Ildur

Good find. I forgot about it. But still it doesn't mean there are multiple human languages in the current times. It's a moral boosting speech and what it does is reference that languages exist in the world, but not that they are used in Eorzea. Minifilia is making statements in a general or philosophical sense ("Languages are a barrier that divide people"), and not as a specific truth about current Eorzean society ("Eorzea is divided, by language and etc"). As far as we know languages may be a barrier that's been 'trascended' by Eorzea already, as they are not mentioned anywhere else.

The existance of languages isn't the problem. The problem is if any of them are used to speak in a day to day basis. Naming conventions are only that: naming conventions. If a family uses roman names does not mean that they indeed speak latin. None of the examples you proposed, Primals, Paragons or beast tribes, are part of any city state. Except for the Padjal. And even with them we have no evidence that their language is used for anything more than naming. We can't really use them as evidence that there are multiple languages in use in the current times. The evidence we have is that Paragons and beast tribes have their own unique languages. But that doesn't mean that Eorzean (human) cities do. In fact, I'd say that since the game states for a fact that the language barrier exists between beastmen and humans, but fails to state anything about human languages, this implies (but does not prove) that the city-states share a single common one. Anything else is just speculation.

While it's true that the Echo has that effect, there's nothing in the game itself suggesting there are multiple languages being used in the different Eorzean city states. There are no mentions about the Ala Mhigan, Gridanian, Ishgardian or any other language in any NPC dialogue or quest. If such a barrier existed (and language barriers are a pretty big deal), then you'd think it would be mentioned plainly somewhere. But nobody does. The simpler answers are the most probable: if no NPC mentions the difference in regional languages, the most likely answer is that they don't exist at all. I wonder if anyone has asked in the official lore forums about this, and if they got any official answer. (<- is lazy)

Lore is pretty stupid for most prestige classes (sorry, I meant "jobs"). According to it, all jobs are obscure and super rare. Except for the website's descriptions, that sometimes hint that they've been recently resurfacing. I go for that, as it's the only way to not have the lore contradict the mechanics ("You can be a White Mage but you can't really be a White mage!" says the game.) Same thign for Warriors: there's been people teaching or learning their techniques for a while now. Not terribly long, but long enough for there to be plenty of characters around with them. Assuming we are talking about proper Warriors and not just characters wielding axes, I think assuming the role of a berserk can be pretty close to the concept. There are some interesting situations you could come up for battle RP with them. Of course, there's nothing stopping your character from having more or less control than that.

The only part of the uniform that can be matched and dyed -exactly- as the ones the Sultansworn use are the gloves: Cobalt Vambraces. You just have to find the correct blue dye. Otherwise, you are pretty much screwed. You can look 'kinda' like one by using either the Hempen Tabard, that has undyeable black sleeves), or the Cotton Tabard, which has undyeable black sections on the shoulders. They are pretty low level, 6 and 15 I think, so at least there's that. The problem is the boots, though. They are sollerets, but none of the ones you can buy or get match the color and dye scheme: the sultansworn use ones with grey leather bits, whereas the playable versions all have brownish colors that not match any of the tabards, aesthetically. So you'll have to use some other type of boots instead. Oh, and I believe the shields are in game. It's either the Iron (lvl 23) or Cobalt (lvl 43) Scutums. Or at least those are the two with the correct shape. I never bothered with the sword, but I think the closest you can get is the Cobalt Winglet or one of the Longswords.

On the plus side, maybe this will force us to look for alternative RP spots.

