How do you treat soul stones ICly?

[Zoya]

OH! But would that mean that a very rich person with nothing better to do might try to buy a soul crystal and shortcut everything.

 

"Huh. Today is blah. I think I'll pay some thugs to go shank a White Mage for a Soul Crystal."

I think "shanking" a padjal could have minor political consequences.

 

Besides, you still need to do the awakening stuff yourself. Even the WoL has to do stuff to make the crystal hand over some memories and he gets all the good stuff on a silver platter.

[Raik Samil]

Raik doesn't use them, but anytime someone mentions them he is interested in how they work. The few times hes seen people use them, its given him ideas for new abilites or skills.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

A rich person somehow buying all the soul crystals would be the same as a rich supervillain buying lots of destructive equipment.

 

...He might have the tools, but he can't operate it.

 

 

 

 

edit: alternatively, it's like having a car without knowing how to drive. Yeah, you can sit in the seat and probably even start the engine, but good luck safely driving anywhere.

[Oli!]

A rich person somehow buying all the soul crystals would be the same as a rich supervillain buying lots of destructive equipment.

 

...He might have the tools, but he can't operate it.

 

 

 

 

edit: alternatively, it's like having a car without knowing how to drive. Yeah, you can sit in the seat and probably even start the engine, but good luck safely driving anywhere.

 

Eh.

 

If they beam things into your brain like the Matrix, then it would be more like a car or piece of equipment that tells you how to use it as you go.

[-no longer matters-]

Depends on a class, some are just a key that unlocks your potential, some are needed for focusing the power.

 

i.e. DRK Soul Crystals just unlock your Dark Side, where BLM are needed to use the magic or you combust.

[Smagon]

Out of those only BLM requires a soulstone since it's said, explicitly, not using a BLM soulstone while using BLM sets -you on fire and kills you-.

And then you're left to wonder how a BLM soul crystal can even hold any kind of black magic knowledge.

 

I mean, in order for the empty crystal to be filled with knowledge, you need to perform the art.

In order to perform the art, you need a soul crystal filled with knowledge.

 

That doesn't quite work out.

 

I assume that's where the soul stone comes in. There are probably countless memories of people blowing themselves up so you can know what not to do.

[-no longer matters-]

Out of those only BLM requires a soulstone since it's said, explicitly, not using a BLM soulstone while using BLM sets -you on fire and kills you-.

And then you're left to wonder how a BLM soul crystal can even hold any kind of black magic knowledge.

 

I mean, in order for the empty crystal to be filled with knowledge, you need to perform the art.

In order to perform the art, you need a soul crystal filled with knowledge.

 

That doesn't quite work out.

 

I assume that's where the soul stone comes in. There are probably countless memories of people blowing themselves up so you can know what not to do.

The original Soul stone may have even been justr a focusing crystal as well, and as time went they also turned them into Soul Crystals

[Oli!]

Out of those only BLM requires a soulstone since it's said, explicitly, not using a BLM soulstone while using BLM sets -you on fire and kills you-.

And then you're left to wonder how a BLM soul crystal can even hold any kind of black magic knowledge.

 

I mean, in order for the empty crystal to be filled with knowledge, you need to perform the art.

In order to perform the art, you need a soul crystal filled with knowledge.

 

That doesn't quite work out.

 

I assume that's where the soul stone comes in. There are probably countless memories of people blowing themselves up so you can know what not to do.

 

Alternatively, some Soul Crystals work differently than others. It's entirely possible that BLM soul crystals are literally just special foci, and don't hold memories, or are focusing crystals that end up holding memories as a side-effect of being glued to people's pockets. This may be backed up by the fact that spellbooks are very important over the course of the BLM storyline; the people that give you the Gem play it up as more of a prophecy item, and they themselves learned from books and other sources. Stuff you learn in the 50+ quests are Dank Spells straight from the Book of Nald, too.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Out of those only BLM requires a soulstone since it's said, explicitly, not using a BLM soulstone while using BLM sets -you on fire and kills you-.

