New to Balmung, new to RP, kind of frightened [lgbt?].

[Roukanken]

So this is sort of a scary post to write, but from what I've seen so far this seems like a safe place to talk about it.

 

So, uh, hi there. Potential newcomer wanting to test out the waters of roleplay. I may as well come out with it - I'm a guy currently questioning my gender identity, and I was considering playing out a female character as an experiment of sorts. I don't have a huge amount planned for it, but my first idea for her was 'Miqo'te merchant, snake oil saleswoman but ultimately good at heart'.

 

With that in mind, I have a few questions:

 

- Is there a trans RP community around Balmung [As in a community of trans players, not necessarily players whose characters are trans]? I'd be playing around European time.

 

- What sort of level are people expected to reach in PvE? I don't think I could play this character without many things to sell but at the same time she's not really meant to be a world-saving heroine.

 

I'm thinking I might pick up a month's subscription and see where that takes me before I go any further, but I wanted to clear a few things up first. Sorry for being so twitchy and anxious, I'm sort of wrestling with a lot of awkward feelings rn ><

[Syranelle Ironleaf]

Hey there and welcome to Balmung!

 

To answer your questions:

 

1.)  The community here on Balmung is pretty open-minded and tolerant, in general, so finding a Free Company that welcomes and accepts members of the transgender/LGBT persuasion aren't difficult to come by.  Just do your research thoroughly on any group that interests you.  I can't, off-hand, think of any LGBT-specific linkshells or Companies, but someone may be able t point you in the right direction.

 

2.)  PVE activity is entirely dependent on the group/FC you join.  I've seen hardcore raiding groups all the way down to groups that never do much in PVE.  Most tend to strike some kind of balance between the two.

 

That said, the best place to start is with the Balmung RP Calendar and finding a few events that angle toward the kind of RP you're interested in.  Then you can start looking at other character profiles once you've found a few characters or personalities you'd like to meet.  While you're window shopping, be sure to check out the Free Company Hall or the Linkshell Hall to find Free Companies and public groups that may suit your character.

 

For lore questions, be sure to check out Sounsyy's Lore Compilations; she's done an amazing job with compiling a lot of the game lore into easy-to-find threads!

 

You're welcome to add me to your friends list; I'm a fairly busy person, both in-game and out, but I'm always happy to schedule/arrange a day to roleplay with folks!  You're also welcome to come out to my Free Company's open roleplay evening Nights on the Toll, which happens every Thursday that I'm not hosting the Gridania Story-Go-Round.

 

All that said, I hope you find what you're looking for and hopefully I'll see you around in-game!

[Thunderbolt300]

Welcome aboard to Balmung and the RPC! :thumbsup:

 

I can echo the sentiment thus far. LGBT support is pretty much implied just about everywhere- I know there are a few in my own FC and it's never been an issue that's needed to be talked about in the first place. People on Balmung are, by and large, pretty tolerant of everything. You probably don't need to find a specific LGBT group, but the disclaimer is, you may still run across a bad apple here and there regardless of the group you end up rolling with. There's always going to be 'that guy.'

 

You'll want to hit 60 eventually to be able to tackle most of the content, but there's no driving rush. There's still plenty of content you can do with other people as you level up (leveling roulette for example). On the other hand, if you're more after general RP and not content, then don't worry about it at all! Level at your own pace, devote your time to RP instead.

 

It'll take a good month of active community interaction and networking before you start to put down roots, but if you're going to be going through the game for the first time as well, you may want to give yourself 2 months instead. 

 

In any case, you're welcome to run across Kasi too!

[Roukanken]

Thanks for the supportive responses!

 

Sadly I, um, didn't realise getting into Balmung would actually be such a struggle. So it might be a few days before I get in. ><

 

In terms of a starting point, I might pop in to a few of the open mic events that are on the calendar? Just to lurk and watch for a while. We'll see.

