FFXIV Lore Q/A

[Spethah]

I'm sad that people would go out of their way to ask about a subject that's just not used very often. In fact the only times I've seen a fantasia be used is due to the writer having trouble creating a different reason aside from a reboot. Not all RPers, heavy to casual, have the creative ability to come up with something reasonable in lore and not completely over the top. Drinking something from a bottle, falling asleep and then waking up as something different is not only simple but hardly over the top. There's been a few instances and a few people that have been threatening to kick people out of their FC for IC fantasia used, but back then it wasn't proven. Now that it is I'm worried that these individuals (whoever they are, I do not know however I do know that these threats have been made numerous times) are going to cause problems because of something sooo minute. 

 

Also I'm taking this information lightly as there are conflicts to what this interview has said to what Yoshi-P himself has said.

[LiadansWhisper]

Also I'm taking this information lightly as there are conflicts to what this interview has said to what Yoshi-P himself has said.

 

I'm a little confused by this.  Yoshi-P is the producer/director, but he doesn't actually write the lore for the games.  The people who do write the lore for the games have weighed in and said that it's not an actual lore item.

 

I'm not sure what else needs to be said, tbh.

[Spethah]

Also I'm taking this information lightly as there are conflicts to what this interview has said to what Yoshi-P himself has said.

 

I'm a little confused by this.  Yoshi-P is the producer/director, but he doesn't actually write the lore for the games.  The people who do write the lore for the games have weighed in and said that it's not an actual lore item.

 

I'm not sure what else needs to be said, tbh.

 

Then why are two sides saying two different things? I'm not going to believe what either have said if they're going to conflict.

[Rakoh]

Fantasia (unofficially) confirmed as purely meta, and ways to change appearance are two completely different concepts. People need to remember this being being judgemental about storyline choices.

[LiadansWhisper]

 

 

Then why are two sides saying two different things? I'm not going to believe what either have said if they're going to conflict.

 

Because sometimes the person who doesn't actually write the lore isn't 100% up to date on the lore, or may have forgotten something.

 

Fantasia (unofficially) confirmed as purely meta, and ways to change appearance are two completely different concepts. People need to remember this being being judgemental about storyline choices.

 

That's true.  Fantasia being a meta item doesn't mean that there aren't other ways of changing someone's appearance.

[V'aleera]

I personally don't have any intention of taking an informal, paraphrased QA posted on Tumblr particularly seriously.

 

But maybe I'm just a party pooper.

[Kage]

Also I'm taking this information lightly as there are conflicts to what this interview has said to what Yoshi-P himself has said.

 

I'm a little confused by this.  Yoshi-P is the producer/director, but he doesn't actually write the lore for the games.  The people who do write the lore for the games have weighed in and said that it's not an actual lore item.

 

I'm not sure what else needs to be said, tbh.

 

Then why are two sides saying two different things? I'm not going to believe what either have said if they're going to conflict.

Wasn't the person who said Fantasia was really just a character bringing out their true form, Koji-Fox?

[Rakoh]

Same here Intaki. The problem I have is that a number of people in the RPC bully people over using a meta item to make an IC change to a character that would make sense.

 

Things you need a Fantasia to change:

 

• Height
  
• Weight/Muscle Mass
  
• Chest Size
  
• Skin Tone
  
• Scars (Might be able to use the Aestheticician for this)
  
• Patron Deity
  
• Nose shape
  
• Eye Colour (Might be able to use the Aestheticician for this)
  

So did you character grow a bit? maybe they lost weight? Maybe they got a suntan or picked up some scares? Maybe their faith changed over thier lifetime? Maybe they got into a fight and receives a broken nose? Yeah prepare to get called "bad RPers" and "Lore breakers" by these people.

[Aduu Avagnar]

Same here Intaki. The problem I have is that a number of people in the RPC bully people over using a meta item to make an IC change to a character that would make sense.

