Gaius Van Baelsar...

[Theodric]

T-snip-

If Ala Mhigo is like Rabanastre from FFXII then the quality of life will have improved - especially in regards to technology. Whether those improvements are available to everybody or just the lucky few remains to be seen but I can easily imagine the place full of air cabs like in FFXII's Archades. A certain someone in the final scene of 3.1 implies that 'there will be bloodshed' and that, I feel, is a hint that many innocents will die on both sides. The question then, is, will we deal with the likes of Ilberd and his lackeys if they target civilians? Even if those civilians are Garlean/Garlean sympathisers?

[Belhi]

If Ala Mhigo is like Rabanastre from FFXII then the quality of life will have improved - especially in regards to technology. Whether those improvements are available to everybody or just the lucky few remains to be seen but I can easily imagine the place full of air cabs like in FFXII's Archades. A certain someone in the final scene of 3.1 implies that 'there will be bloodshed' and that, I feel, is a hint that many innocents will die on both sides. The question then, is, will we deal with the likes of Ilberd and his lackeys if they target civilians? Even if those civilians are Garlean/Garlean sympathisers?

Frankly the game hasn't painted Garlean rule as that benevolent a lot of the time. The people of Ala Mhigo suffered brutally when the Garleans took over and that's very much in living memory. Further Garlean society is very class based with rights proportioned to your standing. Most Ala Mhigans wouldn't even have Garlean citizenship. To earn that you need to have year of 'contributing to the empire'. As for those who do contribute, many don't have any say in the matter anyway because of forced conscription or worse. When you have Ala Mhigan women trying to escape the Garleans throw themselves off cliffs to keep themselves from getting dragged back to 'entertain' the soldiers, you have a really messed up system.

I doubt Ala Mhigo would be an easy fix but I don't think its going to be the struggle Ishgard is. Consider the fact that the Domans rebelled on their own and they were under Garlean rule for longer than Ala Mhigo has been.

Its also worth pointing out that apart from the Autumn War, which was quite a long time ago, the Ala Mhigans weren't been that conquest oriented. They mostly were dealing with their own issues.

[RyuRoots]

snip

"It could be like FF12" is...a deeply, profoundly weak argument, I find. Especially in light of the few snippets we DO get about occupied Ala Mhigo painting it as pretty bleak. It is classist and dictatorial for certain and as Belhi said, extremely unlikely that most even have basic rights as Garlean citizens based on other imperial lore we've found, some of which was in Gubal Library as I recall. We also know through personal history of NPCs that the occupation is one of oppression, rape, and hardline military control. "There will be blood" means that a lot of people are going to die, and anything else is mere interpretation.

[Theodric]

-snip-

Ishgard is 'classist'. So is Ul'dah. Heck, even Gridania is to an extent.

Eorzea isn't a nice place - but that doesn't mean it's without redeeming qualities. The same very likely applies to occupied Ala Mhigo and Garlemald itself.

Besides, it's not as if a lot of Eorzeans aren't pressured into 'adventuring' for a living (which is just as dangerous, if not more so at times) then working as a soldier.