Stormblood may change the entire paradigm of RP

[Seriphyn]

Othard is gated behind the expansion, true, but up until this point what we knew was governed by Eorzea. The fact that this massive bait-and-switch took place, opening an entirely new continent can (but may very well not) upend everything we know about RP. Essentially, Eorzea no longer has centrality in the mechanical and tangible game universe. Whether or not this shifts to RP is a different matter.

 

Quicksand will probably remain the hub of RP, as nothing really happened to Ishgard...but with housing in Othard...it's rather exciting and interesting to see what will happen. The game is moving to Hydaelyn-focused from Eorzean-focused. Au Ra were just extras to we Eorzeans, the main stars of the world. But with the game world opening up, we may just be one set of characters in a great host of them.

[Swanmay]

Exciting, isn't it?

 

Personally, I'm really looking forward to the eastern aesthetic that Othard will bring, which is of course a sharp contrast to the very western Eorzea. And with that, all the new interpretations of what we have already. We already know that Domans, or Othardians (I forget) do not worship The Twelve for example, so we get to be exposed to an entirely new religion and set of beliefs that may be entirely different from the ones we are used to.

 

We also get to see new organisations arise, like The Brass Blades, The Crystal Braves, etc. There may be entirely new takes on FCs, pertaining to canon organisations. New roles which one can fulfil, other than "adventurer". I believe I've seen Xaela tribe FCs pop up already, but what about Doman Clans?

 

It's certainly going to be an adventure, and I for one, cannot wait.

[Sylentmana]

Ever since I saw the new trailer, I've been squealing uncontrollably in glee. I think my neighbors are getting annoyed.

[Parth Makeo]

honestly with the inclusion of the future Skip potion, i don't see an issue. 

Othard Housing is honestly something i didn't expect but will adore. Considering P'rth and P'rita both hail from the region, P'rth will be reduced to a wimpering old man of the goold ol days of his Raen like father figure master and P'rita will be crying and sobbing on the streets mumbling

 

"I'm home...I'm Home...I'm home."

[Flynn Bladebreaker]

I actually cant wait to get out of Eorzea, so soon in fact. I know there are people who probably think the focus is on Othard and not Ala Mhigo, but that's not the case. Even my character has plans for Ala Mhigo, and whatever they do isn't gonna hinder your character's progression. It might even enhance it, open other opportunities. I can be complainy and negative sometimes, but for this expansion I'm really excited, because we still get what we want, and more.

[Teadrinker]

I think it will honestly have the same level of effect Ishgard had. Some folk will hop on that train SO hard and others not so much.

 

Granted, I think the impact might be felt harder because I think the Samurai aesthetic is VERY appealing to a lot of people. (aka weebs like me)

 

I don't see any RP hubs really changing and with SE's pattern of offering limited detail about the world the characters actually live in I see structure to build RP around coming up short because that has just been the precedent for years.

 

Ishgard was the sole focus for HW yet we still clamour for details on how their system of Government actually works. With this being split between TWO nations I see details coming up even shorter this go round.

 

On the other side of the coin, I'm hoping these city areas are huge. I'm hoping we get more than just an alleyway, a bar and the rich people area ala Ishgard. I WANT them to be super awesome and offer just ridiculous, drippy, gorey detail I can shove my face in but... *shrug* I fear it'll be more like Idylshire sized at worst.

[Kazukata]

More than anything, I'm trying to wrap my head around the scale of distance and how that's going to affect rp.

 

Admittedly, the idea of teleporting literally halfway around the world to go rp somewhere else boggles my mind more than a little bit, assuming the Aethernet works like that, but the alternative of anyone in Doma being ICly isolated from the rest of the server by a month-long boat ride kind of makes it a necessary handwave. Going from Doma to Ul'dah just to get a pint at the Quicksand just feels...way too casual a use for something as momentously powerful as teleporting halfway around the world, when there's probably a perfectly fine bar down the street back in Doma. But again, gonna have to just handwave it away for the sake of the rp.

