The Sacred City of Adoulin

[TummieGaruda]

I took some time and looked at the promotional material, livestream videos, and what zones we know about and made a map of where I believe the zones are. I placed some of the zones based on the location of the Naakuals on the cover art for the expansion. I had difficulties placing Sih Gates because the website says that the tree roots from both the BattleGrounds and Hunting Grounds protrude into the cavelike system so I am guessing that Sih Gates runs beneath both zones. I also took a guess about the other zones such as Kamihr Piedmont, Yorcia Weald, and Marjani Gorge

Spoilered for Huge also sorry for the small text I will fix later

Spoiler: show

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps3a6cbd9a.png

[Cairthenn]

For reference, I'm pretty sure transportation from Eastern Adoulin to outside zones was done via a developer command.

[TummieGaruda]

For reference, I'm pretty sure transportation from Eastern Adoulin to outside zones was done via a developer command.

Yeah they were. I used video as a reference to what the zones looked like and what the zones backgrounds looked like, not how the zones were connected. Most of that is obtained directly from the Artwork and some of the descriptions on the website.

From the website we know that:

- Ceizak Battlegrounds is connected directly to Western Adoulin (In the practice stream video we actually see them Zone from Western Adoulin without using GM tools)
- Yahse Hunting Grounds is north of Ceizak according to the regional map in the stream
- Both the Hunting Grounds and Battlegrounds have plants whos roots penetrate into cave system of the Sih Gates
- Moh Gates connect Ceizak Battlegrounds to the Morimar Basalt Fields
- Achuka (T-Rex Naakual) is found in the Morimar Basalt Fields the Naakual can be found north of Yahse Hunting Grounds on the Box art
- Tchakka (Shark Naakual) is found in Foret de Hennetiel and is on the southern portion of the map south of Ceizak Battlegrounds based on the Box Art

The rest is just guestimation based on box art

[Buffy]

Anyone got a reasonably educated guess when we gonna find out more about the farmville ffxi/own your own land thing? There is one remaining ???? left on the website, I'm assuming that is it

[Spira]

seems about right. Moh gates is to the southeast of Morimar based on the most recent video tho.. and is in the same region.
seeing as they make mention of 15 zones.. there likely wont be as many dungeons as there are outdoor areas.

and there are 7 outdoor areas - one for each naakual and their associated monster family.
based on the reives in the video.. its likely/certain that Yahse is verminland, Morimar is lizardland and Foret is aquanland.
the locations more or less line up with the amano artwork too..

@Buffy, likely late wed night (thur morning japan time). their update schedule seems strictly timed.

GEO info was updated 2 months to release, RUN 1 month (end Feb), and the last update was exactly 2 weeks away.. so most likely they're stepping it up. all info should be out before they launch, so 1 week away seems about right.

also, they previewed Reives in last weeks JP stream on the same day (japan) that they announced it. This week they're gonna preview Skirmishes but i'll be it'll also cover whatever they announce in the morning.

[Cairthenn]

They're also planning something for PAX (Friday 1PM EST). Though that could just consist of things we know. I'd imagine anything they plan to announce will be within the next 5 days, as the game is available for download next Monday night, and they know we'll be digging through the files immediately, lol.

I suppose they could hold out though, given that it's Tuesday download for most of the world, but it seems unlikely.

[Spira]

Monday night? isn't it at least Tuesday night? or Wed?

I follow Japanese dates to be sure. Content is available for download on wed 27th march in Japan.. unless somewhere else is releasing it earlier?

[Cairthenn]

Amazon says:

Available on March 26, 2013 at 12:00 AM.

First thing Tuesday/"Monday night"

[Slycer]

The server maintenance for the activation of SoA will be on the 27th. The website has always said the 27th for NA (assuming PDT) and the 28th for EU and JP. This leads me to believe that the server maintenance will be one of those long ones (8 hours~), and will end sometime in the late evening EDT. Reason I say this is because EU says March 28th, and UK is only 4 hours off from EDT currently. This is, of course, assuming the website is correct with the dates, and not just something that was translated from JP and not corrected. If that's the case, we should expect the servers to go live some time between 5pm and 11:59pm PDT on Wednesday, March 27 (12:00am - 7:00am GMT / 9:00am - 4:00pm JST on Thursday, March 28).

[Spira]

interesting. i ordered by amazon too.. so that'd give me 1 extra day to get stuff set up.

i don't remember from the last Ultimate Collection but i hope expansions are installed separately lol

edit: @Slycer

while i think your deduction about time zones may be accurate, it just seems particularly odd, because server maintenance typically starts at midnight or 1am JST.
I think we can only be sure when the maintenance schedule is posted.

that said, there are 2 dates to look forward to as far as mining is concerned.
1) client download, which amazon buyers apparently get 1 day in advance (yay)
2) patch, which immediately precedes the expansion going live.

