When are we going to infiltrate the Garlean Empire?!

[Kallera]

While I wouldn't mind this, people didn't exactly react well the last time the WoL failed at something and had to be saved by NPCs. I can't count the number of people I heard whining that their character should have carved a path of blood and destruction through Ul'dah instead of running.

I think that was less the event and more SE giving us cutscene incompetence at every action scene out of our hands. Prior cutescenes were done that conveyed this, so its not like asking for the sun and moon. If we were able to play out events and have a role in our roleplaying game, it would have been received better.

[Saiah]

I think that was less the event and more SE giving us cutscene incompetence at every action scene out of our hands. Prior cutescenes were done that conveyed this, so its not like asking for the sun and moon. If we were able to play out events and have a role in our roleplaying game, it would have been received better.

I agree. It wouldve been better if there where some active battle sequences where you do have to defeat a bunch of endlessly spawning guards on the way out. And after x amount of time or x amount of enemies defeated the trial ends where the WoL is again faced with a large number of enemies and either chooses to run or is helped by an ally pointing at a way out.

It would certainly satisfy the players desire to beat the snot out of some of those crooked guards.

[Rurudo]

I would imagine that in the next expansion (4.0) we will be traveling to Ala Mhigo and the lands surrounding it. I expect we will finally have access to the entire Eorzean subcontinent, traveling to Gyr Abania (where Ala Mhigo is located) and Xelphatol (which doesn't seem to have a city-state associated with it). After end of the Dragonsong War, I expect we'll start getting more involved with the Ala Mhigans and their quest to regain their homeland, to the point where we might even have a dungeon or trial right before the expansion where we help to free Ala Mhigo from Garlean control. That would set the stage for us to visit Ala Mhigo in 4.0, which would then be back under the control of the Ala Mhigans.

[Rurudo]

It would be the new city we get access to in that expansion and would be the location of all the new jobs and/or classes (I wonder if they'll just be adding new jobs from now on or if there will ever be new classes. Will the existing classes get second jobs like Arcanists, or will it always be on job per class?). After that, I'm not sure where it would go. Sharlayan and Garlemald itself both seem possible. There are so many locations that have been mentioned, like Doma or Radz-at-Han, that we may visit in future expansions. How much of the world do you think we'll get to explore? Do you think some day we will have access to all of it?

[SuperFlorinjin]

It would be the new city we get access to in that expansion and would be the location of all the new jobs and/or classes (I wonder if they'll just be adding new jobs from now on or if there will ever be new classes. Will the existing classes get second jobs like Arcanists, or will it always be on job per class?).

I don't know if they'll ever add new classes instead of going straight to jobs, but I'm pretty sure they won't do the Arcanist branching trick again. I've heard they don't like how it turned out, probably the fact that leveling Scholar to max instantly makes you a master summoner as well.

[RomildaRayne]

It's so strange that homeless and desperate refugees whose members take extremist action somehow match up unfavorably to a massive expansionist army that has, in the past, completely razed a city-state to the ground. The worst Ala Mhigan extremists have done is riot in areas that have treated them like garbage and marginalized their rights for the past decade and a half. Garlean extremists (who happened to be people in positions of power, mind) planned the complete genocide of every single person on Eorzea by dropping a freaking moon on them. I'm not a moral absolutist, but the Garlean Empire needs to be stopped for the good of the people around them. I'm not saying that all Ala Mhigans deserve a free pass, but you cannot convince me that fricking Garlemald measures up favorably to Ala Mhigo on a moral level.

[myahele]

I'm not saying that all Ala Mhigans deserve a free pass, but you cannot convince me that fricking Garlemald measures up favorably to Ala Mhigo on a moral level.

Yeah, Garlemald, in their actions, have cause a Calamity (Nael), The Awakening of Ultima which weakened Hydaelyn further (Gaius) and now they're in Azys Lla and given their track record, are bound to mess up significantly. Then there's Midgardsomnr (who has a covenant with Hydaelyn herself) to fought against them in Silver Tear Lake.

I'm not a fan of Ala Mhigo either, but their mistakes are nowhere near as disastrous as the Garleans.

Even the Dragonsong war has been isolated within Ishgard.

[Theodric]

To be fair, Nael wasn't really acting on behalf of Garlemald. Many Garleans were opposed to his attitude. It's not like the entirety of Ul'dah is blamed for the actions of Teledji so I don't believe it's fair to tarnish the entirety of Garlemald as a result of a select few. Gaius, as well, was largely manipulated by an Ascian and didn't want to destroy Eorzea but rather bring order to the place. Ishgard's Archbishop boasted a similar mentality - and he was very much an Eorzean.

I'm hoping the plot has the Garleans succeed at saving Eorzea from some major threat. That'd make things even more morally dubious if we do assault Ala Mhigo.

[Kaiser-Ace]

To be fair, Nael wasn't really acting on behalf of Garlemald. Many Garleans were opposed to his attitude. It's not like the entirety of Ul'dah is blamed for the actions of Teledji so I don't believe it's fair to tarnish the entirety of Garlemald as a result of a select few. Gaius, as well, was largely manipulated by an Ascian and didn't want to destroy Eorzea but rather bring order to the place. Ishgard's Archbishop boasted a similar mentality - and he was very much an Eorzean.

Not to mention Nael was full fledge Tempered by Bahamut. And Lahabrea duped Gaius into reactivating The Ultima Weapon. Neither telling his that The Heart of Sabik was inside it nor that it could cast the forbidden and highly destructive spell "Ultima" that even Gaius him self protested the use of, as shown by the phrase "Ultima Again!?! Damn you Acsian!". Which clearly shows he wouldn't have cast that spell even if he DID know he could have.

[Theodric]

Not to mention Nael was full fledge Tempered by Bahamut. And Lahabrea duped Gaius into reactivating The Ultima Weapon. Neither telling his that The Heart of Sabik was inside it nor that it could cast the forbidden and highly destructive spell "Ultima" that even Gaius him self protested the use of, as shown by the phrase "Ultima Again!?! Damn you Acsian!". Which clearly shows he wouldn't have cast that spell even if he DID know he could have.

Yeah. This is often neglected in 'Garleans are antagonists' discussions. I mean, yes - they are - but they're not incompetent. They've simply been tricked into doing stuff...like most prominent Eorzeans have including the WoL. As for Regula and Varis? We don't know enough about their motives just yet. We've a few hints but nothing we can piece together firmly.