Hints of whats to come in 7.0

So with 6.4 out I noticed a few passing details in the msq that feel like its relating to something else and I thought to just point them out and see if anyone else has more to add.

1. A mysterious client asking for the Scions aid based on what Thancred tells to Urianger during the Atherfont section

2. A mysterious letter in Krile\\'s unruly desk that she notices but ignores it for now.

3. Erenville mentions a "homecoming"

Still to hard to say where we're going but there's no doubt in my mind that it isn't going to be a split focus expansion. Given SE's current record with Stormblood, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker; it's going to be an expansion that tries to fit as many locations as possible within it. Shadowbringers I can kind of let slide but my point is, that we have been travelling large stretches of the globe/universe in each expansion. Where're in this corner of the world then the other, than another. It wouldn't surprise me if they put New World, Myracida, some Garha's hometown, and other faraway places all in the next expansion.

I mean the easy answers so far would be either Meracydia or the New World.

Also forgot to add that the special boss shown in the recent LL that would be playable at this years fanfest on record have been dungeon bosses for next expansions.

Gilded Araya being a fight against the Queen of Eidolons from FFIV being Asura, makes me think perhaps New World (because city of gold)

The letter on the desk implied Mayan or Aztec influences so New World is certainly in play.

<humor> I figured they would have avoided NA for as long as possible because, well, it’s N/A! (Bada bump!) </humor>

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Originally Posted by Atelier-Bagur

So with 6.4 out I noticed a few passing details in the msq that feel like its relating to something else and I thought to just point them out and see if anyone else has more to add.

1. A mysterious client asking for the Scions aid based on what Thancred tells to Urianger during the Atherfont section

2. A mysterious letter in Krile\\'s unruly desk that she notices but ignores it for now.

3. Erenville mentions a "homecoming"

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I wonder if the first two are related, with the Scions being contacted by this 'client' and Krile simply not opening the letter they sent. I seem to recall Yoshi saying that Krile is gonna have a bigger roll in 7.0, so could be she ends up learning about whats going on when the WoL does. That or it could be setting up a subplot involving her. Eitehr way, I am intriugued.

Erenville is interesting too, and brings to mind this moment in his short story "One day—perhaps when his part in their adventures is ended—he will lay to rest a long-deferred matter. That which had confronted him in his faraway home long before he took his new name, and chose to walk the gleaner's path."

Have to say, I was convinced Meracydia was gonna be the next location we go to, with us traveling there with Azdaja but now I am not so sure... could be this Void arc is just setting up for that in the future, but the 7.0 will be somwhere else as she 'recovers' (Assuming we rescue her) Perhaps as others have said we will see the New World instead? That would be interesting as we knew even less about that then Meracydia.

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Originally Posted by Atelier-Bagur

1. A mysterious client asking for the Scions aid based on what Thancred tells to Urianger during the Atherfont section

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An interesting thing about this is that it was mentioned the client was asking for Archons specifically, due to their neutrality.

That means whoever the client is, they are at least loosely connected to, affected by, or aware of Eorzean politics. Or they are aware of the Scions’ false retirement and they are trying to get in touch while not raising any eyebrows.

That, plus Erenville’s mention of a homecoming, would initially make me think of the blank spots of Ilsabard and Western Othard. We still have mysteries there like the flying whale, floating islands, and the giant.

The New World does have connections to Limsa Lominsa since they’re their first and seemingly only connection to the 3 great continents. Limsa/La Noscea has a sizable population of New World immigrants too.

Meracydia has no connections in ARR canon. In 1.0 they had trade with Limsa Lominsa but I haven’t seen that come up since. But I’m also biased against Meracydia since I live in a desert IRL and feel like we’ve had enough of that aesthetic in ARR, SB, and ShB.

I believe the client is Princess Ashe of Dalmasca, who we know Fran serves. Ever since they let slip she's in the world somewhere I've been wondering when they might use her. Seems like a good enough time.

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Originally Posted by Atelier-Bagur

So with 6.4 out I noticed a few passing details in the msq that feel like its relating to something else and I thought to just point them out and see if anyone else has more to add.

