Letter is up, go read it boys and girls

[Meow_Zedong]

Lol I give up on you. I'll wait for devs, because you aren't making much sense.

I'm doing just fine. You are the one that can't understand me. What does that say about your intellectual faculties?

[Sputnik]

Hopefully someone spiritbonds a piece of gear into the black materia, so we can control it and direct it to a garlean city, but what if they have a rocket full of tier 5 materia and try to blow it up?

[Jennestia]

Hopefully someone spiritbonds a piece of gear into the black materia, so we can control it and direct it to a garlean city, but what if they have a rocket full of tier 5 materia and try to blow it up?

After said person tries to charge the entire serverbase 10 mil a pop to use said black materia.

(We all know it would happen.)

[Sephrick]

Once again, prove it. I never saw the developers say this. What about when an expansion comes out six years from now and it has a new storyline that unlocks at level 10. You seriously want me to believe that those missions chronologically happen before the missions I've already played? That's absurd. I've always gone by the order they were released, and I'll continue to do so.

Like everything else in 1.x, it's a special circumstance. They released a bad product and the new development to took what was in game and found a way to make it make sense with their new direction.

Because I'm betting the entire story of the game they've planned out has something to do with Silvertear Falls, that's why it's so prevalent in the opening cinematic. The quests after 2.0 will probably revolve around the same thing, you're telling me those stories happen at the same time as the GC quests too?

No, because after 2.0 starts all the current quests will be out of the game and a new main scenario will be in place.

You are misunderstanding me here. I meant the two sylph quests should go right after one another instead of having the GC quest right in between them. It breaks up the flow.

I went in the order SE allows a character to do it. I didn't pick the flow I described, it's exactly how SE decided a character experiences the sequence of events.

Yes it fits into the sequence that you put together in your head. It also fits into the sequence I put together in my head, it could go either way and their is no proving it.

You mean other than the fact that the way I listed is how SE allows a character to experience it?

So I'm expected to consider my own character is too stupid to tell his path companion "Hey, don't reason with them, they just summoned Ifrit and I had to fight him." It still makes no sense put in that order.

Your character and said path companion is likely expecting that they Amalj'aa still won't summon Ifrit and will at least be peaceful if not listen to reason. No one is racing off in that mission to track down Ifrit. It's specifically just to try and reason with the Amalj'aa.

He definitely acted differently both times. Original quest-line, we infiltrate his lair, he talks to us. GC quest line, we infiltrate his lair, he tries to kill us. They don't match up.

In the first encounter, we encroach on his territory and attack him. Thus he defends himself. In the second meeting he "purifies" the prisoners to which we are immune and he explains that the Paragon told him to leave the "godless blessed" alive.

The required level thing is purely from a gameplay standpoint and has no bearing on the plot. For all intents and purposes, Futures Perfect should take place almost directly after Of Men They Sing.

The whole purpose of putting level requirements on content is to control the pace and flow of the story. Which is why that is the best way to determine how it should flow.

I actually have no idea what you are talking about right here, and I've done every quest. Care to enlighten me?

The first quest you do for each GC, you meet the NPC that a character would meet in the opening CS for the main scenario for that same nation. For example, in the Limsa Lominsa opening you meet a Miqo'te on the ship. In the First Limsa Lominsa GC quest you meet the same NPC.

Look closer? wth does that mean? All I know is when I did the GC quests I had extensive conversations with every member of the Circle of Knowing. At the time I thought, wow, if I hadn't done the r46 mission already I wouldn't know who any of these people are and be really confused.

You would know at least one of them as you met them in the opening CS of your original chosen. Then you meet them all again in the level 22 GC quests. It makes more sense to have done all of those first as the NPCs all seem to recognize you in the L46 quest despite you only having met one in the main scenario.

I'm not making any thing up. I might be inferring a few things based on clues in the story but it's all based on fact. And I'm insisting the SUE events take place after the main scenario because that is the way they were written, that is the way they were put together, that is the way they were released, and that is the way I played them. Seems like a better reason that this "obvious flow" you've invented in your head.

