Revelations from Patch 6.4: The Dark Throne

[SannaR]

More SB duty support tidbits. Still not sure why they didn't add all of SB this patch. Anyways either Gosetsu and Hien have never seen a stone golem before or they're commenting on the stone golem like devices that halt your progression leading up to the 2nd boss. As Lyse only says something like aught Stone Golems at the point those two do so. The final boss of the 61 dungeon according to everyone's favorite Elezen pirate captain is a ghost of a siren who became the stuff of legend. Also the area with the cells are in fact jail cells as that island had been used as a jail. Either I missed the 2nd boss of Castrum Abania being Garlean or I just never tanked it enough to get a good look. A sort of funny thing is when you run Ala Mhigo with Alphinaud as post next to last boss he makes a comment about never wanting to experience being popped out of his body ever again. Raubahn on there other hand makes more of a "I never expected to ever see my body prone" line. So sure he didn't enjoy it but to me it comes off as a huh that was kind of interesting.

[YianKutku]

I think my biggest disappointment with the middle part of the MSQ in Garlemald was the lack of any mention of what happened in the 6.0 combined role quests.

It's even relevant, because the same lessons are taught there as with what happened in the 6.4 MSQ. Garlemald needs to figure out what they want to do from now on, as a sovereign nation, whatever it may be. Nero even gave a whole speech about how "Garlemald did not rise to grandeur from complacency in the present or rumination in the past. We live for the future. It is in our blood." Whether or not this is actually true or part of Nero's personal delusions, it's still a view expressed in the game dialogue in the usual philosophizing cutscene tone, so it's something that we're supposed to at least consider. And seeing the same sentiments repeated here means either players will feel that this is a retreading of old ground in 6.4, or the combined role quests are retreading old ground after 6.4.

There's also no dialogue that I can find regarding the "former senators" of Garlemald who went to the Moon. They're even still there (in the Carrotorium, going through Loporrit shock), but their existence has been forgotten by the senators still in Garlemald?

Unrelated to everything else, but for the 6.x MSQ in general, I've been replaying the FFVI Pixel Remaster, and I'm finding it amusing how the description "half-human woman tries to understand emotions and social interaction, by asking everyone she meets what is love, regardless of appropriate context" matches both stories.

EDIT: (forgot to mention, but just reminded of it)

Pandemonium:

When we learned that Athena allegedly used a part of Azys Lla to rebuild Pandemonium in the present day, did anyone else port into Azys Lla to check which portion it was?

I did look around, especially in the Flagship area around the Aetherochemical Research Facility dungeon entrance, but I admit I'd never really looked at the place before, so I honestly have no idea if anything was missing. Or if anything was put back when we finish the raid series.

[SannaR]

I think my biggest disappointment with the middle part of the MSQ in Garlemald was the lack of any mention of what happened in the 6.0 combined role quests.

It's even relevant, because the same lessons are taught there as with what happened in the 6.4 MSQ. Garlemald needs to figure out what they want to do from now on, as a sovereign nation, whatever it may be. Nero even gave a whole speech about how "Garlemald did not rise to grandeur from complacency in the present or rumination in the past. We live for the future. It is in our blood." Whether or not this is actually true or part of Nero's personal delusions, it's still a view expressed in the game dialogue in the usual philosophizing cutscene tone, so it's something that we're supposed to at least consider. And seeing the same sentiments repeated here means either players will feel that this is a retreading of old ground in 6.4, or the combined role quests are retreading old ground after 6.4.

There's also no dialogue that I can find regarding the "former senators" of Garlemald who went to the Moon. They're even still there (in the Carrotorium, going through Loporrit shock), but their existence has been forgotten by the senators still in Garlemald?

Unrelated to everything else, but for the 6.x MSQ in general, I've been replaying the FFVI Pixel Remaster, and I'm finding it amusing how the description "half-human woman tries to understand emotions and social interaction, by asking everyone she meets what is love, regardless of appropriate context" matches both stories.

EDIT: (forgot to mention, but just reminded of it)

Pandemonium:

When we learned that Athena allegedly used a part of Azys Lla to rebuild Pandemonium in the present day, did anyone else port into Azys Lla to check which portion it was?

I did look around, especially in the Flagship area around the Aetherochemical Research Facility dungeon entrance, but I admit I'd never really looked at the place before, so I honestly have no idea if anything was missing. Or if anything was put back when we finish the raid series.

Not from the outside and we'd never see what went missing on the inside of ARF.

[Wyssahtyn]

There's also no dialogue that I can find regarding the "former senators" of Garlemald who went to the Moon. They're even still there (in the Carrotorium, going through Loporrit shock), but their existence has been forgotten by the senators still in Garlemald?

where are the deported garleans? i flew through some of it but didn't see any. also it makes it even more egregious considering how the premise of the loporrit tribal quest is them complaining that no one came to the moon.

[SannaR]

where are the deported garleans? i flew through some of it but didn't see any. also it makes it even more egregious considering how the premise of the loporrit tribal quest is them complaining that no one came to the moon.

The only Garleans I've found on the moon are at 13.5Y, 14.6X and look exactly like the regular Garleans that are also shown in the capstone of the role quests. I don't think we saw any of the high ranking Garleans until this patch tbh.

[YianKutku]

The only Garleans I've found on the moon are at 13.5Y, 14.6X and look exactly like the regular Garleans that are also shown in the capstone of the role quests. I don't think we saw any of the high ranking Garleans until this patch tbh.

