Well, of course there's story and gameplay segregation. We're not all the exact same (mute) person wearing different skins and faces, after all. You can pretty much assume that Minfilia would have an entire stable of Warriors of Light at her command, and obviously, since you always have plenty of help in dungeons and fighting primals, you are not ever presumed to be the only one outside of cutscenes.
But I can actually explain the tanking scenario as well: it isn't actually burning agony for you. Your aether naturally acts as a kind of protective barrier that prevents his attacks from being lethally damaging (or even permanently burning you, for that matter). You're not just taking his stuff in your face all the time. That's pretty much what hit points represent (aside from the abstractions of dodging attacks that aren't represented by actual dodges in the game).
Conveniently, this also acts as an explanation for why a level 50 character is utterly unphased by the attacks of level 15 bandits, even when they're literally stabbing you in the face with steel weapons, and also why guns have not completely overtaken swords and axes as weaponry even though they're clearly already past the point of developing automatic firearms. Hell, there's a cutscene for the Sahagin where the clutchfather intimidates a bunch of weaker Sahagin with his aether alone, suggesting very clearly that aether does indeed work much in the way, say, ki does in DBZ.
So, you know, there it is. That's my explanation for a whole lot of things in this game. Aether is everywhere, it's used for basically everything (including crafting and gathering), and it's really the simplest answer to a bunch of problems that would otherwise have no reasonable answer. You may think it feels along the same lines as 'a wizard did it', but I find it to be internally consistent, which is all you really need (and can really ask for).
Aether is the energy field that suffuses all living things. It is FFXIV's equivalent of ki, the Force, chakra, reiatsu, whatever-the-hell-you-wanna-call it. It's there. We use it. Squeenix loves using it. You're just gonna have to come to terms with that, or you're gonna have a bad time.
But I can actually explain the tanking scenario as well: it isn't actually burning agony for you. Your aether naturally acts as a kind of protective barrier that prevents his attacks from being lethally damaging (or even permanently burning you, for that matter). You're not just taking his stuff in your face all the time. That's pretty much what hit points represent (aside from the abstractions of dodging attacks that aren't represented by actual dodges in the game).
Conveniently, this also acts as an explanation for why a level 50 character is utterly unphased by the attacks of level 15 bandits, even when they're literally stabbing you in the face with steel weapons, and also why guns have not completely overtaken swords and axes as weaponry even though they're clearly already past the point of developing automatic firearms. Hell, there's a cutscene for the Sahagin where the clutchfather intimidates a bunch of weaker Sahagin with his aether alone, suggesting very clearly that aether does indeed work much in the way, say, ki does in DBZ.
So, you know, there it is. That's my explanation for a whole lot of things in this game. Aether is everywhere, it's used for basically everything (including crafting and gathering), and it's really the simplest answer to a bunch of problems that would otherwise have no reasonable answer. You may think it feels along the same lines as 'a wizard did it', but I find it to be internally consistent, which is all you really need (and can really ask for).
Aether is the energy field that suffuses all living things. It is FFXIV's equivalent of ki, the Force, chakra, reiatsu, whatever-the-hell-you-wanna-call it. It's there. We use it. Squeenix loves using it. You're just gonna have to come to terms with that, or you're gonna have a bad time.
