Hasn't there also been talk of the next expansion being "water" or "sea" focused? B/c when Heavensward was in development, Yoshi said the choice in deciding which way to go with 3.0 was btwn "sky" and "sea" (or something similar)? So, since sky was covered by Heavensward, that leaves sea for this one.

That doesn't necessarily have to count out Ala Mhigo, though. I could see the route through the Saogoli desert in S. Thanalan opening up, leading to more desert/Paglth'an, and then eventually a harbor town along the southern coast of Aldenard. Like Valkrym Dunes (sp?) in FF 11. And, from there, we could sail to the coast of Ala Mhigo's region, bypassing the Garlean garrisons on the borders of the Shroud. It could be in a low key, spec ops, kind of operation to sneak around the Garleans' flank in Gyn Abania. Or maybe we'd get to see the warships being built on Vylbrand, like the Victory, in action and running active interference for us.

And in preparation for this undertaking, we'd interact with some other islands we've heard of, like those of Mercydia. In fact, those could be how Heavensward ties into the start of things, since Mercydia was (is?) a dragon homeland.