I just dont understand whats going on with the 24 man storyline

[Rosa_Frandlia]

Reading all the responses it seems like Ivalice was a bit divisive in terms of storyline.

Thanks to everyone for the extra background to this story. Although yes i still feel it is the weakest of the 24 man raid series in terms of storyline.

I think i also found Ramza quite annoying throughout...

I am unfamiliar with nier automata so we’ll have to wait and see but i do yearn for maybe an original 24 man someday that can be unique to FFXIV.

He really was, which you should know isn't like the Ramza in FFT. This Ramza and Alma were just named after them, nothing more.

You should also realize though this filled out part of the map and played into the MSQ. We hear first about Rabanastre being taken over from the Garleans before we go there, but also in defending Doma (you should know a fan service to FFVI all the way to the castle being razed) this turns out key as key refueling base in reaching Doma is lost to Garlemald meaning they had to go across The Burn. It is even mentioned by one of the NPC's in the msq for 4.5 (I'm not sure if progression related, as I did monastery first) that we can't rely on the resistance in Dalmasca to aid in the defense of Doma because there are too many factions. I was a bit surprised how much it tied into the MSQ in building lore for what was happening in Garlemald and filling in a new part of the map.

[JeanneOrnitier]

It introduced Garleans being descended from Goug too.

[legg]

an intresting topic!

IMO, between the 3 24-man story (so far), im still cant decide between Shadow of mhach or Return to ivalice as my fav.
i havent play any Ivalician title, so i read all the information via wall of text blindly on this game.

yeah i really felt the story doesnt have any connection to the msq at all, but, eh, its 'side content' why should i care ?
i dont know what's that, what's this, and "....why i must care to this bs?".
i did a long deep read into 12/tactics lore for having a good look about the story context, lol.
which is i find amusing since i always got that " OHH I FINALLY UNDERSTAND!"-feeling when i know what the frick happened on 14's ivalice story, lmao.
the story telling in here are, ehh, largely on how they tried to bring ivalice into 14. they did change the original lore into 14's version just because something on OG ivalice didnt work here (ivalician timeline, Judges, Lansler/Ashe).
the level on 'enjoyment' here kinda almost-limited only for people who know Ivalician Term, yeah, you only need to understand the term, lucky.
if you really havent play/read the story context of tactics and/or XII you deffinetly will start to get dizzy since it feel like they just drop a tons of new things to you.

but on the other hand, as someone who like to read books (and also wall of text), i liked how they basically tried to make a 'new world' on an existing world, lol.
i just found out the npc that tells you the summary of the story right after i finished ridorana, and hell yeah they got a lot of Wall of text to inform me about this 'new world' i need to discovered.
i like how this 'ivalice' actually has it own history on Hydaelyn and also the entire existance of Ultima herself (which i still dont understand untill i read some of the thread here).

maybe this is not directly involved to the msq, but i liked that we met a Dalmascan soldier on some point of the story, so it gave more the taste that all the 'ivalice' is still hapening.

i cant say if i 'looking forward' to nier raid honestly since i havent go deep into the nier lore.
but aslong they can 'explain' what this whats that, im happy to be that 'looking forward' to it.

[ObsidianFire]

Dalmasca and later Rabanaster were brought up in sidequests and the MSQ though. The first mention of Dalmasca is all the way back in 2.0 in a sidequest in Wineport. It's established then that the Garleans took over Dalmasca and among other things, burned their famous vineyards then. That sidequest gets references (and a proper conclusion) in the Wadering Dramaturge's fetch quests on the Prima Vista.

Dalmasca later gets a lot of references after 4.0 when Hien is figuring out how to defend Doma from the Empire. It's a very important plot point that Rabanaster was destroyed by the Garleans as it makes it very costly in terms of fuel for the Garleans to get to the sourthern part of Doma. It also becomes an issue that Dalmasca's resistance cells are not united with each other. And all that is in the MSQ regardless of if you have done Return to Ivalice or not.

[Wyssahtyn]

It's a very important plot point that Rabanaster was destroyed by the Garleans as it makes it very costly in terms of fuel for the Garleans to get to the sourthern part of Doma.

It's a very contrived, illogical, and completely stupid plot point. They strategically crippled their airborne capabilities in Othard and thus their force projection just to make a point to some rebels. Christ, it's like they went out of their way to make the Garleans as stupidly evil as they possibly could and I find it increasingly difficult to believe that they're supposed to have an effective fighting force that the Eorzean Alliance, or really anyone, is supposed to feel existentially threatened by, unless they're just going the stereotypical Soviet route of drowning the enemy with sheer numbers.