If the files for the patch don't go live early, or if the maintenance is short (not likely), then not much mining will be done from those files cos i'd think the miners would wanna log in asap when the expansion goes live too. lol

[Cairthenn]

Yeah, there should be two separate mining opportunities. If I'm remembering right, on some of the more impressive things, they like to put in gear placeholders with the install and add stats with the patch.

Regardless, I imagine some pretty heavy congestion on top of a long maintenance. Unless they change the encoding (possible, it's happened before obviously), we pull the items/quests/missions/etc. near-automatically at this point anyways.

[TummieGaruda]

seems about right. Moh gates is to the southeast of Morimar based on the most recent video tho.. and is in the same region.
seeing as they make mention of 15 zones.. there likely wont be as many dungeons as there are outdoor areas.

and there are 7 outdoor areas - one for each naakual and their associated monster family.
based on the reives in the video.. its likely/certain that Yahse is verminland, Morimar is lizardland and Foret is aquanland.
the locations more or less line up with the amano artwork too..

Yeah I noticed the other day the Artwork and the continent map match up pretty well. I am still looking over it though and reading the descriptions on the website. One of the things I find puzzling is that even though there are 7 outdoor zones, it seems that there isn't a Naakual for Yahse Hunting Grounds as the description for Colkhab(Giant Bee) states that you can hear it from both Yahse and Ceizak as if it rules both areas (But can only be found in Ceizak) Putting my map and the Artwork together:

Morimar Bassalt Fields - Achuka (Lizard) Fire
Ceizak Battlegrounds - Colkhab (Vermin) Wind <-- Based on pictures on website
Foret de Hennetiel - Tchakka (Aquans) Water
Marjani Gorge - ??? (Birds) ???
Yorica Weild - ??? (Beast) ???
Kamihr Piedmont - ??? (Amorph) ???

Only one zone and one family missing and that is Yahse being possibly related to plants making the missing Naakual a plantoid? Also, there is a monster on the artwork on the far right that looks like a Triceratops along with the large dragon/wyrm at the bottom which could be a final boss or endgame area King/God.

As far as the 3 zones of the total 15 that haven't been mentioned (we know of 12) most likely are:

- Moogle Resort
- Skirmish Area (think Everbloom Hollow)
- Final Endgame Area

[Spira]

oh yeah.. forgot to take into account the flavor text / info from the website..
They never do explicitly say which zone Colkhab is from.. but based on the background, theres that giant hive tree.. which to my knowledge exists in only one of the 2 jungle zones... and is featured in the screenies for Ceizak, so Ceizak is verminland. i stand corrected.

i don't see why vermin would take 2 zones, so its probably likely that Yahse is Plantoidland then.
also as mentioned, each Naakual seems to take on an element..

so.. its

Foret - Aquan (Water)
Ceizak - Vermin (Wind)
Morimar - Lizard (Fire)

likely
Piedmont - Beast (Ice?) <- amano pic is a yeti of sorts. kinda resembles the Yztarg.
Yahse - Plantoid (Earth?) only makes sense if you're a tree.

and
Weald and gorge for the bird and amorph. Given that birds seem more predisposed to living in a forest, I'd say
Weald - birds (thunder?) - thunder bird?
Gorge - amorph. (light/dark?)
..given their amorphic nature, an elemental duality might fit for them.. otherwise they're probably just 1 element and there'd be a hidden 8th Naakual that doesn't belong to any ecosystem or something..

[TummieGaruda]

oh yeah.. forgot to take into account the flavor text / info from the website..
They never do explicitly say which zone Colkhab is from.. but based on the background, theres that giant hive tree.. which to my knowledge exists in only one of the 2 jungle zones... and is featured in the screenies for Ceizak, so Ceizak is verminland. i stand corrected.

i don't see why vermin would take 2 zones, so its probably likely that Yahse is Plantoidland then.
also as mentioned, each Naakual seems to take on an element..

so.. its

Foret - Aquan (Water)
Ceizak - Vermin (Wind)
Morimar - Lizard (Fire)

likely
Piedmont - Beast (Ice?) <- amano pic is a yeti of sorts. kinda resembles the Yztarg.
Yahse - Plantoid (Earth?) only makes sense if you're a tree.

and
Weald and gorge for the bird and amorph. Given that birds seem more predisposed to living in a forest, I'd say
Weald - birds (thunder?) - thunder bird?
Gorge - amorph. (light/dark?)
..given their amorphic nature, an elemental duality might fit for them.. otherwise they're probably just 1 element and there'd be a hidden 8th Naakual that doesn't belong to any ecosystem or something..

I think you are right about Amorph having dual elements since it seems to just balance out that way with 7 ecosystems being represented and 8 elements. I wanted to resist thinking that the Bird Naakual will be thunder based but you can't deny the likeness in the artwork to Zapdos(sp?) in pokemon which is a yellow bird with lightning as its element lol.

