Revelations from Gamescom 2019

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Originally Posted by QT_Melon

I'm confused as to why this would be the case? Can't people be around that were friends? If anything Hythlodaeus shows just how important Emet's people were to him, and not just a "CW show/incestuous" "everyone is related in this universe" kind of thing?

It's also a bit more poignant for us as well. That we get a glimpse of our past selves and those that meant something to us as well during that dialog. It felt like talking to a wise uncle/relative that was there probably times when we were down - even though we were considered one of the wise members 14th that we did have people around us that we probably confided in. The fact that Hythlodaeus knew about our personality and found what happened to us fitting.

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Its not a matter of one being more poignant than the other it was just one of my theories being squashed. I never thought we would be a lover to Emet in any way.

In the whole the whole not being more poignant than the other that is false both can be as poignant as long as it is written to be so... (my whole crying post was written before I went to sleep).

I always knew that my theory was just what it was a theory and could be shown to be false. *shrugs* I even admitted as much before. In the end I still want to know who we were back in Amaurot and how we ended up being who we are now. And now I'll say this for a 3rd or 4th time... I hope we start to remember bits and pieces of our original life during the msq.

Thanks for posting this summary! Some interesting stuff here!

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Originally Posted by Iscah

A post in General Discussion has a rough but complete transcript now.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...n-Gamescom-Q-A

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I'm glad to see your questions got answered. They were really good.

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Originally Posted by Gula

I'm glad to see your questions got answered. They were really good.

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Thanks! I threw a lot of questions at them, so it was good to see a few got though.

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Originally Posted by Rannie

Its not a matter of one being more poignant than the other it was just one of my theories being squashed. I never thought we would be a lover to Emet in any way.

In the whole the whole not being more poignant than the other that is false both can be as poignant as long as it is written to be so... (my whole crying post was written before I went to sleep).

I always knew that my theory was just what it was a theory and could be shown to be false. *shrugs* I even admitted as much before. In the end I still want to know who we were back in Amaurot and how we ended up being who we are now. And now I'll say this for a 3rd or 4th time... I hope we start to remember bits and pieces of our original life during the msq.

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Aww when I say incestuous it wasn't meant that Emet and the WoL are lovers I meant that in a lot of TV show universes everyone is too closely related, and extras...are extremely rare. It was nice to have more worldbuilding than just our relation to Emet, and how significant without others being present.

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Originally Posted by QT_Melon

Aww when I say incestuous it wasn't meant that Emet and the WoL are lovers I meant that in a lot of TV show universes everyone is too closely related, and extras...are extremely rare. It was nice to have more worldbuilding than just our relation to Emet, and how significant without others being present.

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That is true....

Though now the more I think about it though the last lines of Emet can now have a more deeper meaning than just the whole dont forget we existed... it can also have been a plea as well for the WoL to remember who he/she was... (ahh the speculations running rampant in my mind.)

Questions 2, 3, and 19 were mine. So happy right now. lol

The answer to question three went a direction I wasn't thinking (I meant, like as part of 5.0, was there something we generally hadn't noticed as players yet and did they want to hint at it), but now I'll certainly be going and checking Stormblood stuff again. But hey, he answered the Hythlodeus speculation in it, too, so that was cool. :D

EDIT: Oh, and credit where credit's due, I know I'm hardly the first to wonder if G'raha stopped physically aging. I was just the one who verbalized it in that particular thread.

Hmmm I'm wondering though does he mean the quests that are part of the post stormblood story line or was he meaning the start of shb?

Btw thanks moose for this thread. Much appreciated.

I love how Yoshida was like, "Wow, these people are so well researched!" and it's just all you nerds at my favorite campfire.

Long live the lore forum.

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Originally Posted by Noitems

Bozja Citadel was where the Garlean's first attempt to contact/use Dalamud, and it fired a beam that destroyed an entire city and killed Cid's father. Found this on a reddit post, but it's taken from EE1.

The more interesting part to me is that Bozja is located in Othard, and many people thought it was going to be related to Stormblood's story because of it. Some people were debating on if the Burn itself was actually the remains of Bozja where could be feasible but I think that's more of the focus on repeated primal summoning which is also what the dungeon briefing for 4.4 says as well.

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Just need to clarify this a bit:

The Burn was not created by repeated primal summons. It was created when the Allagans used an aetheric siphon (known today as the House of the Crooked Coin on the Azim Steppe) to cut off the circulation of aether to the region, excavated the aether-starved land, and launched it into the sky; those bits of land are what we know as Azys Lla. The siphon was never turned off after the fall of Allag, creating what came to be known as the Burn. That it was the result of repeated primal summons is simply something Solus (a.k.a. Emet-Selch) lied to the Garleans about to excuse justify the "eternal conquest" mentality he imparted them with.

