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An Ishgard Project


Candor

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Hello again, RPC.

 

After a long absence from the game, I've returned and have been exploring the RP community on Balmung once again. More than anything I've noticed excitement for the Heavensward expansion, with many ideas flying about regarding the opening of Ishgard, focus on the Dragoon job, and everything else dragon related and awesome. Oh, and Machinists! I can't help but fall victim to it myself, since Ishgard was the city that interested me most pre-launch over a year ago, and I was very disappointed to learn that not only was Ishgard going to be off limits, but also an elezen populated state. I had my hopes up for highlanders.

 

Now, some players may remember my project to revitalize RP in Limsa Lominsa and my starting of the Limsa Lominsan character directory. The former was fairly successful before I left the game, but I can't speak for how well it lasted after I left. However the latter remains a heavily trafficked thread. Now, I plan to start a new project not unlike my attempt to bring RP to the city by the sea. Except this time, it's one Free Company and it's focused on Ishgard.

 

I'll keep things simple for now, as this is very preliminary and the purpose of this post is simply to alert other Ishgard enthusiasts and hopefully make some new RP friends.The FC's premise is House Haillenarte - yes, the canon House Haillenarte. It's obviously a noble house FC, but I'm going to take an unusual approach this time in that the FC members are not going to be the nobility of Haillenarte. Instead I want to focus on the supporting structure of a major noble name, or more specifically the vassal nobility, ministers, craftsmen, wards, soldiers and anyone else that makes up the super structure of any noble house.

 

My rough plan for now will be to expand and grow the meta-FC to level 8, create an enjin site for the FC, and develop the FC's documentation (lore, ranks, guidelines, etc.) Meanwhile I would like to work with any players or FCs that are interested in being involved, and even welcome feedback from players that don't wish to be involved but have constructive opinions. The goal will be to have House Haillenarte FC fully developed and ready for recruitment by the launch of Heavensward - but that's not to say I would be unwilling to recruit any enterprising individuals now, if they would like to help with the development.

 

Much like I did with the Lominsan project, I'll structure and outline my goals and phases as I proceed to keep all RPers abreast. I do hope this generates interest and this new FC can contribute to the already great atmosphere of Balmung.

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I cannot support enough the creation of more Ishgard-based Free Companies. Ishgard is a fascinating city-state just oozing with RP potential and lore (though I take umbrage with being disappointed Ishgard is an Elezen city-state. Elezen master race :P ).

 

Your idea sounds like an interesting one and I sincerely hope it all pans out for you. The FC I am in, the Black Sun Vanguard, is an Ishgard-based military style FC that I am sure would be more than willing to help in any way we can, and would be more than happy to RP with you and your members once you get the ball rolling.

 

Good luck with your endeavor sir. I hope we cross paths in the snowy fields of Coerthas.

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For the very first stage I thought it would be best to answer a lot of the questions that the founding members have been asking me. So, let's take a little time for some Q&A!

 

Q: If it's an Ishgardian FC, does that mean only elezen are allowed to join?

 

A: Of course not! It's an Ishgardian FC, but Ishgard isn't exclusive to elezen. Certainly midlanders will be present, just because they're everywhere, and who knows how a player might justify any other race being involved in any of the game's political bodies. The point is that every race - and every gender and class, for that matter - are welcome to House Haillenarte FC!

 

Q: Don't you feel presumptuous claiming a canon faction for your own FC?

 

A: Not really, no, and I'll explain why. This FC won't be representing the nobles of House Haillenarte. My character certainly isn't a member of the noble house, for example. At best the Haillenartes themselves will be represented by occasional NPCs. The FC will actually focus around the people that make a noble house possible - retainers, vassals, ministers, wards, soldiers, craftsmen, dignitaries, etc. None of whom will be direct Haillenartes.

 

Q: So no one is allowed to use the Haillenarte last name?

 

A: They are, but in choosing to be a core member of that family, the player would be agreeing to extra scrutiny from myself and my officers, to ensure that they're not abusing the name's influence in ways that will shed negative light on the FC or its members. So, on the one hand they would gain the RP benefits of playing a high noble, but on the other hand they would be closely monitored OOC.

