I've been curious, seeing some responses people have posted that say they think SE may implement another calamity, or at the very least that they hope they do ahah. So I guess my only question is how do you think they'd do this?
Would we all start at 1 again? Would we have some sort of WoW-esque level squish? Would we have the same level but different skill sets/have to learn our class over again?
I personally wouldn't mind starting from scratch, but it would suck having to relearn the classes I know/am going to know. I wonder if after EW it would be some sort of harder reboot than 1.0 to 2.0?
(As a side note, do you think they'd be better off just making a new MMO at that point and relegating XIV to the status of XI? I don't, I think XIV makes them WAY too much money for them to scratch it.)
How Would They Implement A "Calamity" Again?
Printable View
-
02-25-2021, 07:20 AMMilkieTeaHow Would They Implement A "Calamity" Again?
-
02-25-2021, 07:26 AMMalmstrom
I just hope they don't have terrible Big Bads after the conclusion of the Hydaelyn/Zodiark story.
Kind of like Warcraft story kind of took a dive once The Lich King was defeated. You had a villain they had been building up for ages across multiple games, and then when he was finally defeated the next couple of Big Bads felt like random mcguffins to develop Horde / Alliance leaders.
Sort of like Zenos at the start of Stormblood, he's just sort of there. -
02-25-2021, 07:31 AMEnkidoh
Considering what the Calamities really are in the game's lore, and given that Endwalker is winding up that original storyline, and thus SE will be taking the story in a new direction after that, using a Calamity as an excuse to wind up the game like what happened in 1.0, simply will not occur again
(Calamities are how the Ascians 'rejoin' a Shard of Hydaelyn with the Source as part of their plan to recreate the original world they inhabited which Hydaelyn split in order to break Zodiark's power.
EW's 'end times' story almost definetely will not be reflected in the greater game world other than some graphical imbellishment and battles that will be exclusively instanced, as the game world has to be consistant for new players after all. You're simply not going to see a repeat of the 'Seventh Umbral Era' events 1.0 had in it's last months as there is no reason to do so.
You have to remember that the Seventh Calamity was specifically set up gameplay wise to not only send the original game off with a bang, it was also meant to explain the changed zone maps between 1.0 and ARR. ARR has no reason to be replaced in the same way it replaced 1.0 given it's immense and continuing success. -
02-25-2021, 07:32 AMBright-Flower
I really hope they do NOT do another calamity.
I also find it highly unlikely they would. They just got through updating the ARR zones for flight and streamlining the msq in some places.
It made sense with how 1.0 went down to reset the game, but the game's going strong right now. There's no reason for them to hit the reset button again even with the current story ending in 6.0. And the ARR changes are the closest thing I think we'll get to a WoW Cataclysm.
Another calamity would only really be feasible if the current iteration of the game was failing and going to be shut down. But the game's doing well and honestly I'd rather see them make a new game than hit the reset button again here. They have three, going on four expansions worth of ocntent on top of the base game, it just wouldn't make sense. -
02-25-2021, 07:33 AMReap00This is a company that has been putting together some of the best rpg stories for over 30 years. You are in good hands in the future. I also look forward to all the Zenos nay sayers big turn around during Endwalker.Quote:
Originally Posted by Malmstrom
-
02-25-2021, 07:34 AMMilkieTeaOh trust me, I know well enough how successful XIV has become! It was just a simple question borne out of curiosity from scouring the forums the last few days. I've seen maybe 5 or 6 people mentioning that they either think or hope a calamity might happen again, I just want to see how people think it would be implemented, ahah.Quote:
Originally Posted by Enkidoh
-
02-25-2021, 07:35 AMEdaxIt would be funny to see a calamity recreate everything in HD. I don't mind having to relevel but I do mind seeing great glams disappear in the transition. I love my SAM glam too much to give it up and I had to sit through a lot of hours of Eureka to get it.Quote:
Originally Posted by MilkieTea
-
02-25-2021, 07:40 AMMilkieTeaI love Zenos as a character. Villains don't have to be super complex anti-heroes with ultimate end goals to be good. (On the other hand, that doesn't make the current iteration of villains bad either!) I think we've grown to expect that good storytelling involves these elements, but some of the best hero-villain stories involve pretty black-and-white characters. Zenos is a villain because he is bored, that's his motivation - WoL provides him some measure of relief from that boredom, so most of his interactions involve some form of storytelling surrounding that - him manipulating people, him discarding his weapon for a better one, him just doing some heinous acts. He's bored and we're the meme that's made him huff under his breath a little, if not the one that made him literally LOL.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reap00
-
02-25-2021, 07:41 AMMilkieTeaBIG MOOD on the glams. I love my current MNK glam (even though it's pretty darn basic, all things considered). I'd hate to have to figure something out if the items all up and disappeared.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edax
-
02-25-2021, 07:43 AMMicahZerrshia
Nah, resetting everyone's progress would be the worst decision they could possibly make and almost guarantee the death of xiv. They didn't even reset our progress from v1 to ARR, so it would make no sense to do so now. They already did say we are getting a number squish but it would only be in the numbers that are behind the scenes so to speak, not in actual power, because the numbers are getting out of control.
