NPCs refering to our character's age

[TinyRedLeaf]

Let's be clear here. Life expectancy is based on the sum total of ages at death divided by the number of the dying.

If you lived to 35, you were as likely to reach 70 as anyone today, as most of the deaths figuring into that sum total were under 1 year of age.

To be clear, life was harsher, and there were more opportunities for accidental death, but "you live to 35 and then, poof, you're gone" wasn't a real thing.

Eh... I would have thought I made that very clear: Most people up until the 20th century died because of war, famine or disease, and that had an overall effect of lowering average life expectancy to about 35 years or so.

Life expectancy is simply what it is: a statistical measure of how long an average person can expect to live in a given environment. It says nothing about how long a person can actually expect to live, biologically, if war and natural disasters don't take their toll.

And it has relevance in Eorzea, given that we do in fact know that the realm is really not a very nice place for the average dude who is not the Warrior of Light, the Scions, or among the leadership of the city-states.

Lalafell and hyur constantly fall prey to all kinds of carnivorous flora and fauna. Smallfolk around La Noscea and its nearby islands and seas are at constant risk of being kidnapped and sold into slavery by pirates. Women, especially, are sold into prostitution, and we can expect most were raped before being auctioned off.

And then there's the constant threat of war, not just from the Garleans, but also tempered beast tribes. The various Grand Companies always talk about how they're stretched for manpower; they may not say so directly, but it's clear that attrition rates among their ranks are quite high.

So sure, we will see the occasional old folk or two; but for every one we see in the villages and city-states, it's worth bearing in mind that there were likely hundreds more that didn't make it to that age, simply because life sucks for the average Eorzean.