Revelations from PAX West 2017

[Anonymoose]

With multiple interviews and a Q&A panel landing this weekend, it seems like a worthwhile cause to consolidate and discuss our new lore crumbs in one place.

BETWEEN 2 FERNES 2: TALES OF LOCALIZATION AND LORE
TYPING FAST - MANY TYPOS

• Stormblood Map
• Origin (Nagyn) belived by the roegadyn to be the cradle of life, the origin of civilization. what's there? Speculate/
• Sharlayan Islands - Yorn (links to the ship in the Peaks, mocks the failure to land in Sharlayan) / Haam
• Hingashi lore held for in-game later
• Ruby Tide vs Ruby Sea was done on purpose; it's an in-world map error because the mapmakers couldn't get official information and just got information from fishermen nearby and there was a language barrier between them. The fishermen talked about the Ruby Tide, a warm current that they fish from. (Matt: So really you just can't patch the maps?) NO WE CAN'T PATCH THE MAPS.
• A large rock that juts into the sea in the Ruby Sea is actually named, it's called Bathing Onio (was going to be A Bathing Abe but there was a legal issue).
• Nhaama's Retreat is where the Dusk Goddess took when she was forced from the Steppe, but it's also a retreat in an oasis sense. That name doesn't work in Japanese, so Oda-san had to give up on that name and now it's just North Nhaama Desert. This happens a lot between them - something clever can't be reconciled between languages. A reverse example, in Yanxia, The Swallow's Compass (a reference to geomancy) is Gan'en's Tomb (ガンエン), for the first King of Doma. Japanese players would understand the reference to 岩燕, which means "cliff swallow" (it's literally the words for rock "岩" and swallow "燕"), but read as a name. It would be difficult to localize into English, though, so he just took the "swallow" part of it, and added a reference to the feng shui compass. (At least he didn't go with The North Tomb.)
• Grymm and Enid were a couple fleeing with nothing through forests into Gyr Abania. They're escaping from rising water and end up in a land with nothing to drink. They find these two freshwater lakes in the Peaks, get really happy, drink a lot, and down to death. A few days later they're found and it's like, "There's Grymm and Enyd." and the lakes now bear their names.
• Mirriam's Luck, by contrast, refers to the a pass that helped all the squishly LV1 Amdapori farmers get through without being ganked by LV70 monsters.
• The Stacks is a relic of the final period of the King of Ruin's reign; the towers were built out of his paranoia and manned by archers to watch for any invading armies and light them. The Stacks are for maintenance of the wooden pyres. Garlemald has airships and didn't need them, but they look cool, so they light them at night.
• The Firkens (barrels for ale or honey) were named by locals because they look similar. The massive stone arc nearby is named The Limber Lecher because "locals" thought that it looked like a drunk harassing a woman but they hid that under the rug when the map was made.
• Going by the "Hingan" names there are several redundancies, but this is due to mapmakers ("in-world") wanting it to be clear.
• LEAVE TED WOOLSEY ALONE! He did a lot to bring localization to the forefront. XIV just uses the most recent translation updates, such as the Warring Triad. Adjustments are also sometimes for the lore consistency, such as the shenanigans with Hien's nickname and Hingan being Japanese.
• Hancock was a bit more of a "foreigner" trope, but was toned down a bit. He's still that guy who's really into Japan and knowledgeable and condescending about it, but in less of a super-embarrassing way. (Still according to keikaku.)
• Beauty's Wicked Wiles - A new localization member is actually quite a good singer, this song was recorded within a day of her having it.
• FULL GARLEAN TERRITORIAL ANTHEM LYRICS (I'm sure someone will have a screenshot before I type it.)
• THE MEASURE OF HIS REACH is the Ala Mhigan anthem - it's the original. It's also the source of the lines on the statue in Rhalgr's Reach.
• The Garlean one is professionally recorded (they're Garleans, well-trained, fearful, etc.) the latter is of less high quality because it's literally being sung by an unpracticed group of tired resistance rabble. Soken wanted it done this way and the Localization team actually sung it. (They showed a video of Soken giggling at them as they tried to sing it, which he recorded himself, lol.)
• Q&A
• Only one big bug made it into the JP version of the lore book, and Oda beats himself up about it. Koji's jealous. (Koji actually included "Lore Book Bugs" under list of things he's responsible for, lol.)
• The Garlean Consulate is responsible for (aside from representing the people) keeping an eye on Doma from a distance and selling technology; Garlemald wants control of the continents, they don't really care about Hingashi very much. They don't sell the good tech (like...cybernetic arms) but they do sell more basic things to fund the war campaign.
• Lyse was always Yda aside from the Gridanian Echo flashbacks.
• Qestirs don't speak because they never learned to, for one; children are raised in silence. Most couldn't speak if they wanted to, but they wouldn't be punished PER SE if they tried to. They think words are lies, however, so it would just add this stigma to them.
• Doman and Hingan are slightly different. British vs. American English for example. It's not enough to hinder communication. Using romajified Japanese counts as Hingan sure. Hai.
• The Hyur child of the Roegadyn at the Gold Saucer was adopted. Why aren't there Roegadyn kids? They keep getting deprioritized over miqo'te and Au Ra, much to the frustration of some dev. team members. The art is actually done, they look like little Randy Savages, very top heavy.
• Gelmorra worked to unite the Elezen and Hyur, but when the Elementals gained faith in their ability to live amongst nature, the Hyur were the first to get out; the Elezen were a little more hesitant. Many Elezen stayed behind, "at home", and felt betrayed by those who went to found Gridania. They tried to make it work, but the giant underground city just couldn't be maintained on their own and eventually collapsed. They wanted to stay, but they were forced out, and the Duskwights still blame the Wildwoods and Hyurs for this.
• Both Halicarnassus are named for the entity int he story. Omega's is actually more accurate, considering he made it as accurately as possible, while the one in Haukke was just named by a frightened passerby.
• Why are Lalafells so delicious? Why does everything eat them? Have you ever had to choose between a scarab beetle and a Lalafell? It's the Lalafell every time. (It's the secret sauce.)
• WHERE ARE THE TACOS? It's a new world thing. Maybe if we go there, or maybe the Mamool can bring them in or ... well, for what it's worth, Oda-san is willing to have it happen kind of maybe in theory.