However, even from a story telling pov, another calamity would be weak. You could look at other games to see how it has been done. In ESO and in ffxi each and every expansion, outside of rhapsodies, was it's own separate story. Complete with its own zones, bosses, content, etc. and does not require you to complete the other expansions to access. There would occasionally be overlap where you would have to talk to an npc from a previous expac, but it was never anything that did not make sense. Just think of characters from your favorite books. They end one storyline and in the next book they start, more or less, fresh. They still retain their powers, skills, gear, etc. but they travel somewhere new and start a new adventure. You don't need to bring the world crashing down around them to start something else. Not only is that not satisfying from a narrative pov, but it is also not really a conclusion since you would still be dealing with the aftermath.
Resetting the world made sense when they went from v1 to ARR just because everything from the battle system to the map itself changed so drastically. But using a world shattering calamity to transition to a new story would make no sense and the reset of characters would upset more players and prompt them to walk away than anything else.
What I hope is that they do have new "starter zones" that people can run around in and they allow people to choose which story they want to pursue first. If nothing else it would allow new and old players to engage with one another much more easily. -
02-25-2021, 07:45 AMInfindoxOnly reason I hate Zenos atm is because he was POORLY written in Stormblood. I'm interested to see how that woman writer will fix things after her phenomenal work with Shadowbringers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reap00
-
02-25-2021, 07:56 AMMalmstromYeah, I think he has potential, but his introduction really wasn't all that great. That's why I specifically mentioned Stormblood. Although I would like to see him playing a more active role instead of sitting in his chair. He can be bored because "SIGH I AM OP", but he should be actively doing something about it like baiting and goading us and causing mayhem and destruction that lures us out or builds us up specifically so we can reach the level he wants us to be at. Not just "SIGH DO WHATEVER CRAZY PERSON, I AM BORED AND WILL SIT HERE".Quote:
Originally Posted by Infindox
-
02-25-2021, 07:57 AMShougun
Past / future via a Wings of the Goddess like concept may be one option (FFXI). Shattering dimension / beginning / end of a dream (like FFXI, lol, and FFX). Different planes of existence / planets. In these they may able to do something to our levels without it being weird on the lore (maybe you're level 80 in the present, but in the alternate timeline you're X). This might allow SE to more easily work with updated graphics (update some old areas but most of the high def being part of the new dream / different timeline / planet, etc) as well in effect allow SE to create a new spiffy start (as Yoshida has commented some of the dev team feels conflicted with ARR and thinks to change some things to improve them), and as a consequence also get players into the new saga more easily rather than say release 7.0 that has very little relationship to 2.0-6.0 and yet tell players they need to do that 200-300 hours worth of content first. This also means that entire saga isn't kaboomed, if you wanted to play it you could - unlike say what happened to 1.0's content or some stuff pre-cata in WoW.
So my vote goes to new fragments, dreams, timeline, planet, or something (like keeping FFXIV alive but making another MMO sometime after 6.0 finishes) lol. Some people in another thread were describing something a bit like this via what PSO2 is doing, at least from how they described it- I don't play PSO2 so I use that reference vicariously and not form direct knowledge :D.