 

Q: How will that effect guild ranks? Will there be a clear cut system of who has authority over who?

 

A: That's a good question. This one has taken some thought, because it's difficult to determine who has more authority between non-nobles in this kind of arrangement. Guild ranks will be OOC and very simple: Administrator, Officer, and Member. I think their definitions are self explanatory. For IC ranks I'm developing a tier system that will not necessarily be a character's rank so much as it will be his level of prestige and influence within the FC. This will also likely be simple, and will only contain 4 levels. However, it's still under development.

 

Q: But your character will start at the highest influence tier and be IC in-charge, right?

 

A: No, actually. My character will go through the same process as every other character. There will be a small number of characters that start on higher influence tiers, as determined by back stories and such, but none of those characters will be mine.

 

Q: So, a player of low OOC rank might have a character that out influences a character belonging to a player of high OOC rank?

 

A: Yes! This is something I'm looking forward to a great deal, actually. The separation between "We are the players" and "We are the characters" is going to be a large part of how this FC operates. House Haillenarte FC isn't going to be about the grind to climb the hierarchical ladder, but more about cooperating as players to make fun stories together for our characters. We're even going to feature a new approach on character story telling, but more on that later.

 

I'll answer more questions and continue to update the concept of this FC as we draw nearer to the release of Heavensward. In the meantime, I welcome any player to ask anything they want and I'll answer!

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It's risky to do anything relating to a canon organization that we have little to no lore on because whatever you presume to be correct could end up being way off base.

 

With Heavensward so close I find it kind of baffling that people can't just bite the bullet and hold off til then as opposed to getting their hopes up for what could in the end become entirely non-canon.

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With the disclaimer that I feel that anyone can RP whatever they like if they're having fun: I also think it's super risky to take a canon faction like this - especially before more lore gets released that could potentially mess up all your plans and especially if you're letting folks take last names that link them directly to the house or creating occasional NPCs that are supposed to speak for the house. Personally, I feel that it's probably a safer bet to just create a regular, original noble house that you can do whatever you like with without having to fear of being constrained by what SE might do with the major faction.

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Verranicus and Tiergan, I hear your concerns. However, I need to point out again that this FC won't be an FC until Heavensward launches, meaning that I'm doing precisely what you're both suggesting and waiting for SE's canon before proceeding. In the meantime I'm earning FC rank, creating awareness, recruiting like-minded players that want to assist in those tasks, and developing the resources that help an FC be successful, such as a forum. I have no plans for House Hallienarte beyond infrastructure details, and there are no NPCs yet because there is no FC and no plot yet. As for people naming their characters Haillenarte - there's already a good number of Haillenarte characters on Balmung that were created long before this FC's announcement and have absolutely nothing to do with my project. So, it really wouldn't matter if I allowed it, encouraged it, or forbade it - it's already happening.

 

Having said all of that, I do recognize that I've given control of my central theme over to SE and that they're not the most predictable lot. I'm prepared for that, even should they decide to kill off all the Haillenartes in Heavensward. That may not be the safest approach, as Tiergan pointed out, but it's what I've chosen to do and I'm confident that the founding members aren't making their decisions without also considering the same.

 

With Heavensward so close I find it kind of baffling that people can't just bite the bullet and hold off til then as opposed to getting their hopes up for what could in the end become entirely non-canon.

 

Verranicus, this comment doesn't strike me as constructive criticism. My project isn't motivated by impatience or hope.

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As someone who is extremely excited for anything and all things Ishgard related, I support this idea! We need some more Ishgardian RPers; ones that populate the Coerthas areas and the like! Not too many RPs happen out in the snowylands right now which makes it difficult for the people trying to RP hardcore Ishgardian characters. Hoping that will change come expansion. Which, by the look of this thread, may in fact happen!