And then you're left to wonder how a BLM soul crystal can even hold any kind of black magic knowledge.

 

I mean, in order for the empty crystal to be filled with knowledge, you need to perform the art.

In order to perform the art, you need a soul crystal filled with knowledge.

 

That doesn't quite work out.

 

I assume that's where the soul stone comes in. There are probably countless memories of people blowing themselves up so you can know what not to do.

 

Alternatively, some Soul Crystals work differently than others. It's entirely possible that BLM soul crystals are literally just special foci, and don't hold memories, or are focusing crystals that end up holding memories as a side-effect of being glued to people's pockets. This may be backed up by the fact that spellbooks are very important over the course of the BLM storyline; the people that give you the Gem play it up as more of a prophecy item, and they themselves learned from books and other sources. Stuff you learn in the 50+ quests are Dank Spells straight from the Book of Nald, too.

 

The Black Mage Soul Crystal is literally called the Gem of Shattoto. By Shattoto, the person who one could argue "invented" Black Magic because she couldn't be a Thaumaturge. It's basically her "here's how I did this" memory in a rock. Could someone else rediscover her methods? Maybekinda. The 3.0 scenes seem to imply that people tried and got burned for it.

 

But also for fun, here's the BLM Quest Scenes. They didn't change too much from 1.0, I hear.

 

 

[Ashe]

I tend to ignore them, I'll never have a plotline involving a stolen or pick-pocketed soulstone robbing Orrin of his powers or anything of the like. 

 

However I am lore-flexible (as always) so if anything Orrin has one, and has infused a great deal of his knowledge into it as well.

I should fix that...

 

well if your trip to azys lla happens to snag you a smn soulstone and you try to use that new found power to try and squish that pesky dragoon, I won't call foul.

That may have been on my "to-do" list. I have multiple plans for you >.<

I need to contact you in-game at some point.

Just sitting on 3.1...but I gotta kill an Ishgardian Noble first >>

[Steel Wolf]

I, personally, don't pay them any attention in Steel's RP. She earns her training the ol' fashioned way. That said, I'm not such a twerp as to deny someone who does acknowledge them in their RP. I think the thoughts on how a soulstone can work IC'ly here are pretty damned good and wish I had thought of them myself.

[mongi291]

Depends on a class, some are just a key that unlocks your potential, some are needed for focusing the power.

 

i.e. DRK Soul Crystals just unlock your Dark Side, where BLM are needed to use the magic or you combust.

I think Soul Crystals can be basically divided into three categories:

1) No actual powers aside from the teachings carved into it by previous wielders (like Monk).

2) It's needed to unlock that job's powers or at least to learn them, but it's not actually required to use those powers (like DRK).

3) It's needed to even use that job's powers, otherwise you can't/you die (like BLM).

[V'aleera]

I'm not fond of some of the implications of soul crystals, but the lore is the lore and it must be respected. While I don't ever see myself using them, anyone who does is entirely within the established parameters of the setting to do so.

[Ashe]

I love seeing all the lore abiding citizens (pfffft that was punny) throw this piece of lore out the window for the sake of...I guess convenience? Some of the jobs really do 100% rely on their soul crystal/stones though...(A lot of Japanese bloggers call it 魂石...and the text is soul crystal so I get confused sometimes >.<). 

Anywho.

Yeah, this was really interesting!

[Warren Castille]

I love seeing all the lore abiding citizens (pfffft that was punny) throw this piece of lore out the window for the sake of...I guess convenience? Some of the jobs really do 100% rely on their soul crystal/stones though...(A lot of Japanese bloggers call it 魂石...and the text is soul crystal so I get confused sometimes >.<). 

Anywho.

Yeah, this was really interesting!

 

It really depends on the job. The game doesn't do a very good job of showcasing how prevalent (or not) these items are, or even if they're mandatory given the special circumstances of the Warrior of Light. A lot of us are figuring it out as we go (because the soulstones are an afterthought for the most part in 2.x, given that they were a huge asspull in 1.x) and the new cutscenes for 50-60 don't always point out how vital these things could be.

