Will we ever revisit other "destroyed"/inaccessible areas from 1.0?

[Belhi]

I saw a panel where they said that the West Shroud still exists but its a mess, twisted and devastated by the damage the Calamity caused.

[LlenCoram]

I'll admit I choked up a bit when I saw the Western Highlands were covered in snow. Riversmeet was and still is my favourite place in the game. I had a tiny speck of hope that my stone path over the waterfall survived the calamity and deep-freeze, so seeing it confirmed as gone was a bit heartbreaking.

RIP Riversmeet. You were the prettiest fishing spot a cat could ask for.

[Hiruke]

On another note, there was an area in 1.0 which had 'walkable' land in the Ashpool, called the Dreaming dragon. I never figured out how to get there, but for it to be named it seems a shame that it was seemingly inaccessible. Would be nice to finally go there, unless of course they're not opening up the Twinpools area, and only the Riversmeet areas.

I assume you probably couldn't go there, since it's in the middle of water. I kind of wish I'd made video of the entire game back in 1.0. I think we'll see all of Coerthas Western Highlands, such as it is. I wonder if The Dreaming Dragon will be that dragon from the field walkthrough that is chained up.

Pretty sure West Shroud still exists at least in part, because I recall an NPC mentioning something about a patrol or something that had been sent there.

Does anyone happen to know which NPC talks about this?

However Western Highlands was the only area old players seemed to recognize by name. I'd like to know if it was frozen in 1.0 as well. That will give the best idea of what they might be doing with the old areas that are missing. [...] With Shiva freezing everything the Ixali there could be trying to relocate into the shroud.

So far it's the only one revealed that was also in 1.0. If you look at the 1.0 maps and the new 2.0 redesigns, you'll see there are far more faithful at keeping names than you might think, and making sure things are still around where you would think they ought to be, while still drastically changing the maps. You wouldn't see "Coerthas Central Lowlands" become "Dravanian Lowlands" or something.

Coerthas was NOT frozen in 1.0. It was green, expansive, verdant. Also, Coerthas being frozen has nothing to do with Shiva. Most all changes to the weather/landscape is due directly/indirectly to the Calamity. Also, the Ixali were always a threat to Gridania, even before the Calamity. I'm not sure how everyone feels about all the snow, though.

In Famitsu interviews Yoshida essentially dodged the question that could've revealed if Eastern Coerthas are also being added into the expansion (the question concerned Falcon's Nest and Owl's Nest).
Usually when developers don't deny something it means they're trying to hide it.

I noticed that, too. I sure hope so. That said, I don't presently see a huge reason for them to go into the eastern Coerthas areas with this expansion. How much would those zones really serve the story?

But with Sorrel Havens (West part of Central) changed from a long, misty river into a dry well and Treespeak (East part of Northern) no longer having its second level of rope bridges and tree-clefts, I wonder just how much they can really do with it... Maybe we can at least see the SW parts like Turning Leaf returned in some (hopefully entertaining) style? (I really miss that base-camp of AF-questers just past the initial lvl 99 treents.)

I saw a panel where they said that the West Shroud still exists but its a mess, twisted and devastated by the damage the Calamity caused.

Honestly I think the fact that it's devastated makes it an even more interesting candidate for being returned as a zone. We already have a lot of forest in the Shroud, obviously. How about some ruined land?

[Hiruke]

I said before that they were usually good about keep area names the same/relatively close to where they were before, but I neglected to mention that Mun-Tuy is way, way off. That said, I added a couple more to the original post:

Nanawa Mines

The connection between Central Thanalan and Northern Thanalan changed drastically in 2.0. What happened to Nanawa Mines? Is Nanawa Mines what the mine/train tracks lead into? Or is Nanawa Mines completely caved in, and the pass leading from Central Thanalan to Northern Thanalan is all that Ul'dah dug up of Nanawa Mines in order to pass through? The map seems to refer to the entire construction area as "Nanawa Mines", rather than indicating any entrance (though the zone line is quite close, and in 1.0 Bluefog was just a bit north of where Nanawa Mines would have been).

