An absolutely beautiful response! Thank you!
I suppose my main issue thus far, however, would be that the current Red Mage story to me just feels like it would make more sense applied to Sharlayan. Red Mages remain an unknown quantity in the lore as of right now, 3.57, which implies they're a hidden resource. We -know- Sharlayan hides its resources. Likewise, I'm not sure I believe Sharlayan has White Mages and Black Mages... I mean, there doesn't seem to be a reason that knowledge wouldn't be available to them, and it would help measure up to Minfilia's statements that the Garleans fear Sharlayan's magical might.
I suppose I just feel Sharlayan made more sense. From aesthetic to everything we currently have. The only bit that doesn't quite fit in, as you mentioned, is that the Sharlayans are very much so against war, viewing it as barbaric. That said, I have a hard time believing a nation of Scholars, Academics, and Mages would not have something up their sleeves to defend themselves if someone launched a war on them. Red Mage seems like it would've been the ideal job Sharlayan devised to protect itself from foreign threats. I mean, the swordsmanship of the Red Mage style has a kind of artistic value as well, so studying how to be a Red Mage could be as much about learning an art, if not moreso, than about learning how to fight.
It also would've been the perfect Poster-Job for the expansion that brings us to Old Sharlayan. Granted who knows when that is, but if I recall one of the Live Letters correctly, Yoshi P. stated the 3.0-5.0 expansions are handling the story about the rebuilding of the Eorzean Alliance, meaning 6.0 would be when we're slated to start fighting the Garleans in their home territory, rather than conquered territory. If 3.0 was about Ishgard, and 4.0 is about Ala Mhigo and Doma, 5.0 would've logically been about Sharlayan, as it was the 6th City-State of Eorzea. The idea that Sharlayan's Red Mages would outright secede from the Forum's Control due to distaste for the Bibliothec's current regime would've also played well into laying the groundwork for such an expansion.
Just feels like a lot of wasted potential.
I suppose my main issue thus far, however, would be that the current Red Mage story to me just feels like it would make more sense applied to Sharlayan. Red Mages remain an unknown quantity in the lore as of right now, 3.57, which implies they're a hidden resource. We -know- Sharlayan hides its resources. Likewise, I'm not sure I believe Sharlayan has White Mages and Black Mages... I mean, there doesn't seem to be a reason that knowledge wouldn't be available to them, and it would help measure up to Minfilia's statements that the Garleans fear Sharlayan's magical might.
I suppose I just feel Sharlayan made more sense. From aesthetic to everything we currently have. The only bit that doesn't quite fit in, as you mentioned, is that the Sharlayans are very much so against war, viewing it as barbaric. That said, I have a hard time believing a nation of Scholars, Academics, and Mages would not have something up their sleeves to defend themselves if someone launched a war on them. Red Mage seems like it would've been the ideal job Sharlayan devised to protect itself from foreign threats. I mean, the swordsmanship of the Red Mage style has a kind of artistic value as well, so studying how to be a Red Mage could be as much about learning an art, if not moreso, than about learning how to fight.
It also would've been the perfect Poster-Job for the expansion that brings us to Old Sharlayan. Granted who knows when that is, but if I recall one of the Live Letters correctly, Yoshi P. stated the 3.0-5.0 expansions are handling the story about the rebuilding of the Eorzean Alliance, meaning 6.0 would be when we're slated to start fighting the Garleans in their home territory, rather than conquered territory. If 3.0 was about Ishgard, and 4.0 is about Ala Mhigo and Doma, 5.0 would've logically been about Sharlayan, as it was the 6th City-State of Eorzea. The idea that Sharlayan's Red Mages would outright secede from the Forum's Control due to distaste for the Bibliothec's current regime would've also played well into laying the groundwork for such an expansion.
Just feels like a lot of wasted potential.
