FFXIV Random Speculation/Question thread II: Let's Speculate the Speculations

[Metafox]

Seeing as how this is a speculation thread, I thought I’d try doing a long-winded speculation on the potential story elements contained in that top-secret ffxiv song that we’re not allowed to know about.


First, if you look on the NA ffxiv website under world -> story -> A realm divided, page 2, they mention something called “the Echo.” It’s only mentioned in this one tiny spot, but it seems like a pretty big deal. It says that the echo would let a person relive the experiences of another. If you remember the scene in ffxiv’s intro, the very beginning sounds pretty echo-ey with the voices and all. I’d guess that either your character will end up reliving some past life as part of the story, or your character is the one whose life is being relived.


I also find it strange how that garlean empire invades and then disappears all of a sudden. I get the impression that much of the story revolves around why they left, or what caused them to leave. (I’d guess they originally came for the crystals)


To supplement this speculation, the vocalized song seems to include some interesting lyrics. Most of the song seems to just be generic lyrics about heroics and the cycle of life and death, but there are a few lines that seem to hint at something specific. If you don’t want to know about some of the lines in the song (and possible future story implications), don’t read the spoiler text.

Spoiler: show

The land's a lie, so believe
Perhaps this means that the eorzea that we’ll be playing in is some kind of false reality or offshoot of the “real” game-world. When they call it a lie they give it a negative connotation, so perhaps a later part of the story might involve overcoming some plot to hide the “real” world.

Now open your eyes while our plight is repeated, still death to our cries lost in hope we lie defeated
This part seems to say that the same individual faces death or some other catastrophe more than once. This makes me think that either some great looming disaster was delayed through some world-wide magic (thus forcing you to face the disaster again), or your character goes back and experiences some great disaster over again. With all talk of dying, I’d be inclined to think that it’s something that’s killed you (or someone you’re echoing with), and you’ll have to go back and face it a second time.

Living sins of the past for our future is taken
Now this really makes it sound like we’d be playing in some event in the past. I’d assume that these sins were committed against your character rather than by your character, though a later line suggests otherwise. In that case, I’d guess that the sins are what caused the “plight” mentioned previously. When they say “our future is taken,” I’d assume they mean we’re dead in the future. Again, I’d say it’s really a tossup as to whether your character is the one from the past, or if your character will just be reliving some story npc’s past.

Judgment binds all we hold to a memory of scorn
It seems to say that because of some misdeed, we have to be stuck in some unpleasant memory. Considering the lines that came before, the memory is probably something that our character lives in rather than some mere recollection. Perhaps your character plays a part in something bad after all.

My conclusion:
I really think that the story could go one of two ways, but for the sake of conviction, I’ll go this way: Your character has the echo, and they’re echoing with “you.” When the garlean empire invaded, they set off some disaster. In an act of desperation, some adventurers (player-controlled) activated the echo, giving themselves a mulligan on things. So your character starts over (i.e., at the point where you start playing your character), and the influence from the echo frees you from your previous fate and gives you a chance to redo things. Even so, the true reality, the one we escaped from when we got the echo, still persists in some way, and in the end we’ll have to reconcile the past world with the real world in order to go on. In the “real” world, our character was about to die, so we’ll go to the point where they were about to die and instead we’ll save them.

There are still a few holes in my guess at the story, such as: What happened to the garlean empire, and what was the sin committed by the adventurers? I figured it was the adventurers that caused the echo since the song says that something the adventurers have done causes them to have to relive things. The beginning of the song also encourages them to be free though, so freeing themselves from their fate shouldn’t be a sin.

[Vacht]

Seeing as how this is a speculation thread, I thought I’d try doing a long-winded speculation on the potential story elements contained in that top-secret ffxiv song that we’re not allowed to know about.


