Revelations from Fan Festival 2017 Frankfurt

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

The last several MSQs have been pounding Ala Mihgo and its plight into our consciousness, the teaser trailer was all about Ala Mihgo, and there's been next to nothing lately regarding the plight of the Domans. While we COULD start off in the Far East with the expansion, they'll need to do some pretty impressive shifting of literary gears in Part Two of 2.5!

I dunno, I don't agree - in fact, I'd go so far as to say that most signs (including Kugane being the new big, Ishgard-level city) point to the opposite being the case. In terms of narrative: we can start in the East and still have Ala Mhigo be the ultimate focus/goal of the expansion, and all it takes is a strategic decision to plan from a haven outside the Empire's control (remember, Eorzea is almost certainly about the be at war again with Garlemald) and approach Ala Mhigo by moving through a part of the world that's on less immediate alert. It's not much of a stretch at all.

[Belhi]

I dunno, I don't agree - in fact, I'd go so far as to say that most signs (including Kugane being the new big, Ishgard-level city) point to the opposite being the case. In terms of narrative: we can start in the East and still have Ala Mhigo be the ultimate focus/goal of the expansion, and all it takes is a strategic decision to plan from a haven outside the Empire's control (remember, Eorzea is almost certainly about the be at war again with Garlemald) and approach Ala Mhigo by moving through a part of the world that's on less immediate alert. It's not much of a stretch at all.

Well they have outright stated that we will start the expansion in Rhalgr's Reach so I think the first level or so will at least be in Ala Mhigo. We clearly aren't going to start by hoping on a boat straight away, particularly since we pretty much have almost no reason to suddenly cross the sea when Eorzea is on the brink of war. Lets not kid ourselves. Most of Doma's surviving rebellion is currently in Eorzea having fled being crushed by the Empire. There isn't a huge army in Doma ready to come to our aid. Frankly I suspect the reason we end up heading out to the Au Ra is to try and recruit them against the Empire in Doma. I think its unlikely the Empire has much control over those tribes.

[Bloody]

I dunno, I don't agree - in fact, I'd go so far as to say that most signs (including Kugane being the new big, Ishgard-level city) point to the opposite being the case. In terms of narrative: we can start in the East and still have Ala Mhigo be the ultimate focus/goal of the expansion, and all it takes is a strategic decision to plan from a haven outside the Empire's control (remember, Eorzea is almost certainly about the be at war again with Garlemald) and approach Ala Mhigo by moving through a part of the world that's on less immediate alert. It's not much of a stretch at all.

That full trailer, the baddies that the Samurai Derplander fought looked to be very clearly wearing Garlean headgear, even if in more eastern style clothes. I wouldn't rule out significant Garlean influence in the East, though I haven't seen the actual FanFest stream so there might be more info I am missing.

[dalta]

.....why do we need to take a ship to doma anyhow? why not take a fast airship? to avoid garlean air scouts?

Well they have outright stated that we will start the expansion in Rhalgr's Reach so I think the first level or so will at least be in Ala Mhigo.

maybe rhalgrs reach is the base for the rebellion and not actully ala mhigo its self?

[Rocl]

Flying through/near Ilsabardian airspace sounds like a bad idea. Most trading is still done via ship-ships and not airships so I don't see it as too unusual to utilize one of those in the travel Eastward.

[DamianFatale]

I disagree with the theory of Kugane being small. It's got a housing ward, which isn't something for little settlements. Let's be honest, the three starting city states have been around since 2010. I think SE is looking to fill in Eorzea, and do a repeat of the three new city state style of introduction, bringing the total number of major cities to at least 11 if you count Uldah, Gridania, Limsa Lominsa, Mor Dohna, Ishgard, Idyllshire, Ala Mhigo, Rhalgrs Reach, Doma, and Kugane. With these main areas established they can effectively expand into the rest of the world, which is a good thing. The game feels a tad small, and now it will possibly be at least twice as large. Other areas SE could expand to realistically are Old Sharlayan, Thavnair, Bukyo, and countries closer to Garlemald. Hingashi is also mentioned as if it's bigger, so maybe there are more areas we don't know about.

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

I'm sort of curious how much we'll get to explore. The new map unveils more than just 2/3rds of Othard and Hingashi - as many have pointed out, Thavnair, Aerslant, and Old Sharlayan have also been added, while the stuff that we're presumably not meant to see or know about (including an entire southwestern chunk of Othard) is shrouded in a Fog of War of sorts. While the obscuring of Ilsabard makes sense, I wonder why these other places have been uncovered, and that part of Othard hasn't? Is it to throw long-time map makers a bone in regards to long-referenced but never-shown parts of the world? Or is there a more content-driven reason to them avoiding a cloud cover?

[BokoToloko]

I think the main focus of the expansion is still the liberation of Ala Migho. Mostly because, if everything follows Ilberd plan, Eorzea will be at war with Garlemard and capturing Ala Mhigo will become a big priority given the strategical advantage it would provide (from a well defended border that has a wide selections of point from which start an offensive to a bottle neck -for terrestian forces- formed at the piece of land that conects Eorzea with Ilsabard).

The whole Far Eastern thing would be with 2 objectives in mind:
1. The most obvious, find allies to fight the Empire
2. Scatter Garlemard forces into 2 frontlines, which relieves the pressure on Eorzean frontline.

[BokoToloko]

Also, I think Thavnair could be also present in the expansion due to its location. It might be the first zone we enter after Gyr Abania, stopping there to re-supply, and, more closely to the end of the Main Story, become an important connection point between both frontlines.

Plus, is still have my fair share of questions to be answered in the expansion:
- Is Eorzea going to have some protagonism during the expansion (apart from the leaders having some role on the relationships with the Far East)?
- Since Thavnair is Near East while appearing on the center of the new map, could that mean Eorzea is the center and there might be more continents to the West?
- At the start of our adventures we are told that Eorzea aether density is way above any other place in Hydaelyn, causing aetheric sickness to newcomers. Since aether is pretty much implicated on many of our actions, such as crafting, teleporting, fighting,... Would that difference in aether levels affect us lore-wise?

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

That full trailer, the baddies that the Samurai Derplander fought looked to be very clearly wearing Garlean headgear, even if in more eastern style clothes. I wouldn't rule out significant Garlean influence in the East, though I haven't seen the actual FanFest stream so there might be more info I am missing.

Missed this post, sorry!

Yeah, Othard is an Imperial territory. It's just a hunch on my part, but the Empire's grip there on the day-to-day is probably a bit looser, at least when there are no active uprisings (ala Doma) happening. It's a foreign territory more or less completely under their control, and the loss of multiple legions (along with the more or less marooning of another) means that their forces are likely not as concentrated on a pacified region.

Kugane (and Hingashi as a whole), meanwhile, are implied to be independent entirely, serving as a neutral power in the region. They were noted as being an isolationist closed nation at Fanfest, and - of particular note - the Encyclopedia mentions that they turned away the Doman refugees to avoid poking the Imperial hornet's nest. That last point in particular pretty much outright states that they're calling their own shots. The Garleans likely have a presence there - Kugane is the major foreign trade center, after all - and that influence may even be significant, but compared to Ala Mhigo (and most of Othard, come to that) it's really an ideal place to stage a liberation movement from. How this will all play out remains to be seen, since the Empire hit Doma pretty hard when they tried to rebel; there will have to be some sort of reason contrived to keep the might of the Empire off our backs if we're going to be going around succesfully liberating even parts of a continent.