Religion should play a bigger role in ARR

[axemtitanium]

My concern is then this game has the underlying tone of "Faith and Mysticism = Good, Science and Technology = Bad".

I think it would be a nice change from all the other JRPGs with evil churches. Xenogears, Final Fantasy Tactics, Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy X. I'm sure there are more; these are just off the top of my head.

[Efrye]

I must say I find great joy in studying the demise of a religion - and even greater joy in recounting it!

It is the very essence of a religion, and should be treated with ridicule and contempt, as all religion should.

Regardless of what they do with the "religion" in the game, this man should definitely be involved. One of the best NPCs ever!

[Orophin]

does anyone know what the relation is between the gods and the primals?

There doesn't really seem to be any as far as I'm aware. The Humanoid races seem to be the ones that primarily worship The Twelve, while the beastmen tribes worship their Primals. I'm not really sure how the Primals came into being, but they seem to be in direct opposition of The Twelve since Louisoix sends you off to defeat them.

[Naraku_Diabolos]

There doesn't really seem to be any as far as I'm aware. The Humanoid races seem to be the ones that primarily worship The Twelve, while the beastmen tribes worship their Primals. I'm not really sure how the Primals came into being, but they seem to be in direct opposition of The Twelve since Louisoix sends you off to defeat them.

If there were/was a relation with the deities and the Primals, there could be 12 Primals against the 12 deities. Who knows. I don't think there was a given number for how many Primals there are in the game. We have Ifrit, Leviathan, Garuda, Titan, and Odin who have appeared so far in FFXIV. That leaves us with Ramuh, Shiva. We don't know if Fenrir is a Primal or not, though.

[Matsume]

does anyone know what the relation is between the gods and the primals?

There doesn't really seem to be any as far as I'm aware. The Humanoid races seem to be the ones that primarily worship The Twelve, while the beastmen tribes worship their Primals. I'm not really sure how the Primals came into being, but they seem to be in direct opposition of The Twelve since Louisoix sends you off to defeat them.

If memory serves me right Primals are summoned by the beast tribes through the gathering of crystal aether.

Primals are akin to the gods of the beastmen whereas as The Twelve reoresent the gods of our playable races.

Other than that I do not think there is a direct relation between the two.

[ZakarnRosewood]

In the current versions intro cut-scene, when the guy is falling, There is a bright flash with a whole bunch of white lights shooting out like comets. some of them whizz past the guy and you see them as the primals. this to me suggests each light (and there was a lot, more than 12) could be a possible primal. I really hope for much more development of this dynamic as the game progresses after ARR is upon us. then they can concentrate on developing story instead of all resources going to a rebuild.

[Kirol]

There doesn't really seem to be any as far as I'm aware.

I'm not certain on this either - However you're right about the Beastmen worshipping the primals.
The Primals have been shown to be linked to the Aether, and it has been stated time and again that by them existing in a physical form takes up a massive amount of Aether.
If you follow the monk questline, it's stated that Aether is made up of spirits and that by the process of Birth, one will obtain a small amount of aether. By death, it is released back into the Aether streams between Aetherites.
So, Primals pretty much eat our very spirits when they're in their physical form!

Louisoix: Alas, they paid no heed to the consequences of its use. You see, in order to remain in our plane of existence, a primal must needs devour prodigious amounts of aether─the energy bound in crystals and at large throughout all creation.

Anyway, Eorzeapedia states that they are Ancient heathen Gods worshipped by the Beastmen, each Primal being attributed an element.
That said, each of the Twelve are also attributed elemental properties.
Earth - Althyk, The Keeper and Nophica, The Matron
Fire - Azeyma, The Warden and Nald'thal, The Traders
Lightning - Byregot, The Builder and Rhalgr, The Destroyer
Ice - Halone, The Fury and Menphina, The Lover
Wind - llymlaen, The Navigator and Oschon, The Wanderer
Water - Nymeia, The Spinner and Thaliak, The Scholar

It's all explained in-game.
So, while the Twelve can be attributed these properties, they are not equal to or related to the Primals - it seems that they are revered and worshipped by the beastmen tribes alone. (Just as the Empire holds a different belief system.)
This should clear something up, though;

Louisoix: Now, I need hardly remind you that the adversary you face is termed a god by some, and a demon by others.

(Ifrit Bleeds, we can Kill it.)

So, I'd say while they co-exist, no, the primals have no canon link in the same belief system as the twelve.

Also, check out the link below.
http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/im...VDeityTree.jpg

Oh, and one last quick thing... Remember how I was saying we know very little about Sharlayan? Well, turns out Papalyamo and Louisoix are both from there. In fact, anyone with that very distinctive tattoo appears to be - it's something they all have in common. It wouldn't be too far from that to assume that they're all part of the Circle of Knowing, along with Thancred and Ulrianger. They all have the tattoo - they all are part of the Circle of Knowing.
You heard it all from me first, folks!

[Edit] Maybe we could get some Mods to confirm/debunk this speculation! Let's see how far the Snurble hole goes! [/Edit]

[Matsume]

Oh, and one last quick thing... Remember how I was saying we know very little about Sharlayan? Well, turns out Papalyamo and Louisoix are both from there. In fact, anyone with that very distinctive tattoo appears to be - it's something they all have in common. It wouldn't be too far from that to assume that they're all part of the Circle of Knowing, along with Thancred and Ulrianger. They all have the tattoo - they all are part of the Circle of Knowing.
You heard it all from me first, folks!

[Edit] Maybe we could get some Mods to confirm/debunk this speculation! Let's see how far the Snurble hole goes! [/Edit]

Ooooooh good eye Kirol! I have been on a lookout for those tattoos ever since I first crashed in Gridania! I always thought there was some sort of a mystery around those tattoos but never once thought that it could be connected to their towns of origin, Sharlayan...

Very interesting...

[Kirol]

I always thought there was some sort of a mystery around those tattoos but never once thought that it could be connected to their towns of origin, Sharlayan...

Hm, well, I don't think the Tattoo has much to with where they're from - No such thing exists for any other cities or towns.
Nay, it is the fact that they all seem to know something, alongside the tattoos the leads me to suspect that they are part of the Circle of Knowing, all of whom are from Sharlayn.
Seems the Circle of knowing is pulling a lot of strings behind the scenes with regards to the grand companies and primals...

[Orophin]

Oh, and one last quick thing... Remember how I was saying we know very little about Sharlayan? Well, turns out Papalyamo and Louisoix are both from there. In fact, anyone with that very distinctive tattoo appears to be - it's something they all have in common. It wouldn't be too far from that to assume that they're all part of the Circle of Knowing, along with Thancred and Ulrianger. They all have the tattoo - they all are part of the Circle of Knowing.
You heard it all from me first, folks!

Not to burst your bubble or anything, but I'm pretty sure this was explained at some point in the game, whether it was through the main storyline or during the 7th Umbral Era storyline. (I can't remember which) I remember at some point, one of the NPCs from the Circle of Knowing flat out stated that Louisoix was their leader.

Anyway, I knew that Louisoix and the rest of the NPCs involved with the main storyline were all related, and I don't think it was through any powerful means of deductive reasoning that I came to that conclusion either. I'm pretty sure it's spelled out at one point or another.