Ul'dah --- What the future holds 2.5 SPOILERS discussion

[Darkhaund]

Well now that we know what happened, I would like to know your ideas, and theories on what is to become of Ul'dah

Will it remain a monarchy or will it become something else?
It would be cool if SE had actually a plan to make it an "enemy" city-state or a place not welcoming to players anymore. So that gradually we are "ejected" and forced to either go to the other 2 city states or to Ishgard.

What IMO would be VERY VERY VERY COOL is one of the following, or why not the two

1. Have SE gradually lead us to us Players rnto ecapturing Ala-Mhigo, rebuild it (like they expanded Revenants toll) and make it a city proper and offer Ul'dans that are not friendly to the syndicate a home

2. Have us rebuild Si'dhi (SP) the siste city-state of Ul'dah

I guess i AM VERY fond to the idea of actual world changing environments. What they are doing in Revenatns toll is IMO fantastic. Makes the world feel alive and that it changes.

[Belhi]

Ejecting players from Ul'dah would be pretty unfair for players who chose the Immortal Flames as a GC.

As for what it will become, in the end probably a republic like Nanamo envisioned. For now it is run by the Monetarists. However they aren't completely without resistance to their rule. They still need to handle the populous and I'd say they are far from sold on the guilt of the WoL. Further, the Immortal Flames are still an institution and one that opposes the Monetarists.

Its worth noting that the Monetarists took great pains to stay within the law, by appearances at least. Save for the assassination which they framed you for, they haven't done anything worse than arrest people except when actions have given them freedom to act freely. Raubahn for example, they would never had been able to put in prison if he hadn't killed Teleji. All they could do was discredit him.

My suspicions is that the Monetarists will try to consolidate their hold on power while they try and obtain Omega. With Omega they can switch from manipulation to brute force and can use it much like the Garleans did Ultima to try and force everyone in line.

I think we will bring down the Monetarists by the end of the 3.0 cycle. I think we will see a republic form, quite possibly with a freed Raubahn at its head. We are about to face a full force invasion by Garlemald. I think Heavensward will be us bringing all Eorzea together to face that titan. Before we just had the ambitions of a Legate. Now we are facing an invasion driven by the desire of the Emperor. I do think we will see Ala Mhigo become key in that battle but when that happens is hard to stay at this point.

[Cilia]

As someone else pointed out blocking us out of Ul'dah would be pretty unfair to people who joined the Immortal Flames.

In the end, we'll probably oust the Monetarists and without any other authority reform Ul'dah into a republic, just like Nanamo wanted. It'll be a rough road, and whether we finish that before the end of 3.0 or during the 3.x patch cycle (if at any point in Heavensward) I'm not sure. Either way nobody is going to let things go on as they are.

[Chewy2nd]

Ejecting players from Ul'dah would be pretty unfair for players who chose the Immortal Flames as a GC.

As for what it will become, in the end probably a republic like Nanamo envisioned. For now it is run by the Monetarists. However they aren't completely without resistance to their rule. They still need to handle the populous and I'd say they are far from sold on the guilt of the WoL. Further, the Immortal Flames are still an institution and one that opposes the Monetarists.

Its worth noting that the Monetarists took great pains to stay within the law, by appearances at least. Save for the assassination which they framed you for, they haven't done anything worse than arrest people except when actions have given them freedom to act freely. Raubahn for example, they would never had been able to put in prison if he hadn't killed Teleji. All they could do was discredit him.

My suspicions is that the Monetarists will try to consolidate their hold on power while they try and obtain Omega. With Omega they can switch from manipulation to brute force and can use it much like the Garleans did Ultima to try and force everyone in line.

I think we will bring down the Monetarists by the end of the 3.0 cycle. I think we will see a republic form, quite possibly with a freed Raubahn at its head. We are about to face a full force invasion by Garlemald. I think Heavensward will be us bringing all Eorzea together to face that titan. Before we just had the ambitions of a Legate. Now we are facing an invasion driven by the desire of the Emperor. I do think we will see Ala Mhigo become key in that battle but when that happens is hard to stay at this point.

I imagine, that by the end, Raubahn will either take charge of Ul'dah, or lead the Eorzean Alliance, which will now include Ishgard, into Ala Mhigo, and free the city, then become the leader of Ala Mhigo.

