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+--- Thread: Foggy Memory Syndrome (/showthread.php?tid=2179)
RE: Foggy Memory Syndrome - Noelle - 06-23-2013
(06-23-2013, 02:27 PM)Blade Wrote: Warriors of Light as it is used in FFXIV isn't really as significant of a term as it is in previous Final Fantasy games. Â The starter NPCs pretty much go out and say that the adventurers--all of them, as a whole--who went to the Battle of Carteneau that they are unable to remember are the 'Warriors of Light,' and it has to do with the fact that when they try to recall memories of them, its like trying to recognize someone standing in front of you with the sun behind them. Â It's fuzzy.That's interesting. I was under the impression it refered to a smaller group of warriors. In the End of an Era trailer the Warriors of Light are portrayed using the original party from the 1.0 CS. I realise they're either the 'stand in' for the actual PCs or fellow adventurers, but I guess I got hooked on the idea of them and the more traditional use of the term refering to the party in classic titles.
It's not a term that's reserved for the 'heroes of legend' as it were. Â It's a term that is used to, in general, refer to all those adventurers who vanished after the Battle of Carteneau.
Regarding why the time-warped adventurers were forgotten and not the Grand Company leaders, I'm sure through the story this will be revealed. Â Bear in mind we're only seeing a part of the overall story; we still haven't got an answer as to 'why.' Â It's also just not the faces of the adventurers that are forgotten, but the events of that night and all that transpired as a whole.
During Gridania's introduction, Mionne atleast refers to a "band of valiant adventurers" which I read as meaning a singular party. Though I see it can be taken to mean more than that now.
Don't get me wrong, but isn't it entirely a matter of perspective at this point?
@ Aysun: Sorry if you read it that way. I was under the impression you just didn't understand what I was trying to say and tried to re-iterate the key point.
I guess I just don't see the point in having people forget who you are, and was trying to explain my feelings and take on the setup. How I personally intend on approaching it atleast.
I sort've understand in that it could lead to interesting RP scenarios. But I see it as more of a pain in the behind. Having someone forget you, and you trying to get them to remember? Not so bad.
Having everyone you know do it to you could get tedious real quick. And I guess the idea of people getting fed up with doing it and glossing over interactions for certain people stands out as a massive negative point for that approach.
Part of me feels like it'd be like undoing all the RP you have done.
RE: Foggy Memory Syndrome - Darkfae - 06-24-2013
This is the impression I got from everything I saw in the newer story for non-Legacy characters; I may be biased though, because I personally have CPTSD and I know plenty of soldiers and victims of war who have PTSD.
The whole "Foggy Memory Syndrome" actually struck me as being more like war-time PTSD, where the memories of the events become blurred and fragmented because the mind can't handle everything it witnessed.
I go the impression that the bulk of the NPCs (up through level 15 or so) who ever talk about the memory issues surrounding the Calamity weren't directly at the battle, or at least weren't close enough to see all of it. They likely saw Bahamut break free from his prison, and the attempt to imprison him again, and then saw something happen on the field, but had no idea what happened - even if they could see Louisoix do something just before-hand.
With how many people were time-skipped, there would be no way for even battlefield observers to keep track of who disappeared due to being burned alive and who just vanished, or who ran away and laid low, or what not. Distant observers would have even a harder time, and those who weren't there at all wouldn't have any way of clearly knowing what happened.
So we end up with people probably knowing who all went to the battle, but not knowing who all died in the Primal's fires, or who all were affected by some sort of magic no one understood (time magic seems sort of like a higher level of magic than most people deal with) and even what that magic did, or where everyone went after the battle.
Those who were battlefield observers or nearby observers would have seen some people enveloped in intense light, obscuring who they were; while they didn't know what that light did to them, it created a strong imagery of heroes who did something to fight against the Calamity. Hence the whole "Warriors of Light" whom people really can't recall as anything but silhouettes; eventually, the stories would propagate enough that even people who weren't there would have a very strong idea of that imagery.
As time passes, the memory suppression effects of PTSD can get worse. For those who were not time-skipped, it's been five years at minimum since they've seen any of the Legacy characters who got time skipped. Those like the Grand Company leaders, super well known individuals from the main story, etc. are more likely to be remembered faster than those who were not as well known. If there's not enough contact with the lesser known time-skippers or time-skippers an NPC hadn't seen for sometime before the Calamity, their likely to not be able to connect the dots before the person leaves.
These people who were left behind also had to deal with the whole rebuilding of life for the past five years, and had to focus on other things aside from their lost loved ones and lost protectors. That's going to play a part in how well people remember what happened; a lot may have accepted that something horrible happened, and rather than dwell on it, they focused on rebuilding and stabilization.
There's also the fact that it may be hard for someone who didn't get time skipped to believe that a time skipper is actually who they believe they are; for example, I had a friend that moved away immediately after high school, I was told she had died, and years later when she returned to the area, I initially couldn't believe it was actually her. Sure, in that case, the person aged but once someone believes that another person is dead or not coming back...it's hard to deal with it when they do.
Overall, that's the impressions I got about the situation. Rationally, it makes more sense than just "everyone has mass amnesia", and provides for varying degrees of amnesia and acceptance of the time skippers.
RE: Foggy Memory Syndrome - Blue - 06-24-2013
One of my alts is the younger brother of a time jumper, and personally I think I'm gonna RP him having no memory of his brother. I prefer to stick to what NPCs do.
RE: Foggy Memory Syndrome - Rhostel - 06-24-2013
While I don't doubt that the FMS may be a wholly intentional metaphor for PTSD, and other things like veterans being well-remembered and important to society as a group, but often overlooked and dismissed individually, that's clearly not what this is. This is magical amnesia. It affects people so widely because it's magic.
RE: Foggy Memory Syndrome - ArmachiA - 06-24-2013
Ah, magical amnesia. The thing they do when they don't know what to do.
RE: Foggy Memory Syndrome - Varus - 06-24-2013
(06-24-2013, 12:14 AM)Darkfae Wrote: Rationally, it makes more sense than just "everyone has mass amnesia", and provides for varying degrees of amnesia and acceptance of the time skippers.
Total agreement with this whole post.
If we are really intent on analyzing the puppet-strings of the FFXIV universe, this is the most rational explanation while providing plenty of leeway for the RPers to flex their creative muscles on how to react to the memory loss.
To expand:
I'm not subscribing to the implied idea that the memory loss was wholly caused by "magical amnesia."Â
The fact remains that: the time-skippers disappeared off the face of the planet for five whole years. During that time, life on Eorzea changed, drastically. In most places, not for the better. When a person's daily survival is brought into question, one tends to focus on the present and the future, not on the past, which can degrade one's memories even further.Â
The constant threat of death on a daily basis does not give one the luxury of retrospection.
Compound that with "magical amnesia" and you can easily understand why no one would remember your character unless you made a MAJOR, life-changing impact on the other character. Even then, it is doubtful.