Would you have chosen a starting area where you could join the Empire?

[Selvokaz]

With the game having expanded past Eorzea's shores, if they did an update where you're starting area could be in any mentioned area accessible within the game now, would you have picked an area that was under imperial control and likely started as an imperial soldier? Maybe you could defect to Eorzea after a time and join the Alliance?

Of course, the next question would be, would you also be a Garlean knowing that you'd likely not be able to use any class that uses aether in a prominent way? (If I remember correctly almost all of them do in some way or another, but we know Garleans can be Reapers so there's that.)

[Absimiliard]

In a heartbeat. Besides, it seems there's supposed to be a very small portion of them capable of using aether. Given that the WoL is already meant to be an outlier, that wouldn't really do any harm.

[MikkoAkure]

Every job in the game uses aether, even machinst (aether converted to shots), so pureblood might be out of the question, but purebloods are a minority in their own empire and it would be neat to see a short starter-zone arc from the point of view of a wide-eyed optimistic provincial recruit who slowly realizes they're in over their head.

There isn't a whole lot you would be able to do because the city-state zone questlines are short and need to end up together in time to do the first dungeon but it would be nice if sometime down the line there are instanced starter options like other MMOs have that add a bit more diversity in the game.

[Cleretic]

That would've been an extremely bad idea and created a dynamic in the playerbase that I haven't seen any other MMO handle especially nicely, so I'm going to say that not only would I have not done that, but I wouldn't have played the game if they did.

[Theodric]

Absolutely. The Roman and Russian influence of Garlemald has long appealed to me as well as the general aesthetics across the board. A Pureblood Garlean being the exception to the rule of being able to manipulate aether effectively also isn't that huge a stretch, especially now that we know that pacts with Voidsent are a viable workaround. As such, every class and job could easily be justified as a viable option.

I'd enjoy the game's story a lot more if it had distinct starter zones and more intricate racial lore in general. It just makes the game world feel more fleshed out and helps appeal to a broader variety of personal tastes.

[aveyond-dreams]

Starting out in the Empire would be a fantastic option and I’d choose it over the other starting experiences without question, with the only thing to potentially draw me away from it being the ability to start directly in Ishgard.

I’d love a starter questline in the capital prior to its destruction, maybe with some FFVII vibes where we cause an explosion to cover our escape. Maybe even culminating in a motorcycle chase or an obligatory treck through a sewer and later train graveyard.

Sure beats being bossed around by the like of Kan-E-Senna or chasing after lalafells in the middle of the desert.

[KariTheFox]

Well, the starting zone does a couple things - it introduces us to one or two of the scions, gets the foot in the door with a city state leader, and eventually puts us down in front of Satasha.

I'm not sure how a Garlemald starting zone could do that eithout some major retcons, or feeling incredibly rushed.

[TheMightyMollusk]

As long as it doesn't force us into a faction conflict like WoW (remember that, short of some major restructuring of the story, there's still the entire game to get through before the current armistice), I wouldn't object to the option. Don't know that I'd reroll my main for it, but that's mostly because of all the stuff I'd have to collect again.

[Denishia]

With the game's structure and lore and story set-up, not to mention it is an MMO - definitely not.

[Lauront]

Starting out in the Empire would be a fantastic option and I’d choose it over the other starting experiences without question, with the only thing to potentially draw me away from it being the ability to start directly in Ishgard.

I’d love a starter questline in the capital prior to its destruction, maybe with some FFVII vibes where we cause an explosion to cover our escape. Maybe even culminating in a motorcycle chase or an obligatory treck through a sewer and later train graveyard.

Sure beats being bossed around by the like of Kan-E-Senna or chasing after lalafells in the middle of the desert.

Indeed - I'd love it.