Yssen

One of the more interesting things they have done with the lore for XIV is in how they treat magic. In previous FF's they really have not had other disciplines based on style, source, or theory. Classification was based on the effect or thing the magic manipulated. In XIV each casting class has a different theory or source for casting. In brief rundown. Thaumaturgy is sourced from the caster themselves, relying on the willpower, life force, and personal aether of the caster. Simply put, it is somewhat internal in focus. Conjury manipulates elements outside the caster. The caster channels external aether of nature and the surrounding environment by being in harmony with it. Arcanistry (similar to Conjury) manipulates elements outside of the caster, but in a more intellectual and science based manner than Conjury. Formulas, strategems, and mathmatics are used to manipulate and change the aether flow of the environment. This is not to say the streams do not cross. To keep this non spoilery, they do. There are plenty of cases where quest text shows the streams crossing (even MNK text, which can really bake your noodle or make ya scream "awesome.") It is up to each individual to do their own thing, but in essence we have a world where there are several different schools of magic and aethereal manipulation. There is really nothing that says a character cannot pull of the same effects as Conjury with Thaumaturgy, or even learn and use both methods. They are not mutually exclusive. It is all just a matter of study and dedication (and probably not telling the more zealotic of each methods practitioners that there bible is a lie). ICly, yeah Sage and Red Mage are totally possible. I would caution on using jobs not in the game yet though. New casters may be added that have completely different approaches to magic use, and that can get you stuck. To sum it all up. There is no "Black Magic" or "White Magic" (save for the specific job ability spells for BLM and WHM) as we know it ICly. There is Conjury, Thaumaturgy, and Aranisty. Each able to pull off a series of effects more easily than their counter parts, but on occasion the streams do cross. It is up to each person to determine how their character approaches this. Do they use the same method to pull of a similar effect? Are they combining disciplines and methods? Are they tapping the raw aether of the planet with out the need for silly man made methods? Maybe somewhere in between? It is a bunch to think about, and when you have figured all that out you get to add magitek to the soup. Wheeeee! ;p

I am not sure I like that analogy. When my cell service breaks down, I call customer service to see what the problem is and complain if necessary. I don't stand on a box, shout out how much I think my cell service sucks, and the call someone who maybe has the same cell service with a different opinion a "knob slobber" because he has that different opinion. No one here is in charge of anything as far as the development of FFXIV. No one here is a customer service rep for them. Look, I am not saying don't complain, or have an opinion. I am just saying don't be toxic about it, don't hit us with it constantly, and above all do not insult people because they do not feel the same way as you. You want to change something, fine. Use the right format, and do not get quite as bent out of shape when people disagree with your opinion. Be more polite about it, and open minded about it. Also I am curious as to why you complain here of all places? I assume you post your opinions on the official forums often as well, where they are much more likely to get exposure to the devs in the first place.

Okay. Starting to get bugged by this. So here is my "why." Why is it that you keep nit picking at the game over and over and over, only to claim "SE knob slobbing" or some other pointed near insult at a fan defending what they enjoy? I gotta know. Throw out the answer. I have been paying attention for a while, and I do have to say that that behavior is starting to seem wicked toxic. That said. Most of the stuff involving dungeons and not being able to send tells and all that is because of the whole on different servers that feed from many different servers that are separate from the ones the rest of the world is on. Also, that is not exactly what I would call "a feature critical to the success of an MMO in 2014." It is just a neat feature to have. Further, many of your "why's" are things you do not personally enjoy. Super. You are entitled to your opinion, and to share it. However, just because you do not like a feature, a boss, a dungeon, or whatever piece of content does not make it a terrible and stupid decision. It just means you don't like it, which you are perfectly free to do. People are also perfectly free to like and stick up for it. The game is far from perfect. Nothing is perfect. This is especially true of things built to have appeal to a mass audience. Not everyone is going to find it perfect or even agree on what near perfect is. So back to my "why." Why the stream of negativity at the game and the people that admit to being fans and enjoying it? Yar.

Speaking of CCP, so much for the World of Darkness MMO. Number of prospects, one fewer.

