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[Demoskinos]

Wait is this another expansion or an event?

FFXIV does about 3-month cycles for major content patch drops. The expansion launched in June so were due for new content.

To further answer the question about the Ivalice thing. FFXIV has two ongoing raids every patch cycle. An 8-man Full Party raid and then a 24 man Alliance Raid. This Ivalice raid will be the 24 man raid story arc for the Stormblood expansion.

So everyone who is behind it will be around forever but I'll tell you this. Since you need 24 people to queue for this thing. Older 24 man raids are WAY harder to queue for. So while they will be there forever if you want a chance to more easily see this stuff I'd suggest making FFXIV a priority for awhile. You do have like 6 months until the next part of this 24 man raid will drop so you do have some time.

 

[CopperPuppy]

As someone who has never played XIV, seeing my two favorite FFs combined (IX and Tactics) is cruel beyond belief.

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

Looks fantastic. Can't wait!

 

[MagnaderAlpha]

also I thought the Prima Vista with the theater group was from FF IX, I'm confused ...

I'm guessing it isn't FFIX's Prima Vista, just an airship called "Prima Vista" that serves a similar role. The airships Invincible and Enterprise have also appeared in multiple FF games. I see it as a nod to a previous FF, but still its own thing within this new world, like a lot of other things in FFXIV.

 

[aceface]

As someone who has never played XIV, seeing my two favorite FFs combined (IX and Tactics) is cruel beyond belief.

Well get in here and start playing, it's awesome.

 

[IvorB]

Looks great.

 

[Firebrand]

Looks nice. I meant to play through FFT on Android before this comes out, I don't think that'll happen though, lol.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

But Zodiac Brave Story is set thousands of years after Rabanastre's era...

The Zodiac Brave Story is the story about Saint Ajora and the 12 Zodiac Braves, not Ramza's story. Saint Ajora's story takes place only a few years after FFXII.

But it's not like this is literally the Rabanastre of FFXII and the Ramza and Delita of FFT anyway, so whatever.

 

[Kintaro]

All of this looks awesome. Shame it will become boring real quick like every other Raid with a weekly lockout. =(

 

[TurnipFritters]

The Zodiac Brave Story is the story about Saint Ajora and the 12 Zodiac Braves, not Ramza's story. Saint Ajora's story takes place only a few years after FFXII.

But it's not like this is literally the Rabanastre of FFXII and the Ramza and Delita of FFT anyway, so whatever.

A-hem, well actually, the Zodiac Brave Story predates Ajora, however the story was incorporated into Ajora's legacy by the Church, as is common with developing religions.

 

[Evil Monkey DTT]

I took a break after playing storm blood, is it official that the world of hydaelyn is the world of ivalice?

 

[jiggle]

Ajora is right after xii ending? Is there a timeline somewhere i can look?

 

[Laieon]

XII is the only Final Fantasy game I've ever enjoyed, this looks great. Wish I enjoyed XIV's gameplay.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

Looks amazing. I am glad my brother convinced me to get back into FFXIV with Stormblood. Still need to reach the cap on my Ninja though...

 

[Akainu]

I would totally pick any of Ivalice's races over the ones in FF14 now. :\

I would make a Viera male so damn fast. Play the whole damn game all over again.

 

[TurnipFritters]

Ajora is right after xii ending? Is there a timeline somewhere i can look?

There's not really a strong timeline connecting Tactics to the 12/RW/Tactics A2 era - all we know is that Airships existed during Ajora's time and that a long time passes between Ajora's death and the events of Final Fantasy Tactics. And then Vagrant Story is sometime after Tactics (long enough that the truth of what happened in Tactics came to light)

Also in War of the Lions Balthier and Luso are there, even though that kind of destroys any actual timeline consistency.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

The Prima Vista? A theater troupe? That's awesome!

When did the Prima Vista become a part of Ivalice?

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

All of this looks awesome. Shame it will become boring real quick like every other Raid with a weekly lockout. =(

Maybe the stuff they have cooking for 4.2 and beyond (Eureka) will change things up?

At this point I'm logging in just to do the new stuff then taking a break until the next big patch hits.

 

[Adam Sadler]

Ahhh this almost makes me want to buy the game just to experience this

 

[Isotropy]

Rabanastre is in the FFXIV world. It's somewhere to the north of Doma. Damascus has been mentioned in the game before, especially in the JP script.