When the original scenario was written, there was no such as the SUE quests. They didn't even think them up until months later when people were complaining about the copy-pastad world. It was never in the grand scheme of things from the beginning. The only reason the quests were put in that order is to give the new players more things to do, since we all complained the level gaps between quests was too big. The story is still meant to be seen in the order that it was CREATED.

Again, this is a very special circumstance where they're filling in the blanks so that they can make the SUE events post L46.

Cid mentions it the very first time you meet him. Someone asks what the Empire is up to and Cid replies with "Meteor." Couple that with the later revelations about the moon and its pretty easy to infer.

And NPCs since launch have mentioned the Empire's occupation of Silvertear Falls. They've been there well before the game even began. Maybe that's where they summoned the Meteor spell and that's why all the Aether flows there, who knows. It's vague, but it is there. Put two and two together for pete's sake.

Show me where Cid mentions Meteor.

And the rest isn't vague.

Here is what I've been saying in Cid's own words from the Limsa Lominsa quest Ceruleum Shock:

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ce...k/Plot_Details

Cid: I've been waiting, and I must admit, it is not something I do well.

Cid: Now, let us make this brief. You asked what I was doing in northern Thanalan. Well, I was studying the aetheric currents flowing through the ceruleum gorges on their way to Silvertear Lake.

Cid: I fruitlessly attempted to explain to those brutes back in the cavern, I believe the natural flux of all energy in Eorzea, and the influence it exerts upon its surroundings, has been disturbed by an external force, resulting in the queer phenomena that have been observed throughout the realm.

Cid: As to the origin of this force, my studies point to the lesser moon, Dalamud, as the most likely suspect.

Cid: How do I know this, you ask? Well...it is complicated. And, really...does it matter? Given what it could mean to the realm─to the entire world─you would be better off focusing on what may yet be done and ignoring that which cannot now be changed.

Cid: Time is of the essence, my friend. The Eorzean city-states have only just begun to realize the true extent of what is happening, and are consequently hopelessly behind in making the proper preparations. Garlemald, on the other hand, has been aware of the truth for some time now.

Cid: That is why they have taken up positions all around Mor Dhona. This is no mere invasion, either─though at one time it might have been intended as such. No, this is something different. Something more.

Cid: And a part of me feels slightly responsible─which is why I have chosen to help your city by the sea, along with Ul'dah and Gridania. You see, the machina that the Empire is using to gather information...is of my design.

Cid: I, myself, am Garlean, as are my peers from the Ironworks. The terminals were one of my last inventions before I came to Eorzea. Lest you mistrust me, I may add that my colleagues and I are now fugitives, hunted by our countrymen for passing state secrets to the enemy.

Cid: I have no desire to return to the Empire, nor do I wish to pledge my allegiance to one city-state or another. Simply put, my cause is greater than any single nation. Were it otherwise, I would happily have left you and your pirate friends to slay as many Immortal Flames as would sate your bloodlust.

Cid: But as I said before, this is no longer about the insignificant wars of men. A thousand lives? Ten thousand? Even a hundred thousand. Those numbers are but a fraction of what will be lost if what I believe comes to pass.

Cid: The city-states must be made to see this, and if words will not persuade them, then perhaps force will be necessary.

Cid: I believe your Admiral has finally begun to comprehend her part, though not yet how best to play it─the near debacle at Vesper Bay being a case in point.

Cid: And you, adventurer─what are your intentions?

Cid: Your service to the Maelstrom has not gone unnoticed. It will not be long before you are granted admission into their upper ranks.

Cid: I understand it is difficult for your kind to settle down in any one place, but I sense far too much promise in you for you to go on wasting your talents wandering the world saving cats from trees and children from wells.

Cid: Let me leave you with these final words─you need not be at a ship's helm to influence its course. If you cannot be a captain, then be the wind.

Cid: Unless, that is, you would rather be a guiding flame or a sly serpent.

Cid: I will not tell you which path to choose, only that you must choose─if not for yourself, then for the realm.

Cid: I suppose you are wondering why someone like myself would take the time to reveal all this to an adventurer, of all people, and to tell you the truth, I have been wondering the same thing myself. This time, however, I have elected to heed my instincts. It may not be the most scientific of methods, but I've oft found it to be the most reliable.

