(11-26-2017, 04:49 AM)AkhutaiAngura Wrote:(11-25-2017, 02:48 PM)Caspar Wrote:(11-25-2017, 06:20 AM)Stormblade Wrote: Do lalafell mature faster than humans, becoming adult-size in fewer years? Could you mistake a 10-year old lalafell for a 50-year old one? Maybe other lalafell can tell the difference, but other races can't - cue the 60-year old claiming with a straight face to be his own 20-year old son for tax evasion purposes?There is a Lalafell child arguing with a Hyur child of probably similar age, adopted by a Roegadyn father, in the Gold Saucer. She uses the same model as the adult Lalafell, so there's reason to believe it's pretty hard to judge their age based off appearances. Of course, this could just be the effects of a growth spurt, and she has only just recently jumped from miniscule to small. This is not to say they look eternally young, but the structure and physiology of their body perhaps just doesn't show age in the same way larger Spoken do.
This could also simply be a limitation of game mechanics and not actually anything indicating the appearance of age at all - Rather, SE decided not to take the time to design a specifically child-like Lalafell for the purposes of that, when they figured a regular avatar would do just fine... Which is, I think, one half of the debate Unnamed Mercenary mentions (How some people say all are equal due to the fact that all are equal in the game, whereas others say they're not equal but the game can't accurately portray that and remain balanced mechanics-wise)
Remember though, the character creator typically includes a variety of faces that range from "young" to "slightly older" for many of the races. While we've only been given a handful of children shown in game with custom models (Hyur, Elezen, and Miqo'te), there have been a number of Lalafellin child NPCs, although many have been in their early-mid teens are likely look more like babyfaced versions of the adults. (But in a game that typically uses 4-6 faces for ALL the NPCs, this is likely just on the gameplay side of things).
Chances are, that like real life, differently sized people grow at different rates. Naturally, if we're talking about someone on the shorter end, there's less growing to be done, but they'd still show the same basic traits of aging and maturity, depsite their smaller height.
I also feel the need to point out that brute strength isn't the only indicator of strength. Just as you wouldn't give a Lalafell a broadsword sized for a Roegadyn, people of different sizes can all be "strong" in different ways. There are pros and cons to any size and in a game fueled by fantasy abilities and magic, it's not exactly a stretch to stay that people with different physical builds can all complete the same task. (Although we've yet to see any races aside from Highlander Hyr and Roegadyn have to lift all those crates.)
