Results -9 to 0 of 2

Threaded View

  1. #1
    Player
    NoctusT's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Ul'Dah
    Posts
    103
    Character
    Noctus Tagaris
    World
    Leviathan
    Main Class
    Bard Lv 90

    A small error in quest dialogue - lv 81 MIN/BTN questline

    I'm not sure about the best place to post this, but this seemed most appropriate.
    As an anthropologist, and as a grad student, I absolutely adore the current quest-lines for crafters and gatherers. I'm currently in the process of doing the Faculty of Anthropology quest-line which I'm really anjoying thus far. That said, I actually found a small error in the quest text -

    So in the lv 81 questline for Miner and Botanist, the professor, Tankin has you gather things from Thavnair after which he and Hinageshi have a traditional Thavnairian meal to learn more about the culture there.

    The professor then says the following -

    Hinageshi: And while their cuisine is quite delectable, I must say it is rather spicy for my own palate. Perhaps their love for spices developed out of necessity?
    Tankin: A fine hypothesis indeed, Hinageshi! Food is prone to expire all too quickly in climes such as Radz-at-Han's. Copious use of spices not only helps to increase one's appetite, it also masks any unpleasant odors that may come from food on the brink of spoiling.
    Tankin: And with spoiling food comes the risk of harmful bacteria─a likely reason for the region's struggles with sickness over the years. I can think of no better catalyst to spur innovation in medicine through the mastery of alchemy.
    So this particular hypothesis was actually disproven a while back. I've cited the article below:

    Citation: Billing J, Sherman PW. Antimicrobial functions of spices: Why some like it hot. Q Rev Biol 1998; 73:3-49; PMID:9586227; http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/420058

    Now I actually read this a couple of years ago so it's been a while. But in the article they disproved the hypothesis proposed by Tankin and came up with a few other reasons why people in Tropical Climes actually eat a lot of spicy food. One of the more agreed upon hypotheses about this (also found in the article above) is -

    Spices have antibacterial qualities that actually help to fight AGAINST the bacteria that would spoil foods. This is why use of spices in tropical climates is so prevalent. Especially if you look at a lot of traditional recipes in these regions, you'll find they were invented before refrigeration became common in various regions across the world.

    Anyways, I wanted to point this out and thought that some of you might find this interesting. This isn't a dig are the devs or the writers or anything, I just find it really interesting that the quest brings up a topic that was actually studied by many people IRL today. Also keep in mind that I have not followed this topic closely, so there might be more current research that adds to Sherman's work. But either way, what Tankin says was actually an old belief held by researchers that was disproved by Sherman.

    So yeah, that's the small error in the quest text that I wanted to point out. Anyways, I'm really loving the stories in the Studium and am really happy with what they've done this expansion! I'm interested in hearing about what other people think about the questlines for crafters and gatherers this expansion!

    Further reading - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4861184/ - This article from 2016 also talks a bit about the topic. It's from the National Center for Biotechnology Information. And of course, google is your friend.
    (2)
    Last edited by NoctusT; 02-07-2022 at 03:58 PM.