The XIV Team give us a lot of riddles, do you think we're good at figuring them out?

While at the end of post-Stormblood, it was the least obvious as ever before what was going to happen for the next expansion, there will still many clues. The difficulty of figuring out where we were going next had just been upped.

Final Fantasy XIV is great for players who like Eastern Eggs and like figuring out riddles and theorycrafting. They always drop hints as to where we're going in the future, for players smart enough to figure them out.

In this case, we're very close to knowing about the next expansion, February 5th. But we've been given a note on New Years Eve, a hint from an interview that there are clues to the future in Heavensward, and 5.4 is one of the preliminary two Patches that sets up the story for the next expansion.

Lots of gaming communities are really good at, and love puzzle and riddle solving of this variety. With a lot of people dedicating their time to piecing things together and solving things left by developers. Undertale fans are fixated on uncovering everything about WD Gaster and figuring out where Deltarune is going. There are entire channels like Shesez to looking beyond boundaries of games and finding things out. People are still theorizing about things about Giygas in the Mother series.

A lot of the time, when developers leave hints and riddles, the community are fast to decipher them. Fans even make vast theories and connections where there are none, just very strong coincidences that make things look that way. When a community of passionate and dedicated riddle solvers come together, they almost always solve the riddles game developers put forth. We have an official, albeit flawed, Legend of Zelda timeline, because of dedicated fans piecing the Zelda stories together.

The question is, are we that community? Do we have a good track record of deciphering the writing team's puzzles? Does the community have an amazing theory yet of where the story is headed, and what the next expansion will be?

What are some of the most supported and leading theories for the future? How many people predicted we were going to the First in Shadowbringers?

This is rather a lot to parse out.

Like most things, I'd argue our track record here is mixed.

Personally, I'd like to think I've become quite adept at figuring out some key plot points as the game's gone on - I figured out G'raha would become a permanent member of the cast from his closing line in 5.0 alone ("Wake up, G'raha Tia. This is no time for napping!"), replete with memory transference. There are others, but that's probably the one I'm proudest of.

Personally, I don't know where we're headed yet. "Review Heavensward" is about all we've gotten, and other than tenuous links to Lunar Bahamut (the moon is stated by Hydaelyn to be Zodiark's prison, while dragons featured heavily in HW) there's not enough information for me to make a good guess other than "The moon, maybe?" Estinien is likely to take back center stage at least for dealing with Lunar Bahamut, but as things stand I can only throw out rough ideas (Going to the moon? Primal Varis? More Beasts of the Final Days, as per the Amaurot dungeon?)

Whether or not one had predicted we were going to the First depends heavily on when you ask. In 4.3, there was absolutely no indication we'd be doing anything other than going to war with the Empire and trying to root out the Ascians infesting it. Then 4.4 happened and Thancred fell comatose in a strategy meeting without foreshadowing of any kind, with Y'shtola and Urianger following suit in the patch's ending. That opened a huge door, and though it was not yet certain we'd be abandoning the warfront entirely, we'd definitely need to figure out what the kupo was going on. Shadowbringers was officially announced prior to 4.5, so...

The problem with trying to guess 6.0 as things are now is there was just so little forward movement in 5.4. We spent lots of time whipping up the treatment for tempering, working out its logistics, and implementing it to help get relations between the Limsans and kobolds on the mend there was little time for much else. Case and point the dungeons: Matoya's Relict was all about getting the Mother Porxie made here as part of the patch's (mostly) self-contained story, while aside from being a pretty huge lore bomb the Burn thematically fit in with Shadowbringers (as an aether-starved land, the Burn is more or less a microcosm of the Empty on the Source).

I think 4.4 clearly set up for a time-travel plot since "the voice" seemed to have future knowledge. I'd like to claim credit for deducing G'raha's incoming involvement on that alone (having worked out the voice would suit him and time travel would get around the "no referencing sidequests in case people haven't done them" thing), but I honestly can't remember whether my first thought of him was influenced by the supposedly-debunked leak claiming that the Crystal Tower would be involved... though certainly I'd previously assumed that would just mean we go find whatever Nero's radar had detected, completely ignoring the state of the tower above.

As for the riddle of 5.4, I don't feel like there's anything to hook onto in the same way and work out what it could all mean. The New Year's poem might reference Sharlayan but it's all still cryptic.

The big question is... how much are hints for things they planned and how much are they still working out as they go?
Because the more I play the more I understand they're setting things up for them to work with later. A lot of these things are just creative freedom they're giving themselves.

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Originally Posted by ItMe

The big question is... how much are hints for things they planned and how much are they still working out as they go?
Because the more I play the more I understand they're setting things up for them to work with later. A lot of these things are just creative freedom they're giving themselves.

