New Frontlines preview out today, and I was pretty stoked to see where it's taking place: Seal Rock, aka Swallowtail Roam for those of you who played Version 1.0. This is the same mysterious island from the original Limsa Lominsa introduction; the island from which Rostnsthal (then known as Sthalmann) recovered The Key, a mysterious horn later stolen by the Ascian underling Travanchet.
Are we about to get some closure on a long-lost story? At the very least we know the island was, indeed, associated with Allag in some way.
Can't wait!
EDIT: Summary on demand, you can read more about Seal Rock and the Version 1 story here.
Seal Rock Returns
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07-17-2015, 04:56 PMAnonymooseSeal Rock Returns
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07-17-2015, 05:26 PMdragoeleteif they do do that it would be nice if they gave a bit of background info first for the people who didn't play 1.0...Quote:
Originally Posted by Anonymoose
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07-17-2015, 05:56 PMAnonymooseThe 1.0 introductions, with their unmarked flashbacks and unfinished plot, were incredibly convoluted.Quote:
Originally Posted by dragoelete
I doubt a lot of people who played 1.0 understand them fully. I might be able to whip something up, though. <cracks open tomes> -
07-17-2015, 06:28 PMKaiser-AceMoose Sensei got out his books. O_oQuote:
Originally Posted by Anonymoose
Shit just got real. lol -
07-17-2015, 08:43 PMAnonymoose
Alright, so I have a small confession. Between some hints from Ferne, some information in ARR, and a lot (a lot) of wasted time, I actually managed to puzzle out most of the Version 1.0 Limsa Lominsa storyline a while ago. I've been sitting on it until such a time came that I had an opportunity to write a coherent summary and properly cite my findings and mark my assumptions and whatnot... but what the hells. Seal Rock in Frontlines!?
Let's just throw the whole thing out there from that angle and we'll get to the "good" summary later.
LOOOOORE TRAAAAAAAIN
(For Twelves' sake, please let me know if you find errors or typos, this is the fastest I've ever thrown one of these together.)
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07-17-2015, 09:50 PMGrayve
Wow.... that's.... complicated. I think I need a flowchart to keep track of things....
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07-17-2015, 10:19 PMtreuhavik
Now, it's been said that we won't see Travanchet again, much to my consternation, and I doubt we'll get any kind of 1.0 recap for those who haven't experienced the story, but at least we'll finally be able to visit ol' Swallowtail.
Here's to hoping we get even more Allag backstory, and possibly find out why the key was there among their remnants!
EDIT:
This seems as good a time as any to share this again.
http://i.imgur.com/GNd69pL.png
Till Sea Swallows All! -
07-17-2015, 11:22 PMLaurelinKementari
Given that the original frontlines eventually led to the revelation of Omega and the rise of Teledji's ambitions, I'm curious to see what sort of Allagan monstrosity we'll find here and how it'll effect Merlwyb.
And who would've thought a storyline with pirates would read like a political thriller. O.o Nice work on the summary, Anonymoose. -
07-18-2015, 01:00 AMzuzu-bq
They've put the rule previews online already. Looks like Seal Rock has now some Giant Allagan Tomestones, have they always been there? We'll also fight against each other to grab info from them. It's a capture the flag / sieze. While I'm a bit tired of allagans on side quests, this will mostly give us more lore about 1.0 and maybe some more about how people were dealing with the calamity over the past five years. Will this frontline also have connections with the Main Scenario like Cartenau had? Even if mininal, but I honestly don't expect much lore from it. I hope SE surprises me.
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07-18-2015, 06:36 AMKeres
I've always been terrible at comprehending the 1.0 storyline, so the summary is very much appreciated. I've always wondered just how different the planned story path for 1.0 was supposed to be, since it appeared to be setting up a lot of elements (a central focus on the Battle of Silvertear Skies, the starshower, the horns, etc) that have generally only been touched on in minor ways since.
