Endwalker's Hinted Mystery? What could it be that leads us into the new story?

[Steelbreaker25]

Ten characters:

The "going that far" part seems to me to be almost literal: we traveled to the edge of the universe. That's further than any FF game has before, and we've gotten an absolutely massive view of the universe of FFXIV. Before EW, one bit of speculation was we might go to the Dragonstar as the next chapter in the story, but we've (functionally) gone there and beyond.

As for what comes next...

I am personally not a fan of threat escalation in storytelling, so I hope they bring things "down to earth" a bit more, and doesn't try to top what's already happened. I think this can be done well, as one of this game's strengths are when it tackles characters and interpersonal conflicts. I personally wouldn't mind a series of smaller, shorter anthology or episodic stories, rather than another sprawling epic.

[Alenore]

Ten characters:

The "going that far" part seems to me to be almost literal: we traveled to the edge of the universe. That's further than any FF game has before, and we've gotten an absolutely massive view of the universe of FFXIV. Before EW, one bit of speculation was we might go to the Dragonstar as the next chapter in the story, but we've (functionally) gone there and beyond.

As for what comes next...

I am personally not a fan of threat escalation in storytelling, so I hope they bring things "down to earth" a bit more, and doesn't try to top what's already happened. I think this can be done well, as one of this game's strengths are when it tackles characters and interpersonal conflicts. I personally wouldn't mind a series of smaller, shorter anthology or episodic stories, rather than another sprawling epic.

Ten chars too!

We "went that far" in so many ways: the end of the universe, the end of Hydaelyn/Zodiark, in time, got grounds for multiple species and way of lives (oh the relics you could find on these worlds), ...

As for threat escalation, the different things Emet-Selch mentionned, and what the Scions are up to now, feels like we're going to go back adventuring: Meracydia, Corvos and potentially some Reflections are probably next!

[wereotter]

I am personally not a fan of threat escalation in storytelling, so I hope they bring things "down to earth" a bit more, and doesn't try to top what's already happened. I think this can be done well, as one of this game's strengths are when it tackles characters and interpersonal conflicts. I personally wouldn't mind a series of smaller, shorter anthology or episodic stories, rather than another sprawling epic.

I very much doubt threat escalation will be a part of the story in the immediate future. We've resolved the major story arc around Hydalen and Zodiark, and so it's fair to assume that we're now back at a similar if not lower threat level than the world was at in 2.0. The next 5 story patches will begin to lay the groundwork for another multi-expansion saga which we will likely similarly see ramp up the threat level over the course of those maybe 5 expansions until that too is resolved and the threat level resets again.

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