The Garleans who feature in the latter part of the 6.0 combined role quests are explicitly described as "former senate members" (as per Artoirel), "among the refugees of Camp Broken Glass". The context is in getting the former government members to create a new framework of governance.

Later, during the cutscene immediately after, Aymeric also repeats this, in the context of asking the collected Garlean refugees.

We were told a number of former members of your senate yet remain among you. Would you be amenable to an interim government led by these individuals, until such time as Garlemald can be rebuilt?

Now, it's possible there's a sleight of hand in framing here, where the Garleans in the cutscene immediately after the discussion about former senate members are not former senate members, and the former senate members are elsewhere and not in the cutscene (against all reasonable guidelines of media construction). But that still leaves Artoirel's statement that there are former senate members in Camp Broken Glass, not all holed up in a previously unenterable building in Regio Urbanissima.

To elaborate, I'm not asking for a major change in dialogue for 6.4 MSQ. I just wanted a single dialogue box (or two) acknowledging that some former senate members have decided not to bother with this "rebuilding Garlemald" business, and are either on the Moon, or are in Camp Broken Glass. And acknowledgement that most of the philosophical discussion of "Garlemald can be rebuilt" and "Garlemald is its people, not its things" has already been said (by Nero, although I understand if nobody wants to bring up the source due to Nero's Nero-ness).

[SannaR]

The Garleans who feature in the latter part of the 6.0 combined role quests are explicitly described as "former senate members" (as per Artoirel), "among the refugees of Camp Broken Glass". The context is in getting the former government members to create a new framework of governance.

Later, during the cutscene immediately after, Aymeric also repeats this, in the context of asking the collected Garlean refugees.



Now, it's possible there's a sleight of hand in framing here, where the Garleans in the cutscene immediately after the discussion about former senate members are not former senate members, and the former senate members are elsewhere and not in the cutscene (against all reasonable guidelines of media construction). But that still leaves Artoirel's statement that there are former senate members in Camp Broken Glass, not all holed up in a previously unenterable building in Regio Urbanissima.

To elaborate, I'm not asking for a major change in dialogue for 6.4 MSQ. I just wanted a single dialogue box (or two) acknowledging that some former senate members have decided not to bother with this "rebuilding Garlemald" business, and are either on the Moon, or are in Camp Broken Glass. And acknowledgement that most of the philosophical discussion of "Garlemald can be rebuilt" and "Garlemald is its people, not its things" has already been said (by Nero, although I understand if nobody wants to bring up the source due to Nero's Nero-ness).

Sadly this is another example of the MSQ having to ignore side content. They will never hint at side content if they can go about something that still works without assuming everyone has done said content. It's why even though I've enjoyed the post 6.0 story I grumble a bit at all of the rebuild up and explaining about the void stuff or making portals to the void. When I know there's a group on the 1st whom started their own journey in fixing the 13th.

Now we don't know why there were former senators at Camp Broken Glass or if any of them are the two we recently got introduced to. I just remember that none of them looked like they were actual members of a senate. Heck we didn't even get an appearance of that one royal guard from the missing mother questline in the role cap quest. If some of those Garleans from the role cap quest were supposed to be senate members then none of them looked like they had been sleeping in their fancier clothes for the last few days. Or gave off an air of importance.

Sometimes I'm glad that a lot of the trying to get them back on their feet is happening off screen and that there has been advancement in their story. Other times it would have been nice to have seen some of it. Or at least a hint. Give us a new set of static npcs that phase in and out of places talking about the newest shipment of supplies or something.

[SannaR]

Island Sanctuary rank 15 quest

Just give us a Volleyball or Blitzball mini game already dang it. I want that not feeling great ice bomb ball. Also what the heck is up with Ishgardian fashions? Why is it always steampunk?

[Iscah]

Island Sanctuary rank 15 quest

Just give us a Volleyball or Blitzball mini game already dang it. I want that not feeling great ice bomb ball. Also what the heck is up with Ishgardian fashions? Why is it always steampunk?

About that...

I'll gladly take steampunk over the excess of modern casual they were stuck with for the Firmament quests. We could have had fantastic steampunk to match the Neo-Ishgardian sets and instead we got casual gear and shopkeeper aprons.

But yeah, that volleyball animation seemed all too conspicuous. Either they've got a reason to be making those animations or they're being massive trolls. Either is likely.

[SannaR]

About that...

I'll gladly take steampunk over the excess of modern casual they were stuck with for the Firmament quests. We could have had fantastic steampunk to match the Neo-Ishgardian sets and instead we got casual gear and shopkeeper aprons.

But yeah, that volleyball animation seemed all too conspicuous. Either they've got a reason to be making those animations or they're being massive trolls. Either is likely.

For me it doesn't scream Ishgard? At least not the set we get from the quest or the female version of the Neo Ishgard or the set that's a recolor of it. At least not in its current climate. The Baronial outfits at least match the grade IV look of the granaries and worskshops. I wish you could upgrade the look of the older landmarks so if you wanted them to be in the same style as the newer versions of the "house", granaries and workshops you could. And yes they're either trolling or we'll get something during Moonfire fare with the animation, maybe? Not that I don't enjoy them cause I do. I just want to spike or look like I'm going to spike a dang ball outside of a CS.