Au Ra Lifespan

[Kazamaiya]

I have been engaging in Roleplaying in FFXIV for a few years now. And in my time i have come across a simple annoyance and issue which i am baffled that it hasn't been at least mentioned in all the years this game has been alive.

There has never been any concrete proof, statements or interviews in the past 7 or so years that has adressed the average lifespan of the Au Ri race in this game.

We know that Hyurs, Miqo'te, Roegadyns and Lalafells live roughly 100-120 years based on an interview from 2014 which also says Elezens live longer (estimated around 140-ish) (which was before Au ri was added to XIV) https://gamerescape.com/2014/10/18/f...nel-live-blog/

We also know that Viera have a lifespan anywhere from 240 to roughly 400+ years from certain parts in ShadowBringers

There have also been implications that Hrothgars live roughly the same as the Hyurs, Miqo, Roe and Lala do. Although i struggle to find concrete proof of this

But there is legitimately no information on this In regards to Au Ri. Are they The same as The Hyurs (and others there), are they equal to Elezens? Vieras? In between Elezens and Vieras? Longer than Vieras?
There is no information to go off of at all, and it makes gauging a character's age as an Au Ri annoying. The common answers i see is 'we don't know so let's make it the average of hyurs etc.' Which makes sense, but i can't be the only one who wants concise information on this, can i?

Share your thoughts and opinions on this! Do you think this info is irrelevant? Do You think Au Ri are more aligned with dragons or something to justify a long lifespan? Do you think this should be adressed at all?

I personally just want confirmation so we don't need to speculate.

[KageTokage]

We know they mature at the same pace as the non-Elezen races based on the ages of various Au Ra characters, so I'm inclined to think they have an average lifespan like them as well.

Elezen mature slower to compensate for their longer lifespans and Viera being abnormally long-lived is just a holdover from their original FFTA/XII lore with no real justification.

[RicaRuin]

Just a small heads up as it's a pet peeve of mine - the Plural for Au Ra is Au Ra as well, Auri is the adjective.

And they once said Au Ra aren't related to dragons at all, it's just been assumed because of their looks. So I'm assuming they don't have a heritage that would warranf a longer lifespan. (Au Ra being more dracon was an early and scrapped concept.)

[Tsiron]

We know they mature at the same pace as the non-Elezen races based on the ages of various Au Ra characters, so I'm inclined to think they have an average lifespan like them as well.

Elezen mature slower to compensate for their longer lifespans and Viera being abnormally long-lived is just a holdover from their original FFTA/XII lore with no real justification.

I really wish Elezen had gotten the Viera lifespan instead, but I guess that would make Heavensward less impactful...? As it stands though, Elezen embody basically none of the tropes usually associated with elves, and I for one was disappointed by that...

[Mimilu]

I really wish Elezen had gotten the Viera lifespan instead, but I guess that would make Heavensward less impactful...? As it stands though, Elezen embody basically none of the tropes usually associated with elves, and I for one was disappointed by that...

I mean, they have the usual Elvan superiority complex and "distrust of outsiders".
The Wildwoods are pretty much a mix of High-Elves and Wood-Elves while the Duskwight are modern Drow/Dark-Elves.

[MikkoAkure]

I really wish Elezen had gotten the Viera lifespan instead, but I guess that would make Heavensward less impactful...? As it stands though, Elezen embody basically none of the tropes usually associated with elves, and I for one was disappointed by that...

That's probably a holdover from the Elvaan from FFXI which the Elezen were based on. It was even worse back then and ALL of the Elezen were basically what Ishgard is and lived in a stone city, where they were all about physical might and knights and chivalry and were terrible at magic and archery. Playing the classic "elf archer" in that game was starting with a severe handicap since racial stats were much more important. The old director just ported the old races into the new game supposedly for a mechanic to swap between games that never panned out.

Au Ra and eventually Hrothgar were the only times that the dev team had the chance to create their own races in the game. I only wish the end result actually came out like the concept art and that they had both ears and horns instead of "earhorns" which I have never stopped thinking looked silly. Probably due to the same hat issue that Viera and Hrothgar now face. Maybe if they had bothered to make hat/helmet models with holes for horns, Viera could have used that for their own ears.

[Tsiron]

That's probably a holdover from the Elvaan from FFXI which the Elezen were based on. It was even worse back then and ALL of the Elezen were basically what Ishgard is and lived in a stone city, where they were all about physical might and knights and chivalry and were terrible at magic and archery. Playing the classic "elf archer" in that game was starting with a severe handicap since racial stats were much more important. The old director just ported the old races into the new game supposedly for a mechanic to swap between games that never panned out.

Oh, that's weird as hell...

Au Ra and eventually Hrothgar were the only times that the dev team had the chance to create their own races in the game. I only wish the end result actually came out like the concept art and that they had both ears and horns instead of "earhorns" which I have never stopped thinking looked silly. Probably due to the same hat issue that Viera and Hrothgar now face. Maybe if they had bothered to make hat/helmet models with holes for horns, Viera could have used that for their own ears.

While Au Ra are my favourite out of FFXIV's races, I... yeah, there's elements of their design I find weird, their "ears" among them. You're probably right that they were trying to avoid the problem they're currently having with Viera ears and hats, though, I just wish they'd figured out a more natural-looking solution.

[General_wolf]

maybe they don't tell you if they are truly dragons. Dragon don't die unless killed by violence.