Pipe Dreams: Recurring Events - Tantalus Theater Troupe

I saw a question mentioning references to FF9 in the thread compiling questions for the next Live Letter from the Producer. I'll admit that this idea has been developing in my head for the last couple of months, and feel I could finally share it in detail.

-------------------------------------------

The Tantalus Theater Troupe

Main Concept:

The troupe visits one the three main cities in Eorzea (Limsa, Gridania, Ul'dah) during the last week of the (real life) month, the rotation starting with Limsa, Grid, then Uld. At the end of that week, the troupe will leave for parts unknown as they continue their tour of Hydaelin. Ideally, they would arrive in their own airship (think theater-ship from FF9), though I don't know if the currently re-designed zones would make that problematic, as I would expect the theatership to become part of the landscape while the troupe is in town.

Players can attend plays put on by the troupe, participate in mini-games depending on their chosen disciplines or help upkeep of the theater troupe's equipment.

Meet the crew: These are character concepts by me. I know they're not like how the characters were in FF9, but that's kind of the point. I am also open to racial adaptations of the names, as I feel the troupe should be diverse but the name may not fit the race.

Baku - troupe leader. A former pirate that values strength over all. His imposing stature allows him to easily play the role of authority figures and villains in troupe performances. (Roegadyn)

Marcus - A straight-forward lad with an honest disposition. Is usually cast as leading man because of his honest face. (Hyur midlander)

Blank - The troupe's resident rogue. Wittier than Marcus, but often fails to gain people's trust. Despite this, he can be cast into pretty much any role and still pull it off. (male Miq'ote?)

Ruby - A capricious actress. Is overly focused on the troupe's performances and always wants the troupe to be at its best. (no idea)

Cinna - The troupe's engineer and dedicated stagehand. (I can picture Cinna as a lalafell)

Angela - The troupe's cook. An older sister type woman that has a very mean streak while in the kitchen. (maybe Elezen?)

Yes, I left out the Nero Brothers, but that's because I can't think of anything to do with them.

Be part of the show!

Disciples of War can get discipline-specific quests from Baku or Marcus. Disciples of magic can get discipline-specific quests from Ruby or Cinna.

Sample quests:

-Extras (DoW): Baku needs extra bodies for one of the troupe's battle scenes.
-Staying Fit (DoW): Marcus needs a practice partner for a new choreographed fight scene.
-Make with them sparkles! (DoM): Ruby feels Cinna's special effects don't really compare to real magic, and wants you to use some magic as "effects" to liven up Tantalus' upcoming performance.
-The Lights Fantastic (DoM): Cinna is working on a new lighting technique utilizing a little magic. He just wonders if his props can withstand getting hit by said magic...

Help the troupe out!

Disciples of the Hand can get class-specific quests from Cinna, with the exception of Culinarians, who get quests specifically from Angela. Disciples of the Land can get class-specific quests from Blank.

Sample quests:

-For want of a sword (blacksmith): Cinna asks you to repair six worn prop swords.
-A dress for Ruby (weaver): Cinna asks you to provide materials for a gown Ruby plans to wear during her next performance.
-Leather goes with studs (tanner): Cinna asks for some help in making studded leather to use in a set of costumes for a future performance.
-Upkeep in the theater (carpenter): Cinna asks that you walk around the stage area and repair any loose planks and broken seats.
-Alchemy, the "other" magic (alchemy): Cinna needs components used in special effects during performances
-Popoto Chips (culinarian): Angela needs an extra set of hands in the kitchen to help her make her famous Tantalus Popoto Chips.
-Red as blood (botanist): Blank asks you for some Sanguine Hibiscus, which when mixed with certain compounds can simulate blood.
-Fish in a barrel (fisher): Blank needs {region-specific fish dependent on where the troupe has decided to perform} to make up for a lost stack of fish that mysteriously "vanished" from Angela's kitchen.

Show Time!

The troupe has a selection of plays it can perform, but will perform one such play during each visit at the end of the month. The only one that I can think of as a must is "I want to be your Canary". I'm open to suggestions as far as what else to include in Tantalus' repertoire. Additionally, some of the quests given by the members of the troupe may be different depending on what play they have chosen to perform.

At the end of the day...

Players that help out Tantalus during their visits get tokens that can be exchanged for merchandise like fireworks, special consumables, and special sets of gear that can be used with vanity slots. The amount of tokens required for some of these items would be considerably high, if only to ensure people continue to participate when the troupe comes to Eorzea.

