Because I just recently hit level 50 and am getting into the meat of the story...and holy shit I have never had an mmo kick me this hard in the feels before. (I think that says more about the mmos I've played than anything) I guess story spoilers from like...lvl 20-30 on should probably go under cuts? I'm two dungeons before patch 2.1 myself. EDIT 5/10/2017: Feel free to ping/PM me for our Discord link!
And a proper post that's not a thread header to dump all my nerding in. Spoiler: All of my characters/alts Balmung: Nennali Durant (Duskwight/White Mage) Imry Ceigwardwyn (Sea Wolf/Gladiator) Tonberry: Imry Ceigwardwyn (Sea Wolf/Paladin) Victor Kresnik (Midlander/Dragoon) N'valyh Tia (Seeker of the Sun/Monk) Kototsuki Maraguld[sic] (Raen/Archer) Adamantoise: Nergui Malaguld (Xaela/Archer) Famfrit: Ragna Estelwede (Highlander/Arcanist) Imry (Tonberry) is my main, lvl 51. I made a copy of her on Balmung for rp purposes+a lot of people I know on there, but I find I prefer playing my healer instead. Hah... ...I have yet to actually rp in-game. I rp on the side w my usual partner but I'm too intimidated to get into it with strangers, sigh. I have an alt problem bc I loveeeee playing with the character generator. So despite the fact that you can get every class on one character, I still end up n like this. I threw up a bunch of stuff I did in the drawing thread a little while back: https://kintsugi.seebs.net/threads/drawing-thread.260/page-14
Yeah, the only way I got on Balmung at all was right before maintenance. But since everyone I know on there is endgame, I ended up focusing on Tonberry since I had more people around my level there to run with. But, it's getting harder because high lvl content requires coordination and the server is, well, Japanese. Also the lag has finally started affecting me. I used to think I was just terrible at dodging AOE, but it turns out that there's about 1/4 second constant lag, so I have to dodge by the time the casting bar is half done or it'll hit. I'm toying with moving Imry to an American server to fix this...I was attached to my FC but then the leader left and everyone else sort of devolved into drama, so. :/ I'm tentatively server-shopping. Balmung gives me terrible lag for traffic reasons, unfortunately. I love making Au Ra, even tho I kind of wish the ladies were as big and scary-looking as the guys. (I made my first character a lady Roe for a reason...finally buff ladies in a video game!!)
It annoys me in a lore sense b/c lady dragons are usually BIGGER than guys, plus it's true for a lot of lizards irl iirc? But apparently they're "not really dragons"....or something..../throws up hands It reminds me of this tumblr post....haha. But I could talk about making convincing worldbuilding for hours, so I should probably stop now. And to be fair, this game does it a lot less than some others. I managed to make my Raen look like she wants to murder everyone she sees, so that's something. (nevermind that I spelled her clan name wrong and need to pay $10 to fix it, aaaargh) My character types seem to run either "tiny and angry" or "big adorable goofball". Spoiler: here she is
But my main is a female Roegadyn set to the tallest possible size: (lounging-around summer festival outfit, dyed silver) Here's her Lodestone: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/11411283/
And because I'm a altoholic and a dork I recreated one of my favorite fictional characters in-game: Jamethiel from P.C. Hodgell's Kencyrath books. She's level 15 pugilist right now; unfortunately I have to wait till level 19 IIRC until I get dyes and can avoid color in her outfits!
@Morven the original concept art has "Dragon race" written on it, but I think they scrapped that b/c it meant Ishgardians would have to hate them on sight. Here is Imry and her tiny Keeper friend Akiv'a (partner's character) celebrating lvl 50 at the beach :D Spoiler: her height is maxed and his is minimum it's great Spoiler: seriously their height diff is hilarious. Dye quest is lvl 15 iirc, but you need to get to Vesper Bay. I have no idea how you get metallic dyes, though. :o
I also have to say, despite the fact that there are some weird-ass sexy outfits in this game, I appreciate that most of them are equal opportunity. Like, most of the armor is gender-neutral, including the skimpy stuff. I mean they hand out bikinis for the girls, sure, but the guys get this: Spoiler: not safe for work or small children Plus that leather harness armor actually...adds coverage for the ladies...which is practically unheard of. The exception being lvl 50 Dragoon armor because what the fuck. EDIT: I forgot to mention that dude Paladins wear short shorts. Spoiler: Jenlyns' butt
Oh yeah, it is level 15 and, since Jame's a pugilist to start with, she starts in Ul'dah and can thus get there before the airship pass (haven't gotten far enough in the main questline for that). Black dye here I come! For her initial outfit anyway. I am planning out a bunch of outfits for her once I get her to 50 and have the ability to glamor. I'm planning outfits to represent descriptions in the books from various points, and researching what pieces look right. Meanwhile on Anhelia, my huge Roe, I'm trying to come up with things that just plain look awesome. I do think it's great that there are sexy outfits for both genders, too. And fully covering ones. One of the things I got tired of in WoW is how only womens' outfits were skimpy, and the same thing on a male character magically became complete coverage.
Metallic dyes are IIRC only available for real money from the store or the silver and gold can be obtained with the tokens you get for recruiting a friend.
I also like that there are invisible gear pieces purely for glamour reasons on purpose. So if you didn't want to wear gloves, for instance. That was one thing that made death knights in WoW better for transmog; they came with an invisible belt which meant you didn't have to show an ugly belt. Also, no visible belts in this game, and no ridiculous shoulderpads. Thankfully.
Quickly ran into game tonight to complete the super quick dye quest, dye her clothes black, and take a shot. Dark rainy night in Ul'dah tonight; her hair's going to be soaked. I picked the dreads style because it looks the closest I can get to the lots of small braids she normally wears, the braids on the left being for men she's killed and on the right, for children she's fathered (notionally speaking; she frequently ends up being in the male role even though she's not trans, and she's been credited as the "father" for children the women in the Merikit village would rather not credit any of the men for).
This is completely random but I think it's super cool that Thanalan is a fog desert. I didn't even know what fog deserts WERE until I looked up "fog in desert" because I thought the weather effects were inaccurate. Turns out it's totally possible for a desert near the ocean--which Thanalan is! (I'm a huge nerd I'm sorry) @Morven my entry for the hairstyle contest had a bunch of braids, but it might not be quite what you're describing. screw it, screenshot spam Spoiler: Decked out my retainers in event yukata :D This is Mathis (Victor) Spoiler: Ralle (Victor) Spoiler: Uriah (N'valyh) Spoiler: T'zuma (N'valyh) Spoiler: catboy beach photoshoot (Val why are you touching his butt) Spoiler: in case you ever wanted a reference for Noraxia's Hyur glamour, here it is Spoiler: I love cutscene lighting, you can see Imry's freckles :D Spoiler: Ragna, my Arcanist (future Summoner) I just love how she came out. Spoiler: I made Dairine and Roshaun from Young Wizards once Spoiler: Victor in Coerthas
Huh, that thing about fog deserts is interesting. And nice screenshots! I dressed one of Anhelia's retainers in the blue and white yukata too.
Just got my Manderville Dance.... That...wasn't a quest. That was... An experience. Spoiler: I want whatever this family is on
Got to the point of unlocking retainers on my level 21 alt, so I can finally put up auctions. And thus send money from my main to my alt, since they make it so hard to move stuff back and forth. Probably because otherwise it would ruin their income from people buying extra retainers.
