(03-09-2015, 11:36 AM)Gegenji Wrote:(03-09-2015, 11:01 AM)Graeham Ridgefield Wrote: I'm willing to compromise, of course, but generally there's some stuff I try to avoid altogether simply because I find it ridiculous. The casual use of Fantasia is a major example, especially with so many people expressing a desire to turn their character into an Au Ra when the expansion is upon us.
To me, that strikes me as odd and pretty lazy. It also suggests - to me at least - that it's not worth involving myself with their character in-depth because chances are they'll just latch onto whatever happens to the 'flavour of the month' at the time and expect everybody else to play along.
You have to wonder, though. How much of it IS just 'flavour of the month' and how much is it people changing over to a race/class they would've started out with if they had existed at the time of character creation? We have folks who've RPed as having guns/interest in magitek, we've had fortunetellers and diviners, and there's plenty of folks who totally made their character a Dark Knight rather than a Paladin or Warrior if it had been available.
Who's to say it can't be the same with the Au Ra? It's just a situation of race rather than class, so it seems a more... "jarring" transition. And not everyone is willing to roll up an entirely new character for the race they would've wanted to begin with, so - if they want to continue RPing with that character - they're really left with three options:
1. ) I WAS AN AU RA ALL ALONG - Using glamours and whatnot to explain why their Miqo'te was actually a dragonperson.
2.) OOPS, FANTASIA - Using an item that has been used plenty of times before in some RPs (much to the chagrin of others, at times) to have a character switch from one race to another.
3.) I'M DED - the most extreme choice, ICly killing their character and introducing themselves as their new, Au Ra form.
Sure, there'll still be folks who are doing it just because it's the new thing - I'm not saying there won't be. I'm just averse to just marking it up to laziness or being a flavour of the month thing.
It just feels like a cheap move to me. There's so little racial lore in this game as it stands when compared to the likes of ESO and WoW so it just feels jarring when people acknowledge the ability to change their character's race on a whim.
It's not something I've seen happen in other MMO's so I have no idea why it's so widespread in this community. Perhaps it's a cultural thing, though - since it seems to be something that American role-players are much more eager to embrace whereas my fellow European brethren don't. (Though I could be wrong, of course!)
I just favour the idea of using it OOC and starting with a fresh character. Heck, they can even make the character very similar to their original character!
So long as people don't force their views on anybody else it's fine - but on the other hand, they should be free to explain themselves and inform people of what they think without being branded as an elitist wanker.
I've said this in countless other threads but a lot of the people branded 'elitist' in this community are very friendly and lovely to interact with whilst many of those who claim to be open, welcoming and lace their every word with sugar are actually the ones who are manipulative jerks and difficult to work with if you're not in their little social circles.
It's why I take most of what I read on this site with a pinch of salt.