Mun-Tuy Cellars

How did the Cellars move from North Shroud in 1.0 to being the bridge between East Shroud and South Shroud in 2.0!? I understand some areas being moved around slightly (Snakemolt being east of where it was originally... it's not too crazy to think the people would just use names they were familiar with and apply them to "new" areas instead of making up new names, after the landscape changed), but an entire underground section moved clear across the forest? Mun-Tuy Cellars clearing bridging two zones does lend some weight that Nanawa Mines will never be used as more than a zone line connection, though. Taking another look at the maps, the (new) Mun-Tuy Cellars are HUGE, because there's is a LONG distance between East Shroud and South Shroud according to the 1.0 layout.

Edit: Corrections.

[Reinhart]

Actually, the Mun-Tay Cellars are now used as the zoneline between South Shroud and East Shroud.

[Enkidoh]

Pretty sure West Shroud still exists at least in part, because I recall an NPC mentioning something about a patrol or something that had been sent there.

Does anyone happen to know which NPC talks about this?

I posted the quote in question in another thread (specifically here), but it was Galfrid at the Bannock in the Central Shroud during the early Gridania storyline (specifically the main scenario quest 'Spirithold Broken') where the West Shroud is specifically mentioned:

Galfrid: "On any other day, I would dispatch my best Quivermen to provide support, but I sent them to repel an Ixali incursion into the West Shroud nary a bell ago."

So yeah, that's pretty conclusive that at least part of the West Shroud still exists in some form or another.

[Fernehalwes]

Mun-Tuy Cellars

How did the Cellars move from North Shroud in 1.0 to being the bridge between Central Shroud and South Shroud in 2.0!? I understand some areas being moved around slightly (Snakemolt being east of where it was originally... it's not too crazy to think the people would just use names they were familiar with and apply them to "new" areas instead of making up new names, after the landscape changed), but an entire underground section moved clear across the forest?

Greetings Hiruke!

The fermenting of Mun-Tuy beans into sauces, tonics, pastes, and even the tasty brew that helps Wood Wailers wind down after a long day of wailing is a task that requires strict temperature and humidity control. In an age devoid of heating/cooling systems, the best place to achieve perfect temperatures/humidity was in caves (no matter how hot/cold it is outside, a cave's interior usually remains unchanged). It also helps that on the walls of certain caves found only in the Twelveswood grows a special type of yeast that helps transform the Mun-Tuy juice into something more...exciting. When the Calamity wreaked its havoc on the Twelveswood, many of the caves used for Mun-Tuy processing were either buried under rubble, or new openings were created, changing the internal environment and making them no longer suitable for the task at hand. This is pretty much what happened with the pre-Calamity cellars. However, Gridania is a thirsty city-state, and the Mun-Tuy brewers were not ready to let their craft fade into oblivion, so they searched long and hard for a new series of caves that met the conditions of their old cellars...and finally found some on the border of the new East and South Shrouds--the location of the new cellars.

I know that doesn't answer all of your questions, but hope it sheds some light on one.

[Shadow1xd]

I never played Final Fantasy XIV during 1.0 but have seen gameplay. Some if those areas would be awesome to visit and it would be cool to see what happened to them after the calamity

[Vespar]

I never played Final Fantasy XIV during 1.0 but have seen gameplay. Some if those areas would be awesome to visit and it would be cool to see what happened to them after the calamity

If I recall correctly, the Mun-Tuy cellars in 1.0 had doormice that could eat your face off if you got too close :P

[Mihana]

Regarding Coerthas I recall a great deal of it was deep crevices in varying parts of the zone. So it could be that these particular areas may have caved in from the aftermath of the Calamity making the entire area inaccessible. The other thought is that we have no idea how far the wall of ice goes. They mention that there are countless caverns running through all of Coerthas so it may be that the entire half of the Lowlands are a huge chunk of ice and snow. The dungeon in Snowcloak may even be parts of the Lowlands still encased in a dome of ice.