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Aaron · **08-30-2015, 08:41 AM**

When in doubt, go Midlander master race.

Cailean Lockwood · **08-30-2015, 09:21 AM**

(08-30-2015, 08:41 AM)Aaron Wrote: When in doubt, go Midlander master race.

Ew, no...

...

Anyways, I LOVE RP'ing as a male Au Ra Xaela. He's very rough around the edges due to his tribal/barbaric upbringing, but his time in Eorzea and the people he's met has slowly soften those edges, and I feel like it makes for interesting RP.

Before he came to Eorzea, he didn't know how to express emotions, because it was just not something they did in his tribe, so now that he's learning to open more up and confront all the oppressed anger and pain he's kept inside of him, he's evolving as a person.

Because damnit, the Au Ra have experienced so much pain! Their entire homeland has basically been obliterated by the Garleans, entire tribes wiped out and they were forced to flee from their country.

I guess because I have found some awesome people to RP with, that helps alot, because they have helped Vachir confronting his demons, and at the same time Vachir is caught up in their lives and their problems. That's what RP is about, imo.

I hope you find some way to make your RP and character more interesting. If you feel bored with it, make something new up and add it to the RP, or find someone else with some issues who your character can focus on and help with.

Oli! · **08-30-2015, 09:57 AM**

(08-30-2015, 02:54 AM)Ashe Wrote: I learned a lot about the mongols before I switched my major in college.
I am wondering if it's just the fact I'm RPing a female character (I am a girl who sucks at rping girls >> but she's just so boring. I am comparing her to all of the stuff I do on my Elezen and it's like...she's so lame >.< I can't think of ways to change her.

People are people and should be thought of as people first.

Instead of thinking about how much of an Au Ra your Au Ra is, think about what sort of person you want them to be, and what sorts of stories you want them to fit into. Once you have a steady basis for this, then the rest of their identity (being an Au Ra, being a Female, whatever) should be slotted in in ways that don't interfere with your core concept. Those two facets of their identity may change their outlook and the way that they behave, for example, but their core concept should still be intact regardless.

If you think too much in terms of "my character needs to be <X> first and <Y> second," then you'll get so caught up in terms of making them seem to be those two things that you'll end up not knowing what you want to do with the character in the first place. Those two things are secondary; I like to say that any solid character concept can be re-purposed to be played by just about anything; a "skilled, wise-cracking treasure hunter" can be Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, or a Genderless Slug from Outer-Space, if that's what your story calls for.

So think of a solid grounding first, if you have one, and then build around what they are from there. Don't let whatever identity they have be the primary jumping-off point for their creation, or you're going to have a hard time, like you are right now.

***Nero*** · **08-30-2015, 09:59 AM**

(08-30-2015, 04:09 AM)Calliope Cloverbloom Wrote: Were it me, I'd examine first the question "what do /I/ want to get out of this character's story", and then link up with other Au Ra players who are of a like mind.

This is the advice I would give.

The reason I was interested in rolling a Xaela was because I had a set of specific themes I wanted to explore and challenge other players with. One of those, for example, was the difficulty of collaborating with someone who possessed a fundamentally different way of thinking, and the tendency for people to project the standards of their own society upon those who are ignorant of those same standards.

Raen don't have nearly as much wiggle room as Xaela in exploring these themes. I appreciate the fact that there's little to no real concrete lore in Xaela because it's allowed me a great amount of freedom in writing them so I can establish the themes I want to establish.

So, like Calliope said, I'd try to find out what you want out of a character's story. How do you want to see them grow? What kind of reactions do you want to see out of them? What kind of conflicts or friction with other characters do you find interesting, and how can you write your character to cause such friction?

Aaron · **08-30-2015, 11:06 AM**

(08-30-2015, 09:21 AM)Vachir Crimsonborn Wrote:
(08-30-2015, 08:41 AM)Aaron Wrote: When in doubt, go Midlander master race.

Ew, no...

...

Anyways, I LOVE RP'ing as a male Au Ra Xaela. He's very rough around the edges due to his tribal/barbaric upbringing, but his time in Eorzea and the people he's met has slowly soften those edges, and I feel like it makes for interesting RP.

