Garlean Playable Race (?)

[Theodric]

Garleans are literally Elezen customized models - the race doesn't even have a "base" design other than being 'taller Hyur', so it'd be miles easier to just add their forehead pearl things as a glamour option than add them as a whole new race that would bring problems from all sides, from lore to coding.

WoW is a much older game and went to the trouble of updating dated NPC and character models on multiple occasions. If FFXIV struggles to do the same, it isn't a ringing endorsement to me. For example, here's the original High Elf model in WoW:



It was later updated to be along these lines:



There's many other examples that could be drawn upon, be it regular monsters to critters throughout the game world.

So it wouldn't be impossible for Pureblood Garleans to be given their own distinct model that later could be turned into a playable option. There's precedence for it elsewhere in much older MMO's and it doesn't seem like Garleans are lacking in popularity - I've met a lot of Garlean fans over the years that I've played this game.