Modern vs Medieval, what time is it?

[Gula]

So much delicious, delicious insight. Thank you.

big snip

I forgot all about Vesper Bay (Pray return to the Waking Sa- I mean Rising Stones) and how politics run the world stronger than the magic itself. Which is rad. Yeah, I suppose it does make perfect sense in that regard.

I always consider Adventurers/other players to be apart of the world, causing a ruckus with their outlandish outfits and clotting up the chocobo stables with all the non magic mounts. The WoL is always the exception, yes, but in the instance of, say, Concerted Works- it doesn't work without a mass of other people. So to me, they exist, and are actively affecting the world wherever they go. Which is why I'm eager for more insight. Thank you.

Also keep in mind that Eorzea has magic, and that it is much more prevalent then tech is. Why go through all the bother of designing the equivalent of a refrigerator when a bunch of ice crystals will do the job?

Now this makes me wish for an ice box furniture item that can store exclusively food ingredients. Nothing Allag level fancy, just a plain lacquered wood box. And I'm also wishing to see a fully furnished, average peasant house.

ARR houses are usually a table/chairs, bed, some counters and the front door. It looks more like a place you can enter, and not really complete because of how spacious they are. But hey, if those cabinets are laced with ice crystals and there's some communal outhouse we never see, I'd believe it. Dwarf house on the First is more fleshed out... but it's on the First.

[Zohar_Lahar]

For the most part, Eorzea reflects the early modern period in terms of technology: firearms, plate armor, lensing, large ocean vessels, humoral theory of medicine, etc. There's still some schizo tech thanks to Garleans and Allagans, and of course the fantasy setting has things like crystals, glamours, and enchantments that augment technology, but for the most part the setting reflects 15th-18th century real-world history.

[Edax]

So, we do know that the world is essentially in a Simpsons time bubble and the only definite movement is from 1.0 to 2.0. However, recently I've been questioning what exactly are the times.

As in, is Eorzea still primitive or is it safe to assume your average Ul'dah merchant wouldn't balk at a gun, concept of a hot shower and could operate a tomestone of frivolity?

tl;dr incoming

You have job quests that show that formerly exclusive job paths are becoming more and more open to the masses, seasonal events which are very modern and out of the norm (See casually coddling and parading a voidsent for All Saint's Wake) but then snap back to the MSQ. The snazzy leather jackets, jeans and 20th century fashion go poof with turbans, tunics and whatever era you'd call Ala Mhigan fashion.

From mass production of guns back to sticks and rocks.

Interior design is also harder to place since we can't go into every building the way we could in ARR. Sinks are a housing item, toilets are actually coming soon, and other indoor plumbing. Do they have this stuff in Gridania too or are people respecting the elementals with free "fertilizer."

Saying all this to sate my curiosity on the state of the world on the Source. A lot has happened since 2.0, and as the expansions go on, I'd like a more clear understanding on what constitutes as the norm or standard in a world where a chocobo carriage can slowly carry on, and then vroom vroom two Adventurers are doing sick donuts in a Regalia and SDS Fenrir.

I would term it "post-modern age collapse" as a parallel to the bronze age collapse. There was a modern era Allagan empire but it collapsed in a calamity regressing the people back into an Iron Age. The modern technology of Allag is still around in pieces and can be used but not readily copied so I would say currently the Source is progressed between the Medieval Age and the Industrial Age depending on what civilization we're talking about and how much Allagan technology they've reversed engineered.

[ObsidianFire]

Another thought... There's a lot of historical ground to cover between the "Medieval Age" and the "Industrial Age" when it comes to tech levels. "Fantasy" tech levels don't always have to default to Medieval ones. They can be in any tech age the creator wants them to be in. I'm specifically thinking of the "Renaissance Age" and the technology that was invented during it. You've still got stuff like animal-driven transportation, but you also have stuff like the printing press being invented. And a whole bunch of other technological advances.

The Renaissance is also not too far off from Eorzea in terms of society either. You've got the Italian City-States, the rise of the Artisan class, mercenary groups for hire, a new wave of scholarly types coming in and developing new ideas... Eorzea probably has much more in common with the Renaissance Age then it does with either the Medieval Age or the Industrial Age.

[Riastrad]

i would say Eorzea is in the equivalent of the post industrial revolution. So around the mid to late 1800's in our own time. Magic has definitely played a factor in how tech (particularly the rise of Magitek as a way to combat it by people unable to use magic themselves) has deviated from our own. Which would make the Imperial expansionist period of Garlemald similar to Germany's in WW1.

[MistakeNot]

i would say Eorzea is in the equivalent of the post industrial revolution. So around the mid to late 1800's in our own time. Magic has definitely played a factor in how tech (particularly the rise of Magitek as a way to combat it by people unable to use magic themselves) has deviated from our own. Which would make the Imperial expansionist period of Garlemald similar to Germany's in WW1.

Well, no. Eorzea has most certainly not had an industrial revolution yet - just about everything is still handmade rather than massproduced in a factory.
The level of technology available is more or less equivalent to our 18th century - but it is very unevenly spread, just like it was in our world. Rich nobles may have access to fairly advanced technology, but poor peasants won't have such access.

[Riastrad]

Ah, I do see your point. But, airship technology has been present for such a long time in the world of FFXIV, whereas in our own world we still have underdeveloped nations. Eorzea has been adopting said breakthroughs and many others with the help of Garlean defectors and the sudden interest in advanced technologies (the Skysteel Manufactory and the Garlond Ironworks being two examples). Garlemald has such a monopoly on it that it still has yet to spread even after decades of use in their campaigns. I still think it fits.

[LineageRazor]

I think that the presence of magic REALLY skews things a lot. I suspect it's a lot more pervasive than we might think, which could explain why spears and bows are a match for firearms. While Garlean technology DOES give them an advantage, the advantage should be OVERWHELMING, but the game presents it as just an edge.

Because of magic, a lot of more primitive trappings hang around technological advances that SHOULD make them obsolete.

[Risvertasashi]

I think that the presence of magic REALLY skews things a lot. I suspect it's a lot more pervasive than we might think, which could explain why spears and bows are a match for firearms. While Garlean technology DOES give them an advantage, the advantage should be OVERWHELMING, but the game presents it as just an edge.

Because of magic, a lot of more primitive trappings hang around technological advances that SHOULD make them obsolete.

The game's lore says that all jobs use aether to perform their superhuman feats. All jobs, not just mages. Everything from warrior to machinist to monk couldn't do everything they could do based purely on training and muscle. And then, of course, there's that the Garleans developed technology specifically to make up for their inability to use magic.

So in short, basically yeah, you're right.

[Edax]

I think that the presence of magic REALLY skews things a lot. I suspect it's a lot more pervasive than we might think, which could explain why spears and bows are a match for firearms.

Actually that comes down to metallurgy, if bullets cannot penetrate mythril or other fantasy metals, then melee weapons and heavy armor remain practical. Part of the Armorsmithing quest involves making a set of chainmail bulletproof.

While Garlean technology DOES give them an advantage, the advantage should be OVERWHELMING, but the game presents it as just an edge.

I get the impression that Garlean technology is hugely wasteful of raw resources. Whatever advantages in combat they offer seems to be offset by just how much material went into their production. When I look at their bases they just seem so hugely wasteful in metal. The Garleans build a giant artillery cannon and instead of using it to bombard Eorzea from their side of the wall, they instead use it to blow up their own buildings and shoot at their own men thanks to Zenos.