Before he came to Eorzea, he didn't know how to express emotions, because it was just not something they did in his tribe, so now that he's learning to open more up and confront all the oppressed anger and pain he's kept inside of him, he's evolving as a person.

Because damnit, the Au Ra have experienced so much pain! Their entire homeland has basically been obliterated by the Garleans, entire tribes wiped out and they were forced to flee from their country.

I guess because I have found some awesome people to RP with, that helps alot, because they have helped Vachir confronting his demons, and at the same time Vachir is caught up in their lives and their problems. That's what RP is about, imo.

I hope you find some way to make your RP and character more interesting. If you feel bored with it, make something new up and add it to the RP, or find someone else with some issues who your character can focus on and help with.

Lizard kin please. You don't compare to Midlander superiority v_v

Back on topic, generally my advice when you make a character is to keep your options open. Focusing on following a special path tends to cause you to hit a lot of walls and eventually burn out. Try experimenting.

Oli! · **08-30-2015, 11:18 AM**

You're spelling Highlander wrong, in case you didn't notice.

Cailean Lockwood · **08-30-2015, 11:44 AM**

(08-30-2015, 11:06 AM)Aaron Wrote: Lizard kin please. You don't compare to Midlander superiority v_v

Back on topic, generally my advice when you make a character is to keep your options open. Focusing on following a special path tends to cause you to hit a lot of walls and eventually burn out. Try experimenting.

Superiority? I'm not sure a short, girlish-looking man should say that about himself. But I invite you to my bed to prove me wrong. Like you said... try experiementing. Wink

I agree on all other accounts. ^^
It's good to have a settled background for your character and give him/her some goals in life, but if that's the only thing they focus on, it can get boring and trivial, and as Aaron says, you can get burned out on it.

Cato · **08-30-2015, 11:51 AM**

There's nothing 'girlish' about most Midlanders::

[Image: baa472ca431be66577b0db8a56c3e226f23be4d1.jpg]

...though back on topic: I've had some difficulty finding role-play on my Au Ra but I could say that about Graeham as well. Unless I specifically approach someone in advance and arrange something it seems like role-play doesn't lead anywhere. I might get some brief random role-play, yes, but after that? Nothing consistent. People have a habit of adding each other to their friend's list after initial contact and...then never getting around to interacting with each other ever again.

In some cases there's a good reason for this - such as being busy, in a different time zone or just no longer interested. In other cases it feels like many role-players are just inconsistent and unreliable.

It's why I mostly just stick to interacting with members of my FC these days. Though I do try and expand my network of contacts when and where I can. It's exhausting though at times.

I really like the tribal aspect of Au Ra - which is why I created a Xaela and a Dotharl at that. Yet far, far too many role-players are either only interested in getting ERP or they expect an Au Ra to basically just be portrayed as a Hyur with scales and horns.

Aaron · **08-30-2015, 11:55 AM**

(08-30-2015, 11:44 AM)Vachir Crimsonborn Wrote:
(08-30-2015, 11:06 AM)Aaron Wrote: Lizard kin please. You don't compare to Midlander superiority v_v

Back on topic, generally my advice when you make a character is to keep your options open. Focusing on following a special path tends to cause you to hit a lot of walls and eventually burn out. Try experimenting.

Superiority? I'm not sure a short, girlish-looking man should say that about himself. But I invite you to my bed to prove me wrong. Like you said... try experiementing.

I agree on all other accounts. ^^
It's good to have a settled background for your character and give him/her some goals in life, but if that's the only thing they focus on, it can get boring and trivial, and as Aaron says, you can get burned out on it.

Hey its called being bishounen!

And lmao i see what you did there.

X'nath · **08-30-2015, 12:20 PM**

If we're all speaking of personal experiences, then no, I'm not having any difficulty. I chose a Dotharl [2 actually, working on leveling the second rather recently] because I knew it'd give me more to build off of. I've been there to feel the underlying conflicting tone that Dotharl did all these terrible things back in Othard, and after coming here to Eorzea, they do need to fight against that urge to kill and take as they please... But, there are outlets, ways to take care of that need if it can be called that by going after the Garleans be they the remnants in southern Eorzea or up in Azys Lla.

