Originally Posted by
PyurBlue
We're getting deeper into speculation, but we know there are probably lists somewhere. It would make sense for idle animation lists to exist since we can freely choose between them and emotes.
You proposed one possible way that animation selection might work through selected class and race, but even in that case there may be a list which would be the class list. At the moment this may only contain classes, but what if it was expanded to include more information without sending more data? Say by duplicating classes with different traits. For example "Paladin motivated" and "Paladin exhausted". The former could be the normal PLD animation set while the latter is the same as regular PLD but with animations suggesting weariness from battle. This maintains the same amount of information sent as in your example, there are just more choices for class in what you called the back-end list. Another way to look at it is that you're embedding more information into data that already needs to be sent (we can change class at will, so this is information that computers running FF14 needs to be looking out for). The class list can apparently be expanded because FF14 has had the class list increased with time. Also, something like this may have been done with parasols and other accessory items because they modify the existing character walk animations. Maybe accessory items would be a better way to add extra walking animations than using pseudo-classes.
Is that how the game actually works, or close to it? I don't know, we'd need SE to actually say if something like that is feasible, but given what we do know it doesn't sound like it is completely beyond the realm of possibility. I can't completely rule out your explanation though.