Thematic issues. Why all the sci fi.

[VeyaAkemi]

Alright, let's measure all known city-states and city-state-like regions:

Ul'dah, Gridania and Limsa Lominsa: Pretty high fantasy, no overt technological themes.

Ishgard: Likewise, just with more dragons, the most they have is a fairly recent engineering group.

Ala Mhigo: Pretty middle eastern, actually ties with Ul'dah for this, there is a significant technological presence but that's not for Ala Mhigo's culture in itself, it's because of Garlean occupation.

Kugane, Doma: Fantasy Japan to a tee.

All of Novrandt: Different flavors of what we already had in the Source, it's the point really, less technology around but also in large part due to most of their planet, including their version of Garlemald and Sharlayan, being nuked.

Radz-at-Han: This is just India and also there is a dragon around.

Garlemald and Sharlayan: By far the two most technologically advanced nations, but also it makes perfect sense for that to be the case, Sharlayans are hoarders of knowlege, and Garlemald's entire thing is their inability to wield aether the same way as every other race causing them to push for technology.

Tuliyollal: It's Mesoamerica, they actually have even less technology than most other city-estates, as their most pronounced sources of technology, their dirigibles and locomotives, are not only very recent, they are entirely imports.

Alexandria: The most technologically advanced nation in the Source and the only one that is fully sci-fi, and they are literally alien to the entire Shard, being brought from the Ninth due to Dimensional Fusion, we can also give them benefit of doubt as thanks to the Alexandria dungeon we know that in the past they were very high fantasy as well, and the catastrophes of their Shard is what caused them to push for technological advancement, I could also point out that while they are aesthetically and thematically sci-fi, they are actually magitek in their near entirety, Regulators work by manipulating souls, Electrope is just a catalyst to manipulate aether, even all their technology ties back to magic.

Bonus, Bestways Burrows: Not a city-estate per-se, but the original intent of it as a colony for humanity should make it count enough, and they are very much a different flavor of sci-fi while also leaning into magitek like the Alexandrians, even featuring multiple multi-aspected crystals all over the place, which, in my opinion, makes the magical aspect of their technology more pronounced.

TL;DR: I feel saying that "sci-fi is the norm and the 3 starter cities are backwards" feels disingenuous, even now, technology is rare and sparse and the average citizen sparsely, if ever, see even a single robot, we see a lot of it because we are very special, the most talented and powerful adventurer in the planet, the rare and unusual is the norm for us, and we shouldn't see the things the WoL deals with as "this is what the world is" and more "this is what exists in the world".

[Kranel_San]

Final Fantasy is becoming Final Sci-fi

or Final Cyberpunk

I know sci-fi themes exists since the early FF games, but what got my attention to play this game was it's an MMO in a fantasy medieval setting, not a sci-fi setting. You want robots? Sure but they should be rare and not your trash mob you see here and there

[Underscore]

Agreed. I felt this way about Solution 9, but this Cosmic Exploration stuff has taken it even further. The content isn't even out yet and I already resent it from the pictures alone. I'm very concerned about the artistic direction the game has been going in lately.

The Allagan Empire existed, you know. Magitek is there too. Since ARR, even. Just because you'd like to act like Etheirys is by default a medieval setting doesn't make that statement true.

I knew someone would respond with this weak, bad faith defence. Garlean magitek and Allagan technology/architecture have unique science-fantasy aesthetics which fit into FFXIV's world well. Both are a far cry from anything we've been seeing in Dawntrail.

[yesnt]

ancient mysterious technology

I feel like every time something in this game is "ancient mysterious" it's just a lack of lore. Although I am not happy with the DT lore overall, at least electrope has some substance to it.

It doesn't make sense when said society is friendly and yet people keep choosing to live in their backwards ways instead of advancing technologically with the rest of the world

This will surprise you, but this is basically the state of the real life earth and a very accurate representation. Societies do not suddenly all advance to the same technology mostly because of politics, education, money and sometimes because tribes like to stay away from advanced society because that's what they chose to do. Some Eorzeans aren't even capable of reading and struggle making their daily bread.

Garlean magitek and Allagan technology/architecture have unique science-fantasy aesthetics which fit into FFXIV's world well. Both are a far cry from anything we've been seeing in Dawntrail.

Fair. S9 aesthetics is clearly service for a certain group of people who will buy overpriced cash shop knit hats.

[Ath192]

TL;DR: I feel saying that "sci-fi is the norm and the 3 starter cities are backwards" feels disingenuous, even now, technology is rare and sparse and the average citizen sparsely, if ever, see even a single robot, we see a lot of it because we are very special, the most talented and powerful adventurer in the planet, the rare and unusual is the norm for us, and we shouldn't see the things the WoL deals with as "this is what the world is" and more "this is what exists in the world".