1. A mysterious client asking for the Scions aid based on what Thancred tells to Urianger during the Atherfont section

2. A mysterious letter in Krile\\'s unruly desk that she notices but ignores it for now.

3. Erenville mentions a "homecoming"

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Those were my three, too. With Erenville I'm almost wondering if it's Dalmasca.

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Originally Posted by OzumaKuma

I believe the client is Princess Ashe of Dalmasca, who we know Fran serves. Ever since they let slip she's in the world somewhere I've been wondering when they might use her. Seems like a good enough time.

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I'll be honest, a full Ivalice themed expansion would be absolute hype. It would allow them to add female Hrothgar in large amounts and make it feel natural, give a lot of us what we want in more exploration of the continent (and even Corvos!), AND allow them to basically "fix" things from the end of Save the Queen with new story that you won't need to do Bozja to understand. Things like "Bozja/Dalmasca/Nagxia independence war happened, Noah Gabranth has died, IVth Legion disbanded". Things that basically happen out of focus of the player.

We should also note that a recently-revamped dungeon had an interesting interaction.

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Y'shtola: Is that a treatise on the New World I spy?
Alphinaud: Ah yes, I've read that one. I can recommend it.
Over the Horizon: Though there is some debate as to whether or not Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn and her League of Lost Bastards were the first Eorzeans to discover the western continent, there is no denying that their navigational charts were instrumental in establishing the major trade routes of today.

Moreover, the accounts from their expedition are widely regarded as both informative and entertaining. Of particular note is their first encounter with the Mamool Ja, as well as other indigenous peoples and creatures which seemed curiously intent on their demise.

These travel journals have since inspired a legion of explorers and treasure hunters to retrace the League's journey. Yet in spite of their numbers, the existence of “a bleedin' city o' gold” remains unconfirmed...

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

We should also note that a recently-revamped dungeon had an interesting interaction.

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Interesting! Which one was that?

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3. Erenville mentions a "homecoming"

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Us male Vieras know what he's talking about, hence why he looked awkward.

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Originally Posted by Bunnycake

Us male Vieras know what he's talking about, hence why he looked awkward.

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Yeah, time to go help with the bun bun population crisis.

Over in Il Mheg (custom deliver spoilers):

Anden was warned by his sister he's probably going to have the same thing coming.

Im really curious about that homecoming…

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Originally Posted by Catwho

Yeah, time to go help with the bun bun population crisis.

Over in Il Mheg (custom deliver spoilers):

Anden was warned by his sister he's probably going to have the same thing coming.

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Please join us as a bun and save green bnnuy boy, we need more buns and are starting to resort to unethical measures

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Originally Posted by Catwho

Yeah, time to go help with the bun bun population crisis.

Over in Il Mheg (custom deliver spoilers):

Anden was warned by his sister he's probably going to have the same thing coming.

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I'm on it!

I'm well aware of it which even us male Viera players got this
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...POILER_vii.png

It is not gonna be a pleasant one, if they keep the stuff up as it is... it could be a new HW and SHB on steroids, the kind of stuff you can do with the current setting is really offering alot of potential, and I don't think we have seen the best FFXIV yet.

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

Interesting! Which one was that?

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The Great Gubal Library. It was just one of the books, so the other books weren't on the same subject.

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Originally Posted by OzumaKuma

I believe the client is Princess Ashe of Dalmasca, who we know Fran serves. Ever since they let slip she's in the world somewhere I've been wondering when they might use her. Seems like a good enough time.

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This is actually a very solid theory. There was a little known interview a few months prior to Endwalker's release where Yoshi-P outright says that the Bozja storyline ended the way it did because they always intended on revisiting Dalmasca eventually.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...no_and_yoship/

Relevant parts:

- They are aware of the field records hinting at a future for the story, and Matsuno said it is envisioned to continue after the liberation of Dalmasca (so there was always going to be some sort of time gap)

- Yoshida said that if they would make it (a story after the liberation of Dalmasca), he would like to see it in the style of the relic content in 5.25 (which was the journey through cid's memories, basically story content with a trial at the end).

