In regards to something involving the main cast

[Theodric]

Ancients made it their job to make the star a better place, and one has to wonder what part ferocious beasts play in such an undertaking.

The same purpose they play in the real world. Without ferocious predators to keep the population of other creatures in balance, a predator's prey will inevitably cause environmental destruction. As cute as a gazelle may be, if left to graze with no limit then there's not going to be much in the way of grass which negatively impacts many other species. So the existence of a lion to feast upon the gazelle will ensure that the delicate balance remains intact. Aside from feeding the lion, the gazelle's carcass will also provide much needed nurturing for the soil itself. Furthermore, as it decays even bugs will serve a purpose - hastening the decay.

It's a safe bet that the Ancients themselves came to such conclusions during the course of their research, especially since they had entire academies devoted to different fields.

[Tehmon]

The same purpose they play in the real world. Without ferocious predators to keep the population of other creatures in balance, a predator's prey will inevitably cause environmental destruction. As cute as a gazelle may be, if left to graze with no limit then there's not going to be much in the way of grass which negatively impacts many other species. So the existence of a lion to feast upon the gazelle will ensure that the delicate balance remains intact. Aside from feeding the lion, the gazelle's carcass will also provide much needed nurturing for the soil itself. Furthermore, as it decays even bugs will serve a purpose - hastening the decay.

It's a safe bet that the Ancients themselves came to such conclusions during the course of their research, especially since they had entire academies devoted to different fields.

Yes, I understand the concept. The Circle Of Life from The Lion King is playing somewhere in the distance.

What I'm wondering about, is how these apex predators and volcanoes make the world better, as they definitely can oppose a massive threat to people. If the point is to make the life on star as great as possible, what purpose do these sources of, ironically, suffering and death, bring to the '' humankind '' if we can call it that, if ancients were trying to make the star a paradise. Or were they trying to make it a paradise, or just some other iteration they had in mind that would suffice the star? And if they did come to the conclusion that misery is part of the life in the star, and that humans don't reign supreme for merely existing, it does put an even more ironic twist to the entire story.

But if people living in the star aren't threatened by any of these things and are almost if not as capable as ancients themselves, doesn't the entire '' returning to the star '' seem much more odd in retrospect?

But alas, because we know very little of the unsundered existence beyond Elpis, Amaurot and the stars Meteia visit, and what we are told by biased sources, I don't know how to argue this topic, and can only ask questions.

In truth, everything you say can make perfectly logical sense, but it's as much of a theory than any other. Unless I missed something vital, which definitely can be the case.

[MikkoAkure]

The same purpose they play in the real world. Without ferocious predators to keep the population of other creatures in balance, a predator's prey will inevitably cause environmental destruction. As cute as a gazelle may be, if left to graze with no limit then there's not going to be much in the way of grass which negatively impacts many other species. So the existence of a lion to feast upon the gazelle will ensure that the delicate balance remains intact. Aside from feeding the lion, the gazelle's carcass will also provide much needed nurturing for the soil itself. Furthermore, as it decays even bugs will serve a purpose - hastening the decay.

It's a safe bet that the Ancients themselves came to such conclusions during the course of their research, especially since they had entire academies devoted to different fields.

My whole point is asking why they thought they needed to escalate the ecosystem's arms race by making things that had no place to be there that eventually warranted more insane monsters. In our world, the food web is balanced and everything has their own ecological niche. When the environment changes or new species migrate in, some who can't adapt die and then the remaining ones will change to fill in any empty niches. When you introduce something that has no business being there, you upset the whole balance. Like how Australia decided to introduce cane toads to solve a beetle problem but the cane toads are poisonous and nothing can eat them and they went crazy on the environment and left the beetles alone.

The gazelles are kept in check by lions, there's no real reason to add the giant, flying, fire-breathing wolves unless you made them either because you felt like it or because the ecosystem is being thrown out of control by the humongous, antlered, lighting-calling panthers you made last week.

"It's a fantasy game and it's just a reason to explain monsters" is the meta excuse. But the Ancients didn't wake up one morning realizing they're in a fantasy game so they have carte blanche to recreate Street Sharks. Though I doubt we'll learn of how it got this way unless they make a Tales of the Dawn entry on the origins of Elpis, it was probably a slippery slope that led to where they got to at the point we arrived. I'm sure it started with better intentions but it ended with researchers wanting to see a bunch of things fight and creating life to keep up with the trends. When it's normal, you don't see it as a bad thing and I'm sure most of them see it that way. But then you have Hermes who was in the wrong position for someone cursed with caring too much and he decided he was going to end the world over it.

[Cleretic]

The same purpose they play in the real world. Without ferocious predators to keep the population of other creatures in balance, a predator's prey will inevitably cause environmental destruction. As cute as a gazelle may be, if left to graze with no limit then there's not going to be much in the way of grass which negatively impacts many other species. So the existence of a lion to feast upon the gazelle will ensure that the delicate balance remains intact. Aside from feeding the lion, the gazelle's carcass will also provide much needed nurturing for the soil itself. Furthermore, as it decays even bugs will serve a purpose - hastening the decay.

It's a safe bet that the Ancients themselves came to such conclusions during the course of their research, especially since they had entire academies devoted to different fields.

Like I've been saying: even if it works, it's not a kind world at all. I'm sure the gazelle isn't very happy that someone decided that the best way to keep them in check was to invent lions.

...and given that FFXIV's origin myth is apparently just a bunch of weird creatives, I'm wondering how the gazelle's inventor and the lion's inventor feel about each other. Like, was this a mutual agreement, or was Mr. Gazelle pretty mad about this?

EDIT: In fact, given we don't actually know about the in-universe origin of the gazelle-lion dynamic, do we even know that the gazelles came first in this case, or is it possible that the lions existed first and then someone decided the savannah needed edible lawnmowers? That's also not great news to the gazelles, mind you, but it does change how the Ancients might feel about the lions.