Naunet

May I remind you that you are playing a game? Why must playing a game "suck"? Why should people have to struggle through a whole mess of suck in order to finally be worthy of the fun that supposedly games provide?

The differences between lancer and dragoon are... almost zero in terms of play. You use the same weapon, use most of the same abilities, and the same armor, etc. But if a new player comes in wanting to play a machinist or astrologian or dark knight, they're going to have a very bad experience. I'm flummoxed as to how people are not surprised by the extreme gating for Heavensward. In every other MMO, an expac essentially means a new game. New players aren't shunted into grinding outdated content before they can play with the rest of the folk who have been enjoying the game previously. And no, I'm not just saying that SE should do it one way because that's how everyone else is doing it. Expacs in MMOs are presented that way because it works well. No one enjoys being walled off from friends and other players just because you joined after launch. This reeks of bad decisions on SE's part.

Do you think Yoshi is uninterested in pulling in new players? Because advertising astrologian, machinist, and dark knight in the expac and then giving a big "F you" to new players who were lured in by those jobs is NOT good game design. As for the likelihood of SE making some big mistakes regarding the ilvl restrictions funneling players through outdated content... They've made some pretty poor design decisions in the past. It's certainly believable that they would do so again.

I think this (the "most of us" part) is debatable. It's the job locks that bother me the most though. That's some Grade A jerk stuff on SE's part and more than being unfriendly to alts is a huge kick in the privates to new players who might be drawn to start the game with Heavensward advertisement. "Oh hey, I've never played this game before, but that machinist/astrologian/whatever class looks awesome. Wait... I can't actually make a character with that class until I've grinded up a bunch of levels on one of these other classes I have no interest in? Ugh."

This presents a two-fold problem to me... one, the story quest requirements are such a dang chore and (I realize this is an unpopular opinion, sorry ) truly quite boring. I think it's a huge mistake to wall off a new expac of content behind an outdated ilvl grind, story be damned. But really what was the nail in the coffin for me was locking the new jobs behind additional levels. Comparisons to death knights are not really accurate because you 1) didn't have to come close to level cap on a character in order to be able to make a DK, 2) you can start your character as a DK and that's that, no frustrating forced play as a class you do not want.

I used to cosplay, but then I became poor. Now I'm still poor but I really wanted to cosplay. Here's Twinflame and I at Comicpalooza this weekend. I don't usually post pictures of myself on the internet because that feels weird. But there ya go. I'm the Raava!

This is pretty much what I assume, too. IMO, the vendor prices are a perfectly reasonable benchmark for determining gil value. Also... hehe, this thread is a blast from the past!

I'm sorry Nanut, it's one reason why I didn't post it. It made me angry so I know it would upset others It's alright. I think I'm better now. It's an extremely personal and traumatic topic for me, probably to the point where I don't think I could actually RP with someone who was RPing a character with that particular illness. There's just too much hurt there. >_< Regarding mental illness in general, I will agree with what appears to be the general consensus - that it crosses the line into insulting only when it is portrayed in an ignorant way, when it's just played for laughs, when it OOCly demeans real sufferers of these illnesses. But if you approach it from a respectful angle with the full intent of portraying it as honestly as possible, then I don't really have any issue; the same could be said for pretty much any theme in roleplay. As for my personal experience roleplaying with such topics, it's not something I've gone out of my way to portray, but sometimes things just happen with a character. One of my TERA characters suffers from fully activated PTSD and situational depression that could develop into major, following a series of extremely traumatic events over the course of a year. I don't go around stating explicitly that these are things my character is dealing with, but they come out in how I roleplay her. I did my research - and pulled from my personal experiences - to develop what I hope is not just an accurate but honest portrayal of these issues. The other side is, they're not the core of my character. She doesn't exist purely as a vehicle for PTSD and depression; they are facets that developed but are like an overlay, or fractures in her psyche. I think that's another important thing to keep in mind when dipping one's toes into these topics in roleplay - don't let them define your character. People in real life aren't defined by their problems, and neither should that be so for your roleplay character.