My guts tell me that Eorzea has one single unified language, with maybe dialects or variations across areas, but nothing that could be clearly identified as different. Pretty much like every spanish speaking country in real life: they all are a variation of a particular language from Spain, castillian. There's actually a crapton of regional languages in Spain, but when you learn 'spanish' you learn castillain, because that's the language that imposed itself thanks to the Reconquest, and so it was the one they used when colonizing America. So my take on it is that everyone in Eorzea speaks "eorzean" or some kind of variation of it. Not because they were colonized by an external kingdom that imposed something on them (like it was in the case of South America), but because it is stated by lore that all the races have been in the continent for a really long time. So long, in fact, that racial barriers have pretty much fell and dissapeared except on the cases of Ishgard and Gridania who are pretty xenophobic. But otherwise you can find all races all over the continent. On the other hand, it makes a lot of sense for certain nations (particularly Gridania and Ishgard) to have their own distinct languages. But I'd expect such a thing would have been mentioned by the lore. And that really is the problem: At the end, no matter what our guts tells us, or how logical it'd be to have multiple languages, the fact is that they are never mentioned anywhere in the game except for ancient roegadyn. This pretty much implies that there is only one language in use as far as the canon is concerned.

Wildstar's greatest sin is the character creation. It's pretty limited, even with face sliders. It's like you are twaking Carbine's characters rather than making your own unique individual. It's...well, it's pretty bad in that department. The only reason I liked the characters I liked was because I settled with one and she grew on me after 10 or so levels. Oh, and the female running and walking animations are horrid. Despite of that, though, I had a lot of fun during their last Beta. I don't think I have any complains about it besides what I mentioned. I'm sure that will change once I get to play it for more than a weekend, of course.

Let me try. Sadly, Eorzea's paladins and Azeroth's aren't really the same thing, so translating them might not be perfect. Also, I have no idea how old your character is supposed to be, so you might have to tweak things to fit chronology. Changes are in bolds. Biggest change you'll notice is that paladins/sultansworn in this game don't have a religious creed: they are essentially the Sultana's praetorian guard and, while they still have the whole paladin stick of defending the innocent and being overall a good guy, they don't have a "Light" analogue. So your character's disgust will be more towards Ul'dah's high society and politics rather than a god-like being. I guess he could be angry at the Mother Crystal, Hydaelyn, but that wouldn't be particularly related to the Paladin's oath, as far as I can tell.

While you see it as a reward for reaching the level cap, I see it as them holding the system hostage. If they had restricted it to level 15 I wouldn't mind so much because it would be consistent with dyes. But this seems absolutely arbitrary. Also, the restrictions say you can only glamour things that can be used by the same classes, so I'm suspecting that you won't be able to have your plate armor look like a potato sack. But I don't know, nor care anymore. This system is useless to me and most roleplayers, so whatever. It's only for end-game play. It might as well not exist for me.

Everything nice and dandy except this part: For duck sake. I already knew the glamour system was designed with end-game play in mind, but this is ridicolous. We can't glamour things while we level up. This has to be the most annoying and arbitrary restriction they have implemented yet.

Ul'dah's Quicksand has a lot of space compared to the Drowning Wench: more NPC free tables, the bar is pretty long, and there's railings people like to lean to. Though, as you say, Limsa has the restaurant which has more tables than any tavern or inn anywhere. Ul'dah also has a design more reminiscent to a real city. There's two wide and long avenues and a central plaza that connects everything else together. Moving through it is more intuitive than Limsa's walkways and ramps. But it also has another advantage, the most importaant maybe: it's in the center of Eorzea, so everything 'is close', in a way. With that said, I think Limsa's the prettiest city.

Only if your character is a Disciple of War.

Besides what ExKage has pointed out, Garleans can't use aetherites because they are unable to use aether. That's why they abuse magitek so much, to make up for their lack of 'proper' magic. I don't think they could teleport their machinery with them, even if they could: people still use carriages, carts and ships to transport goods. This implies objects you are not currently carrying cannot be teleported via aetherite. And garleans without magitek backup are just regular mooks. Their only choice for sending troops via aetherites would be to somehow smuggle a crapton of Ala Mhigan conscripts into, say, Ul'dah, make them attune to the aetherite and then leave...so they can teleport back again with their battle gear, I guess. I don't see much strategical value in that: if you have troops who are already infiltrated in the city, would you make them leave so you can send them back in? Anyway, back to the topic: I don't pay much attention to in-game time too much. I drive myself through convention: we decide if a scene is supposed to happen at a particular hour and then go with it. If it's random RP, I avoid mentioning it until someone else does. I do the same with the weather.

