Archived: Final Fantasy XIV: ARR-1

Description

It is the Seventh Umbral Era. Five years have passed since the Calamity, the falling of Dalamud, the unleashing of the elder Primal Bahamut, and the victory of the Alliance over the Garlean Empire. But the events of that day are clouded, and no one quite remembers just who it was that saved Eorzea. In the time that has passed, the three nations of the Alliance have reopened their borders, trade has resumed, and the world is trying to put itself back to normal.

But the dark places where evil springs forth are ever there. The beastmen plot and hoard and scheme to bring forth their Primals. Rumbles of discontentment are percolating among the nation states. The class warfare of old is returning, and the old status quo will bring Eorzea back into the open conflict it once held before the Garleans ever arrived in the first place. And while the Garleans pose a threat, much more sinister men are tugging those strings, waiting to reveal themselves.

But where there is dark, there is always light. Hope springs anew as adventurers once again ply their trade, working to better the people, bring hope back to the land and maybe help piece everything back together. Heroes banished to the future during the final moments of the Calamity find themselves in this new Eorzea, while new Warriors of Light rise to meet the challenges before them, armed with the gift of Hydaelyn, the mysterious Echo.

Welcome to Eorzea, land of adventure, magic, intrigue and crystals. May Hydaelyn shine on you always.

AQ

This is an FAQ, but without the F, because we haven't actually been asked these things frequently yet!

Hello, and welcome to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn!

Q. Can I app?
A. Yes! Yes you can.

Q. Anything?
A. Anything that's in A Realm Reborn or that can be put into it from other Final Fantasy games or Heavensward without disrupting stuff. This includes Warriors of Light, people with the Echo, people with jobs instead of classes, etc. Non-plot Heavensward content can be apped once it's out, like the Dark Knight class. Spoilery or plot content should wait at least one month.

Q. How do the Soul Crystals work?
A. They let you bypass the training which would normally be needed to have a job instead of a class. Example: to become a Dragoon you'd normally have to train in Ishgard. Or you could just be a really good Lancer and get a Soul Crystal. Both are valid ways of attaining the job, but one requires a specific backstory while the other doesn't.

Q. What changes were made to this theme?
A. None at all. This theme is currently fully canon to A Realm Reborn, and takes place when the MMO begins.

Q. Do I need to know 1.0 stuff?
A. Only if it appears in A Realm Reborn directly. If it's not in there, no, and in fact 1.0 information should be taken with a grain of salt if it doesn't appear in A Realm Reborn.

Q. Can I GM stuff once I app?
A. Absolutely, knock yourself out. FATEs, dungeons, leves and quests are there to be run. Beastmen, Garleans, pirates, whatever, that stuff is there for you to use, you really don't need to check with anyone first. Might be useful to keep a list of what's been run though, but that can come later.

Q. Does X work like it does in the game?
A. Probably, yeah. So leves, Materia crafting and spiritbonding, the Grand Companies, linkshells and linkpearls, the Aethernet and Aetheryte Crystals, Soul Crystals (for jobs), magical RPG inventory space, all that stuff is intact. Even FATEs are IC, essentially a warning put out by the Adventurers' Guild that something is going on and needs resolved ASAP.

Q. How powerful are the Primals?
A. No more than a singular Warrior of Light for the most part. What makes the Primals dangerous is not ridiculous firepower, it's the fact even when defeated they'll keep coming back. And the mind control! Can't forget the mind control. The Elder Primals are a bit more dangerous, but their threat really isn't enough one powerful hero can't save the day if it becomes necessary. Primals boss up by necessity of needing to accommodate many scene attendees, but that's not their assumed natural state. Q. So the Garleans/Bahamut aren't the big bads?
A. It isn't currently clear who the big bad of FFXIV will be, and we likely won't know until the game shuts down. By the time this happens it's unlikely this theme will still exist, so you'll never see us impose our belief of who we think the theme 36 should be. Using standard MMORPG PL rules as discussed by Reliant once, it's likely that an end of expansion boss would be 35, a lot of significant characters would be 33-34, and there flat out wouldn't be a 36.

Questions, concerns, comments, drop the cast an @mail and we'll discuss it together!