[Daralii]

It's a very contrived, illogical, and completely stupid plot point. They strategically crippled their airborne capabilities in Othard and thus their force projection just to make a point to some rebels. Christ, it's like they went out of their way to make the Garleans as stupidly evil as they possibly could and I find it increasingly difficult to believe that they're supposed to have an effective fighting force that the Eorzean Alliance, or really anyone, is supposed to feel existentially threatened by, unless they're just going the stereotypical Soviet route of drowning the enemy with sheer numbers.

The Empire exists by design to create chaos and nothing more. Glassing a massive kingdom's capital city does a lot in that regard.

[ObsidianFire]

It's a very contrived, illogical, and completely stupid plot point. They strategically crippled their airborne capabilities in Othard and thus their force projection just to make a point to some rebels. Christ, it's like they went out of their way to make the Garleans as stupidly evil as they possibly could

They certainly went out of their way to make Galbranth much more stupid then his FFXII counterpart is. This is the guy who's been in charge of Dalmasca for over thirty years and he still has multiple resistance groups to worry about. And they're all down under the Garlean capital of the region to boot. And then Gaius has to send Livia and part of the XIVth Legion to help him out at the same time the XIVth Legion is occupying Gyr Abania and constructing the Eorzean castra. Firing on the city he's supposed to be ruling to get rid of various rebel factions (or because the Lucavi attacked) is just the last in one long line of... not very good decisions Galbranth has made.

unless they're just going the stereotypical Soviet route of drowning the enemy with sheer numbers.

I thought this was what the Garleans were doing ever since they were introduced. It's probably not a wrong way to look at how they fight.

All that said, the the entire point of Garlemald is to cause as much chaos as possible, I can totally see Solus letting his legatai do whatever they want because it will cause more chaos, not more stability. Nael, Galbranth and even Zenos are all good exampls of that. Gaius is an anomaly because he actually does want long-term stability and I don't think he should be treated as an example of "normal" Garlemald.

[Cilia]

The Garleans are supposed to be in the quality side of the quality vs. quantity equation. Their lack of magical aptitude is meant to be compensated for with their technology and enhanced constitution. That said, they do love to bolster their armies with (forced) conscripts from conquered territories.

In regards to the reckless destruction of Rabanastre... it's important to remember the Empire's become quite arrogant since becoming a (or, as far as we know, the) world superpower, though not without reason. (Remember that until Gaius went after the Eorzean heartland nobody was able to do so much as slow them down.) The weakness razing Rabanastre to the ground would create was probably not considered significant if at all - or if it was, the long-term benefits would outweigh the short-term losses.

[Daralii]

The Garleans are supposed to be in the quality side of the quality vs. quantity equation. Their lack of magical aptitude is meant to be compensated for with their technology and enhanced constitution. That said, they do love to bolster their armies with (forced) conscripts from conquered territories.

In regards to the reckless destruction of Rabanastre... it's important to remember the Empire's become quite arrogant since becoming a (or, as far as we know, the) world superpower, though not without reason. (Remember that until Gaius went after the Eorzean heartland nobody was able to do so much as slow them down.) The weakness razing Rabanastre to the ground would create was probably not considered significant if at all - or if it was, the long-term benefits would outweigh the short-term losses.

Especially since the way they destroyed it would probably be a very effective application of shock-and-awe.



It's not surprising that the resistance cells are so fractured.

[Rosa_Frandlia]

It's a very contrived, illogical, and completely stupid plot point. They strategically crippled their airborne capabilities in Othard and thus their force projection just to make a point to some rebels. Christ, it's like they went out of their way to make the Garleans as stupidly evil as they possibly could and I find it increasingly difficult to believe that they're supposed to have an effective fighting force that the Eorzean Alliance, or really anyone, is supposed to feel existentially threatened by, unless they're just going the stereotypical Soviet route of drowning the enemy with sheer numbers.

They actually did the same thing to Doma. When Yugiri came, it was right after a failed rebellion and Garlemald razed all of Doma to the ground. The same is true of Ala Mhigo and the state of their capital city and the towns within their borders such as Bitter Mill. This seems a tactic that Garleans seem to employ on rebellions as we now have 3 cases where they use it after rebellions occur.