So.. Ivalice - and all that we know of Ivalice - is on Hydaelin and somewhere under that cloud over the middle continent?

That's such garbage.

What about the Ivalice calamity that leads into the FFT era? Is XIV after all that?

Sorry, I hate all of this. Let separate worlds be separate worlds.

 

[Kalentan]

So.. Ivalice - and all that we know of Ivalice - is on Hydaelin and somewhere under that cloud over the middle continent?

That's such garbage.

What about the Ivalice calamity that leads into the FFT era? Is XIV after all that?

Sorry, I hate all of this. Let separate worlds be separate worlds.

I'm 99% sure they never clarified where it is.

So no, it doesn't mean it's in that giant cloud.

 

[B.K.]

Sorry, I hate all of this. Let separate worlds be separate worlds.

They are separate worlds. It's just fanservice. Final Fantasy XIV is built on fanservice. Especially side content. The Dalmasca and Rabanstre in XIV aren't the same from XII. It's all fanservice. Just look at Stormblood's main scenario. A large part of it takes place in Doma and a major character is son of

Spoiler

Kaien (Cyan).

That doesn't mean that it takes place in the same world as Final Fantasy VI.

 

[duckroll]

So.. Ivalice - and all that we know of Ivalice - is on Hydaelin and somewhere under that cloud over the middle continent?

That's such garbage.

What about the Ivalice calamity that leads into the FFT era? Is XIV after all that?

Sorry, I hate all of this. Let separate worlds be separate worlds.

No. Ivalice in FFT is Ivalice in FFT. Hydaelyn has a place called Ivalice, like it has a place called Doma, like it has a place called the Crystal Tower. It's like how FFIX and Mobius FF clearly draw from FF1, but no one is confused that FF1 literally took place in FFIX's or Mobius' worlds, because it didn't. They're just stories. It's a videogame franchise.

 

[mike6467]

Damn, I need to finish Stormblood.

I need to finish ARR and Heavensward and Stormblood. I want everything in this game it's just so much time to get there :|

 

[royox]

So.. Ivalice - and all that we know of Ivalice - is on Hydaelin and somewhere under that cloud over the middle continent?

That's such garbage.

What about the Ivalice calamity that leads into the FFT era? Is XIV after all that?

Sorry, I hate all of this. Let separate worlds be separate worlds.

Just as FFXIV's Doma and Cyan are not FFVI's Doma and Cyan XIV's Ivalice doeant have to be XII's. But we are hearing something about a theater, maybe the raid is just somebody telling the "legends of Ivalice" via the Theater and we will just play it. It's the FFXIV+XI teams, have some faith.

 

[Depths of Orion]

I need to finish ARR and Heavensward and Stormblood. I want everything in this game it's just so much time to get there :|

Or you can pay and basically skip all the story content and save yourself a ridiculous amount of time.

 

[duckroll]

Or you can pay and basically skip all the story content and save yourself a ridiculous amount of time.

And miss out on the best FF stories since 2006?

 

[tsundoku]

As someone who has never played XIV, seeing my two favorite FFs combined (IX and Tactics) is cruel beyond belief.

same but as someone who is off the gravy train because mmos are absolutely too time consuming

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Welp, thanks for bringing the hype. I dropped my playtime on FFXIV a few weeks back when Destiny 2 dropped, and it was my plan to return with 4.1 next month — a brief lapse.

I was already excited... Now I’m thrilled.

 

[Adam Sadler]

I didn't know you can play for free until you hit level 35!

 

[CaviarMeths]

Let separate worlds be separate worlds.

Hello. I am a magical genie and have just granted your wish. The worlds are now separate. The Ivalice of FFXII and FFXIV are similar, but unrelated.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Nobody has a problem with FF games sharing things like Chocobo's and Moogles so what's the big deal if FFXIV has a version of the Prima Vista?

 

[blummer102]

This looks great.

I just started playing FFXIV again after dabbling with it in 2014 and I think it might be my favorite Final Fantasy.

All those writing it off because it's an MMO need to give it a fresh pair of eyes.

