How do you view your level 1?!

[Stormsrage00]

I'm in the midst of rewriting my character's back-story before formally introducing him to all you wonderful people of the RPC community. While I was doing so I got a little curious about something.

 

I've seen various ideas on the skill a level 1 character has in their respective class and I'd like to see what you guys have to say on the topic! I'll start by explaining my viewpoint using my favorite class of all time: The Martial Artist/Monk.

 

Basing my opinions on my D&D days, I usually assume that at level 1, my character is already at the level of a black belt. They've completed their initial training and while they are not by any means a "master" of their respective class, they have the proficiency that elevates them above the standard individual. Essentially, at level 1, if my character was in a fight his trained attacks and defenses would all be muscle memory with little to no hesitation. Naturally that doesn't make him an automatic winner of every single fight. It only means that his movements show the signs of years of dedicated practice.

 

This gives, what I feel, a more natural feel to the skill progression as my character levels up. It also lends plausibility, in my mind, to why my character can take on career soldiers/brigands or wild animals while still being able to walk away without being mortally wounded or maimed. I believe this also gives my character room to grow as he journeys his way to mastery and perfection of his art.

 

Well that's about it for me, I'd love to hear how you all handle this. There is no wrong answer and no incorrect opinion! The point is to better understand, out of pure curiosity, how we all enjoy weaving our own stories

[Magellan]

I don't approach MMO RP the same way I would DnD RP. In fact, I generally try to separate the game mechanics from RP entirely.

 

Rather than try to fit my character into the structures the game has created, I try to fit the structures of the game into my character. For instance, my character Lyra is a lvl 25 lancer in game. So ICly she should be rising pretty fast right? Really showing progress, starting to reach a deeper and higher level of her craft.

 

But she isn't. Everything she's learned so far has been self-taught, and shaped by her environment in the wilds. The form of lancing she uses would not be recognizable to the lancer's guild. It's also a very undisciplined form.

 

In DnD, the game mechanics are tied inherently into the rp experience, and created specifically for RP. That does not hold true with MMO. If I try to play my character firmly within the game mechanics, I end up feeling frustrating by the enormity of restrictions. So... at lvl 1, in an MMO, I tend to base her skills off of what I want them to be at that time in her life, not off of what's actually available to her via the game itself.

[Sounsyy]

I'm one of those who doesn't connect in-game level with in-character skill and don't (personally) believe it should be a factor. I play an experienced veteran soldier who's been using a sword and shield for over 15 years now, but she's only a 25 GLA because I rarely get time to play on Balmung and when I'm on Balmung, I'm doing RP. I've got an i125 WAR/PLD on Hyperion I can always link if someone gives me grief.

 

But outside of myself, I know a few characters who play errmmm "ditzy" characters? Or characters that aren't particularly skilled. But they're walking around with 50s or 50 everything. So I don't equate them being 50 PLD because they do Coil in their free time to them actually being a "master" or necessarily skillful Gladiator or whatever. I think whatever character they choose to play matters more.

 

That said, if you want to play as your character becoming more experienced ICly as you level up OOCly, I think that's great, progressive way to advance your character! And makes a lot of sense in a D&D sense of story progression. So go for it if its how you want to portray your character - I just wouldn't want my own character to be looked down on because she's a Lv25 hardly-played OOCly character. ^^

[Tyndles]

I'm one of the people that generally DOES connect in character level with RP in most games.  Final Fantasy is not one of those games though.

 

In FFXIV, Everyone can max level in all of the classes, and in an RP sense, it doesn't make sense for one person to be able to master EVERYTHING.  That just wouldn't be any fun.

 

I could go on to defend why I think level matters in other games, but it wouldn't make any sense here.

[Stormsrage00]

I'm one of those who doesn't connect in-game level with in-character skill and don't (personally) believe it should be a factor. I play an experienced veteran soldier who's been using a sword and shield for over 15 years now, but she's only a 25 GLA because I rarely get time to play on Balmung and when I'm on Balmung, I'm doing RP. I've got an i125 WAR/PLD on Hyperion I can always link if someone gives me grief.

 

But outside of myself, I know a few characters who play errmmm "ditzy" characters? Or characters that aren't particularly skilled. But they're walking around with 50s or 50 everything. So I don't equate them being 50 PLD because they do Coil in their free time to them actually being a "master" or necessarily skillful Gladiator or whatever. I think whatever character they choose to play matters more.

