FFXIV story/lore thread

[Niiro]

I have no idea what you're trying to say.

[Sho]

I don't want to be that guy but pretty sure most XI expansions' new jobs didn't require you to be up to date with story (granted each expansion was basically standalone after Shadow Lord).

Different direction for the XIV team. It's obvious they want to create incentive to do expansion content by making you play through the vanilla content.

[Gokulo]

But they required you to be 30, which at first took some time, similar to completing msq now

[AoE]

Why are people so worried about the experiences of new players? Genuine question.

I just personally could careless about what someone has to do attain the new job. If someone's buying an MMO, which is a commitment anyway, for the sole purpose of playing a job that may or may not require you to have previous gameplay experience to be effective at it (and let's be honest, the main complaint on these boards is the skill levels of other players), then I just don't see myself caring about some random person crying about not being able to play a certain job right away.

From a design standpoint, I understand how it might not be so great, but as a player, I'm just not all that worried about something like that.

[Oreth]

Sorry if this has already been asked or pointed out in the previous pages (didnt want to dig too much as i didnt want to spoiler certain stuff (might be seen as a contradiction lol) but can anyone give me a brief rundown of whats happened from the MSQ point of view with the new patch as i havnt played through yet but would like to know before i watch this trailer. If its already been done if you could point me to the post or collection of posts it would be appreciated.

THanks!

[Spira]

let me see if i get it all right

Spoiler: show

the dragons attack on Ishgard intensifies, and even Iceheart lends her hand to help lower Ishgards magical defenses. Alphinaud tries to help by pulling Crystal braves and some forces from Eorzean alliance to help, but generally the 3 nations refuse much help save for a small force by Raubahn.

player repels 1 wave of dragon invasions. Nanamo holds a feast on the pretext of celebrating the nations cooperation, but intends to abdicate and turn Uldah into a democracy (or something). Ishgard people are invited as well, and the guy (i forgot his name) intends to push for ishgard to reopen its borders to its neighbors. separately, with only the player in the room, nanamo drinks poisoned wine. player is frame along with the scions.

teledji comes in with the brass blades and crystal braves (who appear to be loyal to him) and attempts to arrest the scions and player. raubahn gets mad that nanamo is dead and kills teledji, and also attacks lolorito but gets his hand cut off by Ilberd, the marshall of the crystal braves. he's later imprisoned. lolorito appears to be the mastermind

the scions attempt an escape from uldah, but basically everyone gets left behind - fate unknown - except you and alphinaud, who was rescued by raubahn's adopted son pipin tarupin.

cid arrives to take you to coerthas, and whats left of the scions (tataru) sort of set up base there as rising stones is not safe anymore.

[Oreth]

Great really appreciate that thanks

[Qeomash]

Why are people so worried about the experiences of new players? Genuine question.

I just personally could careless about what someone has to do attain the new job. If someone's buying an MMO, which is a commitment anyway, for the sole purpose of playing a job that may or may not require you to have previous gameplay experience to be effective at it (and let's be honest, the main complaint on these boards is the skill levels of other players), then I just don't see myself caring about some random person crying about not being able to play a certain job right away.

From a design standpoint, I understand how it might not be so great, but as a player, I'm just not all that worried about something like that.

I'm worried about the experience of new players because if we don't get a semi-steady influx of new players, the game will likely falter and die. If I were to start today and want to play, say, Dark Knight, I would be annoyed that to unlock it I would have to level some other job to 50, gear it to an extent, clear some BS quests, unlock Dark Knight, THEN level it...I might not even bother.

[Karbuncle]

I'm worried about the experience of new players because if we don't get a semi-steady influx of new players, the game will likely falter and die. If I were to start today and want to play, say, Dark Knight, I would be annoyed that to unlock it I would have to level some other job to 50, gear it to an extent, clear some BS quests, unlock Dark Knight, THEN level it...I might not even bother.

Honestly that does sound a little retarded... XI had its own lockouts for new jobs but nothing that intense. Getting to level 30 wasn't even that hard back in the day.

[Pruviant]

From character creation to MSQ finish it should only take the average person a couple of weeks to finish. If a new player has a problem with that then I don't really know what to tell them, it's not like any of that shit is hard. Expecting to have the same unabated access to the new jobs and content as a veteran player that has been around since beta is pretty retarded in itself. New people can have a 60 Dark/Machinist/Astrologian in about 4-5 weeks .... tell me you could start from scratch and have a capped COR in that amount of time (ToAU just as an example). No way.

