Naunet

While I totally understand the frustration, I think attempting to ICly find a way around the memory loss is a far more interesting path for RP than simply ignoring it. In fact, I think the whole thing sets up for some really good RP as your character attempts to find their place in a world that doesn't remember who they are - perhaps even trying to re-befriend their past friends and family in a desperate attempt to get them to remember them.

Bleh, but that is SO boring.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the races of Eorzea all come from a common ancestor, a la all of the humanoid species in Star Trek canon (humans, vulcans, etc). Lalafel are perhaps a very early divergence and far too genetically removed to even consider cross-breeding with the other races, but the others may be more close.

Heh, I suppose. When you've developed a rapport with a group of roleplayers, though, it can be liberating, though I've also successfully text fought with roll-deciders with roleplayers I didn't have as much experience interacting with. I've never shied away from losing any type of conflict in RP, though, so perhaps my own personality lends itself well to such methods of roleplay. I'm perfectly fine with taking a hit or twenty, or whathaveyou, should my character get herself in over her head.

There are multiple ways to handle combat in RP, and what you use depends entirely on what you feel is appropriate to the scene and what all the players OOCly can agree upon. 1. Text-based combat. The upside of this manner of combat RP is that you can get really awesomely creative when it comes to the kinds of moves your character can pull out - and the kinds of reactions when getting hit. It allows for characters to fight in manners that aren't necessarily supported by the generally restrictive mechanisms of gameplay, and it allows for players to ignore level differences. The downside is that text-based combat can take quite a long time, depending on how fast people are at typing. 2. Rolls, the RNG combat This can combine with the above text-based combat for a more unpredictable flow to the fighting. Whether your character lands an attack or avoids one from an opponent is left up to the RNG of a /roll, rather than putting trust in another roleplayer's ability to convincingly fight. Modifiers based on a character's acumen or handicaps can help balance things. A roll system can be useful for RPers who aren't familiar with each other. 3. PvP Many roleplayers subscribe to a roleplay style that hinges heavily on their characters actual, in-game ability (levels, gear, OOC player skill, etc). For them, RP combat tends to be done via duels or other forms of PvP if available (such as GvGs or deathmatches). This style of combat certainly benefits from taking less time than the above two, and many find it more engaging. On the downside, it leaves lower level RP-only alts out in the dry when it comes to going up against a higher level character, through potentially no fault of the character's own. All of these combat techniques are completely valid, and I've made use of each of them at various points in my many years of RPing. The trick is to discuss OOCly with those involved what kinds of rules they want to lay down regarding the combat (especially important: is the person okay OOCly with grievous wounds or even death; if they aren't, you must respect that in your RP). Communication OOCly is just as important as IC interactions when it comes to any kind of RP, but especially for RP combat. Lots of opportunities for toes to get stepped on, so play it cautious, but above all: have fun! [edit] I think I totally missed what the OP was getting at.... oh well.

Oh oh oh, thank you for this link! :3

Antimony, formerly K'piru Jhanhi K'thalen Nunh, her mate, deceased D'aijeen, formerly K'aijeen Thalen (complicated family life is complicated?) K'ailos Thalen, deceased(?) (Like I said - complicated!)

You can't deny, that would be pretty badass!

Or Eorzeans have developed some evolutionary aptitude for dealing with an overabundance with aether via channeling it through magic, that Garleans simply haven't had the opportunity to develop due to a lack of environmental stressors. The way you can get aether sickness makes me wonder if one could develop some kind of aether-gas-weapon and poison a whole bunch of unsuspecting people...

I fully intend to do this! And in fact my main RP character, though she is an accountant by trade, is a hobbyist in mathematics and conjury (I'll be leveling both conjurer-->white mage and arcanist-->summoner on her). As well, I will be compiling a record of all alchemical or otherwise-related reagents (what they do, habitat requirements, etc) as a resource for roleplayers. Super fun times!

Haha, as a scientist in real life, "just magic" infuriates me to no end! It's probably why I think so much about the mechanics behind magic in fantasy universes.

I like to roleplay sciencey or otherwise intellectual characters, but I also like to give very in depth thought to the mechanics behind actions my characters take, even if they aren't. So, sorry. I'm one of those crazy people who crafts up theories on the energetic properties of mana, or the physical implications of changes in mana flow within a body, or... Well. Lots of stuff.

I have to ponder... Aether is an energy source throughout Eorzea. It's something that can be refined and condensed for use as power in technology (i.e. Garlean magitech). Awesome. So it's sourcestone, or oil (or perhaps more appropriate: geothermal energy). So we have aether, which is an external power source, and then we have mana. I posit, entirely theoretically, that mana is fundamentally different than aether in terms of energetics and other physics-related and application traits. Mana could be the magical or life energy that exists within a living organism, while aether is that without and an innate part of the abiotic world. So everyone has mana, though not everyone has the skill or even capability of tapping into their mana (such as the Garleans). I wonder at potential similarities of mana flow in living bodies to spiritual energy flow in Hindu metaphysical philosophies related to chakras and vital points within a body. When one casts a spell utilizing mana from their body, the draining effect may come from pulling on different "chakra" points - or more generically "mana nodes". This could explain the difference between casting fire spells and ice spells in thaumaturgy; perhaps fire spells pull on a very central mana node in their body that serves as a hub sourcing mana to other nodes, but ice spells pull from nodes on the outer reaches of their body, which can thus be continually replenished by the more central nodes. Arcanists are an extremely interesting complication. The geometric shapes they utilize likely act as mathemagical (hah, see what I did there) foci for magical energies - but do they utilize external aether or internal mana... Or perhaps a combination of both! That they can summon representatives from energy makes me think they are pulling at least partially on external aether. I can't wait to learn more about them.