The rest is correct - Bozja Citadel was the testing site of the Lunar Transmitter, which destroyed the city and killed Midas nan Garlond. The GNB questline also reveals that it was a major Hrothgar city.

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Originally Posted by Rannie

Hmmm I'm wondering though does he mean the quests that are part of the post stormblood story line or was he meaning the start of shb?

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I'm thinking Yoshida *might* have been referencing the prophetic dialogue that the Khan of the Mol can give us during the SB patch quests?

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

I love how Yoshida was like, "Wow, these people are so well researched!" and it's just all you nerds at my favorite campfire.

Long live the lore forum.

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And he says that to the lore question I threw out there while also thinking to myself, "They won't answer this, its too narrow." lol Whelp.

Hmmm time to stop screwing around on my alt and get her to sb.... she's almost done with hw..... gd it I really wish New Game + was available now. You only get so much from what cutscenes they give you in the unending journey...

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Originally Posted by AmemeAmeklin

Now I have to check back on cutscenes to see how our mask is different from Hythlodaeus's...it looked the same to me but it was a vague, faraway glimpse.

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Okay, I got some screenshots.

https://img2.finalfantasyxiv.com/acc...1e7766afaa.jpg
https://img2.finalfantasyxiv.com/acc...7bb47ed03c.jpg

I dunno, it's impossible to actually tell what shape that mask is...although there don't seem to be any eye holes or a beak for sure.

So with the whole notion of hazy memories of the ancient world still residing in the memories of some, besides potentially giving us a hint as to what the Twelve are (Hades's analogies to Nald'thal, ranging from the sign of Gemini, to his aspect of death and domain of sorcery have been noted), I think it also may be an answer as to why Sharlayan has some similarities with Amaurot, like its style of government, its focus on acquiring knowledge and reverence of it and its non-interventionist attitude, as well as the ancient Greek elements to its architecture. We know there was at least one Ascian active there (Emmerololth on Val), but I wonder if it ever piqued their interest and whether others have invested some time there. Even just being the origin point for many a Scion must intrigue some of them.

Insofar as 6.0 is concerned, I wouldn't be surprised if Sharlayan is a potential destination. As it stands, there's a lot of similarities in the aesthetics of Sharlayan and what we saw in Amaurot. Akademia Anyder and Saint Mocianne's Arboretum bear a lot of similarities, for instance.

It's interesting as well that the WOL as an Ancient would have a mask differentiating them from the rest of the council and citizenry. The sidequests tell us that they all dress the same intentionally to prevent the seeds of jealousy and whatnot. Perhaps the WOL was special even then and had a unique mask OR each of the council had a unique mask to denote their position I.E. The Emissary etc.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

That answers two questions in one. Our souls are rejoined, and that means everyone - not just selected special ones.

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Good to finally have a confirmation on that. But then that means that after the 7th calamity somehow all these souls from the shard just flew over the lands and rejoined with their counterpart. Quite interesting that nobody has noticed something like that?

Otherwise good to know that some of us were quite right that Hythlo and the WoL are not the same person and that "Ascian" was not the name for all Ancient beings.

I do wonder why Emet created such imperfect illusions. It would be understandable for the normal shades but why do that for those he counted as friends? Is that a hint that Emet truly does not remember them exactly thus that they too do not have the perfect memory? Or is it just the case that SE did not want to give them faces because its more work? Would have been nice to see that because then we might have been able to see if they have some hints of other races in them or if they have complete new faces.

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Originally Posted by Alleo

I do wonder why Emet created such imperfect illusions. It would be understandable for the normal shades but why do that for those he counted as friends? Is that a hint that Emet truly does not remember them exactly thus that they too do not have the perfect memory? Or is it just the case that SE did not want to give them faces because its more work? Would have been nice to see that because then we might have been able to see if they have some hints of other races in them or if they have complete new faces.

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It could also be taken as a sign of ever present grief. If I was in his position, doomed to wander for hundreds upon hundreds of eras with the smallest hope that I might one day be reunited with my loved ones, I don't think I could stomach seeing false copies of them running about during what we know to be their last day. The weight of that grief alone would be too much to bear, particularly watching as loved ones happily went about the very same routine that would end in their deaths, and thus a more anonymous representation would be preferred. It could also be a form of guilt, an unwillingness to let those he loved see how far he's fallen to bring them back. Though given Emet's determination and 'it's not really murder' line in regards to being called out for the countless acts of genocide he's been party to it seems unlikely.

