Garlean Magicks Revisited?

[Theodric]

To nobody's surprise - here at least - I'd likely pass out from excitement if we ever get Garleans as a playable race. Or just an updated character creation system so it's easier to design a character that looks like one.

It opens up a lot of possibilities even if they don't go down that route though.

[Jonnycbad]

So Garleans can't use magic or they can't use aether? Magic would be Fire, Ruin, Flare, but some abilities use aether like Geirskogul, Elixir Field, Ninjutsu. So non mage players can fell dragons and giant robots becaue we focus our aether into our hands to swing our blades and axes with greater force than an ordinary man. Garleans as NPCs in battle wield their weapons with incredible strength and can create energy waves when they slash like certain player skills. Is this because Garleans are relying purely on their magitek suits to augment their abilities, and strip them of this and they're just level 2 Commoners with 200 HP? Leveling up and gaining strength is the equivalent of being able to manipulate your own personal aether better and more adeptly to move faster, swing harder, etc after all.

[Cilia]

Magic is the product of using one's bodily aether to change the aetherflow of the world around you (except the Dark Arts of DRK, fueled entirely by your own aether), so if the vast majority of Garleans are incapable of manipulating their body's aether naturally they can't use magic either.

As for whether or not this renders them incapable of using martial arts and fighting on-par with opponents without their magitek suits... who knows. I'd like to believe some of my strength comes from training and discipline, not just coking myself up on aether or tuning my ability to control it until I can beat whatever. (Or from my gear.) The Garleans use magitek to balance their magical deficiency with durability and resistance to said magic, and higher ranking officers have the ability to make magitek projections to nullify the gap completely.

In a contest of pure martial ability... we'd probably be about equal. (I say that, but I turned van Hydrus into a laughingstock during our "duel" in the ARF...)

As for whether or not this portends Garleans becoming playable... maybe. Very maybe. Strictly speaking they could be a new race in 4.0, though they would have to be expatriates, and if 5.0 takes us to Garlemald under benevolent (or at least benign) circumstances there's not really any reason not to. Even if they are a rarity, magic-capable Garleans are still fathomable as playable ones; don't forget all the miqo'te guys are supposed to be rare sights in society, for instance, and Au Ra are not common story-wise. They'd face racism and prejudice, but that's what happens when your homeland goes on a bloody conquest for ~30+ years (whether you agree with it or not).

Still, it's gonna take a lot to get there (barring the expatriate angle), so best to hold yer breath for now. Or not.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

Cilia, I'd like to counter your rare man cat with the Padajals. Those guys are rare too and Yoshida stated that they wouldn't be playable because of their uniqueness and lore reasons and I'm willing to bet the same would be said about Garleans who can use magic. Garleans and Padajals are pretty ingrained in the background lore. I mean, if we are gonna go #NotAllGarleans as an excuse for them to be playable, then why not #NotAllBeastmen, even though we got denied playing as them too?

[Cilia]

Cilia, I'd like to counter your rare man cat with the Padajals. Those guys are rare too and Yoshida stated that they wouldn't be playable because of their uniqueness and lore reasons and I'm willing to bet the same would be said about Garleans who can use magic. Garleans and Padajals are pretty ingrained in the background lore. I mean, if we are gonna go #NotAllGarleans as an excuse for them to be playable, then why not #NotAllBeastmen, even though we got denied playing as them too?

There's a distinct difference between male miqo'te and Padjals. Male miqo'te are just... male miqo'te. They are free to forge their own path in life and go where they will. They just happen to be solitary and filled with wanderlust, hence why we've not really seen many in-game.

Padjals... not so much. They're just normal hyur chosen by the Elementals to act as their emissaries. It's been somewhat implied that they cannot leave the Shroud without the Elementals' permission; when running the WHM 60 quest A-Ruhn and Raya-O make their very first trip outside the Shroud, though A-Ruhn does endeavor to begin a pilgrimage afterward. Even Kan-E's excursions are treated as rare despite the fact she is effectively the Prime Minister of Gridania. Given there is nothing stating a Padjal needs the Elementals' express permission to leave the Shroud, but... well, if something were to happen between man and the Elementals while they're gone... yeah. Padjals are bound to the will of the Elementals... even more so than the average Gridanian citizen, which sucks as it is. Their lasting youth is a gift given in exchange for being the Elementals' servants (even though the Padjals themselves do not choose to walk that path).

