So...why so many Miqo'te?

[TheLastCandle]

With good lore on which to base a character's background, Hyur/human-like characters in games can be very interesting to play. My own character is an Elezen, an Ishgardian expatriate, but I came rather close to choosing a Highlander myself.

 

That's.. about all I have to add to the conversation, since I don't play a Miqo'te. I will say, though, that I love it when I come across a fun, well-played character of any race. ^^

[Maril]

I don't actually think there's anything remotely odd about the Miqo'te being, presumably, the most played race. I don't think playing one makes it less unique either. There will always be a favorite of the community, and whilst it usually is humans/hyur that take that spot, it just isn't in this game. 

But anyways the popularity of a race doesn't make the individual character any less unique to start off with - and a good, interesting character you want to sit down and have a long talk with isn't necessarily going to be the one that is the most unique. In fact, some of the most memorable characters I've roleplayed with throughout my 5-ish year long career haven't had much unique/special snowflake-ism about them. 

When I see -any- character, I always wonder who they are, and if I'm lucky I'll get to find out. 

 

I have a dark past to reveal.. Sastra was once Miqo'te! When I first heard of the Miqo'te I was like "Oh my god, really?" but as I got a chance to play around with them, I actually started to see an appeal. Their emotes are really good (Except for male /sit. It's cool for about 5 seconds until you realize you're not going to be perching on tree branches all the time), they remind of something that is human, but isn't. I've got an issue with roleplaying things that do not resemble something akin to a human, and even something like the roe is a bit too much for me. The furthest away from playing a human that I've ever gotten, is the draenei in WoW, which is something I don't really rate that highly since it was quite literally my first RP character ever. I also liked what I had heard of their lore, I thought it to be an interesting challenge..

 

So as you might have noticed, I fantasia'd myself into being a highlander. What drove me away from the Miqo'te in the end, happened to be the very thing I thought was interesting: The lore. Whilst it did sound interesting, I found myself not able to work with it or come up with anything that could maybe eventually work. I could probably have done more to save it, but I tend to not chew too much on the same thing and rather move on to a new idea when I feel stuck. And I am happy with my now-highlander girl, she is lovely, despite having a fairly generic background. That said, I also have a male Miqo'te alt these days, a character I made with some ties to an existing character within the fc, that I am enjoying very much.

[Jomoru]

Well lets break it down shall we?

 

First Miqote are the most blatantly well "anime" race. Any of the other races you could easily see in a western style game but Miqote that's something that requires an intent to play to Asian themes.

 

So having been playing WoW at the time when I Started down looking into FF 14 and having a decent amount of players on the server constantly bashing the "Lol Pandas"(Gods know they could you know have quit instead) but it annoyed me. (The reaction these people had to WOD was why I decided not to play two games going forward)

 

That was my first reason of trending towards miqote. Second I wanted to make a character who was an outsider who had moved in. This significantly curtailed my options.

 

Lalafells, Midlanders, and Wildwoods I would have to entirely create what put them outside as they are more or less the backbone of the cities so it would be hard to justify.

 

Sea Wolves, while partially the backbone of Limsa I could have one tied to an "old clan" but I honestly am not a fan of over use of ys in names it just rubs me the wrong way.

 

Highlanders didn't quite have going for them what I wanted but I do find them wonderfully developed from a lore perspective, I wish more games actually did something with humans and human types rather than "Well they are generic guys"

But while they lack a home now, they were previously a power in theirown right. They are not "savages".

 

SO that leaves me with 3 options

 

Duskwight, I couldn't get a look that said "I lived underground" vs more standardized Dark elf looks. 

 

Hellsguard, I just couldn't get a look I liked that's honestly it. 

 

so Left with Miqote again.

[Seriphyn]

I just missed something. In character creation, under Seekers of the Sun, it says...

 

"It is also not uncommon for their eyes to be disparately coloured from birth, a trait considered auspicious among st their kind"

[Lost River]

For me? I like all races; I'm in this game for the long haul. I have a Roegadyn, Hyur, Miqo'te, and Elezen. Only race I am missing is a Lalafell because I hated their hairstyles... but seeing as the new hairstyles are out, maybe I'll change my name. The Sultana hairstyle is one I'd -love- to have. It's amazing.

