Okay, I can only speak for Windurst, but with the quests and missions I've done, it seems like we are a powerful nation, according to the storyline. Although we have rogue Cardians and the Yagudo's, the military might doesn't seem so bad, Mithran Mercenarys and Cardians and the retraining of new War Wizards. Bear in mind I'm only Rank5, so I haven't seen all the mission scenes. Although Windy seems to be losing the magical power drawn from the Horutoto Ruins, it doesn't seem to affect how the Ministers and Star Syble act, yet, they could be trying to save face in front of the population though.
As for Sandoria, everybody knows they aren't as powerful as they once were. And I'm sure my missions and quests only show the strengths of my nation while showing only the weaknesses of others, so how does Sandy hold up to Sandorian players?
Bastok, the nation I've paid least attention to. So how are they fairing in the storyline?
Jeuno, hands down the most powerful nation, so far according to what I've seen. But their corruption knows no bounds. I'm not sure how the storyline shows them further down the line, such as Zilart or Promathia missions. And again, I've only reached rank5, but how are they doing?
I'm just curious really. I'm kinda bored with just leveling and farming, and I'm really into quests (and missions) and want to expierence everything. I'm considering switching nationalities sometime, not now, and see what the 'other' sides story is like. Pretty much I'm contemplating Sandy, although I hate the *ahem* racial and national biases of the npcs. But I'm not going to switch over if the storyline is pretty much the same, just told through different people.