- Yoshida said Fran and the WoL would meet again in the future in the aftermath and focus on the things she left unsaid (hiding the fact Ashe is still alive) and why Lyon did what he did (seemingly killing Gabranth).

- It seems (not sure) it is the reason Matsuno doesn't want a war for the liberation of Dalmasca but a story that happens after that.

If we are indeed going to Corvos/Dalmasca, it sounds like they've decided that this continuation is now meant for the main story rather than a side plot.

There's no way they're going to force Bozja on the MSQ people, so I'm not sure how they would incorporate Dalmasca in an organic way. I don't think 7.0 MSQ will have anything to do with previous maps/areas/raids.

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Originally Posted by Boblawblah

There's no way they're going to force Bozja on the MSQ people, so I'm not sure how they would incorporate Dalmasca in an organic way.

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Bozja doesn't need to be done. All the important parts from it? Happen off screen in the field records. Ivalice would be the only thing required to be mandatory.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Bozja doesn't need to be done. All the important parts from it? Happen off screen in the field records. Ivalice would be the only thing required to be mandatory.

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I can't see them retroactively forcing Ivalice on people though, it'll be CT all over again with people confused/frustrated on either having no clue what is going on in the MSQ or being forced to stop the MSQ to complete a seemingly unrelated raid series.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Bozja doesn't need to be done. All the important parts from it? Happen off screen in the field records. Ivalice would be the only thing required to be mandatory.

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Arguably Ivalice doesn't need to be mandatory either. Almost everything important that happens in that quest line concerns the very distant history of Dalmasca, which would have no bearing on the present day.

There's the whole stuff with Fran and Ashe, but we didn't actually do much with Fran and we don't even meet Ashe. Any conflicts with a potential post-liberation Dalmasca storyline would just be a matter of 'oh we've seen you helping out with the Prima Vista before'. On the other hand, making Ivalice mandatory might actually be good for the game overall, because it would mean Alliance Roulette isn't just going to remain people spamming Crystal Tower to hell and back.

The only reason Ivalice was mandatory for Bozja was because of Mikoto taking center stage in the latter questline.

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Originally Posted by SaitoHikari

Arguably Ivalice doesn't need to be mandatory either. Almost everything important that happens in that quest line concerns the very distant history of Dalmasca, which would have no bearing on the present day.

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Actually there is one important thing about it...it's what led Fran to actually talking to the Eorzean Alliance, and likely learning about the Scions themselves. Working with us would also get her to trust us. So I could see them making it mandatory...plus that helps brings up the player skill level since Ivalice ain't exactly easy for a lot of players.

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Originally Posted by SaitoHikari

Arguably Ivalice doesn't need to be mandatory either. Almost everything important that happens in that quest line concerns the very distant history of Dalmasca, which would have no bearing on the present day.

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Bits of Dalmasca show up in the Bozja storyline as Valnain is the IVth legion’s capital and it appears in cutscenes. The city is infamously liberated off-screen in the Field Records.

Considering the ruined state of Rabanastre and Valnain being a Garlean stronghold in another side story, if both Ivalice and Bozja are skipped, there wouldn’t really anywhere for us to go in a potential expansion there and the state of the 2 biggest cities in the country would have to be danced around if you haven’t done them yet.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Actually there is one important thing about it...it's what led Fran to actually talking to the Eorzean Alliance, and likely learning about the Scions themselves. Working with us would also get her to trust us. So I could see them making it mandatory...plus that helps brings up the player skill level since Ivalice ain't exactly easy for a lot of players.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

Bits of Dalmasca show up in the Bozja storyline as Valnain is the IVth legion’s capital and it appears in cutscenes. The city is infamously liberated off-screen in the Field Records.

Considering the ruined state of Rabanastre and Valnain being a Garlean stronghold in another side story, if both Ivalice and Bozja are skipped, there wouldn’t really anywhere for us to go in a potential expansion there and the state of the 2 biggest cities in the country would have to be danced around if you haven’t done them yet.

