Grand Company Question

[Gravton]

Why is this still a thing? I know that it was important in the 1.0 series, but now?

As an adventure we have to pledge allegiance to a Grand Company and we are given a rank. This counters the idea of an adventurer, I am now a soldier enlisted in their army. As the story advances the Grand Companies form an Alliance. Then I pledge myself to the Scions. The only real reason to pledge to a Grand Company would be to fight the beastmen threatening that city. But as a Scion I have to fight all of the Beast Tribes so my enlistment in a Grand Company is moot on that point. Then I meet beastmen that I pledge to help....so we are at war with only some of them now?

The Alliance comes together to fight off the Empire when needed, but the Empire's base are still littered around Eorzea. Shouldn't the Alliance have a standing army instead of three cities with their own? Then the crystal braves come along, that are comprised of...adventurers. Didn't they have to pledge to a city to become an adventurer? How are they in two armies? So some stuff happens and even after everything we have done, we are in Ishgaurd now.

We again pledge to help Ishgaurd. We again are at war with Beast Tribes. And we again are allies with some beastmen. Now we are going to join a resistance in another part of the country, to repeat the cycle?

I went off course there but why are GCs still a thing? Does my allegiance mean anything if i have to fight to save all three cities anyway? I mean even in Frontlines, what happened to all the tech and research i fought over for Gridania? The city, guard armor, and GC still look the same as it did from 3 years ago. All of the resources I have turned into the GC, where does that go?

Lol if this story made more since, I'd skip less CSs.

[Anonymoose]

Why is this still a thing? I know that it was important in the 1.0 series, but now?

The Grand Companies may have declared the Seventh Astral Era as soon as a single good thing happened (it was a political move), but that doesn't mean much has changed. So long as Garlemald has territorial ambitions, the Companies will stand. Almost every meeting of Alliance leaders discusses the coming battles with the Empire.

As an adventure we have to pledge allegiance to a Grand Company and we are given a rank. This counters the idea of an adventurer, I am now a soldier enlisted in their army.

This is not quite accurate; adventurers act outside of the traditional chain of command. The Foreign Levy (Maelstrom), Yellow Serpents (Adders), and Free Brigade (Flames) were specifically formed for adventurers, who have a great deal of autonomy (hence "Free Companies"). We're members of the Grand Company the same way we're members of the guilds, yet come and go as we please. So long as we don't act counter to their interests and continue to aid them where we will, we have a great deal of room to act as we see fit. They're just happy to have the Warrior(s) of Light on their side. It's good for morale.

Then I pledge myself to the Scions. The only real reason to pledge to a Grand Company would be to fight the beastmen threatening that city. But as a Scion I have to fight all of the Beast Tribes so my enlistment in a Grand Company is moot on that point.

The Scions protect all of Eorzea from all major threats, focusing primarily on the primals and the Ascians. The Grand Companies protect their own nations first and foremost, but ally against forces with ambitions against Eorzea as a whole, focusing primarily on their local beast tribes and the Garlean Empire. They overlap from time to time, but aren't quite the same.

Then I meet beastmen that I pledge to help....so we are at war with only some of them now?

Yes; we're at war with the extreme factions of the beast tribes who seek to summon primals (many, if not most, of whom are tempered). There are factions of every beast tribe who want this practice stopped, but are far too weak to see it done.

The Alliance comes together to fight off the Empire when needed, but the Empire's base are still littered around Eorzea.

The XIVth Legion went rogue; the survivors have no home to return to. All they can do is wall themselves up and defend what little they have left from utter annihilation. (READ: Not everyone is that far in the story, the bases can't just vanish.) Meanwhile, the Grand Companies have them pretty much entirely besieged; why waste men and resources on a problem that's solving itself? We've got the rest of the Empire to fight.

Shouldn't the Alliance have a standing army instead of three cities with their own?

