Subtle Changes - Purely for Aesthetics or Lore-Driven?

[LukeyP666]

So since 2.38 hit I was surprised when hunting A-Ranks to find that Marberry had re-rolled and was no longer a Scholar, and had taken up the mantle of the Thaumaturge/Black Mage.

And also when taking on Turn 8 last night, finding that The Avatar had been re-coloured to a darker shade.

I'm sure there are loads more, but these two are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head right now.

Just wondering if changes like this are purely for aesthetics or if they have lore-based connotations as well.

[DoctaruRavenbe]

some changes aren't so subtle they switched FATE bosses for Watch Your Tongue Fate awhile back
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...ur-Tongue-FATE

[lilirulu]

snip

Well, in Marberry's case I believe using the Scholar tonberry model was in fact an error because his hint describes a Lalafellin Thamuturge that goes into Wanderer's Palace and is never seen again except for his hat which is now situated ontop of Marberry's head (unless Marberry was said Lalafell )

The Avatar's change might have been done for the sake of making him stand out more visually in his arena (which was a problem I had with Raffelsia). I don't know I've been in T8 all of once.

I'd be interested to see a full list of changes if you, or anyone, could compile one.

[Nialle]

Well, the plague in Nym is contagious to some degree, I assume, so perhaps it is intended to be the same Lala.

[Velox]

Weren't Marberry's skills all THM-based anyway? I always just figured the SCH hat was an oversight or they were simply using the model from the SCH job quest as an easy way out.

[lilirulu]

The THM Tonberry model has been in the game since launch. One (exactly one iirc) actually appears during the lvl50 SCH job quest.

[Kyan]

The THM Tonberry model has been in the game since launch. One (exactly one iirc) actually appears during the lvl50 SCH job quest.

Yes, one does appear, and it always bothered me because Black Mages/THM seemed to not belong to Nym. So, perhaps it gives us a lore-reason why such tonberries exist?

[lilirulu]

Yes, one does appear, and it always bothered me because Black Mages/THM seemed to not belong to Nym. So, perhaps it gives us a lore-reason why such tonberries exist?

If you interpret the Marberry hunt hint as that the Unnamed Lalafellin THM then most likely the THM Tonberry seen during the lvl 50 Scholar quest is probably some poor Lalafell who suffered the same fate as all the other Nymians.

[Velox]

Yes, one does appear, and it always bothered me because Black Mages/THM seemed to not belong to Nym. So, perhaps it gives us a lore-reason why such tonberries exist?

Not sure if this discussion was resolved, but I remember a thread from awhile back where there was a debate on the real home to black magic. We know Shatotto created it, but other than that we don't really know what civilization really harnessed the power of black magic. We do know that Nym was at war with Amdapor, and that Diobolos was summed from the void to destroy the Amdapori. There is no text that says "yes Nym summoned Diobolos," so for the most part all we have is speculation. However some have theorized that the Nymians, being magically gifted, may have been the ones using black magic in the War of the Magi. This is evidenced not only by the coincidences in the stories, but by the existence of Tonberry thaumaturges and black mages in-game.

[Kyan]

Not sure if this discussion was resolved...

I believe (this is really testing my memory...) back in that thread, Ferne's wisdom was invoked and it was suggested by him that we have not heard of the origins of Black Magic, but it was possibly another city, not Nym.

Or I could be jumbling several threads in my mind. I would look back if I had time!