FORSPOKEN

[grinkdaboy]

my money is on a hero's bonds, since they registered another trademark which more or less means the same thing in japanese. them being registered together makes me think of how each expansion is named differently in japanese and english. (and the english iconography is used in the japanese advertisements as well)

[Jandroid]

In my opinion, Forspoken feels a little weak for an expansion title when compared to the past three. I was hoping for something meatier or edgier. The title does make sense for an expansion though since it fits the naming conventions of past expansion titles and could allude to how the Warrior of Light is allegedly tempered by Hydaelyn.

But who knows, Forspoken could even be the title of the Luminous Productions game that's currently called Project Athia.

If we're reaching very far and assuming Creative Business Unit III naming sense carries over then Forspoken could also be related to Final Fantasy XVI. Think of all the external media that Final Fantasy XV had with Brotherhood and Kingsglaive lol. But I'm very doubtful.

my money is on a hero's bonds, since they registered another trademark which more or less means the same thing in japanese. them being registered together makes me think of how each expansion is named differently in japanese and english. (and the english iconography is used in the japanese advertisements as well)

A Hero's Bonds sounds a bit more like a name of a patch than an expansion title. Final Fantasy XIV expansion titles are usually closed compound words made to sound really cool. But now that you mentioned it, it could also be the Japanese title since they have a different expansion name and use the Western title as iconography for promotions.

Western Title ↔ Japanese Title (Romaji) ↔ Japanese Title (Translated)
Heavensward ↔ Soten no Ishugardo ↔ Blue Skies of Ishgard
Stormblood ↔ Guren no Ribereta ↔ Liberators of the Crimson Lotus (or Crimson Liberators)
Shadowbringers ↔ Shikkoku no Viranzu ↔ Jet Black Villains
Forspoken ↔ ? ↔ A Hero's Bonds ?

The Japanese naming convention appears to be "[description] no [subject]". Description for the expansions in order are 'Blue Skies', 'of the Crimson Lotus' or 'Crimson', and 'Jet Black'; while the subjects are 'Ishgard', 'Liberators', and 'Villains' respectively. I'm curious to know what the other Japanese trademark is that is similar to A Hero's Bonds.

[Shibi]

I'm curious to know what the other Japanese trademark is that is similar to A Hero's Bonds.

魂の絆 - Tamashī no kizuna - Bonds of the Soul (spirit/anima/ghost/being/shadow)

https://chizai-watch.com/t/2020065062

[Jandroid]

魂の絆 - Tamashī no kizuna - Bonds of the Soul (spirit/anima/ghost/being/shadow)

https://chizai-watch.com/t/2020065062

Thanks!

It's similar in structure but a little different from the Japanese naming convention for their expansions. ___の___ appears to be the structure of how Square Enix names the Japanese expansions but at the same time, the first ___ before the の is usually a color descriptor like 蒼天 (Soten | Blue Skies), 紅蓮 (Guren | Crimson Lotus), and 漆黒 (Shikkoku | Jet-Black) while the second ___ which is after the の are usually nouns like Ishgard, Liberators, and Villains.

The naming conventions for 魂の絆 is a little different but the naming structure is there so it could very well be the name of the next expansion. Personally, I don't think "A Hero's Bonds" is the name of the next expansion since it feels a little off to me compared to past expansion titles. The Japanese name of an expansion has also never been translated to be used as the name for its International counterpart.

As it stands though, we could be looking at "Forspoken - 魂の絆" as the next expansion while "A Hero's Bonds" is just to trademark a translated version of '魂の絆' for the sake of trademarking something similar to protect their IP. Or it could be the name of a patch as well... Only time will tell.

[Shibi]

As it stands though, we could be looking at "Forspoken - 魂の絆" as the next expansion while "A Hero's Bonds" is just to trademark a translated version of '魂の絆' for the sake of trademarking something similar to protect their IP. Or it could be the name of a patch as well... Only time will tell.

It's a little hard for me to know, you are correct that there is no colour in any meaning of Tamashī that I can see with my quite inadequate Japanese. But there can be so many multiple and clever meanings with kanji and my skill is low, so I might miss one.

Yes, you are also likely correct that's it's not an exact match, looking at the dates of these trademark applications might glean a little further hint that it's not this 魂の絆 trademark.

魂の絆 was applied for 6月16日 (June 16th)
FORSPOKEN was applied for 10月13日 (October 13th)
A HERO'S BONDS was applied for 10月13日 (October 13th)

And yet, there is another that is applied for on October 13 with the Yojijukugo phrase 燃魂夫絆 which also has 絆/Kizuna (bond) at the last character and 魂/Tamashī (soul) as the second.

燃魂夫絆 and 魂の絆 seem strongly related, but my Japanese isn't good enough to understand the meaning of this Yojijukugo phrase, especially if it's idiomatic, outside of a weak literal translation (Burning/Soul/Husband/Bond), which doesn't seem to make sense.

Ahh, it's all fun. But I just don't know.