Additional notes:

- I was thinking of having Baku give players a long term quest. Something along the lines of "kill 500 enemies that give exp and come back for a reward". This also plays into the next point.
- I was also thinking of implementing a reputation system with Tantalus in two ways. One system would be rep with the whole troupe, where at max rep you earn a special title identifying you as an honorary member of Tantalus. The second system would be more of a friendship system with each member of the troupe. The sample quest in the first point for example would be one of the few ways to earn respect from Baku.
- Playing into the friendship system, you'd get story quests for each troupe member at certain levels of friendship. You may get a glimpse to the inner workings of Marcus, or getting to know Ruby a little better, or perhaps a look at Baku's past.
- As far as Angela...she's more a nod to the scrapped character from FF6 that went by the same name (an older sister type girl that was apparently set to make Cyan's life interesting), and the fact that I felt the group needed a second female character.
- Some quests would be the standard faire of fetch quests. Others would play out like mini-games. For example, Extras should ideally mimic the mini-game at the beginning of FF9 where you have a chance to impress the crowd if you do things right. Same thing for Make with them sparks.
- I was also thinking of opening the stage at some point for players to put on their own plays (borrowing from Suikoden 3), but I have no idea how to implement something like that.

--------------------------

I just figured that if we want recurring events, this would be a good place to start. At least it would give some of us something to look forward to near the end of every month.

Questions, comments, flames and death threats are welcome.

This idea gives me the giggles, and I like it. :)

I'm envisioning the possibility of quest where you end up participating in a live play with the Tantalus' crew, in full view of the public. "Public" as in "real players." Can you see the possibilities? Can you?!

This reminds me of that circus troupe that you'd see in each of the three cities in FFXI... and who served no real purpose other than to add 'life' to the main square of each city (okay, one of the NPCs you could pay to bundle ammo into quivers, so it served a gameplay role).

I don't think I'd like to see it literally as the FFIX Tantalus though - too many blatant 'past FF' references would just come across as laziness and a shallow attempt at fanservice on SE's part. But if it used original ideas your basic idea could actually be very good Duelle. Or at least, that's just my opinion.

Unique events like these take a long time to impliment but i'd really love to see them in XIV.

I keep poking in the idea for an alá; "Festival of the Hunt" type event, which i'd freaking love

But other events where players participate like this sound fantastic, Duelle!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shioban

Unique events like these take a long time to impliment but i'd really love to see them in XIV.

---

Indeed. I call these threads pipe dreams because their chance of becoming reality is fairly small. That and I'm sure the guys at SE have probably thought of this already.

I like this idea. It's very flashy and lends a lot to the Final Fantasy feel.

One thing that would be neat would be to have a board or, better yet, have Baku announce before or after a play the top contributors the last time Tantalus was around.

"Special thanks to Duelle Urelle for helping with the effects display!" or something.

This also opens up all sorts of possibilities for little Final Fantasy in-jokes, like having the actors re-enact a scene from another Final Fantasy game (with changed names and on a stage, of course.) Mmm, Tantalus performing Maria and Draco...

reminds me of the dark moon faire in WoW lol least before what they did to it after cata~ one month it was outside thunderbluff and the next it was outside stormwind~ would be cool to have it happen kind of the same once every other month for a week or so o.o!~ and WoW haters I just don't care about your nay saying =p

http://www.blogcdn.com/wow.joystiq.c...nfireworks.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ShinigamiKayla

reminds me of the dark moon faire in WoW lol least before what they did to it after cata~ one month it was outside thunderbluff and the next it was outside stormwind~ would be cool to have it happen kind of the same once every other month for a week or so o.o!~ and WoW haters I just don't care about your nay saying =p

---

Dammit, Shini, the reason I didn't mention the DMF is because I didn't want to invite the naysayers into this thread! >.>;;;;;;;;;;;;

Hehe our Linkshell on Sargatanas is called Tantalus Theatre Troupe!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mjollnir

Hehe our Linkshell on Sargatanas is called Tantalus Theatre Troupe!

---

Came here to mention you guys :)

Long time no see Mojo ^^

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Junpei

Long time no see Mojo ^^

---

It's coz I'm so effing short. I haven't gone anywhere! :)

OT, I think the OP is a FABULOUS idea. I'd wish for an episodic weekly performance of a soap-opera/sitcom style dramatisation (performed in each city) as a serial, rather than just individual plays (everyone's seen that canary one ;) ).

Actually, I like the idea you mentioned of Free Companies being able to put on shows. Perhaps the game could record the stage for the timeslot and auto-encode and upload a video to the FC's Lodestone page or an FFXIV Theatre Youtube channel (that might be too hi-tech to implement^^).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mjollnir

OT, I think the OP is a FABULOUS idea. I'd wish for an episodic weekly performance of a soap-opera/sitcom style dramatisation (performed in each city) as a serial, rather than just individual plays (everyone's seen that canary one).

---

Weekly is pushing it from a technical standpoint, I think. I'd go more with the idea mentioned earlier using the plays as references to past FFs (really, how did I not think of Tantalus performing the Dream Oath of Maria and Draco?).

Of course, in the end its up to the devs, though I do think a show at the end of the month just fits better and makes more sense. Could really be paced like Hamlet Defense was in 1.0: first 3 days is prep phase, two days are nothing but performances, remaining two days are for cleanup, after which Tantalus wuld leave until the following month.

