This whole "Grand Company" tied to Frontlines thing is pointless

[Kuwagami]

Or you make it universal & everybody just plays & there are no restrictions. That works better & doesn't uneven anything.

and make no sense lore-wise. But yeah they could. Still pointless

[kiotsukete]

and make no sense lore-wise. But yeah they could. Still pointless

SE writes the lore, nobody does it for them. I'm sure they could have written lore to explain how adventurers from different GC's could battle on the same team against other teams of adventurers from different GC's, just like Wolves' Den but on a larger scale. Could've expanded on the lore they already wrote for why PVP exists in Eorzea. They just chose not to. As it is, the lore for Frontlines makes no sense at all.

Archaeologist: Allagan ruins have been discovered in Cartenau! (SPOILER) Along with a weapon more powerful than Ultima!
Raubahn: I want.
Kan-E: I want.
Merlwyb: I want.
Archaeologist: Surely the Eorzean Alliance, who fought, bled, and died together on this sacred ground against the evil Empire can send their best and brightest to join together to explore and research these ancient ruins for the good of all Eorzea? Just like we're doing at the Crystal Tower?
Raubahn: Nope.
Kan-E: Nope.
Merlwyb: Nope.
Raubahn: Now we must fight.
Kan-E: But we'll still be good friends.
Merlwyb: I love you guys. (under breath) Maelstrom rules.

This would be like the US, Britain, and France fighting over Normandy after WWII.

So I don't buy "lore" as the reason for why Frontlines has to be the way it is, because SE writes the lore however they want. Lore follows game systems, not game systems follow lore.

[Kuwagami]

Lore follows game systems, not game systems follow lore.

This must be your first MMO. or at least your first good one. Game system has always followed the lore.

Wild PvP ? Not possible if there aren't at least 2 enemy factions
Battleground ? Not possible if there is no ground to fight for.
Arena ? Not possible if there is no reason to fight (but it could be as lame as "being the best warrior out there")

And your example is lame. Idk what you learned about WWII, but the US, Britain and France fought in Normandy to free it. It was a French territory, and still was after the occupation. On the other hand, Carteneau belonged to... noone before. And now they fight for it.

[kiotsukete]

This must be your first MMO. or at least your first good one. Game system has always followed the lore.

Some of you just don't get it. Who writes the lore? SE does. They can make up whatever lore they want. We never even heard of Allagan ruins buried under Cartenau until 2.3, that's just lore they made up to justify the Frontlines game system. In the content creation process, lore absolutely follows game system in that the game system is created first, then the lore written to justify it. Because FFXIV is first and foremost a game, not a movie or a novel. Story is important in an RPG, of course, but takes a back seat to making the game fun to play. Fighting against your friends can be fun, but never getting to fight alongside your friends is not fun.

SE could just have easily written lore that said, "After the Garlean invasion and subsequent Calamity that devastated the realm, the 3 nations of the Eorzean Alliance resolved to never fight against each other again but instead work together for mutual reconstruction and defense. But to prevent their military forces from becoming complacent in the face of the threats posed by the primals and the Garlean castrums still in their territories, the 3 nations agreed to expand the Wolves' Den to enable larger units to engage in war games to keep sharp against the possibility of another large-scale invasion." Or whatever.

Also, this is not my first MMO; I played FFXI for 4 years. They had this large-scale PVP system called Brenner with up to 72 players where nation affiliation had no bearing on team composition. I don't remember all the lore details behind it, but the point is SE created the Brenner game system that enabled everyone to battle anyone and wrote whatever lore was necessary to justify it. They did it before in FFXI, and they could have done so again in FFXIV.

That players can't fight on the same team as friends of a different GC is absolutely an arbitrary game design decision that is only so because SE chose to make it so. That players have to potentially choose between keeping their hard-earned PVP rank or fighting alongside their friends is only a dilemma because SE chose to make it a dilemma. Not because lore forced them, since SE 100% controls the lore just as they 100% control the design of the game systems.

[Shake0615]

That players can't fight on the same team as friends of a different GC is absolutely an arbitrary game design decision that is only so because SE chose to make it so. That players have to potentially choose between keeping their hard-earned PVP rank or fighting alongside their friends is only a dilemma because SE chose to make it a dilemma. Not because lore forced them, since SE 100% controls the lore just as they 100% control the design of the game systems.

The same could be said for pretty much every other MMO on the market. Alliance vs Horde, Dominion vs Exiles, Asmodians vs Elyos, Guardians vs Defiant, Jedi vs Sith, need I go on? If SE's is just an arbitrary game design decision then it seems to be a popular one among developers. Every single MMO that comes to mind has a system whereby you choose an alliance and fight for their cause. FFXIV is slightly different in that we don't have outright factions (Eorzea vs Garlemald), rather we have Grand Companies that are on the same side militarily. The difference between FFXIV and the others listed is that because all 3 GCs are on the same side, you can actually change allegiance at will - which, to be honest is more than a fair game design decision. All you have to do in order to play with your friends is walk up to a new GC HQ and sign up. If one or both of you has a high PvP rank...well, you kind of should've seen this coming. They haven't exactly hid the info that FL would be tied into Grand Company affiliation.