[EW SPOILERS] Please Rename This Trial

[mangowisp]

In our FC we've had a number of people spoiled by looking at the location of some players in their friends list/FC members list while we tried our hardest to stay spoiler free for at least a month. I'm sure others feel similarly.

We've gone to calling the trials 'Trial 1', 'Trial 2' and 'Final Trial' as to not spoil our members.

DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP IN MSQ!

The first trial isn't very spoilery being called 'The Dark Inside'. Not many people expected that at all. In fact, I'm sure people expected something else entirely for the first trial.

Having such a name like 'The Mothercrystal' is pretty messed up. Now of course, it seems self explanatory after doing the first trial, right? But what about those still doing early MSQ? It seems like a massive spoiler that's almost as bad as the title 'Papalymo's Final Witness' back in the day.

Now, I have no idea what they'd name the trial otherwise, to be fair. But it kinda sucks that people still early on will connect the dots pretty fast if they've been paying attention and just happen to glance at their friends list/linkshell/fc member list.

[Seera1024]

For all they know we're fighting some baddie who is attacking the mothercrystal and to avoid spoilering the baddie, they've named it the mothercrystal.

Remember the name is just one piece of the puzzle.

[Feronar]

Most of the duty and zone names have been relatively good at avoiding spoilers. For example, names like Vanaspati, Ktisis Hyperboreia, The Dark Inside, The Tempest, Elpis, or Ultima Thule will be at most very minor spoilers if you accidentally stumble upon their names prematurely, and even then only if you have specialized knowledge or have been paying careful attention to specific details. The Mothercrystal stands in stark contrast to that. As OP said, it's almost as bad as Papalymo's Final Witness back in Heavensward.

[solitonmedic]

Some folks already had the notion Hydaelyn was going to be the main villain of the expansion, going by everything Shadowbringers was leading us to until we were proven wrong. I don't think having "the Mothercrystal" in the trial's name spoils anything if you're coming from Shadowbringers.

It's like saying the names in the final quests in the expansions like "Stormblood" and "Endwalker" will spoil you because that marks the end of that expansion.

[Stepjam]

I agree that that it really isn't that much of a spoiler. Anyone coming in with knowledge of Shadowbringers (and knowledge that Endwalker is the conclusion of the Hydaelyn/Zodiark storyline) won't be surprised to learn that a battle of some kind takes place at the mothercrystal.

Also, where exactly does the trial name exist ingame that is going to spoil newer players? You can't actually see a partyfinder listing until you've unlocked the fight that the PF is for for example.

[Adeacia]

I agree that that it really isn't that much of a spoiler. Anyone coming in with knowledge of Shadowbringers (and knowledge that Endwalker is the conclusion of the Hydaelyn/Zodiark storyline) won't be surprised to learn that a battle of some kind takes place at the mothercrystal.

Also, where exactly does the trial name exist ingame that is going to spoil newer players? You can't actually see a partyfinder listing until you've unlocked the fight that the PF is for for example.

FC menus. I found out about Ultima Thule due to that.

[Stepjam]

FC menus. I found out about Ultima Thule due to that.

Fair enough on the how. I still feel that the names don't really tell you much context wise.

[ValStryder]

I dont think that area names really give enough context to identify what is going on during said fight. "Steps of Faith" and "Final Steps of Faith" are prime examples. Just by the name without knowing any context you would assume you'd be fighting a primal in both versions of that area. When I first saw "The Mothercrystal" I had assumed it was a certain someone or someones attacking the area (much like Steps of Faith) and we were defending the area.

[Tlamila]

I think if anything areas from this expansion were spoilers. in fact I kept myself from checking friendlist and fc list at all until I was all caught up. I even had to mute all linkshells, including hunts, and novice network. It's torture, but sadly that's how it is.

Ultima Thule itself is a big spoiler, cause you're still there in thavnair or something and suddenly find out that you'll end up going at the edge of the universe, even if you don't know why, but it's pretty big. And even if you somehow don't know what Ultima Thule is, if you by mistake even look up gathering logs, you'll see an high level area situated in The Sea of Stars, again pretty big. And no, not the moon, I mean an area other than the moon.

The Mothercrystal is also bad, but all considered more tame, since yo don't know it's a trial. Honestly that's also one I got spoiled, and I thought it was just a cutscenes instance kinda think, like all the time we find ourselves in The Mothercrystal talking with Hydaelin. Nothing in fc members list/friends list says it's a trial, just that it's an instance.

And even if you happen to look at items names, say while browsing the market, checking party finder, or even just if you level crafters faster than doing msq, you're gonna be pretty spoiled.

Overall I think this is the expension that most of all leaves spoilers everywhere and makes you have to completely isolate yourself from the rest of the game until you're done with msq. My wish would be for any area/duty you haven't unlocked yet to be marked as ??? everywhere, and not just in certain places.That would solve all such problems. It's useless to put ??? in patch notes when in game everywhere you turn you can actually read those spoilers that patch notes covered.

[ValStryder]

I think if anything areas from this expansion were spoilers. in fact I kept myself from checking friendlist and fc list at all until I was all caught up. I even had to mute all linkshells, including hunts, and novice network. It's torture, but sadly that's how it is.

Ultima Thule itself is a big spoiler, cause you're still there in thavnair or something and suddenly find out that you'll end up going at the edge of the universe, even if you don't know why, but it's pretty big. And even if you somehow don't know what Ultima Thule is, if you by mistake even look up gathering logs, you'll see an high level area situated in The Sea of Stars, again pretty big. And no, not the moon, I mean an area other than the moon.

The Mothercrystal is also bad, but all considered more tame, since yo don't know it's a trial. Honestly that's also one I got spoiled, and I thought it was just a cutscenes instance kinda think, like all the time we find ourselves in The Mothercrystal talking with Hydaelin. Nothing in fc members list/friends list says it's a trial, just that it's an instance.

And even if you happen to look at items names, say while browsing the market, checking party finder, or even just if you level crafters faster than doing msq, you're gonna be pretty spoiled.

Overall I think this is the expension that most of all leaves spoilers everywhere and makes you have to completely isolate yourself from the rest of the game until you're done with msq. My wish would be for any area/duty you haven't unlocked yet to be marked as ??? everywhere, and not just in certain places.That would solve all such problems. It's useless to put ??? in patch notes when in game everywhere you turn you can actually read those spoilers that patch notes covered.

I wouldn't call Ultima Thule an extreme spoiler though. while in more recent times it's been used to talk about parts of space, it's original definition was much more grounded.
"So what does Ultima thule mean? Ultima thule is Latin and has been used over to the centuries to refer to an area of the world that is the most distant and inaccessible. In other words as NASA describes, it’s a place “beyond the known world.” The term was originally used in ancient Greek and Roman literature and cartography to denote a mythical island in the area furthest north. In classical and medieval cartography and literature, this term took on the meaning of anyplace beyond the known world at the time. Claudian, the Latin poet, proclaimed, “ratibusque impcrvia Thule” which means “where no ships can sail.”"