How Would They Implement A "Calamity" Again?

[Infindox]

This is a company that has been putting together some of the best rpg stories for over 30 years. You are in good hands in the future. I also look forward to all the Zenos nay sayers big turn around during Endwalker.

Only reason I hate Zenos atm is because he was POORLY written in Stormblood. I'm interested to see how that woman writer will fix things after her phenomenal work with Shadowbringers.

[Malmstrom]

Only reason I hate Zenos atm is because he was POORLY written in Stormblood. I'm interested to see how that woman writer will fix things after her phenomenal work with Shadowbringers.

Yeah, I think he has potential, but his introduction really wasn't all that great. That's why I specifically mentioned Stormblood. Although I would like to see him playing a more active role instead of sitting in his chair. He can be bored because "SIGH I AM OP", but he should be actively doing something about it like baiting and goading us and causing mayhem and destruction that lures us out or builds us up specifically so we can reach the level he wants us to be at. Not just "SIGH DO WHATEVER CRAZY PERSON, I AM BORED AND WILL SIT HERE".

[wereotter]

Yeah, I think he has potential, but his introduction really wasn't all that great. That's why I specifically mentioned Stormblood. Although I would like to see him playing a more active role instead of sitting in his chair. He can be bored because "SIGH I AM OP", but he should be actively doing something about it like baiting and goading us and causing mayhem and destruction that lures us out or builds us up specifically so we can reach the level he wants us to be at. Not just "SIGH DO WHATEVER CRAZY PERSON, I AM BORED AND WILL SIT HERE".

It's not just his passiveness in the story that makes him bad to me... his "I only live to fight" character is also kind of dull... and Garland did it better.

[Bright-Flower]

Only reason I hate Zenos atm is because he was POORLY written in Stormblood. I'm interested to see how that woman writer will fix things after her phenomenal work with Shadowbringers.

I hope she can.

I felt Zenos was...'miscast' as the main villain of 4.0 but he wouldn't bug me as much if he'd stayed dead. Similar to my feelings about Yotsuyu. But bringing him back and then squandering the chance to do something interesting with his journey to getting his body back really disappointed me.

To clarify what i mean by miscast, I felt like a character who has no investment in the war story and just has a personal obsession with us as his only interest was a poor choice for the antagonist of the expansion. He could have worked as a lesser antagonist, like a recurring boss like Grynwaht except taken more seriously, but as the big bad? His apathy about the plot hurt the story IMO.

So far, I am not optimistic about finding Fandaniel and Zenos compelling in 6.0, but who knows. I didn't expect to like Emet-Selch based on the last couple of SB patches, maybe they'll turn these two around. In particular if it turned out Fandaniel's motivations are a lie and his actions a smokescreen to misdirect us from his true goal, that would be a fantastic twist. But I'm not holding my breath. We'll see this fall.

[Shougun]

Past / future via a Wings of the Goddess like concept may be one option (FFXI). Shattering dimension / beginning / end of a dream (like FFXI, lol, and FFX). Different planes of existence / planets. In these they may able to do something to our levels without it being weird on the lore (maybe you're level 80 in the present, but in the alternate timeline you're X). This might allow SE to more easily work with updated graphics (update some old areas but most of the high def being part of the new dream / different timeline / planet, etc) as well in effect allow SE to create a new spiffy start (as Yoshida has commented some of the dev team feels conflicted with ARR and thinks to change some things to improve them), and as a consequence also get players into the new saga more easily rather than say release 7.0 that has very little relationship to 2.0-6.0 and yet tell players they need to do that 200-300 hours worth of content first. This also means that entire saga isn't kaboomed, if you wanted to play it you could - unlike say what happened to 1.0's content or some stuff pre-cata in WoW.

So my vote goes to new fragments, dreams, timeline, planet, or something (like keeping FFXIV alive but making another MMO sometime after 6.0 finishes) lol. Some people in another thread were describing something a bit like this via what PSO2 is doing, at least from how they described it- I don't play PSO2 so I use that reference vicariously and not form direct knowledge .