This is my bad. I phrased it horribly. There's no actual new GC ranks but that there are new ranked items. Things were shifted and Formerly-philo mats have been added. Ah, spiffy. No worries. Still it is expected that they left some things out.

Almost forgot, further confirmation of individual housing! Moar preparations to build me a village*! Wheeeeee! (*this village shall be run under Duskwight Law. Duskwights not responsible if you are rolled, injured, or otherwise molested and your stuff taken. Duskwight Law!)

It may not be there yet as these I am guessing are just preliminary notes. Maybe? :? Probably just preliminary/not spoilery. They also did not list any items from the new GC ranks, or what the new GC ranks are called. Ditto that for the new crafted stuff. Expect it all to be covered when the patch comes. ^ ^

Depending on your character's age, replace Lordaeron with Ala Mhigo, which fell around 20 years prior to the start of ARR. Most of the refugees migrated to Southern Thanalan (Little Ala Mhigo) and Ul'dah. Ul'dah is the home of the Gladiator's Guild, which would fit your sword and shield warrior concept. Of cultural note, you might consider replacing the given up aspiration of Paladin to some form of Lancer. Ala Mhigo's military (the strongest in Eorzea until if fell to the machinations of the Black Wolf) was particularly well known for its neato bandito Lancer Corps. There is not specific job attached to them, but they were supposedly a force to near rival Ishgard's Dragoons. That is kinda saying something, since the Ishgardian Dragoons are dedicated near completely to fighting dragons in melee combat. I am unsure if the Lancer Corps of Ala Mhigo had a specific name. Ul'dah will likely grate on your character's honorable streak, it is wicked amounts of corrupt. Your mileage may vary though, the city-state IS also home to the Sultansworn, which are Eorzea's Paladins. This is not to say you do not have a few other options. If you are keen on Warrior as concept, you might consider having him move to Limsa after the fall of Ala Mhigo, home of the Marauder's guild. Maruader bleeds into Warrior, which is conceptually all about channeling anger. Limsa also fits well as a sort of Stormwind analog, to a degree. This would cleave a bit closer to the whole "giving up the light" idea, sorta. Lastly, consider replacing "the Light" with Rhalgr. The Destroyer is/was the patron deity of Ala Mhigo, and the leap that he failed to protect/abandoned his city is not a huge one to make. Similarly swap out the undead for the Garleans. As for the smaller town stuff, Eorzea is filled with small settlements. My final two cents. While some tend to look sidelong at dimension hoping, I tend to think this is more from people announcing that they do so. Each character is different, but a case can be made that someone from a whole different world/dimension would not run around announcing it. Similar to how if your character is an assassin, you probably don't pop into the tavern and tell people they do not know "Hi! I commit murder for money!" By way of example, I have an alt who totally does come from another world. He is not in the habit of mentioning this fact to people, thus it really doesn't come up that much. It is a matter of showing and not telling. I tend to let such details bleed out through the RP of culture shock and such. Like the fact that he thinks the Garleans are the better option for saving Eorzea from the Primals, and that the force uniting the various city-states are actually more sinister in nature than their masks of altruism would have them appear. This are things that are products of the world he came from. Where a character is from is less important than where the character is going. Half the fun can be seeing if other players can figure it out ICly. That is just me though. Just some ideas to consider.

This "the game begins at the level cap" mentality is one of the major problems with the MMO genre today. Content should be meaningful and enjoyable for the entire range of experience. Not just a specific part of it. The game does not start at 50. The bulk of the main story is getting to 50. There is also a huge amount of content that is below 50. Sure, endgame is a 50. There are really only 3 things at that point. Coil, Crystal Tower, and Primals (both HM and EX). There is a lot of content out there to enjoy besides endgame, you just have to open your eyes from the tunnel vision of "must get to endgame" a bit. I'll grant that the on going new main story stuff is 50, but that could change in an expansion. Probably similar to how XI did with Chains of Promethia, effectively creating a second "main scenario" to enjoy on the way up or syncing back down to the content. We really cannot fault the genre, or any individual game in it, for assuming that people will keep lvling up. Particularly not in the early stage we are still at with this game.

