7.0 Concept – Sins of Meracydia (Fanmade)

I actually wish we could have a world map that looks like the one the fans made in this post.

The world map we got in game looks like an afterthought and even when the game launched was already heavily outdated (like a lot of the systems in this game sadly).

XIV has never seemed terribly into leaning on high fantasy for world design, instead preferring to draw heavily from real world inspiration and injecting its own lore into it to create something that is simultaneously familiar but fantastic.

That said with Meracydia implied to be a mix of Africa and Australia I'm expecting to see environs like savannah, deserts, jungle, and rainforest, though given the former Allagan presence there a more outlandish zone akin to Azys Lla also seems probable.

As far as the local culture goes, not much is known outside one of the minion descriptions suggesting Egyptian influences in at least part of the region.

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Originally Posted by SeverianLyonesse

Meh. Absolutely nothing about this proposal resonates with my personal tastes, strikes me as good design, or even seems particularly likely to happen other than the general prospect of visiting Meracydia and maybe a Minwu cameo.

In particularity to what is in this thread and not other proposals elsewhere: I don't really see an actual *point* to your story, any grander themes or commentary. HW was about religious institutions and the perpetuation of tribal conflicts. SB was about the tragedies of war and colonialism. ShB was about class inequality, zealotry, and exceptionalist/regressivist ideologies. EW was about existentialism and fascism.

I simply do not see the devs putting out a generic expansion that just faffs about in fantasyland. So the best productive commentary I can give to you is: what is *your* story *about*? What makes it valuable to the player beyond just being escapism (which every other game does)?

If you read the full plot synopsis and additional material under the Further Analysis spoiler tag, the way in which I set things up becomes clear. What my 7.0 concept is largely about is scaling back the game down from the cosmic level expansion we just experienced and grounding us in a new land that draws from Final Fantasy. It's back to being an adventurer on a mission this time around, without having gods running amock in the background.

Meracydia already had its hands full warring over what little land is actually useful for growing crops-combine a continent where every country despises each other on top of the elements being thrown out of order and you have a recipe for disaster. However, when King Matthias discovers the Fathercrystal at the crater he knows he can gain an advantage and is unashamed to wield its power for his own ends. As an antagonist, he is a selfish and abusive individual whose grandfatherly like veneer masks how manipulative and egocentric he is.

To that end, he cheers on his son, Prince Henry as he continues to grow into a more violent and unstable individual that goes so far as to butcher a baby dragon while one of his daughters is drawn into religious fanaticism. His other daughter, who appeared to have no chance of ever inheriting the throne, is basically a Rapunzel in the tower situation who'd like to see the world beyond, and becomes entranced by these foreign heroes. With her coming to power by story's end, at last the country has a hope to someday see lasting peace in stark contrast to the legacy of previous monarchs. That being said the Burmecians and the noble houses of Treno are presently uninterested in peace-they want land and resources to survive.

The Mysidians play a role similar to the Viera guarding the Ronkan ruins, they do not want people poking around Lufenia. They also would much rather be left alone, but given the instability of the continent when something like the Fathercrystal lands straight into Cherbourg's lap they cannot sit idly by. The events after the final battle also serve to re-establish two dominant supernatural forces in the game: the void, helmed by the Dark Goddess, and the light, represented by the God. This sets the stage for an overarching conflict that can culminate in the final expansion of season 2.

There is a lot going on in the setting I set up so I understand if not everything gets across on the first read through, it is indeed a story with its own ups, downs, and shocking moments, drawing from a little bit of everything. I could go on in further depth but there is only so much that can fit into a single post-I'm surprised that the magic I worked behind the scenes to format it worked as well as it did.

In any case, I set out to create a concept for a Final Fantasy game, and focused on the elements that resonated with me most strongly. You can sell me and most Fantasy lovers out there an expansion based on the forces of nature being thrown into chaos and kingdom vs. kingdom conflicts. However, Final Fantasy XIV: Australia is not something the majority of people would even be remotely interested in. My target audience is for people who loved games like Heavensward, FFIX, FFIV, FF12, Dragon Age, and so on. I made an active decision to veer away from Africa because simply put I am not interested in playing FFXIV: Assasin's Creed Origins, and steered away from too much of a technological presence because that isn't something to lead in with heavily at the start of a season's ark, certainly not anymore that the dominant mechanized empire in the world has now collapsed.

I don't think there's too much in Meracydia, the main bits known about the place is their war with the Allagan Empire and the Miqo'te coming over to Eorzea from there during the 5th Umbral Calamity. And I don't think anyone's really checked there after the Sixth and Seventh Calamities...

If anything, I could see the place kind of being an Eureka/Bozja styled side content to try and go see what's been going on there and maybe setup a colony in there...