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Hmm. Yeah, it would be really messy if we actually did go to Dalmasca without completing both Ivalice or Bozja. Though who even knows anymore, the writers may just decide that they're not going to bother with forcing people to go through previous side content and assume everyone did it already.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

That, plus Erenville’s mention of a homecoming, would initially make me think of the blank spots of Ilsabard and Western Othard. We still have mysteries there like the flying whale, floating islands, and the giant.

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It's also worth noting that the stuff about Erenville's homecoming is a voiced line. It has major significance, and isn't throwaway optional dialogue you could get by talking to him outside of a cutscene.

Going to Southern Islabard/Western Othard would give the opportunity for the devs to do the following:

- Introduce more Viera lore, to make them less of a fanservice race. More Horathgar lore too.
- Fully reveal the map of the Three Great Continents
- Explore Doma's relationship with the surrounding nations. Remember that Hien was setting up an alliance of Othardian nations towards the end of the Stormblood patch series, and we saw representatives from Nagaxia and Dalmasca
- Tie up the loose ends with the Ivalice/Bozja arcs
- Tie up all the loose ends with the Garelmald arc, of which it's rather widely known at this point that the Garlemald arc being as rushed/off-screened as it did left a sour taste in a significant portion of the community

Unless something major happened off-screen across the seas that would have resulted in an unknown faction sending someone to the Three Great Continents for help (with said representative somehow learning about very specific members of the Scions with very specific qualities such as political neutrality to send those invitations to them), and unless Erenville came from some unknown Viera enclave across the seas rather than Nagaxia, it's far more likely those missives came from someone in Corvos/Dalmasca/Nagaxia instead.

I can't see us just going across the seas to Mercydia or the New World so soon, while leaving all of the above on the table. They could always revisit all of this after we head overseas, but it would be extremely difficult. The reception to returning to a 'past arc' area in a post across-the-seas expansion climate would be very poor ('why are we wasting time dealing with old shit when we have all this new stuff right here'). Yoshi-P absolutely isn't going to do Matsuno dirty by potentially shoving all of this into Criterion Dungeon-level side content either.

Plus, going to Corvos/Dalmasca/Nagaxia first also gives the overseas content time to cook in the oven in regards to writing and world design, especially now that we likely have writers returning from XVI development.

Well, we probably won't need to wait until 6.5 to figure out where the next expansion is headed. We'll likely find out where we are going in 2 months, when NA fanfest happens.

If people like Lyon are characters in the expansion, it would be really cool, but it would be difficult to explain their role in the Bozja war and liberation and the whole history that happened there without Bozja being required.

Most likely what they would do is just write the story as if that didn't happen and not mention it except briefly if you did the story. Skating over the entire liberation of Bozja does seem like not discussing the elephant in the room, but they have managed it before with subjects like the Coils of Bahamut or the events of the Eden raids where the entire plot of that is conveniently avoided in the MSQ even though it's a big part of the plot of the MSQ. If you've done all of the Shadowbringers role quests, those are also a big part of the plot of the MSQ that are conveniently avoided in the MSQ.

They could just use the Unending Journey.

Probably more Job homogenization's... Though I could swear I am forgetting something regarding 7.0... I can't recall what....

Oh. I remembered seeing this last year. Even more for the 'we're most likely going to Corvos/Dalmasca/Nagaxia' pile.

The lead writer for the next expansion's main quest had already been announced in a live letter last year. Daichi Hiroi.

https://novacrystallis.com/wp-conten...L3XEAEEJa2.jpg

Considering that resume, his work is very fitting to start a new story arc with. Lots of world building. The Bard and Dancer quests in particular had a very fun dynamic and built on existing lore in a lot of different locations, compared to most other job quests largely being confined to a single location/subject.

