Quote Originally Posted by Iscah View Post
I still think it was a poor move to give them boring cars when the military has whimsical bipedal mecha and wing-flapping airships, but here we are.
Well there's the practicality aspect of things. Our real world militaries have tanks and helicopters yet I don't commute to work in a killdozer and I don't think the average family has access to a private helicopter.

I think part of it too is to sympathize the Garleans since before now we've only met their soldiers and evil scientists and we're suddenly supposed to feel bad for them now which is easier when there's familiarity. You can connect better with them when their home city looks reminiscent of home and they drive humble cars or take the train and it's a disconnect from the gigantic winged airships raining death and destruction upon Eorzea.

This may come into play in the reverse in this upcoming expansion if Tuliyollal's empire is all about being at peace with nature and then up north you have railroads and ceruleum derricks upsetting the harmony and then Solution Nine on top of that who have a completely different aesthetic, culture, and possibly sense of values that could represent our society losing touch with our environment.

Or both the Garlean and Xak Tural examples could be meaningless and the writers did it just because they felt like it.