8.0 speculation

[Pimsan20]

I think in the end it's a bit too early to speculate too much.
YoshiP said before 7.4 that we would get more information for 8.0 with 7.5.
We only know that:
The Winterers will probably play a part,
At least 7.5 (and probably 8.0 to some extent) will involve the WoL (Digest),
That we have a Key for inter dimensional travel,
Some kind of calamity without the will of the star is taking place (7.4 end).

We don't even know if the Withering is only a Shard thing or if it also affects the source in some way.
Three Shards we have seen and all of them were in some kind of almost rejoining. I honestly wonder if all Shards are actually at the brink of collapse because of Ascian parallel working.

That is fair, but i made this post so that we can exchanged ideas and theory we have for 8.0.

[mallleable]

I still think our biggest lead for 8.0 is from whatever information we get about The Key from Preservation, and it's going to point us towards somewhere on The Source. The Key had to have had a 'life' prior to being used by the Millala so I think part of 8.0's story will involve tracing back the history of The Key. Another thing to not is we don't know if the Warrior of Light knows that what seems to be the Azem symbol appeared on The Key. This might be something only we as players know about.

[Voidmage]

That is fair, but i made this post so that we can exchanged ideas and theory we have for 8.0.

Ah, don't misunderstand me.
I am not saying that speculation is wrong or impossible, it's fun nonetheless.

I'm simply saying that 7.5 will probably be the earliest to actually have grounded / realistic ideas.

I still think our biggest lead for 8.0 is from whatever information we get about The Key from Preservation, and it's going to point us towards somewhere on The Source. The Key had to have had a 'life' prior to being used by the Millala so I think part of 8.0's story will involve tracing back the history of The Key. Another thing to not is we don't know if the Warrior of Light knows that what seems to be the Azem symbol appeared on The Key. This might be something only we as players know about.

Agreed, the history of it is definitely important.
What I also think though is that its entire purpose is a question right now and will probably be a major thing somewhere.
For all we know, the interdimensional power might not be it's original purpose actually and is maybe just a side effect.

[Pimsan20]

Ah, don't misunderstand me.
I am not saying that speculation is wrong or impossible, it's fun nonetheless.

I'm simply saying that 7.5 will probably be the earliest to actually have grounded / realistic ideas.

And i do look forward in the next month.

[Reginald_Cain]

I can expect many people will be unsatisfied with it because that's the forums favorite thing to do lol.
I just hope we get a fun reunion for Runar and Yshtola, Ryne and Thancred, more story involving unukulhai, sylva, zero and durante.

it would be nice to get an explanation for nybleth obdelord and ultima from tactics getting isekaied into ff14.

I have a theory after cosmic exploration's latest planet oizys. The gravitional anomaly showcased over the world is eerily similar to meteor in ff7 after the rocket hit


This combined with ruins of a previous civilization could give merit to us getting an ff14 original version of JENOVA as an antagonist. She wasn't the "meteor" spawned via black materia BUT she is an alien who travels in a meteor to parasitize planets. This is evident in JENOVA SYNTHESIS's form and the fact it was HER impact that created the northen crater. The gray drained of life aesthetic of oizys could be a result of JENOVA successfully consuming the planets aether/lifestream.

[Zero-ELEC]

I have a theory after cosmic exploration's latest planet oizys. The gravitional anomaly showcased over the world is eerily similar to meteor in ff7 after the rocket hit

This combined with ruins of a previous civilization could give merit to us getting an ff14 original version of JENOVA as an antagonist. She wasn't the "meteor" spawned via black materia BUT she is an alien who travels in a meteor to parasitize planets. This is evident in JENOVA SYNTHESIS's form and the fact it was HER impact that created the northen crater. The gray drained of life aesthetic of oizys could be a result of JENOVA successfully consuming the planets aether/lifestream.

That is not the case. The gravitational anomalies in Oizys were caused by the civilisation Namingway has named "Voyagers", who used their advanced gravitational magics to launch themselves into space on a route to another star, leaving the anomalies behind. It has nothing to do with any creature like Jenova.

Oizys, also, is not "drained of life", it's the most alive star we've visited so far. While Phaenna was colourful, it was so due to silicon deposits—it is basically made of glass. Pretty, yes, but mostly devoid of life, barring some silicon based pseudo-flora. Oizys has both flora and fauna, surviving despite the gravitational anomalies.

[Cleretic]

Oizys, also, is not "drained of life", it's the most alive star we've visited so far. While Phaenna was colourful, it was so due to silicon deposits—it is basically made of glass. Pretty, yes, but mostly devoid of life, barring some silicon based pseudo-flora. Oizys has both flora and fauna, surviving despite the gravitational anomalies.

This is a classic stereotype about deserts (and a vaguely offensive one; I know it's rarely ever intended this way, but people live in deserts, they're fine). Because we can't see that much trees, grass and birds people just assume they're 'dead', when the reality is far from the truth. Oizys sure ain't doing well, but it's more because it's being torn to pieces gravitationally--which last I checked wasn't a thing FF7's Meteor did. The planet itself is teeming with life, you can tell just from doing any fishing missions; I dunno what a Psuedoshark is, but it's definitely alive.

Also, you need to frame speculation around Oizys around the fact that it's crafting and gathering content. Oizys cannot build up to, like, a raid, and it's extremely unclear if the developers would be willing to let it be the leadin to any future content anyway; they've previously let crafting and gathering content be an epilogue of sorts, but I suspect they might see crafters and gatherers as separate enough their material can't be used as setup. More likely, it's going to lead into more crafting and gathering content

...which I happen to notice that none of Reginald's Oizys speculation involves, despite us knowing what's going to follow Oizys, which is the planet full of verdant life covering a departed civilization Which... y'know, seems like a more relevant element, directly connected to the story they're actually telling.

[Iscah]

I'm not up on the finer points of Oizys (it's still in progress over here on Bismarck) but what that giant aether-ball immediately reminds me of is the similar one at the heart of Elysion – the proto-aetherial sea of a forming star.

I saw a link to the other video but haven't watched it yet. I have my own thoughts in that area too.

[Cilia]

Other than the FSH targets there's no fauna on Oizys, but it has thriving plant life adapted to the arid climate and gravitational irregularities. There may not be sentient life, but it's not "dead."

As it stands I can't make a fair judgment on Phaenna. It's true the whole planet is silicon-based (including the apparent flora) but it's probably intended to be the designers' imagining of what silicon-based life would be like. I think these things are alive (there are also fish adapted to the molten silicon "water"), they're just not living things in the traditional carbon-based way we recognize, and like Oizys there's no sentients among them.

Auxesia will have even more plant life than the other three sections combined so far. We may not encounter the Voyagers or their descendants, or any sentient life for that matter, but the cosmos are far from dead. As an environmental scientist, I am loving this.

As for Jenova... it's an interesting idea, though Ultima has already supplanted her role to a large degree and we've had tons of VII homage already, even if the plotline it takes center stage in isn't playable any more.

[Cleretic]

Other than the FSH targets there's no fauna on Oizys, but it has thriving plant life adapted to the arid climate and gravitational irregularities. There may not be sentient life, but it's not "dead."

I'd have to find a way to review the stellar exploration materials, but I believe Botanist sees a few bugs, too.