Simply put, this thread!
It seems to be confusing as to whether Eorzea is a landmass, a country, or a sort of region. I draw the interpretation that Eorzea is a kind of federation akin to the European Union, or like how Australia and Germany each were considered before their respective federations.
To have the clarity would not only help bug reports (Hi, Merm!) but also help keep it clear to the rest of the community.
On a related matter, would it be fair to say Ala Mhigo is still in Eorzea despite its current occupation, or would it depend on who you asked? On the other side of the spectrum, was Garlemald ever considered a part of Eorzea?
Where are the boundaries of Eorzea?
Printable View
-
10-30-2011, 06:46 PMCatapultWhere are the boundaries of Eorzea?
-
10-30-2011, 06:57 PMSephrick
Eorzea is one of three continents on the planet called Hydaelyn.
-
10-30-2011, 06:57 PMNayt
As far as it has been described, Eorzea is more of a landmass/region of the world. A geographical location to put it short.
When it comes to the city states, it's not so incredibly far between them. The cities basically claim as much land around them as they are capable of holding.
To be honest, I have no idea where ala migho is located, I've never really bothered to scan the maps -
10-30-2011, 08:01 PMwhoopeeragon
"The vast realm of Eorzea, comprising the continent of Aldenard and its outlying islands, has seen the rise of a civlization with peoples as diverse as its environs. Throughout its history, the landscape has played home to a number of city-states—the tenuous relations among them fluctuating between friendly and hostile.
The pantheon of the Twelve is followed devoutly by most, and doctrine holds that the past wars of the realm were the wars of the heavens, with the gods and goddesses laying their favor with nations to champion them. In this way, war spread throughout the realm, discouraging unity and peace.
As a result, years passed without the lay of the land and its borders ever being mapped in their entirety. It was not until some 70 years ago, when an intrepid soul set out to wander the land, at great peril to himself, that the first map of Eorzea was completed.
Since then, the original rendering has been amended and improved by others, and the form it takes today is used by adventurers across the realm as an indispensable guide on their travel"
From the official FFXIV site. So Eorzea isn't a continent.
(Disclaimer: While I am confident in reading Eorzean, some words may be wrong. I gain this information from the map and other general knowledge from in-game.)
The 'realm' of Eorzea then, not country, covers the continent Aldenard, extending a bit over sea over to the island of Vylbrand, and is bounded west, south and east by bodies of water. On the west, the Indigo Deep; south-west, the Rhotano Sea; south-east, the Sea of Ash; and east, the Sea of Jade. As of now, the north has no boundary that has been labelled, though the Abalathia's Spine can bear some semblance to a geographical 'boundary', as the Far Reach doesn't seem like much as of now (the area to the north of Dravania). And to the north-east, the Garlean Empire looms....
Aside from La Noscea (city state of Limsa Lominsa), Thanalan (city state of Ul'dah), Black Shroud (city state of Gridania), Coerthas (city state of Ishgard) and Mor Dhona, Eorzea seems also to cover the currently inexplorable regions of Dravania (presumed city state of Sharlayan), Xelphatol and Gyr Abania (presumed city state of Ala Mhigo), the latter which has fallen under Garlean control.
Aldenard bears a slight resemblance to how Africa actually looks, thinking about it now. o.o -
10-30-2011, 09:14 PMCatapultSee, this is exactly the type of confusion I'm talking about. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Sephrick
-
10-30-2011, 09:42 PMAtoli
It's not really confusing:
So basically, what we see on the map is Aldenard + islands like Vylbrand (on which Limsa Lominsa is located).Quote:
Eorzea is one of the three continents that make up one giant land mass of the planet Hydaelyn (though it is the name of the entire planet, the term is very rarely used by its inhabitants). Consisting of Aldenard and its surrounding islands, Eorzea contains several independently governed city-states that have a long history of war and alliances.
The Garlean Empire is NOT on Aldenard and therefore NOT part of Eorzea, it's just bordering it.Quote:
The continent of Aldenard is part of Eorzea. It is the smallest continent in Hydaelyn, and is surrounded by several islands. A land bridge connects Aldenard to the land mass containing the other two continents.
The regions of Aldenard are:
Dravania (with the city state Sharlayan)
Coerthas (with the city state Ishgard)
The Black Shroud (with the city state Gridania)
Gyr Abania (with the city state Ala Mhigo)
Thanalan (with the city state Ul'dah)
Paglth'an (East of Thanalan)
Mor Dhona (North of Thanalan)
Xelphatol (North of Gridania)
So: Eorzea = regions named above + Vylbrand (with Limsa Lominsa) and other islands we may get in future expansions.