First, if you look on the NA ffxiv website under world -> story -> A realm divided, page 2, they mention something called “the Echo.” It’s only mentioned in this one tiny spot, but it seems like a pretty big deal. It says that the echo would let a person relive the experiences of another. If you remember the scene in ffxiv’s intro, the very beginning sounds pretty echo-ey with the voices and all. I’d guess that either your character will end up reliving some past life as part of the story, or your character is the one whose life is being relived.


I also find it strange how that garlean empire invades and then disappears all of a sudden. I get the impression that much of the story revolves around why they left, or what caused them to leave. (I’d guess they originally came for the crystals)


To supplement this speculation, the vocalized song seems to include some interesting lyrics. Most of the song seems to just be generic lyrics about heroics and the cycle of life and death, but there are a few lines that seem to hint at something specific. If you don’t want to know about some of the lines in the song (and possible future story implications), don’t read the spoiler text.

Spoiler: show

The land's a lie, so believe
Perhaps this means that the eorzea that we’ll be playing in is some kind of false reality or offshoot of the “real” game-world. When they call it a lie they give it a negative connotation, so perhaps a later part of the story might involve overcoming some plot to hide the “real” world.

Now open your eyes while our plight is repeated, still death to our cries lost in hope we lie defeated
This part seems to say that the same individual faces death or some other catastrophe more than once. This makes me think that either some great looming disaster was delayed through some world-wide magic (thus forcing you to face the disaster again), or your character goes back and experiences some great disaster over again. With all talk of dying, I’d be inclined to think that it’s something that’s killed you (or someone you’re echoing with), and you’ll have to go back and face it a second time.

Living sins of the past for our future is taken
Now this really makes it sound like we’d be playing in some event in the past. I’d assume that these sins were committed against your character rather than by your character, though a later line suggests otherwise. In that case, I’d guess that the sins are what caused the “plight” mentioned previously. When they say “our future is taken,” I’d assume they mean we’re dead in the future. Again, I’d say it’s really a tossup as to whether your character is the one from the past, or if your character will just be reliving some story npc’s past.

Judgment binds all we hold to a memory of scorn
It seems to say that because of some misdeed, we have to be stuck in some unpleasant memory. Considering the lines that came before, the memory is probably something that our character lives in rather than some mere recollection. Perhaps your character plays a part in something bad after all.

My conclusion:
I really think that the story could go one of two ways, but for the sake of conviction, I’ll go this way: Your character has the echo, and they’re echoing with “you.” When the garlean empire invaded, they set off some disaster. In an act of desperation, some adventurers (player-controlled) activated the echo, giving themselves a mulligan on things. So your character starts over (i.e., at the point where you start playing your character), and the influence from the echo frees you from your previous fate and gives you a chance to redo things. Even so, the true reality, the one we escaped from when we got the echo, still persists in some way, and in the end we’ll have to reconcile the past world with the real world in order to go on. In the “real” world, our character was about to die, so we’ll go to the point where they were about to die and instead we’ll save them.

There are still a few holes in my guess at the story, such as: What happened to the garlean empire, and what was the sin committed by the adventurers? I figured it was the adventurers that caused the echo since the song says that something the adventurers have done causes them to have to relive things. The beginning of the song also encourages them to be free though, so freeing themselves from their fate shouldn’t be a sin.

I wonder when Jack, hugo and desmond will show up.

but seriously, good speculation It is reminiscent of XI in some ways though, maybe im just loosely correlating the plots.

[Cairthenn]

I see some flaws in your lyrical interpretations. I don't claim to be a professional but I'm pretty sure the following statements are accurate:

"The land's a lie, so believe" actually reads "The land is alive, so believe"

"still death to our cries" actually reads "still deaf to our cries"

"Living sins of the past for our future is taken" actually reads "Bearing sins of the past for our future is taken"

May affect the resulting interpretation a bit but I really don't think you're on to anything (new) to begin with. Your main ideas and proposals have already been addressed.

