Final Fantasy XIV

[Zurvanight]

So some people here might already know, but I'm a huge fan of the mmo Final Fantasy XIV. Not only is the gameplay fun, and there's hundreds of hours of stuff to do, the story is top notch. Probably the best FF story in recent years. There is a ton of lore as well. Two physical encylopedias exist as of right now, just for the purpose of explaining the lore. With the reveal of the full Shadowbringers trailer, and the expansion releasing soon, I thought I'd create a topic and see if anyone else plays this awesome game.

Full Shadowbringers trailer:

The world of XIV feels like a Shardworld to be honest. There are two opposing forces, Hydaelyn, the Mother Crystal, and Zodiark an imprisoned dark god who longs to be free and whose servants, known as the Ascians labor to revive through widespread destruction known as calamities. They usually do this by teaching beastmen and fanatics how to summon Primals, savage gods that gorge themselves on crystals and enslave any who come near them.

Some lore I've included in spoilers, read at your own risk since they spoil quite a bit:

The End of an Era:

Spoiler

At the end of the 6th Astral Era the Garlean Empire's VIIth Imperial Legatus the White Raven, Nael van Darnus in his madness enacted the Meteor Plan, causing Dalamud to crash into the planet in order to wipe out the people of Eorzea. Unknown to Nael he had been tempered by Bahamut in order free him of his prison. On the eve of the battle of Carteneau Flats, 4000 years of imprisonment and pure concentrated rage in the form of a city sized dragon hell-bent on extinguishing all life on the planet finally burst free from the red moon. The resulting chaos was so widespread and so devastating that the landscape itself buckled and reformed from the Dreadwyrms firey blaze. In the south, the lands of Thanalan had huge swaths of desert turn into crystal formations overnight. In the north, the Holy See of Ishgard's weather was wracked by terrible cold, turning the once fertile forests and plains into a frozen wasteland. As for the Carteneau Flats, and the free city of Mor Dhona, the sky is constantly covered in a purple aetherial mist, and the riverlands are now a wasteland of rusting machinery and crystals. Only through the actions of the sage Louisoix, the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, and the prayers of the Eorzeans, did Bahamut manage to get sealed away once more. Using the prayers and aether as a power source, Louisoix ascended to godhood and became the Primal Phoenix, cutting through Bahamuts Teraflare, and his heart. 

Hydaelyn and Zodiark: 

Spoiler

Hydaelyn and Zodiark once existed in harmony millions of years ago, but Zodiark coveted power, and became a threat to the world, so Hydaelyn sealed Zodiark into the moon, and in doing so, shattered space time, creating 13 reflections of the planet. The Source is where the main game takes place and is actually called Hydaelyn, after the Mother Crystal. Reflection 13 fell to darkness and became the Void, where demons called Voidsent exist and seep into the Source. Reflection 1, recently revealed to be a world called Norvrandt, fell to light, and is now a post apocalyptic wasteland where the sun never sets and is ruled by gluttons who live in a pleasure city built on the bones of an older one. The Ascians calamities cause these worlds to merge back together with the Source, making Zodiark stronger. Seven reflections have already been merged, and it's implied only one more Calamity needs to happen for Zodiark to become strong enough to break free from his prison.

 

The Allagan Empire and the Machinations of the Ascians:

Spoiler

The Ascians have influenced many groups and civilizations throughout time, but none was more dangerous than the Allagan Empire. Over 5000 years old, their technology level is still beyond anything the world of Hydaelyn has ever seen, and they have been gone for several millennia. Even the current Empire, Garlemald, which boasts impressive technological innovations is like a child to Allag, who built many terrifying creations, such as Dalamud, the red moon, that imprisoned the Elder Primal Bahamut. They also bound the Warring Triad, a trio of Meracydian (southern continent) gods that were strong enough to almost destroy the Allagans at first on a floating continent of their own making. They created chimerical monstrosities, clones, enslaved dragons, even built starships the size of skyscrapers. They are also the ones responsible for creating Ultima Weapon, who could absorb Primals and gain use of their powers. They reigned from the Crystal Tower, a building of pure crystal that acted as their main source of energy, until a clone of their former emperor made a pact with the Voidsent using Dalamud as a power source triggering a massive earthquake that destroyed the entire Empire in one night. The Ascians probably didn't care too much since the Allagans caused a Rejoining in the process.

Like the Allagans, The Ascians have also manipulated the dragons of Meracydia, and the great Wyrm, Tiamat into summoning a Primal of her dead brother Bahamut. Instead of her brother, the Elder Primal was filled with a nigh unquenchable rage towards anyone and everything. So powerful was Bahamut that the Allagans had to trap it inside a prison and launch it into space, becoming the red moon, Dalamud.

They created the Garlean Empire to terrorize the current world. The first Emperor of Garlemald, Solus Zos Galvus was an Ascian himself and now lives on in cloned bodies.