Fetch quests would be available during prep and cleanup days, and performance days would be where you can do the minigames while participating (when I first came up with this I was thinking of using instances like the whole "duty calls" thing we had in 1.0).

I myself would love to see this in the game it adds more options for other things to be added in like performer class and dancer job and since Tantalus is a group of pirates maybe a air pirate class / corsair job with it as well

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Forgo

I myself would love to see this in the game it adds more options for other things to be added in like performer class and dancer job and since Tantalus is a group of pirates maybe a air pirate class / corsair job with it as well

---

that would be cool I liked the idea of having like job / class unlocks from when the troupe is up like once a month or something only thing it would clash with is job quests though would be a cool idea to have some of the more exotic classes showing up though...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ShinigamiKayla

that would be cool I liked the idea of having like job / class unlocks from when the troupe is up like once a month or something only thing it would clash with is job quests though would be a cool idea to have some of the more exotic classes showing up though...

---

lol i was thinking that you could earn said classes/jobs through the quest to help the troupe out of course you would have to wait and find them in town again after getting to the next quest done but that would be pretty cool to make the performer/ dancer job quest performing in the plays (live) and seeing how you do...plus maybe the air pirate class / corsair job can travel with the group (quest wise) and help if (and when since its a class/job quest) they get attacked by other air pirates (since Yoshi-P say he was going to try to add air pirate raids on airships anyway)

Hehe, I am guilty of bringing it up in the questions thread! As an inhabitant of Sargatanas myself, I know of that Linkshell, and I remember chatting to a few of the members a while back and getting overexcited about how awesome their LS name was!

I really loved the circus performers in XI, and having something similar in XIV would add a lot more character to the cities. Just little details that make you feel like you're in an exciting and dynamic world. It's late and I need to sleep, but so glad this thread popped up! Love the ideas :)

I'll admit, I saw mention of a Final Fantasy IX addition, and immediately jumped over almost everything and everyone to respond to this post.

I just have to say that anything FINAL FANTASY IX will likely please me. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. I NEED IT!!!!!

But I absolutely adored the "I Want To Be Your Canary" part of the opening sequence of the game. I also loved the idea someone mentioned in this thread of the plays reenacting (in a humorous vein) scenes from earlier games. That would be really fun to see. I would probably STALK the theatre troupe and sit in/participate with every play FOREVERMORE. I AM NOT LEAVING!!! You can't throw me out!!! This ticket is not fake!

Ahem. I will try to calm down.

Oh, and Andreas-Lycaes: MWUAH! I love you <3 <3 <3

Assuming we want a rep system with the troupe, we should probably cook up some rewards.

As I mentioned in my OP, Tantalus rep would get you a title at max rep, but along the way I think it should give you access to additional merchandise you can purchase using the tokens you'd get from doing quests for Tantalus members. Don't think temp items would work, but for starters I wanted stuff like a portable spotlight (a spotlight shines on your target when you use it) and maybe a smoke bomb that would make you invisible to other players (mobs would still be able to see and aggro you).

Then as you get higher levels of rep you get access to unique-looking "prop" weapons and four "discipline" outfits (DoW, DoM, DoH, DoL). Getting higher might get you access to replicas of some of the costumes worn during performances (like Draco's armor?).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Duelle

Assuming we want a rep system with the troupe, we should probably cook up some rewards.

As I mentioned in my OP, Tantalus rep would get you a title at max rep, but along the way I think it should give you access to additional merchandise you can purchase using the tokens you'd get from doing quests for Tantalus members. Don't think temp items would work, but for starters I wanted stuff like a portable spotlight (a spotlight shines on your target when you use it) and maybe a smoke bomb that would make you invisible to other players (mobs would still be able to see and aggro you).

Then as you get higher levels of rep you get access to unique-looking "prop" weapons and four "discipline" outfits (DoW, DoM, DoH, DoL). Getting higher might get you access to replicas of some of the costumes worn during performances (like Draco's armor?).

---

that would be neat...I would never take the replica armor off though O.o (lol jk). prop weapons would be a nice touch too something that look like the FFIX weapons used? maybe?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Forgo

prop weapons would be a nice touch too something that look like the FFIX weapons used? maybe?

---

I was thinking more along the lines of Excalipoor and what could count as "joke" weaponry due to not being powerful. I mean, if this were WoW I would suggest something like the Busted Sword (think buster sword but with some dents and burn marks and flavor text reading "It's old"). Don't know if that type of humor would fit in FFXIV, though.

Something that may fit would be prop versions of known FF weapons, like perhaps Dimmed Lightbringer, modeled after the sword from FFXI. Dulled Dragon Whisker/Ryuu no hige (every FF that had dragoons in it). Prop Tiger Fangs (FFVI). Model Fomalhaut (FFXII, XIII). You get the idea.