Also, I do wonder about the picture on the Colonization page of the SoA website showing 3/5 Bivouacs. If we consider that each Bivouac is an encampment with proto-waypoints, that means there will only be 5 waypoints out in the field. I am guessing 4/5 are: Morimar Bassalt Flats, Ceizak Battlegrounds, Yashe Hunting Grounds, and Foret de Hennetial. I am not sure a waypoint in the town of Adoulin would count and we know Dungeons don't so I have no idea what the 5th one could be (Maybe Moogle Resort??)

Since there will only be 5 Bivouacs (maybe later increased), and Piedmont/Weald/Gorge seem to be left out, it makes me think that these three zones will be storyline locked and will not be accessible until a future update through mission content.

[Spira]

you're running the assumption that the colonization bar and bivouacs apply to the whole of Ulbuka but its more likely that each region has its own colonization %.

also, based on dats, all 7 outdoor zones + East/West Adoulin were in the same list for Proto-Waypoints.
they also later include Frontier Station and Frontier Bivouac 1/2/3.. which suggests each zone has multiple outposts.
for clarity, their japanese translated names are Colonization village, outpost 1/2/3.

2+2, each zone will have a main Frontier Station and additionally have Bivouacs that can be unlocked as base of operations. My guess is that facilities like intra-zone waypoints ala Conflux will be part of the package. Proto-waypoints probably service inter-zone and will likely take you to the Frontier Station only.
in other words, the colonization pic likely shows 3/5 bivouacs/waypoints unlocked in that zone, not in Ulbuka.

edit: referring to the live stream. Morimar has 0% colonization and 0/5 bivouacs. Yahse has 0% colonization (due to lag not updating their progress) and 0/0 bivouacs. so they're separate. C rate is dependant on reives. they also explain in the vid that bivouacs dont spring up until you clear the wilderness lol

[Trigun]

For reference, I'm pretty sure transportation from Eastern Adoulin to outside zones was done via a developer command.

You think we're finally getting those trains?

Also does anyone think NA & EU teams will put on a show for their countries this week?

[TummieGaruda]

you're running the assumption that the colonization bar and bivouacs apply to the whole of Ulbuka but its more likely that each region has its own colonization %.

also, based on dats, all 7 outdoor zones + East/West Adoulin were in the same list for Proto-Waypoints.
they also later include Frontier Station and Frontier Bivouac 1/2/3.. which suggests each zone has multiple outposts.
for clarity, their japanese translated names are Colonization village, outpost 1/2/3.

2+2, each zone will have a main Frontier Station and additionally have Bivouacs that can be unlocked as base of operations. My guess is that facilities like intra-zone waypoints ala Conflux will be part of the package. Proto-waypoints probably service inter-zone and will likely take you to the Frontier Station only.
in other words, the colonization pic likely shows 3/5 bivouacs/waypoints unlocked in that zone, not in Ulbuka.

edit: referring to the live stream. Morimar has 0% colonization and 0/5 bivouacs. Yahse has 0% colonization (due to lag not updating their progress) and 0/0 bivouacs. so they're separate. C rate is dependant on reives. they also explain in the vid that bivouacs dont spring up until you clear the wilderness lol

Ah thanks for the clarification I didn't notice that in the live streams and that makes more sense to have multiple Bivouacs per zone especially since we have to basically push our way through the zones. The further we explore the more Bivouacs we construct as we go.

[Uzor]

I'm sure there's a teleporter at each "closed off" area. Or at least, I hope so. Say, one zone is closed off at the beginning. It later gets unlocked, and somewhere in the new area there's a teleporter, so that if said area gets closed off in the future, you can teleport there instead.

Something tells me SE wouldn't make life easy for players though.

[RicFlair]

so people have speculated that the 7 Naakuals will align with the 7 BST bestiary and the elements. Going by whats in the top left part of this artwork, I can't seem to find a representation for amorph.

Spoiler: show

http://www.playonline.com/ff11/adoul...?1363638358708

Based on colors, design and concept you can guess that
Top Left - Looks like a blue and white Polar Bear - Beast type with Ice element
Top Right - The dinosaur-like Naakual that we already know about, seems to be in the zone with a lot of lizards/reptiles (peistes, raptors, turtles) - Lizard type with Fire element
Mid Left - Tree - Plantoid type with Earth element
Mid Right - Naakual Bee we know about, seems to be in zone we see those new grasshoper and Kagen mobs - Vermin type with wind element
Bot Left - Yellow bird like a wannabe Zapdos - Bird type with lightning element
Bot Right - Shark Naakual we know, seems to be in zone with the new cracklaws, pugils and orobons - Aquan type with water element

I find it weird SE would tease us with only showing 6 in the artwork which is supposed to introduce the blueprint of the new expansion. Makes me wonder what would the 7th Naakual will be, and if it will even be an amorph representing dark/light.

[Slycer]

I'm fairly certain the amorph is cut off at the top of the drawing (purple snake). Someone else pointed this out to me a while ago but I forget who. I'd assume this would be a dark-elemental amorph.

Also, while nothing out of the Naakuals is representing light, there is a white wyrm near the bottom. Not sure of its significance, but could be a light-based wyrm. Either that or water.. or ice.. it's kinda hard to tell.