Revelations from JP Fan Fest (January 2024)

[Lady_Silvermoon]

I was approaching it from the architectural term for "arcade", meaning "lots of contiguous arches", but from what we see in that concept art there are no (meaningful) arches, so that's probably wrong as well.

I admit I'm kind of reluctant to consider that the meaning might be based on the "gaming machines" meaning of "arcade", because that's a bit too whimsical for me for the eight-man raid.

It seems to have some connection to our cyberpunk location, so "arcade" in the gaming sense might be exactly what it is, specially since it seems to be made of GPUs. Good news! Looks like we're getting blitzball after all (but with death).

[Cleretic]

Yes. Please let me have this one little spark of joy after so much misery. Plus, don't the Mamool Ja pick their leaders through combat? Is it even a political intrigue plot if all we have to do is win a fight?

No, the Mamool Ja don't pick leaders through combat, they pick leaders through head count. As in, 'that guy's got two of them, let's follow him'. They seem to consider martial strength important on a societal level beyond that, but it's not victory-by-combat like, say, the xaela of the Steppe. Anything further is speculation (this is all from, like, ARR stuff and a single EE1 page), but I'd wager that it might actually be them equating military leadership to political leadership; that if someone can control their troops well, then that means they can control their people well. Not completely unlike the Klingons from Star Trek, if you want a comparison. That actually opens A LOT of room for political intrigue and clever aces up the sleeve.

It's also notable that one of the few parts of the story we have is that the person beseeching us for help isn't a Mamool Ja; she's a hrothgal. That actually puts her outside of what little heirarchy we've got going on, but also shows that she's got her own legitimacy, because she's most likely a queen, or at least vying to be. So she's gotta get at least a little bit clever to earn respect from the mamool Ja, who literally base their leadership decisions on the belief that two heads are better than one.

In fact, I'd also point out one of the other figures on the poster: That unknown miqo'te on the right. If he's a suncat (with that skin tone it could go either way) he's possibly also got a societal claim to authority, as a Nunh. And if I were to guess anything about him, I'd wager he might be the equivalent power player from Solution Nine; he's the one newcomer on the poster with a noticeably 'non-primitive' outfit.

[Cleretic]

I kind of hope the Miqo from the poster art is a mooncat. Feels like we haven't had much mooncat representation in the MSQ at all.

Strike 'much': We haven't had MSQ mooncat representation. Even in major sidequests, all we've had are Khloe and Zhloe, Nashu, and that one guy from the Black Mage questline. They're the least represented at-launch subrace, and I could make a case for them being behind all the post-launch subraces except the Veena. Suncat just occurred to me because their society is patriarchal, so you'd have a contention between three leaders with internally legitimate claims to leadership of their own people, vying for leadership of the society as a whole: a two-headed Mamool Ja, a hrothgar queen, and a Nunh of the Seekers.

Although, if my theory of an overall clash of 'tradition versus modernity' is right, and my theory that he's from Solution Nine is also right, him being a mooncat would actually carry some interesting extra weight: his society's culture says that he should be secondary to a matriarchal figure, but why should that matter less than the fact he can actually lead?

[Yuella]

We also haven't had duskwights. There's one in the Werlyt story but none in the MSQ

[Cleretic]

We also haven't had duskwights. There's one in the Werlyt story but none in the MSQ

Eh, there's some 'technically' picks in that. The Werlyt NPC did first appear in non-speaking spots in the MSQ, they did make a deliberate design decision that most of the elves in Norvrandt are Duskwight, and at least internally Miounne, Ysayle and Count Fortemps are Duskwight. (Although Fortemps is even weirder, he's also got an au ra face.) And that's not to mention they have sidequest NPCs who are pointedly about being Duskwight, which the mooncats don't have.

Most of that I'd argue don't really count for Duskwight representation, but it's still more than the mooncats get; even all the major miqo'te on the First are suncats.

[Alleo]

What a interesting fanfest.

I really liked Pictomancer and I look forward to trying it. I understand that the attack effects are not for everyone but thankfully you should be able to turn those effects down. (Unlike those of us who dont like certain glamours) A bit sad that beast master turned into another limited job. Hopefully it still is a bit fun. (Did not enjoy Blue Mage much)

Not sure if I am going to change into a female Hrothgar. Have to see the benchmark first. Their heads feel a bit small but maybe its just the hairstyle. Other than that I like their body type.

I dont know what to feel about the cosmic exploration. I did not like that we are somehow able to travel through space in Endwalker and now it seems that we are even visiting other planets...maybe this is just Dynamis acting up on Ultima Thule? Will see how it turns out.

In the end the next expansion seems to have a big amount of content. All the standard stuff but also new Hildibrand, new variant dungeons, new deep dungeon, a new "island" and even a Bozja/Eureka like zone. I laughed a bit when Yoshida said that times have changed. Because its so true. I remember the forums being on fire because people really disliked Eureka (especially Pagos) and suddenly its really missed.

The story also seems interesting. Especially that player hub.

[MikkoAkure]

In fact, I'd also point out one of the other figures on the poster: That unknown miqo'te on the right. If he's a suncat (with that skin tone it could go either way) he's possibly also got a societal claim to authority, as a Nunh. And if I were to guess anything about him, I'd wager he might be the equivalent power player from Solution Nine; he's the one newcomer on the poster with a noticeably 'non-primitive' outfit.

My personal guess is that he's from Shaaloani since he's wearing a fantasy version of an old western duster complete with a cravat which feels rather archaic for a cyberpunk city and would fit in more with the wild west theme. The multiple suspender-wearing Miqo'te from the trailer have been speculated as being from Xak Tural as well.