Lorecast 9

• Fusionx transports an anonymoosely contributed case of chosen unknowns to Koji Fox (aka Fernehalwes) on the show floor. The result can be read in paraphrased transcript form or taken aurally.
• Highlights include: Aetherophysics, linkshell tech, the unexpected return of some ancient plot points, the comical sweeping under the rug of some others, confirmations, denials, Cilia cracks Occam across the face with an in-game quote about voids, a really dark insinuation about Meracydia, and more.

BONUS: Letter from the Producer LIVE XXXVIII

• Patch 4.1 = The Legend Returns
• Dungeon: Drowned City of Skalla
• Beast Tribe Dailies: Kojin
• PvP Gimmick: 24v24 w/ Illuminati Machina
• Return to Ivalice: In the world of FFXIV, the Final Fantasy Tactics story is a well-known fairy tale known by anyone from Garlemald. Keeping the FFT story as a base, it also has an essence of FFXII. Return to Ivalice has been designed in such a way that those who do not know either of these can also enjoy it as well. Players will enter Rabanastre as the first part of their journey. (The patch art features Ramza and Delita, and was drawn by Akihiko Yoshida.)
• Let me know if any of the below got buggered up in translation.
• Matsuno used legends of King Arthur as a model for how to merge a modified copy of Ivalice's setting and lore into the world of Hydaelyn. Tales of a peasant in a world of chaos who became a hero and changed the world are ubiquitous in the Empire.
• Upon encountering this legend, the Warrior of Light will be skeptical, but ultimately become drawn into the mythology and seize an opportunity to discover the truth.
• In Othard is a sandy region called Dalmasca, currently under Garlean rule. Within Dalmasca is Rabanastre, the site of the first raid. The city is centuries old, home to a a deep and mysterious past and strange ancient relics.
• The core challenges being tackled are [A] enmeshing an authentic Ivalice into the world of XIV [B] designing battles that mimic the past games and evoke that same feeling. The raid design team are big fans of Matsuno's work and are working diligently to capture the right feel, from the bosses to the mechanics to the attitudes of the characters. Even Yoshida is being careful to allow the original Ivalice concept to take root and thrive undamaged.
• The plot has been crafted, but the latter scenarios have not been written. Banri Oda went over the current state of the world at length with Matsuno. After the twin liberations of Doma and Ala Mhigo, other Othardian territories may begin to see similar rebel uprisings; even Dalmasca itself may rise up and make a bid for freedom, though Matsuno himself wonders when it might be freed.