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I think it depends on how far apart the setup and payoff are. They leave plenty of hooks that they can go back to in future without necessarily having a plan for them at the time, but right now they are in a position where they know exactly what they're working on for 6.0 and can reference it while they simultaneously produce 5.X patches.

They're good at integrating old plots, but that doesn't mean they don't have any kind of plan in the meanwhile. They might even have been thinking of future ideas when they set up the first part, even if it wasn't officially the decided direction of the plot yet, and later pitched that follow-up idea when it was time to write the next part of the story.

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Originally Posted by Cilia

Case and point the dungeons: Matoya's Relict was all about getting the Mother Porxie made here as part of the patch's (mostly) self-contained story, while aside from being a pretty huge lore bomb the Burn thematically fit in with Shadowbringers (as an aether-starved land, the Burn is more or less a microcosm of the Empty on the Source).

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If the dungeon is a hint, then Matoya's Relict is absolutely screaming FFIV references. Along with the New Year's poem, it would seem to me will go to the Underground/Underworld like in FFIV, and then also perhaps to the Moon, as in FFIV, and Sharlayan... its island home surrounded by malms of water will be our new staging point.

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Originally Posted by Vyrerus

If the dungeon is a hint, then Matoya's Relict is absolutely screaming FFIV references. Along with the New Year's poem, it would seem to me will go to the Underground/Underworld like in FFIV, and then also perhaps to the Moon, as in FFIV, and Sharlayan... its island home surrounded by malms of water will be our new staging point.

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I want Sharlyan and the final zone to be the moon, but I seriously hope we don't waste zones on the underground, i want to explore locations that have been set up for years, with cultures we have heard about like Islabard, we have had our shard hoping expansion, it is time to explore more of the source, that has been set up for years.

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Originally Posted by Cilia

The problem with trying to guess 6.0 as things are now is there was just so little forward movement in 5.4. We spent lots of time whipping up the treatment for tempering, working out its logistics, and implementing it to help get relations between the Limsans and kobolds on the mend there was little time for much else. Case and point the dungeons: Matoya's Relict was all about getting the Mother Porxie made here as part of the patch's (mostly) self-contained story, while aside from being a pretty huge lore bomb the Burn thematically fit in with Shadowbringers (as an aether-starved land, the Burn is more or less a microcosm of the Empty on the Source).

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5.4 really felt like "let's tie up loose ends" patch. Really the only forward movement is Zenos proclaiming to need a new weapon, which is clearly baiting us into the trailer for the expansion so he can just be seen wielding that new weapon and maybe a new outfit.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

5.4 really felt like "let's tie up loose ends" patch. Really the only forward movement is Zenos proclaiming to need a new weapon, which is clearly baiting us into the trailer for the expansion so he can just be seen wielding that new weapon and maybe a new outfit.

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New outfit?
Maybe we can finally see if there really is lots of ass under all that armor, or just lots of armor over his ass. His current outfit makes it look like this boy has hips for daaaaaays.

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Originally Posted by ItMe

New outfit?
Maybe we can finally see if there really is lots of ass under all that armor, or just lots of armor over his ass. His current outfit makes it look like this boy has hips for daaaaaays.

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Well, his dress down look has shoulder pads that are way too big, so I'm going with the latter.

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Originally Posted by FrightfulNight

I want Sharlyan and the final zone to be the moon, but I seriously hope we don't waste zones on the underground, i want to explore locations that have been set up for years, with cultures we have heard about like Islabard, we have had our shard hoping expansion, it is time to explore more of the source, that has been set up for years.

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Well you see, there's many ways for them to handle it, while having us explore more of the Source.

In FFIV there is a teleportation device known as, "The Devil's Road." or "Serpent's Path" depending on translation. It teleports you from Baron Castle Town to Mysidia. It's entirely possible that we go to Sharlayan, and the Sharlayans have a Devil's Road that will take us to Meracydia, which then may lead us to the underground.

Also grant the fact that, in Cilia's comparison, the Burn is pretty much a foreshadow for The Empty. The Empty isn't a zone we go to, other than one section in the Eden raids. It's likely the Underground would be one zone then.

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Originally Posted by Vyrerus

Well you see, there's many ways for them to handle it, while having us explore more of the Source.

In FFIV there is a teleportation device known as, "The Devil's Road." or "Serpent's Path" depending on translation. It teleports you from Baron Castle Town to Mysidia. It's entirely possible that we go to Sharlayan, and the Sharlayans have a Devil's Road that will take us to Meracydia, which then may lead us to the underground.

Also grant the fact that, in Cilia's comparison, the Burn is pretty much a foreshadow for The Empty. The Empty isn't a zone we go to, other than one section in the Eden raids. It's likely the Underground would be one zone then.