I would say that Square's chosen armor restriction and glamour system are reflection of them wanting to preserve their prefered aesthetic identity for characters in the game. Essentially, they'd be subscribing to the "We are the Author Gods and our Creative Intent is Holier than yours". I would say that, but I won't. The armor system and glamour isn't consistent enough with each other to say that. As Aeriyn has said, tanks get the wider spectrum of clothes to wear. If Squee wanted to preserve their character design, they wouldn't have this armor system. They'd have something like Guild Wars 2, where your class can only wear one very specific type of armor and no other. The system seems dissapointing right now. But if they add class-less versions of currently class restricted gear for crafters to make, they might manage to make it a lot more useful. I hope that's their plan, anyway.

The problem I see with using "Looking for Party" is that you will eventually run into people who are actually looking for a party and not for roleplay. The best would be to use some other tag that non-roleplayers wouldn't use normally. Sadly, I don't think any of the ones we have available right now would work, since I think the AFK and Busy tags make you immune to tells or something. I've never tried them, though.

((This is in-game RP, formated and slightly edited to make sense: we moved a bit around and a copy-paste of the chatlog didn't make sense. It happens a day or so after this thread.. Actors are K'airos and Aeriyn. Also, at some point it rained but it was lost in translation. Woops!)) A white haired miqo’te woman dressed in red and gold robes walked around Crescent Cove’s plaza, or the closest thing the fishing village had to one. “Not here...” she muttered under her breath. On a nearby building, a Brass Blade was leaning on its wooden railing, looking both confused and bored. A smallshell ran wildly around, poking its claws into places and eating whatever it picked up. She noticed the well dressed woman, who was extremely well dressed for the Cove. ”Hey!” she waved. The other woman turned around, stopping her search long enough to say “What?” and then, once she had looked at the waving person, she added "Oh, a Blade." That one adjusted her mask and approached. “Uh...state your business, citizen!” “I was supposed to meet someone here. Have you seen him? Highlander, big, carries a long spear?” the well-dressed woman answered. “Is he a fisherman? Why is he fishing with a spear?” “No, he's a lancer.” “...who fishes!” “Maybe he does. I don't know his habits. He's supposed to have some samples for my research.” The Brass Blade circled around her. "Oh, you are a thaumaturge?" she said as she stopped walking. "Well, there are some...strong.looking men with wide shoulders in the docks. Maybe one of them is a highlander?" “Yes. Well, I looked and none of those men are him. I hope nothing happened...” The smallshell that was lurking nearby got closer to the Blade and started poking pieces of dirt and sand from under her heels. She did not pay any attention to it. "Well...I guess he hasn't arrived yet. What's your research about? Fishes?" she asked. ”It's... well, I'm not sure I can explain it exactly. I study magic of all different types and methodologies.” the other woman explained. “I have been working to... create a unified theory of aetheric manipulation. There are many different types of magic used, and I have put forth the hypothesis that they are all interconnected.” Fidgeting slightly and watching the smallshell's antics, she added: “Oh, I should introduce myself. I'm Aeriyn Ashley. It's not a miqo'te name; I'm adopted.” The Blade leant slightly forward, declaring: "I'm K'airos Thalen." Then, gesturing to the smallshell, she added: "And that's Shelly!" Aeriyn smiled. "K'airos... hm. You... look familiar." ”...do I?” blinked the other. Aeriyn gazed deeply at the other miqo'te, her oddly-colored ears twitching. ”Yes. You look like a woman I met in Drybone.” She sniffed the air. “You smell the same, too, though... somewhat more pungent." K'airos raised one hand and rubed the tip of her right ear. "I think I woudld re…oh! I was stationed there like a month ago? Maybe I just...left my scent all over the place...” She stopped, feeling suddenly embarassed by that last sentence. “No. I don't think so. K'airos... K is the Hipparion tribe of the southern Sagolii, yes? I suppose it was a relative of yours She didn't have a miqo'te name, either, though... maybe it was an alias.” “You have the geography right! How did she look like?” the Blade asked. “Was she shouty and mean? 