This means Ala Mhigo is still considered part of Eorzea, despite it's current occupation by the Garlean Empire, while Garlemald was never a part of Eorzea to begin with.
Why? Because "Eorzea" is a geographical term, not a political one.
Btw, if it's hard for you to understand the concept of three continents making up ONE giant landmass, think of Europe, Asia and Africa: three continents which are linked in our real world.
Also, the colonies of some European countries are like Ala Mhigo:
Politically they belong to the conqueror country, but they are STILL located on another continent.
(And about the localization: I don't know about the French version, but it's the same as what I explained above in the German version, so I think it's right..) -
10-30-2011, 10:59 PMwhoopeeragon
Atoll: I would like the source for the first quote. As far as the official sources I have, there are no mentions of Eorzea being the continent. unless I missed it somehow. :L
-
10-30-2011, 11:04 PMBetelgeuzah
Europe is a continent in a supercontinent called Eurasia, on a planet called the Earth.
Eorzea is a continent in a supercontinent called Aldenard, on a planet called the Hydaelyn. -
10-30-2011, 11:18 PMJGwintersIt's likely from Eorzeapedia, it was mentioned as a source in the other thread. Makes me wonder how far their influence spreads if this many people insist that Eorzea is a continent. They can't all have pulled it out of thin air when all official sources cite Eorzea as a 'region' and a 'realm'.Quote:
Originally Posted by whoopeeragon
-
10-31-2011, 12:07 AMAtoli
The quote actually WAS from eorzeapedia, but only because it's easier for me to quote a sentence in good English than trying to write my own.
About Eorzea being a continent in the first quote: That's actually wrong, I'm sorry for posting that, seems like I didn't read it attentive enough.
There's no actual explanation about what Eorzea is in the English lore, but it is in the German localization:
"The map shows the small continent of Aldenard and it's surrounding islands. The entire area shown here carries the name of 'cultural area Eorzea'. All Eorzeans share the religion of The Twelve, but in each city-state another god is worshiped as a patron."
So basically, Eorzea is a cultural region, meaning the culture and lifestyle has to be very different on the other continents.
Ala Mhigo still belongs to Eorzea though, because even though people there have been brainwashed by the Garlean Empire for years, their lifestyle, religion and technology are still the same.
That's what some NPCs say, although we could also start a discussion about how to judge the knowledge of NPCs..they could just be wrong.
After all, culture is always tied to a geographical region so it's not really wrong to call the continent Eorzea either.
By definition a continent can't include an island, but when people(NPCs) talk about Eorzea, they don't really think about the culture. They think about the boundaries of the land, like the sea or mountains.
Everything below Garlemald is "Eorzea" to them, even regions which do not have any "culture" at all because no one/only beastmen are living there.
Actually, if we really use "Eorzea" in a cultural context, like it is used in the lore, it may be wrong, because Beastmen already have a totally different culture and different religion although they live in the same geographical region. -
10-31-2011, 01:45 AMJGwintersI see the German-language version supports my interpretation of 'region' as a cultural region akin to Middle East, Far East, Europe, etc. That's good to know in case I get even more naysayers on me in the other thread. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Atoli
About the beastman issue, I've made the conclusion that they're largely disregarded when it comes to considerations of culture and regions and such, aside from certain locations being '[beastman] territory'. A lower kind of being, if you will, and as such not worthy of consideration so much. (this has various things in common with the European conquest of some areas and not giving any consideration to the indigenous peoples of the areas in question) As such the separate cultures of the various beastman tribes wouldn't affect the labeling of Eorzea as a unified cultural region, at least by the terms of the Eorzean people. -
10-31-2011, 03:48 AMLienn
OP is correct IMO. As occupied area, you do could say that Garleans claim Ala Mihgo as part of garlean empire, while Eorzeans claim it to be part of Eorzea. IMO Ala Mihgo is in a position of frontier between continents, like Egypt. I wouldn't consider garlean empire part of Eorzea though. I assume Eorzea is part of another continent...like if Israel occupied Egypt...even politically being the "same", they are in different continents...like Turkey is in both Europe and Asia.