 

My reason is quite odd and broad scoped, but it's because I like variety, I enjoy roleplaying quite a lot of people, and the fact I've spent 45+ USD every 3 months to play; I'm down with whatever.

 

 

Although, Lost River has become a kitty magnet; I swear she has catnip on her somewhere, she just can't find it.

[Clover]

I just missed something. In character creation, under Seekers of the Sun, it says...

 

"It is also not uncommon for their eyes to be disparately coloured from birth, a trait considered auspicious among st their kind"

 

Really? I had no idea about that, I should check.

In any case, the K tribe has a few members with that kind of eyes, so it's a common/non special trait there. Diversity is fun~

[LandStander]

Honestly, I never wanted to make a Miqo'te character. I didn't like how they looked (the tribal thing was interesting though) or their emotes or anything. I did end up becoming one for one reason only. I wanted to make a flamboyant slightly effeminate male and I couldn't really achieve the results with any of the other races *Shakes fist at the aesthetician for being so damn fabulous*. I tried to recreate my Miqo'te as a Hyur just recently, but it just doesn't work out as well 

 

Its kind of the same reason when I went lady roe as my main. I wanted to make a woman who would have slightly masculine features and all the other character options were too dainty and cute.

 

So yeah..both of my characters are gender benders

[Kismet]

My main for gameplay is a Miqo'te, but my main for RP became my Hyur. I wanted to make her a Miqo'te as well, but... none of the hairstyles really accommodated to the kind of personality my Hyur has (in my opinion). Now, my gameplay main was leftover from 1.0, and I could have changed her into any other race. But I kept her as a Miqo'te for the same reason I chose the race to begin with... It was cute, not a human, and I liked their animations/proportions.

 

I say all of that because, as others have stated, it was primarily an aesthetic thing. Interesting enough for me to keep staring at it and still be pleased, yet familiar enough for me not to get annoyed by something like proportions (like Elezen's tiny heads and lanky bodies) or animations I'm not fond of (ex: Lalafell rocking from side to side like toddlers when they sit).

[A'byss Shadow]

Not entirely sure if this makes me sound like a jerk or anything, but I choose Miqo'te purely for the animations. My first character was Hyur and I was really enjoying the game! (first time playing ever) Then this Miqo'te comes RUSHING past me and I paused. The animations were so beautiful that I questioned my choice in being Hyur. Then, he stopped running! He just stood there, and I run over and stood next to him. His animations felt more real, more alive. My Hyur animations on the other hand, felt EXTREMELY stiff. (my opinion purely, no based fact) So I switched over and feel in love with my character, and this is the race i've sticked with since.

[Tla]

 I wanted to make a flamboyant slightly effeminate male and I couldn't really achieve the results with any of the other races *Shakes fist at the aesthetician for being so damn fabulous*.

Not even with an elezen?

[TheLastCandle]

 I wanted to make a flamboyant slightly effeminate male and I couldn't really achieve the results with any of the other races *Shakes fist at the aesthetician for being so damn fabulous*.

Not even with an elezen?

 

I hate the Elezen face the Aesthetician uses soooo much. But yeah, it's certainly a candidate should one wish to make an "effeminate" male character.

[pas]

I don't have a Miqo'te character myself, but I can see the appeal of making a Keeper due to the lore & of making any Miqo'te for their ability to be just barely more androgynous than other races (second to Lalafell, considering).

I'm from a moon-lovin' culture, like tribal structures, and also like matriarchies/women-led societies. 

 

The rest of the qualities about Miqo'te—other aesthetics, & seeker lore—are secondary to me, but I can see why anyone would be appealed to just based on different intersections in their own life.

[Aldotsk]

I was molested by a female Miqote thinking it was a friendly discussion ;; 

 

I need to meet some kinds that are not too touchy.

[C'kayah Polaali]

Uh... I like cats?

[LandStander]

 I wanted to make a flamboyant slightly effeminate male and I couldn't really achieve the results with any of the other races *Shakes fist at the aesthetician for being so damn fabulous*.