For them to ninja in Musketeer like they did Scholar. I mean it is called "Through the Maelstrom." ;p

We do know the level cap is going up with the expansion. I assume to 60, and with it will probably come at least two new abilities for each job. That follows the current pattern of a job ability from quests every five levels. It also means two new abilities and two new traits for each class, I would assume. Which may or may not add some of the needed flexibility for new jobs we are wanting to see to be a reality. 7 job based actions as opposed to 5 is a good thing. As for the Advanced Jobs... Yeah, that is a mentioned thing. I have no idea how that will break down ability wise. Will they be cross classing from job abilities? Class abilities? Both? Lord only knows. These Advanced Jobs could be what fills the mentioned hybrid role though. Honestly I sorta hope that the hybrids come from new classes, but however you get from here to there will be fairly awesome either way. Advanced Job branches have me excited in general, being a huge fan of the original FFT. The advancement tree thing was fun to play with, and having something similar is pretty intriguing.

Well, we already know they will not be increasing the party sizes. They are pretty dead set on light party content being for 4 people and full party content being for 8. Yoshi-P himself stated that this full party content is to be 8 man so that it can have two people for each role (2 tanks, 2 healers, 2 dd, and 2 hybrid). Further, GLA will probably not be getting Great Sword. 1.) They would lose access to all of their shield based abilities (no shield bash, no shield swipe, no use for bulwark, and so on). 2.) There is a class for that they are messing with on test servers. It would be nice, but that does not seem to be their intent. Their intent for classes is that each class has one specific sort of weapon (or weapon set) linked to it. Granted their are variations in look, style, and stats covered by the linked weapon. SCH/ACN books and SMN only books are a bit of an example. Also consider the variations in HtH weapons which include; punch daggers/katars, knuckles, cesti, hora, and so on. This speaks to the idea of their being a cosmetic difference between weapons, but no actual mechanical difference when it comes to animations and the like. 1 class, 1 weapon type is the very heart of the armory system. I really do not think they are going to change something that integral to the game. Yes, I know that THMs and CNJs can use either wands or staves. Neither of those classes have any abilities tied to having a shield, though. Short conclusion. Great Sword use will be tied to the new class, which will likely come out in the first expansion. We know we are getting Musketeer at some point. It is has been teased/owed to us since 1.0. My personal hope is that they will release it semi-under the radar in the "Through the Maelstrom" patch in March. Probably a bit of a pipe dream though. Likely we will not see it until the expansion either, but I can dream. We also know we are getting some sort of Scout class. It could be Musketeer, it could not be Musketeer. We don't know at this point. In short, 2-3 new classes and associated jobs coming down the pipe already. This is not to say that what you propose is not neat and interesting. It just does not seem to be in line with what the devs have been/are working on. I myself totally believe that if the new Scout class thing is not Musketeer, it will be a class that dual wields with daggers and such. Likely similar to how PUG and MNK dual wield, the weapons will be bought/acquired/crafted and twinned weapon sets. I realize you said this is your ideal scenario. I am just cautioning that this will likely not be something that comes about anytime soon. Whatever the "Hybrid" roll is needs exist and be messed with in parties before they even think of raising the party cap. Not to mention there would need to be a complete upheaval and re-coding of a lot of existing content to achieve what you are hoping for. Yar. Some final notes. A THM class that also heals could easily fill the RDM slot. I do not particularly like this idea. I would rather see RDM be one of these speculated and mentioned jobs that require multiple jobs to get. It allows for more flexibility and staying truer to the heart of what RDM is. I would also love to see PUP. Pretty sure they are not going to have it come off of ARC. Rather, I'd like for it to branch from anything but ACN, because if that is the case we are not going to see it anytime soon. Likely some time after they have caught all the other classes up as far as job count. I think that there will be DD options for both Musketeer and Archer, likely of different flavors. This just seems natural progression for both classes. Particularly for Archer. Lastly, how is Berserker different conceptually from WAR. That concept and balliwick seems to have been covered already. My two cents. Rawr.

