Letter to SE: Improve New Player Experience with a new introductory story instance

[HyoMinPark]

I'm not entirely sure on the specifics of the lore, but I've always been under the impression that in 1.0 there were very many "Warriors of Light" (The Path of the Twelve, all the people who had received The Echo), instead of the Warrior of Light that our characters in ARR and beyond become. And that the introduction with Hydaelyn had to do with our characters being one of those of thousands or more that were displaced by Louisoux's summoning of Althyk at the end of the battle. So, when we arrive as a "normal adventurer" in 2.0, we're one of those Echo-attuned people from 1.0.

Of course, the game doesn't explicitly show specific numbers or anything like that, but the characters in The End of an Era were the "placeholder" poster party for the 1.0 players, while there were many off-screen characters established throughout the 1.0 story that had The Echo.

Regardless, that was just an example given. It could be a purely role-play experience in the shoes of a different character or a dream given to us by Hydaelyn to show what happened in the past with our predecessors.

The Warriors of Light from 1.0 were the adventurers physically present during the Battle of Carteneau that disappeared in a blinding light after Louisoix attempted (and failed) to summon The Twelve and stop Bahamut. They’re called Warriors of Light because, when anyone tries to remember them, all they can see are silhouettes surrounded by a blinding light; no individuals faces. In this game, that means Legacy players. If your character isn’t a Legacy character—if you never played 1.0—then you aren’t a 1.0 Warrior of Light (the ones that are referenced during early ARR). You become a Warrior of Light after your deeds in ARR because they mirror the heroic deeds of the heroes that fought and disappeared during Carteneau (for non-Legacy characters, those WoLs are considered dead and/or lost). If your character is a 1.0 character, there is an extended scene after you finish the Praetorium where the Scions, Cid, and Grand Company leaders suddenly remember that you were at Carteneau with them, and that you are one of those legendary Warriors of Light. But this doesn’t happen for non-Legacy characters. We just become one because we’re found to be as heroic as the original WoLs that fought during Carteneau.

The Path of the Twelve and the Circle of Knowing weren’t Warriors of Light. Most of them go on to become the Scions of the Seventh Dawn in 2.0 (Minfilia, Thancred, Y’shtola, Yda, Papalymo, Urianger); the only one that had the Echo in 1.0 lore was Minfilia, if I recall my lore correctly. The Path of the Twelve was tasked with protecting and aiding (and possibly researching) those with the Echo—but none of them were considered WoLs.

2.0 characters are simply normal adventurers with no ties to anything from 1.0—Warriors of Light included. The only thing “special” we have when we arrive in Eorzea is the Echo; and we don’t even understand what it is. Non-Legacy characters are not 1.0 characters; the two are considered separate.

The characters in the End of an Era video are placeholder characters—just like Derplander is in all the other franchise trailers. Sure, there were more in terms of 1.0 numbers, but he and his party aren’t really meant to be representative of size (since there were more than just 5 players present when 1.0 shut down). They’re just theatric versions of the Legacy playerbase.