 

That said, if you want to play as your character becoming more experienced ICly as you level up OOCly, I think that's great, progressive way to advance your character! And makes a lot of sense in a D&D sense of story progression. So go for it if its how you want to portray your character - I just wouldn't want my own character to be looked down on because she's a Lv25 hardly-played OOCly character. ^^

Oh I hear you Sounsyy! You'll get no downward looks from me! when it comes to straight up RP I try to be flexible and always try to keep in mind that everyone has different styles/preferences.

 

I'm just the type that works better creatively if I create a structure/outline before I write the story. Using the level up mechanic really helps me in pacing out my RP progression. Otherwise I tend to RP one thing, then forget what had happened and RP something contradictory...and then everyone gets all confused! :dazed:

 

Also, I'd like to apologize if my original post was taken in a negative way. I don't look down on anyone's style of RP! I have a strict live and let live policy. I don't want people telling me to how to tell my stories, so why would I want to go out and tell others how to tell their own?! I find I have more fun if I only concern myself with my own decisions. It lets me more easily ride the waves on the oceans of your adventures

[Sounsyy]

Also, I'd like to apologize if my original post was taken in a negative way. I don't look down on anyone's style of RP!

 

Not at all! ^^ No offense taken! I've not had anyone tell me I'm not "experienced" based on my OOC level (Twelve save them if they ever do) but I've heard horror stories.

[Naunet]

Not only do I not consider level when thinking about my characters, 90% of the time I don't really think about their class either. I just kind of pull from themes, lore, flavor, and details to construct a character of my own. Sometimes the class I pick for that character OOCly has some sort of influence, but not always or even often.

 

For example, Antimony is OOCly a WHM and SCH/SMN, but IC... well, "financial auditor highly skilled in traditional shamanistic medicine involving a mix of alchemy, first aid, and aether manipulation." Sure it takes cues from bits of conjury lore and whatnots, but it's definitely not quite so straightforward as, "My character is a conjurer!"

 

So yeah, that's my take.

[Khoure]

I somewhat connect levels to my IC character, but that's mostly because I'm pretty new to RP and want something as a base to fall back on. The upside is that I can have a pretty good idea of where my character is in their life, and even as I lvl it's easier to think ICly. The downside is that I don't have as much freedom in what my characters do- they basically all have to be newbie adventurers who tend to wander, otherwise why would they be progressing in battle lvl and warping all over the place?

 

One fun think I have going on is with my duskwight toon Lysiette, she's pretty intelligent and loves learning how to do things which allows her to learn a lot of different things without deteriorating too much in skill. However this also makes her impulsive and irresponsible with her time, deciding to pick up anything and everything interesting to her. To reflect this, I had her join every single class guild, but I don't allow her to get any more than 10 lvls past any other class. This drives the time it takes for me to level her through the roof, and acts as further reinforcement that her intense dabbling makes her mediocre at best in everything (her intelligence is how she's not completely terrible, but it certainly isn't making her shine anywhere)

 

as for how I consider lvl 1s? I've never played DnD (though I've always wanted to lmao) so I always considered lvl 1 to be "has some decent talent/self taught skill but isn't at all refined".

 

Of course, that being said, I have my other character Synglona in several guilds I don't IC consider her joined yet because I wanted to reserve them for later when she WOULD join them. I'm going to lvl MRD so I can crossclass overpower because it's very useful in dungeons, but I'm not sure if she would ever join marauders ICly given how much of Limsa's law enforcement is form MRD guild and the fact that a lot of her family is in pirate jail. So I guess I wanted to say that personally, taking lvls into account is helpful for me as a new RPer but only to certain points.

[Chris Ganale]

Yeah.... I have a bounty hunter rocking modified Garlean armor who mains energy guns. His best class? 22 GLD. So I pretty well don't connect levels to character.

[Kurt S.]

I connect the levels of my characters to their IC lives in one way or another. The thing is I only connect those levels if they were classes relevant to the character. 

 

Kurt for example has some ARC and THM levels but if you notice he's still kinda upset over his less that shitty aether capacity. He still mentions that he can't handle even a basic Ruin spell. But he does acknowledge his level 50ness as a warrior and weaver. Despite having levels in LNC he does not acknowledge that he even has an interest in the lance. 