One thing to note though is if we had another calamity like Bahamut I doubt anyone would lose progress, when stuff went from 1.0 to 2.0 you kept most things. My concern for another calamity like that is 'unpretty-ing' things, they can make some cool areas but to make it look ravaged.. well you get ravaged looking areas lol. . So some concerns with having a similar type of Calamity.
With the whole world going ablaze though I wouldn't find an alternate dream or something coming about from it as an unusual concept.
While I'm sure they can keep building and building neat things... I'm a bit of the preference that they start a new foundation, with new concepts and flow of gameplay (like if they added better movement systems which allowed them to make more engaging environments, or worked to create a more roleplay conducive setting (not speaking story, speaking mechanics that work around it- like where an environment has critters, or fires that burn, or collision boxes that properly match the environment, etc). It's a bit hard to appreciate that when you're coming into the content at max level on every single job and most quests done. Older and more stacked things get the harder it is to approach with that 'first time, kid like wonder' and everything becomes more expected (not that I'm detailing the death of FFXIV, FFXI is still alive so.. FFXIV will be fine for sure - but perhaps why a calamity that is more than just bahamut farting on the world is my preference; although, farting on the world / no calamity is the safest option lol). -
02-25-2021, 07:57 AMBright-FlowerI hope she can.Quote:
Originally Posted by Infindox
I felt Zenos was...'miscast' as the main villain of 4.0 but he wouldn't bug me as much if he'd stayed dead. Similar to my feelings about Yotsuyu. But bringing him back and then squandering the chance to do something interesting with his journey to getting his body back really disappointed me.
To clarify what i mean by miscast, I felt like a character who has no investment in the war story and just has a personal obsession with us as his only interest was a poor choice for the antagonist of the expansion. He could have worked as a lesser antagonist, like a recurring boss like Grynwaht except taken more seriously, but as the big bad? His apathy about the plot hurt the story IMO.
So far, I am not optimistic about finding Fandaniel and Zenos compelling in 6.0, but who knows. I didn't expect to like Emet-Selch based on the last couple of SB patches, maybe they'll turn these two around. In particular if it turned out Fandaniel's motivations are a lie and his actions a smokescreen to misdirect us from his true goal, that would be a fantastic twist. But I'm not holding my breath. We'll see this fall. -
02-25-2021, 08:11 AMznushu
My bet is that it will involve the Moon in some form as it's always played a important role in the world of Final Fantasy and now with Endwalker expansion literally taking us to the moon, I think. I got a feeling that it's most likely going to be broken in some form or another and we'll have to save the planet from whatever is going to destroy it. I'm imagining that the moon is going to "hatch" some great monster and we'll have to kill it before it destroys the whole planet which we probably will knowing how things usually go in the lore, though we'd fail to stop the hurling chunks of rock heading to the planet which thus causes another great calamity on the planet thus allowing for them to do another 1.0 to 2.0 deal which we kinda need since the engine of this product was admittedly being pushed to it's limits with all the high numbers and such. which I got no issue with but i'm kinda use to that since i've already lived through one such event in this game though this time i'd know not to delete my account once it happens.
-
02-25-2021, 08:12 AMSeraphor
They wouldn't. There's no need to.
14 isn't a failure of a game in its current state, and they're already doing a stat squish with Endwalker. So there's no reason to reset anything.
Eorzean maps have just been redone six months ago so there's no justification for scrapping them.
So any 'Calamity' will be done entirely for plot reasons, with no hard consequences for gameplay. -
02-25-2021, 08:18 AMwereotter
It's not hard to think of how this might play out. Story spoilers to follow
When you consider that the Source was split through the acts of Hydalyn, and we know that the next expansion will be concluding the story of Hydalyn and Zodiarc to pave the way for a new story to come, if we were to eliminate the two elder primals from existence, it's possible that the worlds as they currently exist cease to be. Yes this will make all the work we did to save The First completely irrelevent, but there could be a rebirth of a newly combined world that has places like Eulemore and the Crystarium superimposed into the Source. But this also could take place through less violent means than a full on calamity, something like the combination of worlds in FFV.
Considering FFXIV is a playground of sorts with references and story beats lifted from other Final Fantasy games, this also would be a story beat similar to what exists in Dissidia Opera Omnia where the destruction of the crystal cores of light and darkness causes the world to be destroyed and reborn.
