will we get Garleans Race?

[Anselmet]

Sadly, most Garleans in this game have either a hyur body with a third eye slapped on their head (Cid) or are just an elezen with a third eye slapped on their head (Nero, Gaius, that one dude that just joined the resistance). So I REALLY don't think we're getting Garleans as a race.

[Hank_Hotspur]

Sadly, most Garleans in this game have either a hyur body with a third eye slapped on their head (Cid) or are just an elezen with a third eye slapped on their head (Nero, Gaius, that one dude that just joined the resistance). So I REALLY don't think we're getting Garleans as a race.

I have to agree. I'd really love Echo-blessed Garleans as a playable race, but we're almost at the end of the Garlean storyline and they still haven't made a unique model will the exception of very few individuals. Even Emet-Selch, the main antagonist of an expansion and a Garlean (body) we've had the most screentime with, still uses a modified Elezen body with a modified Hyur head.

An artist on twitter did come up with a really cool concept for playable Garleans (though I disagree with the magitek armlet, I think the lore can fudge a Garlean with the Echo could probably use aether), but alas, I think serendipity won't strike twice after a similar Nier: Automata concept become basically true. A link to the artists concept can be found here https://twitter.com/moogiedaisuki/st...34357785387008

[Shofie]

C. Pure blooded garleans are kind of specific to one nation really, while the WOL's background is left much much more ambiguous, so it'd be weird to have a garlean WOL that doesn't have a past with the empire to expand upon in the story.

I agree with all your points, but I wanted to expand on this one a little specifically.

We likely won't get Garleans as a playable race in large part because of the time bubble, and Garleans being specifically the bad guys in 2.0. Basically, the time bubble means that new races added were "always there", we just never "saw" them before they were mechanically added into the game's code. But they were always there. Viera? Hrothgar? Yup. Always there.

Garleans? How would we always have had Garleans around? It was such an enormous plot point that Cid was a Garlean, for example. He even hid it from us for a long time, and still more or less wears googles that hide it even now, because of how the general public would likely respond. Yes, we know he's a good guy, but the implication is we had to learn that about him before we knew what race he was, or we might not have given him that chance.

How would the writing team hand-wave this if Garleans were added, keeping in mind they must observe the time bubble rule (time bubble expands, time does not really pass). Every player picking the game up at 2.0 gets the same play experience as a player picking it up in 2.0 vs. someone picking it up now with everything available. The story stays the same.

The only way to insert Garleans as a playable race would be to dismiss the time bubble they've fought to keep for years. It would be hand-waving away an experience that Yoshi-P values heavily that all players have. It would suck the emotional beats out of a lot of the story around Cid and hell, even later, other characters, if just anyone could roll a Garlean.

[Hank_Hotspur]

I agree with all your points, but I wanted to expand on this one a little specifically.

We likely won't get Garleans as a playable race in large part because of the time bubble, and Garleans being specifically the bad guys in 2.0. Basically, the time bubble means that new races added were "always there", we just never "saw" them before they were mechanically added into the game's code. But they were always there. Viera? Hrothgar? Yup. Always there.

Garleans? How would we always have had Garleans around? It was such an enormous plot point that Cid was a Garlean, for example. He even hid it from us for a long time, and still more or less wears googles that hide it even now, because of how the general public would likely respond. Yes, we know he's a good guy, but the implication is we had to learn that about him before we knew what race he was, or we might not have given him that chance.

How would the writing team hand-wave this if Garleans were added, keeping in mind they must observe the time bubble rule (time bubble expands, time does not really pass). Every player picking the game up at 2.0 gets the same play experience as a player picking it up in 2.0 vs. someone picking it up now with everything available. The story stays the same.

The only way to insert Garleans as a playable race would be to dismiss the time bubble they've fought to keep for years. It would be hand-waving away an experience that Yoshi-P values heavily that all players have. It would suck the emotional beats out of a lot of the story around Cid and hell, even later, other characters, if just anyone could roll a Garlean.

I think the time bubble can be kind of thrown out as an point of argument. I remember Yugiri being revealed as an Au Ra back at the tail end of the pre-HW content was a big reveal, as they were supposed to be very rare in Eorzea, yet the very next expansion had them hang around like no big deal, despite the expansion after saying their homeland is in the Far East. Viera are also supposed to be very rare, with so far only Fran from the Ivalice raid series and the Garlon Ironworks lady from the Save the Queen questline being the only ones seen on The Source, yet apparently the playable characters can appear in abundance.

Sympathetic Garleans can very easily be slotted into the game, like our Scion Echo buddy Arenvald was born from the (very unwilling mind you) pairing of a Alah Mhigan Highlander and a natural born Garlean. He even stated that he wears his face paint to hide the scar his mother carved into his head because she feared she saw the development of a Garlean third eye, so perhaps this was more common than previously though. Bastard children from lands conquered the Garlean Empire who have been blessed with the Echo could be a good adventurer hook.

[Iscah]

We likely won't get Garleans as a playable race in large part because of the time bubble, and Garleans being specifically the bad guys in 2.0.

That's not about the time bubble, just about the fact that there is a consistent narrative in the game that every player-character has to go through.

The "time bubble" is simply an explanation of why characters don't age over the course of that narrative, and possibly why we can play side stories out of order.

