Question for the Devs; will Heavensward include a new STARTER City-State?

[Chiramu]

I think Ishgard will be a level 50-60 city, well the area around Ishgard should be from looking at the information of it. It would be cool to see new classes/jobs in Ishgard though, I wonder how they will do it since Coerthas is a higher level than the other city-state areas :/.

[HumsterMKX]

Imagine Ishgard is a newbie starter state..

I bet the quest there have you start out as a peon, and have you go around licking noble boots and sucking up to the religious order.

Perfect training for end game FCs or LS.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

Imagine Ishgard is a newbie starter state..

I bet the quest there have you start out as a peon, and have you go around licking noble boots and sucking up to the religious order.

Perfect training for end game FCs or LS.

But will they have to tell people not to listen to the Holy See's lies?

[Lithera]

The one problem with Ishgard as a starting city is the fact that its neighbor zone is Coerthas. The monsters across the bridge are all mid-30s. If you assume there's a direct exit from Ishgard to the new areas then it's possible to make the area just outside Ishgard in the Dravanian lands a low level section but that would seem odd for anyone not a new player. There would also still be an issue with ever travelling to the other city states with the level 30+ Coerthas Central Highlands in the way. The 3.0 story would have to immediately grant a new Ishgard player airship travel to the regular City-States for leveling purposes unless DRK comes in insta-level 30.

[Alukah]

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if they pull a "You have to be lvl 30 to become a dark knight" and the job would start off as 30.

[HakuroDK]

From how it appears, the entirety of Ishgard seems like it will be a Lv50+ zone. Could be wrong on that, but that's what it seems like.

As for the new race, I see no reason why the new race couldn't just be a part of the original storyline. Lorewise, everyone who comes in off the trade carriage or boat is from "a distant land".

[aerolol]

New regions will probably have mobs ranging from level 1 to 60.

They said more than once that 3.0 will have more new content than 2.0 had, so..

Story quests will probably start at level 1 at 3.0 and have the level increase as the story goes, just like it was in 2.0.

Which is good, since it will be free exp for the new classes/jobs.

Btw the art book from 2.0 collector's edition has Ishgard and Ala Mhigo as mais cities with flags and all, just like Gridania/Ul Dah/Limsa Lominsa.

[silentwindfr]

it will be stupid of them part to add low level area for an expansion, a good example for people that seems to miss the point are wow (the one they take inspiration) exept pandarie that was a special case... wrath of the lich king: new continent, new city all high level. Burning crusade: new continent, new city, all was high level area..

like the name implies it, it's an expansion of what we have already! not a restart!

[Nutz]

There's no reason that they'd add a bunch of new low level content. Ishgard as a starting city would have to be written in a very creative way to tie into the current story line as quickly as possible and not be logically absurd. I really don't see how it could be done without rewriting/ voicing/ animating a lot of the 2.0 story to accommodate adventurers from a completely closed off city which itself plays a part in the story but refuses to supply much aid (or open their borders). It will be odd enough that new players will probably be able to experience that story line while simultaneously having access to the city, though maybe SE will actually keep it locked until you progress far enough.

[Intaki]

it will be stupid of them part to add low level area for an expansion

Would it though? One of the chief hurdles faced by the game's leveling is a lack of quests and a reliance on leves/fates/dungeons. Would a fresh influx of leveling zones not be well-received?