Pretty characters in a harsh world.

[Orlog]

MODERATOR'S NOTE: As some of you may be aware, this thread was previously locked due constant argument. As per member requests, we've decided to reopen the thread with the off-topic posts removed. We ask that you try to move on with the discussion and avoid off topic bickering.

 

Should this thread get out of hand once more, it will be locked again indefinitely. So please, be courteous and give each other the benefit of the doubt. Thank you.

 

---

 

This topic was brought up in the race selection thread, and I actually got a few people commenting on how my mentality of being a rough bitch visually is refreshing to see. But, this kind of confused me, because I personally feel that it shouldn't be that foreign of a concept. Pretty characters in a rough world just come off as very unrealistic to me. Especially in a game that has you going out into the wilderness, fighting monsters that're larger than life and at times even killing people to survive.

 

As I had mentioned in this other thread, I'm not saying that attractive people shouldn't exist. But, looking fresh faced and bug eyed just doesn't seem to fit the world, unless they're absolutely new to the world of doing any kind of work. Plus, the character models within the game are pretty attractive from the get go; I see no need to add on to that.

 

So, what are your thoughts on it?

[Koko]

I always Roleplay my characters' physical appearance according to their lifestyle. My Roegadyn here will be brutish, scarred and visibly aged (as befits someone close to the fifties who has worked at a forge for a lifetime, or battled wielding axes).

 

In  WoW my rogue was an old military veteran who was pretty ugly due to a lifetime of scars (most done by player characters, as far as having half his face burnt).

 

My SWTOR bounty hunter was similarly ugly.

 

My Secret World mage character was a sickly, gaunt sort of Lovecraft type.

 

I do RP extremes, but I think that these quirks and choices add a lot of flavor, but then again I am one more prone to have characters with a much wider set of flaws than actual prowess in any field, because I think that it's limitations, and not masteries, which bring greater depth to interaction. Most my characters excell in one of three areas: Social interaction, physical strength, or mental strength, and then are 'neutral/secondary' in another, and 'bad' in another, as a rough picture.

[allgivenover]

I considered that too, one way to excuse it is that the proliferation of healing magics could minimize the permanent aesthetic damage that people suffer the world over. However scars do happen, as we can choose them in the character creator. Perhaps those scars are the result of truly dire injury. I dunno.

 

I say it's up to personal preference how rugged a character ends up looking. This is Final Fantasy after all, it's fairly common throughout the franchise for characters to go through hell and then come out the other side of it looking as if they just got their hair and makeup done by a professional stylist.

[Eva]

I don't want to speak to other peoples' characters, but Eva probably gets lumped into that. Most notably, she is extremely busty, and goes to lengths to try and conceal this - moreso when in any sort of mission or combat setting. She does not view it as the asset that most women might.

 

She doesn't have the degree of combat experience most others do, and she suffers a sort of OCD and is super-aware of her appearance and how she presents herself - and there are a number of in-character reasons for this (which I wouldn't mind talking about but starts to veer away from the point).

 

This tends to fade to the background when there is duty, and when things happen that leave her on the battlefield for awhile. One might say the barbie doll has been dragged through the mud a lot. And while she may take a lot of time cleaning herself and restoring her image, only to get muddy or bloody again at the next. This happened a lot within the more militaristic/mercenary type groups she belonged to. She's also a nurse, and not exactly the "hellllloooo nurse" trope (although that's been joked about at times) - but there's been RP or references made to incidents where she's held a man's entrails in her hands while a surgeon tried to work on him. And other gritty stuff like that.

 

Dirt, blood, grime, mud, soot, sweat... happens. To RP like you've stepped off the battlefield untouched by any of this is a little unrealistic to me, and I agree with everything you're saying about keeping it real.

[Magellan]

I come from the world of console rpgs, in which the heroes are attractive; hell, even the villains are attractive, despite engaging all manner of activity you have described.

I understand your dedication to realism, even applaud you for it, but this is a fantasy world, MMO's attract a large quantity of anime fans, and people generally associate aesthetics with being cool (just look at advertising).

 

Not saying its right, it just is what it is.

[Tabrett]

Personally, I love characters with some grit to them. Kerr isn't afraid to get his hands dirty or even to kill people (though its usually for a good reason). Seeing other characters who represent these kind of traits is something I enjoy. The world they live in can be quite savage at times and I think it's good to try and keep that in mind. At least for me, anyway.

[Martiallais]

To start, how you put it in the other thread WAS great to see. It made me grin a bit so props to you. For me, it was at least partly because it reminded me of an old friend's view and expression of her characters.