I'm sure the team will come up with a lore reason down the line but for now I do honestly think it was a 'let's not create more work for ourselves' sort of situation.

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Originally Posted by Lauront

On that point, was it confirmed that it is made of his own aether, or is this an inference from it being a familiar (unless that in turn confirms it)?

It's also worth recalling that whilst fragmented, some souls on the First do still possess the Echo, which could be the case with him. That, plus an unfamiliar fighting style, may have proved enough to temporarily allow him to hold off the WoL... until it wasn't enough.

He is an interesting character and I am glad they avoided going down the "part Sin Eater" route for him, because I feel it'd cheapen it somewhat as a plot angle, given that it had already been used for Vauthry.

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The A rank Hurracan in Khoulsia is said to be made up of Ran'jit's father's aether, it is exactly the same as Ran'jit's serpent just bigger, this could be due to Ran'jit's father transferring more aether to it as he became a sin eater. So Ran'jit's serpent is just his aether made manifest with his martial style he learned from his father, so yea he truly fought us on his own power with no help which is actually really nice to hear, as it means ordinary mortals can have enough power to stand up to us if they undergo enough training/experience without needing to resort to magical merguffin like the resonant/echo/primal etc.

Now whether it was a good thing it was a being born on the First rather than the Source that did this is debatable especially given the revelations from ShB that we were 8/14 complete at that point while Ran'ji was just 1/14.

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Originally Posted by Enla

It could also be taken as a sign of ever present grief. If I was in his position, doomed to wander for hundreds upon hundreds of eras with the smallest hope that I might one day be reunited with my loved ones, I don't think I could stomach seeing false copies of them running about during what we know to be their last day. The weight of that grief alone would be too much to bear, particularly watching as loved ones happily went about the very same routine that would end in their deaths, and thus a more anonymous representation would be preferred. It could also be a form of guilt, an unwillingness to let those he loved see how far he's fallen to bring them back. Though given Emet's determination and 'it's not really murder' line in regards to being called out for the countless acts of genocide he's been party to it seems unlikely.

I'm sure the team will come up with a lore reason down the line but for now I do honestly think it was a 'let's not create more work for ourselves' sort of situation.

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I would also agree with this since you notice his slouching became worse when he was in the city. Hythlodaeus dialog about the weight/burden while you saw him walk through the city especially hammered down that tone.

It was a heartbreaking scene, but I think it was parallel to the tone in counterpart to us (WoL) he took the task alone because he felt it was his duty (but lot of it was he HAD to do it alone due to the circumstances). Whereas we the WoL had friends and were told that despite our Sin Eater predicament we have friends to help us endure it.

I'm honored that my question (question 21) was answered.

Thank you, Yoshi, Oda, and the FFXIV community team!

Been unable to visit forums for a good while because of work, literally stumbled into the Q&A elsewhere and started yelling when I saw some of my questions got picked!

9, 11, 15, and 20 were me. Beyond stunned, but really happy they seemed to be amused by some of them!

9 I'm glad to know that it seems they did have some idea early even if it wasn't totally fleshed out yet, deeply amused they decided to answer 11 but also hyped because insight to Lahabrea and Elidibus characterization.

15 I'm just like THANK GOD OMG, need that Sabik lore haha.

And 20 is just a ton of fun. Hope one day they hit Ancient Egypt and/or subsaharran Africa aesthetics because they're crazy interesting. Latter, Sudano-Sahelian architecture is super distinct in particular--idk if there's a remote chance of seeing it but would be really neat. Was unbelievably excited to see Mayan/Aztec influence for Rak'tika so who knows what's next!

lol I saw them answer the Sabik question and was like "I know at least three people who will now be ecstatic for a month". XD

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Originally Posted by Enla

Though given Emet's determination and 'it's not really murder' line in regards to being called out for the countless acts of genocide he's been party to it seems unlikely.

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Probably going to slip off the forums again for a bit soon, but want to present the possibility real quick that Emet-Selch had to believe/tell himself that because the alternative is that he's been committing genocide against billions of actual people, all of whom are on some level still pieces of the Amaurotines he loves.

He is doing whatever he believes necessary to bring them all back, but seriously. The alternative to the idea that it doesn't count as murder is that it does. There's no way he would have been able to avoid going insane under that reality.

There's room to debate of course, but the "unreliable narrator" possibility is one way to interpret things and puts an interesting spin on his characterization.

