There are some surprisingly hardcore FATEs out there, though. *cough*Highbridge*cough*Quote:
Originally Posted by Nalien
Patch 3.4 - Soul Surrender
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09-15-2016, 08:28 AMFenral
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09-15-2016, 10:13 AMNalienFew and far between, and even then, ultimately meaningless... We have no Astral Candescence to defend and take back, instead we get a minion vendor... Do once and forget, pretty much... Then you've got stuff that just goes off the deep end, like Odin... Besieged was a rare enough little event, but at least I could actively monitor it... Been a very long time indeed since I've seen Odin, and even the new Heavensward ones I've rarely glimpsed... Don't even get me started on the rewards or repercussions... Nothing destroys my view of a world more than what we see with Odin... Beat him? Yay, the Black Shroud is saved! Failed to beat him? Err, the Black Shroud is still saved? Wat... None of these things have particularly relevant rewards, either... Odins drop could have acted as a nice entry requirement for his Trial, in a similar manner to how 1.x Trials worked, but we apparently can't have that level of complexity in the game... Lord forbid they build a world, rather than a glorified lobby...Quote:
Originally Posted by Fenral
Wait, what? This thread is about 3.4 lore? Not my personal misgivings with certain design choices? Oh shi-! *Scrambles to check what was being discussed earlier* Oh, the guy in the mask? It's Stanly Ipkiss, duh... Excuse me while I go edit the scene where Ilberd cast Enfire... Sssssmokin'!
No but seriously, if it's not Ilberd, or someone in cahoots with him, I'd be shocked... I could see 3.4 kicking off with us returning to the events of Ul'dah and tracking Yda/Ilberd down (he is still a wanted criminal, after all), trail leads us to the rebel baseon Yavin IVin the Sunken Temple... Ifrit gets summoned, we rush to check it out, Derplander makes short work of him instead... Thancred and Alisaie show up, exposition dump that points us to Xelphatol, and the stage gets set for 3.5 and a final confrontation with Elidiboos (it's his new name, deal with it) best worst attempt at convincing me he has a point... I do wonder if Yda will return, given we'll seemingly be running into the group they've been staying with... Poor Tataru if so... She'll have to make a new outfit for Alisaie, Yda, and that other one...
EDIT
Lily Hills confirmed to be for Apartments... RIP all my hopes and dreams... You'll be missed, Hamlet Defense... Instead it looks like we're getting glorified Retainer Ventures for our exciting new Grand Company content...Quote:
Originally Posted by Nalien
Sophia preview next please? Or a trailer? This is getting depressing... -
09-16-2016, 01:12 AMTheodric
We'll likely get the trailer on Saturday, I think. Alongside the second half of the Live Letter and patch preview. That should give us a few new scraps of lore to tide us over until 3.4 goes live. In regards to the 'Side Story Preview', though, I find myself lamenting the lack of serious side quests. I won't make it any secret - I absolutely loathe Hildibrand and the 'humour' associated with him. He was funny as a one off thing but then he became obnoxious. He is popular though - but I do feel saddened that he shows up in almost every major patch (bar a few exceptions) and that we seemed to have much more variety back in the 2.0 patch cycle in regards to intriguing side quests.