[Cilia]

I are smart.

What about the Hypertuning tho? I can wait.

EDIT
Given how Exdeath's presence was explained... I'm not surprised that's the basic backstory behind "Return to Ivalice." While I don't particularly care for the setting, I am anxious to go there and learn how it relates to Hydaelyn at large.

[TinyRedLeaf]

• Letter from the Producer Live

  Lore-Relevant Highlights:4.1 The Legend Returns [Dungeon: Drowned City of Skalla] [Kojin Beast Tribe Quests]
  [Hildibrand Returns] [24v24 PVP includes Illuminati machina]

OMGomgomgOMG.

Ra-- the hero, and a certain anti-hero are "returning"!

Excited about this but, also, some trepidation, where lore is concerned. Crossovers like these are making increasingly hard to argue that FFXIV is its own standalone world.

EDIT (translation by iluna minori on Reddit FFXIV Discord): So, according to Matsuno, Ivalice is based on a legend from the Garlean Empire, of a peasant who rose through the ranks in a time of chaos to become a hero, and changed the world. Dalmasca is located in a region of sand north of Othard, and Rabanstre is inside Dalmasca.

W00t!

[Wyssahtyn]

Suppose that might explain why they're singing about "good King Galvus" in that provincial anthem if FFT's story is supposed to be Garlean legend.

[SaitoHikari]

Question: Is this the first time that characters that aren't yet known to be major characters in the main plot are actually referenced in the patch art?

If so, does this mean that there's a chance that the Return to Ivalice series is actually going to be a mandatory part of the main scenario plot?

[YianKutku]

• Lorecast 9: Fusionx transports an anonymoosely contributed case of chosen unknowns to Koji Fox (aka Fernehalwes) on the show floor. The result can be read in paraphrased transcript form or taken aurally.[SIZE="2"]

Gamer Escape: Koji? [pauses] Where do babies come from?

Koji Fox: FROM THE WHORL!

I laughed.

The bit about Calamities and how it helps Zodiark is particularly eye-catching for me. I'm now even more curious, but also resigned to waiting for however long before we get any further answers.

[Enkidoh]

Ferne himself used the term "Derplander" to describe everyone's favourite nameless Midlander! It's canon now? Please let it be canon!

Seriously though, great work everyone for this info - Ferne and the lore/writing teams never cease to amaze and these little revelations ask even more questions.

[Nuach]

Well that confirms that Susano is a regular primal and not a potentially manifest Kami. I concede the point, though I mourn the lose of ambiguity of it that I enjoyed. You win this time Mr. Moose.

[Anonymoose]

You win this time Mr. Moose.

Hey, I did a bunch of mental gymnastics to turn the Magatama into a Zantetsuken-like object. I landed, what, five yalms closer? lol

[Nuach]

Hey, I did a bunch of mental gymnastics to turn the Magatama into a Zantetsuken-like object. I landed, what, five yalms closer? lol

True, but closer is closer, so I give credit where due. I suppose my old technique for Elder Scrolls lore of "what's the most interesting answer?" works there but might not be the correct technique for FFXIV.