Have I mentioned how much I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the Elementals?

As for the beastmen, implementing them as playable races is just kind of impractical. Their body shapes don't suit most pieces of equipment (if at all). There's no reason to believe they're all antagonistic (hell we have allied Beast Tribes!).

I admit, it's a long stretch. Very long stretch. But before where we knew Garleans would never be playable because none could use magic at all, a slight hope has been born. This opens a window - however small - for that to become a reality. Where before it was impossible, now it is plausible, though not probable.

While I've nearly given up on the Regula - Kefka idea, I'm still convinced they're not going to walk away from Azys Lla empty-handed... magitek infusion could be a thing.

In a pen and paper RPG you could easily play any of the above, though you'd have a hard time convincing your DM to let you be a special snowflake. That's just not negotiable in video games, though. Then again there was that one time where I was a magitek android with Hildibrand's personality and mannerisms in a setting that didn't really support it...

[Theodric]

Well, it's a game prone to fan service. If enough people desire it I could easily see Garleans becoming a playable race further down the line - especially since one of the developers already hinted that they may adjust the 'Clan' portion of the current races to include more variety. Unless I'm misremembering? That'd be the perfect way to introduce them given that they're a type of Hyur.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

I already know the Padjals are allowed to go where they want but are still bound by the Elementals. We had people wanting them to be a playable race and Yoshida said no because lore and how uncommon they are. Garleans would be under the same boat because while Cid (and later Lucia) are known to be defectors, it would seem quite a stretch to have a bunch of Garleans players running around being the Warrior of Light in a time where nearly everyone does not like the Garleans and doesn't trust them one bit. Same reason for why beastmen aren't playable and yes, I already know that using player gear on beastmen would require a ton of rework (something I made a point about many times in past threads in other places). Playable Garleans isn't quite an impossibility, but the lore makes it very unlikely that it could even happen and I rather not have lore stretched thin and breaking my suspension of disbelief for the sake of variety and RP.

[Theodric]

4.0 is likely to be the last expansion that takes place within Eorzea. After that I feel like it's perfectly possible that there might be a new 'window of entry' into the story much like WoW started to do by having special phased starting zones for specific playable races and classes. The Echo could be used to justify tackling the older content for those who wanted to go back and do it on such a character. I wouldn't rule out a Garlean simply taking on the role of the Warrior of Light outright though - since they could easily hide their distinctive third eye by wearing a helmet, circlet or headband.

Ultimately though they don't necessarily need to add Garleans outright. Simply updating the character creation system and allowing Highlanders to have more classically handsome facial options would be a good way to encourage people to play a 'Garlean'. Especially if there's Garlean themed armour and a third eye glamour added at some point in the future. I'd like to think the developers aren't oblivious to the number of Garlean role-players present on Balmung.

I'd also point to WoW again - there's a lot of people who want to play the 'antagonists' or at least a sub-faction of the antagonists that aren't outright evil. Hence why Demon Hunters and Death Knights became a thing in that game. It's really not that out there for such a thing to happen in FFXIV at some point, I feel, especially since the storytelling in this game is a lot better overall.

[Cilia]

The timeline is not an object. Au Ra are not treated unusually if you start the game as one - despite the fact that, canonically, they should not be there or be an extreme oddity. Yugiri still hides her face until after "The Parting Glass" even though you're the same race and nobody is freaking out at your appearance. Etc etc.

A more noble Garlean being a Warrior of Light may be unusual, but it is not outside the realm of possibility. With the revelation that a small fraction of Garleans can wield magic, it is now plausible. It's still extremely, extremely improbable, though.

Death Knights became playable in WoW because they are the edgy anti-Paladins of the setting. Demon Hunters for similar reasons, though helped by Illidan's popularity in Burning Crusade.