Quote Originally Posted by Brinne View Post

Elpis was more or less ideal in very clearly showing them as, overall, incredibly sweet, good people who nonetheless had room to express a variety of individual personalities and idiosyncrasies.

In a way, this caused the impression I got to be the opposite of what the devs intended - both Amaurot and Elpis, compared to Eorzea and in many ways the real world, actually made me feel uniquely comfortable and "safe." The Ancients' world was a peaceful, benevolent place, but it still had people who got annoyed, people who were annoying, people who disagreed with one another, people who expressed themselves poorly and stepped on one anothers' toes - which made it feel as "ah, there WOULD be room for someone like me in a place like this!" except without the danger of being meaningfully harmed by someone else, or secure in the knowledge that there wasn't genuinely malicious intent. Oh no, Ancient Bob thinks my ideas are stupid and dumb! What's he gonna do, challenge me in a week to the debate hall where at the end we'll thank each other and shake hands for the rigorous discussion and exchange of thoughts?
This is precisely how I felt and feel about the Ancient world and its people and why its senseless destruction hit like a ton of bricks. It appeared as a paradise but was also populated by inherently human, flawed and relatable souls and I felt happy there. Thank you so much for summarizing this perfectly for me.