 

Things you need a Fantasia to change:

 

• Height
  
• Weight/Muscle Mass
  
• Chest Size
  
• Skin Tone
  
• Scars (Might be able to use the Aestheticician for this)
  
• Patron Deity
  
• Nose shape
  
• Eye Colour (Might be able to use the Aestheticician for this)
  

So did you character grow a bit? maybe they lost weight? Maybe they got a suntan or picked up some scares? Maybe their faith changed over thier lifetime? Maybe they got into a fight and receives a broken nose? Yeah prepare to get called "bad RPers" and "Lore breakers" by these people.

its not those changes that people get upset and up in arms about its the:

'oops I was walking through an abandoned ruin and found a potion and now I'm a girl/lala/roe/cat/other now' changes.

 

Personally, I couldn't care less if someone wants to use it or not.

[Rakoh]

Same here, but sadly some people are all "You used a Fantasia OOCly! It just have been found and used ICly! You're a Bad RPer!" which is what I dislike.

[Maril]

Same here Intaki. The problem I have is that a number of people in the RPC bully people over using a meta item to make an IC change to a character that would make sense.

 

Things you need a Fantasia to change:

 

• Height
  
• Weight/Muscle Mass
  
• Chest Size
  
• Skin Tone
  
• Scars (Might be able to use the Aestheticician for this)
  
• Patron Deity
  
• Nose shape
  
• Eye Colour (Might be able to use the Aestheticician for this)
  

So did you character grow a bit? maybe they lost weight? Maybe they got a suntan or picked up some scares? Maybe their faith changed over thier lifetime? Maybe they got into a fight and receives a broken nose? Yeah prepare to get called "bad RPers" and "Lore breakers" by these people.

 

I have roleplayed with people who have used fantasia, but agreed never to share the information with my character. We got on fine. 

The problem is that some people find some things to be so massively world changing, e.g the basic problem with Fantasia has been that it was never represented anywhere else in game. The world would look different if fantasia and/or other shape-changing (to a radical extent) was in common use. I don't find that it's alright for me to invent a new type of shapeshifting magic for example, it's too big of a thing to go and do. Other people have other views on this, and that is fine.

 

Forcing your views onto someone else, calling them a bad roleplayer for using or even not using fantasia, or any imaginary substitution that isn't mentioned in the lore, is always going to be bad. You would't dream of how many times I've been accused of being some boring ass roleplayer because I didn't want to accept someone else accidentally got fantasia'd into another race. For me, the other way of doing things is not fun, for others my way of doing things is not fun. 

On top of that, some FC's may have stances on several of these controversies that are around in the lore. Some are fine with IC white mages and others are not. What is true for the FC's I find, is that they tend to be a collection of like-minded individuals, attracted by the same preferences in RP. Most of my discussions about this comes when Kin is rejecting someone that applied, because they do not enjoy things the way we do. In my eyes it's best to not have people in a place where they would not enjoy themselves, but some unfortunately see that as an attack on their abilities. 

 

The solution is somewhere around finding mutual respect. Don't call people (or FC's) bullies because they wont accept your fantasia, or something you put in place for it. 

Different preferences is not an attempt to deliberately be mean. Unless they of course sit down and make a point out of telling you that you're shit, but I'd argue in that case you didn't want to hang about them anyways. Same goes for if they can not discriminate between IC and OOC use of the potion. Bless, I once used it on my Nessa cat to change her tail's fur cause I decided I wanted fluffy and just went on with assuming it was always like that. It's not like anyone noticed either.

[allgivenover]

Same here, but sadly some people are all "You used a Fantasia OOCly! It just have been found and used ICly! You're a Bad RPer!" which is what I dislike.

 

I have never seen anyone be this ridiculous.

 

I've seen Fantasia used (in my opinion) well, when having a young character add some height (and ahh.. mass, if you know what I mean) over a year and a half.

[FreelanceWizard]

Wasn't the person who said Fantasia was really just a character bringing out their true form, Koji-Fox?

 

It was: http://gamerescape.com/2014/10/25/final-fantasy-xiv-fan-fest-london-qas/

 

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of the whole "boom, I changed race/gender 'cause I felt like it" thing. People can certainly play what they want, but random major character changes like that bother me as they force people you RP with to adapt to the fact that you're a person in a completely different body without any narrative reason for doing so. I've never had a problem with people doing that as part of a larger plot where it does serve a story and where there's IC actions and IC consequences. I don't think anyone has an issue with using fantasia in a purely OOC way to make small adjustments to a character's appearance, then retconning that into continuity.