 

On to the point, I've played characters on both end of the spectrum from a shining, almost OCD noble blood knight to a human mercenary that could care less how much blood and grime he was caked in as long as the job got done. To me, it really boils down to the environment of the world, but more importantly the character. How clean or unmarred a character is (or isn't) can be a small way of not only showing their priorities but how they view themselves, both of which can be (and usually are) effected by their history/background/standing/place in life, among other things.

 

I like to look at it really as a small way of presenting that piece of the character, but by the same token I could just really be reading into other people's characters too far. I just know that for myself that's the reflection I intend to give off when I comment/post/describe something of that nature during RP.

 

For what it's worth, Zarek will likely be more of a grittier, down to earth type character given the background that's been forming in my head.

[Jackscarab]

My thoughts are:

 

Kannadi is well-off enough that bathing, grooming, and laundry are easy for her to access, so she does. She looks conventionally good not by distance from filthy adventuring work, but because she can afford to correct for the effects.

[Averis]

I'm certainly one of those that play the "pretty" or "fair" characters. I guess it really depends on what you want out of your RP and how realistic you want to get compared to what you want your character to look like. I think it's good to have a mix of both. I agree that it's unrealistic to not have some wear on characters that battle as much as ours do, but I'd rather use the excuse that they were healed than have everyone running around all gruff and with scars. A majority of either side would be boring.

 

I think class can play a role in this as well. To me casters would tend to be more fair whereas a warrior would more likely be more gruff and scared etc.

 

TLDR: Variety is good as long as it makes sense.

[Caeryn]

Many a time I've RPed Selene as being very very dirty.  Oftentimes she'll come home and be covered in blood (usually someone else's), wearing a bandage, or in general dirty and grimy.  Her hair is oftentimes a mess later in the day.

 

It all boils down to how gritty and "real" you want to get with your character.  Although I might raise an eyebrow if you manage to brutally slay 50 people and come out nice and shiny Selene might raise an eyebrow.

[Myxie Tryxle]

It really depends on your character concept.  For a rough and tumble mercenary or grizzled pirate, it would be rather expected that they would be rough around the edges cosmetically, I agree.  But this is also the kind of world where you can take a long sword to the liver, drink a potion, and walk it off.  The ready availability of healing magics (white mages, potions, etc.) would make scarification less of an issue for a seasoned warrior with a reasonable support structure.  That's before even considering the notion that at least a few money-focused conjurers would develop a trade in vanity magic (magically equivalent to modern cosmetic surgery, but likely cheaper).

[Ellie]

Shiro's an absolute wuss, so I at least have an excuse.

 

Great discussion, by the way, but I think Final Fantasy has a lot of romanticization in the way they portray characters, so I don't really feel it's completely out of the question for roleplay in a Final Fantasy game, but I do absolutely understand that people can be put off by it.

[Nhyra]

My character is considered beautiful I guess. She has a well groomed hair and skin that has been cared for, her mother made sure of that. However, I'm sure she'll get ruffled when the real adventure begins and the fights will have a toll on her appearance. Thanks to the overly strict beauty routines her mother taught her, my character started to think that being vain is one of the worst personality flaws one can have. However, whenever she gets messy, she gets the small voice in her head telling that she should clean up asap.

 

She could really use a mud bath ;>

 

I could just make the most roughest Roegadyn I can and have fun as a ragamuffin tho.

[Mara]

I think class can play a role in this as well. To me casters would tend to be more fair whereas a warrior would more likely be more gruff and scared etc.

 

This right here. I always play ranged classes, and so I think they're more likely to come out of fights unmarred than, say... A warrior who charged head-first right into a battle. Casters (and rangers) are trained to stay out of harm's way and fight from afar, because they lack the strength and stamina to withstand the harsh blows of melee combat. So I agree that class would play a fairly large role in just how beat up/dirty/blood-soaked your character gets on a regular basis.

 

As far as my character is concerned, she sometimes relies on her looks to help her get what she wants. So keeping up a certain standard as far as her appearance is concerned is pretty important. She's still got some scars, though... but she strategically hides them. (Partly because she doesn't want to have to answer questions about how she got them.) And while she's not afraid to get a little dirty, for the most part she remains out of harm's way due to being a mage and also not wanting to damage her goods, so to speak.

[Faiz]

I'm okay with facial scars and whatnot, especially when they apply.. however I'll admit that I only add them if /I/ like how it looks on this character or that character. Originally, Maleqo'te Ryuki had s scar over his right eye and one over his cheek, but it looked extremely off and bad. I made an alternate look to him and ended up liking that one better.

