Question I have been shy to ask... is Eorzea the planet, or is it a continent?

[whoopeeragon]

Wow so much wrong in the above post. When was the last time you took a geography class?

Asia and Europe? Both continents!

There are seven: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica. How do you not know this?



Also, Japan? It's an island, a part of the CONTINENT OF ASIA.
Hawaii, an island belonging to the country of USA, so technically a part of the CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA


Both of your arguments are just so wrong and completely invalid, I weep for the intelligence of the average person.



tldr: Eorzea is a continent, and that includes the island of Vylbrand.

Actually, your last statement is wrong. Eorzea is the COUNTRY; it expans over the continent of Aldenard as well as the island of Vylbrand, and the subsequent smaller islands around it.

And general knowledge time; what JG was doing was comparing Eorzea to the continents North America, Asia and Europe, I believe. So in comparing the relative sizes, Eorzea is not a continent, especially since the land mass has a given name and that Eorzea extends over to Vylbrand as well. That's like saying Australia's a continent, when it isn't; Oceania is the continent. I should know, living in that area.

[JGwinters]

Official site:
"In the world of Hydaelyn, the term Eorzea denotes the geographical region comprised of the continent Aldenard and its surrounding islands [...]"
"The vast realm of Eorzea, consisting of the continent of Aldenard and its outlying islands [...]"

Now, unless all you people are claiming the continent of Aldenard is actually two continents, one the actual continent of Aldenard and the other the same continent with the name of Eorzea, even when Eorzea is a 'realm' and a 'region' going by official sources, I really, really don't have anything more to say to you. Don't you people just ever read official sources or is the concept of a separate region consisting of a continent's land mass + its nearby islands really that difficult to comprehend?

Europe, Asia (Far East), America (NA), Middle East...you must forgive me, but in my country we've been taught that these are cultural regions, much like Eorzea is. Some may be the names of continents as well, but it doesn't remove the fact that some being the name of a continent as well isn't the only unifying factor within the areas. Try telling me that the culture of Europe and the culture of Asia aren't different and I'll laugh you out of the room.

[Catapult]

(IMO) It is best to think of Eorzea as the loose Federation of city-states that historically make up Aldenard.

In our current game concept, it would be like referring to America or Australia when they were still a bunch of colonies in a form of cooperation.

Another comparison would be the European Union which, while tied to a broad geographical region, is not actually dependent upon the landmass of Europe and in fact grows/shrinks with its member states, each maintaining its own sovereign laws and independence even if they engage closely with each other diplomatically and economically.

So we talk about in Erozea, not on it, much like being in Limsa or Ishgard. Meanwhile we talk about on Aldenard, Vylbrand or Hydaelyn, not in it, because that would put us underground.

I am however keen to see if we can get a clearer picture from our majestic voidsent localisation team... I've just gone and asked.

[Sophia]

discussions like this are good keeps the blood warm

[JGwinters]

(IMO) It is best to think of Eorzea as the loose Federation of city-states that historically make up Aldenard.

Careful, you're going to confuse them even further. The city-states of Eorzea might have a loose federation (I remember something about a union of some sort after the Garlean Empire invaded Ala Mhigo, although it's questionable whether this constitutes a federation instead of a military union), but it's not because of this union that Eorzea is Eorzea.

As far as can be told by official sources, it's because of the area's largely unified culture (worship of the Twelve among other things), which has evolved quite likely due to the ease of access within the region and the relative difficulty of reaching the other continents. Or perhaps because other cultures traditionally didn't care enter the area and extend their own circle of influence, who knows, but these are two reasons for a distinct culture to form within a specific area in the real world - that is, the formation of a region.
Although you do have a good point with Europe and perhaps even US there (can't comment on Australia as my history on that front is shaky at best), although I do believe the developers were aiming for historical Greece with the city-states. Self-governed entities ruling hardly more than the city itself and its immediate surroundings, they are not even proper countries yet. Thinking to the future of Eorzea and how the city-states might evolve, there's a good chance it goes either the way of Europe or of US, forming either distinct countries that form a common union later, or the city-states forming a federation while still somewhat in the formative stage and becoming one country.