[Vacht]

I see some flaws in your lyrical interpretations. I don't claim to be a professional but I'm pretty sure the following statements are accurate:

"The land's a lie, so believe" actually reads "The land is alive, so believe"

"still death to our cries" actually reads "still deaf to our cries"

"Living sins of the past for our future is taken" actually reads "Bearing sins of the past for our future is taken"

May affect the resulting interpretation a bit but I really don't think you're on to anything to begin with.

"Take a load off fanny, take a load for free, take a load off fanny..."

or this might be more obvious...

"Pour some shook up ramen... cant get enough! im hot, sticky sweet, from my head to my feet yeah!"

[Battlecat]

Big long story speculation post

honestly... tl;dr, not big on story speculation as I think it's something that should be played through and THEN torn to tiny bits interpreting it.

but the lil bit I did read: The Echo thingy you were talkin about is something we've known about for quite awhile, we just didn't have a name for it. If you read the dev interviews (don't remember which ones specifically, but it's been in several iirc) The storyline actually takes place in Eorzea's past and is being relived by the adventurers in the present through this "echo."

[Loaar]

Seeing as how this is a speculation thread, I thought I’d try doing a long-winded speculation on the potential story elements contained in that top-secret ffxiv song that we’re not allowed to know about.


First, if you look on the NA ffxiv website under world -> story -> A realm divided, page 2, they mention something called “the Echo.” It’s only mentioned in this one tiny spot, but it seems like a pretty big deal. It says that the echo would let a person relive the experiences of another. If you remember the scene in ffxiv’s intro, the very beginning sounds pretty echo-ey with the voices and all. I’d guess that either your character will end up reliving some past life as part of the story, or your character is the one whose life is being relived.


I also find it strange how that garlean empire invades and then disappears all of a sudden. I get the impression that much of the story revolves around why they left, or what caused them to leave. (I’d guess they originally came for the crystals)


To supplement this speculation, the vocalized song seems to include some interesting lyrics. Most of the song seems to just be generic lyrics about heroics and the cycle of life and death, but there are a few lines that seem to hint at something specific. If you don’t want to know about some of the lines in the song (and possible future story implications), don’t read the spoiler text.

Spoiler: show

The land's a lie, so believe
Perhaps this means that the eorzea that we’ll be playing in is some kind of false reality or offshoot of the “real” game-world. When they call it a lie they give it a negative connotation, so perhaps a later part of the story might involve overcoming some plot to hide the “real” world.

Now open your eyes while our plight is repeated, still death to our cries lost in hope we lie defeated
This part seems to say that the same individual faces death or some other catastrophe more than once. This makes me think that either some great looming disaster was delayed through some world-wide magic (thus forcing you to face the disaster again), or your character goes back and experiences some great disaster over again. With all talk of dying, I’d be inclined to think that it’s something that’s killed you (or someone you’re echoing with), and you’ll have to go back and face it a second time.

Living sins of the past for our future is taken
Now this really makes it sound like we’d be playing in some event in the past. I’d assume that these sins were committed against your character rather than by your character, though a later line suggests otherwise. In that case, I’d guess that the sins are what caused the “plight” mentioned previously. When they say “our future is taken,” I’d assume they mean we’re dead in the future. Again, I’d say it’s really a tossup as to whether your character is the one from the past, or if your character will just be reliving some story npc’s past.

Judgment binds all we hold to a memory of scorn
It seems to say that because of some misdeed, we have to be stuck in some unpleasant memory. Considering the lines that came before, the memory is probably something that our character lives in rather than some mere recollection. Perhaps your character plays a part in something bad after all.

My conclusion:
I really think that the story could go one of two ways, but for the sake of conviction, I’ll go this way: Your character has the echo, and they’re echoing with “you.” When the garlean empire invaded, they set off some disaster. In an act of desperation, some adventurers (player-controlled) activated the echo, giving themselves a mulligan on things. So your character starts over (i.e., at the point where you start playing your character), and the influence from the echo frees you from your previous fate and gives you a chance to redo things. Even so, the true reality, the one we escaped from when we got the echo, still persists in some way, and in the end we’ll have to reconcile the past world with the real world in order to go on. In the “real” world, our character was about to die, so we’ll go to the point where they were about to die and instead we’ll save them.

