Final Fantasy XIV Hot Takes

[Teno]

Frankly, I like Structure. I like knowing and being able to Predict when X content is coming at X patch. And I like having a (mostly) consistent Patch Cycle.
Not a fan of the idea of not knowing when stuff is going to happen.
Plus this Predictable Structure tells me the Machine is Well Oiled and Running.

All nice and good until your machine is an old beast and competitors have proven that there can be more without spoiling it all (and there's not one single competitor). I loved Bozja and solo deep dungeons are fun, but these are outdated/old, and they released this xpac with the same old formula of 2EX/savage, still with atrocious healer gameplay.

[SeverianLyonesse]

My hot take:

SMN doesn't need Shiva, Ramuh, or Leviathan summons. But it could stand to have Alexander and Eden summons.

I've never liked the missing trio in other games, and XIV has developed them in a way where I think they have transcended those roles:

* Leviathan has never had much personality in any game, always felt like filler. Now he fills the role of mysterious, eldritch deep-sea dragon. We don't really have the personal rapport and investment in him like we do the main three tribal primals. He's just kind of better representing the unknown.
* Ramuh always bothered me as just this old man we were summoning. Nothing bestial about him. Not to mention he's part of the kind of underconsidered appropriation of Hindu gods in FF. In XIV he serves more as a spokesperson, source of wisdom, and really a secondary character than a true threat like the other primals. I think it would dilute his character and role in the story to just make him a summon at this point.
* Shiva is by far the worst summon in all of FF history. Misgendering AND misappropriation of blue skin. I am not religious or South Asian but the sheer "blueface" of it all just offends me scholastically. In XIV she is pretty much a main character, on a completely different level than Ifrit/Titan/Garuda, and it absolutely would undermine Ysayle's character arc if Shiva were made a trite summon in SMN's rotation. I think a "Diamond Dust" spell might be an appropriate homage to Heavensward, but nothing more.

As it stands, Summoner's summon kit hits a really nifty "Persian" aesthetic niche. You've got very balanced representation of Greek (Titan), Arabic (Ifrit), and Hindu (Garuda) cultural influence on that region, with each summon riding a comfortable line between "mythological creature" and "definable character" from mythology (as opposed to being quite clearly a singular god-like entity like Shiva/Ramuh/Leviathan). And then those are couched by a more generalized creature that spans from Egypt to Russia to China (Phoenix). And a more generalized Semitic figure from that general region that has been redefined as FF's Ur-Dragon (Bahamut). It doesn't lean too heavily on either the Judaic or Hindu religions like prior iterations of summoner do, instead of opting for a very egalitarian cultural mixing pot ala Macedonian, Bactrian, or Mughal culture. To add *more* of any particular mythological leaning with Leviathan, Shiva, or Ramuh, would kind of ruin this cool new identity SMN has forged for itself.

In a similar vein, SMN has a very primal aesthetic that I think would be somewhat diluted if we got Alexander. BUT I could maybe give it a pass since Alexander also kind of emphasizes an interesting intersection between Greek, Egyptian, and Persian cultures AND is a reference to a library which would gel with SMN's book aesthetic. It just barely works. And if we got an Eden to pair with it as kind of Temple of Artemis/Mausoleum of Halicarnassus moment, I think that would be just an epic af pairing.

Devs please: No Shiva/Ramuh/Leviathan Summons. Yes Alexander and Eden. Both or nothing. I know it is very tempting to make a Shiva diamond. Don't do it.

Also, adding some kind of reference to Zanarkand (based on real-world Samarkand and all that of the summoning connotations it has from X) would also be rad af under this "Iranosphere" interpretation of Summoner.

[Shurrikhan]

My hot take:

SMN doesn't need Shiva, Ramuh, or Leviathan summons. But it could stand to have Alexander and Eden summons.

Have one from each expansion, so to speak, over one of each element?

I wouldn't hate it, as much as I'd like elemental mixing and matching, but I can't say I'd be too fond of summoning, essentially, giant robots (Eden and Alexander)... I don't really see how either would fit alongside the nice Asia Minor / Persian / Bactrian mixes we have now with Titan, Ifrit, and Garuda.

