(04-23-2015, 11:45 AM)Iex Wrote: I would disagree that 'the embrace' of technology is a growing sign of 'progress.'
The technology has been around for a very long time, but has paled in comparison to the use of magic in general. Garleans (full blooded ones) have to rely on Magitek to do anything beyond the mundane martial abilities, but Eorzea can literally destroy that technology with a decent mage.
The arrival of the machinist as by the lore is a desperate move to gain an edge. The Horde has been fighting Ishgard for generations and generations... right down to the dragon godking. The know how to deal with the Ishgardian magic (which without being too spoilerly had held them back until a certain Elezen woman in 2.4 and 2.55). I would say, without any solid knowledge, that the turn toward technology that is far less renewable, so to speak, than aether is more an attempt to add a weapon that the Horde is not used to (and/or helped defeat the dragon god) the fight. It is sort of like bringing Elephants to Rome.
The technology has been there for a long time, but until recently has proven quite a bit less reliable/accessible/useful. (Examples being the rapid fire flintlocks of a certain Admiral and the sawed off rifle of a Lalafell Yellow Jacket in the thief quest line.)
Technology in the FFXIV world isn't so much more 'advanced' as it is just a different method of life. With a bit of aether, a sword chop can be just as devastating as an explosion, or someone can literally punch bullets out of the air.
However, I could be entirely wrong.
Not everyone can channel aether in Eorzea (see Cocobusi from THM questline), or has the mental fortitude to become a mage, just because the WoL can walk into a guild and pick up casting spells like it was second nature to him does not mean this is an ability that every person in Eorzea can do, and even people who can do it probably take much longer than the WoL does to learn it. Lets not forget either that it's not an "either/or" scenario either, Garleans created Magitek because they cannot use Aether, but Magitek was not designed so that people who can use Aether cannot use it; look at the Ironworks armor for casters.
In short, I think the expansion of technology is a bigger deal than you seem to think of it, after all one of the largest empires in the world and most advanced/powerful was an empire that combined magic and technology.
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