Not even with an elezen?

 

I hate the Elezen face the Aesthetician uses soooo much. But yeah, it's certainly a candidate should one wish to make an "effeminate" male character.

 

No, that face is not available in the Elezen character creator. You get little boy face, old man face, angry face 1 and angry face 2. Plus their /dance isn't as fabulous as the Miqo'te men and its more like a lazy jig. And the Elezen males don't have great hair options that fit the look I was going for. The eye shadow looks a lot better on the Miqo'te males as well because it kind of fits with their whole "pretty boy" look.

 

So basically yeah, Miqo'te male was the only one who could fit the bill. Though thinking back on it, I think it would have been more fun to play that character on a giant male Roe, talking about flowers, beauty, and using poetic language :3

[C'kayah Polaali]

Cirinius'li does have fabulous hair!

[Michikyou]

*mature response*

 

I originally came into the game thinking of playing a male lalafell merchant but upon reading up on the lore of the Keepers I became very tempted to make a Miqo'te male who is struggling with his life without his clan. I still roleplay m keeper male as traditional - he respects women, lets them take lead if they do so and knows when to be quiet. He has a sor tof hate for the clanless miqo'te which seem to be in abundance and loves his family beyond compare.

 

I wanted to play a keeper because by lore standards their concept of greed, thier religion and their family groups sounded interesting to me as an anthropologist.

 

Ironically, I have not met many miqo'te who roleplay their miqo'te as well, miqote. Most of them roleplay their miqo'te as: "I was adopted by a X race" or "I left my clan for X reason" where in a society that is so structured as it is, it would be VERY VERY outlandish to leave your clan - other clans would probably look down on you for abandoning your family.

[LandStander]

*mature response*

 

I originally came into the game thinking of playing a male lalafell merchant but upon reading up on the lore of the Keepers I became very tempted to make a Miqo'te male who is struggling with his life without his clan. I still roleplay m keeper male as traditional - he respects women, lets them take lead if they do so and knows when to be quiet. He has a sor tof hate for the clanless miqo'te which seem to be in abundance and loves his family beyond compare.

 

I wanted to play a keeper because by lore standards their concept of greed, thier religion and their family groups sounded interesting to me as an anthropologist.

 

Ironically, I have not met many miqo'te who roleplay their miqo'te as well, miqote. Most of them roleplay their miqo'te as: "I was adopted by a X race" or "I left my clan for X reason" where in a society that is so structured as it is, it would be VERY VERY outlandish to leave your clan - other clans would probably look down on you for abandoning your family.

 

You know, I absolutely agree with you. Despite the interesting lore, a lot of people do not take advantage of it. They play their Miqo'te as basically a Hyur cat. My Miqo'te is not different, but that is because he was raised in Garlamald and is still employed by the empire so he has no tribal nature about him at all and is actually very well spoken. I have honestly thought about having him face a bit of prejudice because of his race since it seems like most of the imperial soldiers are Hyur and Elezen. I wanted to make him a Hyur but..yeah I listed my reasons for going Miqo'te .

[C'kayah Polaali]

*mature response*

 

I originally came into the game thinking of playing a male lalafell merchant but upon reading up on the lore of the Keepers I became very tempted to make a Miqo'te male who is struggling with his life without his clan. I still roleplay m keeper male as traditional - he respects women, lets them take lead if they do so and knows when to be quiet. He has a sor tof hate for the clanless miqo'te which seem to be in abundance and loves his family beyond compare.

 

I wanted to play a keeper because by lore standards their concept of greed, thier religion and their family groups sounded interesting to me as an anthropologist.

 

Ironically, I have not met many miqo'te who roleplay their miqo'te as well, miqote. Most of them roleplay their miqo'te as: "I was adopted by a X race" or "I left my clan for X reason" where in a society that is so structured as it is, it would be VERY VERY outlandish to leave your clan - other clans would probably look down on you for abandoning your family.

That's an interesting point, and you're right, there are a lot of people who don't play around with Miqo'te culture in their Miqo'te.

