Question about new beast tribes (possible Spoilers)

[Kicha]

So with Stormblood, we've been introduced to a few new races, but I was wondering about their classification as beastmen or people. The Ananta and Kojin have been announced as beastmen, so we'll accept that, and then there's the Namazu, which are almost definitely going to be classified as beastmen, but what about the Lupin. They don't seem to have their own settlement, and seem to be well integrated into Doman society, so are they considered beastmen? or as people?

So when it comes to beast tribe quests for Stormblood, if/when it gets added, will we be helping the Ananta, Kojin, Namazu, and Qiqirn? The Qiqirn seem to have finally gotten a rather large settlement themselves. Would be interesting to see if they're the next to summon a Primal.

[Skyclaw726]

What i want to know is why are they called Blue Kojin when they are green? The red Kojin are red...so why aren't the blue kojin blue...

[RukiaFae]

What i want to know is why are they called Blue Kojin when they are green? The red Kojin are red...so why aren't the blue kojin blue...

Apparently blue and green use the same word, in Japan I believe. That's why the emerald carbuncle is actually blue. I can't remember where I heard that explanation on the carbuncles right now.

Edit: Yep traditional Japanese uses the word Ao for blue and green, so that is where translation caused the issue. In Japanese they are technically green and/or blue.

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ao_(color)

[KageTokage]

Apparently blue and green use the same word, in Japan I believe. That's why the emerald carbuncle is actually blue. I can't remember where I heard that explanation on the carbuncles right now.

Edit: Yep traditional Japanese uses the word Ao for blue and green, so that is where translation caused the issue. In Japanese they are technically green and/or blue.

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ao_(color)

They actually bring this up in some of the miscellaneous NPC dialogue you'll only hear if you talk to everyone before progressing.

I believe it's shortly after Soroban shows up.

[Keever]

Yep, from Hancock in a big ol' gush:

You are doubtless wondering why our objectively green-hued friend here refers to himself as a Kojin of the Blue. The answer is quite fascinating, really. The Kojin language has many similarities with ancient Hingan, you see, and in ancient Hingan, the word for green, “ao,” can mean green and or blue─though I do the word a disservice by even attempting to translate it, so steeped in meaning as it is. Why they elected to keep on calling themselves the “blue” in modern times is anyone's guess─I for one would have much preferred “kojin of the ao”─but one theory posits that they prefer the sound of the word “blue” when spoken. Another is that they are physically incapable of distinguishing between the two, which would have interesting implications in their everyday lives...

Hancock seems to prefer subs over dubs.

[Skyclaw726]

So crever..i'ma be banned for this...

[Leaf_Dragoon]

I find it interesting that the kojin might have a form of color-blindness. Also I'm not sure if the Tengu from from the Kugane Castle dungeon, or the Matanga from the Azim Steppe are considered beastmen either. The Tengu are Crow-like wear clothes and wield katanas, but the Matanga are naked and wield clubs like cyclops & minotaurs so they might have their sub-human intelligence. However there is a side quest in the Azim Steppe where you have to protect a girl from "Matanga Muggers", which I believe she referred to as bandits as well as the Collector's Edition Art book that shows concept art of Matanga wearing clothes in addition to wielding clubs.

[Zohar_Lahar]

According to a Clan Centurio girl on that one Elite Mark in Yanxia, the Matanga are a Near Eastern beast tribe that had been dispersed due to Garlean persecution. Apparently they can't communicate with other Spoken races as easily and the Garleans jumped to several conclusions as they are wont to do.

[Kyran-Varlsen]

If I may interject, in HW we were dealing with only 3 Beast Tribes which was less than the 5 Beast tribes we were dealing with in ARR. There are thus two likely scenarios that will play out should the developers introduce more Beast Tribes.

1. The Developers will stick to the number of Beast Tribe in HW, 3, which would encapsulate the three Tribes with friendly settlements: The Kojin, The Namazu, and the Ananta
+ This likely ensures that after you have done 9 Tribe Quests you have 3 more to spend on tribes from prior titles if you still need to catch up (or level up crafting with the Moogles 50-60).
+This would require the least work to implement. Adding the Qiqirn or the Matanga would require setting up new camps for them. Not impossible but highly unlikely.
+ If the Developers want to later add a new Beast Tribe Alliance Story, they have as much as they needed for HW.

- However, the vast distances between the Ananta and the Namazu, Blue Kojin begs the question of how any story would encapsulate all three factions.
- The Namazu bring very little to the table from a design point. Of the three they are neither suited to crafting or combat scenarios and bringing them in as a Gatherer Tribe seems redundant. They also do not have ready access to a mount with which to reward players which seems a requirement. And no, I do not see these guys taming riding tigers for the benefit of their Adventurer patrons anytime soon.

2. The Developers may instead pick only two of the factions, the Ananta and the Kojin, to flesh out as tribes. This would bring the total number of tribes in this game to an even 10, while allowing 6 tribe leves for past content tribe quests if you do 3 tribe quests for both the Ananta and the Kojin.
+ I don't know if there are many Namazu fans but I think they add so little to the table that it would be better for the developers to focus on the two aforementioned tribes.
+ The Blue Kojin would be the obvious Combat Tribe (with quests oriented around treasure hunting) while the Ananta would be the obvious Crafting Tribe (though the friendly one is less focused on such than the hostile one).
+ The mounts for the Tribes already exist in the game. The Ananta have the elephants while the Kojin have the manta rays.

- This doesn't remove the distance factor from scenario 1. However, it makes more sense for the Ananta and Kojin to travel and work together than for the Namazu to be involved in such. The story writes itself really, both tribes might want a valuable treasure and the hi-jinks ensue.


Now anything is possible of course, but considering the constraints of the Tribe System as it stands I highly doubt the developers will go beyond the three likely tribes to add the likes of Qiqirn and Matanga as full factions. Limiting the number of tribes to the two most likely would also lessen the burden on players who may be trying to play catch-up with such content.