I cannot believe how far in advance the story has set itself up. (spoilers of course)

[AsbelLahnt]

Given that the Warriors of Darkness were introduced and then whisked away with all the impactfulness of a wet fart, sometimes it feels like they originally planned for Shadowbringers to come before Stormbringers. If that was originally the plan, it suddenly doesn't seem all that surprising to see that sort of content at the end of HW, since it would've been less long-term foreshadowing, and more direct foreshadowing for stuff coming in mere months. (Also I feel like Lyse's SB gear would've made a lot more sense if she had become a DNC, but I digress...)

With that said, I seem to recall it being stated that the whole Bahamut-inside-Dalamud scenario that they used to destroy 1.0 was originally planned for like... expansion 3 or 4 or something, so yeah they definitely do a lot of planning ahead.

From what you said at the end, that seems much more likely. They don't make plans for what the next expansion story is going to be the year leading up to launch, they have those plans well in advance.

I don't mean to say they have everything ready already for 6.0, but given that they already know the end of 5.0, it's easy to surmise that they're already working on 5.x story to lead into 6.0, so I completely believe that they foreshadowed this with the WoD in HW, and didn't plan on having Shadowbringers first.

[disturbedcobra]

If I recall correctly, he has stated in a previous interview that they plan an expansion ahead at least when making their content. Like while doing developemnt on 3.x patches, they already had ideas on what they were going to use for Stormblood(4.0) as the patches were going to lead to that. Not 100% sure but I believe in regards to story content they plan it ahead by a few patches this way they can make sure that the story content is stream-lined and not left hanging with a few alterations where they need to.

[disturbedcobra]

G: Up to what point have you already decided the future of the storyline? How far forward are you thinking with Stormblood‘s storytelling?

NY: While it’s still very rough at this point, we have kind of mapped it until the last part of 5.0. About the narrative of 4.0, we are already planning for the 4.X patches and especially for their beginning chapters. The plot for 4.1 is coming together as we speak, but there is one point I’m thinking about, and considering that we might change it. Do we still want to move in a straightforward manner and fight the Garlean Empire, or is this an opportunity to consider fighting a more fantastical sort of enemy that threatens the realm… or something like that.

Final Fantasy XIV has received a lot of support from the players, so we’re thinking, what if there is a situation in which the players are fighting a more dynamic enemy? Once we launch Stormblood, and things start to settle down after the first part of the main scenario, I would like to go back with my scenario team and discuss moving forward. Once we decide on the direction, we will go straight on and progress really quickly.

Old interview prior to StB

Patch 2.55 introduced a significant plot twist to the final storyline of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. How far in advance was the final storyline for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn planned out and how much of the future storyline has already been written?

First and foremost, thank you very much for enjoying the storyline!

The final storyline of A Realm Reborn was finalized before the release of Patch 2.1 (December 2013). We needed a solid plot from the start so that we could create a story that wouldn’t fall apart. We introduced characters in each patch update every 3.5 months, and created the dialogue to establish these characters and/or build tension and excitement in the story.

Also, Final Fantasy XIV supports Japanese, English, French, German, Chinese (and Korean, in just a short while), with voice overs in many of the cut scenes. In order to accomplish this we need to record in the various languages well ahead of time, which naturally requires that the script be finalized much earlier than that. For Patch 2.55 (“Before the Fall, Part 2”) we recorded the voice overs in between the release of Patch 2.3 and 2.4. (This is about a 6 month lead time). I take my hat off to our script writers, localization team, and sound team.

In terms of future storylines, we’ve already determined a general outline of the next expansion pack (Version 4.0) after Heavensward. Of course, the details may potentially change, and depending on our players’ reactions, there is always a possibility for adjustments, too!

An even older interview. XD

[JeanneOrnitier]

Go back further. The Cutscene with us first talking with Hydaelyn shows other WoLs traveling to the other shards to do her mission. You see another spawn and travel off like a shooting star to another shard.

Is that who they were supposed to be? That makes a lot of sense. I always thought they were other adventurers, but that made me question why if that were so they'd be talking to Hydaelyn.

To me it seems like the opposite. To me it feels like Stormblood was the sidequest and now they are getting back to the plot of Acians trying to bring about a calamity in order to bring all the shards together. We're literally going to the first shard in order to prevent a calamity.

Minfilia, the representative of Hydaelyn and our old friend told us during the WoD plotline that she is going to the First shard to make things right. That doesn't sound like wrapped up story line to me.

I honestly felt this way about Stormblood too, since the Ascians were almost completely absent from it.

[Bright-Flower]

Sure ascians were absent from 4.0, but the Empire is also a major antagonist. In retrospect the two are also intricately linked though we didn't know that in 4.0. It also resolved major story arcs with ala mhigo and doma. So I wouldn't really call 4.0 a side quest or filler.

5.0 I wouldn't either. The idea of going to a parallel world COULD fall into that trap but it seems they're linking it enough to the main story to not be an issue.

[disturbedcobra]

They've already stated that this trip will, in a sense, bring us full circle. One step closer to finalizing plot points that were around since the 1.0 story.

[Bright-Flower]

They've already stated that this trip will, in a sense, bring us full circle. One step closer to finalizing plot points that were around since the 1.0 story.

I think 80% is the figure they used. ARR, HW, SB, SHB...I'm guessing that means the expansion after SHB will bring an end to the Ascian/Empire/Zodiark arc, and the game wil transition towards something else, not unlike WoW starting to work towards the void lords now that Sargeras is defeated.

[DamianFatale]

Given that the Warriors of Darkness were introduced and then whisked away with all the impactfulness of a wet fart, sometimes it feels like they originally planned for Shadowbringers to come before Stormbringers. If that was originally the plan, it suddenly doesn't seem all that surprising to see that sort of content at the end of HW, since it would've been less long-term foreshadowing, and more direct foreshadowing for stuff coming in mere months. (Also I feel like Lyse's SB gear would've made a lot more sense if she had become a DNC, but I digress...)

With that said, I seem to recall it being stated that the whole Bahamut-inside-Dalamud scenario that they used to destroy 1.0 was originally planned for like... expansion 3 or 4 or something, so yeah they definitely do a lot of planning ahead.

Stormbringers? Is this the Mandella effect expansion.

[DamianFatale]

Doma's crisis was set up in the 2x series.

Sharlayan's main city has been set up since awhile ago.

Thavnair is a thing.

Bukyo is a thing.

They do a lot of setting up. Just wait. We will see all these places and many more someday.

[Odstarva]

Stormbringers? Is this the Mandella effect expansion.

What do you mean? It's always been Stormbringers.