The game should have alcohol

[Avidria]

For a second I was confused cause I was like, I'm pretty sure there is alcohol? Before I realized you meant, a system for characters to get drunk lmao
I don't feel strongly about it, but it was pretty funny in WoW. Just also add a way to get rid of the effect at will too

[JTF-Taru]

Environmental factors impacting your health negatively don't nullify the damage alcohol can do, things only add up. To me your post sounds like this: "I am already getting sick from so many things, why not get sicker in the one way I enjoy doing"

People can drink all they want. Just don't think that alcohol in moderation is not harmful. That's a lie. It will only lead to regrets. Embrace the fact that X type of lifestyle will most likely lead to you having Y type of health. Don't be like "ahh, w/e, everything is fine" until it is not fine and it's too late to make things the way you really want them to be.

That first bit doesn't relate to what I said. The point was that so many foods and drinks contain things that make you ill, it's wrong to just single out alcohol.

As for just being plain unhealthy, the whole dessert industry would disappear if we only ate things with nutritional value. There is no need to eat cake, doughnuts or chocolate biscuits (which all lead to an unhealthy lifestyle), but I don't see you complaining such things are in the game.

If you do some research into the healthiest, longest lived people in the world, you'll find they're mostly from alcohol drinking nations. The Japanese for example are (or were) one such race.

Eating healthily, exercising and having national laws about limiting obesity meant that a race of sake and beer drinkers could claim the title of most centenarians in the world, whilst boasting one of the longest average life spans of any nation.

Sadly, the younger Japanese are ditching the healthy ways of their ancestors and eating more unhealthy Western food and doing less exercise etc.

[TheMightyMollusk]

There is no need to eat cake, doughnuts or chocolate biscuits

You and I are enemies now.

[SomeRandomHuman]

Only if the inebriated status hinders movement(ya know the stumbling walking), makes your FoV all blurry and vague, prevents you from standing still, and and causes any all chat messages to be garbled. In return you'd gain a damage mitigation buff as well as a strength buff.

[Awha]

Only if the inebriated status hinders movement(ya know the stumbling walking), makes your FoV all blurry and vague, prevents you from standing still, and and causes any all chat messages to be garbled. In return you'd gain a damage mitigation buff as well as a strength buff.

This would bring a whole new meaning to I tank better while drunk.

I approve.

[Fyrebrand]

You know what's REALLY bad for your health? Sitting for extended periods of time. And yet, here we all are.

eorzevas’ uniqty iss forged on falsehoodms. imts citey-states are bumilt mon deceit, and its faith gis an instrument oef deception. ixt is naugmht bukt a cobwfeb of liqes - too believe ni eozrzea is to believe in nothing. in eorzea, wthe bgeast trikbes oftsen summvon gods to fight in theri isteda. thouhg your comrades onhly rarely respgond win kind which jis s,rteang is wit ont? are teh twelve otherwise “engaged”? i wsa givjen to undaetqsrnd kthey were yoru proteectors. if you tbruly believe them youqr guardians, whoy do ylou not repebat the trick that served myou so well at carteneau, asnd lcal htem odnw?

Such inebriation! This was not my intention!

[Enkidoh]

Personal feelings about alcohol aside, the real reason why SE has not directly allowed the player to be shown drinking but instead kind of sidestepped the subject (the mug emote is ambigious what is in it, and the same goes for the aforementioned times they've been offered drinks during cutscenes as well - the actual drink is not stated, but it's pretty clear to the player what it's meant to be), is due to laws requiring censorship around the depiction of alcohol in video games that exists in many countries, especially when it's interactive or part of gameplay to drink alcohol.

In such situations laws dictate a much higher and stricter rating of the game than what SE wants, as an important aspect of the game is it's accessability, despite the mature themes depicted in the game's story and setting. Considering these laws even precluded SE including a drink tumbler in the US Collector's Edition of FFXIV 1.0 (that was included in the JP and EU versions) - because they apparently ran afoul of certain US states' laws that fobid even drinking utensils being offered as promotions, SE's careful ambigious depiction of drinking and alcohol by the player's character in ARR makes sense, they don't want to run afoul of the law in multiple countries.

[Krotoan]

the mug emote is ambigious what is in it,

I will re-iterate the /toast emote specifies Grog at least in the store.

There are also several housing items that are literally named "spirit" or "sake" that while they are not directly shown being used are not ambiguous in content.

I don't know if there's any particular LEGAL reason we do not have a "drunk" emote or at least status effect.

[Lunalepsy]

• It's a prominent aspect of most cultures, including Japan (getting hammered is such a huge element to most anime, both in terms of a right of passage, and as a humorous trope).
  
• An enormous amount of the RP in the game is bar-centric - either in terms of player-run establishments, or just milling around in the watering holes in the cities.
  
• Being drunk in MMORPGs is not a negative experience, nor is it a gateway to bad behavior out of game. I mean, first of all, we're doing much worse things to people, animals, etc. with our weapons. Second, most adults consume alcohol IRL, so I'm not sure how it could 'lead anyone down a dark path.' Third, it can produce hilarious results when handled correctly (screen going fuzzy/blurred/wavy; slurred speech; difficulty in character movement, etc.).
  
• It can actually have in-game mechanical uses - such as a boss that blows up a keg mid-fight, suddenly rendering your character inebriated and in need of a quick cleanse.
  
• It's immersive for the kind of experience that SE is clearly attempting to otherwise push - high-end, player-driven socialization.

No thank you.