad happens in the movie to the character you like that it's a personal slight against you as a movie-goer, or that if a romance happens on-screen that it means that the actor portraying it is now dating you IRL. Movies aren't an interactable format, so it's much rarer for people to feel that way in relation to them. But the point I'm making is that immersion (which can happen when watching a movie... or reading a book, or any other non-interactable media that tells a story) is a separate thing from a lack of IC/OOC divide (which is a phenomenon largely restricted to roleplay). I think most people, when they're watching a movie, can easily understand "ah, I feel sad because a sad thing is happening in the movie; this movie is really good!". At no point do they go "I feel sad because the director is personally trying to upset me!". The problems don't arise when you begin to feel emotions at all as a result of a roleplay - they arise when this conflation happens; when you jump from "this person's character is behaving in an upsetting fashion" to "this person is trying to upset me". Because of the interactable nature of roleplay, it lends itself much more strongly to those mistakes. But I think folding "feeling any emotions at all from a roleplay" (i.e. having immersion) in with "having no IC/OOC divide" simplifies the issue, and makes it harder to understand. The IC/OOC divide is in being able to recognise where those feelings are coming from ("I feel sad because a sad thing is happening in the roleplay" vs "I feel sad because this person is trying to upset me") and act accordingly (continuing the roleplay IC, rather than making OOC accusations). TL;DR Recreationally inducing feelings through storytelling isn't the same as having no IC/OOC divide.

Balmung isn't a transfer option anyway. Mateus [NA] and Omega [EU] are the two I'm aware of, but Omega is also currently closed for transfers. That restriction will be lifted in a few weeks (vs. the Balmung one, which is indefinite).

Unfortunately, Balmung is a Congested world, which means it's completely closed to all manner of new character addition (both creation and transfer). An up-to-date list of Congested worlds can be found here: http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/news/detail/1a497643f336b60163223305ae23e07acb3d22f6

It's really down to personal preferences. So I'm gonna talk about mine, hahaha. I've done it both ways, and like others had both success and failure with both - failures including a spontaneous character relationship that fizzled out and got stale after the initial IC fuzzies but the other player wasn't willing to "let go of something we'd worked hard on" despite the fact it was boring us both to tears so I had to go over their head on it and have my character break up with theirs; and a planned character relationship where the characters didn't get along as well as we'd thought they would (one character was refusing to open up about their common ground with the other, the other was refusing to comprehend that the first could understand their life enough to share in it) and we decided to leave the IC failed romance attempt as an IC failed romance attempt instead of taking it further. (Which, I mean, is still good roleplay! Just not romance RP.) Both of my character's current relationships were sorta planned, but it was - you know - planned, in that we made a plan, we didn't just say "that's gonna happen now" and smush our characters together. We had the mutual "our characters would be cute together", went over discussing OOC some of their themes and personality traits and seeing if we thought they would like each other, did a few litmus roleplays, agreed it was probably going to work, and went more spontaneously from there - using the mental list of common character themes to guide the relationship's development over time (e.g. both characters have a fear of abandonment? How would they handle it if they were separated by circumstances for a bit?). I don't think I've ever done this with a total stranger, but I don't imagine the process would differ very much... OOC (for want of a better word) ""interviews"" and platonic litmus roleplays to see if things were going to be interesting, discussing common character traits and themes, before launching into it IC and seeing how things go. There are a few other characters that mine has spontaneously developed a crush on at the moment, but as someone with anxiety I've found it difficult to do the "my character likes your character, what should we do" conversation. At the end of the day, it doesn't hurt my character too much for the crushes to be apparently unrequited - it's quite IC for him in some respects - so at least there's no harm in me letting it hang like that while I sort out my confidence...

I'm feeling... idk, increasingly... uncomfortable, I guess? With the "If you behave in this particular way, I am ENTITLED to behave this other way towards you, and you're not allowed to complain or ask me not to." You have to recognise not everyone is going to ascribe to your view on how the chat channels should be used. Precedence should be given to stated preferences, not inferred ones. If someone tells you, in words, that they didn't want additional input onto a given scene, then it doesn't matter how much you think they were implying that they wanted to by doing it in a certain place or in a certain chat channel, or how much you think you're entitled to participate. They've told you, in words, what the case actually is. Any misconceptions as a result of your assumptions are your own problem to deal with, regardless of how widespread those assumptions might be. You're entitled to do RP in the same place, that much is true. But you aren't entitled to their time, to an IC response from them, or to remaining off their blacklist if you're belligerent about it.

Only got 2p to add: I know a few people who are travelling back and forth, and all of them say their character is using aetherial travel. One of them is having their character get sick from exhaustion as a result of doing so many long-distance journeys.

I think I agree here - & honestly it doesn't seem that far off from RL, where I can sit in a café for 30 minutes and hear 30 different conversations going on and be welcome to join in exactly zero of them. People-watching is its own fun. Furthermore - at risk of making this so-far mild post somewhat otherwise - it's important to cultivate the skill of being able to enjoy other people's creativity without immediately feeling the need/obligation to throw yours in the mix as well, and without feeling bitter if your contribution isn't welcome or invited. Even when your presence is anticipated and/or invited, it can be important to be able to recognise - without any rancor - when it's time for you and/or your character to take a step back and let someone else do their thing for a little bit... and then do that. Honestly, that's something I struggle with, but it's something I know I struggle with. If anything, eavesdropping on others' RP without being welcome to join it is an opportunity for me to exercise my abilities to understand that just because right now my character isn't at the forefront of everything doesn't mean that I'm being ignored, or that I've done something wrong, or that it's always going to be like this. It just means that's how things are right now.

The more we learn about the Calamities, the more it seems like they are distinct events with properties that the main protagonists don't yet fully understand. Not every major disaster is going to be a Calamity, because Calamities have distinct metaphysical properties. Certainly, it's likely that particular involved parties were trying to cause a Calamity the Ardor when they gifted the Eyes to the person they did... but it's clear they did not succeed, or you can bet Midgardsomr would have had a whine in our ears about it by now.

But it then goes on to say: Which I'm having trouble understanding. Square Enix really needs to get a Plain English Campaign consultant. That answers that at least, though! It makes sense that they'd need to get the economy moving on the new worlds most of all.

I think the million Gil is only for transfers. I hit 30 on my MNK on Mateus and only got the additional play time. That's strange. It definitely lists it under "Bonuses for characters created during bonus period that attain level 30 in any class" along with the free game time...

So I may or may not have an alt or two on Midgardsomr... Can anyone clarify for me if the one-time bonuses for reaching level 30 apply to characters which existed on the realm before the promotion period began? I already have two in their 20's over there and I want to know if I should level them as planned, or start a new alt, in order to get that tasty tasty 15 days free and the 1mil to split between them.