There are still a few holes in my guess at the story, such as: What happened to the garlean empire, and what was the sin committed by the adventurers? I figured it was the adventurers that caused the echo since the song says that something the adventurers have done causes them to have to relive things. The beginning of the song also encourages them to be free though, so freeing themselves from their fate shouldn’t be a sin.

Pretty good speculation, but I'm with Cairthenn on the lyrics, I think you have a couple wrong.

The garlean empire hasn't gone, they just haven't invaded the other city states. SE have said that the continent the players have access to is only a small one, so there are a few possibilities for their halted advance:

1. They are fighting the war on multiple fronts and someone elsewhere is putting up a decent fight, so all their efforts are concentrated elsewhere while a smaller force just holds the line to the north of the continent we are on.

2. The empire isn't as powerful as it seems and the battle with Ala Mhigo weakened them to the point that they had to stop the advance to rebuild.

3. The empire only invaded Ala Mhigo and the other cities that fell because of some dispute that is now settled and the other cities stayed out of it

4. Internal politics within the empire have stopped the invasion while a new leader takes over etc.

5. The current city states leaders are paying protection money to the empire without letting the public know, alternatively the empire doesn't see the remaining cities as a threat.

6. The war has stopped because they didn't find the WMD's in Ala Mhigo that the empires leaders swore would be there....


All those possibilities could lead to a greater storyline as you discover exactly why it happened, but I do like your idea.

[Metafox]

I see some flaws in your lyrical interpretations. I don't claim to be a professional but I'm pretty sure the following statements are accurate:

"The land's a lie, so believe" actually reads "The land is alive, so believe"

"still death to our cries" actually reads "still deaf to our cries"

"Living sins of the past for our future is taken" actually reads "Bearing sins of the past for our future is taken"

May affect the resulting interpretation a bit but I really don't think you're on to anything (new) to begin with. Your main ideas and proposals have already been addressed.

I suppose it's pointless to argue lyrics since it's just a matter of how we hear them. I think you're correct about it being "deaf" instead of "death" and "bearing" instead of "living." I know calling the land a lie is kind of a weird statement, but I cannot hear any "v" sound at the end of the word. The last syllable that I can hear is the "i" sound.

Changing "Living sins of the past" to "bearing sins of the past" makes the speculation a bit less interesting. It sounds like the game takes place in the present game-reality after all, and your thing with the echo would probably just be cutscenes about the past of some story-npc after all.


EDIT: Battlecat, sorry about forgetting about developer commentary. I probably read that stuff at some point, but I can only remember bits and pieces.
I like the speculation on the garlean empire too. If it's around, I'd hope we'd actually get to visit it.

[Cairthenn]

The reason the Garlean empire hasn't invaded the remaining four city-states is because they formed an alliance (including Ishgard) to offer each other protection after the fall of Ala Mhigo, putting their differences and ceaseless battles aside them. Though the Garlean empire is strong strong, it's not strong enough to overthrow the power of four nations, I'm sure.

[Battlecat]

Battlecat, sorry about forgetting about developer commentary. I probably read that stuff at some point, but I can only remember bits and pieces.

wasn't trying to be a douchnozzle or anything, just assumed you missed those interviews and wanted to let ya know you're at least on the right track

edit:

6. The war has stopped because they didn't find the WMD's in Ala Mhigo that the empires leaders swore would be there....

I lol'd a lil

[Malumultimus]

The reason the Garlean empire hasn't invaded the remaining four city-states is because they formed an alliance (including Ishgard) to offer each other protection after the fall of Ala Mhigo, putting their differences and ceaseless battles aside them. Though the Garlean empire is strong strong, it's not strong enough to overthrow the power of four nations, I'm sure.

Sal-whatever isn't part of the alliance?

