Revelations from Patch 4.1

[Anonymoose]

Traditions traditions traditions.

For anybody who's new to this process, we've organically fallen into this habit of always making a Patch Day thread where we discuss new additions to the story arcs. If there are multiple story arcs in a single patch (like this one) we tend to put each one in its own collapsible spoiler tag so people can take part in the thread before they've finished everything.

Shirogane (Savage)

I respect and understand Yoshida-san's vision for housing, but it's been several years and nothing has changed the fact that people join, fall in love with, beat, grow bored of, and leave Final Fantasy XIV without ever seeing an open plot on a number of servers. I understand that housing as it is feels tangible; it's real-estate, there's a market, people have neighborhoods. However, rather than promoting the intended atmosphere it just encourages people to log in once every 45 days as a means of risk avoidance; it's not much less of a ghost town. Moreover, I've lost friends and FC members who felt that the only way they could take part in this facet of the game was to leave our server behind forever. It can't be worth making this many people feel this bad, over and over, every year. And I say this as someone whose FC and personal housing needs have been met. I'm losing faith in that vision.

Main Scenario

Well, that was a surprisingly satisfying for an X.1 story arc, and intricately tied together, as well. A little old school adventuring sets up Ala Mhigo to meet Ul'dah's aid on equal footing, Ala Mhigo ends up feeling a little less deserted for it, Lyse's naivete and idealism has about the mixed results you'd expect, but she learns and grows. Nobody expected ignoring the Qalyana to play out well, but no one can accuse us of being Garlemald Lite. I don't think many expected Fordola to keep on being evil for its own sake, either, but I appreciate the balance of "You'll never have my forgiveness, but you have my thanks", and being tortured by the forced empathy of the Echo is a playful twist even if it's not what everyone might find to be "redemptive". It's a nice way to represent her choices in how to fight for Ala Mhigo and how it played out. In that vein, the solo battlefield was excellent.

Arenvald continues to grow into a great character; I'm hoping he survives until the end ... just because he was there at the beginning. I can see where there would be a lot of narrative-emotional value in killing him off, but it'd be nice if when Minfilia returns just as we forgot about her she finds even one regular old Walker, one of those adopted sons of Eorzea and the Crystal, made it through. (Not to mention his apparent early-stage-shipping with Fordola...)

That bitersweet conclusion of Raubahn's service, though; Nanamo growing into a true sultana is almost getting me over the bitterness of dragging her "death" out until all the clout and hype had been sufficiently milked from it. Alllmost. Nanamo flat out "firing" him was a nice edge to the transition, imho; if you love something set it free and whatnot.

That stinger, though. Tsuyu is off to a ...strange... start; retrograde amnesia (if that's indeed what this is) is usually a cheap and easy plot device (and one overplayed for how rarely it actually occurs), but between all she's been through psychologically and the physical trauma of the building collapse let's give it the benefit of doubt and see where it goes. Psychogenic fugue is not the worst direction to take her in, and they haven't played that trope card to death in this game, yet.

But that scene in capital... [hand-to-chin]

UPDATE: After a little more thinking, Garlemald would need a new Krile to copy from, assuming that [A] they don't have any other Echo users imprisoned (which they don't seem to) and [B] Zenos's body would retain resonance after death and possession (which feels like a stretch). That would be one motivation for Elidibus to re-secure the body.

Kojin

I've only just started but suddenly there's evidence for the kami and I look forward to finding if this is legit or a comical ruse...

Ivalice

Further evidence that the Empire has been steered even farther off-course than it ever was. We see basically what was to be expected: millions of people can't all be bad, but this government has got to go. I need to dig into the story a bit more to get my head all the way around it, but the scenery was wonderful (I'm a less-is-more kind of guy, so realism with a touch of fantasy is aces.) The attempt to reconcile all the different "auracites" is also worthy of note; I wonder how it'll all play out in the end. I suppose if we assume that auracite is a certain type of crystal that can draw and hold other types of aether, we can reconcile White Auracite, the primal-essence-based weapons of the Thirteenth, and whatever essence possesses these stones in XIV, warping the possessor's corporeal aether into a new and monstrous form. (Perhaps we could even bring Sabik into this as a vessel for a sliver of Darkness.)

Odds & Ends

Alphinaud states that the mad king's servants would have been at least 20 in his day and must be at least 40 now, further evidence that the time bubble is still in place and the Doman Rebellion lines are still weird.

Apparently you can breathe and communicate via linkpearl underwater.