 

And just because he's level 50 does not make him a master at the art. He still has his fair share of shortcomings especially on his warrior side seeing as he's not always in control of the inner beast. He maybe talented and capable of most of the feats but that's only half the story. Knowing how to do it is very different from knowing when and where to do it and what to do it on.

 

I guess that's just me wanting to work in the gameplay aspects into my characters besides using the world around them.

[Magellan]

Oh no I didn't take it negatively, and I hope I didn't come across as disapproving of progressive style rp. I think its great that other people use the leveling system to denote their characters actual growth, it just hasn't worked for me personally with mmos.

[Delilah Scythewood]

I do most of it on the fly with only the very loose foundations of a story laid in place.

[Gone.]

Depends on the character. Sometimes drawing inspiration from their actual level for progression is nice, other times it's just not really needed.

 

About the only real draw for an RP character to reach 50 here is glamours, anyway.

[FloriaRaine]

Depends on the character. Sometimes drawing inspiration from their actual level for progression is nice, other times it's just not really needed.

 

About the only real draw for an RP character to reach 50 here is glamours, anyway.

 

Glamours and additional dungeon rp!

[Caspar]

I used my character's level as a way to reflect her being crippled temporarily for various story reasons, mostly because I wasn't sure if people generally took levels seriously in terms of determining a character's apparent strength for purposes of observation.

[Gegenji]

Depends on the character. Sometimes drawing inspiration from their actual level for progression is nice, other times it's just not really needed.

 

About the only real draw for an RP character to reach 50 here is glamours, anyway.

 

Glamours and additional dungeon rp!

 

That's basically it. Hit 50 so you can gain access to the biggest wardrobe possible for mixing and matching! Especially since there's quite the spread of interesting choices that are only accessible at 50 (relic gear, Trial weapons, stuff from CT/ST/WoD).

 

Makes me kinda sad that I have to grind Judge up to decent levels just so I can make him the tin can I want him to be.

[Stormsrage00]

Depends on the character. Sometimes drawing inspiration from their actual level for progression is nice, other times it's just not really needed.

 

About the only real draw for an RP character to reach 50 here is glamours, anyway.

 

Glamours and additional dungeon rp!

 

That's basically it. Hit 50 so you can gain access to the biggest wardrobe possible for mixing and matching! Especially since there's quite the spread of interesting choices that are only accessible at 50 (relic gear, Trial weapons, stuff from CT/ST/WoD).

 

Makes me kinda sad that I have to grind Judge up to decent levels just so I can make him the tin can I want him to be.

This is basically my problem in every MMO I've played >.<

 

I always have the idea of "I want my character to look like this...Oh dang have to be max level for that *sighs and starts grinding.*" That usually puts me on a one track mind to complete the progression process and I forget to connect with people and RP in the mean time... 

 

FFXIV is the first time I took it relatively slowly, though my erratic schedule up until now didn't really help me maintain any connections ;n;

[Steel Wolf]

Steel is a level 50 PLD and WAR, but has lived and trained with swords her entire life...so she's far more comfortable with a sword in her hand than an axe. Though she has a natural level of ability with her axe, its mostly just taking advantage of her size and her strength--she has been bested by someone with far more formal training.

[Flickering Ember]

I suppose I don't think about it since I am never level 1 for long. I realize there are multiple classes per character but I just don't think about it. I don't enjoy saying I am X class in RP because....well...I don't really think fantasy based classes are realistic or versatile enough for my tastes. It is about how my character carries herself rather than what she is skilled at. It doesn't matter if she is holding a spear or a dagger, she is going to go kill with it. She is based off of wild animals and ancient humans so think someone who fights with instinct.

 

So I guess you can count me as one of the ones who doesn't think about levels and classes. I think about fighting styles first. Particularly because I am not Rping while leveling so there is no one to rp my character's advancement with.

[Stormsrage00]

I suppose I don't think about it since I am never level 1 for long. I realize there are multiple classes per character but I just don't think about it. I don't enjoy saying I am X class in RP because....well...I don't really think fantasy based classes are realistic or versatile enough for my tastes. It is about how my character carries herself rather than what she is skilled at. It doesn't matter if she is holding a spear or a dagger, she is going to go kill with it. She is based off of wild animals and ancient humans so think someone who fights with instinct.

