[Wishlisting/Speculation] A historian weighs in: the New World

[Lyth]

I don't think that it's likely for us to see the New World anytime soon. In terms of landmasses that we're aware of, the two major continents that we are yet to see are Meracydia and the New World, and each one easily could have its own multiple-expansion story arc around it. And between the two, not only does Meracydia have more plotlines available to draw from at the moment (like the Warring Triad, Allag, and Azadja), the Void storyline itself seems to be gearing in that direction ultimately. But that's not a single expansion deal. Meracydia has been mostly cut off from Eorzea since the time of the last ice age (Age of Endless Frost - Fifth Umbral/Astral). So it's likely not all that easy to get to (dangerous seas/winds, etc), and there'll probably be stop overs along the way (South Sea Isles). It shouldn't be hard for them to get at least three to five expansions out of it, including Meracydia itself.

The same is true for the New World, although I expect that we'll hit Aerslaent enroute through the Northern Empty.

I'm hoping that at least one of these continents has a more futuristic/steampunk leaning to it rather than classical fantasy, just to mix things up.

[Iscah]

a sort of Grand Canyon/monument valley/mesa verde area with cliff palace..probably a redwoods..probably a Peru-esque machu pichu lost city… I’d love a Yellowstone esque area,personally.

If you haven't played it already, Horizon Zero Dawn uses a lot of those scenery ideas for its settings - the Monument Valley formations (clifftop palace and all!) and Yellowstone for the Frozen Wilds expansion. (Back in FFXIV, Eureka Hydatos seems to be going for that sort of geothermal pools thing? Though it could certainly do with having a more impressive take on the landscape concept somewhere else.)

[kaynide]

If you haven't played it already, Horizon Zero Dawn uses a lot of those scenery ideas for its settings - the Monument Valley formations (clifftop palace and all!) and Yellowstone for the Frozen Wilds expansion. (Back in FFXIV, Eureka Hydatos seems to be going for that sort of geothermal pools thing? Though it could certainly do with having a more impressive take on the landscape concept somewhere else.)

Horizon, Conan Exiles and other general open world games like Zelda or Skyrim weee what I was semi inspired by.

Basically there is just so much you pass by that begs exploration. In those games, you might find a treasure chest or hidden collectible.. or a jumping/climbing puzzle. The world just begs to be explored.

As is in FFXIV, there just aren’t any little caves or hidden things that want to be explored..and flying honestly removes a lot of the point of exploring which I feel is sad. (I’d honestly remove flying entirely if I had my way and add gliders a la Guildwars).

It is what it is, and I can hope for some honest to god eye candy in the environs..but as is, I don’t expect much.

[Alleluia]

I don't think that it's likely for us to see the New World anytime soon. In terms of landmasses that we're aware of, the two major continents that we are yet to see are Meracydia and the New World, and each one easily could have its own multiple-expansion story arc around it. And between the two, not only does Meracydia have more plotlines available to draw from at the moment (like the Warring Triad, Allag, and Azadja), the Void storyline itself seems to be gearing in that direction ultimately. But that's not a single expansion deal. Meracydia has been mostly cut off from Eorzea since the time of the last ice age (Age of Endless Frost - Fifth Umbral/Astral). So it's likely not all that easy to get to (dangerous seas/winds, etc), and there'll probably be stop overs along the way (South Sea Isles). It shouldn't be hard for them to get at least three to five expansions out of it, including Meracydia itself.

The same is true for the New World, although I expect that we'll hit Aerslaent enroute through the Northern Empty.

I'm hoping that at least one of these continents has a more futuristic/steampunk leaning to it rather than classical fantasy, just to mix things up.

On the one hand I can agree they need a lot of story time. On the other hand, at 3-5 xpacs each you are talking 20 years of storyline. Which is a bit much. The new places can be handled like Ishgard, imo: we deal with a main conflict in their expansion and then we occasionally check in with them via side content or related msq.

[Lyth]

Unlike writing for a conventional RPG which has a fixed endpoint, MMOs have to leave themselves room to expand out future storylines. FFXIV's story could have wrapped up at any point to date. We could have stopped with Eorzea. We could just stop with the three great continents, and there's still parts of Ilsabard and Othard to be explored. If you went to Meracydia and the New World, what's to say that there aren't other landmasses out there that we haven't heard about? And setting aside the First and Thirteenth, there are five additional reflections that we know nothing about: the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, Nineth, and Eleventh. Assuming that they're relatively intact (Norvrandt was essentially just Eorzea, as everything else had been destroyed by the Flood of Light), each one of these individual worlds could be as expansive as the one that we're on.