Sympathetic Garleans can very easily be slotted into the game[...] Bastard children from lands conquered the Garlean Empire who have been blessed with the Echo could be a good adventurer hook.

Finding a story excuse for a sympathetic Garlean isn't the problem. The problem is that everywhere they go and every time they meet someone new, they would have to be defending the fact that despite being Garlean they are not the enemy. And confrontations with characters like Gaius should go differently, recognising the character as an equal "superior" Garlean who should come and take their rightful place in the empire.

Arenvald doesn't look Garlean at all. His mother was just paranoid, as far as we know - he's covering up scars, not a third eye.

[SturmChurro]

Sadly, most Garleans in this game have either a hyur body with a third eye slapped on their head (Cid) or are just an elezen with a third eye slapped on their head (Nero, Gaius, that one dude that just joined the resistance). So I REALLY don't think we're getting Garleans as a race.

To be fair they kind of reuse the bodies with the playable races we have, so I don't really see that as confirmation.

[Hank_Hotspur]

Finding a story excuse for a sympathetic Garlean isn't the problem. The problem is that everywhere they go and every time they meet someone new, they would have to be defending the fact that despite being Garlean they are not the enemy. And confrontations with characters like Gaius should go differently, recognising the character as an equal "superior" Garlean who should come and take their rightful place in the empire.

Arenvald doesn't look Garlean at all. His mother was just paranoid, as far as we know - he's covering up scars, not a third eye.

They didn't add in characters questioning what an Au Ra/Viera is and how they have never seen one in Eorzea or suspecting Hrothgars of being beastmen, they could just as easily skip over the Garlean issue too. Gaius confrontations wouldn't need to be changed because he wasn't one to put stock into racial division, seeing how he made the Roegadyn Rhitahtyn a Tribune. As for Arenvald, I know he's covering scars, I said as much, but the fact that there are many bastard children born from Garlean conquered lands could be used as a justification for playable Garleans, and as we've seen from what happened to the Populares, if you don't follow the Empire, they have no problem cutting you out.

As we've seen with literally every new race, "justification" will always come secondary to what they feel like adding.

[MikkoAkure]

They didn't add in characters questioning what an Au Ra/Viera is and how they have never seen one in Eorzea or suspecting Hrothgars of being beastmen, they could just as easily skip over the Garlean issue too. Gaius confrontations wouldn't need to be changed because he wasn't one to put stock into racial division, seeing how he made the Roegadyn Rhitahtyn a Tribune. As for Arenvald, I know he's covering scars, I said as much, but the fact that there are many bastard children born from Garlean conquered lands could be used as a justification for playable Garleans, and as we've seen from what happened to the Populares, if you don't follow the Empire, they have no problem cutting you out.

As we've seen with literally every new race, "justification" will always come secondary to what they feel like adding.

Other than the third eye, Garleans are just elezen with hyur heads, there is no point in making a whole race just for this. Bastard children aren't pureblood Garleans and don't have the third eye and will just look like normal hyur. And considering Yoshi-P said we're not getting "bad guy" outfits, I don't think he would give us a playable "bad guy" race. All of that, plus the lore considerations for having no aether, going through ARR in a land as a race that everyone is either afraid of or is their mortal enemy, and the fact that Yoshi-P straight up said we're not getting new playable races, all points to us never getting playable Garleans.

[Theodric]

Other than the third eye, Garleans are just elezen with hyur heads

Not quite. They're pretty varied. Aulus and Cid are both around the same height as a typical male Midlander, though Cid is much more muscular. Gaius, Regula and Nero all use altered male Elezen models. There's also a Garlean Pureblood who uses an altered male Highlander model aboard the Prima Vista. Then, of course, there's Zenos and Varis. Both of whom are much taller and much more well-built than any of the other Garleans that we've seen thus far.

It's unlikely that they'd ever become a playable race - though the large variety of physiques is another obstacle as to why it'd be difficult. Some people would want something closer to Aulus, others would desire something closer to Regula and yet others would want them to be along the lines of Varis. It could probably be done through a distinct split in the form of clans, though so far only Hyur have any notable physical differences between their clans.

And considering Yoshi-P said we're not getting "bad guy" outfits

He said as much, though that didn't stop him from adding Edda's outfit to the game - and the argument that she's 'sympathetic' despite being an antagonist can easily be applied to Nero, Gaius and Regula. Adding more Garlean themed attire and a third eye glamour would be an excellent compromise given how unlikely it is to see Pureblood Garleans added as a playable race. There's no small amount of Garlean fans playing this game and I met a lot of Garlean role-players during my time on Balmung, myself included, who would quite enjoy having a bone thrown our way.

[Hank_Hotspur]

Saying that Garleans are just hyur heads on elezen bodies isn't some "gotcha", it's just the devs deciding not to give them unique models outside of a few characters (Cid, Gaius, Zenos, Varis, etc.). It's literally the same situation as why Highlanders on The First have shaved eyebrows despite not having an Ala Mhigo to remember (with the exception of Ran'jit, much like the Garleans I listed).

As for the no "bad guy outfits" we have Odin armor, a primal of murder, and the entire Heavensward armor and weapon sets, and those guys were up to nothing good.