The Moogle Delivery quests, for instance, fleshed out the game world and allowed us to revisit key/memorable NPC's so that we could 'catch up' with them or learn more about the game world. -
09-16-2016, 02:09 AMCiliaHamlet Defense not coming back (not that I even know what that is)?Quote:
Originally Posted by Nalien
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09-16-2016, 03:09 AMNalienSomething that could have made the beast tribes, and their primals (heck, maybe even the Garleans) feel like a creditable threat... Not through cutscenes or dialog just telling us they are, but through good old fashioned organic gameplay...Quote:
Originally Posted by Cilia
You know... "Show, don't tell" pretty aptly sums up my issues with much of the game recently... How did we go from End of an Era, to this? 2.0 was pretty much perfect, nobody ever needed to tell you Bahamut was srs bsns, you saw that he was in the opening, you saw the destruction from his rampage everywhere... When people then said he was a thread, it wasn't hard to believe... Fast forward to now, and what has Alexander done? What have any of the primals done? There are a few exceptions, but I read;
And I just can't take it seriously... What have the Ixali and Garuda actually done, what have we actually seen of them that really supports this kind of stuff? A bunch of Opo Opo are a bigger threat to Hyrstmill than the Ixali these days... Show me they're a threat, the same way Final Fantasy XI showed me that the Mamool Ja Savages were a threat... I don't think they ever said Gulool Ja Ja was dangerous in the story, they let the gameplay tell us that instead, and he was a serious threat, much more so than Garuda, or Alexander, or Odin... There were actual repercussions when he showed up, you didn't just die and respawn for a second attempt, you lost something in those battles... Sigh is that kind of subtlety and world building truly lost on modern gamers? Hamlet Defense could have been a truly amazing addition to this game, both for gameplay and for narrative... Instead they devolved it into FATEs and a bunch of pop culture references... Hamlet Defense was far from perfect, it was stuck in 1.0 after all, but the comparisons to Besieged were there, and one expected a shiny new engine to improve upon things, not the opposite... The lore of this game is really top notch, but some times I feel like I might as well just be reading a book or watching a movie, the gameplay often does very little to support it...Quote:
Yet the Ixal have never forgotten that which was once denied them, and so they seek divine intervention once moreāto summon Garuda and beseech her strike down their enemies. In the shadow of the First Mountain, the ritual nears completion, as a brave hero once more races against time to deliver the realm from destruction.
OK, I'm really done this time;
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cilia
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09-16-2016, 07:55 AMCilia
In all fairness, most games (especially JPRGs) are little more than glorified kinetic visual novels when you get down to it. The story advances in a single direction and failure or death just leads to reloading your last save and trying again, because failure means the world is doomed and the story can't continue.
Some games give you flex on this, but that ultimately comes down to choosing the ending - the inFamous series giving you the Hero or... Infamous endings, f'ex. Western RPGs (the Elder Scrolls series) do tend to give you more freedom in how the story advances, but ultimately all roads lead to the same ending.
Even if they did add something like what you want, the enemies would stop at some arbitrary point (i.e. Gridania's gates), meaning the threat would be just as hollow. All it would do is aggravate players who need to do content in that area - i.e. if the hostile Ixal took Fallgourd Float, it would irritate people who need to do some Ehcatl Nine dailies there but don't have the firepower to retake the settlement themselves (despite the story sometimes presenting us as such, in gameplay we are not one-man armies).
... open-world content with major repercussions story- and gameplay-wise is, regardless of personal taste or opinion, rather antiquated. If they added Hamlet Defense people would do it for the pluses, sitting around while waiting for it to start up (and get irritated by having to wait), then not touch it once they've gotten everything they want or need out of it. It would be just like the CT attunement FATEs except worse. (Cf. instanced content, which can be done via the Duty Finder with a random party or hard content with a dedicated group at any time you want until you get what you want, assuming you have the ability to clear said content. Much more convenient. That's not to say I don't understand the appeal of large-scale open-world content, but the amount of resources that would go into developing it isn't really justifiable and you'd get a lot of people irritated with various aspects of it. True of every piece of content, but remember the wise words of Kan-E-Senna...) -
09-16-2016, 12:54 PMMorningstar1337
I feel that a different concept form XI would get the danger across more (as much as they can without Gameplay/Story Segregation or sacrificing player convenience). Alternate Universes showing what will happen if we failed at any point our didn't exist (Say Ifrit. Titan and Leviathan tempered and took over the starting citystates. Nidhogg battling Garuda and Ravana for control of Ishagrd. Garlemald managing to conquer Eorzea etc.)
Given what we (don't) know about the Warriors of Darkness and that Hydaelyn confirmed the existance of paraellel worlds (and that some still remain IIRC), I think that 3.4 will be a great jumping point for this concept -
09-16-2016, 04:22 PMAmetrineI love Hildi's screwball storylines, but I would be more than willing to delay his next chapter if it meant Moogle Mail with 3.0 characters.Quote:
Originally Posted by Theodric
If only they were more popular! -
09-16-2016, 10:45 PMKallera
All im going to say of the content is that people want a change, and something like campaign, something with bigger consequenses on the world than the fates currently have, would be a nice way for players with the ilvls to use their shiny weapons on, without party limits.
