Storyline Prior to Game

[Neptune]

Seif and Gala why didn't you like the previous game's stories?

[sharky]

**Spoilers***
I started off in Limsa Lominsa - the island.

A water dragon appears in the ocean in my character's opening cut scene and also later on in a mission quest, like around level 15. The water dragon appears out at sea again and destroys the pirate ship I was on and several others. Also, in my story quest, my character has the ability to hear that 'singing voice' from the cut scene and it is revealed to be a rare gift that only certain people have the ability to do? So, I'm wondering if my characters has some hidden ability in connection to dragons, but it's just speculation. If I'm wrong about this, I'd like to be corrected.

[whoopeeragon]

People are still confused surrounding Ishgard and the dragons, I think. From what I've seen, Ishgardians and dragons are MORTAL ENEMIES; no way would Ishgard people summon dragons when the few Ishgardians you see prancing around are actively hunting down dragons.

Dragons are a beast, perhaps at the most a beast-tribe. Since the summons seem to be taken directly from FFXI as well, Shiva and Ramuh are most likely to be the last two summons in kind Rhomagus' extensive post. Anybody else think that Rhomagus' post should have a place in the OP's post so people can have some understanding/speculation of what the game is about, instead of shifting through all these pages?

[Frisque]

I'd also like to know how far back the echo "works". So far in the cutscenes it doesn't seem to go back too much at all. It also seems that others can notice you when you are "echoing". If that's so, could you change the events in the past?

The echo can go back a REALLY FRIGGIN' long way.

*fair warning, there are some Conj quest spoilers here...***

In the R36 Conj quest, you do an escort job for the NPC Morys. You basically echo all the way back to his childhood. (they don't give exact figures, but we're talking like he's early 20's maybe in real-time, but in the Echo he was like 10 maybe 12?)

Regarding whether or not you can change anything.... well, they're not really clear about that. In the same quest (inside the echo) you have to defend "young" Morys from wolves at Amberscale Rock. Which begs the question.... prior to echo who defended him from the wolves? The elementals? And did your act of running defense make a bit of difference? Because it seems that the elementals still have claim over Morys.

**SPOILERS OVER***

But yeah, looks like there's not too many limitations on the Echo as far as timeline goes.

[Malakhim]

The echo can go back a REALLY FRIGGIN' long way.

*fair warning, there are some Conj quest spoilers here...***

In the R36 Conj quest, you do an escort job for the NPC Morys. You basically echo all the way back to his childhood. (they don't give exact figures, but we're talking like he's early 20's maybe in real-time, but in the Echo he was like 10 maybe 12?)

Regarding whether or not you can change anything.... well, they're not really clear about that. In the same quest (inside the echo) you have to defend "young" Morys from wolves at Amberscale Rock. Which begs the question.... prior to echo who defended him from the wolves? The elementals? And did your act of running defense make a bit of difference? Because it seems that the elementals still have claim over Morys.

**SPOILERS OVER***

But yeah, looks like there's not too many limitations on the Echo as far as timeline goes.

SPOILERS For Limsa Arc:

It should be noted that the ENTIRE Limsa arc before the story joining is one big trip to the past, being that at the very beginning, you see Stahllman, who is prominent throughout the entire arc as the commandant of the Knights of The Barrcuda who is trying to take down the current Admiral, is actually a deckhand, a DECKHAND, on the ferry you came in on. Once you hit rank 15, you'll eventually meet a character named Blackman(I forget his name) that tells you that hat Stahllman has been "coming to this spot for years, still searching for something he lost".

Moreover, your character goes through what seems to be an "echo overload" when he proceeds to view past events within past events when you see Y'shtola confronting Stahllman, and then when you go further to see his scheming with Emerick and Merodalyin(spelling), and then cuts back to Y'shtola. I am not sure if Trevanchet and the rest of his kind, whom I assume are other shadowless or ascians, have the ability to use the echo as well.

/SPOILERS.

Either way, Eorzea seems to be screwed on all fronts.

At this point I think it might be wise to put spoiler tags on the thread title, as we've gone into more than just before the game even begins, which is partially my fault. >.>

[Delmontyb]

I am in favor of more classes/content/equipment in future expansions.

I am strongly against more storyline that SquareEnix has failed with for the past 5~6 titles now.

I am strongly against SquareEnix being allowed to make such horrible storylines. Japan needs to pass a law stating they should be prohibited from doing so henceforth.

This isn't what the OP is talking about at all...

[Delmontyb]

Thanks, and I really enjoyed the thought you put into this, sorry that some people hijacked the thread.
Anyway, I too want to know more about what happened before we joined in the game, from what I can tell Al-Mingo was sacked and now those people are finding themselves in the various towns.

I wonder if this wasn't a battle between Al-mingo and the Imperials. Even if it didn't happen over Mor-Dhora, the ship might have just crashed there etc.

I can't wait to see where the story goes from here.

[AdvancedWind]

Bumping this thread because this thread is threadfully useful and interesting.

[Rhomagus]

People are still confused surrounding Ishgard and the dragons, I think. From what I've seen, Ishgardians and dragons are MORTAL ENEMIES; no way would Ishgard people summon dragons when the few Ishgardians you see prancing around are actively hunting down dragons.

Dragons are a beast, perhaps at the most a beast-tribe. Since the summons seem to be taken directly from FFXI as well, Shiva and Ramuh are most likely to be the last two summons in kind Rhomagus' extensive post. Anybody else think that Rhomagus' post should have a place in the OP's post so people can have some understanding/speculation of what the game is about, instead of shifting through all these pages?

There are a few posts on here before mine that were very informative as well. I'd like it if certain aspects of the story were were bolded then a brief explanation was provided below it. It would be even better if people could include links citing their sources.

For example:

Races

Wildwood Elezen

From the official site:

For hundreds of years the Wildwood Elezen have lived in the safety of Eorzea’s lush forests. They possess an incredibly keen sense of sight — a contributing factor in their unparalleled expertise as archers. With the formation of the realm’s governments, many Wildwood ventured forth from the forests, drawn either to the exhilarating cosmopolitanism of the urban centers or the simple nomadism of the plains.

- http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/#/world/races/elezen/l

According to Prosperlain, the Officer at Arms in Gridania:

We Wildwood have lived amongst the trees for nigh on nine hundred years. We share the same tall, slender physiques as our Duskwight brethren, but are known for our sharper vision--a trait which lends itself well to our prowess with the bow. Our clan is also known for its innovative genius.
The carpentry of Gridania's immense wooden structures of the leather trade--these and more are the products of Wildwood ingenuity, handed down through the ages.

- http://www.eorzeapedia.com/wiki/en/Prosperlain

If you're really curious though, there are sites for this kind of thing like eorzeapedia and such. Both of the above chunks I've used for my example can be found there. Including links is a good way to cite sources regardless because it let's readers interpret for themselves while still backing up a poster's claims.

[Rhomagus]

Also, if my post is included I wouldn't want all of it in there, but if it were formatted as I've shown above and *SPOILERED* in white text I think that would be fine.

Not everyone wants to read what they haven't seen yet in-game. Others love the journey.