 

[notaskwid]

No. Ivalice in FFT is Ivalice in FFT. Hydaelyn has a place called Ivalice, like it has a place called Doma, like it has a place called the Crystal Tower. It's like how FFIX and Mobius FF clearly draw from FF1, but no one is confused that FF1 literally took place in FFIX's or Mobius' worlds, because it didn't. They're just stories. It's a videogame franchise.

Lol

 

[El-Suave]

Welp, thanks for bringing the hype. I dropped my playtime on FFXIV a few weeks back when Destiny 2 dropped, and it was my plan to return with 4.1 next month — a brief lapse.

I was already excited... Now I’m thrilled.

I'm in the same boat except that I'm still a noobie and in the middle of Heavensward. If it wasn't for Destiny 2 I probably would have reached Stormblood already. I need to find a way to balance those out and not think of all the other games that are about to drop soon. I'm really glad I've made the jump into FFXIV though and this validates that descision even more.

 

[near]

What's the shortest amount of time I would need to invest to get to this without having to pay and skip all the prior content? Also if I do skip the prior content am I at a loss neglecting the story aspect of the game.

 

[Isotropy]

Honestly, it's difficult to tell, because there's no consistency.

Lightning in XIV is apprently the "actual" Lightning, lost in her universe-wandering after XIII's retconned ending, supposedly?

The Crystal Tower makes more sense as a knock-off, as it's just a vague structure full of monsters.

When you actually have Ramza et al appearing in the Ivalice poster, and an identical facsimile of Rabanatsre physically in the game world, it's hard to tell if it's some kind of "actual" overlap, or a knock-off.

 

[duckroll]

What's the shortest amount of time I would need to invest to get to this without having to pay and skip all the prior content? Also if I do skip the prior content am I at a loss neglecting the story aspect of the game.

Might be possible in 150+ hours. That's if you really skip a ton of stuff, have friends to carry you, and give you kickass gear at every major stage of the game. 200+ is more realistic for a normal player.

If you really, really want to skip, you will still have to play through Stormblood, but before that if you care about the story you should probably sit in the inn and watch all the story cutscenes from the start.

The Crystal Tower makes more sense as a knock-off, as it's just a vague structure full of monsters.

When you actually have Ramza et al appearing in the Ivalice poster, and an identical facsimile of Rabanatsre physically in the game world, it's hard to tell if it's some kind of "actual" overlap, or a knock-off.

Crystal Tower wasn't a knock-off or just a vague structure. The entire raid was the story of FF3 repurposed into FFXIV lore. It has Xande, Hein, the Cloud of Darkness, etc. It reimagines the concept of FF3's story as a part of Allagan history.

 

[Qvoth]

What's the shortest amount of time I would need to invest to get to this without having to pay and skip all the prior content? Also if I do skip the prior content am I at a loss neglecting the story aspect of the game.

i wanna say 1-2 months probably? depending on how hardcore you are
i wouldn't advise anyone to actually sub into ff14 if it's just for the sake of this ivalice raid though

 

[duckroll]

i wouldn't advise anyone to actually sub into ff14 if it's just for the sake of this ivalice raid though

But that's exactly what I did!

 

[Isotropy]

Crystal Tower wasn't a knock-off or just a vague structure. The entire raid was the story of FF3 repurposed into FFXIV lore. It has Xande, Hein, the Cloud of Darkness, etc. It reimagines the concept of FF3's story as a part of Allagan history.

What I mean is that even in FFIII, all of that was vague (and intentionally so, it worked - those old stories have a timeless quality that comes from not having an overly detailed setting). And perhaps it's because FFIII is so far in the past, re-utilising mythic elements of the game as mythic elements of XIV flows more smoothly to me. More smooth, at least, than having Lucis appear in the corner of the map.

 

[CaviarMeths]

i wanna say 1-2 months probably? depending on how hardcore you are
i wouldn't advise anyone to actually sub into ff14 if it's just for the sake of this ivalice raid though

Well sure, but come for the "sweet, Matsuno writing content!" and stay for the "oh shit, this is actually one of the best FF games."

 

[afreaknamedpete]

What's the shortest amount of time I would need to invest to get to this without having to pay and skip all the prior content? Also if I do skip the prior content am I at a loss neglecting the story aspect of the game.

I pretty much rushed through with minimal side content. I've logged about 65 hours and I've just gotten to Heavenward...

