Thread: 8.0 and World

i think its important for us to begin discussing new ideas now before the devs finalize anything it seems like 7.3 is going an possibly 7.4 will be the wrap up story arc for DT an what comes next may be filler like as the Void continuation/conclusion story was in EW but i believe they want us to go to Mercydia next as its the only thing left mentioned by Hades that we have yet to touch upon but i hope its not 8.0 but rather that they explore the idea of us going to a completely new world or even timeline similar to ShB's story but instead of a shard it could be entirely new planet/star.
and to that end i have a few ideas please feel free to share any ideas you may have as well lets try to be civil an not create this into a debate thread yeah?
-Firstly, i think its time to retire the scions, give them a break for a single expansion an give us all new faces and new cast this new cast should be diverse let us have some variant using player/npc races we don't see that often such as roegydan, lalafel, viera, highlander, lupin, garlean, etc. an give our new cast members some actual personality as well give them uniqueness an qualities all their own but don't have them stepping on eachother's toes alot make them have indifference but co-operative.

-Second i would like it if they revisit the companion system give us a customizeable npc similiar to that of the formerly lost Path Companion from 1.0 and have them function the same as how some npc's due in the trust system as an "all rounder" who can maintain any role be it healing, dps, or tanking. let us summon them as well similar to the chocobo companion an let us glamour them like the squadron npcs are able to do etc as for voice acting to save time and cost have it so there is only one female and one male voice over actor/actress an this companion could also serve as a voice for our own character's line of thinking outside of the unvoiced cutscenes example lets say an npc addresses our character in a voiced scene our companion can speak on our behalf to clarify our motive or objective etc but dont make it too excessive as some may get mad to have their character excluded from choice but make it exclusive to few scenes of minor importance.

-Third. this relates to the world zones and maps i think its high time the get creative a world does not feel "adventurous" or even "open" if all doors are just locked an gates are closed to us this needs to stop. instead add more explorable areas such as caves, mountain dwellings, underwater passages, floating islands that we can fly too, places we can climb/jump too, buildings or towns we can visit an much more an rpg should always feel emersive never dull an never "staged" please bring back the height of adventure an exploration we desperately need it.

-Fourth point. and that's questing in general this needs to remain dynamic i know the infamous "Fetch quest" is standard issue but mix up more i liked when we had those companion quests flying over zones with an npc, i like those stealth operations, and i liked battle instances like the Naadam in the Azim Steppe we need more of those. and please add more minigames too like the dart game for example or add like a jump puzzle or even just like fun minigames in between to lighten the mood as we visit places this will make things feel refreshing and fun to do outside of the normal "go to x, fight mob, return to start, now watch cutscene" ordeal we've dealt with an i think players will appreciate that.

To Continue:

-Story: i believe if we go the new planet/star route it could happen as like us recieving a distress signal from another star them telling us of some unforeseen or unprecidented threat that devours star/planets for example or just like some force that absorbs all life energy unto itself an the planet contacting us is under threat of this new enemy we have to aid them in defeating to protect the universe etc so we take the loporrit's starship an begin prepping for our journey an by this time Cid has developed an engine for it thats not reliant on primals as an aether source but one that burns continuously without expiring etc an this is where we'd recruit our new cast members like you can showcase that all our other friends are busy solving Eitherys problems etc an y'shtola ofc bust with the whole shard traveling situation. Erenville could be accompanying us for example.

-Route 2: Alternate timeline if this occured it could be something that happens with our power or even there could be a device that calls out to us or is someone something we're drawn too that ends up triggering a dimensional time-space portal that tears thru reality and only we get sucked into it finding ourselves waking up to a place wholly unfamiliar to us but yet at the same time baring symbols or names from which we recognize an then as we explore an learn more about this place we come to realize its 2000 years or so into the future. an that it was none other than ourself who asked for our aid before leaving to confront a threat we will face in the past upon returning to our original time.
our new cast then could be the descendants and or successor's to some of our allies similar to how shadowbringer's had the descendant or Biggs working with G'raha rather our alley is a descendant of house Levellieur or Fortemps for example an they had been the ones to activate the device which would summon us to their timeline etc.
think this would be a good enough set up to start something while also giving us a completely new experience to the story an new setting/world.

Originally Posted by ShadowyZero

-Firstly, i think its time to retire the scions, give them a break for a single expansion an give us all new faces and new cast this new cast should be diverse let us have some variant using player/npc races we don't see that often such as roegydan, lalafel, viera, highlander, lupin, garlean, etc. an give our new cast members some actual personality as well give them uniqueness an qualities all their own but don't have them stepping on eachother's toes alot make them have indifference but co-operative.

I think it's about the right time for us to stop getting all the Scions en masse, but I don't think the angle is 'whole new recurring cast of characters, it's time for Scions 2: This Time There's An Au Ra'; that just creates the same problem all over again, except you've thrown out any audience attachment that exists for the pre-existing cast, and there's now even more characters fighting over the spotlight that already can't fit all the Scions.

I do think it's time to be done with 'the Scions as a whole are around for every expansion', though, because we've reached a point where there just isn't enough for them to do; in Dawntrail Estinien actively did nothing, the twins didn't really contribute, and G'raha managed to deprive Y'shtola of any ability to provide interesting hooks or character development, while simultaneously doing nothing for the actual story himself. It would've worked a lot better to not invite G'raha, Estinien and one of the twins, and keep only the people who would actually have things to do. Ideally, any future expansion should do that, and only invite the Scions that would actively contribute. If we're going to Meracydia, it shouldn't be a whole gang thing: it should be Estinien first and foremost for the dragon connection, maybe Urianger if we're using the Warring Triad to do some mysticism stuff, and maybe it's for the best if that's all and everyone else takes the expansion off.

