[Suggestion] Paid Race Change Program.

[FrankReynolds]

I am relaxed, thanks.


I don't agree with your angle of 'adventurers are so special and different to shopkeepers etc. that we should be allowed to change race/heads etc. just because we put on armor and hit mobs.'

Windurst is the city of magic, almost all NPCs there have innate magical abilities, and yet they are ALL born to real flesh and blood parents, and raised as children. Taru and mithra kids go to magic school in Windurst, to learn about the elemental spectrum etc. But they don't change into humes magically, as that would break their parents heartarus.This is called REALISM.

Re; its just a game, its a 'role playing game' in an online cybernetic ecology (virtual world). Vanadiel has seasons, days and nights, NPC's with active A.I., and hugely immersive game content. This sets it apart from "just games" which would include Tekken etc.

Just because you don't understand that changing the basic rules of life in an RPG actually sabotages the whole atmosphere which is what many people play RPGs for. Example, the marriage of two famous NPC's in a ffxi storyline, what happens if the handsome groom wakes up in bed the morning after the wedding and discovers his beautiful wife has overnight changed into a galka. That would have knock on effects if they were supposed to be parents to a plotline character. If players can do change race and swap heads overnight, then that also means it is the base reality of all Vanadiel, which means that next time you go see Prince Trion or Ghatsad, they might have turned into mithras or something. Don't you understand that kind of basic logic, that you can not build realistic rpg's unless they have "constancy", realism and a sence of permanence.

What you seem to be saying, is that you don't like being Elvaan and want to be mithra. I also played an Elvaan female briefly in 2004, but I personally didn't like the Boeing 747 ears, or the 'running underwater' animation on that model. I realised this after 10 levels, and deleted the char and built a mithra which I then played for 9 years. My point is that you have got hundreds or thousands of levels on your Elvaan, and didn't stop to think that maybe those ears were not your thing. You should have realised that around level 10, or level 50 at worst. Its actually your fault, for not changing race when your character was still early stages. Its not the developer's fault, they made a realistic virtual world, with weather and fluctuating market prices and food you can eat. etcetcetcetc. Asking them to sabotage the intrinsic realism of their whole RPG just because you decided too late that you don't like your ears, is actually absurd. Especially as you can build a new mithra to competent game standard in a month, starting your new character's storyline from the beginning, as it was always supposed to be, in Earth and Vanadiel.

In my magical fantasy RPG world, This character model you see is just a magical skin that I have created to hide my true form because it is so terrifyingly beautiful that merely gazing upon it would disintegrate your entire being and leave nothing behind of your soul. Not even a hint of a memory of your existence. ANd I can change it any time I want cuz I'm just that bad ass.

There is no intrinsic realism in this game. Only what you have created in your head. And if they decide to allow character model and name changes, you'll just have to create a new reality in that crazy head of yours.

[Demon6324236]

Coz ppl want easy > anything in ffxi 2013.

Yes, I want everything easy because I am not willing to make an entirely new character just to change my race, face, or name, that I picked years ago and now hate. I want everything easy because I rather them add a single simply feature other games offer which would allow me to change this, so that I am happier with my character. I understand how this can be compared to asking for free Mythics or free gear, yes, this is exactly the same... Oh by the way, your an idiot if you really think that.

Its a feature to enhance someone's game experience, this is a feature, only a 1 sided feature, but a feature never the less that Windower has, via plastic surgeon, which allows someone to change race or appearance at will. Names can only be changed by a long and stupid process of paying real money to switch to another server for a while just to change back so I can change my name after making a new character with my name on my old server. So really, no, this should be done, it makes people happy. Your talking about NPCs changing race, that's retarded, you know its retarded, and your saying it in a retarded way, story and gameplay are different. Want an example of gameplay & story being different? In any story CS, my friends have never been around, I have known them for years, done every mission I have done recently with my GF, yet, she does not exist. In a CS I may have had a NPC ready to help me in a battle, but they are not there when the fight begins, or at all till it ends, then they magically pop up and we all act like they helped out. Gameplay =/= Story in every instance, this is one of those instances.

Besides that, as Camiie said there could be a magical explanation for this, the way you could explain that away if you so wish is we are special as we have done so much and it has allowed us to do so without something like Death occurring. Just make it so that the magic which would do this would kill any normal person, but we are special, I know I know...