They gave us enough lore on the Xaela to begin with... I mean, you can pretty much free-build your back story in Othard to here... it's already established by the game story that the Xaela came down from Othard to coast of Ishgard [we're not so lucky like the Raen and Doman people who got to Thanalan and Vesper Bay] so we've a number of years to play with as well from landing, nearly being killed and executed by Temple Knights, to either fully adapting or scavenging to work out a possible life.

If you want help with a bit of theory building, feel free to message me here or find me in game on Skar Blackthorn

Korin · **08-30-2015, 12:46 PM**

(08-30-2015, 11:51 AM)Graeham Wrote: ...though back on topic: I've had some difficulty finding role-play on my Au Ra but I could say that about Graeham as well. Unless I specifically approach someone in advance and arrange something it seems like role-play doesn't lead anywhere. I might get some brief random role-play, yes, but after that? Nothing consistent. People have a habit of adding each other to their friend's list after initial contact and...then never getting around to interacting with each other ever again.

In some cases there's a good reason for this - such as being busy, in a different time zone or just no longer interested. In other cases it feels like many role-players are just inconsistent and unreliable.

It's why I mostly just stick to interacting with members of my FC these days. Though I do try and expand my network of contacts when and where I can. It's exhausting though at times.

Add low self-esteem to the list of reasons why people rarely get back into contact and it's almost perfect. I have a fair few people on my friendslist who I'd love to RP with again, but...I usually convince myself "eh, they probably have much more interesting plots and better things to do than RP with me" - Hence why I never, ever end up asking people for RP again... And, like you said, just stick to interacting with FC members, because it's just that much easier.

I definitely agree it's exhausting to expand that network of contacts - However, I do feel like that networking is what makes Xaela RP fun. I initially thought "Eh, my Au Ra is probably just going to be another RP alt that'll get pulled out once in a blue moon..." But I actually find myself asking people (in my FC, again, because I'm an anxious panicky brick wall who struggles to speak to people specifically) for RP which I didn't really do all that much before.

Quote:I really like the tribal aspect of Au Ra - which is why I created a Xaela and a Dotharl at that. Yet far, far too many role-players are either only interested in getting ERP or they expect an Au Ra to basically just be portrayed as a Hyur with scales and horns.

Sadly that's why I'm a little shy of RPing with people, again - Constant worry that I'll have my Au Ra judged for not fitting in to a particular stereotype. Sometimes going "Hyur with scales and horns" is the safest thing to do, because apparently swaying from the norm is a bad idea. But where's the fun in that?

Back on topic, though:

Oli! Wrote:Instead of thinking about how much of an Au Ra your Au Ra is, think about what sort of person you want them to be, and what sorts of stories you want them to fit into. Once you have a steady basis for this, then the rest of their identity (being an Au Ra, being a Female, whatever) should be slotted in in ways that don't interfere with your core concept. Those two facets of their identity may change their outlook and the way that they behave, for example, but their core concept should still be intact regardless.

^ This, so much. In my old WoW guild, there was a LOT of bitching about people straying from the lore, be it accidental or not. It led to me fussing so much over my character's background to the point where I just gave up and didn't RP them at all, whether there were lore mistakes or not. There usually weren't mistakes...Because I was too afraid to think outside the box. It's not a nice feeling.

At the OP, though:

Ashe Wrote:I've rpd with her multiple times but there is this wall with the limited amount of lore that can't be interpreted.

What kind of wall do you mean? When you said later in that post "I guess it's easy if you ignore the lore" - What do you mean, specifically? What lore are Xaela players ignoring? I realise I asked a similar thing earlier, but I was reading the thread again and realised I missed that post >.>

I worry I might've gone a little off-topic at first there, so sorry if I started rambling ;;

Mae · **08-30-2015, 01:41 PM**

(08-30-2015, 04:38 AM)Ashe Wrote: Also, lining up stuff with other Au Ra players sounds easy but with Xaela they are warring tribes. Does that, lore wise, even make sense? Some of the tribes were especially violent--Jhungid is a tribe that held an annual battle against the Kharlu and while they weren't doing that they were enslaving other tribes. That doesn't seem all too friendly to me...

Xaela lore makes sense in the right situations. Unfortunately, those situations didn't happen.