-
10-31-2011, 06:08 AMwhoopeeragon
I'll consider Ala Mhigo to be like Hong Kong before it was given back to Chinese rule. A part of China, and apart from China.
Atoll + JG: ah, thanks. Makes me realize how little I go to other fansites for information. >.< -
10-31-2011, 08:09 AMMelonPie
I thought Eorzea was a "region" like Europe or Asia, and the continent it's located on is Hydaelyn. :confused:
-
10-31-2011, 09:49 AMwhoopeeragonEorzea as a region is close enough to being correct, however it is located on the continent Aldenard. Hydaelyn is the planet in which everything occurs.Quote:
Originally Posted by MelonPie
-
10-31-2011, 09:53 AMirongripz
the boundaries is at the end of the invisible wall
-
11-01-2011, 12:18 AMgahoohttp://jp.finalfantasyxiv.com/event/...report_en.htmlQuote:
FINAL FANTASY XIV takes place on the world of Hydaelyn, a planet much like another you all may be familiar with. Many of the people on Hydaelyn do not actually use the word ‘Hydaelyn,’ for to understand the concept of a planet, one must first know of other worlds, and most on Hydaelyn do not.
FINAL FANTASY XIV takes place in a realm known as Eorzea.
* Eorzea is one of three continents that make up a giant land mass.
* Eorzea consists of Aldenard and its surrounding islands.
* Aldenard is connected to the land mass containing the other two continents via a land bridge,
* Eorzea contains several independently governed city-states, like those found in ancient Greece.
* And just like those in Greece, the ones in Eorzea have a long history of war and alliances.
* The few that have lasted longest are the thalassocracy of Limsa Lominsa, the commercial sultanate of Ul’dah, and the forest city-state of Gridania, which some users have commented reminds them of an ancient Japanese polis.
* However, the powerful and aggressive Garlean Empire has begun their slow advance on the city-states, making the current situation in Eorzea similar to the months before the Persian Empire marched on Greece.
I actually think this text might have changed a bit since it was first posted, but still have -
11-01-2011, 11:07 PMJGwintersI see you've found us the likeliest source of the "Eorzea=continent" theory. It's simply a mistranslation.Quote:
Originally Posted by gahoo
Like said before, the official sites report Eorzea as a region - I went and checked, the Japanese used translates as 'cultural sphere'. As for the original language text of the prelive report, it describes the stage of the adventure being one of three conjoined continents and its surrounding islands. It then goes on to say that this area is the one we know as Eorzea.
It's obvious that in their haste to get the prelive report translated someone made a little blunder.
Good to have this cleared up finally. :) -
11-01-2011, 11:36 PMAtoli
Found some new lore on this:3
It seems like the culture, by which Eorzea is defined, is not really all that different from the culture of the other continents:
"(About the Hyuran)They brought with them many skills and beliefs and formed the driving force behind the rapid cultural revolution of Eorzea."
Btw, this sentence is about a past cultural revolution, not the one today with the shift in numbers to adventurers, the new technology from Garlemald, etc.
If the cultures of the continents are similar, is the term "Eorzea" geographical, after all? -
11-01-2011, 11:56 PMJGwintersConsidering both German and Japanese official sources describe Eorzea as a cultural region, isn't this a moot point?Quote:
Originally Posted by Atoli
Well then. This could be explained by 'belief' not only referring to religion (like the Twelve) but to what's known as 'superstition' to us. There's also another concept I'm thinking that falls under 'beliefs' but I'm failing to find the words for it right now. Something like cultural habits maybe..? Doesn't sound quite right, but it's close. My point here being that it doesn't necessarily refer to the worship of the Twelve (ie religious belief), but other kinds of things as well.
What's further, within the culture(s?) of Eorzea the Twelve can't be the only unifying factor, but with no other cultures to compare against I can't say what those unifying factors could be. Even more, the Hyur arrived in Eorzea very, very long ago. Whatever beliefs (and culture) they brought with them has long since melded the general culture of Eorzea, just like the cultures of the newly-arrived Lalafells and Roegadyn. The distinct flavor of the original cultures they bring with them fades and melds together with the existing culture of the place, neither can stand the process unchanged. Think of the current-day USA. Does it have the same culture as Europe? Even more, do certain places within the US have the exact same culture as certain countries within Europe? It's the exact same thing here. The US has its own culture, as do the European cultures. Eorzea has its own culture, as do the various originating places of the races outside of Eorzea.