On Extreme Role-playing Within XIV

[ItMe]

But the Ascians are very racist (speciesist?), and intolerant.

Are they?
All of them?
Do they have to be?
Is it an integral part of being an Ascian?
Or is that just what some of the Ascian survivors of The Final Days feel?

[Ranaku]

But the Ascians are very racist (speciesist?), and intolerant.

I mean, how can you be racist towards an animal? Cause that is what we are for Ascians. Irl we also don't care about killing animals and the environment to sustain us, well most people don't especially a century ago.

I mean if you had the choice between saving your race and killing some screaming chickens, i sure would make some nuggets cause they don't matter to me.

Are they?
All of them?
Do they have to be?
Is it an integral part of being an Ascian?
Or is that just what some of the Ascian survivors of The Final Days feel?

Yes it is an integral part of being an Ascian, cause at the end they all are tempered by Zodiark which is a primal basically which "E" even admitted. So it is basically baked into their nature now that they want to bring their world back no matter the cost.

[ItMe]

Yes it is an integral part of being an Ascian, cause at the end they all are tempered by Zodiark which is a primal basically which "E" even admitted. So it is basically baked into their nature now that they want to bring their world back no matter the cost.

What exactly does being tempered by Zodiark entail?
As far as I was aware, it hasn't been laid out yet.
If there is more info, can you link / direct me to it please?

[Theodric]

It's a matter of nuance, really. I think it does a bit of a disservice to the storytelling to dilute Garleans and Ascians to just being 'racists'. When it comes to Garleans, we're talking about a race who used to be peaceful farmers cruelly attacked by magic wielding neighbours and forced to carve out a living for themselves in a bleak frozen wasteland. If not for the presence of ceruleum, they would have died out completely. They didn't, though and survived against all odds - and when given the opportunity, decided to inflict a little payback on a world that had wronged them so cruelly.

Did they go too far in some ways? Perhaps. Though at the same time, it shouldn't come as much surprise for a race driven to near extinction through no fault of their own to desire revenge.

The Ascians, too, have their own valid reasons to view the Sundered as lesser lifeforms - because from their perspective, they're akin to a human looking down at an ant. Ants which exist at the expense of their own loved ones, no less.

Many elements of the story have been established as not being a matter of black or white morality and Yoshi-P has commented to that effect across a number of interviews. I can provide sources for such, if desired!

Plus it's all fictional. None of us are actually our characters much in the same way as how actors and actresses are not the characters that they play in movies. As a role-player myself, it's always a red flag when other role-players cannot separate fiction from reality.

In such situations, parting ways and agreeing to not interact with one another is the prudent course...but in my experience, unfortunately it often turns out to be the case that the same individuals who are offended by the idea of someone playing an antagonist just so happen to be the sort to take to media to stalk and harass people in an effort to 'cancel' them. I'm sure other role-players know what I mean by that, as it isn't unusual to see horror stories about such events taking place.

[Vahlnir]

It's a matter of nuance, really. I think it does a bit of a disservice to the storytelling to dilute Garleans and Ascians to just being 'racists'. When it comes to Garleans, we're talking about a race who used to be peaceful farmers cruelly attacked by magic wielding neighbours and forced to carve out a living for themselves in a bleak frozen wasteland. If not for the presence of ceruleum, they would have died out completely. They didn't, though and survived against all odds - and when given the opportunity, decided to inflict a little payback on a world that had wronged them so cruelly.

Did they go too far in some ways? Perhaps. Though at the same time, it shouldn't come as much surprise for a race driven to near extinction through no fault of their own to desire revenge.

The Ascians, too, have their own valid reasons to view the Sundered as lesser lifeforms - because from their perspective, they're akin to a human looking down at an ant. Ants which exist at the expense of their own loved ones, no less.

Many elements of the story have been established as not being a matter of black or white morality and Yoshi-P has commented to that effect across a number of interviews. I can provide sources for such, if desired!

Plus it's all fictional. None of us are actually our characters much in the same way as how actors and actresses are not the characters that they play in movies. As a role-player myself, it's always a red flag when other role-players cannot separate fiction from reality.

