Garlean Outposts (Spoilers)

[Denishia]

If it wasn't for the ARR Hunting Logs needing the various Garlean legionaries to complete both Grand Company, Job, and Daily Hunting Log fills, I would love for the post 2.0 names of all those mobs to change over to "Former XIV ___" or "Rogue ____", as to reflect their status. The hunting log is the only reason they linger and why I doubt those locations will ever be instanced out. And why for Shadowbringers and a lesser extent Endwalker it was very obvious how there were no Sin Eater open world mobs or Fates, only a few A/S Ranks, and the rest in instanced events and dungeons as to avoid that ARR time bubble mistake.

[Cleretic]

If it wasn't for the ARR Hunting Logs needing the various Garlean legionaries to complete both Grand Company, Job, and Daily Hunting Log fills, I would love for the post 2.0 names of all those mobs to change over to "Former XIV ___" or "Rogue ____", as to reflect their status. The hunting log is the only reason they linger and why I doubt those locations will ever be instanced out. And why for Shadowbringers and a lesser extent Endwalker it was very obvious how there were no Sin Eater open world mobs or Fates, only a few A/S Ranks, and the rest in instanced events and dungeons as to avoid that ARR time bubble mistake.

Well, remember that for players still in ARR (there's a lot of those, the game's got a healthy influx of new players), they aren't rogue or former XIVth Legion soldiers, they're current XIVth Legion soldiers. I don't know what FFXIV's phasing tech is generally capable of, but to do this properly you'd have to specifically change the names of these mobs only for people who've gotten past a certain point of the content, and I'm not sure it's capable of that.

[Denishia]

Exactly. They can change skyboxes, but not swap out names. Which ideally would happen sometime in the 2.X or right after 4.0 as an enhancement of a storytelling beat, but instead needs the slightly awkward write around for the enforced gameplay time bubble. And because of those hunting logs and FATEs, the mobs always have to be there. SB has this problem to a much smaller extent - fewer open world Garlean mobs- and they try to change the appearance of the most prominent castrum installation in the Overworld map.

[MikkoAkure]

SB has this problem to a much smaller extent - fewer open world Garlean mobs- and they try to change the appearance of the most prominent castrum installation in the Overworld map.

That’s actually part of the problem I had with SB. It’s supposed to be a war epic, but ARR before it had a much stronger Garlean threat because all of the Garlean bases there are always filled with Garlean world mobs. At the end of 4.0, you’re supposed to be pushing a front in a giant war against a super powerful military, but only ever see Garleans in instances or 2-3 spawned by stepping in a ring for a quest. Otherwise the map is just filled with other random stuff and it doesn’t feel like anything is actually happening.

Then compare that to the two Bozja zones, Ghimlyt Dark, and even Northern Thanalan and the main story zones of SB just feel empty and flat with no real Garlean threat or presence.

The XIVth legion never went away and can’t exactly leave without mass-surrender, so their continued presence has a point and doesn’t break any lore or anything. They could even use it as a future storyline where an officer left behind in the XIVth refuses to believe in Garlemald’s surrender and continues to fight. But I feel like something more than what we got in regards to Garlean presence, along with better pacing and less focus concentrated on a whole other continent would have made SB a little better.

[KageTokage]

I'm kind of half-hoping that if Ilsabard ends up being our next destination, the Garlean stragglers over in Eorzea have some role to play.

Gaius mentions that he still has eyes all over the place that keep him informed of going-ons throughout the world, so the remaining legions having similar spy networks doesn't seem out of the question, and with most of them still unaccounted for the notion that they aren't up to anything feels exceedingly unlikely to me.

[KenaiChoppa]

I dont think they are gonna change them. Cutting or adjusting them would be cutting content from the game, like what Destiny 2 has been doing for a while (i think they will stop now... but damage is done). It would be unfair for new users, in my opinion.

We will have to take this as a "game" and ignore the lore in this case. It is probably an issue for hardcore RP players, but I cant see a better solution that doesnt affect new users

[Midareyukki]

By the devs own admission, they're stuck in a "time bubble" in a sense. They're all exactly where they were we finished the zones. Meaning the Castrum in Mor Dhona is still occupied by Garlean troops ready to attack us, in terms of a zone sense. But in actual lore sense, as told by the RPR story, they've been engaging in trade (in a sense) with Ul'dah. They sell Ceruleum to Ul'dah for profit, and then buy things from elsewhere (likely Mor Dhona or the Garland Ironworks). Because while Ul'dah has rules to not sell to Garleans...there's nothing about BUYING from Garleans.

So... going off of headcanon and theory:
- Terncliff Garleans are still around because we kicked Valens's butt but haven't fully cleaned them out of the premiss.
- The 4th Legion remnants still roam around Bozja's wastelands and ruins, having also infiltrated Dalmascan society waiting to pounce back to action and claim the regions again
- The guys on Azys Lla's Castrum Solus are still there because "Ooh, we can use this information to make stuff of our own!"
- I got nothing for Castrum Occidens nor Cape Westwind.
- Fluminis should be deserted by now, but I think there still are some Garleans in the vicinity.
- And I assume the guys at Castrum Centri joined the guys in Castrum Meridianum in the trade with Ul'dah.
?

[SentioftheHoukai]

I don't know about any of you, but I actually enjoy carving my way through entire Castrums of Imperial refuse at level 90.