Honestly, the game could probably use another tank. I am unsure if that tank should be attached to a new class or come from an existing one. I do think that that tank should play differently than the other tanks that already exist. WAR plays different than PLD, and new tanks should play different from both WAR and PLD. Likely this can be accomplished by having the new tank have some sort of new mechanic. Something similar to how WAR has wrath and such, but not exactly the same. Shadows are a good option if one wants to think the NIN route. Set ups with different runes or something would work well to have a Rune Fencer/Mystic Knight thing going on. Maybe even something that relies on debuffing the enemy to tank more effectively. Someting that strips the incoming hits of their bite, rather than building up its own defense. That could be the route of either a Templar or a Mystic Knight, and could prove to be pretty interesting. Heck all three of those ideas could be combined to make something pretty intersting. Runes or tools that debuff, create shadows, etc. Give it a new resource or mechanic to manage and we have not only something different, but something that meshes well with the other tank in the party. Similar to the fun synergy stuff that can be pulled off between WAR and PLD. I mean, they have said that the set up for us as far as role will eventually break down into 2 Tanks, 2 DDs, 2 Healers, and 2 Hybrid. New ways to mesh party play are always interesting.

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. No one here called you a moron or attempted to insult you. This response is a bit heated and uncalled for. You have your opinion, and you are more than entitled to it. You are not, however, entitled to insult anyone else because you happen to disagree with others. No one here deserves to be called dense, or have their ability to read called into question simply because you would like things one way, and they see things another. Take some time, calm down, and lets move on to discussing something else. This appears to be a bit of a heated topic for some.

It very well may. We all like DRK and we all want them to put it in. Heck it was my main in XI. I want it bad, and will absolutely play it no matter what form it takes. Jobs do change class roles. SCH is a great example, but SCH does not lose any Arcanist abilities at all, save for the two summons becoming healing and support based pets. It just fails to gain any SMN abilities. The transformation is based as much on the job abilities it gains, as well as the transition of the pets from dd/tank to support/healing. All that people are pointing out with the MRD over GLA argument is that the transition is easier branching out of MRD, as opposed to branching out of GLA. Are they right that DRK will spawn out of MRD? Who knows. MRD has many abilities that one would attribute to a DRK. Bloodbath is Blood Weapon, Vengeance is similar to Dread Spikes, Scythe animations could easily share the same animation as the Great Axe (in XI, they were the same animation). It is correct that branching DRK from MRD would be the easier fit. They could still be wrong, though. DRK could branch out from the Great Sword wielding class they have mentioned being tested. The two planned jobs for it could easily be DRK and what ever they are going to call SAM. It could, though it is super unlikely, also branch from Musketeer, because Yoshi-P is an awesome crazy person who feels DRKs should use guns. One sec, I am going to take a moment to reflect how freaking awesome that could be for a second. Mmmm. There, moment over. It could also branch from some class that they have not even teased us with. (Sidenote - Yoshi-P has mentioned that we will be getting NIN and SAM, they are just not going to be called NIN and SAM.) I like GLA, I really do. And I really love Paladin. As far as a pure DD class branching out of it, I dunno. GLA is set up as a straight up tank from a class stand point. PLD enhances this, crazily. Do not forget that they had to modify WAR to make it a tank on par with PLD. I mean, WARs have to cross class two abilities from it to be full on effective tanks. What we are really talking about here is the difference in changing two abilities (like with SCH) and giving nearly every single ability a class has a complete overhaul. Can it be done? Yes. Will they do it? I think it is unlikely. It is way more work than I think they will find necessary. I also think that they approached each class with a plan as to what jobs it would branch into. Evidence is seen in SCH and SMN. Both have vastly different roles as Jobs, but they build off of the same root. A healer/dps that focuses on damage over time as opposed to bursting. GLA is awesome, but it is not a DD. DRK is a DD. That is how they are looking at it. That is how it was listed when the mentioned it int the poll. To be specific "A damage dealer that deals special damage (Dark Knight)." Still. I could be wrong. We all could be, and our lives will not be completely ruined if DRK does not branch off of what we would like it to. Lets focus on the excitement of what jobs besides DRK could possibly branch off of GLA. Fencer? Mystic Knight? Templar? Onion Knight? There are wide open possibilities. Yar.

