The XIV Team give us a lot of riddles, do you think we're good at figuring them out?

[Vyrerus]

I want Sharlyan and the final zone to be the moon, but I seriously hope we don't waste zones on the underground, i want to explore locations that have been set up for years, with cultures we have heard about like Islabard, we have had our shard hoping expansion, it is time to explore more of the source, that has been set up for years.

Well you see, there's many ways for them to handle it, while having us explore more of the Source.

In FFIV there is a teleportation device known as, "The Devil's Road." or "Serpent's Path" depending on translation. It teleports you from Baron Castle Town to Mysidia. It's entirely possible that we go to Sharlayan, and the Sharlayans have a Devil's Road that will take us to Meracydia, which then may lead us to the underground.

Also grant the fact that, in Cilia's comparison, the Burn is pretty much a foreshadow for The Empty. The Empty isn't a zone we go to, other than one section in the Eden raids. It's likely the Underground would be one zone then.

[FrightfulNight]

Well you see, there's many ways for them to handle it, while having us explore more of the Source.

In FFIV there is a teleportation device known as, "The Devil's Road." or "Serpent's Path" depending on translation. It teleports you from Baron Castle Town to Mysidia. It's entirely possible that we go to Sharlayan, and the Sharlayans have a Devil's Road that will take us to Meracydia, which then may lead us to the underground.

Also grant the fact that, in Cilia's comparison, the Burn is pretty much a foreshadow for The Empty. The Empty isn't a zone we go to, other than one section in the Eden raids. It's likely the Underground would be one zone then.

I think there are more important events going on in Islabard right now compared to Meracydia. I was also kind of holding out hope that our Meracydia expansion might be a time travel expansion where we go back to see what it was like before it was a wasteland, witness all these cultures we have heard about, and even fight the allagans proper instead of what they left behind, and I do not see us doing a time travel expansion right after ShB. I still am not interested in the underground at the moment though, and i certainly hope it is not where all the zones are, preferably it is just a dungeon or a Eureka like area, at most one or two zones, but not the entire expansion, I still think the final mystery zone should be the moon.

[Frizze]

I was also kind of holding out hope that our Meracydia expansion might be a time travel expansion where we go back to see what it was like before it was a wasteland

I know i could probly look this up, but whats our in game source that says the southern continent is a wasteland? There could totally be more down there then we know. Its been done before in a few FF games.

[MrThinker]

I know i could probly look this up, but whats our in game source that says the southern continent is a wasteland? There could totally be more down there then we know. Its been done before in a few FF games.

The Encyclopaedia Eorzea Volume 1.

Five millennia ago at the close of the Third Astral Era, the Allagan Empire, unsatisfied with controlling merely Aldenard, Ilsabard, and Othard, set their sights to the south and began an invasion that would end with nearly the entire continent being rendered a wasteland. While some areas remain uninhabitable even today, those which have been repopulated remain recluse and very rarely welcome contact with the civilizations of the northern hemisphere, ofttimes attacking any who approach, whether it be by sea or by air. Because of this, very little of the region is known, including even the most basic of geographical information.

Of course this passage suggests that quite a bit of Meracydia has actually recovered, so maybe there will be a time to explore it.

[Vyrerus]

I think there are more important events going on in Islabard right now compared to Meracydia. I was also kind of holding out hope that our Meracydia expansion might be a time travel expansion where we go back to see what it was like before it was a wasteland, witness all these cultures we have heard about, and even fight the allagans proper instead of what they left behind, and I do not see us doing a time travel expansion right after ShB. I still am not interested in the underground at the moment though, and i certainly hope it is not where all the zones are, preferably it is just a dungeon or a Eureka like area, at most one or two zones, but not the entire expansion, I still think the final mystery zone should be the moon.

I think that Ilsabard has been mostly destroyed. I'd still like to go there, but I think it's pretty cut and dry that most of it is in ruins. Not really wanting, "Bozja The Expansion" more or less. Even though I do like Bozja. If they do anything noteworthy with Ilsabard, it's likely that the Garlean capital will turn into a "primal" city, based off of Pandemonium from FFII.

The empire doesn't really hold a lot of interest for me anymore. The stakes we've had with the Ascians were always higher, and beyond sheer numbers, the Empire itself isn't really much to write home about. All of their coolest shit, they bring to bear on Eorzea anyway, and I'm much more interested in Sharlayan.