[Khamsin]

I wonder if FFXIV will ever add any special systems that FFXI had, like level sync or synergy or magian-style upgrades and the like. Maybe not at launch, but a few years down the road.

[SkullRobot]

It'd be just so nice if they took a page from a dozen of their own games and made mobs with various body parts that you can target. Haven't seen any mention of it yet though ;/

Didn't they do this with the hydra in FFXI? But I agree this would be pretty nice to have. I really hope they add in a monster similar to the adamantoise in FFXIII. I enjoyed taking that mob down and think it would be pretty cool to have your party attacking different legs to "stun" them so he falls and can do real damage for a short period.

[Firehawk]

I wonder if FFXIV will ever add any special systems that FFXI had, like level sync or synergy or magian-style upgrades and the like. Maybe not at launch, but a few years down the road.

I think the game will be very basic compared to FFXI at launch+around 6 months or so after launch.

Then we could hope for some complex systems that add another level of gameplay to the game.

[Kachi]

thatd be awesome, but its just too much for an MMO.

I can't imagine it would be. It's not all that different from having separate mobs partied up. Games on the PS1 had this feature for every enemy in the game. We're just talking about very simply breaking up large enemies into 2-5 body parts.

I dont see why they couldn't do this for large NM's or boss fights the same way they do it in single player FF games. I would imagine it would be very difficult to do for general mobs.

Also, if they added if for normal mobs, then it should realistically be added for players too. How annoying would it be to be killed by an easy mob because they got a lucky hit on your legs and your lying face down while they wail on you?

Adding it for players might be too much.

[Kachi]

Didn't they do this with the hydra in FFXI? But I agree this would be pretty nice to have. I really hope they add in a monster similar to the adamantoise in FFXIII. I enjoyed taking that mob down and think it would be pretty cool to have your party attacking different legs to "stun" them so he falls and can do real damage for a short period.

They did.

It's a relatively straightforward addition for something that adds quite a bit of strategy to the game.

[Kiarax]

admin: Removed as per NDA

[Jinko]

honestly... tl;dr,

You've done this several times now, why even bother to reply to someone if you didn't read his/her post.

Like the Elezens mask (or is this photoshoped lol) and that Ahriman looks pretty menacing.

[Lucavi]

I wonder if FFXIV will ever add any special systems that FFXI had, like level sync or synergy or magian-style upgrades and the like. Maybe not at launch, but a few years down the road.

Every MMO adds "special systems" as both a response to a need to keep customers fresh and engaged, and as a response to learning to push the hardware used to create the game farther and farther.

MMOs typically streamline as their life cycle goes on. FFXI introduced merits, level sync and upgradable relics, and WoW introduced phased zones and the dungeon finder.

Shoot, if you want to talk about special systems, look at EVE. SE has enough intelligence in the brains department (no pun intended) to cook up some nice ideas, or maybe even carry over ideas that they simply couldn't implement into the restrictive hardware of FFXI's engine.

[Hyan]

Dungeon finder would definitely be cool. Although I've heard that it kinda kills the social aspect of grouping, but I think that can be avoided by making the grouping need some communication to work.

Like, even if you're in a group you still play "individually" and do not cooperate much with others. That shouldn't happen imo.

[Battlecat]

You've done this several times now, why even bother to reply to someone if you didn't read his/her post.

Like the Elezens mask (or is this photoshoped lol) and that Ahriman looks pretty menacing.

Yeah, thanks for putting me in my place, I've realized what I've been doing wrong, I'll never give someone positive feedback ever again. Sorry for being such an ass dude.

Or it was a very long post and I don't care to speculate on the story, because I'd rather experience the story with fresh eyes when the game comes out, so I stopped reading after a few paragraphs and it was fairly obvious that the guy might have missed some of the early dev interviews so I gave him some positive feedback to let him know he's on the right track, and you're just an idiot. Well... the "you're just an idiot" bit wasn't in the original post... I just added that. How bout you get back under your bridge and don't worry about what I'm doing.