 

It's less about throwing lore out of a window and more about trying to figure out how to undo two years of established assumption in a setting where the details are held very close to the chest. I mean, if you've got SE-approved definite lore that everyone missed, feel free to link and source it.

 

You of all people should be aware that sometimes we learn things later and need to retool them after details come out. How's your wiki?

[Dravus]

I've - thankfully - never had to acknowledge them. They may technically exist within the game's lore but as with many things related to the Warrior of Light I tend to shy away from them if at all possible.

 

I won't lie - I'm not particularly interested in interacting with characters that suddenly gain access to a bunch of knowledge just because they happen to tie obtaining a soul crystal into one of their personal events. I much prefer interacting with characters that train and better themselves through shedding blood, sweat and tears. It's just a lot more engaging for me.

 

A character that can do pretty much everything tends to hog the spotlight anyway. A character that is specialised in one or two specific roles, however, leaves plenty of room for other characters to shine - which is the key to telling a good story as far as I'm concerned.

[mongi291]

I've - thankfully - never had to acknowledge them. They may technically exist within the game's lore but as with many things related to the Warrior of Light I tend to shy away from them if at all possible.

 

I won't lie - I'm not particularly interested in interacting with characters that suddenly gain access to a bunch of knowledge just because they happen to tie obtaining a soul crystal into one of their personal events. I much prefer interacting with characters that train and better themselves through shedding blood, sweat and tears. It's just a lot more engaging for me.

 

A character that can do pretty much everything tends to hog the spotlight anyway. A character that is specialised in one or two specific roles, however, leaves plenty of room for other characters to shine - which is the key to telling a good story as far as I'm concerned.

But what if they -do- get a soulstone but don't suddenly learn everything? I mean, look at Isaulde. She has a Soul of the Dark Knight, yeah.

But she's been training for 12 years, 15 if we count pre-DRK training, and she's not done with it yet.

She has a Soul Crystal, yes, but it's to avoid the lore about DRKs backlashing and saying that no Crystal = no Dark Knight. Just like what happened with BLM.

Also, having a Soul Crystal doesn't necessarily mean that character is good at everything.

[Mia Moui]

I usually play them as though they are any other kind of attractive crystal that one may find on a journey.  Every so often, one of them turns out to be a magical object that seems to result in her waking up on the ground, but other than that, they are just crystals.

[Ashe]

I love seeing all the lore abiding citizens (pfffft that was punny) throw this piece of lore out the window for the sake of...I guess convenience? Some of the jobs really do 100% rely on their soul crystal/stones though...(A lot of Japanese bloggers call it 魂石...and the text is soul crystal so I get confused sometimes >.<. 

Anywho.

Yeah, this was really interesting!

 

It really depends on the job. The game doesn't do a very good job of showcasing how prevalent (or not) these items are, or even if they're mandatory given the special circumstances of the Warrior of Light. A lot of us are figuring it out as we go (because the soulstones are an afterthought for the most part in 2.x, given that they were a huge asspull in 1.x) and the new cutscenes for 50-60 don't always point out how vital these things could be.

 

It's less about throwing lore out of a window and more about trying to figure out how to undo two years of established assumption in a setting where the details are held very close to the chest. I mean, if you've got SE-approved definite lore that everyone missed, feel free to link and source it.

 

You of all people should be aware that sometimes we learn things later and need to retool them after details come out. How's your wiki?

Been lazy as fuck changing it.

I don't really expand my RP pool so everyone I RP with knows what's up so my brain is like, "I'll do it later."

 

Edit:

AH! I should extend his history portion since a lot of shit recently happened really fast...

I'll do that tonight after work...