 

SWTOR, most if not all off my characters have scars. Those who don't.. we're meant to be that way, according to my perception.

 

While I more so or less enjoy your post, I don't feel as though (generally speaking) I should be looked down upon by others for it.

[PeriasGift]

I think that variety is awesome when it comes to characters, but I don't think that people should feel less awesome about their RP because they play someone generally seen as 'pretty' or better because they're breaking the norm. Most of the NPCs in the FF series look extremely pretty/clean/etc no matter what they're going through, so it's not like it's just player characters doing this. 

Me personally, I've always enjoyed playing a character that I find visually appealing.

[ForestGuardian]

I really don't think any way of doing it is better than the other, so I can't really offer applause for those who want rougher, dirtier characters, it's just another aspect of your character which leans closer to realism and further from Fantasy.

 

And let's face it, this is a Final Fantasy game... Looking back through the series, characters keep ridiculous hairstyles with ease, wear incredibly uncomfortable armor and do some rather exaggerated stunts... I'm not going to expect people to carry around hair product and fix up their hairstyle that the game gave them after every battle, and I'm not going to assume that it's messed up unless they say it is. 

 

As for getting dirty, I think it's entirely possible some characters may be more self aware, light of foot, agile and careful about not getting dirty. Where as some characters will trudge right through the mud, some will be so observant that they walk around, hop across, or step over the mud. 

 

This definitely is NOT Skyrim, but we do have to acknowledge that, to our characters, it's just as real, even if the art style and the background of the series allows for well kept characters taking on the biggest baddest enemies. It's just not up to anyone but ourselves to decide whether our pristine white robe is covered in muck after a battle in the woods.

[Dycize]

I've never really got to RP in a down'n'dirty kind of world yet, but I tend to play characters on the fairest end of the spectrum.

The reason being... Well I like pretty characters. And tend to play them rather young.

Note that I do not dislike the rugged characters, not at all, I like seeing people do them and bring variety and be that grizzled veteran. Scars tend to have a strong effect, particularly when visible. It tells "this person went through something special!" and generally they do.

Even melee fighters really. Those who wear big armors, well, wear big armors, so they are generally well covered, and the "lighter" fighters are generally pretty bent on avoiding getting hit. And there's the case of magic too.

In the end it still comes down to those special occasions...

And now I think of Squall from FF8 and his training induced face scar. Which is pretty insignificant in terms of experience, yet it's there...

As for dirt, well, it's dirt, easy come, easy go, and there's not really options to dirty one's gear!

 

But generally, there's also the fact that video games tend to give you character creators who fit the world. What I've played of FF14 has pretty people all over the place, so it doesn't feel too out of context for me.

[Nee Ninean]

I don't see a problem with Nee being cute, while she is neecapping some Roe or other villain. The particular roe being one of my linkshell leaders.

[Curtis West]

I am sorry if this was brought up... I glanced over some of the posts, might have missed it.

 

 

I was kind of disappointed with the character creator. There were instances where I was given tons of choice, such as picking color of anything... skin, hair, eyes. But the body can only be muscular or not. There are no various shapes (maybe even 3 "types" would do, per race). I pictured my character to be short-ish (although I am still putting him taller than normal because I know most guys crank up the hight for their characters so that even "average" guys seem short, which is annoying), muscular and kind of bulky. Unfortunately he looks like a model of a smith, rather than an actual smith.

 

Lack of facial hair for male midlander faces is also an issue for me. I don't want an old man face just to have a mustache worth having, you know? This coupled with the fact that there is no "age" scale, and my character came out looking younger than I intended. I either plan on toying around more or even possibly trying alternative race/face combos to get it right.

 

I must say that the scars you can elect to put on the face are a good touch. It makes me wish for body scars. And how about tattoos? That's be cool.

 

I understand people who may wish to play pretty characters though, even if it doesn't fully make sense given what they do in-game... or they have to create a certain RP background to accomodate the good looks. A lot of gamers (just in general, but I assume RPers too) play for escapism.

[Scarlet Willow]

If I may, I'd like to add a little to Curtis West's post. I had originally planned on playing as a lady Highlander when they were announced; I thought the males were rather grizzly and thought the women would be a little similar, but I found them to be just taller with broader shoulders than their Midlander counterparts. The Roegadyn females actually took me by surprise - they're still "pretty" for Square standards, but they also look capable of squeezing the life out of you between their biceps.

