Moar lore... The Last Word – Rising Panic (10/18/2012)

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/topics/detail?id=3ea00c10d0bf518d177bc383041495ae982328b0



The Last Word — Rising Panic
Kipih Jakkya here, bright-eyed and sharp-eared, bringing you a report on the recent rampages of beasts and beastmen alike.

As mutterings about the imminent arrival of the Seventh Umbral Era swell into a deafening chorus of unease in and around the city-states, it appears the beastmen, too, are falling prey to the infectious rumblings of fear.

According to recent reports, roving gangs of Qiqirn and goblins have begun attacking travelers on the roads of Thanalan. While such incidents are certainly not unheard of in the lightly patrolled borderlands, these attacks have taken place in plain sight of the gates of Ul’dah. Never before have these beastmen been so bold, or shown such disregard for potential reprisals.

Mayhap, as some scholars have put forth, the looming threat of Dalamud has driven them into a self-destructive frenzy. Or perhaps they simply care not for consequences in their frantic rush to hoard supplies in preparation for the “end of the world.”

And while we are speaking of Thanalan, dear reader, let us not forget the rumors concerning the unusual numbers of cactuars careening around the countryside. Marcette, a naturalist and writer for Eorzean Geographic, postulates that exposure to the eerie and ever-present light of the red moon is responsible for the seedkin’s heightened state of agitation.

With both beast and beastman acting in such unpredictable fashion, a journey into the wilds is more dangerous than ever. Be you adventurer, merchant, or intrepid reporter, I urge you to remain wary—only the gods know what new dangers await us beyond the sanctuary of the city walls.

Till next time, may the Twelve watch over you and keep you safe.

Kipih Jakkya

It would be cooler if Tonberries showed up for the party.

There's going to be riots EVERYWHERE!, Breaking windows, Stealing stuff, setting things on FIRE!! Protect ZEE CHILDREN!!

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Originally Posted by Starlord

There's going to be riots EVERYWHERE!, Breaking windows, Stealing stuff, setting things on FIRE!! Protect ZEE CHILDREN!!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnaVoTfkqa8

I wish they would at least bother to add pictures to these news articles.

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Originally Posted by Mug

I wish they would at least bother to add pictures to these news articles.

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Then people will complain it's not pictures of ARR.

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Originally Posted by Starlord

There's going to be riots EVERYWHERE!, Breaking windows, Stealing stuff, setting things on FIRE!! Protect ZEE CHILDREN!!

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You know I was just thinking about that earlier. For what's supposed to be categorized as the "end of the world" it almost lacks that feel. Sure you see a great deal of different things going on but okay, do this... Head to any city in Eorzea and take a stroll through it. Notice anything? Most NPCs seem like they can't give two turds (Sorry I don't feel like swearing.) about the fact that Dalamud is getting closer and the end of life as they know it may be coming to pass before their very eyes.

Look at the gate guards at varying camps. Atomos spawns and there's a huge onslaught of hellish creatures spawning around them. Meanwhile you can walk right up to the crafting utilities NPC and they'll go:

"Hey, sure, go ahead and use our utilities! Oh, oh them? Yeah, don't worry about it. We aren't!"

Same can be said about imperial invasions. Head out to Camp Broken Water and you'll see Garlean forces all over. Meanwhile this Battlewarden just tells you that vicious creatures are spawning around the area and wants you to go deal with it. Pay no heed to the Garleans standing outside the fences there. Okay, maybe I'm nitpicking too much but for the sense of dread there's supposed to be leading up to what may very well be the end of life for the realm the game seems fairly lacking.

Truthfully I was a little disappointed with the current bit of lore. "The cactuar all about are only here because the light of Dalamud irritates them." Uh, yeah. I'm sorry, it just seems a little half-hearted. What was supposed to feel like a highly memorable moment sort of just feels like a waiting game until they take down the servers so much that I haven't bothered logging in as much lately and I know I'm not alone there. The population in Ul'dah alone in my server it noticeably smaller than any given typical day. And all these extra tiny things feel more like stuff that's supposed to satisfy us until the final day. Is there a final patch coming? I think they released it all didn't they?

Will there be a huge climatic ending? I'd hope so but at this point I'm almost believing there won't be. Maybe a few days before the end of the world hits we'll see a small CS, Garleans might even spread out across all of Mor Dhona, and the meteor showers will return in the sky to represent the final scene. After that gameplay ends until 2.0. No big battle where you're fighting for your lives in Mor Dhona, no large-scale event, just a CS, enemies standing around, and a little graphical magic. I'm hyped for 2.0 but not for what should be a hugely memorable event.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm not really expecting something like NPCs fighting NPCs. Given the current game engine I wager it's likely impossible and more difficult than they can do. But it would be decent to at least see more NPCs around, maybe an event even where the Garleans spawn and NPCs start asking adventurers to join arms in pushing them back. It's already possible, they were doing that during the initial invasions. There wouldn't have to be anything spectacular, just add in an EXP reward, some seals, gil, whatever.