Cid: Now, I must away. Dalamud calleth.

And what does changing the face of the planet have to do with the over-all plotline of the game? Nothing. It's purely an aesthetic change, and will go down as a mere battle in the war. It was never intended in the first place and was only thought up as an excuse to create 2.0 so it can't have that great of an effect on the future plot. And if you think they didn't have the future of the original story already plotted before the game even came out, you're a moron.

There's absolutely no reason to fling personal insults.

I doubt they had plot devices planned out at release to conveniently explain away map changes related to server overhauls and a brand new engine.

But what this whole conversation comes down to is me saying "SE has designed the series of quest to be experienced in a certain order as is evident by the levels at which they have decided they should be experienced. Compounded by the fact that they're the same story.

The main arc is simply an introduction to the Empire and what it can do, as well as finally revealing their goal towards the end. The GC quests is what leads to 2.0. Don't see what you're trying to say here.

That they happen in a sequence and the Level 46 mission is the last mission our character would have experience sequentially and that makes sense as it all together explains the greater narrative of the Seventh Umbral Era.

But that "flow" you so enjoy was created after the fact. The story was not written that way, and it's not meant to be seen that way. The way the story is supposed to unfold is how it would appear to someone who started playing at launch, because that's how it was released.

You're expecting me to believe that they either released the story out of order on purpose, or they want us to somehow travel through time to get the story the so-called "correct" way. I'll stick with my way thank you, it's much less idiotic and convoluted.

You're right, it was created after the fact ... to incorporate the main story written by the former devs so that the old quest series could be tossed out along with the SUE quests.

Why would they want to do that?

As I said in a previous post: Yoshida wants to get rid of the "anyone can do it" quests and make all quests of that nature battle only.

They didn't release the story out of order. They released an incomplete story and the new dev team found a way to explain things from a story aspect like them optimizing their new engine and server structure.

That's the whole purpose of these Seventh Umbral Era events and why they directly tie into the main scenario quests the way they do. Because like everything else the old dev team did, the new dev team is getting rid of it. They're molding it into the prequel of the new game.

[Meow_Zedong]

Like everything else in 1.x, it's a special circumstance. They released a bad product and the new development to took what was in game and found a way to make it make sense with their new direction.



No, because after 2.0 starts all the current quests will be out of the game and a new main scenario will be in place.



I went in the order SE allows a character to do it. I didn't pick the flow I described, it's exactly how SE decided a character experiences the sequence of events.



You mean other than the fact that the way I listed is how SE allows a character to experience it?



Your character and said path companion is likely expecting that they Amalj'aa still won't summon Ifrit and will at least be peaceful if not listen to reason. No one is racing off in that mission to track down Ifrit. It's specifically just to try and reason with the Amalj'aa.



In the first encounter, we encroach on his territory and attack him. Thus he defends himself. In the second meeting he "purifies" the prisoners to which we are immune and he explains that the Paragon told him to leave the "godless blessed" alive.



The whole purpose of putting level requirements on content is to control the pace and flow of the story. Which is why that is the best way to determine how it should flow.



The first quest you do for each GC, you meet the NPC that a character would meet in the opening CS for the main scenario for that same nation. For example, in the Limsa Lominsa opening you meet a Miqo'te on the ship. In the First Limsa Lominsa GC quest you meet the same NPC.



You would know at least one of them as you met them in the opening CS of your original chosen. Then you meet them all again in the level 22 GC quests. It makes more sense to have done all of those first as the NPCs all seem to recognize you in the L46 quest despite you only having met one in the main scenario.



Again, this is a very special circumstance where they're filling in the blanks so that they can make the SUE events post L46.



Show me where Cid mentions Meteor.

And the rest isn't vague.

Here is what I've been saying in Cid's own words from the Limsa Lominsa quest Ceruleum Shock:

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Ce...k/Plot_Details





There's absolutely no reason to fling personal insults.

I doubt they had plot devices planned out at release to conveniently explain away map changes related to server overhauls and a brand new engine.

But what this whole conversation comes down to is me saying "SE has designed the series of quest to be experienced in a certain order as is evident by the levels at which they have decided they should be experienced. Compounded by the fact that they're the same story.