 

I would just say, though, that commonality of story does not equal commonality of existence, so to say that "because many people RP this, it must be super-common, and the implication of that is that it breaks the world" is a little disingenuous, I think. A thing can appear in RP and be portrayed as rare. Even if lots of people do it, it's still rare in their continuities and it's still rare in the aggregate of Eorzean experience, since PC adventurers are a tiny percentage of the world's population. That certainly doesn't mean that an FC isn't well within its rights to say, "As we view lore, this cannot exist, so if you want to join, you can't have that in your story."

[ChewableMorphine]

Alright I need closure on prosthetics, and sorry for suddenly barging in with a completely different subject on the topic. As somebody who RP's what is essentially a cyborg, I've been using the bare bones I'm given through Garlean-related quests and stuff pertaining to the Ironworks. I know Dogberry's got legs going on, but I gotta get into the inner workings of this sorta thing. Trying to avoid the whole "Well it's magic" answer in favor of something more rational? (Kind of dumb to ask for in a fantasy game, but you know what I mean.)

 

tl;dr how do prosthetics work in a lore-friendly way that isn't just a peg-leg, but a fully functioning limb?

 

Hopefully some lore-hound would be able to help me out so I can buffer Flynt accordingly. If not, a generally agreeable consensus on what could work. Thanks.

[LiadansWhisper]

Same here, but sadly some people are all "You used a Fantasia OOCly! It just have been found and used ICly! You're a Bad RPer!" which is what I dislike.

 

I really want to meet these mysterious people.

 

It honestly sounds like the best response would be to introduce them to your Blacklist.  Seriously, why do you even care what someone like that says?

[Rakoh]

Same here, but sadly some people are all "You used a Fantasia OOCly! It just have been found and used ICly! You're a Bad RPer!" which is what I dislike.

 

I have never seen anyone be this ridiculous.

 

I've seen Fantasia used (in my opinion) well, when having a young character add some height (and ahh.. mass, if you know what I mean) over a year and a half.

 

I've ran into a couple and the fights have not been pretty. I've a number of people blacklisted because they were just that militant about never changing anything ever even if it makes sense in the narrative. One person I have on the blacklist blew his top because someone changed hairstyles at the barber NPC

 

As for prosthetics, I'm fairly sure there's some tradecraft quests that mention crafters making components to be used in prosthetic limbs. Can't remember if it was 1.0 or 2.0 though. Either way, if you have done the Carpenter, Goldsmith and Alchemy questlines it's not farfetched for someone to be able to make one that looks pretty normal.

[shotgunbadger]

Yea I'll admit my time here has been in off and on bursts till recently but I've never seen that. I've seen people roll their eyes at 'I found a potion and now I'm a sexy catgirl tee hee' stuff but I've never seen 'you used that item at all HOW DARE YOU'.

[allgivenover]

I would just say, though, that commonality of story does not equal commonality of existence, so to say that "because many people RP this, it must be super-common, and the implication of that is that it breaks the world" is a little disingenuous, I think. A thing can appear in RP and be portrayed as rare. Even if lots of people do it, it's still rare in their continuities and it's still rare in the aggregate of Eorzean experience, since PC adventurers are a tiny percentage of the world's population. That certainly doesn't mean that an FC isn't well within its rights to say, "As we view lore, this cannot exist, so if you want to join, you can't have that in your story."

 

This.

 

I go further and think that tendencies of the role play community at large do not change the lore. This means that despite the popularity of some races over others this doesn’t change the lore about those races; Miqo’te males are rare despite their popularity in the community. Literacy is the exception, not the norm, despite most characters being able to read. White Mages are not common, no matter how many people role-play them, etc.

 

I'm sure there are some who disagree and prefer a community generated "continuity", but that style certainly isn't for me.