Not that I don't agree, but they probably just decided it was more work than it was worth. It hardly seems like it, but if you sit down and count them up, there are already hundreds of NPCs in various towns, hamlets, etc. Going through and adding new dialog or reanimating them would be a horrendous undertaking. I too would love to see some actual reaction from the NPCs, but given how much work it would take, probably for the best that they focused on ARR instead.

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Originally Posted by Hulan

Not that I don't agree, but they probably just decided it was more work than it was worth. It hardly seems like it, but if you sit down and count them up, there are already hundreds of NPCs in various towns, hamlets, etc. Going through and adding new dialog or reanimating them would be a horrendous undertaking. I too would love to see some actual reaction from the NPCs, but given how much work it would take, probably for the best that they focused on ARR instead.

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Basically this.

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Originally Posted by Hulan

Not that I don't agree, but they probably just decided it was more work than it was worth. It hardly seems like it, but if you sit down and count them up, there are already hundreds of NPCs in various towns, hamlets, etc. Going through and adding new dialog or reanimating them would be a horrendous undertaking. I too would love to see some actual reaction from the NPCs, but given how much work it would take, probably for the best that they focused on ARR instead.

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Sorry, I should of specified. I was referring to more NPCs being stationed around the camps. I guess even if they just stood there it still might help lend to the sense of urgency. Even an NPC in a town announcing that scouts have spotted Garlean troops in a certain area could be helpful. Example:

Town Crier: "Citizens! Adventurers! Travelers alike! Scouts within the Eorzean Alliance have spotted heavy Garlean activity in the area! Are there none amongst you who would bravely fight for the realm to push back this threat?! Let us show the Empire the might of Eorzea!"

*Player asks where they have been seen*

Town Crier: "Huge armies of Imperial soldiers were spotted in the vicinity of Camp <insert name>! Their numbers were sheer with reports of an even stronger squad lingering within to test the mettle of even the bravest souls."

At campsites there could have even been NPCs which give a temporary time limit within your goal is to kill as many of the non-elite soldiers as possible. You'd be rewarded based on your performance of an EXP boost (Like the ones given out as rewards for a quest allowing it to be distributed to a crafting class instead for example.) that would scale with your level, a small sum of gil, or even just Grand Company seals. Or maybe forgo the rewards and just set it up as an endless EXP chain within a certain time limit. And it shouldn't be too hard to make NPCs a little more lively.

They might talk more about the end of the world, what about the whole "Doom Cult" deal they had going? Why not bring that back? You're still teleported to one of the areas of course, but instead of being lured in you'd go in with the sense that these cults are attempting to needlessly sacrifice citizens and it's your task to find them and free them. They wouldn't even need to make any NPCs disappear from the towns, these are non-existant generic named NPCs. "Distraught Child", "Panicked Housewife", "Grieving Elderly Man". They already have the templates and coding in place, changing a few bits of dialogue to make it fit wouldn't be hard.

Of course I'm not suggesting they do it now with only two weeks to go but these are deals they could have been doing at the start of 1.23a. Dalamud is in "You're so screwed" mode but it doesn't have that atmosphere beyond the giant moon and some little events. Spawning cactuar all over an area and saying they're irritated by Dalamud doesn't count for much. Atomos was a good idea and well executed but at this point in time there should be much more of a sense of urgency that just doesn't exist.

EDIT: Even having an NPC scripted to cry out at the sight of Atomos appearing over an aetheryte gate would be helpful. Anything to lead to the sense that the inhabitants are indeed aware that the destruction of their home is coming. I mean, if you were faced with the end of the world about to happen would you sit in a pub all day ranting about market ward prices or would you likely panic?

Let me see some of the NPCs in the Mineral Concern ranting in a drunken stupor because they've given up and use alcohol to deal with it. Put one of those same NPCs sitting in a corner talking about how he "doesn't give a shite" about what you say or think because they'll all be dead here soon enough. Let me see some NPCs frequenting the sanctuaries in Ul'dah, probably the Thamaturge's Guild primarily, praying fervently to the Twelve for salvation. Drop an NPC at a few of the Archon stones doing continual prayer emotes begging that deity to save them.

Kipi sure likes to use the word Mayhap

I think this situation would have been a little more believable had they actually made the monsters aggressive rather than passive. From my understanding, there was a post detailing how the writer of this article was in GM character and leading people out of the goblins/qiqirn, yet they were just standing around because they weren't aggressive. For all we know they were trying to take refuge in the city to escape the environmental horrors of Atomos.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if this has an impact on their behavior in ARR or not. Qiqirn have historically been passive in nature, but the goblins would wreck you in FF11 given a chance.