Predictions for 5.3?

[BasicBlake]

I'm sorry, but could you tell me where you learned this information? This is literally the first time I've heard anyone claim that.

I paid $50 for the Lorebook

[MrThinker]

I'm assuming this is volume 2 then (since its the one i don't have). Weird that no one else has mentioned it, because that's actually a very interesting connection, and in some ways explains the isolationism of Hingashi.

[RyuDragnier]

A recent interview of Yoshi-P on GameSpot says almost verbatim they'e going the (in)famous "subverting expectations" route and that we should "get a refresher on Heavensward" going forward.

Make of that what you will, but I seriously doubt Garlemald / Ilsabard is up next.

Meaning probably Meracydia, considering Tiamat and Bahamut were from there, and it was mentioned multiple times in HW.

[RicaRuin]

I paid $50 for the Lorebook

Care to provide the page number and volume? I'd like to read up on that as I only had the knowledge of Miqo'te being driven from Meracydia to Ilsabard.

[MrThinker]

Care to provide the page number and volume? I'd like to read up on that as I only had the knowledge of Miqo'te being driven from Meracydia to Ilsabard.

I am assuming it is volume 2 (it certainly isn't volume 1) in the Hingashi section. Which, according to the preview available on the SE store, is pages 78-79.

EDIT: Actually, according to that preview, Hingashi was made of refugees made from the collapse of the Allagan Empire, not Meracydian refugees. There might be some more info held elsewhere, or the previews are outdated and not what is in the actual book...

[BasicBlake]

Care to provide the page number and volume? I'd like to read up on that as I only had the knowledge of Miqo'te being driven from Meracydia to Ilsabard.

Volume 2, there is a whole page of Koshu and Kugane's history. From it being one of the only places that wasn't touched by the Allagans to the clan wars that followed in the future. I don't have the book handy at the moment but you really just have to open the book to the Kugane section.

I could be remembering wrong, but it would be a weird portion of the book to bring up Meracydia, since the few pages are dedicated to Hingashi.

[LalafellDown]

Did he say someone would die? I don't recall this ever being confirmed; as far as I knew everything was still up in the air. I know there was an interview where he said that "no character was safe", but there was nothing in there which referred to 5.3 specifically, just the story as a whole.

That’s because in the sequel the useless dead T pose NPC will be resurrected and stalk the player from a far less intimidating distance, but still make the player feel intimidated.

[Crushnight]

Volume 2, there is a whole page of Koshu and Kugane's history. From it being one of the only places that wasn't touched by the Allagans to the clan wars that followed in the future. I don't have the book handy at the moment but you really just have to open the book to the Kugane section.

I could be remembering wrong, but it would be a weird portion of the book to bring up Meracydia, since the few pages are dedicated to Hingashi.

Volume 2 page 79
A Forgotten Past:

"Regrettably, there is little to no information concerning Hingashi prior to the Forth Astral Era. Extant Allagan records currently available for study make no mention of the islands either. Therefore, it must be assumed that while the Allagan Empire ruled the Three Great Continents at the height of its power, it's dominion did not extend to what would be later known as Hingashi. This presumption is further supported by the fact that, in the limited archaeological surveys of the island undertaken with the permission of the bakufu, not a single Allagan ruin has been discovered. That is not to say there was no evidence of Allagan influence whatsoever, though, as small artefacts such as jewelry and tombstones were unearthed.

The prevailing theory at this time is that the islands were either deserted or home to only a token population prior to the Forth Umbral Calamity, at which point refugees fleeing the collapse of the Empire came en masse. The Allagan trinkets found in Hingashi were brought by these new arrivals, who subsequently cast off the last vestiges of their fallen society and strove to create a new one free from the trappings of the past. Again, it should be stressed that this is a theory based on limited evidence, and it should not be taken as incontrovertible fact."

So basically Hingashi was never part of the Empire and became populated after the Forth Umbral Calamity. If you want to say Meracydians populated it your free to but a person saying people fled from Aldenard populated it instead is equally right, there is very little evidence for any prevailing theory, so long as it meets the requirements of the people who came to populate Hingashi had Allagen trinkets(More likely refugees from the Three Great Continents than the recently conquered Meracydians at the time but that is just a theory.)


I may be more supporting Sharlayan but I never ruled out Meracydia, as after ShB I just can't rule anything out, but I did also note that if we do go to Sharlayan it would have a split focus with the Garlean Empire, which is looking like it is coming to the forefront (HW continuously teased Aka Mhigo every patch with Yda and Papalymo, something ShB has been doing with Garlemald).

[Cilia]

(HW continuously teased Aka Mhigo every patch with Yda and Papalymo, something ShB has been doing with Garlemald).

Ala Mhigo wasn't brought up until 3.4, when Yda and Papalymo stepped back onto the stage after Teledji Adeledji's antics branded all the Scions outlaws. 3.1 - 3.3 dealt exclusively with social unrest in Ishgard and defeating Nidhogg to reach the True End of the Dragonsong War.

Again, recent GameSpot interview hints expectations will be subverted and we won't be going to Garlemald. (Pertinent part copypasted below.)

GS:Are we going to be in Garlemald soon? We've seen a little bit of it in story moments with Estinien and Gaius but are we going to start seeing more and actually going there?

Yoshi-P:In that aspect, I think we'll be able to go against players' expectations in a good way. Content that's coming in the patch 5.3 series, there's the Sorrow of Werlyt, the latest installment in the weapon series, where you're actually fighting against the forces of the Garlean Empire. In Save the Queen, the Bozjan Southern Front is an upcoming instance that really touches upon the Garlean Empire.

Of course, it's not quite the main story but it is a pretty significant story...

Make of that what you will.

[Fenral]

Personally, I'm hoping that "brush up on Heavensward" actually means "remember all that unused space in Azys Lla?"