They manipulated the Holy See of Ishgard to destroy their adversary the dragons, and unlock the floating continent of Azys Lla (although this backfired spectacularly). They also had a hand in manipulating the Black Wolf, Gaius Van Baelsar into excavating the Ultima Weapon. They gave the Eyes of Nidhogg (a source of unlimited Aethiric power) to a terrorist, turning him into a Primal that rivaled Bahamuts power. They are also directly responsible for almost every Primal summoning.

Heavensward trailers: 

Stormblood trailers:

 

Edited March 31, 2019 by Zurvanite

[Ammanas]

Always wanted to play these games, but gaming is a expensive hobby and I already spend all off the "fun money" (in the budget I made for myself) on books. If I ever make it rich I will buy a ps4 and add this game to near the top of the list! I also saw a trailer for Ghost of Tsushima. If you are gamer you might want to look into it. Thanks for sharing!

[Briar King]

I stay away from MMO’s. Can get to lost in them. Skipped 11 & 14.

played lots of TOR on PC and some Neverwinter on PS4 for a time but I made myself stop.

[Zurvanight]

Reviving this today to show you the art for this game. Some of the best environments ever designed in a fantasy game:

Spoiler

Norvrandt, the Land of The First

Norvrandt lost to light

The Crystarium

Eulmore

Il Mheg

Lakeland

Spoiler

Stormblood locales:

The Ghimlyt Dark

Kugane, the Far East

Eureka Hydratos

Return to Ivalice

Gyr Abania

The Empire destroys Ala Mhigo

Doma

Spoiler

Heavensward and A Realm Reborn  locales:

Gridania

Ul'dah

Limsa Lominsa

Silvertear Lake, the wreck of the Agrius

Allagan spire

Dun Scaith

The Floating Continent of Azys Lla

Alexander

Dravania

The Holy See of Ishgard

Zenith and the Churning Mists

The Void Ark

Ishgard Markets

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by Zurvanite

[Zurvanight]

Bumping because OOOOH MY GOD THIS LOOKS AWESOME. Really like how they are starting to focus on the story behind Hydaelyn and Zodiark, and the new enemies called Sineaters.

[Wander89]

I should probably start this!

[Wyrmhero]

I play FFXIV (on Phoenix server, if anyone's interested) now and again, and I feel it's probably the best MMO for casual, late-comer use, as it's almost grindless if you're a few months behind the current main quest. The heavy focus on story is good too, and I like the cosmological turn Shadowbringers seems to be taking

[Wander89]

4 hours ago, Wyrmhero said:

I play FFXIV (on Phoenix server, if anyone's interested) now and again, and I feel it's probably the best MMO for casual, late-comer use, as it's almost grindless if you're a few months behind the current main quest. The heavy focus on story is good too, and I like the cosmological turn Shadowbringers seems to be taking

Im definitely in need of a new MMO. I remember trying FFXIV Day One and it was not good at all however it looks to have changed a LOT since then.

[Wyrmhero]

On 6/15/2019 at 1:42 AM, Wander89 said:

Im definitely in need of a new MMO. I remember trying FFXIV Day One and it was not good at all however it looks to have changed a LOT since then.

They quite literally caused an apocalypse in-game, written into the story, because it was so bad in its original form :P.

Seriously - They wrote in a 'meteor' slamming into the planet and then a 5 year timeskip, while they brought the servers down and redesigned it entirely (amusingly, seems to be the only video not put above - Look up 'Answers' for how the original incarnation of FFXIV ended). The only real thing remaining from the original game is that there are a few 1H Thaumaturgist weapons, and that classes exist and you don't immediately begin as jobs.

Edited June 16, 2019 by Wyrmhero

[NottTheBrave]

I play 14 occasionally!  I’m about level 31 at the moment.  It’s such a great game.

[Wander89]

8 hours ago, Wyrmhero said:

They quite literally caused an apocalypse in-game, written into the story, because it was so bad in its original form :P.

Seriously - They wrote in a 'meteor' slamming into the planet and then a 5 year timeskip, while they brought the servers up and redesigned it entirely (amusingly, seems to be the only video not put above - Look up 'Answers' for how the original incarnation of FFXIV ended). The only real thing remaining from the original game is that there are a few 1H Thaumaturgist weapons, and that classes exist and you don't immediately begin as jobs.

Such a good way to "reset" the game!

[Briar King]

And how much is it a month to play?

[Wander89]

9 minutes ago, Briar King said:

And how much is it a month to play?

Membership Tier.         Subscription Length.          Monthly Price          Max Characters per Server.        Max Characters

Entry.                             30 days.                              £7.69 / 10.99 €         1                                                 8

Standard                       30 days                               £8.99 / 12.99 €         8                                                 40

[NottTheBrave]

8 hours ago, Briar King said:

And how much is it a month to play?

14.99 a month, 12.99 for a single character per world.  Also of note is that the game is FREE up until level 35, so you can give it a nice trial run before paying for anything!

[Wander89]

Well guess who's now downloading Final Fantasy XIV....

[Briar King]

Isn’t 14 on Ivalice? Playing 12 Zodiac Age on Switch and falling in love all over again with that world.