 

There's nothing wrong with pretty characters - it is Square Enix after all - especially when you take their class into consideration. But I've sort of craved for a slider that doesn't only do just muscle definition, but muscle mass as well. We're adventurers, and while not all of us are going to be trudging around in the mud or getting Malboro slobber all over them, we go out and fight things, run to dodge, etc. and I think in that respect there should be some muscle mass gained.

 

That's my two gil anywho . _ .

[Grott]

This topic was brought up in the race selection thread, and I actually got a few people commenting on how my mentality of being a rough bitch visually is refreshing to see. But, this kind of confused me, because I personally feel that it shouldn't be that foreign of a concept. Pretty characters in a rough world just come off as very unrealistic to me. Especially in a game that has you going out into the wilderness, fighting monsters that're larger than life and at times even killing people to survive.

 

As I had mentioned in this other thread, I'm not saying that attractive people shouldn't exist. But, looking fresh faced and bug eyed just doesn't seem to fit the world, unless they're absolutely new to the world of doing any kind of work. Plus, the character models within the game are pretty attractive from the get go; I see no need to add on to that.

 

So, what are your thoughts on it?

 

I haven't read any posts on this thread yet except this one, but I'll get back to you all once I do if I have anything to add. I have to agree completely. I'm all about being realistic and dirty with my character. I even go so far as to make my character seem like he's fallen from grace and had a rough few years. Uther Skystrider comes from a knightly background. He was trained in the ways of combat and court from an early age, but he's mostly dropped the latter and become a dirty, wandering, brawler with a spear. I even wrote a description of his appearance to practice my writing before I jump into fan fiction. I looked at this picture for reference.

exactly[/i] what type of world he lives in, and while he tries to be as valiant and chivalrous as he can, it's not always an option. Sometimes you have to take the messier road.

[Azthran]

I'd have to go with a mix of realism and the look fitting the character. As mentioned before this is a fantasy setting and often these settings follow a more romantic road when it comes to characters. That being said from looking at this as a game all character creators in any MMO will give you options that fit the setting.

 

Now I love adding bits of realism in there because these things will happen. People get hurt or killed, dirty, lost, even some may become mentally unstable.

 

Looking back at characters I've played before I have a trend of playing older and generally roughed up characters. My troll in WoW had a broken tusk, covered in scars, blood stained teeth and so on but in that world it still fit. Even considering trolls had pretty insane natural healing properties along with potions and magic.

 

For another example of a game that uses a lot of pretty people we have TERA. The character models were very pretty or cool looking but those of us who RPed tended to look at the every day things of the races. Aman for example (and I'm overly simplifying them here) are warrior smiths, most Aman be it male or female spend their lives in a forge or on the battle field and tended to be scarred or burned.

 

For me U'zhan is a step away from these older roughed up characters and he's a relatively attractive male miqo'te. This isn't saying he's super pretty or anything he has a couple scars and gets dirty but he's still green when it comes to adventuring.

 

Now I feel like I just ended up rambling about my characters there, sorry about that. ._.

[Varus]

Especially in a game that has you going out into the wilderness, fighting monsters that're larger than life and at times even killing people to survive.

 

Totally agreement. 

 

I'm giving Tyonis all the scars you can apply to a character to emphasize a lifestyle filled with the constant threat of a gruesome death.  

 

I want SE to apply an age and stress complexion slider to highlight the strain of such a lifestyle, but I doubt we will get that level of customization.

 

But I can still hope for better facial air. And a practical ponytail stylized for Hyur warriors that doesn't have half of my character's hair shaved off. :frustrated:

[Grott]

Looking back at characters I've played before I have a trend of playing older and generally roughed up characters. My troll in WoW had a broken tusk, covered in scars, blood stained teeth and so on but in that world it still fit. Even considering trolls had pretty insane natural healing properties along with potions and magic.

 

Now I feel like I just ended up rambling about my characters there, sorry about that. ._.

 

1. I totally forgot about mentioning other characters. I had an undead warrior in WoW and he was as realistic as I could make him for a dead guy. In life he was a foot soldier in the Lordaeron army. He retired to become a farmer and fell to the plague. When he came back he was, initially, completely fucking horrified at what he had become, and then jealous and vengeful against the human race. Then, after spending time deployed with orcs, he became an extremely skilled warrior and picked up an insane savagery and brutality to temper his vengeance with. All-in-all, his predicament had driven him into being a total psychopath. Which I think makes sense for a man who wakes up as a sentient corpse. He looked like shit, he smelled like shit, and his armor was haggard and unfitting. I also had a dwarf rogue, but the undead warrior was the more interesting of the two.

 

2. Don't worry about rambling about your characters. I just did it twice.