CG Midlander

[Raldo]

I have a feeling this is going to come down to the following explanation:

This is a trailer for an MMO. Their goal is to showcase some of the mechanics, and some of the story, in a bite-size CG video. Be sure to show off all the races! We have two of 'em here in the inn, so lets have the other races out on the battlefield! To hell with continuity, what looks cool? Guildleves! OK! The Echo! OK! Battle! OK! Battle Regimens! OK! A flaming Malboro as the result of all this!? Hell yeah! But what will they do about the flaming Malboro? We're done showing off combat. I dunno, hit it with an airship or something and move onto the next scene. The instigating event that corrupted Mor Dhona! OK! Random picture of the battle party at the edge of Silvertear Falls! Sure!

--- skip ahead to 2.0 trailer --

Hey guys, we have to make another trailer! You artists ready to make a whole new CG-calibur 3D mesh and/or texture of every race so people don't get confused and think they're the same people? NO THANKS! Ok, we'll just reuse the same models, no one will care but Anonymoose, right?


tl;dr version: You're thinking way too hard about something that likely wasn't meant to be thought about. The first trailer on its own already has some flaws, so trying to link the two is crazy business.

[Anonymoose]

You're thinking way too hard about something that likely wasn't meant to be thought about. The first trailer on its own already has some flaws, so trying to link the two is crazy business.

EDIT: Then why did they gag-order our poor voidsent!? *n*

I'll come back after 11/11...

Look forward to hearing from you, Ferne; thanks for popping in to keep us on our toes until then! I'll be as patient as a lalafell gets until then... [reaches for the Rolanberry 1450]



OP Just in Case

That's entirely possible - though, looking back at FFXI, you never know.

Remember, these aren't just trailers. The contents of the first trailers ended up being from our current official opening cinematic. I'm willing to bet that the new trailers for ARR are the same thing - part of the official game, either the End of the World cinematic or ARR's opening (maybe they're the same?)

As for meaning, remember FFXI's opening movie? Random child escapes from beastman invasion of nonexistent town? Took until LV45 to see Aldo again the first time, and then expansion packs later we finally learn his story and even visit the city he escaped from - but it all meshed. It was Tavnazia's history the same way we're seeing Mor Dhona's history now.

I'm hoping that it wouldn't be a mistake of me to assume they put the same care and intent into it 10 years later.

But, again, you could very well be right, lol.

[Raldo]

Took until LV45 to see Aldo again the first time, and then expansion packs later we finally learn his story and even visit the city he escaped from - but it all meshed. It was Tavnazia's history the same way we're seeing Mor Dhona's history now.

Did Aldo ever lead (or even participate in) an army to return to Tavnazia as shown at the end of the trailer? There's very little to pick apart in the XI trailer, as it's all depicting a single event, and yet I can still find one apparent flaw if I look hard enough. I suppose you could argue that it was a large convoy bringing supplies to Tavnazia after you discover it if you really wanted to stretch things.

Very intrigued by Ferne's post as well, so I guess we'll see.

[Anonymoose]

Did Aldo ever lead (or even participate in) an army to return to Tavnazia as shown at the end of the trailer?

That's a good question, really...

The character leading the allied forces in the end of the cinematic has the same color hair as Aldo, and I think a lot of us assumed they were one in the same. However, it would be strange if he were both the leader of the Tenshodo, a nonviolent guy in distinct robes AND a warrior leading the allied forces of Eorzea. It probably wouldn't be a retcon considering Aldo was in the initial release (Mission 4-1), so I'd guess it's supposed to be the player.

That's one of the things that has me interested for the truth about midlander guy, here. Is he a proxy for the player... or is he, like Aldo, a more important part of Eorzea's story that we're just not aware of yet...

I was hoping to get a Tumblr going with the lore for 1.0 leading into ARR that I could use as a waterfall blog of 2.0 - but as you can see I didn't even make it past the cinematic XD

Also Moose I love you you're my hero.

/blush
/wait 1
/item "Glass of Rolanberry 1450" <Teakwood>

[Anonymoose]

EDIT: Damn! I quoted myself instead of editing my own post again.

THE SHAME. IT BURNS.

<snip>

You put forth a very reasonable version of the Echo possibility, and one of the two scenarios it made sense to me to be. You're right - the Roegadyn/Lalafell could be different from but similar to the 10 Years Ago Party - afterall, the elezen female is missing, it seems.

The only reason I put that thought aside in my initial post was that they seemed to be portrayed in exactly the same way - the blonde lalafell throwing up a protect shield as the roegadyn stood firm. It seemed like a way of saying that they'd all come full circle. In fact, I took a good long look at their haircuts in each video before deciding I felt comfortable saying they were the same.

Now that I know I'm not the only one with reservations...
I guess I should take a few minutes and look closer at the two.

EDIT: Okay, done!
Interestingly, the Roe has aged more than any of them (maybe the Miqo, too) - but aside form that they're all a 100% match. Lalafell is a blonde mage with pigtails held by black ribbons, roe is a green skinned scrunchy face with a long mohawk, miqo is tanned with three white lines for tattoos, and the elezen male, while totally obscured in his blm outfit, is still a total grumpus.

Elezen female AWOL.

---------

I found where the gladiator version of The Battle of Silvertear Falls came from.
It's the Teaser from E2 2009


Based on the comparative aging, we can see again some evidence for an echo-jump.

We know two things for sure - he's not seeing the events of the roegadyn, lalafell, or elezen female because we know that none of them witnessed the sky battle from a Juggernaut or saw the primals explode from Midgardsormr. We also know that this is the first time he's witnessing these events, so he didn't know them previously.

This implies that the archer was a fourth friend - one who died in the skydive and, as Mag said, left his echo on the guildleve. However, this seems to be a direct contradiction of the images of the midlander, as a gladiator, with the 10 Years Ago Party in pre-collapsed Mor Dhona.

Perhaps he sought them out after learning of them via the echo-jump but before Mor Dhona had completely degraded to its current state? Perhaps the AG Party is meeting somewhere between 1562 and 1572? You'd think the crashed ship would be in those screens...

ARGH.