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09-17-2016, 01:47 PMFrederick22
Ok, sophia.....
http://m.popkey.co/76b7ee/LmY5p.gif
All i can say is, congrats.... -
09-17-2016, 01:54 PMZhaneX
Alexander looks like such HYPE! Those fights looked incredible, and the gear from them looks beautiful!
As does Sophia. Can't wait to fight her, and see what the weapons from her EX are like. Not that I'll likely ever beat her...still haven't beaten SephEX...
And looks like any doubts are gone, we're headin' towards Ala Mhigo for 4.0. Should be fun.
Still disappointed in not even any news or updates regarding Ishgardian Housing. -
09-17-2016, 02:05 PMmyahele
So the WoD each have their own Crystal of Light (or Darkness?) as I have suspected. They may very well be capturing the defeated Primal's aether to power up these crystals? With there being 5 WoD with their own respective elemental crystal ... could there be a 6th member? Could that member be Urianger based on his comment?
Sophia also seem to have spoken dialogue in battle, hopefully she has a cutscene of her talking.
I also speculate the reason why that mask man was preaching outside Qarn was because it's in between Little Ala Mhigo and the Sepulcher Ala Mhigan settlement, maybe he hopes to unite both factions?
Lastly ... Garuda might be the boss or is a phase in Xelpaltol -
09-17-2016, 03:04 PMAnonymooseThat's my first-impression guess as of watching the JP trailer one time. We know that once you have a crystal you can use it for whatever, apparently. Ysayle was empowered by hers all the way through summoning primals and breaking down Ishgard's wards (though you could argue that it was all for the best in giving the Warrior of Light an opening to strike at the heart of the conflict).Quote:
Originally Posted by myahele
It'd be interesting to see them essentially being led down the road of Unukalhai's world - converting their Crystals of Light into auracite in order to have the power to stand against the Warrior of Light and their full set. Auracite might be empowering, but it's no containment vessel; it radiates the energies stored within and corrupts its wielders.
I hope so. I've missed hearing primals give their take on the world. Wrong? Sure. Worthless? Not entirely. Satisfying? Always.Quote:
Originally Posted by myahele
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09-17-2016, 03:12 PMToppeHatte
Wow, that speech Urianger gave at the end sounded pretty damning...
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09-17-2016, 03:23 PMChewy2nd
Why is Titan
killing Kobolds?! -
09-17-2016, 03:23 PMFrederick22
So Deep Dungeon 2nd part.
It seems all targets to ...Hades? -
09-17-2016, 03:24 PMNestama
Okay, Nybeth Obdilord being the Floor 100 boss of Palace of the Dead just seems more likely now... unless the colour of the robe is all a coincidence.
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/...20101109073939 -
09-17-2016, 03:31 PMChewy2ndWatching again it looks like Ifrit has done the same D:Quote:
Originally Posted by Chewy2nd
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09-17-2016, 03:39 PMRoclWhy indeed! So many questions raised. Really can't wait for the 27th now...Quote:
Originally Posted by Chewy2nd
Titan's eyes even appeared to glow red-orange during his Upheaval instead of his normal yellow -
09-17-2016, 03:49 PMFrederick22
This masked guy....
What do you think guys?
Is that... I dont know, it kind of seems like to obious, tipical "mesias/profet" kind of speach.
Is that his real voice or is like pretending? Is that I never heared a voice sounding like that but could be wrong. -
09-17-2016, 03:52 PMNariaIs that Urianger? It doesn't quite sound like it to me. I figured it wasQuote:
Originally Posted by ToppeHatte
Ilbredthe man in the mask.