We'll have to wait for confirmation, but we are getting Kobold faction daily things. One assumes it will be a splinter faction of non-tempered Kobolds, much like the Ash faction of Amal'ja. Pretty safe bet that every Beast Tribe enemy you run into is tempered. Unless otherwise specified, like with the Sylphs and the Ash Amals. Yar. My logic largely stems from how the Kobolds act in CSes when their Primal is involved. Heck, how all the beast tribes act when their Primal is involved.

Slooooow it down a sec. There is something that need clarification. You do not need the Echo to fight a Primal. You need the Echo to avoid being tempered by a Primal. While all of the Primals can temper, not all of them choose to do so. Titan only tempers Kobolds, and Rahmu only Slyphs (so far as we have seen, this may change). Garuda, also only tempers Ixal, as she has a disdain for those who are not bird people. Of the Primals that we know of thus far, only Ifrit and Leviathan temper people outside of their associated Beast Tribe. Ifrit seems to temper whoever he can get his hands on. Leviathan has pirates and such that are tempered to serve him just as loyally as the Sahagin. It is worth mentioning Siren as well. Whatever the heck she is (jury may still be out on that one), she certainly enthralls people to her crazy sing song will. Just wanted to point out the slight leap of logic before things went too far down the "have to have the Echo to fight Primals" road. Do not HAVE to have it. Just want to have it if a Primal decides you would make a better slave than opponent. Stuff to consider. Yar.

I mention Great Swords only as a way to tie in with existing classes. That's all. I find it amusing that people cling to XI as some sort of standard for a series that has 14 plus games worth of lore! I apologize for being catty, but please swing above the belt. Thanks! No existing class uses Great Sword... yet. Stay tuned, one is more than likely coming, it has been teased since the Grand Company artwork of 1.0. Take a peek at the big Ul'dah poster here. Guy right under the banner. I know. I know. It is just art work, but I would point out that if you look in the other the art with everyone and their dog charging behemoth, you can pick out each of the new i90 weapons. That art is also pretty old. As for discussion of what weapon is most tied to DRK... Yes, we have had more than 14 games worth of lore and such to draw on. Great Sword are by far the most common denominator, follow closely by Scythes and standard sword and shield. In the update of FFIV, Cecil used great sword as a DRK. Cloud in VII is also known for using a great sword, as are most of the SOLDIER 1st Classes (Zack, Genesis, etc). Most of them are described as being DRKs, at least for the setting of VII. Another prominent example of DRK GS use would be in FFT - War of the Lions. Fellswords are Great Sword. Yes, scythes featured most prominently as a DRK signature weapon in XI. That is not the only place that was drawn from though. The DRK in FF2 uses a Scythe. At any rate, my primary case for DRK using a scythe in XIV is because from a class ability stand point, MRD has most of what we would expect a DRK to do. That and the shift in animation from Axe to Scythe can be effectively the same. Such a move cuts down on the amount of new animations that would have to be added to the existing game, which would be a cost and labor saving measure. I freely admit I could be wrong, we all could be. For all we know DRK could come from Pugilist or even Lancer. I just think that ability wise Scythe or Axe wielding DRKs make a bit more sense when you take a look at the skills of the base classes. Quick side note on the arabian look of BLU that was prominent in XI. That look did not just come from XI. In every FF where there is not a named character with their own distinctive look, BLU pretty much looks like we see them in XI. Signature weapon mileage tends to vary wildly, but that look is pretty well set. Oddly, there is only one thing that people now consider to be iconic to a job that came from XI. That would be DRGs having the wyvern pet. That was only ever a thing in XI. It appears in no other FF. Anyway. More two gil and stuff to ponder. Whee!