 

I don't have anyone who can join the FC, but I like the idea and wish you the best of luck! If you need a grumpy, self-proclaimed Dragoon who is a merc for hire, just hit up Nalin! : D

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Yvelont was previously a knight in service to House Fortemps. Circumstances have since brought him to Gridania, where he serves loyally as a ranger and tracker, but current events may soon lead him back home. Regardless, just throwing it out there that I might be open to some crossover RP with the FC. Yvelont's past allegiances aren't exactly secret any longer. :)

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So long as you're aware of the potential problems that could crop up. I ran into an issue semi-similar to this back in another MMO. The guild I was in revolved around a certain faction that turned out to all be villains in later updates. It was very awkward. :V

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Of course anyone and everyone is - and will be - welcome to RP with the House Haillenarte FC, regardless of their own FC loyalties. In fact, I encourage cross-FC RP!

 

Tiergan, I do appreciate your concern, and I am aware of the risks. Part of the appeal of this project is taking a lot of the control out of my own hands and adhering to whatever unexpected twists and turns SE may throw at us. Certainly some twists will be more difficult to adapt to than others, but I have faith in my fellow RPers and myself that we will find a way.

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Neat! My character's from Ishgard, being the (illegitimate) daughter of a knight sworn to House Fortemps, though she's not currently in their service. But come 3.0, maybe there can be things.

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Verranicus, this comment doesn't strike me as constructive criticism. My project isn't motivated by impatience or hope.

 

The problem is that I see people doing this all the time with various things and it almost always ends badly. For all you know, House Haillenarte could end up destroyed between now and Heavensward, or even midway through the expansion MSQ. As Tiergan said, it's much safer and more practical to invent your own noble house.

 

Example: I knew of some people running around RPing as hooded members of Yugiri's race. They were 100% sure she would be revealed to be a Viera and were modeling their RP as such. Now we know they're wrong and the lot of them are forced to backpedal and essentially lose all of the RP they did.

 

You also have to consider that using any sort of in-game faction as your own ends up causing drama more often than not. Every now and then you'll see posts crop up on these boards from people who RP as or are part of organizations that RP as part of the Grand Companies, or the Brass Blades, and they're upset that people don't treat them with authority. I don't think you should be making yourself part of an organization that could potentially have a major impact on the story, just because it puts other RPers on the spot about they might act around you.

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Verannicus, I see what you're writing, and I recognize your concern but I'm afraid that in this instance it's misplaced. Before I started this project I considered all the likely, and most of the unlikely, results of the Heavensward plot. Granted, I can't predict the future, but I that doesn't mean I'm blind to the risks. For example, you pointed out that House Haillenarte could be killed off, and I thought of that too. I know exactly how my new FC will survive if that's the case. If Haillenarte becomes villains, politically insignificant, or exiled won't matter either, because I know how I'll handle those situations, as well as many others that I'm not mentioning here.

 

As for your dislike of my choosing an existing canon faction as my own - there's nothing I can do. Some people just don't like when other players do that, other people do. In deference for the split opinion on this I chose to focus on the infrastructure of House Haillenarte instead of the nobility. However, there will likely be a few Haillenarte nobles in the mix anyway. To this I ask you 2 questions.

 

1) Should I restrict access to anyone who has named their character Haillenarte?

 

Players have been doing this since the game launched, as well as naming their characters Fortemps, Dzemael, and Durendaire. To me this is no different than naming a character Nunh. The question I face isn't "Will we let players make Haillenarte nobles for this FC?" but instead it's "Will we allow previously establish Haillenarte characters to join this FC?" My answer is yes.

 

2) How does this at all differ from any non-FC or other-FC affiliated noble characters?

 

So far we already have dozens of noble characters who RP with entitled personalities and perceived authority. I've had the opportunity to RP with quite a few of them myself, and my experiences have been mostly positive. It's because as a whole RPers are aware of the implications of their characters and back stories and they self regulate to keep things conducive for the players around them. Certainly, there's always bumps in the road, but those players who cause a fuss about how something isn't going their way really are the minority. I don't see any difference at all between these already existing noble characters and the noble characters that may join or be created for my new FC. Do you see a difference?

 

Verranicus, I understand that you've been a part of some botched projects and that you've seen even more. So have I. In fact, I think you would be hard pressed to find a single player who hasn't been a part of or observed a bad MMO experience. Despite that, I'm going to urge you to judge things on a case by case basis - and especially judge players for themselves, and not for the actions of other players. Simply because you've seen something that you feel is similar to what I'm doing doesn't mean you know what's going to happen with this project of mine. You're concerned, certainly, but your arguments strike me less as criticism and more as scorn. I strongly encourage you to ask more questions about my intent instead of drawing negative conclusions to explain how I'm making a mistake. This isn't my first rodeo.

