Expansion speculation...

[Terin]

So, we've heard that the "theme" of the Expansion is going to have something to do with the Sky. Final Fantasy is no stranger to floating continents, and having recently been playing Final Fantasy III -- a game which has clearly been a large inspiration for FFXIV -- I think I might have a couple of ideas what might be happening.

In a recent trailer, we saw what appeared to be a "Crystal of Darkness". In FFIII, it was commonly stated that the Crystals would choose Warriors of Light when the powers of Darkness began to grow too powerful; another fairly common theme in the series. However, there is a single line of text in FFIII that indicated that, long ago, the Crystals actually chose a group of "Warriors of Darkness", for when the powers of Light were beginning to flourish, indicating that Crystals were neither good nor evil, but would maintain a balance at any cost.

So, my thinking is that, because of our "Warriors of Light" are kicking too much ass, Hydaelyn (or another Crystal) is forced to manifest "Warriors of Darkness" in order to maintain the balance. This, I believe, will be our first encounter with any sort of "Dark Knight" characters.

Now, how a floating continent might play into this, I simply don't know. My knowledge of the world surrounding Eorzea is fairly limited, and I would've suspected Ishgard would be our next Expansion, but that hardly meshes with the "Sky" theme we've been told of the Expansion.

My thinking? We will encounter these "Warriors of Darkness" in Patch 2.4 or 2.5, just as we, the players, earn the right to visit Ishgard. Just as we show up, we'll find the Warriors of Darkness manipulating the Archbishop of the Holy See, playing to his paranoia and convincing him that we're a threat to them, ushering in a direct conflict with Ishgard's religious institution.

While we're battling the forces of Ishgard, I assume the Warriors of Darkness will travel the expansion's floating continent, for one reason or another, and begin establishing it as a seat of power.

Now, as for how the Ascians might play into that... I'm not quite sure. They're clearly at odds with Hydaelyn, which leads me to question if *they* might be the supposed "Warriors of Darkness". And if so, perhaps their "god" is actually a Dark-counterpart to Hydaelyn? Or perhaps they'll simply sit this one, and the Warriors of Darkness will be an entirely separate group of villains?

Of course, in seeking balance of all things, I'm thinking this might herald the addition of playable Dark Knights, but then maybe I'm just being overly optimistic.

Keep in mind, *THIS IS ALL JUST SPECULATION*!!! I'm interested in hearing what you guys think might happen, though

[Magis]

No John you are the darkness. And then John was a warrior.

I HAVE TO KILL FAST BUT BULLETS TOO SLOW

[Archadius]

Oh sure... You can have your Dark Knight ^_^

...BUT FIRST YOU MUST FACE THESE BADDIES!!!

[EdwinLi]

Oh sure... You can have your Dark Knight ^_^

...BUT FIRST YOU MUST FACE THESE BADDIES!!!

Or we can face these baddies during the Dark Knight Job Quest where for each Quest we defeat one of them and work our way to their Leader. Becoming stronger for each member of the Evil Dark Knight group we kill and absorb their powers.

[HaelseMikiro]

Well, if ARR is going to throw a floating continent at us, I'm all for it.
I've heard rumors that the Ixali are building a ship right now that would take them to a floating continent......

[Delmontyb]

From what we have heard, the theme is something along the lines of the 1000 year war, which I hope will take us into Ishguard, and bring in a lot of new zones for us to explore.

As for other wishes that I would share. I'd love to see us take the fight to the empire. Al-Mingo has been held under captivity for a very long time, so I'd like to see more zones in the black shroud, and have us push up to eventually take that city back from the empire.

I'd also hope that we would see [at least] three new classes and 6+ new jobs, with a level cap raise to 60. I'd like for when we are at cap for experience to matter more then it does currently, be it some type of merit system or dare I dream "Paragon" system that would allow us to buff all of our classes (the balance of this would be tricky, but if done right might be fun).

As far as end game, I'd like to see a lot more options in terms of verity. I have enjoyed the game thus far for over a year now, but with an expansion, I hope that the options open up even more. This is a short hand example of an end game matrix:

Solo Small Party (Less then 4 players) Light Party Full Party Alliance
Instance: (DR/Treasure, new) DR/Treasure/new, pvp, DR/Dungons/New, pvp Dungons, Raids, New, PvP Raids, pvp, new
Open World: Dungeons, Cards, explore Dungeons, explore, bounties Dungeons, explore, bounties Dungeons, explore, bounties world bosses

This is in no way complete for each line, however to illustrate that I hope that content is designed for Solo, Small Party, Light Party, Full Party, and Alliance groups, for both instance content and open world content.

The other thing I really would like to see, is having what I'm doing in an area matter. I'd like there to be a world fate system, where there would be this world event of "kill 1000 wolfs", harvest 10000 logs, etc... that everyone is taking part in, and the effects have an effect on everyone. That the world fate if passed could have other chapters, and unlock quests, and different story content, but perhaps also a global buff for a short time. Reduced teleport costs, increased xp gain, etc are just some examples. If failed, perhaps there could be a cost there as well. increased costs to teleport, etc.

I'm really excited for FFXIV and have enjoyed the game very much, and am looking forward to the future. Can't wait to find out what they have in store for us.

[Dude]

It's hard to say that the floating continent will be a new zone. It could just be a raid.

I think that Zodiark and Omega weapon will each get their own expansions. I lean towards Omega for this first one.

[Viridiana]

I still want to see where the Crystal story is going now that we've collected all six. >_>

[Terin]

Actually, having done some research, I'm thinking perhaps Ishgard may, in fact, comprise the entirety of the expansion. We know that "Sky" is the theme, and apparently, the Ishgard banner has thw written text "Of the Sky, From the Sky, For the Sky". It could still serve as a prelude to the expansion -- perhaps the religious leaders of Ishard "summon" a floating continent somehow -- but actually, not I'm thinking perhaps Ishgard is going to be more expansive than originally believed, making up a full Expansion's worth of environments.

Although, I still dig the idea of a flying continent! ^_^

[EdwinLi]

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Yoshi-P mentioned long ago that Ishgard will be part of the expansion but the Ishgard zone will not be enough to fit into 1st expansion.

The plan is to make 1st expansion big as 2.0 and the Main Storyline of 3.0 Main Scenario big as 2.0 Main Scenario.

This means they will need a lot more than just Ishgard for 3.0 storyline. Ishgard may be the focus of the beginning of 3.0 Main Scenario and after Ishgard we move on to a new location that they have not yet revealed to us currently.