For my latest instigation, I wanted to bring up a topic which bothers me mildly. Not quite the promised topic about the possible whitewashing of Miqo'te tribal lore, alas. This particular topic concerns playing characters who are not the native race of the nation they hail from.Â
Yes, immediately, we can cite examples of exceptional cases existing within the lore. That's fine; I'm not denying the existence of such cases. As I've said before, it's not a law of physics, so it's not impossible. Instead, rather than impossible it's just be very unlikely at most, or generally considered strange in-universe. Again, fine. The argument is from a character-building perspective; not questioning the validity but the authenticity.
Let's take the egregious, caricature example of the Miqo'te Dragoon. My immediate response is that players who construct these characters are a textbook case of wanting to have their cake and eat it too. They want to play a pretty cat race and a badass spearman famed within the Final Fantasy mythos. I might be wrong, hence why I'm creating this thread to begin with!
But my issue is this; if I wanted to play an authentic English Knight, I would play a fair-skinned Briton. If I wanted to play an authentic Samurai, I would play a Japanese gentleman. If I wanted to play an authentic Maasai chieftain, I would play a dark-skinned Kenyan. Similarly, if I wanted to play an authentic Ishgardian Dragoon, I would play an Elezen or Hyur. If I wanted to play an authentic Ala Mhigan, I would play a Highlander. And so on. I don't believe in the argument "It makes it more interesting", because I don't believe that an exotic race or exotic occupation is needed to make your character interesting (it is your character's character which makes your character interesting!). Moreover, if being a race that defies that nation's norm is intended to make the character more interesting, why is it always Miqo'te?
While citing examples of exceptions existing in real-life history to the cited real-life analogies is fine, that doesn't change the reality of the fact that these cultures exist accordingly because of a majority demographic. Nations like Ishgard are explicitly portrayed as being Elezen-dominant, so why not play an Elezen? You can play the exception, fine, but is there a reason you did not pick the main race? That is the question I am putting forward!Â
Ultimately, this doesn't really change whether or not I'm going to roleplay with someone or not, because I roleplay with everyone regardless. If someone wants to play a pretty cat and be something, then, well, go ahead! I've heard stories of people being bothered in whispers about lorebreaking by random people not even roleplaying with them, but just in the general area, and I really want to keep my name far from that sort of behavior. In the face of the above exceptions, my character will react accordingly, but otherwise? I still love all of you!
Yes, immediately, we can cite examples of exceptional cases existing within the lore. That's fine; I'm not denying the existence of such cases. As I've said before, it's not a law of physics, so it's not impossible. Instead, rather than impossible it's just be very unlikely at most, or generally considered strange in-universe. Again, fine. The argument is from a character-building perspective; not questioning the validity but the authenticity.
Let's take the egregious, caricature example of the Miqo'te Dragoon. My immediate response is that players who construct these characters are a textbook case of wanting to have their cake and eat it too. They want to play a pretty cat race and a badass spearman famed within the Final Fantasy mythos. I might be wrong, hence why I'm creating this thread to begin with!
But my issue is this; if I wanted to play an authentic English Knight, I would play a fair-skinned Briton. If I wanted to play an authentic Samurai, I would play a Japanese gentleman. If I wanted to play an authentic Maasai chieftain, I would play a dark-skinned Kenyan. Similarly, if I wanted to play an authentic Ishgardian Dragoon, I would play an Elezen or Hyur. If I wanted to play an authentic Ala Mhigan, I would play a Highlander. And so on. I don't believe in the argument "It makes it more interesting", because I don't believe that an exotic race or exotic occupation is needed to make your character interesting (it is your character's character which makes your character interesting!). Moreover, if being a race that defies that nation's norm is intended to make the character more interesting, why is it always Miqo'te?
While citing examples of exceptions existing in real-life history to the cited real-life analogies is fine, that doesn't change the reality of the fact that these cultures exist accordingly because of a majority demographic. Nations like Ishgard are explicitly portrayed as being Elezen-dominant, so why not play an Elezen? You can play the exception, fine, but is there a reason you did not pick the main race? That is the question I am putting forward!Â
Ultimately, this doesn't really change whether or not I'm going to roleplay with someone or not, because I roleplay with everyone regardless. If someone wants to play a pretty cat and be something, then, well, go ahead! I've heard stories of people being bothered in whispers about lorebreaking by random people not even roleplaying with them, but just in the general area, and I really want to keep my name far from that sort of behavior. In the face of the above exceptions, my character will react accordingly, but otherwise? I still love all of you!
