"Return to Ivalice" Stormblood's 24 Man Raid

[Hakuro89]

So true...

Really, a little reality check is needed here - SE have already stated in the past that 1), Ivalice and Hydaelyn are not the same worlds, they are completely separate worlds in different universes, and 2) viera are not going to be added to the game (because Yoshi considers them to be too similar to the miqo'te, as being 'humans with animal parts'), nor is there even going to be any new player race added in Stormblood.

The 'return to Ivalice' thing is simply a clever move to build hype and excitement... but it is almost guaranteed to be just like the Crystal Tower and just a single dungeon from an Ivalice game that has been slightly tweaked to be 'natively Hydaelyn' and not the actual Ivalice location (like how the Crystal Tower was not FFIII's actual one but an Allagan structure). Personally I expect it to be something like Midlight's Deep (from FF Tactics) or the Great Crystal (from FFXII). Still, I'm intrigued.

It's going to be exactly like Crystal Tower. The lore of it won't extend beyond itself into the rest of the game, at least not nearly enough to spawn an entire playable race out of it. At the most you might get a brief cameo of a Viera in the quests surrounding it (but I doubt it).

As far as the raid itself goes, I'm really not enthused. To me, FFXII was just a really bad game. There was nothing good about it. From the summons being reduced to overgrown airships to the main character that wasn't the main character. And don't even get me started about the battle system. I couldn't even get into the lore virtually at all. I played through once for the story and took it back to the store. The only cool thing I saw were a couple T-Rexes out in the fields. I don't want any of that in here.

I'm more interested in the serious endgame raid for Stormblood, since they've been throwing subtle hints at Omega Weapon here and there in the MSQ and in the underlying quest lore for the ARR PvP zones.

[Derio]

It's Matsuno enough said

[Eul]

Why viera when we have glorious bangaa? Woman with bunny ears is soo mainstream.

[Zumi]

Would expect to see a bunch of npc ff12 races but I don't think they would be playable.

[Lauront]

Why viera when we have glorious bangaa? Woman with bunny ears is soo mainstream.

They probably want something most of their players will actually play.

That said, I am fine with some non-Neko races, perhaps in the form of the Bangaa or Nu Mou, or an avian styled race. But I still would love to see Viera in. SE has plans to take the game at least up to 6.0, implying another 2 expansions at a minimum in the works, so there will be ample opportunity for it. They have already mooted Viera designs and opinions on their suitability can change.

I agree with those in the thread saying people shouldn't read too much into the name. As with most things in FFXIV drawing on other FFs, they will draw on elements of the namesake but won't simply rip it out of the other game's world to add it into FFXIV in toto; it'll be FFXIV's version of it.

[Zojha]

They probably want something most of their players will actually play.

Then they just have to put up some random female only race with boobs and butt cheeks the size of their head -> Done.

Can be as generic as they come in hentai, popularity is guaranteed.

[Aerish]

eww screw female, i want the big package for male too !

[Lauront]

I wouldn't object to that.

Then they just have to put up some random female only race with boobs and butt cheeks the size of their head -> Done.

Can be as generic as they come in hentai, popularity is guaranteed.

Well, that was going to be the fate of catgirls, but sounder minds prevailed... and besides, the playerbase statistics don't even reflect that this is what most players are after.

Point is, it has to be something they predict players will actually want to play. As GW2 and WOW have both discovered, you cannot force players to like a race, but still have to put as much ongoing design effort into them once they're implemented. Good luck getting people into playing the Ixal etc. with the fugly designs they currently have. Not being neko or human isn't enough of an angle, in and of itself, to be enticing. It's possible they could get the Bangaa just right, but I think they have higher chances of doing it with the Nu Mou.

Personally, I'd like to see the Garif at some point.

[Theodric]

I'd rather see the lore and customisation options for the existing playable races expanded instead of seeing a new playable race added to the game. As for Viera? It's a shame that people are focusing upon them of all things when it comes to Ivalice - the charm of the setting itself is how in-depth and morally grey the lore in the 'Ivalice' games is. Vagrant Story, FFXII and Final Fantasy Tactics remain three of my favourite games to this very day - and it is in no way related to Viera having been a token 'cute/hot race'.

[Mature]

This is kinda hinting that FFXII might be out around that time too so we might even get a seasonal event thingy? Like the lighting event?

I'm just happy Matsuno is going for it.