I'd honestly say the first 40 hours of that was pretty fucking bad, but the last 25 have been rather good. Everybody I've talked to says Heavensward is amazing though.

 

[duckroll]

What I mean is that even in FFIII, all of that was vague (and intentionally so, it worked - those old stories have a timeless quality that comes from not having an overly detailed setting). And perhaps it's because FFIII is so far in the past, re-utilising mythic elements of the game as mythic elements of XIV flows more smoothly to me. More smooth, at least, than having Lucis appear in the corner of the map.

Nah. Most people outside of Japan know FF3 from the DS remake, which also expanded on the story a lot. At the time the Crystal Tower first hit FFXIV, that was barely what... 6 years old? FFT was released internationally on the PS1 and is 20 years old this year. Lol. Matsuno says Delita's legend has become that of an Arthurian myth in Garlemald.

 

[SkyOdin]

Honestly, it's difficult to tell, because there's no consistency.

Lightning in XIV is apprently the "actual" Lightning, lost in her universe-wandering after XIII's retconned ending, supposedly?

The Crystal Tower makes more sense as a knock-off, as it's just a vague structure full of monsters.

When you actually have Ramza et al appearing in the Ivalice poster, and an identical facsimile of Rabanatsre physically in the game world, it's hard to tell if it's some kind of "actual" overlap, or a knock-off.

Think of it this way.

Almost every Final Fantasy game has a Bahamut, but the lore and details surrounding it change every time. Almost every Final Fantasy has a sword called Excalibur, but details such as how it was made and who used it vary significantly each time. Biggs and Wedge appear in a whole bunch of different games, but they are different people each time. And so on.

The Final Fantasy series does this all the time. For example, the Soul of Thamasa is an item named after a town in FFVI, but that doesn't stop it from appearing in VIII, X, and XIII. The town of Mysidia first appeared in FFII, but then was brought back for the unrelated FFIV in a new form with new lore. The evil castle Pandemonium is the final dungeon of FFII, but a different Pandemonium serves as a major dungeon in IX.

FFXII itself includes half a dozen final bosses from previous games as summons, with nods to their histories in their associated enemy lore files. But no one confuses the Zeromus from XII as being the same one from IV. Likewise, when everything from Falkabard to the Tower of Babel appeared as legendary lands in Tactics, that never implied that Ivalice took place in the same world as five or six other FF games.

 

[FinalAres]

And miss out on the best FF stories since 2006?

Is that the year the last FFXI expansion landed out of interest?

 

[Heartfyre]

So everyone who is behind it will be around forever but I'll tell you this. Since you need 24 people to queue for this thing. Older 24 man raids are WAY harder to queue for. So while they will be there forever if you want a chance to more easily see this stuff I'd suggest making FFXIV a priority for awhile. You do have like 6 months until the next part of this 24 man raid will drop so you do have some time.

It's worth pointing out that they're adding an Alliance Raid Roulette to 4.1, so there should be a permanent boost to player numbers for old raids. Well...so long as the reward is good.

Also worth pointing out that Matsuno doesn't have the final draft on the script. It had to be changed by Koji-Fox so that it actually works in FFXIV's world and lore. I expect it to be pretty much the same where it counts, though, since Koji-Fox is a big Matsuno fanboy, and that relationship is apparently mutual!

 

[Squishy3]

I pretty much rushed through with minimal side content. I've logged about 65 hours and I've just gotten to Heavenward...

I'd honestly say the first 40 hours of that was pretty fucking bad, but the last 25 have been rather good. Everybody I've talked to says Heavensward is amazing though.

And even then it's not that the ARR story is straight up bad by any means, but the pacing just isn't very good and there's a lot of fetch quests. Yoshida did express interest in revisiting it at some point to kinda fix the pacing, or at least that's what he implied, but who knows when/if that will actually happen. It also sets up a lot of the base rules that the XIV universe abides by and there's also callbacks in Heavensward and Stormblood to things that happened during A Realm Reborn.

Heavensward and Stormblood are much better at pacing the storyline.

 

[traveler]

:O

Might actually sub to this game just to see this content. Ideally, Matsuno would get to come back and make a full fledged XVI or Switch Tactics Ogre, but I'll settle for this for now.

 

[Hektor]

Damn that's gorgeous