Tales from the Calamity Lore Discussion

[Enkidoh]

Funny enough, at the moment, I'm just sitting here pondering about Linkshells. The final Tale specifically used the word linkshell. You don't see that very often coming from lore sources or even NPCs. We see the pearls from time to time, but the most in-depth explanation I remember was back in 1.0 and basically said "Minfilia's given out thousands of these things, but they aren't terribly reliable. Linkpearls are to voices as aetherytes are to bodies, other than that it's a total mystery!" Does anybody remember hearing anything about them or should we make a thread for it like we did how the athernet was restored and who's on the gil coin? Remember, lore-wise, linkshell technology is even a big part of Free Company communication! How are people running these shells if they're such a mystery!? Obviously, I mean, something something Sharlayan engineering something something based on old technology something something Allagans. But still. I'm imagining 1.0 Minfilia sitting at a table with this giant shell in her lap laughing hysterically while it spits out hundreds linkpearls for her recruits. "Ahahah! Go home, shellphone, you're drunk!"

I'm liable to regard the terms 'linkshell' and 'linkpearl' as meaning different things in the narrative, as gameplay wise naturally they're distinct ('linkshell' being the actual network and linkpearls being the devices that connect to it). But like how no one really uses the term 'world wide web' anymore when referring to accessing websites on the internet, and just use the term 'internet' to describe the same thing, how it was written in Tales of the Calamity is probably just using it as a generic term that transcends it's original use to cover different aspects of it's functionality.

As for where they come from, FFXI specifically stated that linkshells were literal, magical, shells, but here I'm not so sure. Cid revealed during the 2.0 storyline that they're actually radio devices, thus making it analogous to a mobile phone (after all, a phone-like tone is even heard when the player and npcs are shown using linkpearls in cutscenes!).

And given the fact that the Garleans use the exact same technology, I wouldn't be surprised if it's another example of Garlean technology that has filtered out into Eorzea (probably through the Ironworks) and cheaply released to the realm at large. But this is all just assumptions on my part.