I don't agree with your angle of 'adventurers are so special and different to shopkeepers etc. that we should be allowed to change race/heads etc. just because we put on armor and hit mobs.'

I killed a god, killed another god/avatar, killed the first god in a different reality, went to Provenance, went to various other dimensions for various events and reasons, and more, I think I am special, you disagree? Who's to say what effects these things would have upon me? Why should I not be special after such things, and as such, allowed to be granted this power? None of the NPCs have done all of this, in fact, very few have come to any of these events, so its not like they would instantly be the same as us, they could say since we have become so strong, we are now able to withstand this magic, and only allow lv99s to change. That would mean its not to early in on your character as you say we should have changed by, but at the same time has some realism in it, as it would be a powerful magic that would kill a normal, weak, person.

Last thing, not everyone initially cared about their character, I myself did not care 1 bit how my character turned out, I made it and went because I wanted to play the game, and at the time, the friend who got me into it had me so excited I was rushing. Now, many years later, I'm stuck with it still. I will not restart, there are many reasons as to why I will not, one for instance is this character is married to my GF, I am not simply going to make a new character, because, you can not marry twice, or divorce. My character is bound to hers, completely, so she would have to make another as well, and that's not going to happen. Not only that, but many of my items are lost, all mission progress, quests, my Excalibur, and so on. You want another thing of realism? Might I ask why Excalibur is bound to me? Almace? Half my gear? Why only certain jobs can wear certain things, when my stats are in nearly every way the exact same when on another job? My RDM can not wear BLU gear, not because my VIT is to low or something, but I am not a BLU, and Altana would kill me where I stood if I wore armor she did not make for me.

In the end, I disagree with you strongly.

[Demon6324236]

You make it sound like someone is just going to stand in Jeuno and cycle races all day. People are talking about a paid feature where if you do not like the name, race, or look of your character you may change it accordingly. I am sorry to inform you not everyone is going to accept that you have to go out and do everything you have done over the last few years just to get back to where you were all for the sake of having your character look different. In my particular case I hate my Hume, why, not because its a Hume, but because he looks like he's pissed off all of the time, my characters face & hair are something I picked quickly without care, if I could, I would change it. I no reason at all why it would be a bad thing, you make it sound like it would break the games lore in to little tiny pieces and all sense of realism would be lost, no, I have a cousin, he was a girl, now, he is not, changing sex was not impossible, magic, or unrealistic. At the same time, race may be a bit different, but we are the only humanoids on earth who have evolved into the same kind of race, unlike Vana, where the 5 races are all very similar, so that comparison is impossible to really give. But in the end, we also do not have magic, and to place limits and bounds on what such magic can do to a person seems stupid, this is not D&D no matter how it is based off of it, so in the end, there is no telling what can and can not be done with the magic.

As you said, we can die and come back, we are basically immortal, but any other character in the story is not nearly the same, to them, home points might as well not even exist, like in most games. Why would it be so much of a game breaker for my immortal adventurer who can not truly die by any means, to be able to change his race or gender, when he's already so different from the others in this world? If anything, going by the logic you presented before, the idea that they should not allow us because then NPCs should be able to do the same, well, I propose home points should not exist any more, if you die, that's it, your dead. If we can come back to life that breaks lore doesn't it? I mean, what if all of a sudden after killing Kam'lanaut he just popped back up at his home point in Jeuno? I mean, that would completely break the story, so no more dying and home pointing, either you get raised, or your dead forever.

[Demon6324236]

We are not "immortal" in the Vanadiel storyline aspect, NPC's sending you off to battle pray for your safe return and even near to tears (Star Sibyl etc.). We are allowed to revive from KO because that is a fundamental aspect of every videogame ever made, you can play again after you are beaten, its just that in an evolving online world you don't start at lvl 1 every time you die, you are classed as KO only. That is a fundamental game mechanic, it has nothing to do with Lore, and certainly doesn't mean you are immortal. You are the same as all the NPC soldiers in the game, just another mortal born of the flesh, its just that for the purposes of gaming you can only be KO not killed entirely. I'm sorry if you can't see that, you buy a game and your char dies and then you have to create a new char, that kind of game never actually existed. At worst you would have to start on lvl 1 with the same char like in the arcades (sometimes).

So when its for life or death of a players character, its ok to allow them to be resurrected for the sake of the game, but, when it comes to changing ones appearance, gender, or race, its not allowed?