[Silenka]

Late to the party as usual. I was busy and only now finished the story. But I found a very interesting theory.

Spoiler: show

Spoiler: show

Tataru's seiyuu sounded familiar to me so I tried to look up her name and the first page that popped was this one.

Translation: "Tataru < > Nanamo!? Theory that Tataru and Nanamo secretly switched"

-"Tataru's voice actress is the same as Nanamo's I think. I remember thinking that in the final movie their voices sounded the same."

-"It wasn't Nanamo who died but Tataru. Up until Costa it was the real Tataru, then after that they switched places. Your goodbyes with Tataru at Costa had hidden meaning. The voice actors are the same too."

I know some people have brought this up as a joke but I think it's really true. Let's look at the evidence.

First and foremost, it's physically simple for them to switch places. Their similar heights, builds and voices would allow them to switch quite easily with a bit of glamour magic.
Next would be Tataru's mini-mission of course. Why give her all of that if something wasn't going to happen to her? Why that "farewell, oops I mean see you later" scene with the long gaze? (Nanamo similarly gives you a long gaze right before she's poisoned). Tataru focuses on becoming strong and doing something she's always wanted to do in this mission. Perhaps because she knew it could be the last time she would have a chance to do it and she wanted some extra courage.

It is pointed out several times that Tataru has many random talents - maybe resistance to poison is one. But that's a stretch. What's more likely is that those pearls she scavenged at Costa are an effective antidote or deterrent to poison - the favorite way to commit regicide by sneaky assholes since time immemorial (they are supposed to "keep people safe" after all). As much as fans have been crying out for blood, even Scion blood, this could be one way to do it, assuming Tataru didn't survive. But I think with the pearls she could have.

According to the final cutscene, "Tataru" was in Ul'dah markets while shit went down in the palace - Nanamo would want to be close to watch what happens. Assuming Flhaminn and Urianger are in on this as well, they could have been the two in charge of escorting Nanamo to safety.

What the actual motive behind Tataru and Nanamo switching is is trickier. My theory is that Nanamo strongly suspected an attempt on her life and gave the Monetarists the perfect opportunity to do so by throwing the party and calling in a guest (a person who could be easily framed for the crime) to attend her privately. She arranged to switch places with Tataru sometime before she called your character to come see her. Nanamo also knew simple abdication would just put the city in the hands of the people who had been running it anyhow (the Monetarists) regardless of her attempts to put a better power in place - she has no real power at this point and she knows it. She has a plan to save Ul'dah, but it would be far too risky for her to take the attempt on her life herself so she needs a body double who is willing to die for her and let the Monetarists think they've won.

I imagine she will come back as a symbol of hope and a martyr to the people - especially Raubahn - and Ul'dah will be taken back by the two of them in a blaze of glory. And then they ride off into the sunset together. Or something.

Besides all that stuff, my thoughts...

Spoiler: show

I love seeing Alphinaud get knocked down a few pegs. He really needed it. Smug little elf boy always got on my nerves. I think everyone pretty much cheered inside at that scene.
Yugiri is pretty hot.
Nanamo's death scene was very intense. Actually a lot of the scenes were very intense. It's a good change from the relatively "blah" cutscenes we've often had throughout the storyline.
Rauhban is a badass motherfucker, jeez. (I kind of wanted him to beat some dudes with his disembodied arm though).
I didn't really care for the parting with the other Scions but at least the cutscenes were well done. You know they're all gonna survive though. They always do. Like cockroaches. It's pretty disappointing in that regard.

Teledji was a BIT over-the-top evil. Oh yes, they have to make you REALLY feel he deserved to be cut in half. BE AS OBVIOUSLY EVIL AS POSSIBLE SO WE CAN KILL YOU OFF KTHX.
I think Lolorito is gonna end up being a very good guy later on.

[Karbuncle]

From character creation to MSQ finish it should only take the average person a couple of weeks to finish. If a new player has a problem with that then I don't really know what to tell them, it's not like any of that shit is hard. Expecting to have the same unabated access to the new jobs and content as a veteran player that has been around since beta is pretty retarded in itself. New people can have a 60 Dark/Machinist/Astrologian in about 4-5 weeks .... tell me you could start from scratch and have a capped COR in that amount of time (ToAU just as an example). No way.

