Patch 3.4 - Soul Surrender

[Alberel]

Was "Soul Sacrifice" taken or something? Oh, wait...

As for Gumball, my guess is that if any HW dungeons are going to get hard modes, now is their last chance. 4.0 can't add content requiring 3.0, because MMO expansions have to be able to run with just the base game. What this also means is that underutilized zones like Azys Lla may very well stay that way and can't factor into the plot after 3.X.

The Triad story better be impressive.

I've never seen an MMO that didn't require all previous expansions barring perhaps GW1 (which is rather unique and isn't a typical MMO). Where are you getting the notion that expansions have to be compatible with just the base game?

[Fenral]

I've never seen an MMO that didn't require all previous expansions barring perhaps GW1 (which is rather unique and isn't a typical MMO). Where are you getting the notion that expansions have to be compatible with just the base game?

EverQuest expansions were individual installs that you could mix-and-match for a very long time, before they gave in and adopted the WoW distribution model. Final Fantasy XI expansions are also (technically) independent, with occasional caveats like Abyssea requiring Rise of the Zilart and Wings of the Goddess, but not the other two in between. Star Wars: The Old Republic lets you skip to the current expansion and has never required the previous expansions. And so on.

The usual marketing assumption is that you'll want all of them, so they make it as easy as possible with discounts and combo packs and such, but seeing as the FFXIV launcher is set up for individual expansion installs and version updates, I'm guessijng they'll be independent for at least a little while longer. At the very least, it wouldn't surprise me.

[Alberel]

EverQuest expansions were individual installs that you could mix-and-match for a very long time, before they gave in and adopted the WoW distribution model. Final Fantasy XI expansions are also (technically) independent, with occasional caveats like Abyssea requiring Rise of the Zilart and Wings of the Goddess, but not the other two in between. Star Wars: The Old Republic lets you skip to the current expansion and has never required the previous expansions. And so on.

The usual marketing assumption is that you'll want all of them, so they make it as easy as possible with discounts and combo packs and such, but seeing as the FFXIV launcher is set up for individual expansion installs and version updates, I'm guessijng they'll be independent for at least a little while longer. At the very least, it wouldn't surprise me.

Fair enough, though in this case it wouldn't make much sense to allow them to be installed independently. With Heavensward covering all of the 50-60 content and 4.0 presumably covering 60+ someone buying 4.0 without Heavensward wouldn't really be able to do much with the new content. The only way that might work is if 4.0 adds new 50-60 regions as well but the majority of the playerbase would see that as a waste of resources developing content that would be dead on arrival.

Independent expansion installs for EQ1 and FFXI worked largely because the expansions introduced new regions for all level ranges. I just don't see 4.0 following that pattern.

[Fenral]

Independent expansion installs for EQ1 and FFXI worked largely because the expansions introduced new regions for all level ranges. I just don't see 4.0 following that pattern.

The Old Republic has more linear continuity than FFXIV (since not a single side-story arc is ever forgotten), and does it by allowing a one-time skip to the latest expansion's minimum level (a la WoW). Yoshida talks like they have something similar planned, but it's hard to say. I'm just talking in terms of what the current architecture indicates, not whether or not it's a good idea.


...

But on the topic of harmony and the schism between Light and Darkness, I think the wording is still vague enough to allow either interpretation. The creation of man could be either the result of the schism, or the cause of it. If it's the result, restoring what was means erasing mortal life, which is a "sorry but no." If it was the cause, we need only restore the universe to as it was before Hydaelyn tried to protect mortalkind from Zodiark.