(09-24-2013, 09:14 PM)Lament Wrote:(09-24-2013, 07:54 PM)Siobhain Wrote: Wouldn't Eorzea have lost a healthy chunk of their older, more seasoned fighters during the battle at Carteneau? I mean, any situation like that seems to leave the age gap of fighters-- you have the even older ones who still have something to teach and might have to take up their weapons again and you have the ones who were too young or too rebellious to get involved. What were all our seasoned 30-40 fighters -doing- that prevented them from wanting or trying to get involved in protecting everyone from the Garlean Empire? Or was everyone that age affected by the 5 year jump?
I agree, a big chunk of Eorzea's soldier population - veteran or no - would've died 5 years ago. Young soldiers would also have died, so it's likely the majority of fighters currently active weren't soldiers 5 years ago. It is reasonable to have so many green fighters around, if war claimed that many lives recently.
But I also think it's reasonable to assume that most older, seasoned warriors would be in positions of leadership, and while soldiers are disposable, leaders generally aren't. Of course, some leaders will take a Raubahn-like approach to it (Raubahn would have joined the fighting if he had been allowed to; the Echo shows that pretty clearly), but some would be away from the front lines, commanding. They could have survived. Likewise, some veterans would have survived along with some young soldiers. We know it's possible for people to have survived the battle, given Merlwyb&company are still alive.
As for why they wouldn't be there - any number of reasons, I think. Some people just aren't the war type. Some may have tried to get there, but Bahamut showed up before they could. Some could have been taken prisoner. Some could have the "let them handle it, we'll die anyway" mentality. There didn't seem to be any Ishgardian leadership at the battle, so anyone from Ishgard has an excuse by default.
So there are ways to explain seasoned veterans, if you want to make one! I just think people tend to gravitate toward characters that are closer to themselves in age.
I do agree that people like Gandalf, Louisoix and the Padjal would be a little too rare regardless. Mortality rates and retirement would place most soldiers aged 40+ out of the battlefield. 40 isn't old, but chances are you'll be dead, traumatized, or just tired of war and fighting by then.
That said, I have exactly one teenager (and I have all 8 alt slots filled, because I'm a loser). I am too old and cranky to think teens are cool. ):
I think you've made pretty good points there. I mean, a life of war isn't easy. Those old seasoned veterans probably won't be seeing war into their fifties and sixties because this is melee and magic, predominantly, not fire arms. Either way, if you're actually on the field, you have to be in fit physical shape and age tends to wear away at things. Muscle mass decreases. Your body's ability to heal wears down. Your senses tend to dull over time, especially if you're used to taking concussive blows or your primary skill was far-range archery. You have the mind for it, the reasoning, the understanding of facing an opponent with the mentality of a chess-player-- strategy is a key factor in winning a fight but throughout our history as well as in many lore-situations with different games there are rather few individuals who were great old strategists who took to the battlefield themselves. Heck, even young, brilliant minds for tactics rarely took to the field themselves.
Put that senior citizen into the fight and problems begin to arise. Now, if we're talking about seniors in general who are just wise individuals, that's a whole different can of worms there. Basically, one of the down points of it for a player is that playing an older individual sort of denotes that they are set in their ways. It's not really character development for the player anymore so much as helping others develop -their- characters. Romance, which isn't all that important, is probably no longer a viable option or interest. Conflict, being evil, rivalries all seem like they would be beneath a wiser, older individual. Your history is longer than others, and there's just less room for you to change your mind on certain things. It can -easily- but not always, fall back onto that 'Q&A' style of roleplaying where all you're doing is saying 'How would my grumpy old Lalafell respond to this impetuous adolescent'? I could really understand why many people don't want to take that route.
Maybe we shouldn't all be teenagers (Siobhain just hit 28 so she's nearing the 30 year old mark) but I wouldn't go so far as to berate anyone for -not- playing an older individual.
![[Image: ohkg_zpsca8eb911.png]](http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/lunar_kitsune/ohkg_zpsca8eb911.png)
 (Click images for link the Grindstone Page.)