According to the census SE has done since Heavensward was released, only 4% of the character population on NA servers is Au Ra. If we're going to be generous, only 2% of the population is Xaela. And then, to be fair, divide that 2% by the fifty-one recognized tribes (while ignoring the lore-allowed PC unique/original tribes and non-lore-compliant names), and you start to see that we're facing very small populations of any one tribe. If we only had, say, ten recognized tribes instead of the fifty-one, numbers would be a bit better.

There is little environment in the game that would foster Xaela-styled tribal lifestyles to continue. The Core-game zones are all claimed by existing NPC-populations, and the HW ones are 1) gated and 2) also claimed by NPC populations (some of which, there is evidence that a significant part of the NPC population would/could be hostile). Instead, there is a sort of undercurrent of "We are Eorzeans. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile".

... And let's not get into the (depending on how one interprets parts of the lore and if you consider MSQ events to be canon to your character) paradox that occurs if you level up a brand-new Au Ra through MSQ and you hit 2.2...

Anyways.

Everything SE gave us to base Xaela lore around would have worked out just fine if the player population had actually boomed in that direction (much like how when WoW released Burning Crusade, Blood Elves very quickly became one of the most popular races) and/or if we had gone to a war-razed Othard instead of Ishgard. Neither happened, so a lot of the lore becomes... kind of irrelevant, leading towards the trend of "Hyur with scales and horns" that some people notice. I'd like to think that if SE gives us an expansion that sends us to Othard/Doma, that we'll see Xaela populations rise, but... *shrugs*

I'd suggest trying to cultivate a group of Xaela players that can be semi-closed so you could... maybe use a pre-existing settlement and just RP that the NPCs there are also Xaela, and that there's a bit of a rule in the settlement that previous tribal loyalties aren't to be made an issue of since everyone there is trying to preserve the core of Xaela culture? I know the semi-closed part might be a turn-off, but with all the balls SE dropped (at least in my opinion) with the new race, it's going to take some work to get what you're looking for.

Flickering Ember · **08-30-2015, 01:48 PM**

(08-30-2015, 02:54 AM)Ashe Wrote: I learned a lot about the mongols before I switched my major in college.
I am wondering if it's just the fact I'm RPing a female character (I am a girl who sucks at rping girls >> but she's just so boring. I am comparing her to all of the stuff I do on my Elezen and it's like...she's so lame >.< I can't think of ways to change her.

Thinking that you have to RP the genders in a certain way is one of the most limiting things you can do for your character. I recommend reading and following Oli!'s advice on page 2. It is quite invaluable.

I recommend creating your character concept first and instead of, as others have said, trying to make something that feels "Au Ra-like" or "a good female character." Our characters are not defined by their race or gender. They are definitely attributes that might influence our characters' lives but they are not the totality of someone's entire person.

Additionally the only thing that qualifies a female character as a 'good female character' is that she is written in a way that makes her a person. People aren't walking stereotypes. Thinking that either gender has to be written with certain qualities is both unfortunate and may lead you to dislike that character.

For example, if you have this impression that your female character has to have this nurturing, mama bear like side to her that you would never give any of your male characters, not because you dislike it but because it's just 'meh' then DON'T.

Which it sounds like you are suffering a serious case of 'meh' as opposed to outright dislike.Â
You may want to completely re-write the character. I would. To me, a lack of interest in a character from 'blahness' is even more dangerous than simply hating your character. I'd scrub that character clean and start fresh, but that's just me.

I recommend the concept I mentioned earlier not being based around race, appearance, or backstory. Make it about actions, accomplishments, and personality instead. Examples include:

Rich, vain noble who constantly wants to help out the poor but comes off as accidentally insensitive instead.
Traditional tribesperson who is resistant to change and believes everything has to be a 'certain way.'
A complete loner with no people skills who comes off as a bit too blunt but is earnestly trying to fit in despite it all.
A dependent and conformist who wants to please people and needs to be directed by others but is desperately trying to break out of this forumla to follow their own path.

So, as you can see, these examples are about how a character acts. They don't tell us anything about gender and race and very little about their background. But with these concepts, we know the type of character we are playing and how they will interact with other characters.

If our concept was something like "A roegadyn raised by lalafells" then that is a background concept only and doesn't tell us anything about the actual character. If this is a RPer's first and only concept of their character then perhaps they are doomed to a path of 'blah' RP because it focuses on backstory rather than who the character actually is.

