XIV Terminology you'll want to know for this post.
Seventh Umbral Era - The era that is to take place after the events of the Meteor crash, and the small in-game events that took place before that.
Louisoix - An old sage who in the 1.0 version was a major NPC involved with fighting the primals (summons) of Final Fantasy XIV. Dies in the final meteor impact while using the twelve to attempt to seal Bahamut. Uses a spell from one of the twelve in order to send surviving adventurers to the future where they would be safe.
Dalamud - Eorzea's lesser artificial moon. It is summoned closer by the enemy Garlean Empire. Every patch leading to the meteor impact, it would grow larger in the sky. Bahamut cracks out of this in the meteor impact (below)
The Twelve - The Twelve gods of Eorzea. Summoned by the players with /pray in the final 1.0 mission in order to try to rid Dalamud from impact. Used by Louisoix to attempt to seal Bahamut away with the players' help. Fails when it's shattered free. Louisoix uses the power of "Althyk the Keeper" the Eorzean god of space and time to transport everyone to the future before being killed by Megaflare. The Twelve are gods, do not confuse with primals (the in-game XIV summons.) They are not the same, summoning the twelve can cause doom/chaos and is only left to important NPCs.
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@1:31 - The three Grand Company leaders of the three city-states
@1:35 - Gaius (FFXIV's Main Antagonist)
@2:28 - Cid in FFXIV
On midnight on Sunday, November 11th, the original version of Final Fantasy XIV went down in anticipation for the re-launch of the game, titled "A Realm Reborn".
Here is the in-game justification of the impact, as said by Final Fantasy XIV developers themselves.
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Eorzea. A Land embraced by Gods and forged by Heroes.
Seeking control over this realm and its abundant crystal resources, the
Garlean Empire (a scientifically advanced nation hailing from the
north) begins gathering an army of epic proportions. To ready themselves
for the coming conflict, the city-states of Eorzea reinstate the Grand
Companies?comprehensive centers of command which combine the
commonwealths' military and economic assets. However, the commander of
the invading forces, VIIth Imperial Legion Legatus Nael van Darnus
(a.k.a. “White Raven”), has plans of his own. Driven by madness, he
silently plots to usher in a more permanent form of devastation: Meteor.
The Meteor project is comprised of a complex scheme employing arcane
magicks and lost technology to summon the lesser moon down to Eorzea in
an attempt to annihilate the realm's inhabitants in one fell stroke.
Dalamud, as the celestial object is commonly known, is revealed to be a
colossal machine launched thousands of years ago into the planet's orbit
by an ancient civilization.
Realizing the futility of standing
alone against such a threat, the Grand Companies put aside deep-rooted
differences and consolidate their forces under the banner of the Eorzean
Alliance.
At the behest of this new confederation, adventurers
from across the realm take up arms and march on the floating islands of
Rivenroad. Here, the brave heroes confront Nael van Darnus, and after a
heated battle, put him to the sword. But by this time, the White
Raven's plan is too far along, and Dalamud continues its descent.
In an eleventh-hour bid to save mankind, the Grand Companies turn to
Louisoix, an enigmatic scholar hailing from the forgotten city-state of
Sharlayan. The 'Archon,' as he is called, devises a plan to summon the
power of the Twelve, Eorzea’s pantheon of guardian deities, and use that
power to banish Dalamud back to the heavens. But for this to succeed,
the rite needs to be performed directly beneath the point of Dalamud's
impact. After several sleepless nights of deliberation by the realm's
foremost arcanists and astronomers, that point is determined to be a
vast swathe of barren lowlands in central Eorzea known as the Carteneau
Flats. With this information in hand, the Grand Companies order the
immediate mobilization of their forces.
Unbeknownst to the
Alliance, the soldiers of the VIIth Imperial Legion, oblivious to their
leader's dark intentions, have also begun gathering in central Eorzea.
Ordered to defend the area with their lives, they prepare for a fight,
unaware that victory will bring about their own demise.
And so, with two great hosts amassed, the Battle of Carteneau begins.
Both sides fight with a desperation-fueled frenzy, neither yielding the
other ground, until from the skies, a great roar issues. Dalamud has
begun its final metamorphosis. In a matter of moments, the stone and
metal of the moon's crust crumble away to reveal none other than the
elder primal, Bahamut, now free from his ancient prison.
And
thus do the people of Eorzea learn what it is that truly faces them.
Never was it the White Raven's intention to blight the realm with
Dalamud, but what slumbered within it.
Enraged after aeons of
duress, Bahamut unleashes his wrath upon the realm, spewing forth
endless fire and destruction. Louisoix quickly conjures a barrier to
protect what remains of the Eorzean Alliance, and then begins the arcane
rite that will channel the power of the Twelve and focus it into
rebinding Bahamut. The sheer force of the primal, however, is too strong
for even the Archon, and his efforts fail.
Realizing the end
is nigh, Louisoix summons the last of his strength to call upon Althyk,
the Keeper, god of space and time, to send those surviving heroes into
an aetherial rift, where they are to remain untouched by the passing of
the seasons until it is once again safe to emerge...and continue their
struggle to forge Eorzea's future.
We await the return of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn, and will look for you fellow adventurers in the dawn of a new Eorzea!
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"A Realm Reborn" is going to include new class/job See: Arcanist // See: Summoner a redesigned user-interface with tutorials, a new storyline explaining the post-apocolypse. Redesigned towns (meteor was the in-game justification for the change of zones). And a battle system overhaul that includes Limit Breaks, new spells and attributes, and a free company-summoning system (different than Summoner job to where the company summons can summon the primal at its full unleashed power.)
Here is a video of the re-designed Gridania, which in my opinion, was the worst off area out of them all. (And I say that with love. Sort of. That is my home.)
Here are some final pictures we took on the few days before impact. The last one being 5 minutes before meteor hit. :)
Did you know?
The final boss of 1.0 (Nael Van Darnus) gets the power of meteor in his second form. His ultimate move is Megaflare. Should have been a good hint about Bahamut coming.
Dalamud and Bahamut sound similar, and have the vowels in the same parts of the word.
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Some comments/questions I've been getting regarding relaunch:
Character data is not wiped. If you had a character in 1.0 and quit, you will be able to come back in ARR with your character. In fact, you will get a one-time chance to freely change your character look/race/gender/name with the new customization options they have given.
For people that stuck around in the hard times, they get a permanent discount of $9.99/month as opposed to people who will come back or join at PS3 release who will pay the standard rate of $12.99/month.
The alpha version will be coming out worldwide on November 26, 2012. They're about two months behind roadmap schedule, so the full version of the game should hit around March 2013.
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I mean- people who want to work for the OT- go for it, but many places don't even let people request off for such days."
