Quote Originally Posted by LilLemay View Post
while it would be cool to start in Ishgard you've gotta think, there's no proper ''starting'' area outside of Ishgard, the only connecting area is the level 35+ coerthas central highlands, and the only other areas near it are the sea of clouds (50+) and Azys Lla (55+) so no matter where you go from there you'd just get decimated, unless they just straight provided you travel to one of the other starting cities, but at that point you may as well just start in those cities
Thats true, from a pure gameplay perspective, it wouldnt make much sense to start in ishgard. Everything around you is lvl 30+

From the lore side, it wouldnt make any sense either. When you pick your starting city, you dont pick your characters hometown, but rather the first town they came to on their journey as mercenary. For all we know, the WoL might be an Ishgardian from the brume that traveled to Ul'dah to earn a living.
Ishgard is closed to visitors until you as the WoL open their eyes and make them realize they need help. The ishgardianss tolerate your presence in the region of Coerthas but wont let you in the city itself until you save it from a huge dragon.