'cause I know that one!” “Like you. But older. A little frumpy. Wore glasses. Seemed... nervous and in some sort of trouble.” ”Oh, that'd be my...my...!” K'airos lost her grip of the language and couldn't find the proper word. "Yeah! I know her! She's...unrelated." "Ah, I see." Aeriyn nodded, catching on the unspoken warning. K’airos managed to change the subject without coughing even once: “So where do you come from? You don't smell like the usual Ul'dahn woman.” “I live in Limsa Lominsa. I used to live in Ul'dah, though. Until things happened. My research takes me all over Eorzea, though.” “It must be nice to travel all over the continent! Why don't we wait for your friend under the shadow?” the blade offered, pointing at the shadows casued by the cliffs a few dozen feet behind Aeriyn. ”All right.” They walked there, beyond a short wooden bridge that felt like it was about to fall apart, into the shadows. Someone had been smart enough to build a house under the cliff’s shade. Both women stopped at the side of the bridge, from where a rope railing extended towards the house. “ This is better!” K’airos exclaimed. “ I don't miss the heat.” “I figured! I lived in a desert, so I'm im-munized! Or...used to it, anyway.” ” That makes sense. I lived here for a while, but I never got used to it. I suppose I was born in the Shroud, or somewhere else, but I don't know for sure.” K’airos took the chance to remove her Blade mask and turban, tying them to her belt. “I don't... remember anything from before Cartenau.” Aeriyn continued. “Were you there?” “Yes.” A pause. “Places, people, events I remember. But nothing about myself. It's... curious. Aeriyn shook her head and scanned the camp again, trying to find her missing contact. K'airos didn’t have words, but she filled the gap with a gentle tapping of the other woman's shoulder. After that, she found some words. "I'm sorry, but I guess that means you remember your family, right?" ”I don't. Nothing about myself or those connected to myself.” K’airos avoided pouting. “That sounds unfair. How does that type of amnesia even work?” “I remember Cartenau, the legatus, the Grand Company response to Garlean aggression... I don't know. I suspect it's not natural.” “Well, not everyday a moon falls on you and...mm.” K’airos paused, but didn’t stop long enough to let her thoughts and memories go far. “Do you think there's other people with that sickness?” “Possibly. I haven't encountered any others, though. After the battle, I remember nothing. When I came to, I was in Thanalan.” K’airos pondered, raising he reyes to the sky. “I was in the battle, too. I don't remember it finishing. I just woke up much, much later. My sister was nursing me back to health. But it was long enough for the Flames and my uncle to declare me dead.” Aeriyn frowned. "Most of us didn't walk away from that battlefield unscathed." K'airos Thalen leant over the rope. She found it flimsy, and it bent quite a bit thanks to her weight. “Some didn't. Mpf. You know... this is really depressing! What's your highlander's name?” “The aether currents are warped around you.” K’airos change of subject, as daring as it was, wasn’t match for that kind of conversational direction. She looked at Aeriyn, shocked. “What?” Aeriyn gazed directly at her and frowned. "How interesting. They're shifting almost completely out of phase..." “I don't...what are you talking about?” said the Blade, still confused. Aeriyn Ashley drew a thread of aether between her fingers and tried to shape it into a glowing rune while standing next to K'airos. The thread twisted, wavered and shuddered until her willpower managed to force it into the correct alignment. ”Fascinating!”she exclaimed. K’airos confusion vanished, leaving the way open to an outraged stomp of feet. ”What's that supposed to mean?” she demanded. Aeriyn looked at her with surprise. “ What do you mean--oh...you didn't do this to yourself? Oh, of course you didn't, you aren't a mage... how would you do it... to shift someone's aetheric field a hundred and eighty degrees out of phase...” she gazed upon the other woman, considering the matter. “This is unprecedented.” she begun “I've never even heard of this before, or even imagined it. You--the aetheric currents that flow throughout the world are warping and twisting around you! And you aren't dying horribly as a result.” Some muttering followed, mostly to herself. She reached into her robe and pulled out a pad of paper where she furiously started to scrawl upon. Meanwhile, K'airos's ears sat at a low angle. "This is a joke, right? You can't be serious about...whatever this is! I don't even know WHAT this is!" ”Oh, I'm quite serious... and amazed.” was the reply “It must've been Dalamud; or perhaps something at the battle. Perhaps Garlean magitech malfunction... were you near any exploding magitech armors? Ceruleum spills?” “Wh- no! Nothing like that! It just...I was knocked out!” K’airos clarified, event hough she didn’t remember exactly what happened. “Well, how would you know what happened if you were unconscious?” K'airos made her hands into fists, keeping her arms straight down and leaning slightly forward. “I was found by my sister after the battle was over. And she studies magic! She would have told me if there was anythign wrong with me!” The red robed woman frowned and her tail repeatedly curled and uncurled around her left thigh. "That would largely depend on her knowledge of magecraft. Many people use magic; less study it for its own sake. What methodology does