Why? What do new jobs have to do with being a veteran? ACN and NIN weren't gated behind some arbitrary veteran wall.

This isn't FFXI or other oldschool games where strongly gating things was the norm. In fact, it goes out of its way to be incredibly accessible in about every other way when it comes to class/jobs, among other things. Why is it retarded when every other job/class is immediately available, even NIN? Locking out stuff like endgame raids and such behind the storyline is one thing, its endgame content... Jobs aren't.

I mean, this doesn't effect me and I guess I usually don't care about new player experience since this game is already quite easy, but It doesn't mean I don't think this choice is pretty tarded. Will it effect a lot of people... probably not.. but It just seems an ass backward decision based on what this game goes for, super accessibility and casual friendly.

Edit: And yes, You could start from scratch and have COR capped in about a week in XI if you made any sort of friends on the way or joined a new-player LS. Its a lot easier. Back in ToAU times it would probably be harder (though people have 75BLU the same day it was released), but this isn't XI and it isn't ToAU days... some people here are quite quick to point that out.

[Arthars]

if you didnt already complete MSQ, then i really hope you dont have access to new jobs

stay the fuck out of ishgard

games out 1 year already, if you only gave a flying fuck now and not before, then dont

the last thing this game need is new players who are newest of the new

SE need to stop cater for more casuals

[Shaano]

Late to the party as usual. I was busy and only now finished the story. But I found a very interesting theory.

Spoiler: show

Spoiler: show

Tataru's seiyuu sounded familiar to me so I tried to look up her name and the first page that popped was this one.

Translation: "Tataru < > Nanamo!? Theory that Tataru and Nanamo secretly switched"

-"Tataru's voice actress is the same as Nanamo's I think. I remember thinking that in the final movie their voices sounded the same."

-"It wasn't Nanamo who died but Tataru. Up until Costa it was the real Tataru, then after that they switched places. Your goodbyes with Tataru at Costa had hidden meaning. The voice actors are the same too."

I know some people have brought this up as a joke but I think it's really true. Let's look at the evidence.

First and foremost, it's physically simple for them to switch places. Their similar heights, builds and voices would allow them to switch quite easily with a bit of glamour magic.
Next would be Tataru's mini-mission of course. Why give her all of that if something wasn't going to happen to her? Why that "farewell, oops I mean see you later" scene with the long gaze? (Nanamo similarly gives you a long gaze right before she's poisoned). Tataru focuses on becoming strong and doing something she's always wanted to do in this mission. Perhaps because she knew it could be the last time she would have a chance to do it and she wanted some extra courage.

It is pointed out several times that Tataru has many random talents - maybe resistance to poison is one. But that's a stretch. What's more likely is that those pearls she scavenged at Costa are an effective antidote or deterrent to poison - the favorite way to commit regicide by sneaky assholes since time immemorial (they are supposed to "keep people safe" after all). As much as fans have been crying out for blood, even Scion blood, this could be one way to do it, assuming Tataru didn't survive. But I think with the pearls she could have.

According to the final cutscene, "Tataru" was in Ul'dah markets while shit went down in the palace - Nanamo would want to be close to watch what happens. Assuming Flhaminn and Urianger are in on this as well, they could have been the two in charge of escorting Nanamo to safety.

What the actual motive behind Tataru and Nanamo switching is is trickier. My theory is that Nanamo strongly suspected an attempt on her life and gave the Monetarists the perfect opportunity to do so by throwing the party and calling in a guest (a person who could be easily framed for the crime) to attend her privately. She arranged to switch places with Tataru sometime before she called your character to come see her. Nanamo also knew simple abdication would just put the city in the hands of the people who had been running it anyhow (the Monetarists) regardless of her attempts to put a better power in place - she has no real power at this point and she knows it. She has a plan to save Ul'dah, but it would be far too risky for her to take the attempt on her life herself so she needs a body double who is willing to die for her and let the Monetarists think they've won.

I imagine she will come back as a symbol of hope and a martyr to the people - especially Raubahn - and Ul'dah will be taken back by the two of them in a blaze of glory. And then they ride off into the sunset together. Or something.

Besides all that stuff, my thoughts...