EDIT:
Or not. Consulting the CS in game Ilbred is likely the man in the beginning of the trailer. Ugh I was (am still) hoping that Urianger is going to play Darklander and Co for fools. I'm getting really sick of the Scions getting stabbed in the back. -
09-17-2016, 03:57 PMCilia
If it's Ifrit killing Amalj'aa and Titan killing Kobolds... and the Warriors of Darkness who each seem to have their own Elemental Crystal... hmm... just speculation, but maybe they're able to turn the Primals against their own people with their [Dark] Elemental Crystals? Primals are bastardizations of Hydaelyn, after all... if they're using Crystals made from Zodiark's power, it would stand to reason they could infect Primals with "Dark Aether" and turn them against those they receive worship from... they're missing a sixth so there's one they can't effect, as far as we know. Possibly. [/Prophetic Ravings]
Well, it's 100% certain we're heading to Ala Mhigo now.
Not much else to say but the fights look intense. Sophia's music is interesting, like Ramuh's it's very different from the usual action-y Primal fight theme. (Am I strange for being interested in that? It's not like the story doesn't interest me, but there's not enough to make a deduction on except what was already pretty apparent...)
Probably not going to get to bash in Darklander's smug prick face. Still. In the fight scene with them it looked like he had DRG!Derplander bound in chains, so... -
09-17-2016, 04:00 PMADVSS
that ala mighan dude speaker sounds like derplanders voice, and looks like a mystic knight at the same time
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09-17-2016, 04:02 PMGarnix
I want Alphinaud's Carbuncle!
Did we ever saw this black Carbuncle before ?
Also, Ida is surprisingly missing in the trailer. They really do not want us to see her face :p
And...no new beast tribe this time ?? I guess that they didn't want us to have too much goblins in this patch...
Can't wait for the full patch note, and of course for the patch itselfs, as we are finally able to start moving forward, and forget about Nidhogg. -
09-17-2016, 04:04 PMZhaneXYoshi-P conspicuously silent on the topic of Pet Glamours, after 3.4 was supposedly going to see the first of their kind implemented...Quote:
Originally Posted by Garnix
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09-17-2016, 04:08 PMAnonymooseI believe that's the Obsidian Carbuncle he devised after meeting with Matoya; if I remember right he called it against the Garleans on Azys Lla.Quote:
Originally Posted by Garnix
The whole thing triggers a cascade of darksteelfoil hats for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cilia
I assume the PLD as the Earth Crystal, and the WHM the water. The missing one is Ice... We saw one of those break not long ago.For that matter, history always remembers twelve godlike beings - two sets of crystals, or simply the twelve Archons conflated with those blessed with the Crystals of Light? But that's all a house of cards. (Also Titan's eyes glow red! Red is fire! Fire is one umbral rotation from earth! Warriors of Darkness confirmed! <throws hat to the ground and steps on it>)
Still, the convictions held by the WoD, and that speech about villains over Urianger...
Constantly worried that my steadfast loyalty to Hydaelyn and mistrust of Elidibus is going to bite me in the arse, lol.
But ... in for a ponze in for a tonze. We can deal with the fallout when Darklander's not rocking the boat. <stoic nod, weapon draw> -
09-17-2016, 04:09 PMMorningstar1337Well of the monoaspected primals 5 of which are the patron of a Beastman tribe. The sixth was not but instead was summoned by a group of Spoken, with Ysayle being the catalyst. Since her sacrifice in Azys Lla, it might be possible to summon Shiva, but unlikely because the Heretics might have no reason to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cilia
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09-17-2016, 04:26 PMSaitoHikari
I want to propose an alternate theory.
The Warriors of Darkness didn't have their own crystals. The crystals you see are stolen from you. -
09-17-2016, 04:33 PMmyahele
After listing to it a few times I came up with a few bits of what I think the lyrics of Sophia's song
...an ancient rite, on her knees .... The ___asks for penance and into her soul the goddess whispers ...... on an empty heart the world can see (sing?)
There was also mention of wise men mentioned somewhere in her song, kinda fitting since Sophia = wisdom -
09-17-2016, 04:48 PMNariaThat could be an explanation as to why the player is so powerful--it is normally once crystal per warrior, but we have six. Six crystals for Hydaelyn and six crystals for Zodiark? If I recall correctly we got the Ice crystal from a confrontation with an Ascian early on, perhaps we have been using one of Zodiark's crystals and Yasyle had Hydaelyn's? But where does Krile stand in all this? She has the echo, the blessing, but we haven't seen her with a crystal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Anonymoose
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaitoHikari
That the crystals are stolen is also a possibility, but it still leaves Ice unaccounted for. Either way I'm now even more convinced that the Alliance leaders were extremely premature in declaring the Umbral Era over. The Dragonsong war seems like it is going to end up being the calm before the storm.