[Kilieit]

Admittedly, the idea of teleporting literally halfway around the world to go rp somewhere else boggles my mind more than a little bit, assuming the Aethernet works like that, but the alternative of anyone in Doma being ICly isolated from the rest of the server by a month long boat ride kind of makes it a necessary handwave. Still, I'm still wrapping my head around dealing with that more than anything. Going from Doma to Ul'dah just to get a pint at the Quicksand just feels...way too casual a use for something as momentously powerful as teleporting halfway around the world, when there's probably a perfectly fine bar down the street back in Doma. But again, gonna have to just handwave it away for the sake of the rp.

 

I agree that this is a concern of mine - I go with "rule of fun" on the huge majority of my stuff but for some reason travel times is something I prefer to stick with wherever I can. Which is reasonable when it's like "RPing that it took my character an hour to get from Vesper Bay back to Limsa by ferry", but less reasonable when it's like "took my character an entire week at sea"...

 

I guess it probably helps that my main character in particular is extremely uninclined to make the journey casually, but while I assume at least he wouldn't need to be smuggled this time, I just can't really... imagine any of my characters making that journey in a reasonable timeframe? Even the ones who would want to.

 

I must admit I was a little surprised to see an aethernet in Othard at all - I always imagined it was, while not a magickless place, definitely a place where magic was less of a daily fact than it is in Eorzea. Maybe it'll be placed during the MSQ itself? Maybe MSQ will provide us with a specific shenanigan to enable IC "fast travel" cross-continent that doesn't require inhuman amounts of power? IDK...

[Kazukata]

I agree that this is a concern of mine - I go with "rule of fun" on the huge majority of my stuff but for some reason travel times is something I prefer to stick with wherever I can. Which is reasonable when it's like "RPing that it took my character an hour to get from Vesper Bay back to Limsa by ferry", but less reasonable when it's like "took my character an entire week at sea"...

 

I guess it probably helps that my main character in particular is extremely uninclined to make the journey casually, but while I assume at least he wouldn't need to be smuggled this time, I just can't really... imagine any of my characters making that journey in a reasonable timeframe? Even the ones who would want to.

 

I must admit I was a little surprised to see an aethernet in Othard at all - I always imagined it was, while not a magickless place, definitely a place where magic was less of a daily fact than it is in Eorzea. Maybe it'll be placed during the MSQ itself? Maybe MSQ will provide us with a specific shenanigan to enable IC "fast travel" cross-continent that doesn't require inhuman amounts of power? IDK...

 

Here's hoping. Otherwise, my options are to A. have my character go to Doma and never leave, likely hamstringing rp opportunities, B. have my character never go back to a country he fought two wars to protect for...reasons? or C. just ignore the distance and have him be wherever he needs to be by...some means I'm never going to lay out. So basically C. That said, I'm fully expecting some aethernet shenanigans at the very least just as a practicality to keep the MSQ plot moving along, and that'll probably just have to be good enough.

[Nako Vesh]

I think the reason we didn't see a lot of RP in Ishgard is because it was so exclusive. Elezen, Hyur, Elezen, Hyur, Elezen, Hyur, a smattering of others. It was all very political and Game of Thrones-y (not that I didn't enjoy it, I really did), and almost required you to have a direct connection to Ishgard, so only a particular niche of player would naturally be drawn to it. Doma seems to have the potential for being slightly more inclusive.

 

My character, for example, was only even remotely interested in Ishgard itself because of the Brume and the potential for helping the people there.

[Skae]

I think the reason we didn't see a lot of RP in Ishgard is because it was so exclusive. Elezen, Hyur, Elezen, Hyur, Elezen, Hyur, a smattering of others. It was all very political and Game of Thrones-y (not that I didn't enjoy it, I really did), and almost required you to have a direct connection to Ishgard, so only a particular niche of player would naturally be drawn to it. Doma seems to have the potential for being slightly more inclusive.

 

Another reason is that before you can even set foot in Ishgard itself a player need to go through the entire 2.x MSQ. This prevents lowbie characters from entering the place, and thus everyone is reluctant to place any RP-events in Ishgard since it would exclude all those characters from joining.