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I think there are more important events going on in Islabard right now compared to Meracydia. I was also kind of holding out hope that our Meracydia expansion might be a time travel expansion where we go back to see what it was like before it was a wasteland, witness all these cultures we have heard about, and even fight the allagans proper instead of what they left behind, and I do not see us doing a time travel expansion right after ShB. I still am not interested in the underground at the moment though, and i certainly hope it is not where all the zones are, preferably it is just a dungeon or a Eureka like area, at most one or two zones, but not the entire expansion, I still think the final mystery zone should be the moon.

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Originally Posted by FrightfulNight

I was also kind of holding out hope that our Meracydia expansion might be a time travel expansion where we go back to see what it was like before it was a wasteland

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I know i could probly look this up, but whats our in game source that says the southern continent is a wasteland? There could totally be more down there then we know. Its been done before in a few FF games.

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Originally Posted by Frizze

I know i could probly look this up, but whats our in game source that says the southern continent is a wasteland? There could totally be more down there then we know. Its been done before in a few FF games.

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The Encyclopaedia Eorzea Volume 1.

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Five millennia ago at the close of the Third Astral Era, the Allagan Empire, unsatisfied with controlling merely Aldenard, Ilsabard, and Othard, set their sights to the south and began an invasion that would end with nearly the entire continent being rendered a wasteland. While some areas remain uninhabitable even today, those which have been repopulated remain recluse and very rarely welcome contact with the civilizations of the northern hemisphere, ofttimes attacking any who approach, whether it be by sea or by air. Because of this, very little of the region is known, including even the most basic of geographical information.

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Of course this passage suggests that quite a bit of Meracydia has actually recovered, so maybe there will be a time to explore it.

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Originally Posted by FrightfulNight

I think there are more important events going on in Islabard right now compared to Meracydia. I was also kind of holding out hope that our Meracydia expansion might be a time travel expansion where we go back to see what it was like before it was a wasteland, witness all these cultures we have heard about, and even fight the allagans proper instead of what they left behind, and I do not see us doing a time travel expansion right after ShB. I still am not interested in the underground at the moment though, and i certainly hope it is not where all the zones are, preferably it is just a dungeon or a Eureka like area, at most one or two zones, but not the entire expansion, I still think the final mystery zone should be the moon.

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I think that Ilsabard has been mostly destroyed. I'd still like to go there, but I think it's pretty cut and dry that most of it is in ruins. Not really wanting, "Bozja The Expansion" more or less. Even though I do like Bozja. If they do anything noteworthy with Ilsabard, it's likely that the Garlean capital will turn into a "primal" city, based off of Pandemonium from FFII.

The empire doesn't really hold a lot of interest for me anymore. The stakes we've had with the Ascians were always higher, and beyond sheer numbers, the Empire itself isn't really much to write home about. All of their coolest shit, they bring to bear on Eorzea anyway, and I'm much more interested in Sharlayan.

I think it'd be cool to have the Underground as a proper zone with a city and a tower of Babil reference. That's what leads to the Moon in FFIV, and there's also another way they can reference Alexander with the Giant of Babil's original concept art.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...421204/450.png

While I don't think we're going to go to, or at least do much in Meracydia this time, and I think that Heavensward refresher points more towards Sharlayan than Dragon stuff. I do hope there is something to Meracydia.

I think that leaves far fewer options for interesting places to travel within the Source in the future without it. It would also be a good excuse to stop by the islands Lalafells originate from on the way there. And a good excuse to explore more Polynesian and Austronesian culture, besides. As the recent Moonfire Faire event has revealed, the island us Lalafells came from is rather similar culturally to Hawaii.

I hope we have an excuse to visit all the areas mentioned on the Source, so far. The New World. Aerslaent/Northern empty. Hingashi. And while I'm on the subject of Austronesian culture, a Final Fantasy XIV equivalent of not just Hawaii, but of Indonesia, would be awfully nice. Complete with Gamelan music. I know from Secret of Mana that Square can make very interesting Gamelan music. I am not sure if that area would be around Nagxia/Yanxia, or around the South Seas Lalafell Hawaii. But either would be very interesting.

Much as I am really looking forward to going to Hingashi and the Austronesian esque Lalafell homeland, neither are particularly great candidates for the next expansion in my mind. I suppose there is crow waiting for me if I'm wrong.

I'm not the best theorist, but I'm partial to the argument that 6.0 is likely moreso focused on Sharlayan than Garlemald.

One to be born from a dragon
Hoisting the Light and The Dark
Arises high up in the sky to
The Still Land.

Veiling the moon with the Light of eternity,
It brings another promise to Mother Earth
With a bounty and mercy.