[Rakoh]

I would just say, though, that commonality of story does not equal commonality of existence, so to say that "because many people RP this, it must be super-common, and the implication of that is that it breaks the world" is a little disingenuous, I think. A thing can appear in RP and be portrayed as rare. Even if lots of people do it, it's still rare in their continuities and it's still rare in the aggregate of Eorzean experience, since PC adventurers are a tiny percentage of the world's population. That certainly doesn't mean that an FC isn't well within its rights to say, "As we view lore, this cannot exist, so if you want to join, you can't have that in your story."

 

This.

 

I go further and think that tendencies of the role play community at large do not change the lore. This means that despite the popularity of some races over others this doesn’t change the lore about those races; Miqo’te males are rare despite their popularity in the community. Literacy is the exception, not the norm, despite most characters being able to read. White Mages are not common, no matter how many people role-play them, etc.

 

I'm sure there are some who disagree and prefer a community generated "continuity", but that style certainly isn't for me.

 

Funny you mention Miqo'te males since I seem to be running into a ton of Lallafel in roleplay lately .

[Flickering Ember]

Same here Intaki. The problem I have is that a number of people in the RPC bully people over using a meta item to make an IC change to a character that would make sense.

 

Things you need a Fantasia to change:

 

• Height
  
• Weight/Muscle Mass
  
• Chest Size
  
• Skin Tone
  
• Scars (Might be able to use the Aestheticician for this)
  
• Patron Deity
  
• Nose shape
  
• Eye Colour (Might be able to use the Aestheticician for this)
  

So did you character grow a bit? maybe they lost weight? Maybe they got a suntan or picked up some scares? Maybe their faith changed over thier lifetime? Maybe they got into a fight and receives a broken nose? Yeah prepare to get called "bad RPers" and "Lore breakers" by these people.

 

No one is saying you can't RP your character growing, putting on weight, getting a tan, being injured, following a new deity, etc. They're saying that not everyone might be accepting of the canon that you IC used a fantasia potion to make your height taller. 

Something like that depends on the player. Some folks might still RP fantasia potions, other folks might not. It all comes down to preference.

[Gone.]

I personally don't have any intention of taking an informal, paraphrased QA posted on Tumblr particularly seriously.

 

But maybe I'm just a party pooper.

 

I don't, either, especially when it contradicts a number of statements from people much higher up in rank.

 

Anything less than Yoshida or the Japanese writing team should be considered suspect, really. Doubly so when it comes to lunchtime musings posted on Tumblr of all places.

[allgivenover]

Same here Intaki. The problem I have is that a number of people in the RPC bully people over using a meta item to make an IC change to a character that would make sense.

 

Things you need a Fantasia to change:

 

• Height
  
• Weight/Muscle Mass
  
• Chest Size
  
• Skin Tone
  
• Scars (Might be able to use the Aestheticician for this)
  
• Patron Deity
  
• Nose shape
  
• Eye Colour (Might be able to use the Aestheticician for this)
  

So did you character grow a bit? maybe they lost weight? Maybe they got a suntan or picked up some scares? Maybe their faith changed over thier lifetime? Maybe they got into a fight and receives a broken nose? Yeah prepare to get called "bad RPers" and "Lore breakers" by these people.

 

No one is saying you can't RP your character growing, putting on weight, getting a tan, being injured, following a new deity, etc. They're saying that not everyone might be accepting of the canon that you IC used a fantasia potion to make your height taller. 

Something like that depends on the player. Some folks might still RP fantasia potions, other folks might not. It all comes down to preference.

 

Frankly it's coming across to me as a straw-man fabrication designed to paint those who frown on casual fantasia use as extremist elitists that will go out their way to bully other RPers.

 

I have a really hard time swallowing the notion that there's a significant number of RPers calling out others over weight change, sun tans, scars, or their faith changing.

[Kellach Woods]

With what I know of RPers, all of this is very plausible enough that I'm surprised you haven't encountered it.

[V'aleera]

Frankly it's coming across to me as a straw-man fabrication designed to paint those who frown on casual fantasia use as extremist elitists that will go out their way to bully other RPers.

It does seem like something extremist elitists would go out of their way to bully other RPers for.

[Gone.]

It does seem like something extremist elitists would go out of their way to bully other RPers for.

 

They already do based on some replies in this thread.