The point is that all these tech gimmicks keep getting introduced in to the world and nobody bats an eye. There is no reaction or adapting to the existence of these things from the nations in the world. They witness all this stuff and just keep on going like nothing has happened.

And this brings us to another point, the world can't stand still in time and show large developments simultaneously. At this point we've rebuilt a good chunk of Ishgard, developed entire Islands, led revolutions, restored doma while uniting all major nations in the world, saved other worlds and we are heading towards rebuilding YET more worlds and somehow each zone is just frozen in time like nothing has happened. Same with the gear. You want a copper sword and shield with iron armor? its right there next to the power ranger outfit and the Shien top.

whether you want to acknowledge it or not. The games themes are completely disjointed and existing next to each other, but not really blending.

[Ath192]

This will surprise you, but this is basically the state of the real life earth and a very accurate representation. Societies do not suddenly all advance to the same technology mostly because of politics, education, money and sometimes because tribes like to stay away from advanced society because that's what they chose to do.

The world is nothing like this. When two societies interact things change for both of them. Pretty much everyone has adopted cell phones and internet at this point. And of all things, transportation and weaponry are the biggest and fastest changes. You don't see any nation sailing galleons do you? Cars have been adopted universally, same with airplanes.

EVERYONE has moved on to guns.

This is all inevitable, because things, whether old or new cost money, and a government can't in good conscience keep investing its resources into obsolete technology so they can be conquered on a whim. As soon as new weapons are introduced changes come in fast and furious.

[yesnt]

The world is nothing like this. When two societies interact things change for both of them. Pretty much everyone has adopted cell phones and internet at this point. And of all things, transportation and weaponry are the biggest and fastest changes. You don't see any nation sailing galleons do you? Cars have been adopted universally, same with airplanes.

EVERYONE has moved on to guns.

That... is literally not true.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...th-sentinelese

Besides, S9 just opened to the world. It's unrealistic to think that Tural immediately upgrades to spaceships and pew-pew-laser-guns just because the dome opened a month ago.

[Ath192]

That... is literally not true.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...th-sentinelese

Besides, S9 just opened to the world. It's unrealistic to think that Tural immediately upgrades to spaceships and pew-pew-laser-guns just because the dome opened a month ago.

xD Yes, lets cite the one cannibal island with a barely contacted tribe as the example for what most of the world actually looks like. I was hoping you'd use this as an example just so people see how far you need to go to make things make sense in FFXIV.

Besides, S9 just opened to the world. It's unrealistic to think that Tural immediately upgrades to spaceships and pew-pew-laser-guns just because the dome opened a month ago.

We have started delivery quests to rebuild an obsolete train. It is unrealistic to think Turalli engineers would not realize this and begin analyzing Solution 9 for the most efficient mode of transportation to build next. From day 1 of contact.

[VeyaAkemi]

I actually don't disagree that Sharlayan and Alexandria should change the landscape of the world now that they are an open part of it, but it also won't happen overnight, it's a bigger issue with how the game handles the passage of time, or rather how it doesn't, the 7th Calamity was still 5 years ago, and the change our newest tech savvy friends will bring should take decades to fully take form, it needs infrastructure, it needs people to be willing to adopt those technologies, and all that should take 10 to 20 years minimum to start happening, when they have been around for, like, I dunno, 0 minutes according to time bubble rules? time bubble is dumb.

I could also point out that FFXIV is also a setting where people can train their bodies enough that guns are just not all that, and ultimately exist alongside swords and bows, not simply supplanting it like in our real world, even the big wondrous ships of Alexandria were taken down by a singular dragon, who is at half-power at that, and we have a whole lot more of those, we have seen as far as Yotsuyu, a completely normal woman who has no martial training, while completely drained after we just finished beating the shit out of her Primal form, take several gunshots and still be able to stay awake for a few more minutes after, just long enough, even Sol 9 soldiers are shown to use swords as much as they use guns, because it's just the nature of the setting, physical strength is so much higher than IRL.

[Kaurhz]

I don't mind Sci-Fi as much as the next guy, but it has to be done naturally, with purpose, and proper meaning. With the latter half of the story in this expansion, and with Cosmic Exploration, neither feels like it was done naturally, and feels very much in your face.

Like I don't mind the whole let's incorporate this in a natural way, but the way they're doing so just feels like it is coming at the expense of destroying a story they worked so hard to build.. Imagine going from stories like Shadowbringers and Endwalker where the soul was very much a pivotal point of it, for the next expansion to just turn around and go "Your soul is just a mere AA Duracell battery."