So, I actually decided to do some research. I saw it mentioned a few times that something like 5 to 8 years of training would not be enough. Well, I felt those were totally arbitrary numbers, so I decided to put them to the test.
The problem is, we don't really know what gives Dragoons their power. Aether, yes, but what gives them the aether and power to do all that? Is it the soul stone? Is it training? If so, all this guess-work, when some are talking about things like choosing not to RP with people, seems wrong without some sort of evidence. If the game lore offers no evidence then I say base the judgement on IRL examples. Since we know Dragoons are knights of a sort, let's start there!
In the medieval ages, training in the way of the knight started at age 6 to 8. The boys were called Pages. They were trained in the culture and education needed to be a knight. At about age 13, they started training as Squires. Squires worked with knights, trained for combat and learned horsemanship. At age 16 to 20, the squire training was complete, and the young man would become a Knight.
How many years would he need to be a skilled fighter? I'd argue that after that training, he would be thrust onto the battlefield, and trusted with the defense of his nation and/or lord. He had better know how to fight like a Knight, or he would be pretty ineffective to even use.
Yes, experience is a factor, but at age 20 they were KNIGHTS, not Soon-to-be-knights-who-need-to-age-a-bit-first. They would be capable of anything required of them within their role.
http://www.knight-medieval.com/knight-ca...-times.htm
http://www.knightsandarmor.com/life.htm
But Dragoons in FFXIV are so much more than knights, right? Okay, lets tack Special Forces training onto the Knight training.
One of the most elite groups in the United States military are Navy SEALs. They are subjected to brutal training with very high standards, and must learn a multitude of skills. The whole of their training is less than four years. Mostly just over three years.
Even if you tack that onto Knight training, the 20-year-old knight would be age 23 to 24 by the time he finished the special forces training on the level of intensity of the Navy SEALs.
http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Navy-SEAL
If after Knight and special forces training, the Dragoons weren't capable of doing the feats that their job required of them, Ishgard would be screwed.
Again, experience is indeed a factor in skill. However, they don't train these Dragoons to fight, send them to do battle until they're age 30, and hope they will learn the acrobatic jumping feats required of them. That would be impractical. It only makes sense for them to learn how to Dragoon -in- Dragoon training.
But wait, would a Knight-like training combined with special forces training be truly what Dragoon training is like? Maybe they are trained more like fighter pilots?
Well, that is roughly 3 and a half years. Tack that onto Knight training and we have a Dragoon at age 23 to 24 -if- he completed Knight training at age 20.
http://work.chron.com/path-becoming-figh...18008.html
However, do we truly know? The game lore doesn't specify. The power to acrobatically maneuver through the air then rocket at Dragons is crazy, and it looks complicated, but is it really more complicated than everything a Navy SEAL or Fighter Pilot has to learn? I doubt it. Power does not equal complication.
I could easily believe a Dragoon knows how to Dragoon at age 21 to 24 (Knight by age 17 to 20 +4 years of special intense training). Experience from then on would refine their skills, and reduce their likelihood for errors, but that is the only factor it plays.
I think people are getting too fixated on age. It's only ONE factor, and it doesn't matter much really without the TRAINING.
The problem is, we don't really know what gives Dragoons their power. Aether, yes, but what gives them the aether and power to do all that? Is it the soul stone? Is it training? If so, all this guess-work, when some are talking about things like choosing not to RP with people, seems wrong without some sort of evidence. If the game lore offers no evidence then I say base the judgement on IRL examples. Since we know Dragoons are knights of a sort, let's start there!
In the medieval ages, training in the way of the knight started at age 6 to 8. The boys were called Pages. They were trained in the culture and education needed to be a knight. At about age 13, they started training as Squires. Squires worked with knights, trained for combat and learned horsemanship. At age 16 to 20, the squire training was complete, and the young man would become a Knight.
How many years would he need to be a skilled fighter? I'd argue that after that training, he would be thrust onto the battlefield, and trusted with the defense of his nation and/or lord. He had better know how to fight like a Knight, or he would be pretty ineffective to even use.
Yes, experience is a factor, but at age 20 they were KNIGHTS, not Soon-to-be-knights-who-need-to-age-a-bit-first. They would be capable of anything required of them within their role.
http://www.knight-medieval.com/knight-ca...-times.htm
http://www.knightsandarmor.com/life.htm
But Dragoons in FFXIV are so much more than knights, right? Okay, lets tack Special Forces training onto the Knight training.
One of the most elite groups in the United States military are Navy SEALs. They are subjected to brutal training with very high standards, and must learn a multitude of skills. The whole of their training is less than four years. Mostly just over three years.
Even if you tack that onto Knight training, the 20-year-old knight would be age 23 to 24 by the time he finished the special forces training on the level of intensity of the Navy SEALs.
http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Navy-SEAL
If after Knight and special forces training, the Dragoons weren't capable of doing the feats that their job required of them, Ishgard would be screwed.
Again, experience is indeed a factor in skill. However, they don't train these Dragoons to fight, send them to do battle until they're age 30, and hope they will learn the acrobatic jumping feats required of them. That would be impractical. It only makes sense for them to learn how to Dragoon -in- Dragoon training.
But wait, would a Knight-like training combined with special forces training be truly what Dragoon training is like? Maybe they are trained more like fighter pilots?
Well, that is roughly 3 and a half years. Tack that onto Knight training and we have a Dragoon at age 23 to 24 -if- he completed Knight training at age 20.
http://work.chron.com/path-becoming-figh...18008.html
However, do we truly know? The game lore doesn't specify. The power to acrobatically maneuver through the air then rocket at Dragons is crazy, and it looks complicated, but is it really more complicated than everything a Navy SEAL or Fighter Pilot has to learn? I doubt it. Power does not equal complication.
I could easily believe a Dragoon knows how to Dragoon at age 21 to 24 (Knight by age 17 to 20 +4 years of special intense training). Experience from then on would refine their skills, and reduce their likelihood for errors, but that is the only factor it plays.
I think people are getting too fixated on age. It's only ONE factor, and it doesn't matter much really without the TRAINING.