Most Miqo'te do not seem to follow the traditional culture anyway. The U and M tribes living out in the wild seems to be the exception to the rule and the number of Miqo'te living in Ul'dah are so small that they're filed under "others". Most Eorzean Sun Seekers are from Limsa Lominsa and we've also had multiple examples of Miqo'te living in nuclear families with a mom, a dad, and children together. The only city-dwelling Miqo'te we've met who have 2 moms and one dad are Y'shtola and Y'mhitra. If there's a society of Miqo'te on the other side of the world, then their culture has been out of contact with that of Eorzean culture for thousands upon thousands of years so any notion of tradition can be thrown out the window and we won't know what their views are.

We'll probably know more about the fight for the throne in 8 days when the next story patch drops so I'm not too keen on speculating on that. But we do know there are multiple two-headed Mamool Ja out there leading their own warbands who vie for the leadership of Tural because we've already fought one of them. They must've been hell for the Mealvaan's Gate census takers if they went through customs.

We also haven't had duskwights. There's one in the Werlyt story but none in the MSQ

Depends on what you count as representation because like Cleretic said, other Elezen have used Duskwight models but are not Duskwight Elezen. Duskwight Elezen as an actual clan only come from the Twelveswood since their whole beginnings and the reason they are different from other Elezen came about due to Gelmorra. I would not expect Duskwight to be in Tural since the New World has only been known to Eorzea for 80 years and semi-regularly contacted for the past 20. If there were Elezen in the New World and they used the Duskwight model, I would not count that as actual Duskwight representation unless they are Eorzean or there's been some crazy retcons.

That all said I think we're past due for more Gridania lore because Limsa Lominsa, Ul'dah, and Ishgard seem to hog all the glory and Gridania is always left behind. Palace of the Dead dealt with Gelmorra but we barely got a lick of Gelmorran/Duskwight lore through it.

[Denishia]

(Repost to right thread) Got to be honest here, as much as the story speculation is hyperfocused on Solution Nine's mystery, to no one's surprise, the part that I'm most curious about now that my speculation thoughts are whirling, is the Succession Contest and the contestants, now that we have a vague guess whom may be involved.

Because a story needs character drama and interpersonal relationships, and now we know that one of the people involved is the Hrothgar daughter of the two-headed Mamool king. About to bond with Krile over adoption stories? Which is fascinating. We have no idea what her relationship is to her father and vice versa or to the other claimants- is she the underdog or not?

A safe assumption is that another main claimant is the feather-bedecked Mamoojal under Thancred and Urianger. My curiosity is to know if they are royal siblings and why they are competing against each other.

Or if there's more than two factions in this contest- maybe there's three and one is from North Tural? With all the jokes about this having references to FF X, what if this is instead a FF X-2 reference with three factions that map onto three former friends and three paths to (re)focus culturally/politically?

I know everyone is joking that the contest will be irrelevant by level 93, but it feels like what it really represents will remain the unifying thread.

[Tehmon]

I'm very curious about the Scions they decided to highlight on the key art. The most shocking to me is Urianger, whose story feels quite finished after Endwalker. Surprised he is there over the twins (who were mentioned to be the ones traveling with WoL alongside Erenville at the start of the game), Y'shtola and G'raha.

Yoshi-P said that Krile and Thancred are going to get more focus, so not surprised they are included. My suspicion is that Thancred will be the main force on the '' opposing '' team in the scions, because his appearance in 6.4 was somewhat... ominous? Or rather, that he is ready to leave the nest of Scions of the Seventh Dawn as they have no urgent need of him with WoL in the reigns. Thancred's character arc has also come to it's conclusion for the most part, so I could see this expansion as Thancred's last big role in the game, much like Lyse's was in Stormblood. Though, with focus on Thancred, it also just further makes me question what Urianger's role will be, as they have been steadfast companions since Shadowbringers. If Thancred takes an opposing position, will Urianger follow? Of course, it could actually be that we are on Thancred's side and all this speculation is for naught lmao.

I hope we eventually leave the twins behind. 6.x patches showcased how unnecessary they are at this point, and I find their dialogue to be really boring. They make too many heroic speeches as well and I don't want to hear them anymore. Y'shtola has also not risen to the main girl challenge despite the focus on her in 6.x, so I'm not particularly hoping to see more of her. Estinien will work as a side character, and I think it's fitting he is taking this mentor-like position for the Mamool Ja soldiers/hunters we saw in the trailer, creating a connection with the locals (that'll come in handy down the road) while the others deal with the big shots and the politics. G'raha's position remains a mystery, I'd like to see more of him and I'd like to have that adventure with him, but his part in the trailer, him not showing up in the key art and not even being alluded to in any of the text we've seen makes me a bit worried. G'raha had so little to do in Endwalker overall that I wish he could've gotten more development in Dawntrail, though that remains to be seen. Though honestly, I feel like Erenville is on our team partly because G'raha's role will be lesser, and we need a hot pretty boy in the group during his absence lmao.

[Vallavia]

It's also notable that one of the few parts of the story we have is that the person beseeching us for help isn't a Mamool Ja; she's a hrothgal. That actually puts her outside of what little heirarchy we've got going on, but also shows that she's got her own legitimacy, because she's most likely a queen, or at least vying to be. So she's gotta get at least a little bit clever to earn respect from the mamool Ja, who literally base their leadership decisions on the belief that two heads are better than one.

I'm actually wondering if the heretofore-unheard-of divergent Turali Hrothgar culture (Xbr'aal) puts her legitimacy as a ruler at a disadvantage, hence why she's seeking outside assistance. I feel like it would be a waste to just carbon copy Ilsabardian Hrothgar social structure wholesale to the other side of the world, especially when we've already tread that ground in Bozja, so I could see a scenario where they're completely different, be it egalitarian, patriarchal, or perhaps even all-female.