Ishgard's not without redeeming qualities and none of the city states have been painted in a particularly good light so far. That's what makes FFXIV much more interesting than me to other MMO's because there's no 'black and white' when it comes to nations. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if when we get a better insight into Garlemald we actually find it to be more like Archades from FFXII than the generic evil empire many paint it as being.