[Starcade]

As someone else pointed out blocking us out of Ul'dah would be pretty unfair to people who joined the Immortal Flames.

The Flames will have to be either disbanded or moved. I see Ul'dah as an enemy state under martial law where the refugees are served up as slaves (either to the Monetarists or the Garleans/Dravinians/Ascians -- whoever is paying for them).

In the end, we'll probably oust the Monetarists and without any other authority reform Ul'dah into a republic, just like Nanamo wanted. It'll be a rough road, and whether we finish that before the end of 3.0 or during the 3.x patch cycle (if at any point in Heavensward) I'm not sure. Either way nobody is going to let things go on as they are.

I don't know about that, frankly. I could very easily see the entire Alliance crumbled, and we enter 4.x having LOST the war, both the one between the nations and the Dragonsong.

[Ariki]

imo with raubahn left hand gone and the death of sultana. he fate is sealed.
either he end up a heroic death or retired from action after he revenged for sultana.

pipi will take over his place.
Minfilia become the next leader of Ul'dah?

[Waffilicious]

There was this idea thrown one day by some of my friends that lolorito might try to make ul'dah into sil'dah as he might have been a descendant from them.

As for the future i will go with the happy ending, for convenience of new player and not moving all the quests outside uldah.

[Dualblade]

Maybe they'll pull a fast one on us and Lolorito will fully embrace Ul'dah becoming a republic, end up getting a ton of good faith and becoming a leading member of the new government again, while also getting us not to be fugitives anymore. Maybe throw someone else under the bus.

Probably not, but a thought.

[Enkidoh]

Status quo is God though, and remembering SE did something vaguely similar in FFXI's storyline with the Grand Duchy of Jeuno (where the player eventually killed it's head of state, and yet the nation still continued on functioning as though nothing had even happened - Archduke Kam'lanaut's absence was explained after his death in Rise of the Zilart that he was 'indefinitely indisposed', even when a pretender took over (Duchess Vicarious E'shnatarl) in Chains of Promathia, I don't think things will be this way for very long - the whole 'death of the Sultana and the player being framed for the crime' situation is clearly a clever tactical move by SE to encourage players to invest in the expansion in order to see how things will be resolved.

After all, this is exactly how TV shows often bridge the finale of one season with the beginning of another - end it on a cliffhanger so that viewers will tune in next season to see the resolution. Usually things are then quickly resolved and the status quo is restored.

Besides, Nanamo was by that stage nothing but a figurehead ruler anyway, with the nation having long ago shifted power into the plutocratic Syndicate, all her death has done was allowed the Syndicate to dismantle the last vestiges of sultanate rule.

So things will continue pretty much as they've always done, and it's pretty obvious that sooner or later as part of Heavensward's story the actions of the Syndicate will come to light and the Warrior of Light, the Scions and Raubahn's names will all be cleared - it's pretty much confirmed that will happen eventually (at the very least, SE mentioned not that long ago that sometime in 3.0 the player will be able to take a unit of Grand Company troops into dungeons allowing you to solo them, so narrative wise that would not be possible if we're still effectively fugitives. Or maybe I'm just rambling here.

[Cilia]

After all, this is exactly how TV shows often bridge the finale of one season with the beginning of another - end it on a cliffhanger so that viewers will tune in next season to see the resolution. Usually things are then quickly resolved and the status quo is restored.

Besides, Nanamo was by that stage nothing but a figurehead ruler anyway, with the nation having long ago shifted power into the plutocratic Syndicate, all her death has done was allowed the Syndicate to dismantle the last vestiges of sultanate rule.

Well of course they had to end it on a cliffhanger. I, for one, am glad it wasn't the standard WoW "This foreign force is invading! We repelled it; now it's time to take the fight to them!" shtick. They probably won't change much gameplay wise to keep things fair (e.g. if Ul'dah was now actively hostile territory people in the Immortal Flames would be unable to access their Grand Company, everyone would be unable to access the guilds there, etc.), but from a story perspective a tidal wave of change, for better or worse, is now inevitable within Ul'dah.

Nanamo was kind of a puppet ruler, and most people probably knew that. Still, Ul'dahn government is designed to have the Sultanate and the Monetarists check and balance each other; without one, things will probably get sour real quick. Nanamo was also a much-adored public figure for being on the side of the commoners, so news of her death will strike a chord with the populace.