Why cant we play Garlean empire?

[CaesarCV]

(I would accept their downfall through their war mongering actions. It happened a lot in real life too where big empires just fell because they were simply too big and because they had an war on the inside. Like people are not happy with the leader and try to take him down but the following leaders will ruin the land by not finding a good compromise..or it will bite them in the back that they treat some of their conquered countries really bad)

I particularly agree with this sentiment. The Empire has, until now, been able to support a much larger military than it can actually afford through successive conquests and the rapid conscription of local populations. We've seen in the cases of Doma and Ala Migho just how much this rapid conscription harm the local economies, but in the short term that's fine. To the Garlean Empire, the continued conquest of the world is far more important than the economic state of a few savage provinces. Similarly they've been able to keep moving rather than focus their efforts on long term investment into their territories or trade relations with other states. So far it's worked out for them as well, with their massive expenditures of resources (Project Meteor, Military Magitek, Allagan Expeditions, etc) covered by their expansion into new territories. These provide the resources (especially manpower) to continue their campaigns.

It was a similar situation with the real life Roman Empire, which had an economy partially based on the huge influxes of wealth and slaves provided by their conquests. But, just as what happened to the Romans, the Garleans' conquests have largely stopped. Between Silvertear Falls, the Battle of Cartenau, and the new failures in Ala Migho and Doma, they're probably going to see their economy and ability to fight heavily reduced. the rebellion of Doma and Ala Migho as well as the civil war make it apparent that the cracks are starting to show in the Empire. While things have been held together mostly through brute force and continued conquest so far, it's only a matter of time before more troubles show in the Empire, especially since Ala Migho and Doma proved that the Empire is not unassailable or undefeatable. It's important to remember just how rapid the rise of the Empire has been when considering these issues.

[Bongaboi]

I think having some Garlemald-related quests and some gathering and crafting jobs related to Garlemald would be excellent for an expansion. Maybe even have some housing there and in Ala Mhigo. The prices of garlic would drop like a stone!

[VargasVermillion]

Personally I'd like the idea of the empire becoming a neutral force that we might have a truce with but aren't actually allied with. Could create some interesting scenarios later down the line after the initial war-path is ended.

[Kallera]

I just think that empires being easy to destroy, or at least a given that they are destoryed within the events of the story, is just overdone. Not everyone is blessed with a chosen one doing the heavy lifting for them. Or are enlightened figureheads with modern day rules of engagement.

Maybe I'm someone biased in light of recent conflicts, but if war is an inevitability, then that war should not be pretty. There should be problems and victories on both ends. not "one side own goaling themselves while the other plays normally."

But as far as playing as them or their faction, I'd be down for that. There are definitely men and women willing enough to fight for the empire's peace, why not adventurers?

[Alleo]

the rebellion of Doma and Ala Migho as well as the civil war make it apparent that the cracks are starting to show in the Empire. While things have been held together mostly through brute force and continued conquest so far, it's only a matter of time before more troubles show in the Empire, especially since Ala Migho and Doma proved that the Empire is not unassailable or undefeatable. It's important to remember just how rapid the rise of the Empire has been when considering these issues.

And lets not forget that Hien sent his ninjas in other territories to spread the information about the successful rebellion so there might be more rebellions in other countries, thus a necessary split of power. It could be that this will be unsuccessful thanks to the meddling of the ascians but I really dont understand why Varis was so calm after losing those two countries. Not only did he lose his access to Eorzea but the spreading of the news could be the first steps towards their downfall. Either he does not realize the relevance of these losses (and he should have never ever sent his son there..)or he has some kind of unknown trick up his sleeve. (That probably will be dealt with by the WoL..like always x))

[Mysterysword]

snip

We do differ in our opinions of this point: I don't mind seeing the Garlean empire being portrayed as incompetent, if, and only if, there are specific reasons behind it, and it's not just that set-dressing.

But, all that depends on how you define "incompetent". I wouldn't call that brute force propaganda incompetent, because it would still get results. It would be more appropriate to call it inefficient. And it can be argued that the Garlean empire is extremely inefficient at actually running their empire. See my previous posts. They're good at warmongering, but actual governance? Gaius seems to have been the exception, as a politically-savvy Garlean. All their policies regarding their conquered territories, so far, seem to have all been focused on reaping as many resources out of them in the short-term, as fast as possible, with absolutely no regard given to sustainability or long-term prospects.

Honestly, soldiers don't tend to make good politicians in general. This is true even in real-life, and China's Great Leap Forward is just one example of the kinds of disasters that arise from having a soldier sit at the top of a dictatorship.

We need a drastic change in leadership for that to happen. I am not opposed to a Larsa figure - far from it, I'd very much like one - but they will have their work cut out for them, assuming such a figure appears.

Examining Larsa just reminded me of how much I personally liked him as a character, but then I realised just how specific his circumstances and upbringing had to be, to have him serve the role in FF XII that he did. Part of his ascension to the throne was that Gramis and Vayne specifically wanted him to rule (I should probably do more reading because it really makes no sense to me why they would think he would've made a better ruler for an empire that was bordering on an outright war against another, equally powerful empire. And I get that FF XII had a lot of story to tell as it was, but it would've been nice to actually see some of the conflict between Archadia and Rozarria, rather than having one of them be completely sidelined in the plot.). In fact, if I remember correctly, pretty much everyone wanted Larsa on the throne, either as a legitimate Emperor or a puppet.

In addition to being of high status (though somewhat politically impotent), for Larsa to be willing to extend the olive branch to Ashe, he had to be markedly different from other Archadians. It would be slightly difficult to produce a similar character in Garlemald, because the way I see it, while Archadia and Garlemald are outwardly similar, they're very different internally. Archadians seem to have much more freedom than Garleans, for one, even though Archadia is facing a legitimate threat in the form of Rozarria, rather than conquering other nations for the hell of it.

Put simply, while Archadia was a good breeding ground for defectors, or at least moderates, Garlemald doesn't seem to be, at least for the moment. It's difficult to envision how a Larsa-type character might come about, because from what we've seen so far, nobody in Garlemald manages to make it to a high rank while being diplomatically-inclined. Gaius was the closest we got, and even he still wanted to conquer Eorzea.

So far, if we ever do get FF XIV!Larsa, they are very likely to be of little importance in Garlemald.

[Aosha]

Why we can't play the Garlean Empire? Because that would practically add, I'd say, 30 to 80 % more work for the dev team to make possible, and they're already stretched fairly thin.
Now, when it comes to Garlemald being an accessible area in the future, now that's an entirely different point. Could even be that the second to last expansion ends with us making a truce with Garlemald, and then getting to enter it in the last one. Possibly to hunt Ascians or something. *shrugs*