Revelations from JP Fan Fest (January 2024)

[EdwinLi]

Didn't Yoshida make several comments last year about how we were going to distance ourselves from the Scions over the course of 6.X and leading to 7.0 and introduce new companions while the Scions would take background roles? I know I'm not imagining that.

It's why when the first trailer for DT dropped there was a lot of disappointment both on here and on social media about seeing the Scions again. To be clear, I'm not angry, just confused. I'm not one of those people that hates the Scions. I've always liked them. I just thought they were fading into the background for a bit. But we'll see.

Yep but at this point, I think they are just focusing on establishing lore reasons why they are becoming less involved with WoL overtime with 7.0 and 7.X since they kind of not used 6.X era MSQ to cover those reasons just so they can go through the World of Darkness conclusion plot. However, it is most likely going to be a mix result overtime since right now Yoshi-P and the development team have not established new characters to take up the roles for Trust dungeons and acting as long term companions for WoL in his/her new journey as a Adventurer. The Scions have their own separate reason for being in 7.0 is probably their safe attempt to ease things over with WoL returning to his/her roots as a Adventurer since they do not need to create a story focusing on getting to know these characters the WoL has known for a long time.

New companions for WoL in this new Adventurer Main storyline are going to need moments in the Main Story to establish them and the results will certainly conflict a lot with people's opinions comparing them to the Scions.

Personally, I expected atleast 1 or 2 new characters who will start replacing the Scions during 7.0, 7.X, or 8.0 and then from their they start working their way towards which ones are most likely to stay or settle down.

Thancred and Urianger are most likely the characters who may return the most often since they established themselves to be a adventuring dual.

Y'shtola joining in is most likely going to be a mix bag of "does this place has something she can use to learn about traveling to other Shards or not"

G'raha and Krile are the two who have the highest chance to distance themselves first since they are still rebuilding their faction in Sharlayan. However, this expansion is Krile chance to deal with the last personal thing she had on her mind for a long time before she can fully dedicate herself to rebuilding their faction.

Estinien is probably going to appear most frequently as well since he is a nomad traveling the world now.

Alphinaud and Alisaie are the two with high chance of appearing less in future expansions due to their position with representing Sharlayan in Garlemald's reconstruction. They're only here for 7.0 as a result of their Vacation time.

[Vallavia]

Didn't Yoshida make several comments last year about how we were going to distance ourselves from the Scions over the course of 6.X and leading to 7.0 and introduce new companions while the Scions would take background roles? I know I'm not imagining that.

If you manage to find these quotes, I'd be interested to see them; I've searched every translated source I could find for a quote from Yoshida on the matter and come up with nothing. It's a common enough belief that I'd like to know where it originated, but given the FFXIV community's propensity for running with preconceived notions and a lack of evidence to the contrary I'm inclined to agree with Iscah.

It's why when the first trailer for DT dropped there was a lot of disappointment both on here and on social media about seeing the Scions again.

I also don't really recall any mass discontent outside the official forums, but I suppose we could just be in vastly different circles.

[Tsiron]

Not worth making a new thread but I was curious if people think we'll get any new information at PAX East, later this month

[Cleretic]

Not worth making a new thread but I was curious if people think we'll get any new information at PAX East, later this month

First, knocking out the two minor details:

So I've been to a FFXIV PAX showing here in Australia, and from that I can safely say that the actual booth won't have anything of note; you'll have the new player experience, some giveaways, and the Asura battle that'll be filled to capacity for the entire day exactly ninety seconds after the doors open. If someone wants to spend seven hours in queue for a trial they can do at home, be my guest, but I wouldn't. And if it needs to be said, FFXVI's panel will be focused on FFXVI. Won't be any new information there, but I'd actually wager that this might be where we'd see any additional info on the XIV-XVI collab.

As for the 'Journey to Dawntrail' panel: Yeah, we're definitely gonna see something. Note the description on the website:

Join Producer & Director Naoki Yoshida as he looks back on FINAL FANTASY XIV's past 10 years and shares what we can look forward to in Dawntrail! Warriors of Light won't want to miss the presentation because you never know what Yoshida may have to share!

On top of that, it's on the main stage. The other events being held there are outright concert, a Cyberpunk 2077 behind-the-scenes, and a Warframe devstream, so that's a pretty big deal; you don't rent the main stage for a presentation where the highlight is 'hey everyone, remember Emet-Selch'. Even the XVI event is in a smaller room than that! So yeah, they're gonna have something. And I think it'll be big enough to be worth showing, but I'm not actually sure what that might be; I don't think they've had a functional equivalent, since the last time they did events like this were in 2018 and 2019; 2018 didn't talk Shadowbringers, of course 2019 was only Shadowbringers, and after that Certain Real-World Circumstances meant they didn't do any events like this for Endwalker.

I don't even know what they'd have to show, we've kinda already seen all the big things that we'd have expected to see by now. Maybe they'd show an early part of Arcadeon, but I don't think so. Maybe the second trial or a dungeon boss or two, if that's not somehow a spoiler. Maybe some namedrops for the new characters, but probably without a whole lot more context than we'd already have; we might learn that the miqo'te on the poster is indeed Koana, but probably won't learn much more about him. Maybe some in-game footage of Heritage Found, since that's the only zone we haven't seen in motion yet? Other than maybe a name for the field operations thing, I wouldn't expect any hype-ups for the patch content this early.

One thing that I could see coming forth as a clue is that, with the panel being framed as 'the journey to Dawntrail', what details might come up in a recap of the story that would seem... a little conspicuous in that context. Like, it wouldn't be weird to see them bring up Doma or the Crystarium, it might seem a little weird to bring up, say, Gelmorra or Ronka. This'd be the right time for them to earmark some parts as 'hey, look back at this' without showing their hand too hard.

Oh, and they're gonna show some upgraded landscapes and/or armor sets. That's not story stuff, but it's gonna happen, and y'know what, it'll be cool to get some looks at a prettied up Gridania.

EDIT: They could reveal the release date, but that'd feel a little weird as the only reveal--and I even get the idea it might be a bit early for that, since the reason they're gunshy is that last-minute delay for Endwalker.