A full reset of the world like this could also pave the way for them to reset character levels as well, though considering they're going through with a stat squish next expansion, this is unlikely. -
02-25-2021, 08:20 AMwereotterIt's not just his passiveness in the story that makes him bad to me... his "I only live to fight" character is also kind of dull... and Garland did it better.Quote:
Originally Posted by Malmstrom
-
02-25-2021, 09:13 AMDelis
I hope they don't. What would be the reason that they would need to do one? We have plenty of other areas of the world we haven't been to, that could have our next big bad in. As far as a new mmo, I would like them to do one. I would like to see what yoshi etc can do, starting fresh, and not being handicapped by garbage code.
-
02-25-2021, 09:15 AMMetalwrath
They wont.Endwalker is the end of the ascian story.If they had another calamity it would mean that 7.0 would still have the existance of ascians in some form which we know is not the direction they are headed.
They have too many other potential stories to go down in the ff14 universe in the source.
For example there is no hints towards tiamat being brought into 6.0
She's still alive trapped by her own will.6.0 now looks like 100% we wont go to Meracydia which has lots of potential for a heavy tie in to story with tiamat and a whole new saga. -
02-25-2021, 09:23 AMAniya_Estlihn
No Calamity, but I feel the Final Days repeating is pretty much worse than any calamity could be. So we don't need a calamity, when narratively, the literal fabric of reality is being torn to shreds by the end of the world.
We'll likely see this represented through custom weather; which they already did on the First, as well as client side changes like they did with Rhalgr's Reach at the start of Stormblood and do with the Beast Tribe areas. There's plenty of ways to mess up the world on a client-by-client basis without ruining the game world for everyone playing—they've been experimenting with this more and more of late; think of how Puppet's Bunker's quest blew up a literal mountain range to reveal it for those on the quest.
So we can expect things like that I feel. -
02-25-2021, 09:24 AMHyperia
They could use zone instancing to show you the new world while people in the old world get to experience the game without changes. Veterans could toggle back to the old world via an aetherite or being in a group with a sprout.
-
02-25-2021, 09:40 AMFawkes
Shadowbringers started doing more phasing-type stuff. Depending on where you are in the story your sky could be bright while someone else's is dark and I think there was a brief part before The Heroes Gauntlet where it was a star shower. So I could see them doing something in the next chunk of story where along with the spooky towers we start seeing a dozen Dalamuds dangling in the sky, while new players just see regular old ARR. With the addition of flying to older zones it's possible that they intend to use them for more than just a couple fetch quests, also there's the part of the Endwalker trailer where La Noscea is on fire. But I assume the story will have us ultimately preventing the full calamity, so who knows how far they'll take it.
If you just meant a calamity in the sense of like a 1.0 to 2.0 change in the game itself, I don't really see that happening. That story was made to explain the changes they needed to make to the game, not the other way around. There are definitely aspects of the game that need a tune up, but nothing on the scale of blowing the whole thing up and staring fresh. -
02-25-2021, 10:42 AMTaleraRistain
I've been wondering if this might end up being XIV's Cataclysm expansion.
-
02-25-2021, 11:14 AMItMeIF they did this, the main way I think it might go down is by something happening in the story (like surmounting the shards all being messed up & having them linked together in a symbiotic way that doesn't lead to calamities as they're absorbed into The Source, or whatever) where the WoL ushers in a new era where everything is in balanced and the worlds are flourishing... and that manifests as a graphical / system upgrade.Quote:
Originally Posted by MilkieTea
Not that they'd need to tie the change into the lore, but it could be fun. -
02-25-2021, 11:43 AMMilkieTeaThat sounds like it'd be an amazing update. I'd tune in to see this!Quote:
Originally Posted by ItMe
-
02-25-2021, 09:12 PMMsQi
The only reason to have another calamity is for story purposes, not to rebuild the game.
No you should not lose progress and the previous content should remain. -
02-25-2021, 11:52 PMBright-FlowerIn the sense of 'the world is in danger from this disaster' sure. In terms of the restructure and changes to the vanilla zones that Cataclysm brought, the recent revamp to the ARR quests and addition of flight to ARR zones is the closest we're getting. Given that FFXIV has a far more linear and mandatory story than WOW they're not going to do what WoW did tot he eastern kingdoms and kalimdor.Quote:
Originally Posted by TaleraRistain
-
02-26-2021, 11:42 AMPayadopa
Not sure whether that's an unpopular opinion, but I hope come the new story arc we loose our powers (not ilvl stuff but story-wise) and not be a demigod anymore. I find it harder and harder to relate to my character who's the bestest at everything. Even the main cast starts joking about it more and more.
