So, as a former scientist myself (M.Sc. experimental psychology, cognitive emphasis 
), I think this analysis is very interesting. However, some of it does strike me a bit as an evolutionary biology "just so" story, especially given the lack of lore and the points people have raised about miqo'te not being driven entirely by instinct.
Also, there's some key points to consider lore-wise. For instance, nothing in the lore supports that miqo'te experience heat. (In fact, as humanoids without any lore to the contrary, I would assume they'd have a menstrual cycle instead of an estrous one.) Additionally, there is a pretty common way to become a nunh without founding a new tribe or dropping a nunh, which is to take new territory. It's characterized by the lore devs as happening "quite often". Also, interbreeding between clans is common enough that there's an NPC, F'lhammin, who has traits of both Seekers and Keepers and the devs have added the ability to have those in 2.x: reference here.
Personally, I think the sexual selection aspects and how they affect the culture are probably the most dead-on part of the analysis based on what we see in the lore. As much as I think the "Seekers are actually matriarchal" interpretation is interesting (and could totally be used for a branch of a tribe), I think the lore better supports that it's a harem-style patriarchy, with females doing their duty because it's socially expected of them -- and perhaps because culturally, anyone who's strong enough to become nunh is viewed as quite sexually attractive. The matriarchy combined with a high female population among Keepers means that there's probably a lot of drive to eliminate competing females from the breeding pool and a lot of promiscuity. These are all social factors, though.
So, IMO, the analysis was a really good read and it's great food for thought; a lot of the elements of it are, I think, totally accurate, and if nothing else miqo'te players should read it to get a different perspective on the available lore. However, I would caution people not to read too much into this (or any) analysis and to remember that miqo'te are basically humans with cat features and a variant native culture that doesn't seem to be all that relevant in game. In all my playing of 2.x, I've yet to run into a "tribal" miqo'te NPC (except for that one tribe in Thanalan), much less NPCs of really any race that exemplify their racial lore, excepting key wildwood elezen NPCs in Gridania who tend to be jerks. This isn't to say that you can't or shouldn't play tribal miqo'te or have your miqo'te character be from or have an opinion on that culture -- in fact, I insist more people do that -- but that it's clearly not a big enough deal in the current setting for the devs to ensure all the NPCs hew to the racial lore they themselves established.
), I think this analysis is very interesting. However, some of it does strike me a bit as an evolutionary biology "just so" story, especially given the lack of lore and the points people have raised about miqo'te not being driven entirely by instinct. Also, there's some key points to consider lore-wise. For instance, nothing in the lore supports that miqo'te experience heat. (In fact, as humanoids without any lore to the contrary, I would assume they'd have a menstrual cycle instead of an estrous one.) Additionally, there is a pretty common way to become a nunh without founding a new tribe or dropping a nunh, which is to take new territory. It's characterized by the lore devs as happening "quite often". Also, interbreeding between clans is common enough that there's an NPC, F'lhammin, who has traits of both Seekers and Keepers and the devs have added the ability to have those in 2.x: reference here.
Personally, I think the sexual selection aspects and how they affect the culture are probably the most dead-on part of the analysis based on what we see in the lore. As much as I think the "Seekers are actually matriarchal" interpretation is interesting (and could totally be used for a branch of a tribe), I think the lore better supports that it's a harem-style patriarchy, with females doing their duty because it's socially expected of them -- and perhaps because culturally, anyone who's strong enough to become nunh is viewed as quite sexually attractive. The matriarchy combined with a high female population among Keepers means that there's probably a lot of drive to eliminate competing females from the breeding pool and a lot of promiscuity. These are all social factors, though.
So, IMO, the analysis was a really good read and it's great food for thought; a lot of the elements of it are, I think, totally accurate, and if nothing else miqo'te players should read it to get a different perspective on the available lore. However, I would caution people not to read too much into this (or any) analysis and to remember that miqo'te are basically humans with cat features and a variant native culture that doesn't seem to be all that relevant in game. In all my playing of 2.x, I've yet to run into a "tribal" miqo'te NPC (except for that one tribe in Thanalan), much less NPCs of really any race that exemplify their racial lore, excepting key wildwood elezen NPCs in Gridania who tend to be jerks.
This isn't to say that you can't or shouldn't play tribal miqo'te or have your miqo'te character be from or have an opinion on that culture -- in fact, I insist more people do that -- but that it's clearly not a big enough deal in the current setting for the devs to ensure all the NPCs hew to the racial lore they themselves established.
The Freelance Wizard
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