.... It's sourcestone! Further encouraging my heady desire for an ARR/Rift crossover. *is bricked*

We should not have to feel like we need to hide from other players. It's ridiculous. Those who dislike roleplayers will dislike roleplayers, and there's naught to be done for it save laugh in their faces and keep on roleplaying. The name thing you kind of blew out of proportion, as it was only one point out of many that I made (and not, I think, the most compelling). An RP tag would also allow GMs to discipline those who would grief roleplayers, as a side note however. What kind of a question is that? Obviously I will still roleplay. An RP tag on the server, however, would do wonders to help maintain a visible community for new players and give us and any GMs the backing needed to defend ourselves from griefers.

I've only tried conjurer, gladiator, and pugilist in the beta so far, but I did get the impression that there is at least a little bit of "magic" behind certain abilities in the latter two, even if it is extremely rudimentary in a class like gladiator. I don't have a list of class abilities in front of me, otherwise I would be able to give a much more specific, detailed answer. You're making me want to roll up one of each class and go through each available spell in search of these things!

I didn't want to hijack Khaze'to's awesome Power of Magic thread, but I do have a question regarding magic - or more particularly, mana, in ARR lore. I know we have elemental magics, which are fairly self-explanatory. The energies used to cast associated spells are drawn from natural "currents" of elemental energy flowing through the planet. The caster is simply tapping in and borrowing from that available power. What about non-elemental magic, however? For clarity's sake, we'll call non-elemental magic simply "mana", though for all I know ARR has its own term for it. I'm very new to Final Fantasy lore and have been having a difficult time finding detailed lore resources. Anyway, I've always made it a point in any MMO world I roleplay in to develop at least a personal theory, if not a complete lore understanding (depending on the availability of official information), of the mechanisms behind the utilization of mana for magic. It's great fun for me to try and understand down to the most fundamental mechanisms what a character is doing when they cast a spell, and this level of understanding can help me find new ways to apply the same ideas in roleplay. So. Is it a kind of ambient power scattered across the world? Is it an innate part of any living organism? Is calling on "mana" an entirely personal venture, drawing from your own reserves, or does one channel energies from around them rather than within? Considering pugilists have a chakra-like concept, it seems to imply that Eorzea has some metaphysical idea of energy flow and energy nodes within an organism's body, and that with enough discipline you can tap into them. But what other applications could this have? Surely implications for the management of one's health and well-being, considering the philosophical history of chakra concepts. Basically, I'm trying to get a handle on the nuts and bolts behind magic in Eorzea. So let us share and discuss!

They would be making a big mistake. Not labeling the server doesn't benefit roleplayers in any way. It makes it difficult for new players to find the RP communities. It makes it near impossible to enforce any kind of RP-friendly rules (such as naming conventions). And it marginalizes an entire group of people as not worthy of having their own server, when roleplayers are often some of the most dedicated players in an MMO. This makes it extremely difficult for devs to judge the activity of roleplayers in their game, which could have impacts on development time spent on RP-related content (such as a wardrobe function). Any MMO that doesn't have an RP-tagged server is doing a wonderful and loyal playerbase a massive disservice.

I'm just gonna sit here and hope for an actual RP-tagged server. It's 2013. That shit is kind of basic.

If you're going for a particular organization... Recursion Institute?

I. Basic Info Characters: Antimony, Sah'ot Kith, Rakuku Raku Primary character: Antimony Linkshells: Unity Primary RP linkshell: None yet [*][*][*][*] II. RP Style Amount of RP (light, medium, heavy): Heavy. RP all the times, all the places, all the things. Views on RP combat and injuries: Yes please. Views on IC romance: I will not deliberately go searching for it. If it happens over the course of a character's development, then that's all fine and dandy, but it's by no means my driving motivation in RP. As a side note, I do not ERP. Views on non-romantic RP (family ties, etc): My main roleplay character will be a widowed mother of three, one of whom is dead... or... well. It's complicated. I find familial roleplay is best when different people are playing the parts of the family members, rather than a single roleplayer acting out all, and I've followed through on this belief by recruiting folks to play members of Antimony's family. As far as other, non-romantic RP: The more the better. Views on lore: I'm not sure what this means. Yay lore? Views on chat functions (/say, /linkshell, etc): My... view on them? RP tools are good things! This is strange. [*][*][*][*][*][*] III. Other Info Country: USA Timezone: Mountain Contact info: PM me if you want [*][*][*] [align=center][glow=blue]~Special announcements can be found in the posts below~[/glow][/align] Oh, sooper speshul!

It's honestly never something I'd have thought anyone would think could be an issue. It's always seemed a given to me and those I've RPed with that one roleplays their character within their IC means. Common sense.

Eh, I doubt only the Warriors of Light are capable of doing dungeons, so there are likely plenty of opportunities for fighter-type characters that don't follow the main story PC plot. And certainly a non-combat character should be able to do any PvE they so wish OOCly.

Or folk who didn't yet know about the RPC and/or hadn't yet registered but fully intend to be a part of the RPC community... such as my fiance. @.@

As someone who has roleplayed a number of non-combat characters in many MMOs while simultaneously being involved in intense OOC end game activities, I can assure you that there is nothing wrong with doing a dungeon OOCly. I don't think I've ever come across anyone who took issue with such a thing, and they would certainly be in the wrong if they did.