Egi Appearance

[Daniolaut]

"Egi" is the most absolute uninspired name they could have used for these manifestations of the primal beasts.

Words like "proto" "primordial" "arch" or any other such word would do so much better for english.

I find it rather strange the localization team would just use the exact japanese term.

Also is a summoner in ARR really a "summoner?" They seem much more like an Evoker/Elementalist than anything.

I hope they have good lore in ...... any part of the game, but most particularly in regards to an explanation as to why they dont summon the entire beast. If that fact is disregarded in the lore entirely I'll be rather unpleased. (Aside from the Free Company Summons. I hope they dont take the easy way out with just "just because.")

As for their looks, why cant they have legs? I mean is it really that difficult to add a few more sculpted textures/model-ization?

[Mamakat]

As for their looks, why cant they have legs? I mean is it really that difficult to add a few more sculpted textures/model-ization?

Ifrit is the only one I see without legs

[Catapult]

an explanation as to why they dont summon the entire beast

Well that's easy enough. It would [kupo!]ing murder you. You'll have cheesed most of them off in the main scenario by the time you get to unlocking the Summoner job, after all.

More exposition and personal theorising:

Through the Scions of the Seventh Dawn quests surrounding Ifrit (and tidbits from version 1.0), we learn that the primals are, in their natural state, part of the aether stream. The elemental aspect itself as you will. The act of summoning essentially causes that aspect to manifest itself.

And once it is manifested and worshiped, it likes staying that way. Their power is directly linked to the volume of faith in them, which explains why Ifrit goes out of his way to "temper" people (read: brainwash) into blindly worshiping him.

This tells us that a primal exists only through what sentient creatures believe exists. My conclusion is that if you believe Ifrit has a personality, or more specifically, if you believe in that specific Ifrit with that specific personality, if you will it to exist, then you are contributing to the wilful summoning and sustenance of that entity. Before you know it, you have a self-propagating cycle of thought creating reality creating thought.

A smart summoner would be sure to act on the summoning of a different manifestation. Perhaps we can't help ourselves by envisaging a form similar to what we know, but we sure as hell don't want the crazy harpy-lady to show up so she can slice open our necks. We want something we can have dominance over and control.

[Lusavari]

Well that's easy enough. It would [kupo!]ing murder you. You'll have cheesed most of them off in the main scenario by the time you get to unlocking the Summoner job, after all.

More exposition and personal theorising:

Through the Scions of the Seventh Dawn quests surrounding Ifrit (and tidbits from version 1.0), we learn that the primals are, in their natural state, part of the aether stream. The elemental aspect itself as you will. The act of summoning essentially causes that aspect to manifest itself.

And once it is manifested and worshiped, it likes staying that way. Their power is directly linked to the volume of faith in them, which explains why Ifrit goes out of his way to "temper" people (read: brainwash) into blindly worshiping him.

This tells us that a primal exists only through what sentient creatures believe exists. My conclusion is that if you believe Ifrit has a personality, or more specifically, if you believe in that specific Ifrit with that specific personality, if you will it to exist, then you are contributing to the wilful summoning and sustenance of that entity. Before you know it, you have a self-propagating cycle of thought creating reality creating thought.

A smart summoner would be sure to act on the summoning of a different manifestation. Perhaps we can't help ourselves by envisaging a form similar to what we know, but we sure as hell don't want the crazy harpy-lady to show up so she can slice open our necks. We want something we can have dominance over and control.

My one beef with this idea, is if the primal exists through what the summoners believe... Why are the Sylphs so scared of Ramuh? He shouldn't come out crazy under them like Ifrit or Garuda do for their tribes.

[Fantasia]

My one beef with this idea, is if the primal exists through what the summoners believe... Why are the Sylphs so scared of Ramuh? He shouldn't come out crazy under them like Ifrit or Garuda do for their tribes.

The Sylphs are split. I don't know as much about it as the more Lore-mongering people do, but I believe that the Green Sylphs are, in fact, terrified of the Primals. The Purple Sylphs are the ones which worship Ramuh and have become "tainted" by him, the reason they became purple in the first place.

If I'm wrong then please correct me, but this is what I understood.

[Anonymoose]

My one beef with this idea, is if the primal exists through what the summoners believe... Why are the Sylphs so scared of Ramuh? He shouldn't come out crazy under them like Ifrit or Garuda do for their tribes.

If Catapult's idea is as similar to my musing from the other day as it sounds like, the answer to this would be that these things are not mutually exclusive. If this idea has any merit, then it is only the outward appearance and aspect that the primal takes that is influenced by the summoner - not their core essence. In fact, the core essence may simply be the survival instinct that comes with existing at all - consume aether, get more aether, manipulate or kill anything it takes to get more aether. This raw form, be it the survivalist husk or an actual consciousness, would be given form by its worshipers. For all we know, The Twelve were ancient Allag of great power and importance and we, by worshiping their memory, accidentally deified them and gave form to aetheric concentrations like these, effectively creating the Gods themselves.

This survival instinct is terrifying regardless of what you believe about the primal. You could believe your God is Fernehalwes but it doesn't make it any less scary when he shows up promising lore tomes in exchange for crystals and pelting you with them when your offerings are insufficient. See? Fernehalwes is awesome and you're covered in bruises / papercuts.

Likewise, if my theories hold true, the Ixal and Amal are crazy because their primal was summoned. As beings of concentrated aether, they give off a sort of aetheric vapor at all times (like the mist in FFXII). It is toxic in high concentrations and causes paranoia and violence. The Amal and Ixal weren't crazy until they summoned their primals. This aetheric toxicity's effects were only exacerbated by enduring the crippling co-dependence and abusive manipulation of their "gods."