 

In C'kayah's case (I may as well join in on the mature response thing), he did leave his clan and it has had an extremely strong impact upon him: he is a strong opponent of Miqo'te tribes maintaining their (in his view) "cultural isolation" from the rest of the world, especially after the Garleans have shown their colors. At the same time, he makes excuses all the time as to why he hasn't returned to his tribe (building on C'io's excellent C-tribe write up, his tribe sends teenagers out to 'hunt the world' for a year or so before returning to take up their adult position in the tribe. C'kayah sometimes maintains that he's still doing this, despite the fact that his world hunting started fifteen years ago), and alternately describes them as rejecting him and uses them as a rationale for doing what he's doing (ask him sometime to discribe his philosophy of stealing from wealthy Ul'dahn families, he'll do it using a C-tribe hunter's metaphor).

 

That said, the only real thing I had in mind when I created C'kayah was that I would make him to be more of a supporting actor, instead of a lead role. I chose Miqo'te simply because I liked the way they looked, and I figured there was a lot of room to use their culture to generate conflict within C'kayah.

 

Oh, and for the record, Naih? C'kayah and Naih'ir RPed together once, with Naih'ir coming across as extremely elistist and prejudiced about anyone outside tribal culture, while C'kayah was trying (and poorly, since he's not 100% convinced of this) to argue for Miqo'te abandoning tribal culture. It was a brief scene, but it stands out to me as one of my favorite instances of Miqo'te RP. Just wanted to give you public kudos for that, man.

[Fates Skein]

I play 2 characters.  Anais is a non-traditional Wildwood Elezen (she's not welcome in Gridania, she's an ex-pirate and current anti-hero type character).

 

C'rhisi, my miqo'te, is a traditional tribal character.  She was raised by a tribe in a place where they -maybe- had contact with the outside world once a year or so.  She's out adventuring as part of a coming of age rite.  She is young, naive, and kind.  She's also a fierce hunter that doesn't have a problem with seeing blood.  She has an extremely developed sense of honor.

 

I chose miqo'te because I wanted to blend human and animalistic social traits- ears and tail, fangs and claws combined with the intelligence and structure of humanity.  I wrote up the Coeurl Tribe wiki entry using a combination of inspirations from both human tribes as well as social animals (lions, wolves, wild dogs, zebras, wildebeast, etc).

 

I enjoy playing 'fish out of water' types and I love playing an 'overused' race in a way that is different enough to be fresh and unique.  Rhisi is a young, sheltered woman who is being forced to broaden her horizons and her mind.  She could be any race, technically, but she is miqo'te because only the miqo'te lore suited the story I wanted to tell.

[Michikyou]

*mature response*

 

I originally came into the game thinking of playing a male lalafell merchant but upon reading up on the lore of the Keepers I became very tempted to make a Miqo'te male who is struggling with his life without his clan. I still roleplay m keeper male as traditional - he respects women, lets them take lead if they do so and knows when to be quiet. He has a sor tof hate for the clanless miqo'te which seem to be in abundance and loves his family beyond compare.

 

I wanted to play a keeper because by lore standards their concept of greed, thier religion and their family groups sounded interesting to me as an anthropologist.

 

Ironically, I have not met many miqo'te who roleplay their miqo'te as well, miqote. Most of them roleplay their miqo'te as: "I was adopted by a X race" or "I left my clan for X reason" where in a society that is so structured as it is, it would be VERY VERY outlandish to leave your clan - other clans would probably look down on you for abandoning your family.

That's an interesting point, and you're right, there are a lot of people who don't play around with Miqo'te culture in their Miqo'te.

 

In C'kayah's case (I may as well join in on the mature response thing), he did leave his clan and it has had an extremely strong impact upon him: he is a strong opponent of Miqo'te tribes maintaining their (in his view) "cultural isolation" from the rest of the world, especially after the Garleans have shown their colors. At the same time, he makes excuses all the time as to why he hasn't returned to his tribe (building on C'io's excellent C-tribe write up, his tribe sends teenagers out to 'hunt the world' for a year or so before returning to take up their adult position in the tribe. C'kayah sometimes maintains that he's still doing this, despite the fact that his world hunting started fifteen years ago), and alternately describes them as rejecting him and uses them as a rationale for doing what he's doing (ask him sometime to discribe his philosophy of stealing from wealthy Ul'dahn families, he'll do it using a C-tribe hunter's metaphor).