While it could be the completely new world continent out west, part of me thinks it could be Ivalice/Dalmasca. Urianger and Thancred were requested as neutral agents, which could be required for a peace treaty in say Dalmasca due to the war now being over. Erenville talking about a return home wouldn't be to an unknown continent, it would be to the Golmore Jungle. Finally, there was a lot of talk this patch about the concepts behind auracite and its creation and history. I don't think it would be too difficult for the team to have the Ivalice raids be required for MSQ since they already did that with Crystal Tower.

To me the most important clue of all was at the end of the raid series with Themis very ominously saying that while history is written by the victors if the star continues on its current path then.....

What I wish would happen was eventually we trigger all the rejoinings and become whole again. Of course this means the end of Eorzea and so probably not whats gonna happen. After all there is no reason for the shards anymore, I'm not exactly sure what force is keeping them apart either... I thought it was Hyda/Zodi.

It is stated that the source has a pull on them.

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Originally Posted by Ath192

To me the most important clue of all was at the end of the raid series with Themis very ominously saying that while history is written by the victors if the star continues on its current path then.....

What I wish would happen was eventually we trigger all the rejoinings and become whole again. Of course this means the end of Eorzea and so probably not whats gonna happen. After all there is no reason for the shards anymore, I'm not exactly sure what force is keeping them apart either... I thought it was Hyda/Zodi.

It is stated that the source has a pull on them.

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Im not sure if what Themis says counts for 7.0 specifically. I mean it could most likely mean whatever that comes towards the final end of FFXIV but thats not much of a hint more so than a "well duh".

Itd be interesting what we'll ultimately do with the other shards. Causing a rejoining will just obliterate everything, but in most rpgs that have stories of dual worlds and such, usually it winds up coming together again so maybe theyll find a way to make all the shards back into one without it being lethal.

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Originally Posted by Atelier-Bagur

I mean it could most likely mean whatever that comes towards the final end of FFXIV but thats not much of a hint more so than a "well duh".

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If it was a well duh they wouldn't have made a cliffhanger out of it. but yes, idk if for 7.0. But it isn't trivial.

R15 Island Sanctuary quest briefly mentions the Southern Continent. I dunno how more obvious they have to be that we're going there. Maybe, maybe a split early zone in the Dalmasca or Corvos region, but primarily we'll be going to Meracydia.

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Originally Posted by Ath192

If it was a well duh they wouldn't have made a cliffhanger out of it. but yes, idk if for 7.0. But it isn't trivial.

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Unless this is your first rpg or video game ever, the hint being that "something bad is coming towards the end of the game" is well indeed a "no duh" isnt a hint because of course, thats how plot works. And I dont think that was supposed to be a cliffhanger, I feel more so the statement afterwards where he mentions the light but already people have interpreted that its Themis being reborn anew, so maybe somewhere down the road we may see him again? Probably not.

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Originally Posted by Raim

Urianger and Thancred were requested as neutral agents

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I didn't read so much into it. I just assumed it was a way to get Urianger and Thancred out of the story. "We have a mission to attend to, bye" so that we can continue with the main cast we have had since 6.1 of Estinien, Y'shtola, Zero and Varshahn.

It's not been on my mind before this thread, but if there is some fantastical disney Aladdin tale they pull off in Dalmasca maybe it'll be a fun expansion.

I had dismissed the idea of Dalmasca entirely, because when looking at the map we have mostly been to all of these locations already. We went to Tail Mountains (Bardam's Mettle), Onsal Hakair/Azim Steppe, Yanxia, The Burn, Ilsabard, Dalmasca (Rabanastre), the Valnain/Valnard Sea gapes (The Ridorana Lighthouse), the jungle area above it (Orbonne Monastery), the desert area around the west of Dalmasca (Gangos, Bozja and Zadnor). Which leaves just Nagxia which has had mentions by Hien a lot.

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Originally Posted by Atelier-Bagur

so maybe theyll find a way to make all the shards back into one without it being lethal.

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The first exists and we can teleport to it. I don't think they will prevent us teleporting to the first, so I think it will be permanently there.

Not to mention how we could have made a deal with some of these ascians if we were willing to entertain the idea of a rejoining.