Yay for brainstorming and speculating. I like doing this stuff. I have thought about this more than a little myself. These are some of my own thoughts. I shall list mine similar to how you have listed yours, naming the class and possible branches. Marauder - Given existing class abilities, this is the strongest candidate to have DRK branch from it. Scythes or Great Swords could simply be weapons only usable when the DRK job is equipped (similar to how there are books post 30 that are only usable by SCH and SMN). Scythes don't really require a lot of animation change from Axes, though GSes would require some tweaks. Likely the job abilities would revolve around sacrificing HP to do increased or special damage (Soul Eater). BST is also a decent candidate, given the traditional affinity with Axes. Though this could admittedly be considered a bit of a stretch. I tend to agree that Berserker seems to have been largely absorbed into WAR concept-wise, and I am pretty much stumped as to what else would wield and big ole Axe. Lancer - Another candidate for BST. Given where the class guild is located there is a pretty strong case for this. DRG seems to be the plant itself firmly as and Ishgardian creation, so it would make since for there to be a more Gridanian based job branch for this class. Obviously this is a pet job similar to SMN. A possibility is that only one job ability is given to summoning your pet, which is then built similar to how you build your chocobo companion. The rest of the abilities then being dedicated to buffing said pet. This would be very similar to DRG, as there really is nothing that DRG gets that is really enhances the base LNC skills at all. DRG gets jumps and an ability that enhances two of those jumps. So it does not seem improbable that the second job branch would have the same level of self contained abilities. I am also really at sort of a loss as to what else would use spear, or what other weapon would use same spear animations as LNC. Pugilist - DNC, all the way. Some of the Pugilist specific animations already look really dance like already (Feather Foot, Fists of Wind, Internal Release). DNC also does tend to traditionally use fists and such. I predict that there will be more dancer like weapons only usable while the job is equipped. Likely this would be a melee form of BRD. Replace songs with dances, and give them different effects. I see there being a mirror here, with DNC being more focused on debuffing the enemy, rather than buffing the party. Think more Foe Requiem style effects, rather than Ballad or Paeon. Given the state of the game as it stands my prediction would be two mob debuffs and one party buff, to make it almost an exact mirror of BRD. NIN is possible, but it is a stretch. My vote goes to NIN branching from the scout class they are working on (assuming that said scout class does not end up being Musketeer). Archer - Totally gets RNG. A ranged pure DPS job is something the game is lacking a bit right now. There are two at present. BRD and BLM. Yes, SMN doesn't really count as it IS more of a pet and DOT class than it is a purely ranged smack the enemy hard and fast. This one is sorta a gimme, though there are a couple of monkey wrenches that could be tossed at us. I will get to that later. Gladiator - This is tricky. It could be a dark horse candidate for DRK with some ability overlay. I think it is more likely we will get a DD aspect in the second job though. Something more traditional and possibly less scene. I am thinking Fencer or Mystic Swordsman/Rune Fencer off the top of my head. A stance that reduces hate gain and several new sword WSes and self buffs to pump the damage up and on to par with the other melee DDs. I think it is unlikely that they will strip away shield use from this class, since there are several Gladiator abilities that require a shield. Anything is possible with something similar to SMN and SCH ability overlay though. This is the class that is the hardest to pin down. The second job could be anything. It is easier to think about what would not fit. That said, I know a lot of people are predicting RDM to branch out of this. In my opinion that does RDM a bit of a disservice. RDMs are jack of all trades, and the current set of 5 extra abilities from job does not really fill out this role well. I suppose it depends a bit on what cross class stuff they can pull from though. BLU is also a distinct possibility, with the five job ability slots being used to slot in learned enemy skills. Like XI they can learn a big giant pool of them, but only get to use a few of them at a time actively. Thaumaturge - Also hard to pin down. Time Mage is a possible. This would shift the job to a more DD and Support role similar to BRD. BLU is also possible with similar mechanics to those described in the Gladiator section. I would honestly be more comfortable with RDM branching from this class, with the job abilities being more focused on fleshing out the jack of all trades bits. The base class ability pool makes more sense to me, and it would not be hard to simply have RDM be able to equip a sword instead of a wand and use the existing base sword animations. Yay flavor! Conjurer - A more support based mage such as Time Mage could easily come from this as well. Heck, a strong case can be made for BLU, given city-state of origin. If any peoples are going to have a profound enough connection to the world's fauna to use their abilities it is going to be the Gridanians (crazy, zealous, tree huggers). Geomancer is also a very strong case. I tend to place BLU firmly in the THM camp, given the tradition in FF for Blue Magic to be a forbidden or dangerous art. I think Geomancer or Time Mage are much more likely to branch from here. In truth, all of the magic classes are hard to pin down at all. I think it is going to be a while before we see any sort of new magic user anytime soon. There are just other things they have a higher priority of adding to the game before they give us new spell flingers. Arcanist - Already has two jobs. Probably won't get anymore until they catch the other stuff up to having two per class. I have reserved some space here at the bottom to give a mention to a couple of things we know are coming or being tested. This is mostly pure speculation with some if/then statements. Unknown Scout Class - Will likely get THF and NIN. Musketeer - Will probably get Corsair which would again fill the place of Gambler like it did in XI. It is possible it will much more simple than that mechanics wise, though. I would be sad if they just made COR a bard clone though. We also have to take into account that they might feel really frisky and have THF branch from here, IF Musketeer ends up being the Unknown Scout Class they have spoken of. The lore bits sorta fit for this being a thing, but time will tell. Other possibilities here include Gun Mage (whacky flavor of BLU), Engineer (yay tech based stuff), and a myriad of other gun wielding jobs. Too early to tell. A lot will depend on what this class looks like when we get it, and we are going to get it. Guild symbol is there and everything. My personal hope for the job branches would be COR and THF (because ranged hate control would be exceedingly interesting). Unknown Great Sword Class - This has been teased a couple of times. It has been mentioned that this class is also being tested. We already know that we will get something like SAM. It just won't be called SAM. More than likely the Not-SAM will be one of the job branches from here. DRK is also a distinct possibility. Too early to really tell, but I am calling it that Not-SAM will branch from here. My closing thoughts here are this. What is really going to bake our noodles are the possibilities of Advanced Jobs. Jobs that require other Jobs as requirements. Wheeee! Anyway, my two gil. Yar.

