Quote:Pretty much. People complain when a person's RP gets too outlandish or their characters become "godly" but what's more out there than your character being the hero of all the mission stories in FFXI?
Your hero being a fallen angel/risen demon.
Your hero coming from another universe
Your hero being a lesbian vampire with mind control
For a few... Almost all RPGs follow the trope of the stronger-than-life hero (you) saving the day. XI and XIV just add in a bunch of other players.
Yes, I think the cut-scenes should include the rest of your party, but many times in game it is made clear that you aren't supposed to be doing this by yourself. No one can say that XI is a solo game, by any means. To get to the end of the storylines, you have to cooperate with people. MANY people. If you RP the missions/storylines together, it just makes that all the more vivid.
You are supposed to be a powerful adventurer, yes (wouldn't we all be a lot stronger IRL if we ran literally everywhere and had to carry 100 lbs of gear around with us everywhere?), but the game never suggests that you are supposed to be more powerful than the main enemies. That's why you have to go through the missions and quests in teams.
Quote:I hope that XIV's main plotline will be done differently, or at least have some sense of the community accomplishing goals.
The biggest sense of community in the game I ever got was going through the entire CoP storyline with my linkshell. It sadly wasn't a RP linkshell, but it was a close, tight-knit group of friends who I'd never met in person but even after we went our separate ways outside of the game, we still continued to call each other up on the phone just to say hey.
I also don't recall doing Dynamis solo, or Ballista/Brenner by myself, or taking down the lesser gods, or fighting a dragon... all those I had to do with the immense participation and co-operation from friends and shellmates, and not once did I ever feel like I was the sole hero in those instances. In fact the more I think about it, the more I am wondering how you guys could see those things as anything other than teamwork, and intentional teamwork at that on S-E's part.
http://www.tale-ffxiv.com
The Adventure League of Eorzea: A progression & RP guild. FFXIV's longest-running RPLS