Result: Not much RP in Ishgard. (That it is a quite isolationist place IC does help.)

[Edda]

I think the reason we didn't see a lot of RP in Ishgard is because it was so exclusive. Elezen, Hyur, Elezen, Hyur, Elezen, Hyur, a smattering of others. It was all very political and Game of Thrones-y (not that I didn't enjoy it, I really did), and almost required you to have a direct connection to Ishgard, so only a particular niche of player would naturally be drawn to it. Doma seems to have the potential for being slightly more inclusive.

 

Another reason is that before you can even set foot in Ishgard itself a player need to go through the entire 2.x MSQ. This prevents lowbie characters from entering the place, and thus everyone is reluctant to place any RP-events in Ishgard since it would exclude all those characters from joining.

Result: Not much RP in Ishgard. (That it is a quite isolationist place IC does help.)

 

Not only that the city itself wasn't the best for random RP in general. A bar with no chairs? What? There's like a nice fire and a gazebo and some benches, but that's it and they're all outside in the stark cold anyway. Who wants to hang out there? A lot of neat potential RP areas in Heavensward have been instanced too. Not cool! And outside the city, the few settlements suffer from the same issues, especially when compared to places like Aleport, Wineport, Horizon, Fallgourd Float, etc etc. I think if the new areas in Stormblood do better at this more people might feel compelled to go out and use such areas. Hopefully, anyway.

[Aya]

Yeah, sadly, the best places for RPing "in Ishgard" were not in Ishgard!  I.e. in housing, or whatever representing places in Ishgard.  Its a very lovely city, but the game form of it is certainly not crafted with RPing in mind.

 

I really have no interest in Othard or Doma, and can't see RPing in either an onze.  But I'm sure they'll be interesting to look at and run through PvE wise! Given the game scale its hard to imagine that either gets more than a slap and a dash of treatment, unless they're going to make new areas on a scale vastly grander than they have so far (which is always possible).

 

I am definitely more interested in Ala Mhigan areas, hopefully its not just wilderness and ruins.  Kind of curious how that all plays out.

[Kilieit]

I think the reason we didn't see a lot of RP in Ishgard is because it was so exclusive. Elezen, Hyur, Elezen, Hyur, Elezen, Hyur, a smattering of others. It was all very political and Game of Thrones-y (not that I didn't enjoy it, I really did), and almost required you to have a direct connection to Ishgard, so only a particular niche of player would naturally be drawn to it. Doma seems to have the potential for being slightly more inclusive.

 

Another reason is that before you can even set foot in Ishgard itself a player need to go through the entire 2.x MSQ. This prevents lowbie characters from entering the place, and thus everyone is reluctant to place any RP-events in Ishgard since it would exclude all those characters from joining.

Result: Not much RP in Ishgard. (That it is a quite isolationist place IC does help.)

 

All of this. I didn't even unlock it til half way through the year, because I'm super slow at questing - and even after I had done so earlier, I could scarcely find reasons for my character to go to a city where he was pretty explicitly not wanted (being xaela and not a member of a grand company).

 

TBH we'll have to see how Kugane plays out in the MSQ, because we know the wider nation has an isolationist stance - it may end up being the same sort of deal politics-wise, but for a different demographic...

 

PLEASE DON'T GET ME WRONG I am super excited for the inclusion of these areas, I'm just trying to think about the scope of possibilities

[Nebbs]

Yeah, sadly, the best places for RPing "in Ishgard" were not in Ishgard!  I.e. in housing, or whatever representing places in Ishgard.  Its a very lovely city, but the game form of it is certainly not crafted with RPing in mind.

...

 

I think you hit that nail square on the head. As others have also said, the blockers to even getting to Ishgard all but stop the RP. I remember there being some in the start but these days I don't even go looking.

 

And as much as I hope RP will be in the new zones, I feel it will end up the same way if there are such blocks in place. Housing may be different, because a housing zone for level 60+ characters makes no sense.

 

However, on the up side this is not just more content it really feels like an expansion of the game capabilities and lore. If you had asked me back at the start if there would be flying and swimming I would have said no way.

