Lets stop being hippies.

[DarthTaru]

I always thought of Mithras as very tough, savage and opportunistic. Most of the 'famous' Mithra were mercenaries, pirates, thieves, or got to the top by killing. Of course everyone tended to forget this as soon as the nearest Mithra put on some RSE pants or a subligar.

By contrast, Mi'qote don't have much flavor. I can't say I know much about my own character race because nothing's really been mentioned so far. At least we still have slutty >.>

I hated Mithra being in our city until the Wings of the Goddess cutscenes with us fighting together

Sin Hunters! 0.0

[Punainen]

People from Twin Adder or Maelstrom selling their wares in Uldah MW should be taxed more.

They should only do that if Uldah stops being central hub, and Grid and LL stop being ghost towns. Otherwise its not fair, because Uldah is the only place you can really expect to sell anything.

[Riv]

People from Twin Adder or Maelstrom selling their wares in Uldah MW should be taxed more.

Good idea. Would either get people out of Uldah, or just make everyone choose Flames. >.>

[Riaayo]

I actually feel like if you listened to the speeches of each company, there was a different vibe from each. I was already aiming at Grid, but after seeing that they were about making things work and everyone coming together, I was sold on them VS the other companies. Uldah is much more about glory and riches, while Limsa seemed to feel like we will survive sort of vibe. I may have lost their meanings but that was what I at least took out of it. I do, however, agree that other than that, the cities don't feel unique enough... but you have to also remember this is 10 years after FFXI and what we think is good and bad has changed since then.

Ocarina of Time felt like a huge world when it came out, now by comparison as an adult, it feels pretty tiny. The flaws in old games begin to come out as you age and have more life experiences, and I think that's why you can look at how FFXI made you feel, but not necessarily to how it did that to succeed in it again this far down the road.

[Punainen]

Duskwight is suppose to be a race that lives in caves and is hated by their woodland counterparts. Where are these caves this race is suppose to live in? Wheres the animosity between these two races? Duskwight are suppose to be the best pugs and woodland are suppose to be the best archers. Why even make these interesting lore if you dont see it in the game? I hate referencing 11 because these are two different games but if you've ever talked to the humes and galka in bastok you can see the hate between these two races. This is the kind of stuff I would of loved to see between the whole elezen race.

The trouble with the race lore is that NONE of us as adventurers are supposed to originate from anywhere in Eorzea. We traveled here from elsewhere. Where? Maybe those home places that the race descriptions describe... We may find a wealth of diversity if SE were to actually CREATE these countries that our adventuring selves originate from. Apparently Dunesfolk Lalafell come from a desert where they live on the backs of HUGE creatures of some sort. But no place like that exists in Eorzea... its on some other continent which we may or may not ever see.

[Punainen]

Good idea. Would either get people out of Uldah, or just make everyone choose Flames. >.>

It would make everyone choose Flames... because no one BUYS out of Grid or LL, and therefore no one will want to sell there, regardless of taxes. They would just angrily accept the higher taxes.

[Lux_Rayna]

It would make everyone choose Flames... because no one BUYS out of Grid or LL, and therefore no one will want to sell there, regardless of taxes. They would just angrily accept the higher taxes.

That. It would just kill all company diversity.

Also my understanding of the lore in Eorzea is that its filled with lots of immigrants. In a way, you can compare to countries like America and Canada, where ppl from all over poured into the country in search of fortune. Eorzea is kinda like "the New World" when Columbus "discovered" it. Because of that, you are not going to find strong threads of racism or anything of the like. We are all more or less strangers on a new land trying to make our way into the future. The rivalry in Eorzea is a lot like the rivalry that existed among colonies/states in the US. We didn't outright hate each other, just had philosophical differences. Still, we worked in cooperation and, for the most part, accepted each other.

FFXI was built on a different model, the territorial sovereign states that were built on a shared ethnic identity (ie racial) and culture. This was the model prior to World War II, where the Germans were Germans, French were French, Chinese were Chinese, every state was, for the most part, a racially homogenous culture. Of course you did have your outsiders, but all in all it was a state system based on ethnicity and geography. This is why you had that intense rivalry in FFXI, because race was always mixed in with nationalism. Bastok wasn't just Bastok, it was the HUME city. Cities were associated with races, and races were associated with geography. This is how Europe was prior to the mid 20th century, going way back in history. And as some of you may know, especially if you are European, there was intense rivalry among states, and plenty of racism to go around.

[Noir]

Don;t know what game your playing but Ul'dans love being Ul'dans by calling grid ppl tree huggers.

Hummm, then I say, but I have the best equipment from companies . RAAAAAA!

[Mireille]

It doesn't matter where you start, we are all pretty much children of Uldah.
Races mean squat. Not much to say there. There's literally no difference between them.
And it doesn't matter which company you choose. There's nothing significant to put its members against each other.

The central storyline in XI was about racial and national pride and its roll in creating a war that continued to threaten the world long after its end, and the scars of which lasted for decades. In a very real sense the first 6 chapters of the main story ended with you learning that the real form of the enemy known as the shadowlord was something within yourself: prejudice. In XIV the enemy at this point has yet to really take on any sort of distinct shape, and the whole story line is being re-written for 2.0.

Agreed I liked the distinctions that made a Taru a Taru and a Mithra a Mithra. In XIV a Miqo'te differs from a lalafel only in the tail and their chest size and that's /meh. Every RPG I have every played has made chosing a race something you have to consider how it will impact you in the long term.

The three nations need something more than a linked search feature to make you really want to be a Gridanian, and not an expatriated Gridanian living in Ul'dah.

As far as competitive things surrounding companies it sounds like that is in the works for 2.0, and will encompass both Grand Companies and the yet to be introduced Free Companies.

[Dusk_Shardveil]

I think the big thing that's missing isn't so much factionalism/nationalism as it is with good ole fassioned competition between different groups. Be they city-state, Grand Company, or some other affiliation.

Right now with the storyline the three city-states are uniting in order to stave off a greater threat to all of them... but this doesnt mean they cant be a bit competitive too. Even in the story line a little competition could make them stronger overall to face the big threat looming over the world.