Do You Care More About Doma or Ala Mhigo?

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

Refugees, too, bring with them a lot of unwelcome baggage. We've seen that it isn't any different with the Ala Mhigans who fled to Ul'dah and other areas. Some are harmless, yes, but others bring crime, disease and tend to make whichever place they end up living in as unpleasant to behold. They're also often very entitled, expecting handouts and resources to be distributed to them purely because they're claiming to be refugees. When people refuse, they stubbornly remain and/or seek to use coercion to get their way. I believe at one point there was a risk of a riot over how they were treated in Ul'dah...even though the people of Ul'dah hae no obligation to support them.

Thankfully the Doman refugees acted with far more grace and dignity than their Ala Mhigan counterparts ever did. I sympathised far more with their plight.

Yes, refugees bring baggage. But we weren't talking about "baggage" (which is a whole other discussion; suffice to say, I think it's probably a less broadly-applicable truth than generally assumed, and is exacerbated in kind by the attitude towards refugees just by their nature as refugees). No, I want to know the sort of baggage that can be labeled treachery, terrorism, and horrors, as you do above. When have we seen Ala Mhigan refugees (who aren't Ilberd or the Corpse Brigade) engage in this behaviour?

As for the Domans: you see the difference, don't you? The Doman refugees were granted shelter and work, treated with dignity as people first and foremost; the Ala Mhigan refugees were treated as a blight, an invasion, as little more than a nuisance and a menace (whether they'd actually done anything menacing or not). The reason that the Domans got this treatment is complicated, of course - they were significantly less in number, for one (although the charity they got STILL required intervention on the Scions' part) - but that just hammers the point home: the behaviour of the two groups can't be compared, having gotten such vastly different reception, and it thus can't be attributed to culture or nationality.

[Theodric]

I mean, a lot of it is open to personal interpretation. As with many things regarding the game's lore - and Final Fantasy characters/themes in general - it's all very complicated and nuanced. I do not feel much sympathy for the Ala Mhigans based on their behaviour and portrayal in-game. Some people do, clearly - and that's perfectly fine!

You don't have to interpret their actions as treacherous, terrorism or horrific. Yet the thread posed a question which I answered. So, yes, I think that whilst some Ala Mhigan refugees are completely innocent there's still a decent number of them that have caused problems. Even before Ala Mhigo fell the nation caused a lot of trouble for its neighbours so that didn't exactly alleviate people's fears either when Ala Mhigan refugees came flooding out of the place.

[Lauront]

Yeah, if you ignore the terrorist types, like Ilberd, there's no terrorists amongst the Ala Mhigan refugees!

Lmao

the Ala Mhigan refugees were treated as a blight, an invasion, as little more than a nuisance and a menace (whether they'd actually done anything menacing or not).

Probably because they were all the above. Certainly, neither the Gridanians nor the Uldahns seem to hold them in particularly high regard, especially when they're forced to endure them already having been undermined by the Calamity themselves... and you can understand why Gridania, which once was on the receiving end of Ala Mhigan aggression, might not like them, or their rowdy/workshy demeanour.

[Lauront]

Also, ITT, Ryuji fight!

[Khalithar]

I have to go with Doma, Cyan was my favorite character from FF6. Now granted in gameplay he was pretty lackluster and certainly below average relative to the other characters, but his story is one of my favorites from back in the day and one I always think of fondly. Then when Hien shows up and used Cyan's theme? I shivered a little.

[Cilia]

I didn't particularly care for either region over the other. I'd like to spend more time in Gyr Abania / Ala Mhigo because we spent so little there in comparison to Doma / Othard, but neither region really endeared itself to me.

[YianKutku]

Probably because they were all the above. Certainly, neither the Gridanians nor the Uldahns seem to hold them in particularly high regard, especially when they're forced to endure them already having been undermined by the Calamity themselves... and you can understand why Gridania, which once was on the receiving end of Ala Mhigan aggression, might not like them, or their rowdy/workshy demeanour.

Actually I think the Gridanians don't like Ala Mhigans because the Elementals don't like them.

There's a weird part of the MSQ in the 20s where you first meet Meffrid and help him out in Quarrymill. His subordinate Gallien is seriously injured, but none of the people in Quarrymill will help, because according to the resident Hearer, the Elementals tell them not to. So Meffrid goes "screw the Elementals" and has the WoL go slaughter some antelopes for their horns. Which you then deliver to Buscarron, who doesn't make use of them, but instead gives you more effective herbal medicine from his own stores. This medicine is then used to heal Gallien.

And as far as I can tell, nobody gets any kind of consequence or retribution from the Elementals, despite apparently defying their wishes.

So on the one hand the Gridanians are telling the Ala Mhigans "The Elementals don't like you, and if we anger the Elementals, the forest will literally try to kill us all". On the other hand, the WoL and Buscarron defy the Elementals' wishes, and nothing happens to them (at least as a direct result from their actions here). Are the Gridanians completely mistaken in what they believe? Or did the WoL just get off lucky?

[LalafellDown]

For the empire!

[Maeka]

IMO, let the Empire have the desert lands. Take the Ala Mihgans and ship them over to Doma, have them help Liberate Doma and let them live there in peace.

[RomildaRayne]

Ala Mhigo, naturally. I actually prefer the rugged majesty of the Fringes, Peaks, and Lochs (especially on clear, sunny days) to all but Kugane and the Azim Steppe (neither of which are Doman).

No area in this expansion is particularly "ugly" to me, but I found that Yanxia was not as impressive to me as the vast Steppe or the magnificent Peaks when viewed on high.

The Ruby Sea... well, I suppose it might be due to the underwater portions not capturing my attention, but it felt too empty to really enjoy. Plus, it's not Doman, anyway, save for Isari, which I'm not fond of on its own.

I made this character as an Ala Mhigan Highlander Monk back in 2.3, and now I finally get to lead her to the liberation of her homeland. I'm chuffed to bits, and I wouldn't accept any substitutes. Also, the theme for the Lochs is awesome.