I think it'd be cool to have the Underground as a proper zone with a city and a tower of Babil reference. That's what leads to the Moon in FFIV, and there's also another way they can reference Alexander with the Giant of Babil's original concept art.

[EirolOcarrol]

While I don't think we're going to go to, or at least do much in Meracydia this time, and I think that Heavensward refresher points more towards Sharlayan than Dragon stuff. I do hope there is something to Meracydia.

I think that leaves far fewer options for interesting places to travel within the Source in the future without it. It would also be a good excuse to stop by the islands Lalafells originate from on the way there. And a good excuse to explore more Polynesian and Austronesian culture, besides. As the recent Moonfire Faire event has revealed, the island us Lalafells came from is rather similar culturally to Hawaii.

I hope we have an excuse to visit all the areas mentioned on the Source, so far. The New World. Aerslaent/Northern empty. Hingashi. And while I'm on the subject of Austronesian culture, a Final Fantasy XIV equivalent of not just Hawaii, but of Indonesia, would be awfully nice. Complete with Gamelan music. I know from Secret of Mana that Square can make very interesting Gamelan music. I am not sure if that area would be around Nagxia/Yanxia, or around the South Seas Lalafell Hawaii. But either would be very interesting.

Much as I am really looking forward to going to Hingashi and the Austronesian esque Lalafell homeland, neither are particularly great candidates for the next expansion in my mind. I suppose there is crow waiting for me if I'm wrong.

I'm not the best theorist, but I'm partial to the argument that 6.0 is likely moreso focused on Sharlayan than Garlemald.

[Vyrerus]

One to be born from a dragon
Hoisting the Light and The Dark
Arises high up in the sky to
The Still Land.

Veiling the moon with the Light of eternity,
It brings another promise to Mother Earth
With a bounty and mercy.

-Mysidian Prophecy -> Forspoken

[FrightfulNight]

I think that Ilsabard has been mostly destroyed. I'd still like to go there, but I think it's pretty cut and dry that most of it is in ruins. Not really wanting, "Bozja The Expansion" more or less. Even though I do like Bozja. If they do anything noteworthy with Ilsabard, it's likely that the Garlean capital will turn into a "primal" city, based off of Pandemonium from FFII.

The empire doesn't really hold a lot of interest for me anymore. The stakes we've had with the Ascians were always higher, and beyond sheer numbers, the Empire itself isn't really much to write home about. All of their coolest shit, they bring to bear on Eorzea anyway, and I'm much more interested in Sharlayan.

I think it'd be cool to have the Underground as a proper zone with a city and a tower of Babil reference. That's what leads to the Moon in FFIV, and there's also another way they can reference Alexander with the Giant of Babil's original concept art.

Where as for me an underground area really does not interest me at all at the moment since there really have not been anything to establish said regions in the past or any cultures, in fact I would see said zone as a waste of one of the six zones and i am much more interested in the moon then the underground. Also they mentioned that parts of the Garlean capitol have been destroyed but not all of it as shown in the cutscenes, and still that is just the capitol, there are other countries like Werlyt in Islabard as well and while you might not be interested in going to Islabard, some of us are, this would also put an end to most season 1 storylines so we can move on to the next storyline, something Yoshi P. has said he wanted to do for some time.

[Kesey]

One to be born from a dragon
Hoisting the Light and The Dark
Arises high up in the sky to
The Still Land.

Veiling the moon with the Light of eternity,
It brings another promise to Mother Earth
With a bounty and mercy.

-Mysidian Prophecy -> Forspoken

I'd be pleasantly surprised if this is used verbatim. Mysidia to FFIV is Sharlayan to FFXIV. Palom and Porom are Alphinaud and Alisaie. Zeromus was the real threat and now it's Zodiark, both on the moon. Really just the prophecy, the transport to the moon, and testing ground to prove ourselves is missing.

Let me take this one step further, a new dungeon is called Mount Ordeals!

[Kesey]

Where as for me an underground area really does not interest me at all at the moment since there really have not been anything to establish said regions in the past or any cultures, in fact I would see said zone as a waste of one of the six zones and i am much more interested in the moon then the underground. Also they mentioned that parts of the Garlean capitol have been destroyed but not all of it as shown in the cutscenes, and still that is just the capitol, there are other countries like Werlyt in Islabard as well and while you might not be interested in going to Islabard, some of us are, this would also put an end to most season 1 storylines so we can move on to the next storyline, something Yoshi P. has said he wanted to do for some time.

Does it change your mind if the means to get to the moon is buried underground?