Eternal Bonding isn't marriage and isn't the "official" term for it. They go through great length, both in the game dialogue and through the news related to the feature to state that marriage and Eternal Bonding, while similar, are not synonymous. Both marriage and bonding exist, and they are two separate, yet similar, things.
Bonding can have a lot of different meanings, and two people can do it in Eorzea for a lot of different reasons. It is implied to be more for adventurers than Eorzeans proper. The one constant between all these reasons is that bonding is VERY religiously based in the 12 as we know them. As stated earlier in the thread, a bonding ceremony is more about the celebration of a bond, instead of being a legal agreement besides. Bonding, while still a legal agreement (as evidenced by the oh-so-romantic "look at this paper we signed" ceremony), is not as intense. You do not share property when bonded, and are not seen as a single entity within any governing body. Note that in-game dialogue never uses "bonding" and "marriage" synonymously, though there is a singular interview where Yoshida (I believe) responds to a question about marriage by beginning "Marriage, or eternal bonding..."
Marriage is exactly what it sounds like, and is closer to our real world understanding of it. You share property when married, including as evidenced by "the Business of Betrothal" arc in the Hildibrand quests. Marriages are (seemingly especially in Ul'dah and lalafell culture) arranged and done for purely business and practical reasons. Note that as far as I can tell, no instance of marriage in the game has ever been used synonymously with "bonding."Â
Can a character be both at the same time? Hard to say. As of yet, we only see players bonded and NPCs married, and we, as PCs, are kept separate from the "marriage" facet of society.
Bonding can have a lot of different meanings, and two people can do it in Eorzea for a lot of different reasons. It is implied to be more for adventurers than Eorzeans proper. The one constant between all these reasons is that bonding is VERY religiously based in the 12 as we know them. As stated earlier in the thread, a bonding ceremony is more about the celebration of a bond, instead of being a legal agreement besides. Bonding, while still a legal agreement (as evidenced by the oh-so-romantic "look at this paper we signed" ceremony), is not as intense. You do not share property when bonded, and are not seen as a single entity within any governing body. Note that in-game dialogue never uses "bonding" and "marriage" synonymously, though there is a singular interview where Yoshida (I believe) responds to a question about marriage by beginning "Marriage, or eternal bonding..."
Marriage is exactly what it sounds like, and is closer to our real world understanding of it. You share property when married, including as evidenced by "the Business of Betrothal" arc in the Hildibrand quests. Marriages are (seemingly especially in Ul'dah and lalafell culture) arranged and done for purely business and practical reasons. Note that as far as I can tell, no instance of marriage in the game has ever been used synonymously with "bonding."Â
Can a character be both at the same time? Hard to say. As of yet, we only see players bonded and NPCs married, and we, as PCs, are kept separate from the "marriage" facet of society.