I was happy to see Rostnsthal show up in 3.0, though. -
07-18-2015, 07:20 AMKaiser-AceI've often wondered if there even WAS a planed story path. I didn't even join 1.0 until patch 1.22. So I was only on for about a year before that thing had it's big finally. And it was all I could do to get to level 16 si I never even saw any of the "Path of the Twelve" story arc. (Since I found the 1.0 CS in my journal I wish there was a way to unlock the parts you didn't see via echo side quests or something, that way even new players could see what happened)Quote:
Originally Posted by Keres
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07-18-2015, 08:07 AMAnonymoose
I have a feeling that a lot of the major themes were exactly what we're seeing now, albeit in a much less polished, more time-strapped form that lacked a lot of the since-added substance. You can see the original main scenario in A Realm Reborn, but stripped for parts and rebuilt (taking into consideration the what knowledge we'd gained about the Empire and nature of primals, as well as the fact that we'd just been hit by half a Calamity).
Plot Comparison
- Wake to the Echo
- V1: Complete mystery what it is
- V2: The Crystal is introduced immediately
- Assumption: Invocation of Classical FF Themes
- Settle into a New City
- V1: Echo shows events of 1562, alluding to primals, a coming Calamity, and mysterious, dark machinations
- V2: Echo helps resolve a post-Calamity issue, directly connects to primals and reveals the Ascians
- Assumption: Convoluted story introduction rethought
- Meet Minfilia
- V1: Invited to the Path of the Twelve
- V2: Invited to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn
- Same principle, more about the Echo is known. Minfilia's guidance updated for post-Calamity circumstances.
- Same principle, more about the Echo is known. Minfilia's guidance updated for post-Calamity circumstances.
- Meet the Primals
- V1: Crystal trade collapses; Ifrit is summoned
- V2: Crystal thefts occur; Ifrit is summoned
- Even dialogue is the same
- Meet the Empire
- V1: Baelsar bids Eorzea accept Garlean rule; fight the tribes or be subjugated
- V2: Baelsar attempts to subjugate Eorzea
- Assumption: In V1, we didn't really know whether it was a better idea to accept the Garleans and steamroll the primals, or join with the Primals and try to destroy the Empire. In V2, Nael has already made the Garleans' motives and methods clear. The story was shifted to reflect this lack of ambiguity; neither option is acceptable - we are on our own.
- Version 1.0 main scenario is severed early and shifted to the Rise of the Seventh Moon scenario.
If Version 1 had continued, I assume we'd have fought more primals, learned that the Ascians were awful, came head to head with Gaius van Baelsar (original outcome unknown), and then moved on to Dravania and Ala Mhigo. Pretty much all signs pointed to that; and now we're doing it - just having taken a several-year side trip through Dalamud to make sense of the world's drastic changes.
It's easy to forget that, even now, in Heavensward, we're only taken our very first steps forward. We've been retreading the same ground, just more thoroughly. We're just now coming back to where all began, where we were supposed to go four years ago - back to see what the Fall of the Keeper was all about.
Don't be surprised if, later in the Patch 3.0 cycle, we learn a lot more about where it seems 1.0 left off with Midgardsormr and how that knowledge moves our plot forward. - Wake to the Echo
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07-18-2015, 09:01 AMKeres
That's true, 2.0 does generally follow a similar trajectory to 1.0, just in a more straightforward way. I wouldn't have been surprised if the Ala Mhigo subplot was supposed to be fleshed out earlier (that whole thread has felt pretty neglected up until very recently), but the direction they've taken things in 3.0 has been very good in its own right.
Some of the finer details of 1.0 still leave me wondering, though; why did the Primals appear when the Agrius exploded? What were the Starshowers? (I seem to recall it was assumed at one point long ago that observing the Starshower was what bestowed you with the Echo, but...) I assume that those things won't lead to earth-shattering revelations, but I'm still a bit curious after all this time. -
07-18-2015, 09:42 AMZohar_Lahar
So I'm wondering where those horns came from. They seem to be similar in function as Nidhogg's eyes (in that that can be used to summon/create primals).