I would not say a civil war, but there is certainly a power struggle going on between some members of the Syndicate and the Sultana. The factions are actually into two groups, the Monetarists and the Royalists. The Monetarists wish to weaken the power of the Sultana and rule Ul'dah for themselves. Most of the members of the Syndicate are Monetarists. The Royalists wish to return Ul'dah to the days when the Sultana and other Noble Houses ruled, setting the clock back to before there was a Syndicate. Rauhbahn is a member of the Syndicate by virtue of his being the Flame General, but Rauhbahn is a Royalist. In fact, if I recall correctly, the Monetarists were trying to put the leader of the Brass Blades in as Flame General at the onset of the GC's reformation instead of Rauhbahn. A move that would give them more control in the Syndicate and further weaken the Sultana's power. Both factions have their party lines as to why they are the right choice. They both have really terrible track records when it comes to exploiting and grinding down the poor and downtrodden. Though, admittedly, the current Sultana seems to be the exception. She just lacks the resources to do any real good. Will it come to civil war? No, probably not. The Monetarists seem content to use intrigue and espionage to weaken the Sultana. Never striking at her through official means or directly. They mess with those factions loyal to her, like the Sultansworn and such. I suspect that would be the status quo until something really drastic and dramatic happens.

Good evening to you all, we are she who is called Zaralette Valeneaux. Head of the Merchant House of Valeneaux, and the Duskwight bloodline that also bears that name. We offer our most sincere greetings to those assembled, and our hearts are lifted to see the faces of those who would welcome us to our new home in Gridania. From these very gates the last of our caravans has left for the City-State, guarded by a combination of the Order of the Twin Adder and our own Valeneaux guards. This act symbolizes the unity we hope to share with all of those in our new home. We are here to relieve the suffering and scars caused by the Calamity. Gridania has suffered much, and is being bled dry by those who would seek to profit off of suffering. We cannot stand idle while this continues. We have left Ul'dah both in protest of the actions of some of our peers, and to come here and help more directly to ease what has taken place. Our father often quoted a very old saying. "All that evil needs in this world is for the good to do nothing." We are here to do something. Let none that are wounded suffer, as we are here to stem the bleeding. Let those in need never want, as we are here to provide. This world must be exhumed and raise back up from the darkness that it has been plunged into, and that is what we are here to do. In order for this endevour to be sucessful, we all must get involved. The hands of the many must join as one, and work diligently to see that all is rebuilt and restored as it should be. As it must be. We may be outsiders to the Twelveswood, but the Valeneaux bloodline has it's roots here, in Old Gelmorra that came before Gridania. More to the point we must move beyond these concepts, and be of one Eorzean heart and one Eorzean mind. None of us should stand idle and allow suffering over such concepts as to outsider and insider. True unity can only be achieved when we take the blinders off of our eyes, and see that we are all one. That we are all Eorzean. Race, origin, class, creed, we must work to see past these things. We must reach out to all who are in need. That is what we Valeneaux are here to do. We hope that you will help us do this. We have one last matter of business before we may commence the festivities, and allow you all you partake in our offered hospitality. As some of you are aware, an operation was conducted with Valeneaux funding to capture the bandit known as Yssen Van. This operation was expertly conducted