Also, as for the actual subject matter: if we're not going to Meracydia in 8.0, I riot. There is one continent left to visit, I'm tired of waiting for it to be Fantasy Australia's turn! I don't want to sit through Shadowbringers 2 while I sit crossing my fingers that next time is gonna be the part I'm excited about. (Especially because I don't think Shadowbringers is nearly as good as people think and an attempt to repeat it will just show its flaws more than recapture its magic, but that's a separate discussion.)

Originally Posted by Chasingstars

The primary goal of visiting other shards, with Azem's Key, should primarily be to rejoin the warrior of light with the remaining fragments of themself, thereby fully rejoining Azem and in the process reach the power of an ancient.

It's an interesting idea to see what would happen if we become fully rejoined.
But what if the other Azem-shards don't want to be rejoined with us? They are their own people afterall, with their own lives. They'd need a good reason to give up on their own souls, like Ardbert.
Not to mention that we ourselves don't really have a reason to be rejoined.

Originally Posted by Chasingstars

The primary goal of visiting other shards, with Azem's Key, should primarily be to rejoin the warrior of light with the remaining fragments of themself, thereby fully rejoining Azem and in the process reach the power of an ancient. As that is also a dangling plot thread that was introduced to us as far back as shadowbringers. The previous reason we couldn't just go do it is because of the lack of personal means to travel elsewhere with the exception of what G'raha did with the crystal tower.

As for Meracydia, also yes we should visit there. As its currently setup to be a unique environment with unique races that live there unlike elsewhere in the world.

I don't know. I feel the only shards that should possibly be rejoined are the First and the Thirteenth since it would actually benefit them in terms of how it could balance the light (1st) and the dark (13th).

i hear you about the people excited about Mercydia but i think we know too much about it as is, which is why it confused me when Hades brought it up because like what more is there for us to possibly know that hasn't already been revealed or is common knowledge at this point? how would they translate it all into a compelling narrative thats supposed to span across an entire expansion?
like i tell you what we all know about Mercydia if that will help my argument here but to give you the cliff notes version it boils down too: "people really hated the Allagan Empire so they joined hands with the Dragons to fight them"
but here is the lengthier part of what we all known about Mercydia:

We have to first go all the way back to Midgardsomr an how he fled his star cause it was under threat of invasion by the omnicron he took his eggs after having bested Omega in combat and fled too Eitherys which at the time was described as hovering in some kind of space-time bubble which Midgardsomr dived into traversing what we know as the inter dimensional rift an settling himself into the refection with the most aether concentration "The Source"
and its here he was confronted by Hydaelyn who granted him stay if he did one small favor for her an that was to guard the gateway into the aetherial plane to which he agreed too an was even given the ability to consume aether to prolong his life after death.
moving forward his children hatched an were taught about the lands of Eitherys and its people and then when they matured they all flew to the corners of the world.
Niddhogg, Ratatoskr, and Hrysvalgr went north and settled in the Dravanian hinterlands an abalathia's spine. Vtra and his sister Azdaja went east an settled in thavnir tropics, then Bahamut and Tiamat eloped an settled south in the continent of Meracydia

Bahamut and Tiamat were viewed as god like they were the figure heads of Meracydia and were the island's protectors/gaurdians we know there were beastkin there the tree like people are one example and the lizard-chimera are the other both sentient an intelligent races of people then later came hyuran an others who were fleeing from the oppression of Allag they sought refuge in Meracydia an Bahamut granted it too them they co-existed in peace but as we knew Omega had pursued Midgardsomr an crashed landed near cartineu flats where the Allagan's found it an brought it back to normal function an even found a way to control it remotely they began to push into the southern continent an this prompted the people to act they begged for Bahamut to be their shield and champion and he did he successfully repelled the Allagan's but they wouldn't give up so easily an thats when Amon orders them to release Omega an it defeated Bahamut crushing all of Meracydia's hopes this as we know of course was all by Ascian design they wanted to create this conflict in hopes of triggering a rejoining event so they approached the grief stricken Tiamat an the people of Meracydia an taught them the art of Summoning to call forth their own gods an this how the elder eikons were born in the forms of "The Warring Triad" and Bahamut Prime.
but this only threw the nation into chaos an the lyrics of Sophia's theme song tell us the tale of blood being spilled in order to maintain order an force away the Allagan Empire but this too failed the Allagan's were just far too advanced for their magic Omega defeated them all and captured them an they were then used for ghastly and inhumane experiments and a local beast known as "ixalion" was used to summon Garuda an later fused with more hyuran like genetics to become what we know as the ixal.
Tiamat cried out for help from her siblings however after witnessing the fall of Bahamut a second time an her sister Azdaja answered her cry an flew to her aid along with Vitra. they two attacked Azy Lla creating destruction and chaos but the Allagan's employed voidsent which we know the pair of great wyrms had already been fighting before on their own home island in thavnir. Azdaja put of fierce resistance but eventually fell into a trap an ends up going to the Void a distraught Vitra then is unable to continue fighting an he flees back to thavnir an Tiamat is recaptured an binded in Azy Lla but their attack did have one effect in their favor an thats that it created a window for the goddess eikon Sophia who used that opportunity to wake up Bahamut an this is what causes a calamity and sinks the Crystal Tower.

So with all this in mind i struggle to see how they could create a solid enough or compelling enough story line when so much is already known an the premise is just going to devolve into either Allagan shenanigans or Ascian's Fault for the situation all over again.. this why i thing Meracydia would probably be better off as a stand alone main quest rather than a whole Expansion worth of content cause its gunna feel like a Heavensward all over again an i dont think people want that.