What do you think of Ala Mhigo?

[RyuRoots]

I'm surprised people are so against it. I've been itching to go there ever since I leveled Monk, more than Ishgard. As for Ala Mhigans not seeming great pre-expansion...really? Did we so soon forget how Coerthas was populated mostly by either people who were brainless zealots, douchebags, or both in 2.0 vanilla? I even had a friend that referred to it as "high fantasy Noveria" for that reason. And then the excuse was "uhh dragon war" instead of "uhh Garlean occupation", and now people love Ishgard and have long-winded discussion on Ishgardian history and politics. If we get more focus on them I would not be at all surprised to see a similar shift.

[CyrilLucifer]

And then the excuse was "uhh dragon war" instead of "uhh Garlean occupation", and now people love Ishgard and have long-winded discussion on Ishgardian history and politics. If we get more focus on them I would not be at all surprised to see a similar shift.

I don't know, I found Heavensward had the opposite effect on me. I found Ishgard far more interesting when we hadn't actually gone there. I didn't find its lore, or the Dragons, very appealing once I actually started the expansion up. I find this is often the case in expansions, with the exceptions I can think of in MMOs being CoP and ToAU in FFXI, both of which completely revitalized my interest in the game's lore.

But, to be fair, I've always been most interested in the Primal, Voidsent, Ascian, and magic-based lore rather than regional lore of XIV.

[dinnertime]

From the concept art, Ala Mhigo might be a nice-looking place. (I had a dream the other night of what it would look like and it looks quite similar from the concept art, it's a pretty nice place.)
The people however, no. Like others have said, they're incredibly whiney and rude. It might not be the best experience being there.

[saber_alter]

That i would be more sympathetic to the ala-mhigan's plight if they weren't utter twats who used "garlean occupation" as an excuse to be a nuisance.

domans are in a worse situation, and they're getting along just fine.

[FJerome]

Honestly, we'll probably not be taking Ala Mhigo back for the sake of the Ala Mhigans, we'll be taking it back to push the Garleans out of Eorzea. Whatever you think of the Empire's policies it's still probably best to treat with them as an equal power that demands their respect.

Even then the city-state's been occupied so long that an entire generation, like Minfilia and Wilred, have grown up outside of it and probably won't have much attachment to the city once we get them back there and the reality shatters the fairy tales they were told by their parents.

[Belhi]

Honestly, we'll probably not be taking Ala Mhigo back for the sake of the Ala Mhigans, we'll be taking it back to push the Garleans out of Eorzea. Whatever you think of the Empire's policies it's still probably best to treat with them as an equal power that demands their respect.

Even then the city-state's been occupied so long that an entire generation, like Minfilia and Wilred, have grown up outside of it and probably won't have much attachment to the city once we get them back there and the reality shatters the fairy tales they were told by their parents.

Maybe but for those like Wilred and most of the refugees, who haven't had a true home, finally getting their homeland back would be huge. There would be a cultural aspect of it too.

Saying that Minfilia doesn't seem to have a particular connection to Ala Mhigan culture but she has been raised by a native of Ul'dah since she was 12.

[Gaiussenpai]

Thordan was right that the bitter truth would only create more problems and knowing and hoping SE liberating it would just make more problems for the native populace in Eorzean's sake of "Freedom".

[Theodric]

-snip-

Yeah. I really, really hope that the situation is morally complex. The Garleans are very cool and interesting and deserve more than to be viewed as being little more than a generic evil empire. Ala Mhigo fell due to its pride and a lot of horrific atrocities have been committed in the name of trying to reclaim it. Everything points at that continuing to happen - especially given what happened in Ul'dah with Ilberd. I say this in pretty much any thread that touches upon Garleans but I want to be able to ally with someone like Gabranth or Drace from FFXII. A Garlean that - whilst loyal to their people and homeland - stands up for injustice and works to eliminate some of the rot within their own society whilst also opposing those who slaughter innocent Garleans/civilians.

Cid and Lucia don't count because they aren't very 'Garlean' in my eyes. They've turned their backs upon their people and homeland.

Overall, though? Ala Mhigo makes me wary. I don't think I could stomach an expansion where Ala Mhigans are the focus. I don't find Highlanders and their culture to be particularly engaging. I know it's a matter of personal tastes but they're too similar to WoW's orcs for my liking and I ended up leaving that game because of how obnoxious the story became whenever orcs became a major plot point. If handled well, however, it could be pretty interesting. We'll need more than just 'Ala Mhigo' though. Perhaps we'll get Thavarian as well?

[myahele]

I agree that it's hard to feel sorry for Ala Mhigo due to all they're rather violent disposition of the refugees we come across.

But I do feel sorry for them as a whole more than I do Ishgard.

[Wadoka]

My mom and dad are still there, behind the wall. Won't rest until I can find a way t'liberate my home.