Choosing a Grand Company--Lore/story/cutscene differences?

[AngelicBeing]

Everyone talks about the gear differences, so I'm aware of those already. But what I haven't seen anybody talking about are story differences (minor though they may be). I've searched around and can't find any info this.

I'm a Lalafell, so naturally I like Raubahn and Nanamo Ul Namo. If there's more cutscenes featuring them (especially the Sultana), or stuff regarding The Syndicate (who're also Lalafell) then I definitely don't want to miss out on anything like that.

On the other hand, Merlwyb is also awesome and unique, so if the choice was just between Raubahn (solo) versus Merlwyb I'd go for the captain, hands down. I'm sure any quests/cutscenes involving her would be good. The tribal in-fighting between pirates is pretty cool too.

Can anyone, from any Grand Company, confirm how much I'll be seeing of whichever leader I choose to follow? Do they pop up from time to time as I climb the ranks? Are there any quests exclusive to each Grand Company?

[FJerome]

Sadly, right now the city story-lines cut-out completely regardless of which Grand Company you pick and as far as I know all GC quests are so far identical.

I picked the Flames because Ul'Dah seemed like the only city where the problems could be solved by brute force but unfortunately no quest option has yet come up for me to go Holy-spam Lord Lolorito.

[Enkidoh]

Yeah, from what I've been able to tell after getting the highest rank in the Order of the Twin Adder, there is no real lore padding given with your GC, they're little more than a dispenser of special gear and a way of unlocking your chocobo/mounts. None of the few quests given by the Adders have so far included Kan-E-Senna, so I have no idea if future rank increases will do that either, but then I guess, time will tell.

[AngelicBeing]

So there's really no difference aside from a few stats on the gear they offer? Is everything so similar that I can team up with someone from another company and complete the same objectives?

[Niniyo]

So there's really no difference aside from a few stats on the gear they offer? Is everything so similar that I can team up with someone from another company and complete the same objectives?

Yes. The initial quest is a solo duty, but the advancement quests are the same regardless of GC.

EDIT: And yeah, I actually chose my GC based on lore reasons initially (Ul'dah) but when there wasn't anything really featuring them, I ended up switching the Limsa Lominsa because that's where I started and am "from" (or "City-State" identified on my profile at least)

[hot_gilgamess]

it's true, you don't quite see the entire story, unless you make a character from each city-state.

for example, if you start in gridania, you meet papalymo and the boxer, and fight lahabrea. if you start in uldah, you meet thancred and fight a different ascian. what sucks about the actual game, is that your citizenship depends on where your initial class starts, and you can't change your citizenship.

[Darske]

I switched to Immortal Flames recently just to have something to advance while leveling a new class, and... I can't say I recommend changing your allegience. I dunno, I just kinda feel like I belong back in good o' Gridania doing my best for the Seedseer.

There's no real gameplay reason why I regret my decision, in fact I like the look of Ul'Dahn and Limsa gear over Gridania's stuff. (The Limsa guilded barding in particular... very yes.)

[Skaenryss]

I went with Limsa purely for allegiance reasons. My character is an ex-pirate and obviously started in Limsa. It only took a few quests for me to fall in love with the place, but that might be because I just read Treasure Island, lol.

I don't even really like the admiral, though. Raubahn is much cooler.

[Vanifae]

I hope that we get more lore and content associated with the Grand Companies.

[Naria]

Ironically, there is a fair amount of Ul'dah and syndicate interaction in the culinarian quest line if you are looking for more stuff with them.