(08-30-2015, 04:38 AM)Ashe Wrote: She has a backstory and everything. Like...I am pretty good with lore. I've interpreted things with the lore given that ended up being affirmed in Heavensward (which made me really happy with Ashe 'cause it's legitimized a lot of what I was rping on him). Anyways, I don't understand the foreign accent thing with the domans and othard people at all. In the Japanese version of the game, they just speak a more archaic yet understandable version of the language...I never once thought about the language as a part of their characters.

I have a backstory on her. I've rpd with her multiple times but there is this wall with the limited amount of lore that can't be interpreted. I see people RPing their Xaela as like...regular Eorzeans who are all about that city life and it's like...that isn't really possible because they aren't about living in cities or really liking anyone outside of their own tribes (which is what I've interpreted). To get my character out of her tribe, I had her kicked out...

Also, lining up stuff with other Au Ra players sounds easy but with Xaela they are warring tribes. Does that, lore wise, even make sense? Some of the tribes were especially violent--Jhungid is a tribe that held an annual battle against the Kharlu and while they weren't doing that they were enslaving other tribes. That doesn't seem all too friendly to me...

I am surprised no one here has hit that wall with the lore...that or people are ignoring the lore completely >>
There is actually a TON of lore available to those who are Raen from Doma available in the game. RPing a Raen actually seems easy...
But Xaela....I guess it's easy if you ignore the lore >>

Well, I mean, again, to emphasize what I said above...back story is not that important. They are incredibly fun to write and a backstory definitely does shape a character's opinions and identity. But you are not RPing out your character's backstory. You are RPing your character who they are in the present and what is to come. Over focusing on backstory is a common mistake and something that even the experienced roleplayer might be too tempted into doing.Â

I like to come up with a basic backstory at character creation and expand later. I find it can be more important to establish a character's goals, hobbies, talents, fears, strengths, weaknesses, quirks. etc.Â

Anyway, I have to disagree with the focus on lore as well. I don't really think Au Ra have much less than other races. Though I do recognize some races have more than others. I play a Hellsguard for example, and just like Au Ra, we really can't visit our race's homeland. Our characters migrated down from Abalathia's Spine and we know very little about actual Hellsguard culture.

In my opinion, FFXIV all around has very limited racial lore and it's just one of those things we as roleplayers have to make do with. We tend to guess and I think that's okay if we do. Races don't have a hive mind. A race's culture can be broken down into several, much smaller ones.

Ashe · **08-30-2015, 02:58 PM**

I kinda find it funny that people are treating this like my first RP experience ever...
I've built complex characters before and my main has quite a few contacts who I've dragged on really crazy RP adventures in the middle of nowhere for IC dungeon runs progressing through a pretty strict plot leading to some serious growth. Â I've always RPd incredibly close to the lore. OOCly I kind of pride myself in how well I know the lore for Ishgard and Allag that's been presented to us like the back of my hand at this point. Weird thing to pride yourself on, I know...but my main is from Ishgard and researchers Allag...so kinda got to know that stuff...
Anywho...

Maybe it is the lack of connections too. Funny thing is, I've posted on this forum asking for connections and not one person responded haha. I do not do tavern RP. I will never do tavern RP. I am 98% against ever sitting in the QS and RPing. I find it numbing and bland and don't like talking about adventures that never happened. I rather go out and do that stuff than just make it up and talk about it with random people. That has always been my way of doing things which is why you'll rarely see any of my characters (ICly) in the QS. So yeah...anyone who has rp'd with me knows I'll ask you to meet me in some random place that you'll probably need a <pos> to get to.

I've come up with less involved characters before that are easier to work with.Â
-----

Sorry, I fell asleep so let me address what was being said here:

1. I've seen Au Ra rpers ignoring a lot of things that make their characters Au Ra. I've seen Xaela RP'd as Raen. I've seen them all...who made the little mermaid reference in this thread.....like "What is this fork? How do I use it" /brushes hair. I've seen them RPd as placid and cultured like they've been in Eorzea their entire lives--like one would RP a midlander. It's like Rping a midlander with the exterior of an Au Ra. Â I've seen one person make it work but his tribe is the one that makes males into housewives essentially so he ran away from home at a super young age. That I get. Â The ones who just came here a few months ago and act like they own the place is kind of baffling.