If I liked Alexander's movesets (and assuming summons ever get enough unique to them to possibly be called a "moveset"), I'd probably be okay with him, but Eden... probably not.

Also, adding some kind of reference to Zanarkand (based on real-world Samarkand and all that of the summoning connotations it has from X) would also be rad af under this "Iranosphere" interpretation of Summoner.

Now that I'd love, especially if it fit with the next expansion's world.

[SeverianLyonesse]

Have one from each expansion, so to speak, over one of each element?

I wouldn't hate it, as much as I'd like elemental mixing and matching, but I can't say I'd be too fond of summoning, essentially, giant robots (Eden and Alexander)... I don't really see how either would fit alongside the nice Asia Minor / Persian / Bactrian mixes we have now with Titan, Ifrit, and Garuda.

If I liked Alexander's movesets (and assuming summons ever get enough unique to them to possibly be called a "moveset"), I'd probably be okay with him, but Eden... probably not.

Alexander is like a weird amalgamation of the figure of Alexander and the lighthouse of Alexandria, especially in recent games where he more clearly took on aspects of the former (XIII), latter (XI), or both (XIV). Alexander conquered what was pretty much the Persian empire and attempted to syncretize Greek and Persian cultures, something which survived him and arguably was what led to later Greco-Buddhist developments in regions like Bactria. The lighthouse of Alexandria of course is an edifice that really straddled the line between Greek and Egyptian culture. I think "Alexander" as envisioned, especially in more recent iterations which emphasize a "library/lighthouse" reference, could somewhat squeeze into SMN's aesthetic while adding something new.

But I also think it's just begging to be balanced out by the reimagination of Eden in the ShB raids. The final design of Eden is very clearly taking inspiration from the statue of Artemis from the Temple of Artemis (another world wonder alongside the lighthouse of Alexandria). The statue of Artemis at Ephesus was actually the appropriation by the Greeks of a pre-Hellenic Anatolian goddess. Using that in XIV for a final boss of an Eden raid is freaking brilliant because Ultimecia is really just a poor localization of "Artimesia" (which is semi-confirmed by Loghrif's true name Artemis). And, if you go back to how VIII portrayed Ultimecia/Artimesia, *she* was heavily inspired by a different Artemisia, Artimesia II who built the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (a third ancient wonder) to mourn her late husband--which ymmv if you like the R=U theory, but we do seem to have some additional love for that myth with the Halicarnassus boss. But that was also a Persian Satrap, again making Eden's design this really weird and beautiful Greco-Persian amalgamation.

Alexander is already quite book-adjacent, and Eden is already quite summon-adjacent. They both also have wings, which would work really well with the aesthetic of SMN's job bar. I just really appreciate the amount of cultural referentialism both have been imbued with in XIV, and think they are wayyyyyy more deserving of being referenced in SMN's moveset than Shiva/Ramuh/Leviathan. I don't think SMN necessarily even needs more summon phases. We could just have one big Alexander Summon spell and one big Eden summon spell. Bam. SMN complete. Chef's kiss.

[Shurrikhan]

That's all well and good, but what does that have to do with

When some people want certain elements/people gone, they want them to be removed in the most painful ways they can imagine?

[Equitable_Remedy]

So many of these "hot takes" are actually just bad takes.

It seems that a lot of you don't know what hot takes are.

[Izar_Chillen]

So many of these "hot takes" are actually just bad takes.

It seems that a lot of you don't know what hot takes are.

For the clueless

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dic...glish/hot-take

[kpxmanifesto]

FFXIV is known as a game for perverts because of the rampant oversexualization of characters in the game. There are people that think this game's main selling point is catgirl/au'ra/bunnygirl ERP.

[LisSquid]

FFXIV is known as a game for perverts because of the rampant oversexualization of characters in the game. There are people that think this game's main selling point is catgirl/au'ra/bunnygirl ERP.

This is your third post tonight about being angry over the furries, are we okay over there?

[Nizzi]

There are people that think this game's main selling point is catgirl/au'ra/bunnygirl ERP.

Well it certainly isn't the gameplay!