During the 14 hour broadcast, there was talk of a ten year plan (and ten years after that). That's not to say that it would ever get to such a point, but given that this is a serial work, it can continue for as long as they want to and as long as there's interest. I think that trying to wrap up both Meracydia and the New World in the span of a few expansions probably wouldn't do either justice. It's much easier just to focus in on one, drop lore hints about other regions that we haven't yet explored and let them simmer for a while. That way, when it actually comes time to write about a place like the New World there's a ton of information already to draw on. If we get to it, we get to it.

As an example, the West Mandra Empire might very well just be a joke reference that we never see again. But it makes me think - what if it was an actual place that you could visit? And what if there was a collectible quest to let you learn the language of the Mandragoras, much like FFX's Al Bhed Primers? It's a throwaway line in mount text, but it's the sort of thing that you can expand on. Perhaps someday we'll get to meet the Leek Maid in person.

[Helena-Ionis]

Ogopogo

I have nothing to add here except for the fact that I, too, live close to where the Ogopogo lives! I would love to see some Ogopogo representation!

Hello fellow WOL from the same region!

[Parua]

The Lapis Canyon that is revered by the Whalaqee suggests that our first encounter with the New World will involve something akin to both the myth of El Dorado (and other legendary cities) and the historic mountain Potosi in what is now Bolivia which was said to be made entirely of silver and which became the dominant source of silver in the "old" world for decades when Spain created a mint there. The local animist beliefs about the mountain managed to persist through to the modern era, in spite of Spanish attempts at squashing it.

Happy to see them continuing their incorporation of mesoamerican and south american myth and history. They hinted at it by naming things after mesoamerican placenames Qitana Ravel vs. Quintana Roo, a state in Yucatan that is pronounced kin'tana in Spanish and spelled the same way in the Japanese version). They also mention cenotes! You aren't going to find many cenotes outside the Yucatan Peninsula at all because those are a mayan-identified, mayan-named geological structure.

Cenotes in the Yucutan were formed largely as a result of the Chicxulub asteroid impact, by the way! Cenotes are also a place in which among the oldest-known skeletons in the new world were found.

There were more references in fashion, food, boat design, to suggest that there's also references to the Inca.

I'm excited because these kinds of references hit at my yearslong study of the history of the Americas.

[Denishia]

Mezcal! And I dearly hope if not Yak T'el then the zone next to it has the options to go dive into cenotes. Ideally I want a zone that based off the Caribbean, as someone living on the Gulf, let us have the Ruby Sea but redux and improved. The clearly Incan inspired zone also has me very excited- though again my two wishes in that zone are mummies as enemies either as an overworld mob or in the dungeon and that in some shape or form the whale fossils of Atacama Desert (Cerro Ballena) are referenced, even if it's having a nod to Bismark.

[WhiteArchmage]

When seeing the full map, there's still an area further south from where we're going, so that makes me think we're heading specifically to the area that would correspond between the Aztec and Incan Empires (so from México to Perú). It can also open up to further exploration into what would be the South America equivalent including the Amazon and the amazing vistas of Argentina.

Cenotes in the Yucutan were formed largely as a result of the Chicxulub asteroid impact, by the way! Cenotes are also a place in which among the oldest-known skeletons in the new world were found.

Funny enough, when they mentioned the cenotes I gleefully blurted their use in human sacrifice and their iconic blue hue being from the dye in those people. I'm generally critical of the Mayincatec trope mashing the three cultures together but I'm generally ok with this portrayal because, well, it seems like there's a variety of cultures and they're not a monolith, and they're a fantasy interpretation of such.

There were more references in fashion, food, boat design, to suggest that there's also references to the Inca.

Certainly references to the Inca! The mountain area has drawn comparisons to Machu Pichu and at one point one of the places is called Pacha (something), and the Pacha is an Incan concept refering to the Earth (or "world" sometimes.

[Cleretic]

I'm keen to learn more about the region just to give more context into what I'm gonna play, because the extent of my knowledge was being able to identify Machu Picchu.