 

That said, the only real thing I had in mind when I created C'kayah was that I would make him to be more of a supporting actor, instead of a lead role. I chose Miqo'te simply because I liked the way they looked, and I figured there was a lot of room to use their culture to generate conflict within C'kayah.

 

Oh, and for the record, Naih? C'kayah and Naih'ir RPed together once, with Naih'ir coming across as extremely elistist and prejudiced about anyone outside tribal culture, while C'kayah was trying (and poorly, since he's not 100% convinced of this) to argue for Miqo'te abandoning tribal culture. It was a brief scene, but it stands out to me as one of my favorite instances of Miqo'te RP. Just wanted to give you public kudos for that, man.

 

 

I know. I didn't say all miqo'te roleplayers do not rp them according to lore. But its what they want - to be a hyur.

 

I enjoy encountering charatcers from tribal settings. It is very interesting. They always have very odd and different views on the world around them. It makes fo some fun roleplay.

[Saefinn]

As a person with two Miqo'te characters, I'll offer my perspective.

 

Like one of the people to first reply to this thread, I don't like playing disproportionate characters, at least all the time. I do have a Roegadyn alt and a Lalafell, I've tried playing those types before and haven't liked it. But I also like to have something a little more interesting rather than your average human type - not to say they aren't interesting, I mean there's a plethora of things that make the human race interesting without delving into the realms of fantasy - but I mean to look at on screen, I played a Hume in FFXI and wished I picked something else - Mithra would have been my choice, but they didn't have male ones.

 

Now, I'm not really a Miqo'te for any of their 'sexiness', whilst Saef does play it on, but that's not the driving force of his character - he's got a little bit of an ego. X'hayu on the other hand, she really doesn't fit into that category, I'll come onto her in a moment. Saefinn is my Pirate Captain, he's distant from her culture, in fact, he thinks it's silly - he's killed a Nunh before...and he deserve what was coming to him . His grandad was once a part of it and the Keeper side of things is worked into there, but he joined a crew of Roegadyn and Highlander sailors (called the Sons of Lilja, led by man called 'Lilja'), so his family history is very much in a culture separate to his blood's. The pirate captain thing plays to his ego a little bit and was warped by whore houses, but his "the ladies love me" thing usually comes as a bit of comic relief, but doesn't actually come out that often. Plus, he's drunk as an Irishman at times.. Why didn't I do a Highlander or a Roegadyn instead? Because I don't feel a person's background has to be tied to their race's culture or heritage. I thought the history worked for him and in a way does define how he is, he has a lot of respect for his granddad and it offers him a different perspective of Miqo'te culture.

 

 

X'hayu on the other hand, just by the name you can tell I decided to embrace Miqo'te lore a bit more, but I really wanted to stem from the "I'm a cute/sexy Miqo'te" thing, or "Hey, I'm one of many sexual partners to a Nunh". She was a one-cat girl, but well...there's a lot of backstory there. Let's just say, she's alone. She won't tolerate advances and she prefers to cover herself up instead of tarting herself up. A complete contrast to the captain, she's teetotal and she's quite the introvert, which does make bringing her to events a little bit difficult, she'd normally order an orange juice and sit back and watch.

 

I do find the lore behind the Miqo'te interesting, hence I ended up making my alt one with more background in Miqo'te culture. Why so many? Well, I suppose they do breed like...well, Miqo'te.

[Kismet]

Ironically, I have not met many miqo'te who roleplay their miqo'te as well, miqote. Most of them roleplay their miqo'te as: "I was adopted by a X race" or "I left my clan for X reason" where in a society that is so structured as it is, it would be VERY VERY outlandish to leave your clan - other clans would probably look down on you for abandoning your family.

 

A Miqo'te leaving their clan does not bother me nearly as much because it's an active choice and (one would assume that) the characters are aware of the consequences associated with it.