One thing to note though is if we had another calamity like Bahamut I doubt anyone would lose progress, when stuff went from 1.0 to 2.0 you kept most things. My concern for another calamity like that is 'unpretty-ing' things, they can make some cool areas but to make it look ravaged.. well you get ravaged looking areas lol. . So some concerns with having a similar type of Calamity.

With the whole world going ablaze though I wouldn't find an alternate dream or something coming about from it as an unusual concept.

While I'm sure they can keep building and building neat things... I'm a bit of the preference that they start a new foundation, with new concepts and flow of gameplay (like if they added better movement systems which allowed them to make more engaging environments, or worked to create a more roleplay conducive setting (not speaking story, speaking mechanics that work around it- like where an environment has critters, or fires that burn, or collision boxes that properly match the environment, etc). It's a bit hard to appreciate that when you're coming into the content at max level on every single job and most quests done. Older and more stacked things get the harder it is to approach with that 'first time, kid like wonder' and everything becomes more expected (not that I'm detailing the death of FFXIV, FFXI is still alive so.. FFXIV will be fine for sure - but perhaps why a calamity that is more than just bahamut farting on the world is my preference; although, farting on the world / no calamity is the safest option lol).

[znushu]

My bet is that it will involve the Moon in some form as it's always played a important role in the world of Final Fantasy and now with Endwalker expansion literally taking us to the moon, I think. I got a feeling that it's most likely going to be broken in some form or another and we'll have to save the planet from whatever is going to destroy it. I'm imagining that the moon is going to "hatch" some great monster and we'll have to kill it before it destroys the whole planet which we probably will knowing how things usually go in the lore, though we'd fail to stop the hurling chunks of rock heading to the planet which thus causes another great calamity on the planet thus allowing for them to do another 1.0 to 2.0 deal which we kinda need since the engine of this product was admittedly being pushed to it's limits with all the high numbers and such. which I got no issue with but i'm kinda use to that since i've already lived through one such event in this game though this time i'd know not to delete my account once it happens.

[Seraphor]

They wouldn't. There's no need to.
14 isn't a failure of a game in its current state, and they're already doing a stat squish with Endwalker. So there's no reason to reset anything.
Eorzean maps have just been redone six months ago so there's no justification for scrapping them.

So any 'Calamity' will be done entirely for plot reasons, with no hard consequences for gameplay.

[wereotter]

It's not hard to think of how this might play out. Story spoilers to follow

When you consider that the Source was split through the acts of Hydalyn, and we know that the next expansion will be concluding the story of Hydalyn and Zodiarc to pave the way for a new story to come, if we were to eliminate the two elder primals from existence, it's possible that the worlds as they currently exist cease to be. Yes this will make all the work we did to save The First completely irrelevent, but there could be a rebirth of a newly combined world that has places like Eulemore and the Crystarium superimposed into the Source. But this also could take place through less violent means than a full on calamity, something like the combination of worlds in FFV.

Considering FFXIV is a playground of sorts with references and story beats lifted from other Final Fantasy games, this also would be a story beat similar to what exists in Dissidia Opera Omnia where the destruction of the crystal cores of light and darkness causes the world to be destroyed and reborn.

A full reset of the world like this could also pave the way for them to reset character levels as well, though considering they're going through with a stat squish next expansion, this is unlikely.

[Delis]

I hope they don't. What would be the reason that they would need to do one? We have plenty of other areas of the world we haven't been to, that could have our next big bad in. As far as a new mmo, I would like them to do one. I would like to see what yoshi etc can do, starting fresh, and not being handicapped by garbage code.

[Metalwrath]

They wont.Endwalker is the end of the ascian story.If they had another calamity it would mean that 7.0 would still have the existance of ascians in some form which we know is not the direction they are headed.
They have too many other potential stories to go down in the ff14 universe in the source.
For example there is no hints towards tiamat being brought into 6.0
She's still alive trapped by her own will.6.0 now looks like 100% we wont go to Meracydia which has lots of potential for a heavy tie in to story with tiamat and a whole new saga.