There are plans in place for how the Alliance acts as one, but they primary see to their own affairs until such a time. The shift occurred at Cartenau, you'll perhaps see it again in Ala Mhigo.

Then the crystal braves come along, that are comprised of...adventurers. Didn't they have to pledge to a city to become an adventurer? How are they in two armies?

Registering at an adventurers guild branch isn't necessarily pledging to a city; you just can't reside in a city and take work from the guild without being on the record. After all, you can get your start in the Gridanian adventurers guild and then later join the Immortal Flames.

The Crystal Braves were a sanctioned mock army; an experiment to which all three Grand Companies gave their assent. If the experiment played out well, it would have paved the way for all of Eorzea to become united under one Grand Company. (It didn't work out.)

We again pledge to help Ishgaurd. We again are at war with Beast Tribes. And we again are allies with some beastmen. Now we are going to join a resistance in another part of the country, to repeat the cycle?

Yep. Take down the factions summoning primals, assist the factions resisting them. With the Dragonsong War over and the Griffin moving to attack Ala Mhigo, that's our cue to move on. The Warrior of Light follows the chaos, interrupting the escalation of conflict at large by making swift, extreme strikes on the root causes of it. It's what we've gotten ourselves mixed up in; it's what we thrive doing; it's what we feel wrong not doing.

Does my allegiance mean anything if i have to fight to save all three cities anyway?

To the Grand Companies, you're a source of morale and pride, and you back each other up constantly. As pertains to your own story as a character, you have opportunities to fight for Eorzea at large, but also for where you chose to lay your roots. You have a home. It's about story flavor, I guess.

I mean even in Frontlines, what happened to all the tech and research i fought over for Gridania? The city, guard armor, and GC still look the same as it did from 3 years ago. All of the resources I have turned into the GC, where does that go?

Frontlines: Don't think too hard about it, lol. Even the lore team admitted that it was kind of a stretch to be approached, like, "Okay, we need lore for PVP, and they have to be like, bitterly trying to destroy each other, but friendly." Whatever data you brought back is "being analyzed" and "going into R&D". We just must not have made any great strides yet aside from what gets passed on to the Garlond Ironworks. Please look forward to it?

I assumed that the stuff you turn in is often resold for seals or just scrapped for resources. Did you notice that your squadron wears old, vendorable gear, for example?

Lol if this story made more since, I'd skip less CSs.

Chicken and egg. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[TinyRedLeaf]

Anonymoose has covered all the bases in great detail.

If a TL;DR answer is still needed, just remember that being a freelance member of a Grand Company doesn't prevent you from also taking up independent contracts with the Adventurers' Guild.

As for the Scions, it seems to me that by the end of Patch 3.4, they've all undergone a subtle but very significant change: Alphinaud proposed a "looser" confederation in the closing scene, in which every Scion is free to pursue his or her agenda, while staying united on the common goal of defending the realm from pan-Eorzean threats. The most important — and unspoken — point is that they've acknowledged that they no longer have a natural leader, and that effectively makes each of them a "first among equals".

In short, the Warrior of Light has considerable freedom to do whatever he or she wants, within the broad context of FFXIV's multiple storylines. The Scions are to Eorzea what the Justice League of America is to DC Comics' superheroes, and the Avengers are to Marvel heroes.

[Gravton]

Wow, I honestly didn't expect such detailed answers. I thought at most I'd get a "If you don't like it then don't play." Thanks guys, you blew my mind!

[Anonymoose]

I thought at most I'd get a "If you don't like it then don't play." Thanks guys, you blew my mind!

A good chunk of us have been haunting the lore forum since before the story was a thing a lot of people cared about, so a respectful atmosphere and long-winded answers are a norm we try to maintain, lol.

Bug us anytime!

[Bloody]

He is nicknamed Professor Moose for a reason. Props to Moose and all the others who put so much effort into bridging the gap between the players and creators lorewise. Your efforts are not unnoticed.