-Mysidian Prophecy -> Forspoken

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Originally Posted by Vyrerus

I think that Ilsabard has been mostly destroyed. I'd still like to go there, but I think it's pretty cut and dry that most of it is in ruins. Not really wanting, "Bozja The Expansion" more or less. Even though I do like Bozja. If they do anything noteworthy with Ilsabard, it's likely that the Garlean capital will turn into a "primal" city, based off of Pandemonium from FFII.

The empire doesn't really hold a lot of interest for me anymore. The stakes we've had with the Ascians were always higher, and beyond sheer numbers, the Empire itself isn't really much to write home about. All of their coolest shit, they bring to bear on Eorzea anyway, and I'm much more interested in Sharlayan.

I think it'd be cool to have the Underground as a proper zone with a city and a tower of Babil reference. That's what leads to the Moon in FFIV, and there's also another way they can reference Alexander with the Giant of Babil's original concept art.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...421204/450.png

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Where as for me an underground area really does not interest me at all at the moment since there really have not been anything to establish said regions in the past or any cultures, in fact I would see said zone as a waste of one of the six zones and i am much more interested in the moon then the underground. Also they mentioned that parts of the Garlean capitol have been destroyed but not all of it as shown in the cutscenes, and still that is just the capitol, there are other countries like Werlyt in Islabard as well and while you might not be interested in going to Islabard, some of us are, this would also put an end to most season 1 storylines so we can move on to the next storyline, something Yoshi P. has said he wanted to do for some time.

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Originally Posted by Vyrerus

One to be born from a dragon
Hoisting the Light and The Dark
Arises high up in the sky to
The Still Land.

Veiling the moon with the Light of eternity,
It brings another promise to Mother Earth
With a bounty and mercy.

-Mysidian Prophecy -> Forspoken

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I'd be pleasantly surprised if this is used verbatim. Mysidia to FFIV is Sharlayan to FFXIV. Palom and Porom are Alphinaud and Alisaie. Zeromus was the real threat and now it's Zodiark, both on the moon. Really just the prophecy, the transport to the moon, and testing ground to prove ourselves is missing.

Let me take this one step further, a new dungeon is called Mount Ordeals!

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Originally Posted by FrightfulNight

Where as for me an underground area really does not interest me at all at the moment since there really have not been anything to establish said regions in the past or any cultures, in fact I would see said zone as a waste of one of the six zones and i am much more interested in the moon then the underground. Also they mentioned that parts of the Garlean capitol have been destroyed but not all of it as shown in the cutscenes, and still that is just the capitol, there are other countries like Werlyt in Islabard as well and while you might not be interested in going to Islabard, some of us are, this would also put an end to most season 1 storylines so we can move on to the next storyline, something Yoshi P. has said he wanted to do for some time.

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Does it change your mind if the means to get to the moon is buried underground?

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Originally Posted by Kesey

Does it change your mind if the means to get to the moon is buried underground?

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I still would just prefer they keep the underground to a dungeon instead of wasting one of the six zones on it. I want the exploration zones to show us more of a locations culture, like say various cultures in Islabard.

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Originally Posted by FrightfulNight

Where as for me an underground area really does not interest me at all at the moment since there really have not been anything to establish said regions in the past or any cultures, in fact I would see said zone as a waste of one of the six zones and i am much more interested in the moon then the underground. Also they mentioned that parts of the Garlean capitol have been destroyed but not all of it as shown in the cutscenes, and still that is just the capitol, there are other countries like Werlyt in Islabard as well and while you might not be interested in going to Islabard, some of us are, this would also put an end to most season 1 storylines so we can move on to the next storyline, something Yoshi P. has said he wanted to do for some time.

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I suspect if we do get an Underground zone, that we'll be getting Ancient history culture in order to tie up all the loose ends and knowledge about the Ancient world. Which would also tie into having the base of the tower that leads to the moon there as well.

Never mind the ancient ruins; if we get an underground zone I want it to be a Duskwight city in an elaborate cave setting. Something like the river cave section of the Qitana Ravel or the more wide-open sections of Dzemael Darkhold with crystals and cave formations, but inhabited and decorated.

I have begun to warm more to an underground zone, just as long as it is 1 zone and the rest are more cultured areas and we still go to the moon in some way or another.

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Originally Posted by FrightfulNight

I have begun to warm more to an underground zone, just as long as it is 1 zone and the rest are more cultured areas and we still go to the moon in some way or another.

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If we go underground it will be cultured area too. I doubt it will only be inhabited by monsters.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

If we go underground it will be cultured area too. I doubt it will only be inhabited by monsters.

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Yeah but probably not with cultures we have built up over the years of this game like with Islabard which is what i want the majority of zones to be hence if they do add this underground zone I hope it is either just a dungeon, or just limited to 1 zone. Granted the moon probably wouldn't be as well but it was going to be one of the themes of 6.0 so I am still hoping for the Moon in some form or another whether it is a zone, dungeon, or something.