[Oyuu]

Hi! I believe this linkshell is the type of thing you're looking for in terms of a trans community! Balmung is very LGBT+ friendly so don't worry. Welcome and hope to see you soon on the server!

[Thunderbolt300]

Yeah, sorry- getting into Balmung is a pain. It takes 72 hours for a character to be old enough to be eligible to transfer servers (age, not played time). Then, you can transfer into Balmung for $18 (along with however many characters you'd also like to move).

[Virella]

Thanks for the supportive responses!

 

Sadly I, um, didn't realise getting into Balmung would actually be such a struggle. So it might be a few days before I get in. ><

 

In terms of a starting point, I might pop in to a few of the open mic events that are on the calendar? Just to lurk and watch for a while. We'll see.

Balmung. Never. Opens.

 

And if it does? Good luck beating the goldsellers on making new characters. At best you can pray for an immense amount of luck; server crashes ect. But... in all truth? Just transfer. Unlike other MMOs, you can transfer up to 8 character at the SAME time! So if I were you, just make a heap of characters on another server, pass the first little starting quest, and make sure they are 3 days old, and voilà, you can transfer them all for the price of one.

 

As for LGBT friendliness? I'm pretty sure on Balmung everyone has a code of live and let live OOC. No one will bash you here for being a person who falls under the LGBT umbrella. In truth, I find finding the 'straight white male' is a hard task on Balmung! Then again somehow I ended up spending most of my time with other LGBT folk without even trying. I wouldn't be too worried about it. I do think there is an LS for irl trans people and allies though.

 

That said, I don't think there is a trans character LS, mostly because I'm going to be very honest with you, a lot of trans characters get fetished here and there still. If you do continue to go down that route with your character, do be aware if you flaunt it left right and centre you might get accused of this. But there are some people who I know who do have trans characters, and treat it very respectfully; and no one has issues with them because yeah, they do it respectfully, not as a fetish thing.

 

In any case, I wouldn't be too worried about it. Balmung is gay as fuck.

 

As for level? No one cares. But you might, due to gear and all that! As long you don't start screeching 'spoilers' because you haven't finished the content yet? I don't think anyone really cares.

 

Best of luck!

[Roukanken]

Right. In that case I might spend those three days getting to a decent starting level, getting to the point I can travel around a bit.

 

Is moving from EU servers to US servers allowed? I was thinking of going there for now. From what I've gathered there aren't really a lot of RP groups outside of Balmung, but I figured I'd check up again for good measure.

 

@Virella: My plan wasn't to make the character trans. I just wanted to be upfront since I'm questioning myself and I didn't want to look like one of those creeps that pretends to be a girl online to trick people. ;;

[Faye]

Hello there, welcome! There are plenty of trans members of the RP community here, and the community in general is very open-minded and accepting when it comes to LGBT+ matters. (And to be entirely honest, even dudes playing female characters to be creepers is not a rarity here and the majority of them are still accepted by a good chunk of the community, so you don't even really need to fear being mistaken for that sort of person.) As for the level of your character, it doesn't really matter. However, I would encourage you to progress as much as you can. It's the easiest way to learn the basic lore of the game, and it opens up more locations and outfits/weapons for RP. Not to mention, you may run into the odd person who will be wont to associate your character's IC strength with your in game level, if that might be an issue.

[Sileas Bishop]

Hi there! I definitely can relate to your fears, considering I fall within the LGBT community. Being open with it can be a very difficult thing, but you can definitely find some really great people! Like someone said above, there's always going to be people who are negative but they are still far and few in between. I'd be more than happy to RP with you whenever! I have about 4 characters I'm constantly jumping between for RP so it can be a little difficult to grab me online on a certain character haha. But if you have a discord i'd be more than happy to chat with you there as well (or through DM here)!

 

I thought I'd mention as well that my FC (in my signature) is pretty much compiled of all sorts of LGBT people! (as well as those in questioning).