[Nako Vesh]

Not only that the city itself wasn't the best for random RP in general. A bar with no chairs? What? There's like a nice fire and a gazebo and some benches, but that's it and they're all outside in the stark cold anyway. Who wants to hang out there? A lot of neat potential RP areas in Heavensward have been instanced too. Not cool! And outside the city, the few settlements suffer from the same issues, especially when compared to places like Aleport, Wineport, Horizon, Fallgourd Float, etc etc. I think if the new areas in Stormblood do better at this more people might feel compelled to go out and use such areas. Hopefully, anyway.

 

This is a good point. I hate to bring up that game, but Stormwind, for example, has plenty of chairs, benches, parks, alleys, nooks, and empty buildings so it really lends itself to RP. Ishgard was so closed off, and while that makes sense lore-wise, it was boring.

 

I wonder if anyone has brought this up at a Fanfest. I certainly hope it's something they considered when building the new cities and settlements.

[Chidori]

I am excited for it on my Chidori character. I hope they give us kimonos. And I still hoping they add an Ishgardian dress. The other city states have gold saucer outfits...it definitely should have one.

 

The traveling, still not sure how I plan on handling that. It also depends on if one of her sisters get an apartment/house there. I know one of the players is really interested in it. She might just split her time between being at the lodge and there. I am not the biggest fan of poofing around the world...but hey magic.

[Kallera]

I'm mostly concerned about one thing in rp:

 

The Garlean question. On one end, things seem to be ramping up to war, and a lot of terrible shit can be excused for war and the plight of forefathers. I'm not sure what I'll think of it. On one hand I get the desire to be left alone, one the other, the atrocities and bloodshed make me hesistant on seeing what Eorzea's newfound aggression will turn us into towards them and perhaps towards each other.

[LiadansWhisper]

I'm mostly concerned about one thing in rp:

 

The Garlean question. On one end, things seem to be ramping up to war, and a lot of terrible shit can be excused for war and the plight of forefathers. I'm not sure what I'll think of it. On one hand I get the desire to be left alone, one the other, the atrocities and bloodshed make me hesistant on seeing what Eorzea's newfound aggression will turn us into towards them and perhaps towards each other.

 

Eorzea's newfound aggression?

 

o_O

[Yssen]

I'm mostly concerned about one thing in rp:

 

The Garlean question.  On one end, things seem to be ramping up to war, and a lot of terrible shit can be excused for war and the plight of forefathers.  I'm not sure what I'll think of it. On one hand I get the desire to be left alone, one the other, the atrocities and bloodshed make me hesistant on seeing what Eorzea's newfound aggression will turn us into towards them and perhaps towards each other.

 

I would not so much consider it aggression. More like, some idiots went and kicked the Empire in the teeth, and now the rest of us will probably have to suffer for their misguided sense of patriotism.

 

"THE EMPIRE WITH A MILITARY FORCE OF MAGITEK  AND ROBOTS HAS MORE MAGITEK AND ROBOTS! HOW COULD WE HAVE FORESEEN THIS!?!?!!?"

[Gegenji]

I'm mostly concerned about one thing in rp:

 

The Garlean question.  On one end, things seem to be ramping up to war, and a lot of terrible shit can be excused for war and the plight of forefathers.  I'm not sure what I'll think of it. On one hand I get the desire to be left alone, one the other, the atrocities and bloodshed make me hesistant on seeing what Eorzea's newfound aggression will turn us into towards them and perhaps towards each other.

 

I would not so much consider it aggression. More like, some idiots went and kicked the Empire in the teeth, and now the rest of us will probably have to suffer for their misguided sense of patriotism.

 

"THE EMPIRE WITH A MILITARY FORCE OF MAGITEK  AND ROBOTS HAS MORE MAGITEK AND ROBOTS! HOW COULD WE HAVE FORESEEN THIS!?!?!!?"

