The Main Scenario So Far...

[Anonymoose]

Last week, I was tossing around the idea of doing a [Story So far...] before each major patch in the Version 3 cycle, possibly starting a little tradition with it. You know, nothing fancy, just the need-to-know information from each arc organized and stripped of fluff—not too detailed, not too concise.

Gamer Escape thought it'd be fun and asked if it was possible to get one out by today for 2.00 through 2.45 in preparation for the pen-ultimate patch. I said, "sure," because apparently I hate sleep and subjective well-being. If this ever catches on and becomes a thing or whatever, we can update the OP and keep it rolling.

Have you forgotten a lot of the original story arc since August '13?
Did you blow through a patch in 2 days just to forget most of it right after?
Do you just skip all of your cutscenes in real-time because ain't nobody got time for that?

Here's your chance to catch up while the servers are down!

Early readers will be treated to the unpolished first draft while I start editing errors (I am so fkupoking sorry).

Enjoy!

[Reneo]

Oh wow. Thanks for the link! Do you think we have to go through the 2.0 to 2.5 main scenario in order to access Heavensward? A friend of mine recently joined and he wanted to play as a Dark Knight. Thanks for reading!

[Anonymoose]

Do you think we have to go through the 2.0 to 2.5 main scenario in order to access Heavensward?

Heavensward will contain mostly LV50 to LV60 content, so you'll likely need to play though LV1 to LV50 content to get there. However, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy any content that comes in 3.0 until you do 2.0's content. There's a good chance your friend will be able to play through most (if not all) of Version 2.0's content as a Dark Knight if you join FFXIV by buying Heavensward.

To put it another way, it's probable that not all 3.0 content will be LV50 to LV60, and not all of 2.0's content will be required to access the parts that are. To someone who's never played the game before diving into 3.0, it might not always even be clear what content came from which patch, aside from the obvious LV50 to LV60 divisions.

[Nutz]

Oh wow. Thanks for the link! Do you think we have to go through the 2.0 to 2.5 main scenario in order to access Heavensward? A friend of mine recently joined and he wanted to play as a Dark Knight. Thanks for reading!

I don't know if you'll have to go through the entire story to access dark knight in particular. It is possible, but I don't think any of us have any way of knowing just yet. To access any of the Heavensward story content I would bet that you do have to complete all of the main scenario though, as it's all very casual friendly and I get the feeling that the story will more or less just keep continuing (ie. even if it could be said to be a separate story, I'd imagine events from the main scenario in place now will lead into 3.0's story line directly).

EDIT: Crap, I nearly forgot. Thank you so much for this OP! I haven't read through it yet (IT'S MASSIVE) but I certainly will. Quite an undertaking! I'd noticed lately that I've been getting a bit foggy on certain story elements so it'll be nice to catch up.

EDIT2: I did read it all! Fantastic job writing this all up. I only spotted maybe a dozen typos!

[Fencedude]

Where can I find large versions of those images used for each city's introductory quests?

[Anonymoose]

Where can I find large versions of those images used for each city's introductory quests?

They're from the ever-growing FFXIV Fan Kit

[StarDrake]

The way it will probably work is that anyone who buys Heavensward can start as a DK and will go through the early story as a DK (or whatever job they pick), and then they'll have the option of either playing through the patch content as it was released, or "skipping" straight to 3.0 Heavensward content with a summation. Ditto for anyone returning from 2.x but who hasn't played through the entirety of the patch content; they won't want to keep people waiting to play the New Shiny, unless they're being very silly.

Anyway, good god, Moose. Try to get some sleep in between writing all this. :V

[radhaz]

I don't post much, but Moose is a great FFXIV resource. Keep up the good work!

[Hestern_Nestern]

I was hoping for a resource like this to eventually appear, and it has! (I forget things between patches)

Thank you, Anonymoose! Thank you!

[Itseotle]

A very good read while waiting for the patch. Great job moose!