6.0 Predictions: Will it be Garlemald, Sharlayan, or Meracydia?

[KageTokage]

I'd be horribly surprised if we didn't go to Ilsabard/Garlemald at this point now that Fadaniel has invited/threatened us to go after Zenos in "the heart of the chaos".

I'm expecting those towers of his to continue being a problem even into 6.x and possibly the reason for our zone-hopping.

[RyuDragnier]

I'd be horribly surprised if we didn't go to Ilsabard/Garlemald at this point now that Fadaniel has invited/threatened us to go after Zenos in "the heart of the chaos".

Problem with "the heart of the chaos" is that its purposefully vague. We still don't have a single clue where we're going, and there are too many hints leading to multiple directions here.

[FrightfulNight]

Problem with "the heart of the chaos" is that its purposefully vague. We still don't have a single clue where we're going, and there are too many hints leading to multiple directions here.

Except it seems to be highly implying it is Islabard, which is in the midst of a massive civil war as well as the fact that he was seen after in the Imperial Palace. There is also the fact that the map has clouds that in some areas resemble a storm cover Islabard, with the Garlean palace placed in something similar to an eye of a hurricane, what some would consider a heart of chaos. There are no hints and no reason whatsoever to go to Meracydia at the moment, it is a wasteland in the present, and there are issues that are currently engulfing the three continents. I do se Sharlayan playing a role, possibly as the hub city, but all evidence points toward the exploration zones being in Islabard. And while some think there may be a curveball keep in mind they already did a curveball away from Islabrd in ShB, which worked to help set up the finale and the stakes and make sure we don't have the same foe two expansions in a row (cough cough SWTOR KotFE followed by KotET), but now with all the scenes there throughout SB and ShB, i highly doubt they will do another misdirect because they already Did It with ShB, doing the same curveball with the same location over again will get old and repetitive.

[Kesey]

Except it seems to be highly implying it is Islabard, which is in the midst of a massive civil war as well as the fact that he was seen after in the Imperial Palace. There is also the fact that the map has clouds that in some areas resemble a storm cover Islabard, with the Garlean palace placed in something similar to an eye of a hurricane, what some would consider a heart of chaos. There are no hints and no reason whatsoever to go to Meracydia at the moment, it is a wasteland in the present, and there are issues that are currently engulfing the three continents. I do se Sharlayan playing a role, possibly as the hub city, but all evidence points toward the exploration zones being in Islabard. And while some think there may be a curveball keep in mind they already did a curveball away from Islabrd in ShB, which worked to help set up the finale and the stakes and make sure we don't have the same foe two expansions in a row (cough cough SWTOR KotFE followed by KotET), but now with all the scenes there throughout SB and ShB, i highly doubt they will do another misdirect because they already Did It with ShB, doing the same curveball with the same location over again will get old and repetitive.

My problem with this path is it won't answer enough questions. How can does a warpath to Fandaniel and Zenos really get us closer to Hydaelyn and question what we've learned about the WOL's life previous life as Azem, why she insists the Ascians need to go when we had dialogue options to question if it was the right thing to do putting down Emet and Elidibus? Doesn't this question alone warrant a mission to physically cross the aetherial sea to talk to Hydaelyn?

And chances are high we go to the moon; what about a conveyance to get there? I'm sure this how the Allagans tie into this story because if anyone has a space ship or rocket it was them. Granted the Empire has Allagan ruins themselves, but really another area like Ayzs Lla could be anywhere.

Those hints about the Empire are scraps at best. They only promise a confrontation with Zenos and Fandaniel and we had that promise at the end of 5.3. There isn't enough information about this coming expansion to make a proper educated guess.

[Vyrerus]

Problem with "the heart of the chaos" is that its purposefully vague. We still don't have a single clue where we're going, and there are too many hints leading to multiple directions here.

The best my mind can suppose out of, "at the heart of the chaos" is the idea that Fandaniel and his towers that are

tempering people to Garlemald

is that they might raise a illusory primal version of the city and call it, "Pandemonium" in order to make a direct reference to the first Final Fantasy with an empire, Final Fantasy II.

[FrightfulNight]

My problem with this path is it won't answer enough questions. How can does a warpath to Fandaniel and Zenos really get us closer to Hydaelyn and question what we've learned about the WOL's life previous life as Azem, why she insists the Ascians need to go when we had dialogue options to question if it was the right thing to do putting down Emet and Elidibus? Doesn't this question alone warrant a mission to physically cross the aetherial sea to talk to Hydaelyn?

And chances are high we go to the moon; what about a conveyance to get there? I'm sure this how the Allagans tie into this story because if anyone has a space ship or rocket it was them. Granted the Empire has Allagan ruins themselves, but really another area like Ayzs Lla could be anywhere.

Those hints about the Empire are scraps at best. They only promise a confrontation with Zenos and Fandaniel and we had that promise at the end of 5.3. There isn't enough information about this coming expansion to make a proper educated guess.

I still see Sharlyan playing a role in the story, perhaps as the hub and it will be from there that we will get this information, and I have said for years now that the final mystery zone will be the moon. However I do not see them pulling a red herring with Islabard again, they already di it once, t do it twice in a row will get repetitive and boring as well as turn it into a bit of a meme. for the past two expansions now they have been hinting at Islabard which to me makes me think it will be very important in the finale, it is the last of the three continents which I can see as the season 1 location. Also you have talked before about the Aetherial see being a zone, but in my mind it does not have enough justification to be one of the six exploration zones, it would be a waste of a zone, we see it in the character creation and select screen, a dungeon or instanced are like Werlyt maybe but not a full on zone.

[Riastrad]

6.0 just needs to end as many plots as possible rather than create more. I'm just worried about it feeling like filler arc story wise as Stormblood 2.0 is just not something I want to slog through again. Did not care how Ala Mhigo was just abandoned plot wise.

The remnants of Garlemald need to be dealt with and Zenos/Fandaniel need to die. Garlemald should be rebuilt as a demilitarized Technocracy. Sharlayan would be ideal with a new storyline to bring us into 7.0. Possibly about trying to get them to help rebuild the world after a doomsday level event? All that hoarded knowledge and magic and not a finger lifted to help against a world ending threat? Yeah, no. I would be willing to bet the rest of the world wouldn't look too kindly to those who stayed out of that.

[tresa_cho]

So Chaos is usually associated with the void, right? The opposite of Light and Stillness. What if the 'heart of chaos' is the heart of Zodiark? Who we know is in the moon. We go to the moon!

[GrumbleBeard]

I'm frankly kind of tired of the way the story is progressing at this point. It's hard to feel emotion at each new world ending event when our character is a literal god. I don't know what the future holds, but I would like to see something like this: We clear up the Garleans, Ascians, and Zodiark problem. In defeating Zodiark we sacrifice our own warrior of light powers and spend the remaining expansions exploring new lands as a regular (albeit powerful) adventurer solving more grounded problems.

[Rymi64]

I'm frankly kind of tired of the way the story is progressing at this point. It's hard to feel emotion at each new world ending event when our character is a literal god. I don't know what the future holds, but I would like to see something like this: We clear up the Garleans, Ascians, and Zodiark problem. In defeating Zodiark we sacrifice our own warrior of light powers and spend the remaining expansions exploring new lands as a regular (albeit powerful) adventurer solving more grounded problems.

Our character isn't a god though. We are just a normal person who's just very good at the whole fighting thing. And we don't really have WoL powers. Closest thing would be the blessing of light which doesn't really give us any real powers.