Well said.

[Caurcas]

I agree with Theodric, only pointing out some what of a double standard. But such characters, and even roleplayed character create far more depth within a story over the "casual" and unseemly roleplay that is the norm in XIV.

[Floortank]

So you want to pretend to be edgy and get away with the things you can't say in person.

Don't.

[Theodric]

So you want to pretend to be edgy and get away with the things you can't say in person.

Don't.

The assumption is that people simply pick such characters to be 'edgy', that simply isn't the case in my experience.

Nobody becomes a murderer when they decide to join the Dark Brotherhood in an Elder Scrolls game. Or if they choose to role-play a mercenary for hire in FFXIV.

Nobody becomes a thief when they decide to join the Thieves Guild in an Elder Scrolls game. Or if they choose to portray role-play a pickpocket in FFXIV.

For many, role-play is about becoming a character that is a realistic part of the game world. That may mean that the character is, in some ways, imperfect or flawed.

[SturmChurro]

Rping a garlean or ascian sounds super fun tbh imo. More fun than the typical "Bar owner" or "Brothel owner"

Yeah, but does a garlean or ascian make as much gil?

The assumption is that people simply pick such characters to be 'edgy', that simply isn't the case in my experience.

(...)

For many, role-play is about becoming a character that is a realistic part of the game world. That may mean that the character is, in some ways, imperfect or flawed.

The game also has to allow said roleplay to actually take place, but yeah, that's for sure what it's about for me: to have my character feel like a realistic part of the game world. I think a problem with a lot of people's roleplay is that they can't separate themselves from their character. Rather, the character isn't a unique entity, it is them (the player) in the game world. Where they bring their real life ideologies, and feelings, into the game; they tend to take their roleplay personally, which can lead to heated exchanges. Granted, on the other side people can also take extreme role playing too far, and hide behind that as "just roleplay" as well, not going to say that doesn't happen.

Either way, I prefer to stick with the sort of "light roleplay" I do in RPGs, and not really bother doing it with strangers over the internet, but when I do do that sort of "light roleplay" my character alignments range from lawful to chaotics, good, neutral, or evil. Sometimes changing over the course of the story. It can be refreshing to play a game with a character of a different perspective. I just wish more games would allow for that sort of freedom of choice.

[Thaciscokidd]

RP in XIV is a deeply curated experience. People already have so many hang ups for even the simplest of things. There's also RP characters that don't even fit the setting, really. I think that's why most people do ERP, too. There's not a lot of commitment and such.

In my experience there's also a desire for characters to fall in love, and for their pilots to do the same OOC. Which, I mean, is kind of understandable. There's a lot of young folks and socially awkward older folks doing this. RP is the way they socialize. They aren't going to bring racism, nationalism etc. into that.

I like this wording right here. A lot of the mainstream RP falls under this. Players want to treat this as a Isekai or Second Life and while a viable version of RP this game is so lore rich with a bunch of preset scenarios they're missing out. Like role playing on SWToR, SWG, ESO, WoW, and LoTRo, FF14 world is full of cool potential plot set ups thats falls under the less than savory points. Syndicate basic mob hold over Uldah, Pirates doing pirate things in Limsa, Elves being elves in the twelveswood, or a Viera who went against the Green Word to set off on a journey never to return home, so on and so forth. And these are things introduced in game. A good scenario writer can write a story that is really good and not God Mod(which is fun for no one).

I think a problem with a lot of people's roleplay is that they can't separate themselves from their character. Rather, the character isn't a unique entity, it is them (the player) in the game world. Where they bring their real life ideologies, and feelings, into the game; they tend to take their roleplay personally, which can lead to heated exchanges.

This kinda hits home with me with one of the main problems with the 14 RP setting. Its the main reason my wife doesn't play anymore and despises this game. A (what we thought was a) harmless quick RP session inside of the Vault lead to a couple of server hops then a IRL confrontation. Its kinda makes you over analyze a open world situation and takes away from just straight on natural occurring RPing.