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Originally Posted by Alleluia

lol I saw them answer the Sabik question and was like "I know at least three people who will now be ecstatic for a month". XD

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Lmao Alleluia I was basically beside byself hyped when I saw that! Month is in fact 100% made. XD

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Originally Posted by Jaywalker

Probably going to slip off the forums again for a bit soon, but want to present the possibility real quick that Emet-Selch had to believe/tell himself that because the alternative is that he's been committing genocide against billions of actual people, all of whom are on some level still pieces of the Amaurotines he loves.

He is doing whatever he believes necessary to bring them all back, but seriously. The alternative to the idea that it doesn't count as murder is that it does. There's no way he would have been able to avoid going insane under that reality.

There's room to debate of course, but the "unreliable narrator" possibility is one way to interpret things and puts an interesting spin on his characterization.

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Honestly that's the interpretation I like. I personally don't think he genuinely believes that we "aren't alive" or whatever nonsense he threw at us. He made his point about moral relativism clear, but of course what other option does he have? Either he believes the ends justify the means, or he doesn't. Either he convinces himself his cause is just enough to justify the wholesale slaughter of worlds, or he doesn't.

Either he's a murderer, or he's not - because if the ones he kills aren't people by his definition, then is he really a killer?

What I love about Emet is that he's nuanced as a character. I don't think he thinks so little of us as to write us off as a being that isn't even alive. I think he wanted to be wrong, and he wanted us to be the ones to prove him wrong, and when we didn't, he had to convince himself that we were a lost cause, nothing but an empty husk to be destroyed and erased and forgotten. Because if he's wrong, and that "trick of the light" he saw in that last cutscene wasn't a trick after all, then he'd have to acknowledge us as people - and as fragments of an old friend.

I'm super tired and half asleep right now, so this might not be coming out wholly coherent. But basically I think that a lot of what Emet says shouldn't be taken at face value. He's an old, bitter, angry man who's lost everything and taken on an incredible burden, and he's been so dedicated to his cause, to ensuring that his and his people's pain and loss weren't for nothing, that he has no other path to choose. He has to be right, even if he'd rather be wrong about us, because he's well past the point of no return.

And I'm not convinced that he believes that it's not really murder at all.

I feel it is worth reminding people that he openly admitted that all the Ascians were tempered by Zodiark. That probably colored their view of what was justifiable somewhat.

these were really good questions im looking foward to learning more especialy about sabik.

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Originally Posted by Eyvind

I don't know what plans they do, or did have the Heart of Sabik, but note that Sabik is a star in the constellation Opiuchus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Ophiuchi

Ophiuchus's other, older name is Serpentarius. Which is an alternative name for Zodiark in the Ivalice games where he was introduced: https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki..._and_symbolism

Therefore, Sabik=part of Serpentarius=Zodiark

Make of that what you will.

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Lahabread did say "Behold but a sliver of my gods power" or something along these lines so it seems its a given.

But id love for it to be expanded more in general

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Originally Posted by Iscah

That answers two questions in one. Our souls are rejoined, and that means everyone - not just selected special ones.

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There could still be "special" souls. Everyone gets rejoined, but in the case of normal souls (the ones formed from the natural Lifestream cycle), they just gain more Aether (become "denser"). In the case of those whose souls are those of a Sundered Ancient (and therefore do not dissolve into the Lifestream), they gain another piece of a specific soul, rather than just more generic soulstuff.

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Originally Posted by Jaywalker

He is doing whatever he believes necessary to bring them all back, but seriously. The alternative to the idea that it doesn't count as murder is that it does. There's no way he would have been able to avoid going insane under that reality.

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I agree with this. He probably has a mantra he repeats to himself, every time he feels himself starting to form an attachment to one or more of these pitiful, ephemeral beings: "They aren't truly alive, they aren't real. Things will be better when they are whole - better for THEM, even. This is for the good of us all..."

Especially NOW; the sunk cost fallacy is STRONG. To stop now would be unthinkable. Even if they were willing to acknowledge the murders they've committed, if they were to cut things off all those murders would have been in vain, cruel sacrifices for no purpose. Eight worlds full of life extinguished, and that doesn't even include the horrendous loss of life on the Source with each Rejoining. They may feel they OWE it to those lost to see things through - and each new murder is another obligation on the pile...

Lahabrea might have ties to Sabik. Sabik is a star in the constellation of Ophiuchus, the 13th constellation in the zodiac.in real life. Ophiuchus and Zodiark are linked since FFT, where Elidibis was a hidden boss in Deep Dungeon, who had the Zodiac sign of Serpentarius/Ophiuchus(depending on translation). He had the unique summon Zodiark, which could be learned by a Summoner if they were hit with it.