[Wyrmhero]

6 hours ago, Briar King said:

Isn’t 14 on Ivalice? Playing 12 Zodiac Age on Switch and falling in love all over again with that world.

No, only 12 and Tactics (and another thing I can't recall) are Ivalice. 14 is set on a different universe. However, 14 takes a huge amount of inspiration from Ivalice's world:

• The Ascians are named after the Scions of Light from FFXII (mentioned in the Esper bios)/the summoners of the Espers in Tactics.
• The Ascians also seem to be heavily influenced by the Occuria of FFXII.
• The level 70 Raids introduced in Stormblood bring the events of Tactics to FFXIV as history you investigate, along with Tactics/FFXII characters being present (though quite different).
• Within the above Raid, many of the Espers are boss fights.
• Shadowbringers will introduce Viera as a playable character race for female characters.

I'm not currently playing (will get back into it when Shadowbringers drops or when friends start playing it again), but I mostly play a Red Mage right now, though previously I was a Summoner. I like levelling up the other classes too, as it's a change of pace and it's nice to have everything available on a single character.

Edited June 16, 2019 by Wyrmhero

[Briar King]

Oh I saw the Viera and thought it was. Oh well. The other game btw was Vagrant Story on PS1.

[Wander89]

Trying to log into this on my PS4 and got that my password was incorrect, done a reset and now it's doing the same thing. Destined not to play this...

[Zurvanight]

Btw the new level 80 raids include a Nier Automata 24 man, and Eden, a Final Fantasy VIII raid. They had a Tactics/XII raid in Stormblood, and an Omega raid which included bosses from FFV, FFVI, and Chaos from FFI.

Ivalice is a country in XIV. Garlemald invaded and basically destroyed most of it. The Lucavi exist as well, and Ultima the High Seraph. 

 

Also along with the Ascians each being named as a Scion of Light, each Imperial Legatus from Garlemald is based on a previous FF villain.

Spoilers below:

Spoiler

For instance, Nael Van Darnus the VIIth Imperial Legatus is a huge homage to Sephiroth. They both go insane due to a malevolent entity (for Seph it was Jenova, and for Nael it was Bahamut) and try to drop a meteor on the planet, although Nael succeeds where Sephiroth failed.

Zenos Yae Galvus, the XIIth Imperial Legatus is Vayne Solidor. Both are tasked with overseeing an annexed city state by their fathers, and both fuse with a "god" and become a dragon like entity. 

Regula Van Hydrus, the VIth Legatus is General Leo from VI. Both are tasked with apprehending the power of the Warring Triad on a floating continent, and both end up helping the heroes and dying.

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by Zurvanite

[Zurvanight]

23 hours ago, Wander89 said:

Trying to log into this on my PS4 and got that my password was incorrect, done a reset and now it's doing the same thing. Destined not to play this...

Sorry for double posting but I just saw this and did you buy the game for PC or did you buy it on PS4? Because if you want to play on PS4 you need to register the product key to that. If you registered it for PC and want to play on PS4 you have to buy the game again.

This is what mine looks like on Mogstation for a general idea. You can see the PS4 section is all marked as license obtained. So you'll want to check that first to make certain. Also your XIV account (that is your username and password to log into the game) is exactly the same as your Mogstation account so if you forgot your password you should be able to reset it through Mogstation.

[Wander89]

7 hours ago, Zurvanite said:

Sorry for double posting but I just saw this and did you buy the game for PC or did you buy it on PS4? Because if you want to play on PS4 you need to register the product key to that. If you registered it for PC and want to play on PS4 you have to buy the game again.

This is what mine looks like on Mogstation for a general idea. You can see the PS4 section is all marked as license obtained. So you'll want to check that first to make certain. Also your XIV account (that is your username and password to log into the game) is exactly the same as your Mogstation account so if you forgot your password you should be able to reset it through Mogstation.

FFXIV is free until level 35 on PS4, haven't bought it for PC or anything. Not a PC gamer at all.

[Zurvanight]

3 hours ago, Wander89 said:

FFXIV is free until level 35 on PS4, haven't bought it for PC or anything. Not a PC gamer at all.

Ah I forgot that was a thing haha. Well you should still be able to recover/reset your password through Mogstation.

[Wander89]

On 18/06/2019 at 0:30 PM, Zurvanite said:

Ah I forgot that was a thing haha. Well you should still be able to recover/reset your password through Mogstation.

I've had to email support, I did reset it but it's still coming up the same thing which is weird. Also gutting because I'd like to get in and play haha

 

EDIT: I got in! Playing now as we speak

Edited June 20, 2019 by Wander89

[Wyrmhero]

Really enjoying the new expansion so far. It's wonderfully bleak and minimalist at times, but it's such a perfect Final Fantasy story in many ways, whereas Heavensward and Stormblood felt more like generic fantasy. Does feel a tad like they want to get their money's worth out of Ardyn's character/design though!

Edited July 7, 2019 by Wyrmhero