Spoiler: show

I love seeing Alphinaud get knocked down a few pegs. He really needed it. Smug little elf boy always got on my nerves. I think everyone pretty much cheered inside at that scene.
Yugiri is pretty hot.
Nanamo's death scene was very intense. Actually a lot of the scenes were very intense. It's a good change from the relatively "blah" cutscenes we've often had throughout the storyline.
Rauhban is a badass motherfucker, jeez. (I kind of wanted him to beat some dudes with his disembodied arm though).
I didn't really care for the parting with the other Scions but at least the cutscenes were well done. You know they're all gonna survive though. They always do. Like cockroaches. It's pretty disappointing in that regard.

Teledji was a BIT over-the-top evil. Oh yes, they have to make you REALLY feel he deserved to be cut in half. BE AS OBVIOUSLY EVIL AS POSSIBLE SO WE CAN KILL YOU OFF KTHX.
I think Lolorito is gonna end up being a very good guy later on.

tataruuuuu

Spoiler: show

It would be an interesting twist and I could see it, I had to run and check the eye color of her now hoping they were secretly Nanamo green but they weren't :c contacts maybe...

[Sho]

tataruuuuu

Spoiler: show

It would be an interesting twist and I could see it, I had to run and check the eye color of her now hoping they were secretly Nanamo green but they weren't :c contacts maybe...

Spoiler: show

It's a game where glamours and body mimicry magic are being used a ton, it's possible it's simply this. With that said, the theory that Silenka found is pretty god damn good.

[Twilight Sky]

if you didnt already complete MSQ, then i really hope you dont have access to new jobs

stay the fuck out of ishgard

games out 1 year already, if you only gave a flying fuck now and not before, then dont

the last thing this game need is new players who are newest of the new

SE need to stop cater for more casuals

I'm slightly offended, since I'm a CB(legacy I guess; I remember that shitty beta installer SE used that literally took people days to download the game. This was indeed the first clear sign of troubles to come.) player without a single level 50, but by no means consider myself casual, unless quitting the game now counts in this casual definition.

If it makes you feel any better, I left the biggest FC on my server when I got the feeling that the majority was ignoring me, which I assumed the reason was that I wasn't level50.

This instilled the thought that FFXIV is only for max level players, and otherwise is not welcome. I don't know how many plays the way I do, but not all of us "casuals" are trying to hurt your experience.

Edit: Yoshida will be smart not to do anything that brings about the Tanaka fate upon him. This is a business after all. Let's not scare away potential buyers.

Point: Not everyone wants to rush through content. And yes instant gratification type players are a cancer.

[Raldo]

It's a game where glamours and body mimicry magic are being used a ton

Dude glamoured a freaking building; can't trust your eyes anymore. Next time we see Minfillia, we'll find out the boob change was really glamour.

[Rocl]

@Silenka then random ramblings

Spoiler: show

That's a neat theory and I'd wonder if there are any more clues. Are the VAs for FR/DE/EN the same for the Lalafell women as well? That's about the only thing that makes me skeptical; that they'd drop a huge clue like that in JP but not the other 3 languages.

That said I'm not wholly sold on it-- I still feel like Tataru was a little sinister in her final appearance before the Fall. Er, I guess that's vague lol: when she was at Costa del Sol.

So, assuming the Brass Blades / Crystal Blades / Lolorito seized the Rising Stones in full, they should have Tupsimati now. The Omega storyline has always sort of screamed Ascian since it parallels the discovery of Ultima. And, the Revolution of Ul'dah causes a lot of 'chaos' and will probably fanaticalize (is that a word?) various factions across the land. It also fits in with the idea of Lahabrea/Elidibus playing the long game, since they needn't just take Tupsimati in one fell swoop when they could simply sit back and whisper in a little lalafell's ear and get it eventually. After all what's a few weeks/months to an endless being?

I'm half-expecting 3.0's scenario to end with a fight vs Omega like 2.0's ended with a fight vs. Ultima. I'm also curious if the mention that the Heavensward primals are more like Odin than the Ifrit/Ramuh etc means they're objects moreso than beasts, but that speculation is worthless. Though if you think about it, Odin should technically be a Doman/Far-Eastern Primal given that the minion guide states that he got Zantetsuken from an Auri warrior!

[Seha]

Lolorito is really only Tataru wearing a mustache and a mask.

[Lokus]

Wasn't Tupsimati destroyed? I remember it being absent from the wall in the rising stones while doing the 2.55 quests. I still have an alt to take through 2.5 - 2.55 so I'll take another look.