Ability to see the future: Loose plot thread?

[Cassar]

As previously seen in the Save the Queen questline, Mikoto has an unique ability to see the future. I read somewhere that the explanation of this is that the echo just has a different manifestation on her? Regardless of the explanation, I don't see this topic being talked about very often and I think it's a pretty big deal.
I mean, were the ancients capable of seeing the future too? Is there anyone else in current day that can? Do they see a possible future or is the future that they see guaranteed to occur? There's just so many questions.

Do you think they'll continue this plot thread? I really think they need to because, as I said, I think seeing the future is a massive deal and it shouldn't be just glossed over like it currently is being treated.

[Cleretic]

There's been some hints that Azem might've had some level of future sight. Either that or they were just a very good guesser.

It's pretty much guaranteed that Mikoto's not the only person who can do it in the present day; Misija got it from her Resonance since it was patterned on Mikoto's, and she was actually better with it. But even beyond that, nobody acted like Mikoto's ability is completely unheard of, so there's probably more like her. And that's on top of even more 'typical' fortune telling like Astrologian; we at the very least have no reason to believe that either Sharlayan or Ishgardian astrology is completely bogus on that, even if the time magic angle on AST has gone away over time. And there's the prophecy that the Seven Hundred Seventy-Seven acted on, too. Alexander's story toyed with it, but it was in service to Straight-Up Time Travel, so that's kinda different.

That said, the developers don't really seem all too inclined to use such a thing as anything beyond 'see misfortune and avert it'. So while yes, it's entirely possible they could suddenly use that plot hook, we aren't really looking at a group of writers that's been all too inclined to use it so far.

[RyuDragnier]

I really hope if they use it, to at least put a "border color" for it. Red for a future that can be changed. Blue for one that cannot be changed. And then throw us curve balls, where we get red and think we can change it...but it didn't change because somebody else needed to do something for it to do so. Or have red around a good event, so we try to prevent it from changing. Future sight can be interesting if done well, but most writers can't really do it well.

[Cassar]

I've heard the theory of Azem having this ability and honestly that would make sense and it would be pretty neat.
What kind of bothers me is the fact the Scions (or anyone, for that matter) could've like asked for Mikoto's aid during the final days or something, her ability would be incredible in times of need, yet no one even thinks about it!

I really hope if they use it, to at least put a "border color" for it. Red for a future that can be changed. Blue for one that cannot be changed. And then throw us curve balls, where we get red and think we can change it...but it didn't change because somebody else needed to do something for it to do so. Or have red around a good event, so we try to prevent it from changing. Future sight can be interesting if done well, but most writers can't really do it well.

Honestly that brings me to my second concern with this future sight thing - If the future she sees truly is a guaranteed future, then that somewhat goes against the multiple timelines aspect of the game's time travel. I mean think about it, if something is guaranteed to happen, and there's nothing you can do to change it even if you try, then that means it's something predestined, which kinda goes against the idea of infinite possible futures and alternate timelines, right?

[Iscah]

I really hope if they use it, to at least put a "border color" for it. Red for a future that can be changed. Blue for one that cannot be changed.

That's just unnecessarily complicating it, and not how it's shown to work so far.

Mikoto's future sight is strictly about things that will happen. The foreseen event cannot be changed, though the events around it can be manipulated.

It's something that needs strict limitations to not be a boring plot device that solves their problems for them in advance.

[Iscah]

Honestly that brings me to my second concern with this future sight thing - If the future she sees truly is a guaranteed future, then that somewhat goes against the multiple timelines aspect of the game's time travel. I mean think about it, if something is guaranteed to happen, and there's nothing you can do to change it even if you try, then that means it's something predestined, which kinda goes against the idea of infinite possible futures and alternate timelines, right?

The thing with FFXIV's time structure is that it isn't just infinite splitting possibilities. The timeline split created in Shadowbringers appears to be an exceptional event, which at least by my own theory on how it works, relies specifically on intervention by a time traveller. The rest of the time, there simply is one flow of time from past to present to future, and just because we haven't experienced it yet doesn't mean that it isn't there waiting to be experienced.

Also, I don't think that's at all the same thing as being predestined. It's more symbiotic: you are free to make your choices, and the future will/would/has turned out according to those choices. If you would have chosen differently, the future would have reflected that in the first place.

[RyuDragnier]

That's just unnecessarily complicating it, and not how it's shown to work so far.

Mikoto's future sight is strictly about things that will happen. The foreseen event cannot be changed, though the events around it can be manipulated.

It's something that needs strict limitations to not be a boring plot device that solves their problems for them in advance.

Well here's an example for you. A vision is obtained of people panicking, houses burning in a response to a plague. It's in blue, it's going to happen. So of course we go about trying to warn and prepare in advance. The problem? Us doing that CAUSES the events to unfurl. We saw it was going to happen no matter what, but we set the events in motion.

Or a red vision where we see the supposed villain dying in front of a high profile individual. We go about to try to make it happen...and then discover said official has horrid plans of murdering people and making it look like another nation did it to start a war, and the supposed villain actually found out completely on accident and has been trying to stop it. This forces us to prevent him from dying and kill the official instead.

Visions can make for good drama if written correctly. I just would prefer a writer capable of doing them right being the one doing the actual writing.

[Cleretic]

You know, Xenoblade Chronicles exists, you can play it. We don't need to cram it into FFXIV.

And then to color-code it to remove all tension for some reason, except when we throw away the ruleset for the sake of adding tension, for... reasons?

[RyuDragnier]

You know, Xenoblade Chronicles exists, you can play it. We don't need to cram it into FFXIV.

And then to color-code it to remove all tension for some reason, except when we throw away the ruleset for the sake of adding tension, for... reasons?

Well when the hell do you want them to do with it? Just drop it so people complain about it being underused?

[Cleretic]

Well when the hell do you want them to do with it? Just drop it so people complain about it being underused?

I've literally never seen a single person 'complain' about it being underused. Even the OP was basically just asking 'hey, how prevalent is this as a potential thing they could do something with'. I don't think there is this pressing need for them to use it if they don't want to, and for the most part, they don't want to use it in any major ways.

If I were forced to sit down and go 'okay write in future sight in a major way that isn't just Mikoto Again', I would actually capitalize on the difference not just between future sight and most other extrasensory things in FFXIV's setting, but also future sight as depicted in other stories: that we don't have it. There's been plenty of stories of 'we've seen assured disaster, how do we make that not happen', including in FFXIV itself, but there's markedly less stories about someone who's audience to someone else who has a vision of the future. Are they trustworthy, given we've been lied to about a vision of the future and other extrasensory abilities before? Are they reliable, since we've also had important information not divulged by previous future-sight instances? Is it even useful? What do we do with this information when we're given it? How do you know you're not just setting up to ensure this alleged future happens, rather than avoiding it? Given the various uncertainties about second-hand future sight, is it even useful information or is it just a distraction?

Why not write a story that asks and grapples with those questions, instead of just doing the same thing we've seen before but adding arbitrary extra rules?