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I personally find this idea refreshing. The appeal lies in being part of a group of like minded individuals in the planning stages rather than later joining and bending to the will of an already established ideal. Working together to not only prepare for an FC launch when the expansion arrives but to RP along with whatever lore is going to toss at us.

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Will you be restricting interaction to members only or will you use a Linkshell so that people who want to be involved on their Ishgardian-oriented characters wouldn't need to leave their established RP FC or PvE FC? To expand on that further would Linkshell members be just as included, perhaps?

 

I ask because I couldn't possibly leave my FC even to RP in a group that is involved in my character's home! Though I would love the chance to be involved in more Ishgardian related RP! So if a linkshell is possible I'd love to be involved.

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That's a great question, Kayllen!

 

House Haillenarte will have an RP linkshell issued to every member of the FC. It will also be issued to interested characters who are already enrolled with a non-RP FC. I would never expect anyone to leave an end-game FC for an RP FC. Unfortunately the LS will not be issued to characters who are enrolled with another RP FC. Our LS will be IC, and I think it's important for the characters involved to have a private group RP option without creating any conflicts of interest.

 

However, all characters will be welcome to interact with House Haillenarte even if they're not members of the FC or LS, and in the spirit of inclusion any interested player may join our Skype channel. In this way we can include players from other RP FCs, and their characters, while not compromising House Haillenarte IC chat.

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This is a great idea in my opinion. Since we have players in Miqo'te tribes/families that are canon, we have players that are members of in-game organisations like the Sultan Sworn, The Brass Blades and the like, and now we have something Ishgardian to look forward too. 

 

I personally would love it if we could have a Free Company for the four High Houses, and then a number of Free Companies for lesser noble houses that are connected to the high houses. If that is canon (or maybe even if it isn't and we need to come up with our own fanon because SE doesn't fill us in completely).

 

So we would have something like this eventually. 

 

 

            

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This is a great idea in my opinion. Since we have players in Miqo'te tribes/families that are canon, we have players that are members of in-game organisations like the Sultan Sworn, The Brass Blades and the like, and now we have something Ishgardian to look forward too. 

 

I personally would love it if we could have a Free Company for the four High Houses, and then a number of Free Companies for lesser noble houses that are connected to the high houses. If that is canon (or maybe even if it isn't and we need to come up with our own fanon because SE doesn't fill us in completely).

 

So we would have something like this eventually. 

 

 

            

You bring up one of the other things in this vein that irk me with the Miqo'te tribes. Every time I see a Nuhn walking around like it's totally normal I have to fight some internal battle to keep from getting riled up by it.

 

Aren't Nuhn's canonically supposed to stay behind wherever their tribe lives and make babies? Why would they be wandering the world? Why would their tribe -let them-? They have no real power in their tribes (barring some exceptions), so you'd think the breeding males would be kept on a tight leash.

 

But no, you'll constantly see random Nuhns walking around and flirting with anything on two legs, acting like they're the bees knees.

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You bring up one of the other things in this vein that irk me with the Miqo'te tribes. Every time I see a Nuhn walking around like it's totally normal I have to fight some internal battle to keep from getting riled up by it.

 

Aren't Nuhn's canonically supposed to stay behind wherever their tribe lives and make babies? Why would they be wandering the world? Why would their tribe -let them-? They have no real power in their tribes (barring some exceptions), so you'd think the breeding males would be kept on a tight leash.

 

But no, you'll constantly see random Nuhns walking around and flirting with anything on two legs, acting like they're the bees knees.

 

Verranicus, I'm unsure why you're treating my thread as a space for you to vent your complaints about other people's play styles. I've encouraged players to share their thoughts, concerns, questions, and suggestions, but you're only making presumptions. This thread isn't even about Nunhs, and Valaena was simply drawing a comparison.

 

If you don't have anything constructive to add to this discussion, please refrain from posting here. The RPC has multiple threads for complaints, but this isn't one of them.

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