your sister use?” K’airos was quiet for a very long moment as she tried to remember exactly where D’aijeen studied magic. “She was with the thaumaturges.” she said at last. “And she went to the Conjurer Guild in the Shroud.” ”Both thaumaturgy and conjury? I don't suppose this is a much older sister, is it?” K’airos was strangely angered by that question. "People need to stop thinking she's older!" she muttered under her breath. Aeriyn Ashley walked to the opposite side of the bridge, to another railing. She looked out across the sea. "My apologies; I didn't mean to offend you. I was only trying to gauge her potential ability. A younger sister that dabbles in both thaumaturgy and conjury is unlikely to have the training and skill necessary to cause something like this..." “Cause? You didn't...how could you think she'd do something...!” K'airos felt even more outraged, but then she suddenly calmed down. “Wait, what's -this- exactly?” “It's important to consider all variables. There's something very odd about you, magically speaking.” the other woman explained, turning around to face her. “I can't place exactly what it is, but as I already mentioned, the natural currents and flow of aether is distorted by your presence. Wherever you move, the field effect is distorted.” Not really sure she understood anything that was being said, K’airos ventured a question: “And why do you think that should have killed me?” Aeriyn turned away and looked at the water again. "The only other place I've seen that happen is in the presence of corrupted crystalline aether." "Like the Burning Wall?" ”Yes.” “ ...so my...aether-fields are like a pretty auburn crystal?” “I suppose that's one way of looking at it. But if you actually have been contaminated by corrupted aether, you shouldn't be alive. It's extremely toxic to living things... Animals may transform into monsters, but people usually just die.” The young Blade shifted in place, one hand combing her pigtails nervously. "Well...maybe you are wrong, I'm fine and you...you are just not good at that rune magic you did!" Aeriyn took a step away from K'airos and repeated the sigil-shaping, this time executing it perfectly. "Magic frays slightly around you."she said. “You could really help my research tremendously if you would allow me to obtain a sample...” K'airos dropped her shoulders and ears at that last Word .” You are a stranger! I don't...give samples to strangers.” “ Oh, not THAT sort of sample...” “Wh-oh no! I didn't mean...! That would...and I....and then you...!” K’airos trailed off, waving her hands in front of her, denying anything and everything. The mage looked faintly alarmed and held her hands up to placate the other, "I just want to draw off a bit of the raw aether. No blood or hair or... any sort of bodily fluids…” “...you could be a succubus for all I know!” “... and... what?" Aeriyn blinked. “You are pale, you are -too- well dressed for this village, looking for a man that is not here, and your staff looks evil!”K'airos explained with great alarm. She pointed at the other woman’s gloves. “And your gloves are shaped like black claws!" Aeriyn Ashley looked at them, "Yes, well, I am outfitted for battle. I did not know what to expect. The adventurer I hired already left, so should I not protect myself?” “Maybe he ran away after you told him his aether was all weird and that he should be dead...! Or something!” ”I didn't tell him that, and there's nothing unusual about his interactions with the field effect...” Aeriyn replied, losing herself in thought for a brief time. ”He probably ran into trouble. Oh, my... I should go look for him.” she concluded, but shook the idea quickly enough. “But... a sample! You could help advance Eorzean knowledge of magic tremendously!” “I'll...have the thaumaturges look at me when I get back at the city, but I'm not giving you a sample of...of any kind!” was K’airos answer. Aeriyn shook her head. “They won't know what to look for. Only knowledge of the black would reveal this and none are left at the Ossuary..." K'airos Thalen took a step back and searched the floor with her eyes for her smallshell friend, who until now had been wandering all over the place, picking succesful fights with the dirt of the Cove. “That sounds like what a succubus who wants to eat my soul would say!” she said without looking up to Aeriyn. That one sighed and shook her head, her ears and tail drooping in clear disappointment, "Well, if you don't want to help, I guess I can't do anything about it." K'airos Thalen knelt down and picked up the crab, much to its sheer terror. "That's very kind for a succubus in disguise!" “But I'm not a succubus. I'm a Keeper.” she frowned, wringing rainwater from her pigtails, noticing that the hood of her robe had filled with water. K'airos yelled "Same thing!" evidently missing the point of what the other woman had just said. "Don't follow me! I have the authority to put you in jail!" she added, turning around and walking away with the terrorized crab between her arms. “Well.” Aeriyn shrugged. “That was strange...”