[Mikoto]

I keep seeing that 'soul crystals' tend to allow people to skip over things without much thought. It /doesn't/ work that way at all. Soul Crystals allow for people to learn the proper methods from those that carried it before hand but they still /HAVE/ to train in using the techniques. It's basically a giant book of knowledge just implanted in your mind. WAR/DK quests prove this viewpoint because you still HAD to train before you can even tap into the soul crystal. It is certainly not a get out of jail free card and it doesn't allow people to be the best of their class in a matter of just touching the rock.

[Oli!]

 

 

 

The Black Mage Soul Crystal is literally called the Gem of Shattoto. By Shattoto, the person who one could argue "invented" Black Magic because she couldn't be a Thaumaturge. It's basically her "here's how I did this" memory in a rock. Could someone else rediscover her methods? Maybekinda. The 3.0 scenes seem to imply that people tried and got burned for it.

 

The thing is that the Gem of Shattoto is a very specific item. Whether or not there are other BLM soulstones is not touched upon.

 

Depending on how you interpret the lore that we have, it's likely that there are others, because you can't have a Wizarding War without multiple Wizards, but your mileage may vary.

[Ashe]

 

 

 

The Black Mage Soul Crystal is literally called the Gem of Shattoto. By Shattoto, the person who one could argue "invented" Black Magic because she couldn't be a Thaumaturge. It's basically her "here's how I did this" memory in a rock. Could someone else rediscover her methods? Maybekinda. The 3.0 scenes seem to imply that people tried and got burned for it.

 

The thing is that the Gem of Shattoto is a very specific item. Whether or not there are other BLM soulstones is not touched upon.

 

Depending on how you interpret the lore that we have, it's likely that there are others, because you can't have a Wizarding War without multiple Wizards, but your mileage may vary.

This definitely.

I think that someone theoretically could have the soul stone of a different black mage from that time.

You'd prolly have to make up some stuff/lore bend a bit but it's not impossible. 

Unlikely. But not impossible.

[Caspar]

Yeah that's a good perspective, and it's changing my mind a bit on the soul gem. I prefer it that way. Perhaps the soul stone is like a Fate mage seal. It has the entire body of work a family has worked on in their many generations of occult resrarch, but it is up to the inheritor to learn how to utilize it, unless they're properly tutored.

[Garalona]

 

 

 

The Black Mage Soul Crystal is literally called the Gem of Shattoto. By Shattoto, the person who one could argue "invented" Black Magic because she couldn't be a Thaumaturge. It's basically her "here's how I did this" memory in a rock. Could someone else rediscover her methods? Maybekinda. The 3.0 scenes seem to imply that people tried and got burned for it.

 

The thing is that the Gem of Shattoto is a very specific item. Whether or not there are other BLM soulstones is not touched upon.

 

Depending on how you interpret the lore that we have, it's likely that there are others, because you can't have a Wizarding War without multiple Wizards, but your mileage may vary.

This definitely.

I think that someone theoretically could have the soul stone of a different black mage from that time.

You'd prolly have to make up some stuff/lore bend a bit but it's not impossible. 

Unlikely. But not impossible.

 

Make stuff up? Bend lore? Oh my gosh, that's... that's... Reasonable.

[Ashe]

 

 

 

The Black Mage Soul Crystal is literally called the Gem of Shattoto. By Shattoto, the person who one could argue "invented" Black Magic because she couldn't be a Thaumaturge. It's basically her "here's how I did this" memory in a rock. Could someone else rediscover her methods? Maybekinda. The 3.0 scenes seem to imply that people tried and got burned for it.

 

The thing is that the Gem of Shattoto is a very specific item. Whether or not there are other BLM soulstones is not touched upon.

 

Depending on how you interpret the lore that we have, it's likely that there are others, because you can't have a Wizarding War without multiple Wizards, but your mileage may vary.

This definitely.

I think that someone theoretically could have the soul stone of a different black mage from that time.

You'd prolly have to make up some stuff/lore bend a bit but it's not impossible. 

Unlikely. But not impossible.

 

Make stuff up? Bend lore? Oh my gosh, that's... that's... Reasonable.

Well, there's a difference between bending it reasonably and ignoring it completely.