As the family member of a paranoid-schizophrenic with bipolar, the existence of that video disgusts me on a level I'm not sure I can put into words. I want to contribute to this thread, as I have experience roleplaying mentally ill characters and would like to share it, but it's going to take me a bit to get over the anger that video has caused. ;

I just wanted to let everyone know that The Dusty Man is officially released today!!! Seriously, if you like post-apoc sci-fi with angels and demons (but not at all presented in the way you usually see such things) and influenced by themes of gender and sexual identity, then I honestly think you'd love this book. I'm super proud of K.J. Russell and couldn't be happier to see it in-print. Alternatively, if you're going to be at Comicpalooza in Houston in a couple weeks, you can swing by and get it signed. :3

Husband asked me to color this for him, so here it is!

Nobody is "getting their knickers in a twist", but people are understandably disappointed at the restriction regarding the horns.

*blush* Thank you! Eyes are pretty fun. I hate hands, though.

And I thank you for it! :3 Even if it spurs just one person to buy a book (reading is for cool kids, folks) or follow on tumblr/twitter/whatever... then that's a win in the indie world!

What better place to talk about books than a community dedicated to creative output? I can think of few others! Some of y'all may know me as "that annoying person who complains about FFXIV a lot", a few as "that Hipparion tribe whacko". What y'all may not know is that my other half, this community's Twinflame, is more than a roleplayer - he's an honest-to-god author! He primarily writes speculative fiction - sci-fi, fantasy, horror - but with a very literary touch that regularly explores themes of religion, gender, sexuality, and identity in general. And, I think a lot of this stuff may be right up you folks' alleys. So I'm posting here to do a bit of cheerleading. The indie pub world is pretty cutthroat, and making a career out of it as he's chosen is extremely difficult. The most important part is finding an audience, accruing... dare I say... fans. People who will buy your stuff, and then tell their friends to buy your stuff, and then have their friends tell their friends. We don't have TOR or Ace or whathaveyou (yet) to do mass-marketing for us, so it's all on our own efforts. Anyway, enough rambling. So, what are these books, you're probably not asking? Summary: As the Eastern hemisphere slept, the mind of God awoke from a deep slumber. Invading the minds of all humanity, His awareness overwhelmed the waking West and rendered it void of life in an instant. Then as they slept, those in the East felt God die. His death emptied Hell onto Earth, unleashing demonic armies that drove mankind to the brink of extinction. Beijing rose as a final bastion, its military bolstered by ingenious technologies but driven to desperation by faltering supplies and the constant threat of invasion. And the one weapon that could save them has just been stolen... In the wastelands of Korea, a stranger covered in dust visits a lonely town of Buddhists and Christians living in an odd state of peace. He catches the eye of Seo Ha-Neul. The stranger brings lies, warnings, and violence. Rather than stop him, Seo tries to understand his motivations, even as supernatural forces threaten devastation. Pre-orders for the Kindle edition are set up, releasing on May 15th (print will be available then, too)! Will be available on Nook, etc in the future, since I know not everyone has a Kindle. "The Dusty Man" is the first volume in the "Ruin of the Fifth World" series, so keep an eye out for more later this year. :3 The pre-order price is $0.99, but that will be bumping up to $2.99 on the 15th; paperback will be $12.95. *** Summary: A GODDESS STIRS IN THE DEEP... The underwater city of Atargatis is the only bastion of the last humans, a genderless population of nearly identical clones. They share their ocean world with a sea-faring species, the Scorps, who have prophesied human extinction. As the day of that prophecy nears, Atargatis fearfully blocks the Scorp pilgrimage to their goddess in the deep ocean. The Scorps' only advocate among the humans, Senator Edessa, is convinced that the Scorps' true intention is to save humanity from the prophecy. But when Edessa's last ally is assassinated in a coup by his nemesis, all political pretense falls away and Edessa is no longer safe in Atargatis. This is a novella, so good for an excellent one to two-sitting read. I honestly adore the metaphor in this story and how poetic his prose is. It's up on Amazon in e-book or print format. The cover looks awesome in print, by the way! *stares at it on her shelf* *** Summary: For the past seven days, Aksel has witness the destruction of the world and pulled it back from oblivion. But she cannot stop what is coming. She has seen it before on countless worlds. With a cheerful university student and a fatalistic mother-to-be as her companions, Aksel counts the days until her celestial enemy overcomes her will and leaves the Earth in ruins. A work of romance and tragedy, K.J. Russell's three-chapter novella illuminates parts of the human heart we would rather pretend do not exist. Woo another novella! If you like world-ending tension set against a contrast of coffee shop talks, this one is awesome. It's up in e-book and print form in all formats. I do have one request, though. If you buy this book, make sure you're getting the copy with the above cover. Previously, this novella won an award with the publishing house Zharmae, which was awesome! But Zharmae turned out to be an extremely predatory publisher. Luckily, he made sure the contract returned rights to him, but Zharmae is still selling "Absolute Tenacity" on Amazon. We don't want to support predatory publishers, so please make sure you only purchase directly from K.J. Russell. *** The two books above are an anthology series edited by K.J. Russell (and the Writers of the Future award-winner C. Stuart Hardwick, in the case of ToI) and put together with the help of the Houston Writers Guild and SkipJack Publishing. "Tides of Possibility" is the science fiction half, while "Tides of Impossibility" is the fantasy half. Both anthologies contain a wide range of really excellent short stories (and even some poetry - yes, sci-fi poetry!) that cover things from military to humorous to aliens to sword and sorcery to horror and... well, a heck of a lot more. A lot of the authors are local Houston writers, many are award-winning, and all are fantastically skilled. Tides of Possibility and Tides of Impossibility are available in all formats (kindle, nook, pdf, print, etc), to suit any of your reading needs! You may also have noticed the incredible cover art of several of these books... the covers of ToP, ToI, and The Dusty Man are credit to the amazing David Sidebotham, whose visual style was actually a huge inspiration to the imagery found in The Dusty Man. Aaaand that's pretty much it (for now). As I am privy to mister K.J. Russell's publishing schedule, I do know that a number of books are set to release later this year. :3 I can't yet share those, though! I sincerely hope some of you decide to check these out - I'm not just speaking as a biased party. He really is just that good! If you do, I cannot, cannot, cannot encourage it enough that you please leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. It is not an exaggeration to state that indie pub books live and die based on review counts; they are massively important! Of course, even if you aren't in a position to buy one for yourself (and your family, and friends, and neighbors, and acquaintances...), it's always great to follow him on tumblr or Twitter, and he's got a website to keep you updated on things, too!

