(07-19-2013, 11:36 AM)doctorgalactic Wrote: I've given my character an aspiration beyond what his current situation enables him to do. Â Mincing words about what it means to be a real Dragoon is something that in my opinion should be saved for RP purposes, not game defining stances.
I'm not entirely clear what you mean by this. We're discussing character backgrounds, which are strictly for RP purposes.
Also, it doesn't really fall into "mincing" words. There's a lore background, and definition for what is, and isn't a Dragoon. Nobody's trying to hamper your imagination here, but again, MMO's in particular tend to allow players to do things that don't necessarily make sense in the overall scheme of the game's story.
For example: Every time a character goes into a dungeon, the critters within will behave exactly the same, every time. The bosses will have the same monologue, if they offer one, every time. If it's a dungeon with a story? That story will be the same every time. There isn't an assembly line out there with endless Big Bad whatevers. It's a concession of sense made for the sake of play.
The multiple players running around as Dragoons are the same sort of thing. A concession made for the sake of play. People want to play these classes. That's cool. The storyline of the game itself says that pretty much nobody makes it into that super-special secret club. That'd be dandy as well, if it weren't for the sheer volume of people present in the world, all wanting to play that class, most of whom will never roleplay, or even invent a backstory for their character.
So, rather than change the story (And honestly, from what I've seen in Beta, there's no shortage of "You are the Chosen One!"), they just wrap it all up in it's own little pocket (instances and solo-quests), and tell every player the same bit.
When we then take that into an arena where multiple people are contributing to a combined narrative (roleplayers in a roleplaying community), we're going to have to accept that our characters are not necessarily going to be everything the writers of the main-quests make them out to be. Honestly, the mechanics of the game don't support the "Chosen One" business, but that's another kettle all together.
Back on point: With that in mind, it's important to respect the boundaries set by the world, and it's history. Your character should make sense in the context of the world that they exist. Liberties can be taken here and there, but there are a few lines you just don't really want to cross. The Job system is wonderful for gameplay. The lore surrounding the jobs themselves makes a lot of this background business a mess (they're all basically super exclusive little sub-societies).
Do I wish they didn't do it that way? Yyyyeah, I kind of do. I mean, it gives the Jobs a sense of identity in the world, but it also excludes the players (by and large) from ever truly being a member of their lofty ranks.
I suppose in the end, you're right in saying that the lore interpretation of Dragoons in this particular case is elitist. It is. Unashamedly so. Because they are elites. But, we didn't make it that way. We're just kind of rolling with what we're being dealt.