That they happen in a sequence and the Level 46 mission is the last mission our character would have experience sequentially and that makes sense as it all together explains the greater narrative of the Seventh Umbral Era.



You're right, it was created after the fact ... to incorporate the main story written by the former devs so that the old quest series could be tossed out along with the SUE quests.

Why would they want to do that?

As I said in a previous post: Yoshida wants to get rid of the "anyone can do it" quests and make all quests of that nature battle only.

They didn't release the story out of order. They released an incomplete story and the new dev team found a way to explain things from a story aspect like them optimizing their new engine and server structure.

That's the whole purpose of these Seventh Umbral Era events and why they directly tie into the main scenario quests the way they do. Because like everything else the old dev team did, the new dev team is getting rid of it. They're molding it into the prequel of the new game.

And all this business about the Circle of Knowing is obviously both of us being biased by the way we were introduced to the content. It is obvious to me that in the level 22 GC quests, I already knew all the tattood people when I talked to them. They didn't explain who they were, there was no greeting as if this is the first time I've seen them. Because I have already met them in the r46 mission.

In the r46 mission on the other hand, my character basically completely ignores all but the one he already knew from the starting missions (In my case that was Yda and Papalymo). If I already know them at this point, why wouldn't I say hi?

I'm tired of arguing. You are never going to realize that both of our views are theories without enough evidence to sway either of us. You are basically telling me that SE screwed me out of seeing the story correctly because they released the missions out of order. I refuse to believe that they would punish me for being one of the few that are still playing since launch. But whatever, agree to disagree and all that. We'll both see once 2.0 hits. I'm done.



Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPV8CnMYjwo
Right here, the very first meeting with Cid. That's where he talks about Meteor.

[Sephrick]

I'm tired of arguing. You are never going to realize that both of our views are theories without enough evidence to sway either of us. You are basically telling me that SE screwed me out of seeing the story correctly because they released the missions out of order. I refuse to believe that they would punish me for being one of the few that are still playing since launch. But whatever, agree to disagree and all that. We'll both see once 2.0 hits. I'm done.

You're not being punished. SE is just going back to fill in some blanks before the move forward. It's as simple as that.

Just like class abilities, jobs, map redesigns and a plethora of other changes; the main scenario is being absorbed into the events leading up to the cataclysm so they can wipe the slate clean in 2.0. Yoshida wants a battle-oriented storyline post 2.0 and everything we experience in 1.x will be back story that only those of us playing now experience.

You're not being tricked or punished for having leveled ahead of any of these changes. The new dev team is simply taking a rushed product and filling in the gaps.

Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPV8CnMYjwo
Right here, the very first meeting with Cid. That's where he talks about Meteor.

So based on Cid saying nothing more than "Meteor..." you've some how convinced yourself that the Empire summoned a meteor to destroy Eorzea?

While the real storyline has well documented and multiple references to the fact that the Empire is trying to use the Aether around Silvertear Falls to summon a primal of their own.

Even if, despite all the build up around the unstable Aether and Dalamund, it's a meteor just hits and explains away the map changes, it doesn't change the fact that the main scenario has been incorporated into the SUE events.

There were a lot of questions about the main scenario the SUE events have answered. It just makes more sense to Lik at it this way. Just because you feel slighted, it doesn't change the fact that in this special circumstance it pays to look to the levels for continuity's sake.

[Meow_Zedong]

Like I said, done arguing. I'm merely stating that I believe once 2.0 hits, the SUE quests will be gone, and the original quests (however changed or updated) will still be there. We'll see when the time comes.

And I will never, ever, ever, buy that the SUE quests take place at the same time as the original ones because you think they flow better that way. I'm sorry, show me a dev post stating such, and I'll concede. Barring that, it's just your theory.

[Jennestia]

Being concurrent with main storyline is generally what an Era is. So there's truly nothing to argue about, it's just what your perception of events are. For example, the storyline was obviously created before the 7th U Era events started taking place, but that doesn't mean in terms of lore they're separate, just in terms on what came first development wise.

If the world gets destroyed and restored for example, that'll logically be reflected in the main storyline and if it's an impending crisis, this is why new quests are tied to it, since they couldn't (wouldn't) go back and rewrite all of the previous storyline to fit into something they introduced a year later, especially after the majority of the people completed the storyline.