 

I am a bit perplexed by people's fascination of having their Miqo'te adopted by Hyur, though.

 

I have read through a lot of Miqo'te bios on the RPC Wiki. Not all of them, but a pretty decent chunk. A portion of those bios feature Miqo'te who were adopted. And for the life of me, I can't remember a single one where the character in question was adopted by a race other than Hyur. (I'm sure there is at least one out there. I just haven't come across it yet.) The notion of the character being adopted itself is fine. Adoption happens, obviously. But why do they have to be adopted by Hyur parents? What's wrong with having a Roegadyn, Elezen, or even a Lalafell for a parent? Why couldn't they just be adopted by other Miqo'te for that matter?

 

I'm not saying that no one's character should be adopted by a Hyur at all. What I'm confused by is the fact that a lot of those adopted Miqo'te are being RPed just like humans (that or the player may be using this adoption to justify why the Miqo'te is disconnected from their culture/dislikes tribal Miqo'te/whatever). Do some feel as though their catgirl or catboy has to be adopted by a human to act like a human? Why do they have to be adopted at all to act or think any sort of way? Can they not just act the way they do or have the preferences that they do because they choose to?

[Rinh Hallani]

Ironically, I have not met many miqo'te who roleplay their miqo'te as well, miqote. Most of them roleplay their miqo'te as: "I was adopted by a X race" or "I left my clan for X reason" where in a society that is so structured as it is, it would be VERY VERY outlandish to leave your clan - other clans would probably look down on you for abandoning your family.

 

The thing is, why would our characters leave the Shroud or Sagolii, if they were still closely tied to their clan or tribe? I have a Keeper and a Seeker, and whilst clan and tribe still play a big part in both of their histories and RP, playing them as being active parts of said groups is a bit trickier. I have great respect for people who can make tribal culture a main feature of their character's life, like the Hipparion tribe, but conversely, I think it's fine if people don't want to play that way.

[A'byss Shadow]

Ironically, I have not met many miqo'te who roleplay their miqo'te as well, miqote. Most of them roleplay their miqo'te as: "I was adopted by a X race" or "I left my clan for X reason" where in a society that is so structured as it is, it would be VERY VERY outlandish to leave your clan - other clans would probably look down on you for abandoning your family.

 

A Miqo'te leaving their clan does not bother me nearly as much because it's an active choice and (one would assume that) the characters are aware of the consequences associated with it.

 

I am a bit perplexed by people's fascination of having their Miqo'te adopted by Hyur, though.

 

I have read through a lot of Miqo'te bios on the RPC Wiki. Not all of them, but a pretty decent chunk. A portion of those bios feature Miqo'te who were adopted. And for the life of me, I can't remember a single one where the character in question was adopted by a race other than Hyur. (I'm sure there is at least one out there. I just haven't come across it yet.) The notion of the character being adopted itself is fine. Adoption happens, obviously. But why do they have to be adopted by Hyur parents? What's wrong with having a Roegadyn, Elezen, or even a Lalafell for a parent? Why couldn't they just be adopted by other Miqo'te for that matter?

 

I'm not saying that no one's character should be adopted by a Hyur at all. What I'm confused by is the fact that a lot of those adopted Miqo'te are being RPed just like humans (that or the player may be using this adoption to justify why the Miqo'te is disconnected from their culture/dislikes tribal Miqo'te/whatever). Do some feel as though their catgirl or catboy has to be adopted by a human to act like a human? Why do they have to be adopted at all to act or think any sort of way? Can they not just act the way they do or have the preferences that they do because they choose to?

Now don't hold this to fact, but I THINK it might be a move made to avoid embarrassment. Since Hyur are the most like human, and the other races might hold different ideas and such, its only natural to be worried that the next thing your character says might be viewed more Hyur than your background suggests. (I'd wager because of the fact that we actually ARE human, and thus think like humans.) To be completely honest before reading this thread I was going to make that move, for the exact same reason. However, I have now decided to read up on the lore, fix myself into it, and try this the RIGHT way. Not to say anyone elses is the wrong way at ALL. Just saying I was going to take the lazy way out.