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07-18-2015, 09:56 AMKaiser-Acei'd say that the horns, like the Eye of Sabik, are OoParts (Out of Place Artifacts) and are remnants of a Pre-Allagan civilization that has been lost to time and history. Only the Ascians seem to have any real understanding of their purpose or function so we can almost guarantee that they are really old, really powerful, and of a danger level we have yet to comprehend.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zohar_Lahar
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07-18-2015, 10:51 AMAnonymooseThis is confirmed to be part of the Version 3 patch cycle. 3.X - Please look forward to it!™Quote:
Originally Posted by Keres
I'm not sure the starshower will be covered, but I hope so. We even saw it a few times in 2.0! There are two places people have seen it, [1] as their first vision from Hydaelyn, and [2] in-person when it actually happened in 1562. Though some people have connected it to the fall of Dalamud, we saw it long before Dalamud was even a thing, which would make it a rather large retcon (not impossible, of course). My assumption has been that it was the opening of the Voidgate after the Fall of the Keeper, but maybe we'll get some answers once we know more about what exactly Midgardsormr was protecting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Keres
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07-18-2015, 12:24 PMDaraliiIt looks like they're emerging from the ground, so maybe the island's on top of some giant Allagan structure? Would possibly explain its supposed movement.Quote:
Originally Posted by zuzu-bq
Wonder if the tomestones emerged as part of the signal that brought Azys Lla down. -
07-18-2015, 12:30 PMKaiser-AceIn before Seal Rock is another Allagan UFO (Or I guess USO since it's in the ocean)Quote:
Originally Posted by Daralii
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07-18-2015, 01:21 PMViridianaI think the… not "consensus," but the "shared maybe," so to speak, is that it's an event that happened in 1562 at the same time that the Ascians entered Eorzea and that a generation of people awakened to the Echo. Our characters also seem to have it as our first visions upon awakening to the Echo, though this connection is as yet unexplained.Quote:
Originally Posted by Keres
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07-21-2015, 06:42 PMRoclDisappointed with the lack of quest involved to unlock Frontlines (Seize) and looking up the duty on the Eorzea DB to sate my curiosity proved this to pretty much be a factQuote:
Originally Posted by Kaiser-Ace
http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...y/96723c6d739/
tldr; Seal Rock was the thing everyone thought was Swallowtail Roam but SURPRISE ALLAGAN CONSTRUCTQuote:
Legend has it that Llymlaen sealed a giant serpent She Herself created within Swallowtail Roam, an island said to drift about the sea so that those with evil intentions might never find it. When Seal Rock was first discovered, many believed it to be the selfsame island─but its true nature remained unknown until the Calamity laid her secrets bare. Upon their return to the island following the fall of Dalamud, Allied forces discovered Allagan tomeliths containing a wealth of knowledge. They concluded that the entire island was in fact an Allagan construct─a proving ground for Omega and other technology they developed to combat the primal threat. As was the case in Carteneau, control of the island and its resources remain disputed, and peaceful negotiations have failed to achieve a resolution. And so, once more, they would settle the matter on the battlefield.
So basically Seal Rock was the Allagan Locke's Lie :P -
07-21-2015, 11:48 PMChewy2nd
Here's where it is in relation to Limsa
http://i.imgur.com/6slvPbi.jpg -
07-22-2015, 07:13 AMBalipu
Honestly I'm kinda disappointed it's the Allagan's again. The main scenario improved a lot with 3.0 but I'm really starting to be curious where we would be now with the original team.
That being said, the new frontline is fun. -
07-22-2015, 07:20 AMmyahele
Yeah, a shame that everything points towards the Allagans. But most importantly, that 1.0 plot is pretty much over and done with. We know what Seal Rock contains now and I doubt it'll have a part in the MSQ anymore.
Also, I wonder if that structure in Boulder Downs in Coerthas is a Tomelith? They almost look the same