I must say Squee is adding a bunch of pretty nice looking stuff. But the thing I'm most excited about are the dyed 'unique' armors and robes that appear around 4:50. My only fear is that they'll be just a there for the video and not in game. Or that they are obtainable only by PvP or something silly like that. Otherwise it looks nice. Also: gardens!

Under this logic a restaurant handing you a sandwich filled with poo is also a master stroke because the chef sandwich-making will evolve until he does something actually eateable. Even though there are a dozen other restaurants who hand perfectly eateable sandwiches from the beginning of their sandwich-making. I cannot accept this logic, but to each one their own, as they say. If you wonder why I stay in this restaurant, it's because the salads are very, very good.

It would seem like there's a pretty violent clash of micro-canons here, if not outright harassment by someone who misunderstood how law enforcement works in an RP setting. If you haven't tried direct OOC diplomacy, I suggest you do. But if it doesn't (or didn't) work, the only thing left to do is to call it quits. If you are not having fun, there is no reason to continue with it.

Releasing a prototype of a system without telling the community that is a prototype is a pretty mean move from part of the developers, not a master stroke. It confuses people, making them believe that the system is set in stone when it really isn't. That's just a good way to amplify any potential frustration. If it is really a prototype, I sure hope Squeenix will tell us. But I doubt that is the case. The only prototyp-ish thing about it is that it's a pretty dated and 'vanilla' system. It's what I'd expect a developer to release if vanity functions in MMOs were a new thing in the genre. The only restriction I could understand are Job specific iconic gear (so pretty much all the AF stuff). I wouldn't mind having those off-limits for the prisms. But keeping class restrictions on non-iconic gear that will not affect your stats at all? I just don't follow.

Pros: No more levelling up as a clown! Cons: Everything else.

That brings the question of how do you know they aren't complaining there, too? I would agree with this if this was a forum about bakery. Then our complains about ARR wouldn't be relevant. But this is a forum dedicated to a very particular game and with a focus on roleplaying. The vanity system is something that affects roleplayers a lot (because it affects how our characters will look during IC interactions), so I don't see how it can be misplaced, unless you think the forums should be a place of pure love for the game (or at least neutral non-complaining statements). Which kind of defeats the purpose of a forum, if you ask me. Specially considering how crappy Squee's moderators are at their work.

If we had no fun at all we wouldn't waste our time complaining every time Squeenix fails to understand they don't need to reinvent the wheel. We would have moved on to something that deserved our criticism and showed signs of wanting to improve in not stupid ways. I should also mentiont that I do not like that the vanity system was designed for end-game use. It's pretty silly, and it punishes people who haven't reached level 50 in all their classes, not to mention it strangles player creativity by forcing the AUTHOR's HOLY VISION upon them.

The letter says "any gear", so I would assume that includes weapons. Unless...it doesn't. I guess we'll find out soon. Also, I think prisms are consumables. You store an appareance on them and then consume them to apply that appareance on something else.