 

It's pretty silly, yeah, since I think that very reasoning is WHY Eorzea's kind of walking on eggshells around the Garlean Empire thus far. They know that they could barely hold off one Legion, let alone however many others the Empire has either sitting around or on patrol elsewhere. Garlemald is a problem, but it's not really something the Alliance can deal with as it is - even with Ishgard on its side again. So random acts of patriotism that rile up the sleeping beast are very much not a good idea.

 

So, I suppose it makes sense that we're going to be trying and reclaim Ala Mhigo and Doma. After all, should the inevitable happen thanks to these antics (and we more or less know a confrontation of some sort is happening 5.0, whether this is the spark that starts the chain reaction or not), the Alliance is going to want to have more manpower and superior attack vectors to assault the Empire with. Maybe even get some early gains by chipping away at the remaining Legions piecemeal so that if/when they're called to action, they're already weakened or maybe even wiped out.

[Yssen]

I think we are a bit worse off than that. I think we are being set up for a loss when 4.0 is all said and done (though perhaps not right away). The Eorzean Alliance, by their own admission, was barely able to fend off the remnants of a single Imperial Legion and still cannot reclaim the territory occupied since the Calamity. With the losses and damage from a 1000 year war, Ishgard is not exactly in any place to help now that it is in the Alliance. The Imperial War Machine (and some of their war machines) is a juggernaut. They were, as stated, as sleeping giant that the Alliance has only been able to hold back because the Empire was not really interested in pushing farther into Eorzea, and they have at least 13 legions left to deal with us. Whee.

 

It is all fun stuff to adapt to for RP on both the personal and grand level.

 

What price are you willing to pay to see your homeland liberated? What price are you willing to inflict on others who have no stake in the fight? What price are you willing to accept to help?

 

When faced with the impending conflict what do you do? Stand? Run? Collaborate and scheme to save your hide and the hides of others? What/who will you protect? What lines will you cross to do it?

 

Even on the larger scope level there is neat junk. 

 

Limsa is actively training Warriors and Scholars for use in a war effort. 

 

Ul'dah could start conscripting Free Paladins into service. 

 

Will the Elementals even allow Gridania to remain in a conflict that most certainly threatens the balance of the Black Shroud? What concessions will Gridania have to make?

 

Ishgard has 10 Dragoons left, do we really think they are not going to train and field more of their elite fighting force when conflict with the Empire looms? 

 

What is the general populace of Eorzea going to do? When things look bad, who are they going to blame? 

 

Bringing it back around to the personal, given the nature of how this is all starting, who are you going to blame?

 

Fun stuff all around, and that is just a tip of the iceberg.

[V'aleera]

Victory over Garlemald is probably going to come from hacking away at the weak foundations of their society, rather than from smashing armies together. Garlemald's biggest weakness is their own over-expansion and their reliance on regional conscripts, as well as their flimsy government which A) is still relatively young and B) already faced a major coup/civil war.

 

Convince enough Garlean officials/politicians that imperial hasn't worked out too well and win a few impressive battles to convince the conscripts they don't need to fear their overlords anymore and the whole thing collapses in on itself.

[Sylentmana]

I have to wonder what daily life for people under Garlean occupation is like for the average person? Is it really so bad? After all, the advanced level of technology the Garleans have could make many people's lives easier and more comfortable. What about Garlean occupation is so terrible for the average person?

[Gegenji]

I have to wonder what daily life for people under Garlean occupation is like for the average person? Is it really so bad? After all, the advanced level of technology the Garleans have could make many people's lives easier and more comfortable. What about Garlean occupation is so terrible for the average person?

 

From my understanding, it really isn't that bad. Your nation is more or less allowed to self-govern itself (likely due to how spread out the Empire is), and you likely benefit from the advances in magiteknology. You just have to (publicly, at least) denounce the "false" deities and cut off interaction with the beast tribes, and possibly pay some manner of tribute to the Garlean Empire.

 

We'll probably find out more about what life under Garlean yoke is like in Stormblood, since we're traveling to locales specifically under their rule. And if/when we move to Garlemald itself in 5.0 or whenever... we'll likely see what life for a normal Garlean citizen might be like.