I was hoping we were past the ancients/allag/garlemald, but alas, here we are.
Your examples + the map for Elpis and the maps inside Pandae fights use proto-alphabet just like the maps in Norvrandt use Norvrandt Standard. And while EE3 which has always been an "in universe" encyclopedia I do find it extremely hard to believe they would show what they believed to be Ancient writing and then immediately use that writing in a new zone without a real purpose.
And you're right. It could be a people who stumbled upon Ancient script and used it. It could be Lopporits who fell off the moon for all we know. Whichever way it ends up being, it is proto-alphabet which means there is going to be Ancient connections which is what people are concerned about. It's very bizarre all around.
I like it! Here's some speculation:
https://i.imgur.com/lWV10L7.jpg
It was one of my favorite moments of the presentation actually. Like they set up Tural wonderfully with the lush jungles, illuminated forest and wild west saloons, and then suddenly we are in a Cyberpunk New York! I cannot wait to find out just what Solution 9 is and who runs it. Is it in the future/past? Under Tural or somewhere else? What culture created it, and are they still inhabiting it? Whilst I was looking forward to the adventure anyway, this has made me a little more excited to see what the MSQ will throw at us.
The opposite. Right before they showed it I felt like everything they had showed was just copy-pasted from Thavnair.
And I was expecting them to have a Moon-like reveal for a new weird area. If anything Solution 9 is more grounded and realistic than what I expected.
Opposite for me. Other than the glowing forest, everything else looked exactly the same as other zones we've already seen. Solution 9 looks intriguing and I look forward to learning more about.
For sure. It's super easy to overlook. I was confused myself when I heard this yesterday and had to check, but lo and behold the maps are indeed written in Proto-Alphabet and not Eorzean.
Pretty definitive that Sector 9 has Ancient connections, but what they are and to what extent is still to be seen.
I'm all for Seeing if we'll have to AGAIN "Party Like It's 2023" in the Vaguely "' '"Dimension Neptunia City.
Wonder how many Shares-/-Lores gonna be needed to Start "Chippin In" to the Raid.
All things aside, it's honestly the least jarring thing.
It's all just wondering how they'll tie everything together.
I'm starting to no longer worry about the past. I just wished we had a remnant piece of crystal to carry with me(in memory)