Au Ra Lifespan

[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.