Gypsies - An Ethnicity Of Aloria

[JResurrected]

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Greetings to the members of Massivecraft forums,

As the name suggests, I am seeking to develop a unique culture in Aloria based loosely on the Roma gypsies of pre-war Europe. I propose a new ethnicity be introduced that adheres to the following standards:

• This Gypsy culture must be despised by one or more societies whose land they occupy.
• As a whole, the people of this culture must be grossly uneducated.
• This culture must be nomadic by nature.
• Common employment for this society must include trades, entertainment, and general labor.
• This culture must be extremely family-oriented and superstitious.

As I have played a gypsy character in the past, where I started a gypsy family of several PCs with whom my character had regular interactions, I believe I am qualified to present this idea to you. Some benefits I have discovered in playing a Gypsy character include:

• Having a natural back story for a character who is a criminal or performer.
• Having a history of travel and adventure.
• Being brought up as a proud non-conformist with strong premises for love and hate.

Naturally, I have spent time developing ideas for this culture which I will not post here until a substantial amount of open, insightful conversation has passed. This thread is open to discussion of Gypsy history, location, and culture, with the hope of finding them a place in Aloria.

 

[ElderShrub]

♫Dark was the night when our tale was begun on the docks near Notre Dame. Four frightened gypsies slid silently under the docks near Notre Dame. But a trap had been laid for the gypsies, and they gazed up in fear and alarm, at a figure who's clutches were iron as much as the bells... the bells of Notre Dame.♫

On a more serious note, good idea! I've seen a few other people take inspiration from the Roma people by mixing it with Daen or Cielothar. However, I see a dedicated Roma inspired culture, or sub-culture, as only a positive.

 

[Luxus07]

i feel like defining gypsy lifestyle based on romani people does not do them justice. travellers in the uk are mostly irish in heritage, while romani are prevalent in continental eu.

that brings my main argument: why not create a gypsy character based on an existing human culture/race and make them travellers? qadir, daen, songaski, cielothar, varran, these can all be a "base" for traveller culture as much as romani and irish was in real life.

 

[Kleinfolk]

Sounds good.

 

[HydraLana]

We have 30+ Ailor Cultures in the lore, and considering how little some of those are played, if at all, the Lore Staff are not interested in creating new Cultures at this time given the limited likelihood of playability of such a Culture. Additionally, gypsies of a sort do technically exist and are currently most reflected in Byala Culture, which has various minor gypsy-esque features.

"However, Byalans are highly superstitious despite their low rates of religious belief, taking to practices of astrology or fortune-telling to foresee their futures. Mystics and self-proclaimed psychics have seen a boom in popularity over the past few decades, often claiming to have the answers to life that can't be provided by Unionism, much to the displeasure of the church."

"Byalans are also skilled puppet-makers, dressing dolls in traditional Byalan clothing that usually come off as quirky and quaint rather than creepy. These dolls are often used in streetside shows and traditional puppet theatre, portraying folk stories or ancient legends of Rumvalia."

"Black vests with patterns of red, green, and white are universally common, though male outfits complement these vests with white pants, baggy tunic shirts, and black boots while women wear an embroidered blouse and multi-layered skirts. Byalan women also usually wear a headscarf or other simple covering as part of casual wear, though more traditional outfits in cultural events can see these headscarves replaced with a headband embroidered with flowers and lace ribbon."

 

[JResurrected]

We have 30+ Ailor Cultures in the lore, and considering how little some of those are played, if at all, the Lore Staff are not interested in creating new Cultures at this time given the limited likelihood of playability of such a Culture. Additionally, gypsies of a sort do technically exist and are currently most reflected in Byala Culture, which has various minor gypsy-esque features.

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Thanks for the insight. And yes, there are more cultures than I have the time to familiarize myself with right now. Lore staff have been very busy.

 

[gnomery]

this is also kind of iiiffy, because... not all romani people are necessarily entertainers or criminals, and they face a lot of discrimination based on that stereotype! theres plenty of room in the lore for this without creating another stereotype culture. sorry lol not to be mr sjw but "natural backstory for a criminal.." ... ehh implying the natural path for romani people is to be a criminal is .. yknow
also: "must be grossly uneducated"- woah dude

 

[milkdudders_]

Sorry guys, I forgot I'm an uneducated criminal!!!

Not to be snowflakey, but as a Romani person, an actual 'gypsy', this is extraordinarily racist. This is like suggesting a race of dark skinned people that are all uneducated, criminal gangsters in large cities with names like 'Tyrone' and 'Laquisha'.

Next time, try to avoid being racist, mmk? We're actual people that exist. Many of us are educated. Not all of us are superstitious entertainers that have no education. Lastly, Gypsy itself is a slur. So... Yeah. Not a great post here dude.

 

[BulbousDevourer]

:grimacing:

 

[Kleinfolk]

Snip

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The post is more referring to stereotypical gypsies, and considering it's not based on current day Romani people, but a stereotype of medieval-era Romani people. Similar things can be said about the Daendroque race, yet people aren't complaining.

 

[milkdudders_]

The post is more referring to stereotypical gypsies, and considering it's not based on current day Romani people, but a stereotype of medieval-era Romani people.

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That doesn't make it not racist.

 

[BulbousDevourer]

The post is more referring to stereotypical gypsies, and considering it's not based on current day Romani people, but a stereotype of medieval-era Romani people. Similar things can be said about the Daendroque race, yet people aren't complaining.

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The reason it HAS racist undertones is because it is based on a stereotype, and a rather negative one at that.

 

[Kleinfolk]

Now, with some changes, like removing that they're uneducated, and criminals, it leaves room for an interesting travelling culture.

 

[Kleinfolk]

After going over it again, it does come off as quite racist, but as I mentioned above, ditching the overly-racist parts could give wind to an interesting culture.

 

[BogeyBanshee]

Finally, Mallen was my (correction, romani) char from Daendroque.

 

[Luxus07]

This is like suggesting a race of dark skinned people that are all uneducated, criminal gangsters in large cities with names like 'Tyrone' and 'Laquisha'.

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not saying i disagree with what you wrote, just want to note this here. ouch.

 

[Rochelle_]

These "must be" statements and generalizations of criminals and lowly performers does seem quite uneducated in itself, while our lore does have generalizations of peoples and cultures there is not one sentence present saying "all these must be this" due to not wanting to be racist but also accurately representing a culture. This post could have been worded much better, and as someone who plays a gypsy type frequently should understand the real-world stereotypes of the culture and help to dispel them through your roleplay!

 

[HydraLana]

In the future, I'd suggest that you make a post on the RP Discord section for any suggestions like this, which is Communitywide Feedback. But for now, this is thread is being locked.