What lore do you ignore?

[YianKutku]

The entirety of the Yorha raids.

EDIT: Hit post too soon.

The primary issue I have with the Yorha raids is they make themselves ignorable. They link to almost nothing in the greater FFXIV setting, they refer to almost nothing in the greater FFXIV setting, and the greater FFXIV setting refers to nothing in them. The only link is "they take place in a location in the setting, involving some characters who live in that setting".

If I ignore the Yorha raids, I cannot think of any difference that would make to the lore of FFXIV. So there's really no point in my trying to make sense of them in the context of FFXIV, especially since the last few times I asked I was told "it's just Yoko Taro". Which itself is not a useful answer, because that doesn't actually tell me anything.

[FirstGearFirstGear]

The YoRHa raids are a pseudo-sequel to Nier: Automata. One of the endings of that game has the minds of its characters being uploaded into the sphere that then launches off into the cosmos in search of new worlds. One of the fears expressed by other characters is that the central conflict of Automata will simply be repeated on whatever world the sphere arrives at. Well, the sphere landed on the First and that's exactly what happened. In a way, not understanding what is going on is appropriate because the WoL and the dwarves are only seeing a tiny fraction of a larger story that's been going on long before they came to Norvrandt and will continue long after the raid is finished.

But you're right, the raid series is mostly it's own self-contained story that doesn't really matter to the wider setting or narrative. If you wanted to ignore something in FF14's lore, Dark Apocalypse is a good choice.

[Cleretic]

The entirety of the Yorha raids.

EDIT: Hit post too soon.

The primary issue I have with the Yorha raids is they make themselves ignorable. They link to almost nothing in the greater FFXIV setting, they refer to almost nothing in the greater FFXIV setting, and the greater FFXIV setting refers to nothing in them. The only link is "they take place in a location in the setting, involving some characters who live in that setting".

If I ignore the Yorha raids, I cannot think of any difference that would make to the lore of FFXIV. So there's really no point in my trying to make sense of them in the context of FFXIV, especially since the last few times I asked I was told "it's just Yoko Taro". Which itself is not a useful answer, because that doesn't actually tell me anything.

I always saw this as an intentional design facet of it, because it's just not that kind of crossover. These days stuff like the MCU have trained us to consider a crossover as a big landmark not just in spectacle, but also in story: that Captain America Civil War must by nature be a big tentpole story moment for every hero that turns up because it's the one that all the big bucks went into to get all this big names together.

The Nier raids are absolutely crossovers, but they're a much more old-fashioned kind of crossover, where the fact it's a crossover is basically the only noteworthy thing about it; every character there is just doing their normal everyday thing, they just happen to be doing it together this time. It's like when sitcoms have crossovers. So to a degree, yeah, it's absolutely intentional that it's not super groundbreaking or exceptional as far as the story goes: to 2B and 9S this was just another day of fighting the machines, and to the Warrior of Light this was just another day of helping some rando and then weird monsters turned up. It's all in a day's work, and then they all move on.


...besides, people would be even madder if it did turn out to be important. Can you imagine if FFXIV's story suddenly said that now this far-future sci-fi action game is canon to this high fantasy MMO and they're just going to unavoidably force that into the world? Or worse, imagine Nier fans hearing 'this endgame raid in a different series' subscription-based MMO's third expansion is now canon and required reading'. There's a reason those sitcoms didn't cram big story beats into their crossover episodes: because while merging those audiences for one night might've been fun, making Mad About You a requirement for Friends' story to make sense is just a nightmare for long-term audiences.

[Necrotica]

I wish I could willfully ignore things regarding XIV.

Things I'd like to ignore include:

Time Bubble
Any mention of Y'shtola being blind
Aenor's last name being Cockburne
The ultimately unresolvable/doomed 8UC timeline
The nothingburger behind the sibling choice in Nier/Nier in general
Every time the lore contradicts itself (Such as the Blessing vs. The Echo)
Misjia being able to replicate Aulus mal Asina's Resonance procedure without killing as many people (there weren't as many body bags around the place).

The FF14 writers ignore the lore of Yshtola being blind. You should feel free to do so as well.

[Kranel_San]

I choose to ignore Eden and any new character it introduced.
Sadly reality does not favor me here...
Oh.. and Nier raids... I suppose.

[dragoelete]

The FF14 writers ignore the lore of Yshtola being blind. You should feel free to do so as well.

not true the writers arent ignoring it she is in fact blind as far as normal sight is concerned (ie color) instead he has the ability to "see" aether like emet and hythlodeus. but it was stated by matoya that by useing that ability she is actively shortening her lifespan(prolly do to being sundered since emet didnt seem to have that issue). so prolly doesnt always have it active. this was all stated in the .x section of HW if i remember right.

[Cleretic]

but it was stated by matoya that by useing that ability she is actively shortening her lifespan(prolly do to being sundered since emet didnt seem to have that issue). so prolly doesnt always have it active. this was all stated in the .x section of HW if i remember right.

Actually this is a bit of a misconception from the English translation. She's not shortening her lifespan, she's just consuming more aether. Matoya's concern in other languages is less like if she was actively reducing her lifespan and more the sort of concern parents get when they learn their child's started driving a motorcycle. English wasn't as clear on the severity of things as the Japanese translation, so we got some wires crossed.

The 6.2 stuff with Zero is sort of quietly righting the ship on this one; aether can be replaced, and Y'shtola's happy to run on a less-than-full tank. It's not an active danger and it's not actively reducing her lifespan; she just has to take more care of herself than your average person, probably eat more than she used to.

[sidurgu-12]

The lifestream and what happens to souls. Its not as bad as ff7 but still. Well, that and the fact the ancients are responsible for everything from common monsters (minus behemoth), evil or incredibly unstable empires etc.

[Rosenstrauch]

I try not to ignore any of the in-game/side story lore, as I'd always found it more enriching to ground my own ideas and works in as much of the lore as possible. But I'm not perfect. Invariably some of my ideas will go against the grain—such as, for instance, Gaia being able to effortlessly create void portals where everyone else struggles to do so.

That said, I hate moments in the story where the heroes become uncharacteristically stupid or passive. I usually try to imagine workaround scenarios for those, wherein something is discussed/done, but ultimately the same outcome transpires. I don't usually make exceptions on the latter half of that, though I am very partial to the "Ahewan didn't die" stuff I've seen on Twitter.

Oh, and I made two gigantic exceptions at the end of my last fic, Amidst the Ashes of Paradise. Even then, it's not so much that I ignored the lore as it is I've decided to ignore it going forward from there. The first is that the rest of the story going forward is Minfilia's, not the WoL's, and that she's alive again. The second is that the WoL pieced Venat's soul back together, allowing her to reenter the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

I'll probably throw in a third exception, retroactively, if 5.4's Pandaemonium stuff keeps trying to throw in Chrono Trigger rules into FFXIV's already needlessly convoluted time travel.

[Neoyoshi]

I try to avoid Ascian lore if i can help it, it's too damn confusing- at least for me. I'm not an intelligent person. xD