<3 Thank you. Have a gift~

Doop doop.

Aw, thank you very much! I am trying. Here's another...

The former I doubt would be a problem, because the four faces are barely different shapes at all that don't actually change the dimensions of the head (and you've got a huge buffer of hair). The latter would be something I would hope SE has already planned for and wouldn't be affected by freeing horns from face types. I doubt they will do anything to improve it though, as usual.

So I may not play the game anymore, and I may complain a lot. But that doesn't mean I can't draw fanart. This is actually a TERA character of mine, except as an Au Ra... wat. Yeah, I don't know.

That wasn't really my point. It's frustrating to watch someone go, "No, you're wrong because I'm right." And that's honestly how some of this discussion appears to me. The post of mine you responded to was literally me saying "You're right, but so am I." >_>

This isn't exactly a peer-reviewed research journal publishing house. >_> But I'm not just stating my opinion. I'm basing my assertions of other people valuing character customization on the very large amount of official forum threads I've seen in the betas and in releases of over half a dozen MMOs. Anecdotal? Yes. But there's some value in that it proves these demands exist. The very real implementation of strong levels of customization in a variety of MMOs would suggest that the developers of those games saw a more than sufficient demand.

Then you are a fundamentally different player from the kind I'm describing. I'm not saying you and others like you don't exist. I'm asking you to acknowledge that there is a very large chunk of the playerbase that does put value on character customization. And no, I'm not talking about roleplayers.

And that is your opinion. However, it's disingenuous to pretend that there is not a very large chunk of MMO players out there who love character customization. Look at the popularity of other MMO character creations. Look at how wardrobe systems are in such high demand and how much they are praised (FFXIV failed in that department, too ). One of the first things begged for after a new MMO is released? A barber shop, if it wasn't already in place. Race changes. More armor appearances. These things are hugely important. Looks are hugely important.

I've said repeatedly that it is possible to improve SE's character creation without sliders. Countering with examples of extreme sliders doesn't actually address my point. *sigh* Again: Far more than roleplayers place a high value on character customization.