Revelations from Patch 4.56

[Iscah]

I'm pretty sure the person we are talking to in the portal space is not G'raha Tia. And not just because SE didn't stick Mi'qote ears on him. We see him in the 1st Shard's CT in the trailer and it feels like he doesn't know a lot of stuff G'raha should know. Including who we are (not our role as the WoL, but who we are as a character) and how our CT is sealed up from the inside.

It could be that SE is just being really obtuse with how they handle introducing him G'raha Tia again, but I'd think he'd react differently to seeing us again if it really was G'raha. It just feels like he knows us by what role we play and not as the person who helped kill Xanded and the Cloud of Darkness and make sure there wasn't a portal to the Void at the top of Crystal Tower with him. Also... G'raha should be sleeping in the tower... If it really is him, then either he's not sleeping in the Source's CT anymore, or he is and he's messing around with time travel from the future or being in two places at once, both of which I'm not too hot on.

If it is meant to be G'raha, I think he does know us, he's just pretending not to. He doesn't want us to know it's him at this point. (If you choose to ask "who are you?" at the prompt, he tells you that's not important right now.)

Alternately, it's slippery double-purpose scripting that allows for either that interpretation OR the player genuinely not knowing him, without needing to include variable dialogue.

And the text slide at the end does say something about travelling across "time and space" - though it's worth noting that Minfilia also uses that phrase both times you meet her in the Aetherial Sea.

And as I linked earlier, whether it is or isn't him, it is certainly a male Miqo'te NPC who matches G'raha's appearance perfectly.

But there's still room for uncertainty, and I'll be referring to him as Enigma until we know for sure whether it's him or a lookalike.

..........

[Ceridwenae]

If it is meant to be G'raha, I think he does know us, he's just pretending not to. He doesn't want us to know it's him at this point. (If you choose to ask "who are you?" at the prompt, he tells you that's not important right now.)

Alternately, it's slippery double-purpose scripting that allows for either that interpretation OR the player genuinely not knowing him, without needing to include variable dialogue.

And as I linked earlier, whether it is or isn't him, it is certainly a male Miqo'te NPC who matches G'raha's appearance perfectly.

But there's still room for uncertainty, and I'll be referring to him as Enigma until we know for sure whether it's him or a lookalike.

..........

Time for another box:

I mean, what's the point of saying who he is is not important if we already know him? Would it really be so terrible to say "Hello, it's me, G'raha! Let me explain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up..." if the WoL knows him, or, in the case of people who haven't played CT, "Hello, my name is G'raha Tia, I'm mates with Krile, Cid (or whoever we know). Let me explain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up..."* Admittedly the latter doesn't give a whole room for trust to be established, but the former certainly would make a knowledgeable WoL shup and pay attention. It's silly not to: you don't lead a WoL a merry dance if they've worked with you before and you want to work together again. It's not expedient.

Well, alright, you could. But I don't have to like it, G'rahaNotG'raha and you'd better have a damned fine reason for doing it before I call you stupid several times over whilst smashing your ridiculously ostentatious crystal chandelier into many little pieces.

I know from the developer PoV I might be being a bit facile, but I figured a few extra words plus a extra small dialogue branch wouldn't be too much to include if this is someone we already know.

Feh. It's a crystal clone grown in his likeness and sent out to do stuff and/or inform him of when he has to unlock the door to the CT. Maybe there's nothing else to do but grow crystals when you seal yourself away into a crystal-based structure. The rate of growth is accelerated through aether, explaining what's going on with the current aether situation. Or something (I have no idea, it mostly just struck me as a bit daft not to (re)introduce himself in one second if it's a verifiable someone we can check up on or already know, and the rest is mostly bobbins off the top of my head). Also, this is why no cat-ear flaps. The clone hasn't cloned those, or failing that, it is G'raha, and his ears crystallised and were lost in an incident involving a party on one of the staircases in CT. All work and no play, or something. Oof.


*Thank you, Inigo Montoya. A never-ending source of quotes to badly mash.