Quote Originally Posted by Zanarkand-Ronso View Post
e a WoL to have one. These are Crystals that house memories of a Person that mastered said art. (If Im remembering that lore correctly)
Actually yeah, we could all recreate the Weapons. Its just get materials and meet this drunk and skilled Smith.
That's not entirely true.
While you don't need to be the WoL explicitly to get a Crystal, there are a finite number of them. For many Jobs, there's literally just the one you have. Curious Gorge gives you the only other Warrior one in Eorzea, as he has the other and they're protected by his tribe. You take the Dark Knight one off of Fray's body, which Sidgurdu heavily implies is the only other one. The Scholar one is one of a kind according to the tonberries and is uniquely linked to a specific fairy (Eos/Lilly). There are a few others.

The weapons actually are unique, at least the ARR ones are. The very first thing Gerolt sends you to get is an older legendary weapon that has been forgotten to use as the base - a singular one in existence. He's genuinely surprised when you manage to bring it back because he believed there was no way you could find the one single weapon in all of existence to use as the initial base to start it off. The HW one is strongly implied to only be possible BECAUSE you're the WoL and your personal strength is what feeds into the Anima.

The lore says they're never seen but then that becomes unbelievable lore. Consider the world of Eorzea/Hydalyn: We have airships, instant teleportation across the globe, scrying crystals, Ascians (who have been involved with like, everyone ever), etc. That an entire gender of a race could go completely unseen is frankly unbelievable. That not a single male Viera chooses to ignore tradition and venture forth is unbelievable. Sure, I can write a story and say something is true to my story and it would be because I'm the author, but that doesn't make it GOOD lore or a GOOD story.

It's just a weak lore excuse and I could do better. Here's a few loose examples that still fit within the FFXIV world:

Males are born with a strange disease in their blood that manifests upon maturity. The only way to counteract it is a special fruit / spring water that exists in their forest that quickly loses its potency so it cannot be stored for later. Because of this all Viera Males stay within their forest and dedicate their lives to its protection.

Now they physically cannot go far from the woods or they die while still serving a purpose. Is it still lame? Absolutely. Does it have a resolution to add them later? Sure, the WoL and co curses the disease so they're free to explore.

As it stands right now "They just never, EVER come out" has no real hook or motivation to EVER rectify that without a lazy retcon... it's also a lazy reason.

I do appreciate you sharing your thoughts though. It's been helpful