This is another toughie that's liable to spark a ton of debate, and evidence for either extreme can be found in the dialogue and game mechanics, but here goes.
I don't accept that you could stand in front of someone and speak while remaining completely invisible otherwise. Here's why.
My take on it lies somewhere between. It can't be totally non-magical, and it can't be complete magical invisibility either. In much the same way our characters are able to take blows that would kill a regular human, perform feats of strength that would be physically impossible (looking at you Lalafells) without magic, and you know cast magical spells, Rogues amplify their natural physical ability with aether. In this case it's skulking about unnoticed. How far you can push that magical component is up to you.
When I RP it with my alt I don't have her standing directly in front of people, and I have her move very slowly to avoid making any noise, but I also have her hiding in places that could not be done without some magical aid. In every case I give other characters a reasonable chance to detect her.
I don't accept that you could stand in front of someone and speak while remaining completely invisible otherwise. Here's why.
- V'kebbe tells you that being quiet and "skulking" is necessary for the hide to work. Once you're noticed that's it. We don't get to go back into hiding until everything that's noticed us is gone.
- She also says it's "part concealment, part distraction".
- The game itself forces you to slow down a great deal, and any action breaks it.
- Many of the quests have you using hide to walk right under the noses of guards or thugs, and in many cases you're doing it in locations where there's barely any environment to blend into, for example the docks in Limsa Lominsa, and a boarding house in Aleport, both are brightly lit. No amount of non-magical skulking would get you by unnoticed in these situations.
- The game itself tells you to approach NPCs in the open with your hide ability "cloaking" you to eavesdrop on what they're saying. In all of these situations you are standing mere feet away from them, completely unnoticed.
- Jacke vanishes completely when someone walks in front of him at the end of the final Rogue quest. There's no crowd to blend in with, the environment is totally open and well-lit, and he does so in a half-second. This happens in a cutscene, so it's lore.
My take on it lies somewhere between. It can't be totally non-magical, and it can't be complete magical invisibility either. In much the same way our characters are able to take blows that would kill a regular human, perform feats of strength that would be physically impossible (looking at you Lalafells) without magic, and you know cast magical spells, Rogues amplify their natural physical ability with aether. In this case it's skulking about unnoticed. How far you can push that magical component is up to you.
When I RP it with my alt I don't have her standing directly in front of people, and I have her move very slowly to avoid making any noise, but I also have her hiding in places that could not be done without some magical aid. In every case I give other characters a reasonable chance to detect her.