2. Â I rp within the lore but don't act like the events of the game happened to my character. So I will disregard anything with the MSQ that isn't just timeline. For example, my character never fought Ravana...but I RP as though

Show Content

Â

3. Â I came up with the backstory as I went with this alt...so much so that I leveled her to 60 while trying to expand more. I actually have A LOT for her. I didn't write up two parts of her wiki because I needed a new laptop and then work > finishing the RP wiki became a thing. She's actually incredibly fleshed out.Â

4. Â There's a chance that I am just RPing with the wrong people...considering I've RP'd with her with one Xaela who's player ended up giving up on his Xaela and race changed him. Other than that, I've only rp'd within my FC on her. so maybe that's it? If someone wants to RP with me on her and help me that way, I'd be glad to do something that way >.< It's not like I'm just starting out to RP on an Xaela. This alt is level 60. I have finished Heavensward twice and have invested a lot of time into her (more than I had initially planned to).Â

5. Â The wall in the lore I'm running into is really being unsure how to act in certain situations. Would she know this? Would she find this behavior acceptable? We can read literature and historical text on the mongols but never really know what their personalities were like. I can't exactly imagine a warring tribe (Jhungid is a warring tribe >>) being super friendly when their description literally states during their free time they would enslave smaller tribes...I would love to see these people who are actually rping with tribes in mind because everyone I've seen is like "Oh, hey let's be friends!" and it's like...how does someone who belonged to a tribe that tried to most likely enslave that person's tribe at some point react to something like that...

Not sure if any of that makes sense. Sorry for rambling. I am typing without my glasses so I hope some of this is in english.

Korin · **08-30-2015, 04:00 PM**

(08-30-2015, 02:58 PM)Ashe Wrote: 4. Â There's a chance that I am just RPing with the wrong people...considering I've RP'd with her with one Xaela who's player ended up giving up on his Xaela and race changed him. Other than that, I've only rp'd within my FC on her. so maybe that's it? If someone wants to RP with me on her and help me that way, I'd be glad to do something that way >.< It's not like I'm just starting out to RP on an Xaela. This alt is level 60. I have finished Heavensward twice and have invested a lot of time into her (more than I had initially planned to).Â

5. Â The wall in the lore I'm running into is really being unsure how to act in certain situations. Would she know this? Would she find this behavior acceptable? We can read literature and historical text on the mongols but never really know what their personalities were like. I can't exactly imagine a warring tribe (Jhungid is a warring tribe >> being super friendly when their description literally states during their free time they would enslave smaller tribes...I would love to see these people who are actually rping with tribes in mind because everyone I've seen is like "Oh, hey let's be friends!" and it's like...how does someone who belonged to a tribe that tried to most likely enslave that person's tribe at some point react to something like that...

Not sure if any of that makes sense. Sorry for rambling. I am typing without my glasses so I hope some of this is in english.

It's always unfortunate when people give up on a character. I don't know how much RP you'd had with the Xaela player, but I'm not sure how to describe it...It's kinda like there's a void in your RP? Especially if the character just vanishes without any real explanation - Not that I'm saying that happened, but that's just my opinion on it.

As a side note, if timezones don't conflict too badly, you're welcome to give me a poke for RP. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

As for the lore wall...It sounds like it should relate more to how your character is, rather than...How she, as a Xaela, would react? I'm sorry, I don't really get what you mean - She was kicked out of her tribe, wasn't she? (correct me if i'm wrong, thread review won't let me check back far enough!) So that could be more than enough of a reason for her to shift away from the "Warring tribe, let's enslave everyone!" expectation. I suppose I'm not much help there, though. Sorry I can't be much more assistance in breaking down that lore wall...It's an issue I never really encountered.

I can't comment on the "Hey, let's be friends!" sort - I haven't encountered any yet - but personally I've always RPed Raeth as being wary of everyone and anyone, be they fellow Xaela or not. Unfortunately I haven't had the pleasure of RPing directly with other Xaela clans, yet.

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Is anyone else having difficulty RPing their Au Ra?

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