Now that you've all brought up some -very- good points, allow me to expand on them further. And as a disclaimer... I might be bringing some sci-fi into our fantasy world here for just a moment, but bear with me. I love explaining and rationalizing things like this.
First, addressing the issue of suspension of disbelief - this is one of my favourite things (along with the fourth wall, from time to time) to screw around with. I've found that one can keep it very well, so long as explanations, reasons, and usage for just about anything does comes across neat, clean, and supported by actual gameplay, lore, or pure logic.
That said, I have noticed, as has been said, that most Garlean firearms are energy-based. The main "gun" attack of Magitek Riding Armour is called "Photon Stream," which could lead one to believe that the Garleans use a light-and-heat based projectile system instead of a purely physical projectile system. Granted, both may find the same effectiveness, and they may be capable of employing -both- methods. Also, from what we see, the guns equipped on Livia sas Junius and Rhitatyn sas Arvina are not guns but magitek cannons, Livia's less so than Rhitatyn's, having seen her fire them like guns normally in cutscenes. This also calls to point that most people aside from purebloods or those raised in Garlemald proper would even see training on any type of firearm, as most of the time, those we see piloting the Magitek Riding Armours are often clad in the garb of higher-ranking or true Garlean soldiers. For anyone in Eorzea to find access to, or even use effectively at all, a garlean firearm, would likely require significant backstory set allied with or descended from the Empire, which, in itself, can be a fairly big handicap if exposed - this means that skilled use of a firearm would be immediately obvious to most people of Erozea in possession of a decent sense of logic and reasoning, anbd would immediately subject that person to suspicion, distrust, and even persecution if not worse.
This brings to reason, along with supporting in-game mechanics of long charge and cooldowns, that most Garlean firearms shown in-game, while relatively effective, capable of differing modes such as charged shots, burst-fire, and even launching missiles, depending on the equipment employed, require long periods of cooling down or preparation between "clips" or "charges." I would assume, given that we see a lot of photon- and energy-based projectiles, if not exclusively, that, as is the case with all Magitek, the primary element in these firearms is ceruleum. I'm willing to wager that the ceruleum is used as an alternative type of ammunition to charge particles and fire them in a projectile-based state with physical mass and properties until the projectiles encounter enough resistance to shatter the bonds which hold together those selfsame particles. This does not mean, of course, that all Garlean firearms would produce burn-like wounds - they could have much the same effects as physical rounds.
That said, one could argue that such weapons of any kind - even the heavier weapons - can be rationalized and placed in the environment without stretching anything too far. It would also mean that due to the drawbacks of not only long charge and cooling-down periods on the weapons, that the weapons themselves could be matched in potency, or at least effectiveness, of most magic shown in-game. It also calls to mention that a lot of archers may even match the effectiveness of Garlean tech weapons, as even today, a good bow and skilled wielder can have as much penetrating power and force as many smaller firearms, if not better aim and a much stealthier means of attack. We can rule out silencers in Garlean tech. After all, the bang of a gun is synonymous with a show of power - much like a crack of thunder - and the Garleans love their power shows.
Should these points hold enough water, I'd say that implementation in RP should follow what's set above. It seems as though the game has these things balanced already in show and mechanics, and these things would be well-translated to RP given proper in-character implementation.
What do you guys think? And you'll have to pardon me. I'm actually known in my old circle for really getting into the technical details of things in order to expand a world beyond what is shown in gameplay. After all, the more that can be rationally done in RP, the better, in my opinion! Free your mind, man. Free your mind.
And wow, that got really fucking long. Um...
TL;DR: ...read the whole fucking thing. It's worth it, I think.
First, addressing the issue of suspension of disbelief - this is one of my favourite things (along with the fourth wall, from time to time) to screw around with. I've found that one can keep it very well, so long as explanations, reasons, and usage for just about anything does comes across neat, clean, and supported by actual gameplay, lore, or pure logic.
That said, I have noticed, as has been said, that most Garlean firearms are energy-based. The main "gun" attack of Magitek Riding Armour is called "Photon Stream," which could lead one to believe that the Garleans use a light-and-heat based projectile system instead of a purely physical projectile system. Granted, both may find the same effectiveness, and they may be capable of employing -both- methods. Also, from what we see, the guns equipped on Livia sas Junius and Rhitatyn sas Arvina are not guns but magitek cannons, Livia's less so than Rhitatyn's, having seen her fire them like guns normally in cutscenes. This also calls to point that most people aside from purebloods or those raised in Garlemald proper would even see training on any type of firearm, as most of the time, those we see piloting the Magitek Riding Armours are often clad in the garb of higher-ranking or true Garlean soldiers. For anyone in Eorzea to find access to, or even use effectively at all, a garlean firearm, would likely require significant backstory set allied with or descended from the Empire, which, in itself, can be a fairly big handicap if exposed - this means that skilled use of a firearm would be immediately obvious to most people of Erozea in possession of a decent sense of logic and reasoning, anbd would immediately subject that person to suspicion, distrust, and even persecution if not worse.
This brings to reason, along with supporting in-game mechanics of long charge and cooldowns, that most Garlean firearms shown in-game, while relatively effective, capable of differing modes such as charged shots, burst-fire, and even launching missiles, depending on the equipment employed, require long periods of cooling down or preparation between "clips" or "charges." I would assume, given that we see a lot of photon- and energy-based projectiles, if not exclusively, that, as is the case with all Magitek, the primary element in these firearms is ceruleum. I'm willing to wager that the ceruleum is used as an alternative type of ammunition to charge particles and fire them in a projectile-based state with physical mass and properties until the projectiles encounter enough resistance to shatter the bonds which hold together those selfsame particles. This does not mean, of course, that all Garlean firearms would produce burn-like wounds - they could have much the same effects as physical rounds.
That said, one could argue that such weapons of any kind - even the heavier weapons - can be rationalized and placed in the environment without stretching anything too far. It would also mean that due to the drawbacks of not only long charge and cooling-down periods on the weapons, that the weapons themselves could be matched in potency, or at least effectiveness, of most magic shown in-game. It also calls to mention that a lot of archers may even match the effectiveness of Garlean tech weapons, as even today, a good bow and skilled wielder can have as much penetrating power and force as many smaller firearms, if not better aim and a much stealthier means of attack. We can rule out silencers in Garlean tech. After all, the bang of a gun is synonymous with a show of power - much like a crack of thunder - and the Garleans love their power shows.
Should these points hold enough water, I'd say that implementation in RP should follow what's set above. It seems as though the game has these things balanced already in show and mechanics, and these things would be well-translated to RP given proper in-character implementation.
What do you guys think? And you'll have to pardon me. I'm actually known in my old circle for really getting into the technical details of things in order to expand a world beyond what is shown in gameplay. After all, the more that can be rationally done in RP, the better, in my opinion! Free your mind, man. Free your mind.
And wow, that got really fucking long. Um...
TL;DR: ...read the whole fucking thing. It's worth it, I think.