-
02-26-2021, 11:50 AMMilkieTeacut to Alisaie going "I know they wont give you any sport, but children are watching so put on a show":rolleyes: I'd love for us to lose a bit of that power too ahah. Or maybe for the bosses to get harder to deal with, so it *feels* like we lost a bit of that power?Quote:
Originally Posted by Payadopa
-
02-26-2021, 11:52 AMTaleraRistainYeah I meant the restructure. Unlikely, but it could be interesting. It did work for WoW since the story is a lot more fractured there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bright-Flower
-
02-26-2021, 05:25 PMkaynide
I do not expect this to happen because of the massive work involved but honestly, I wish they would rework FFXIV the same way they Guildwars 2 is.
Base game goes level 1 to cap, and each expansion has its own story and can be played independently of the others, although the game plays as if you cleared the expansions in order.
This means as long as you are max level, you could jump right into ShB, but NPCs will refer to ARR/HW/SB events as if you had done them.
It leaves room for expansions to just exist independently, and allows you to play the parts you like.
Rather than a derp 10 level gap before rinse repeat allagan/raid/whatever gear cycle, I’d rather just start at cap working towards better gear.
To be fair, most GW2 gear are glamours only... so.. -
02-26-2021, 06:30 PMMistakeNotQuote:
Originally Posted by MilkieTea
There is no way they are going to do the same Calamity-reboot that they did between 1.0 and 2.0 again. Not unless they go completely insane.
The big reboot between 1.0 and 2.0 happened because 1.0 was a miserable failure in most aspects, so the game needed to be rebooted or shut down. They chose to reboot it.
The current game is not a miserable failure, and thus in no need of a reboot.
They do plan on a stat squish for 6.0, but that's just because numbers have got a bit too big. Very different from a full reboot.
We already know the game will continue after Endwalker, with new storylines. Eventually even FFXIV will wind down as interest fades, at which point I expect it to be handled like they handled FFXI - keep the game in maintenance mode as long as it makes money. -
02-26-2021, 06:38 PMRaikai
The world map being shown on fire on the trailer...
I really think they - will - have a calamity change a lot of things with a mild timeskip between patch 6.0 and the new story afterwards.
Technically, most of the players nowadays never really experienced a Calamity, so it wouldn't be like playing the same card again. -
02-26-2021, 06:41 PMMagicAuraAgree with this. The stat squeeze is simply a technical issue and doesn't affect the on-going lore. There is no reason for another calamity and upsetting millions of players by removing all their progress, everything they achieved, literally starting from zero again will simply kill the game. None of what they said indicates that they plan such an action. The whole "end of days" concept is to frame the oncoming battle where the fate of the world is at stake. It doesn't mean they will destroy the world regardless of the outcome because that makes no sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by MistakeNot
-
02-26-2021, 08:43 PMEnkidohActually, that is not necessarily reflective of what may happen and might possibly be just for dramatic effect - after all, look at Shadowbringers opening - much of it was purely symbolic and was not relective of what actually happened during ShB at all. And as this trailer is just a short teaser, we don't have the full picture yet. And, as I mentioned in my earlier post, SE simply are not going to wreck the game world again and rebuild it permenantly like 1.0 to ARR as ARR is still having lots of new players joining all the time, which requires the open world map to be retained (this is also why the Ishgardian Reconstruction did not involve the Foundation, as SE simply requires it to remain broken and ruined for the benefit of new players entering the city for the first time, whose point of view is the Horde have only recently ransacked the place.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raikai
As for "most players" not having experienced the Calamity, a significant portion actually did recently - the 2018 Rising event in ARR was a reenactment of the Seventh Umbral Era events in 1.0 where Ul'dah was overrun by monsters in the street and Dalamud was looming large overhead. That's really the closest current players are probably going to get to the Calamity I'm afraid. SE simply are not going to have another 'end of the world' event again.