There's a fuller writeup here, Sounsyy's Linkpearl Lore Post , but lemme answer what I can.
Somewhat stated above, but the linkpearl will broadcast to/from the entire linkshell. But who's to say a linkshell couldn't have just been two pearls? From my perspective, the "dialing in" part is more an activation, like talking into the linkpearl. From there, someone needs to be listening. It's also why we tend to see them ask/request for a person on the other end.
“Linkpearls†are the many individual baubles that belong to a collective system of pearls called a “linkshell.â€
They should...look like a pearl, much like the icons. The RPC uses them in some of the forum theme too!
They do run off aether, but anyone can use them. It's not powered by the user. As stated in the snipped above, Garleans can and do make use of them, including jamming them. The Garleans likely have -other- communication methods as well, similar to how players can also send letters. Based on some of the cutscenes, they probably have some form of radio as well.
(01-19-2018, 04:11 AM)Kairu Wrote: How do linkshells/pearls work in lore?
Lorecast 9 - Fernehalwes Wrote:“As you know, I played and worked on Final Fantasy XI. Even back then, I did think that linkpearls just seemed so convenient, but no one ever explained them. So, back when I joined XIV—this was before 1.0 launch, when Iwao-san did the lore—I told him we should have an explanation.
Conveniently, we already had aether. Everything is aether and there’s this sea of aether out in the world and there’s the Lifestream and that’s how people can use aetherytes and so on. Why not have linkpearls follow this reasoning?
We’ve explained before that aetherytes act as beacons. Your body gets drawn towards these beacons so you don’t get pulled into the Lifestream and drift off forever. Linkpearls are very tiny beacons—not ones you could use to teleport—but you can speak into them and then that gets converted into a…packet…of aetherial disturbance which shoots out into the world and is drawn to another beacon that’s been assigned to the same thing, whereby it flows into the beacon and is transformed out. So these packets of disturbed aether fly throughout the world, and they can be disrupted by any other energy, or intercepted. The Garleans are intercepting them—remember Minfilia knew she was probably being listened to—and then you have Garlean technology which can jam linkpearls.
So Iwao-san and I were like, ‘That works. That’s a good idea.’ And then we never got around to explaining it. But we actually decided on it like seven years ago!â€
(01-19-2018, 04:11 AM)Kairu Wrote: In the game, they create a channel where everyone can speak and listen. But during the storyline, they seem to act more like a phone - one person dials another person, and they speak only to each other. Is that the case?
Somewhat stated above, but the linkpearl will broadcast to/from the entire linkshell. But who's to say a linkshell couldn't have just been two pearls? From my perspective, the "dialing in" part is more an activation, like talking into the linkpearl. From there, someone needs to be listening. It's also why we tend to see them ask/request for a person on the other end.
(01-19-2018, 04:11 AM)Kairu Wrote: Also, do we know what linkpearls look like? Do they get inserted into the ear like earplugs or headphones, or are they like earrings and they just dangle near the ear? Can you wear two at the same time (one in each ear)?
“Linkpearls†are the many individual baubles that belong to a collective system of pearls called a “linkshell.â€
They should...look like a pearl, much like the icons. The RPC uses them in some of the forum theme too!
(01-19-2018, 04:11 AM)Kairu Wrote: Also, do they run off aether? The Garleans seem to have a different communication system - is that because they can't use magic, and thus can't 'power' a link pearl?
They do run off aether, but anyone can use them. It's not powered by the user. As stated in the snipped above, Garleans can and do make use of them, including jamming them. The Garleans likely have -other- communication methods as well, similar to how players can also send letters. Based on some of the cutscenes, they probably have some form of radio as well.