Also killing a mob would not count as killing an NPC, they are monsters not 'non-player characters' so your NM homepointing thing is a miss.

I did not pick a NM, I picked a character in the story you kill for story reasons, who is a living breathing person important to the story line, who conveniently dies, it is not a miss, because he is a NPC. It would be like if Wolfgang died in Adoulin, it could be a dramatic moment, up till he comes back to life in Western because that's where his home point was set. That was my point I was attempting to make, not every gameplay related feature effects NPCs, our ability to come back to life at a crystal as we please while NPCs can not is simply an example.

My issue as I said is that changing your racial origins with a mouseclick is not something that fits into a stratified online world. It goes against the whole structure of a realistic RPG scenario. I also question gender change in a medieval world due to the surgery & pharmacueticals required.

This again, ignores the ideas of magic. Magic can be made to do a great many things. I gave an explanation earlier of how it could simply be explained in game as a powerful magic that would kill an ordinary person, but due to our power we have gained, we are able to withstand such things. There are many forbidden magics, this could surely be one of them.

My beginnings in FFxi was that I played hume F, taru F, elvaan F and then four different mithras,(on one content ID, deleting each char as I went along) I chose F because I'm a woman and I feel more comfortable role-playing something I know about. I played each char for a few days to see their animations and the frame-specific battle noises they made, and then I picked my personal favourite.
That seems like an easy and failsafe route to getting a frame you like.

Things are not always so clear cut and simple though. For instance, say someone wants to marry someone they met in game, they are a Mithra, but a guy, and their partner is a Female Hume, now, thanks to the rules of the game, an official marriage is impossible. What should someone do? Pay to have a character change that would then allow them to marry the one they wish, or create an entirely new character just to do so? Remember, in this scenario the person has been playing a long time, and never expected to find someone, let alone be effected by these restrictions. What exactly would be fair in this instance?

This is a simple and single example, but my point is, its not as easy as you seem to want to make it sound. Yes, some people can just instantly do that, I mean I used to play the PSU Demo with my Cousin who would remake his character on a weekly basis because the outrageous cost to change your characters appearance in that game, and he wanted to change 1 or 2 features of his character. I myself, am not one of those, and I doubt I am the only one not willing to redo all I have already done just so I can change these minor aspects of my character.

Earlier on there were comments like "I don't see why not" & so I replied because as a role-player I can see why not, and I just input what seems like common sense in an rpg game.

You shared your opinion, and I am sharing my opinion on your opinion in return, explaining to you what I see that makes little to no sense. I do think you have some inconsistencies for instance where some things are allowed to effect the game but not lore while others can not be done because they would effect both, in the case of sex/race changes vs death/KO.

[FrankReynolds]

Seriously... You're arguing that one thing can't happen because it's not realistic... in a game with gods, avatars, time travel, alternate realities, talking cat people, wizards, geomancers,, evil spear carring lizard people, goblins, moogles, power crystals, luopans, magical bards and dancers and well pretty much an entire world of make believe, often completely nonsensical stuff.

You're gonna have to come up with a better reason. No one is buying into this argument.

I mean just a couple of months ago they went "Hey guys, there's a whole other continent over there now and apparently those gods you guys killed aren't really gods, cuz uhh the grasshoppers over there will whoop your arse. Ohh, by the way, trees and rocks are your enemy now and you will need to save this land from.... well, we haven't made that part up yet, but here. Do some gardening while we figure it out..."

[Tanama]

A paid race-change program would bring in some extra funds for FFXI. I hope this is on their to-do list down the line after they get all of their current plans sorted out and implemented.

[Babekeke]

The Galka population would go from 10% to 90% overnight.

[kewitt]

I would switch from Hume to kitty in a second. I'm 5 jobs ways from having everything at 99, and really see no really effect on over all game play.

[Babekeke]

You are either not reading my posts

I don't know about anyone else but I'm certainly not, did you see the size of it!?

Definately needs a TLR at the bottom next time.

[FrankReynolds]

I don't know about anyone else but I'm certainly not, did you see the size of it!?

Definately needs a TLR at the bottom next time.

I breezed through a few of them and saw words like "Intrinsic reality" and "living breathing character" and my brain just shut off. I don't think a TLDR; would have made it any easier to digest. There is so much broken logic, that it's terrifying really.