Maybe Lahabrea he's original name is Sabik? Or Sabik was the name of the main person in the Convocation to initiate the summoning?

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Originally Posted by Theodric

It's a shame that those who reside on the First lack the same potential as those on the Source by virtue of not being as complete. That really puts a dampener on my desire to role-play a resident of the First. Not because I wish to play a powerful character but it because it indirectly makes them much less relevant in the grand scheme of things.

It does make sense from the perspective of all the excess aether having to go somewhere, at least - and it's not as if we didn't see some on the First put up an excellent fight even faced with the Warrior of Light as an opponent.

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First RP is always going to be pretty limited anyway as we go back to the Source or other worlds in future expansions anyway. Unless SE actuall makes an RP friendly means of traveling between worlds.

Deleting. Wrong thread :3

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

20. In XIV we've seen civilizations influenced by Mayans and Aztecs, by Middle Eastern cultures, by East Asian culture, etc. Are there any real-world influences that we haven't seen implemented yet that you're interested on touching upon in the future?[INDENT]Oda: That will be the case in the future, I think, because when we create new areas or countries we often use real countries and cultures as references. But what culture we pick next will be a big spoiler, so I can’t talk about that.

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Do you think Meracydia will be based on Egipt? It is a major civilation they have not touched yet and sun was very important there.

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Originally Posted by Erendis

Do you think Meracydia will be based on Egipt? It is a major civilation they have not touched yet and sun was very important there.

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If they do that I am going to scream a lot because my WoL/D is Meracydian by birth (raised in an island south of Old Sharlayan) and by having her being a Seeker of the Sun (cats), her guardian deity being Azeyma and being a native Meracydian, if Meracydia turns out to be Egypt-based I will have just hit the jackpot.

We do know Sephirot draws quite a bit from old Jewish culture, and Judea was not very far from the lands Ancient Egypt ruled over. That, and the fact Egyptians and Hebrews coexisted for a long time before the whole slavery shabang. There is context for that if it were the case.

Well, Qarn seems to have some Egyptian influence and it resembles the Meracydian "cathedral" in Azys Lla...

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Originally Posted by Iscah

Well, Qarn seems to have some Egyptian influence and it resembles the Meracydian "cathedral" in Azys Lla...

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Qarn (which definitely has Ancient Egyptian influence) was of Belah'dian origin, if I recall correctly? Which incidentally was a nation whose patron deity was Azeyma... And in Qarn HM there is this puzzle-seal-thing with the sun / moon / star gems...

Crud. Now I want to know more about Belah'dia.

I always envisioned Meracydia as Australia (southern continent that's mostly wasteland) and so its inhabitants as Aboriginals.

I don't know what the country north of Ala Mhigo is other than it has town called Terncliff.

Terncliff has the Italian seaside villa aesthetic going for it and I'd like to see more of that.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

I don't know what the country north of Ala Mhigo is other than it has town called Terncliff.

Terncliff has the Italian seaside villa aesthetic going for it and I'd like to see more of that.

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Oh that's simple, it's the "region of Ilsabard that has Werlyt as it's capital".

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Originally Posted by ShadowMeowth

Qarn (which definitely has Ancient Egyptian influence) was of Belah'dian origin, if I recall correctly? Which incidentally was a nation whose patron deity was Azeyma... And in Qarn HM there is this puzzle-seal-thing with the sun / moon / star gems...

Crud. Now I want to know more about Belah'dia.

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Qarn wasn't built by Belha'dia, it was already old before Belah'dia was even formed (the description for it in the Duty Finder mentions how it predated "this Sixth Astral Era civilization" and that generations of Belah'dian sultans added more and more of their own embelishments and modifications to the place, suggesting it was definetely at least pre-Sixth Astral Era, possibly even older.

My guess is something around Third Astral Era, aka, around the time of the rise of the Allagan Empire, as Allagan structures have always been part of Thanalan since 1.0, with the 'Royal Allagan Starway' and 'Royal Allagan Sunway' roads still in use in the present day, so an Allagan-era origin for Qarn is as good as any).

Also those minaret-like structures found partially buried in the sand in Southern Thanalan like at Byregot's Strike are very similar to the structures found near the Crystal Tower in Mor Dhona at Saint Coinach's Find, and also, Qarn's structure resembles the other ruins found in Eastern Thanalan around Highbridge and the appropriately named 'Invisible City' soooo... I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.