Garlean Playable Race (?)

[Lauront]

Even if you could play a super-duper special snowflake pureblood Garlean who could use magic, there's also the problem of not having your race brought up once in the 80 or whatever hours of story content where the race as a whole is represented as "the enemy", in a land that has been at war with them for 20-some odd years. The main "good guy" Garlean gets passed that and hides his eye from everyone and is a genetic freak who is a head shorter than other Garleans with different proportions.

Handwaving au ra is one thing, but handwaving you playing as the race that up until the 2nd expansion is only ever represented as the villains trying to destroy the world and cannot use aether normally, as the hero in Eorzea where every single jobs' abilities are described as aetherial manipulation is a pretty big handwave. And that's not taking into account all the technical limitations and the fact we're never getting another race again.

How about handwaving male Viera?

The WoL is already rarefied enough to be the sole WHM out there, one of the precious few BLMs (needless to say what reputation this job has until it's later rehabilitated), a speshul snowflake Azure Dragoon, etc etc. So this commonly regurgitated objection strikes me as being very feeble.

Fail to see how a Pureblood, who could arguably hide away their third eye with magic glamours, is more of an issue than any of the above. And in case being nearby one with their third eye on display breaks muh immersion, how about a WoL in a chicken suit?

"Never again" is a strong statement in the context of a game with a projected/hoped-for lifespan of 10 years, which may well be seeing an upgrade to its graphics engine that could see future racial additions become easier. I wouldn't be so confident in it if I were you.

For the people claiming they cannot use magic:



Read that carefully. It matters little if one thinks this is a "retcon" or whatever else; it is the current understanding on their ability to wield magic, and it allows for some exceptions, which the WoL could certainly fit without any handwaving over and above the usual - all without even requiring the contrivance of the Resonance. As for the Echo? Unless Garlean Purebloods don't share the same type of soul everyone else does, they too should, in principle, be able to have the Echo awakened within them.