So it truly depends on your perception of the overall story of the world, because the one time event will be the 7th UE, but it also will flow into the main storyline because Square has always been ones who paid attention to detail of their worlds.

[Sephrick]

Like I said, done arguing. I'm merely stating that I believe once 2.0 hits, the SUE quests will be gone, and the original quests (however changed or updated) will still be there. We'll see when the time comes.

And I will never, ever, ever, buy that the SUE quests take place at the same time as the original ones because you think they flow better that way. I'm sorry, show me a dev post stating such, and I'll concede. Barring that, it's just your theory.

Just wanted to chime in...

You guys are absolutely right with your assessment of the situation. Similar questions were answered by Yoshi-P just last week when he was in L.A. to do a slew of interviews with the media and various websites. Basically, the main scenario (the Echo, the Ascians, the Waking Sands, your Path companion, etc.) will continue once the people of Eorzea have figured out how to deal with the coming calamity first.

Look, maybe you're right and these SUE events take place completely after Futures Perfect.

I'm just going to agree to disagree. I stand by my opinion that they take place in tandem and so far SE has just filled in some blanks in preparation of moving forward.

It's as Fernehalwes said, Eorzea is figuring out how to deal with the coming calamity. Right now that's through reforming the Grand Companies as they were in the face of the Sixth Umbral Era. But my problem with the GC quest occurig after futures perfect is that there's no mention of said events throught the GC storyline until we track down the Empire in Darkhold at level 45, just before Futures Perfect.

Both story lines drive to the same point, finding out the Empire is trying to use Mor Dhona to summon a primal. To keep one and not the other at this point would ruin the lore after the calamity.

Whether the SUE events take place before, during or after the main scenario has no baring on the fact that they serve to enhance the main scenario story line (my point in laying them out in a logic order is to present a reasonable continuity. The pieces fit in a logical way). The main scenario tells us the Empire is here, the SUE events tell us why and what Eorzea's response is to that fact.

After the calamity, there will be no reason for the current main scenario quests to exist as they, along with thhe SUE events, lead up to the one-time calamity event. Which is why the official response there said they'll continue once how to deal with he calamity is resolved and not "after the calamity."

To keep them in the game would mean that everything that occurs in those quests would have to have a different end result in 2.0. It's not SE deceiving you, it's just the new dev team cleaning house.

[Meow_Zedong]

See that's what I'm trying to say, the SUE events lead up to the big apocalypse, etc. But the original quests are more important then that. They set up the entire war with the empire, which WILL be continuing after 2.0. It isn't specified in your quote when the original questline will be continued, but it's been said before that it will be POST 2.0. How can it lead to something that's already happened? Here:

The main scenario quests have very high quality cutscenes, which take a lot of manpower to produce. We felt that currently, we need to bring players a lot of content in other ways as well. If we concentrated on that, then too much focus would be taken away from other things. Right now, we’re concentrating on making more side story quests, as well as the 7th Umbral era content—all of this new story that is happening in the lead up to the world change in 2.0. Seeing that story that’s leading up to those changes—we believe that right now, that’s our main focus. We want players to play this event as something they’ll only be able to experience now. Once that is finished, we’ll go back to those old quests and fill them out, making sure they become more important.

This is straight from Yoshi-P's mouth. Does it not sound like he considers the SUE events to be different and separate from the original quest line? Does it not seem like he considers the original quest-line to NOT lead up to 2.0?

It mentions nothing about the original questline going away after 2.0, and it even talks about making them better. How could he make them better if they are gone? To elaborate on that, there are other places (which I can't find at the moment) that talks about re-doing the cutscenes for these quests with the new 2.0 engine and added voice acting. Once again, why remake them if they lead up to something that has already happened?

I reiterate, even though you think so, the goal of the original questline is not to set up events for the coming apocalypse. They are bigger then that. The world changing is just an event, something insignificant when compared to an eventual 10+ year timeline of playing FFXIV.

I don't get it. You just can't seem to see where I am coming from.

Link here: http://pc.rpgsite.net/interviews/327...-naoki-yoshida