Either way I'm reaching incoherent levels of sleeplessness . . . so I'm going to go fix that. -
09-17-2016, 04:55 PMDualblade
Ice would be unaccounted for because we still have it. We would be put in a situation similar to what Midgarsomr did to us, but both better and worse. Worse in that a known enemy has taking Hydaelyn's power and using it for their own ends, better in that we still have some of it instead of losing all of it this time around.
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09-17-2016, 05:01 PMmyahele
I think they're in possession of the ice crystal
http://i.imgur.com/7RQsVge.png
The only one we can't see is water and earth, mostly because the Lalafell WoD can't be seen in this scene so we can't be sure which crystal she has. I do find it interesting that the crystals they have corresponds to the soul crystal of their respective jobs\
Also, dont we get the water crystal 1st no matter which city state we start in? -
09-17-2016, 05:13 PMAnonymooseHuh, so he does have ice. WHM earth then? Matches the Palace weapon theme, color-wise. Water is missing, then?Quote:
Originally Posted by myahele
Yes. I like to joke that it means Limsa Lominsa is canon.Quote:
Originally Posted by myahele
Creepy that your first completes their set, in that hypothetical case... (Also matches the blue DRG stone, interestingly.)
<crinkles his darksteelfoil nervously> -
09-17-2016, 05:37 PMTheodric
Ah, good. More fuel for my Warrior of Light x Warrior of Darkness ship. Ngh.
Regula and the Warrior of Darkness have such sexy voices.
(Yes, that is my contribution to this thread for now. Expect something more in-depth later when I'm more awake.) ;)
@Cyril: Art thou pleased? Elidibus! -
09-17-2016, 05:37 PMAmerida
So, I've been reading this forum for ages, but I finally decided to enable my account on here so I could post this. Watching the 3.4 trailer, I managed to pause and catch a glimpse at who it is Darklander has chained up. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the implications. It's Derplander.
I took a screencap. Look at his hair. And think about the outline of the armor. It's very much the set Derplander wears post change to DRG, just sans the helmet.
http://i.imgur.com/IJCxI3I.png -
09-17-2016, 05:43 PMZhaneXWell, given that he's generally the stand-in for Players, then that would mean that the one the Darklander chains up in the story is...us?Quote:
Originally Posted by Amerida
Hooray for the mighty Warrior of Light, Slayer of Gods and Finder of Truths, being reduced to a helpless damsel in story cutscenes once again!
Dammit, is it really that hard to animate us doing anything really cool in these cutscenes? Must we always sit back and have everyone else do stuff for us? -
09-17-2016, 05:47 PMRobinMalvin
WoDs used to be WoLs right? So what if those crystals are actually their own crystals of light, originally given by Hydaelyn to them? And now they use the power of their previous benefactor against her?
And the final boss from Xelphatol; is that another Echo user? He seems to be able to somehow call upon Garuda's power so he MERGED with her?? D:
We know that Sephirot is a life incarnate, and Sophia, from the scale and her ultimate, seems to be justice incarnate? Could she be related to Ramuh then? -
09-17-2016, 05:56 PMNestamaRather than animate, make it an instanced battle we can't win. They did it before the fight against Ifrit... yet never again.Quote:
Originally Posted by ZhaneX
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09-17-2016, 06:05 PMGrayveProbably, yes. Even games like TOR that had us 'do stuff' in cutscenes resorted to the default weapon... Trooper would always use a pistol, for example, or a jedi a lightsaber instead of a vibroblade. Also, I can't imagining how making it work on both Lala's and Roe's would be easy.Quote:
Originally Posted by ZhaneX
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09-17-2016, 06:06 PMTheodric
I mean, honestly, we get plenty of opportunities for the Warrior of Light to do 'cool stuff' in the actual game itself. Those instanced battles in dungeons, raids, trials and the like? They are our 'epic cut-scenes'.