 

So I guess you can count me as one of the ones who doesn't think about levels and classes. I think about fighting styles first. Particularly because I am not Rping while leveling so there is no one to rp my character's advancement with.

I totally agree with you in that sometimes a class can be very limited in scope. Soldiers (Warriors/fighters) throughout history often had to gain proficiency in a number of different weapons and, in many cases, some form of unarmed combat style. It has always bothered me a bit when a class has been shoved into a tiny little box a-la "Oh you're a Warrior? Then you only know how to use an axe."

 

And I completely relate to your last point. I always had difficulty RP'ing advancement with any degree of consistency. Usually because no one else is there to partake in my advancement ._.

[Branson Thorne]

I always kept character level separate from RP, reason being that on a weekend, I can go from level 1-30. That gives no way to RP your advancement, unless you just don't level your class for the fact of not leveling it for said RP reasons.

[Gegenji]

I realized that I just commented on what good hitting 50 was for, but never answered the actual question.

 

As several folks have mentioned, I try to keep OOC levels and IC experience separate... for the most part. For example, Chachan only just got inducted as a Free Paladin, so he obviously wouldn't be a level 50 PLD like he is IG. However, he is supposed to be a really good smith, so I actively leveled ARM and BSM to reflect that (and for the costumes~). Since I'm going for the Vulcan Lucis as his "IC" smithing tool, I have to max all the other crafting classes OOCly, while ICly he isn't able to cook or weave or SCIENCE. I just need them for the cross-class skills so I can smith with greater success.

 

However, if I were to try and abstract experience into levels... I wouldn't put level 1 at Black Belt. In game, this is you first taking up the profession - whether you picked it as your starting class or not. Starting on the path of Thaumaturgy, of the Lancer, of the Sword and Shield... level one is you enrolling for your first martial arts classes and your first task is you first "lessons" abstracted into an easily understood form - beat up 10 rats.

 

Then, you hit a different "tier" with each five levels, like training to get to the next belt of skill. If 1 is White, 5 is Yellow, 10 Orange, 15 Green, 20 Blue, 25 Red, and then you reach Black Belt (and your "class" capper) at 30. Which is, conveniently enough, when you gain access to the Jobs and a higher level of power far beyond the ken of your common Eorzean citizen. To continue the comparison, these are the higher "dan" of Black Belt - going from First Degree to Second and so on... but in a more fantastical sense.

 

You're not just punching anymore, after all, you're channeling your inner aether (chakra) to put more force into that punch. You're not just swinging an axe around, you're putting the power of your Inner Beast into it. You've gone beyond basic magics into forgotten or even forbidden arcane arts. To the standard person, you might even seem superhuman.

 

So, I wouldn't consider 1 the Black Belt. I would bet you could abstract most non-combatant NPCs, if they've taken any form of self-defense courses or such... to be in the 1-10 level. Unless we get into crafting, which is its own thing... though at higher levels you're able to straight up make clockwork automatons and make use of the most fantastical materials.

[Zac Evans]

[align=center]'waht iz sword?'[/align]

 

[align=center]'This sword? /holds up rock'[/align]

 

[align=center]'AHHH!!!! MONSTER! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!! /bee'[/align]

[Caspar]

I dunno, could a black belt kill a giant bee? Ignoring the fact that a giant bee couldn't exist, it seems like an adventurer can do some pretty amazing stuff from lvl 1 to me. Killing a ram with nothing but your bare hands or bone hora seems impressive in a real life context, but is mundane in a fantasy context, so it complicates things.

[Gegenji]

I dunno, could a black belt kill a giant bee? Ignoring the fact that a giant bee couldn't exist, it seems like an adventurer can do some pretty amazing stuff from lvl 1 to me. Killing a ram with nothing but your bare hands or bone hora seems impressive in a real life context, but is mundane in a fantasy context, so it complicates things.

 

Right, it's the fantasy context part that skews things a bit. After all, we have a bunch of wasting-away refugees outside with said giant bees. Of course, they're not very aggressive, so that might not mean very much at all.

 

Also, we have to remember that the bees themselves are level 1. From that we can deduce, in this case, that they are also probably pretty week, all things considered. So a black belt would probably be able to handle one easily enough, whether we're abstracting black belt status to 1 or 30.