by the adventurer known as Deirdre Ta'ae. We also made promise that what we learned from the mouth of this bandit, we would share with all. We only wish we had better news to share with you all, but it would seem we have discovered something most sinister, something that threatens all who walk on Eorzea. Yssen Van is no mere bandit. In reality he a member of a group of assassin's known as the Seven Devils, known as the Hellfire. He is a quite powerful and dangerous thaumaturge. His twin, Ysa Van, was also a member of this society. Ysa Van made attempt on the lives of several members of theValeneaux, and by our efforts she was put down. Killed by our own hand. We have learned that this society of assassins, these Seven Devils, now seek to plunge us all into darkness. They have been infiltrating the City-States and their organizations to see to as of yet unknown and sinister purpose. Van himself laughed as he told us this, for no sooner had he given me the inklings of what was to transpire, than he was taken from us by what we thought were two members of the Maelstrom. These two individuals violently fled and rescued the Hellfire, absconding with him via teleportation magicks. This tells us a few things. One, that we are all in danger from this organization and their plan. Two, that they have sucessfully infiltrated one of the Grand Companies. While these things may appear to be grave there is last thing we know. There are seven heads to this monster, one has been cut down, and we know the identity of another. We Valeneaux show dedicate ourselves to the task of exposing this society, and seeing that their plans come to naught but dust and ash. We welcome the assistance of any who would aid us in this task. (Servers begin quickly dispensing wine and ale to to any who want it.) For now, we must put these things from our mind. For we are not here gathered to strike at these villains. We are here to celebrate coming to our new home in Gridania, and to offer you all hospitality. Please, eat, drink, and be of good cheer. All tabs shall be covered by the Valeneaux. Enjoy yourselves. We shall make ourselves available to speak to you all, and speak of whatever matters you wish. Even if it must be these grave ones just revealed. We are here to ease suffering, and we count on you all to help us by advising us how best to do that. Without further ado, we proclaim our hospitality offered and open to you all! Prosperity to Gridania, hope and happiness to all, and long live Eorzea! (Zaralette raises a of wine glass in toast, and drinks it swiftly with smile commencing the event.)

This thread has been created as a companion to today's event at 6pm CST. Mostly because things get missed at big events, and I would like for things not to fall under the cracks. The first post below will be Zaralette's Speech. While it will take place in game as well, I do not wish for people to miss it, or feel like they have to keep up with it as the chat log scrolls by. If something mysterious happens to be dropped at the party, and PCs would like to follow up on it, please post below. Just include in the post the name of the PCs involved, what you are trying to follow up on, and how your PC (or group of PCs) intends on finding stuff out. ^ ^ Lasty I am going to include a bit of information and links that are easily known to all PCs that will hopefully get rid of some early questions. The tip of the iceberg can largely be found here, on Zaralette's Wiki Page. Other facts that are pretty much common knowledge at this point are; 1. The Valeneaux is composed of two primary groups. The first is a Clan of Duskwights, and the second is the Merchant House of the same name. While old and prosperous, they have only been flexing their clout and resources in the five years since the Calamity. Prior to that they mostly stayed under the radar, seeing to their own affairs. 2. The Valeneaux have been pretty involved with aiding refugees in Ul'dah and Thanalan prior to their current move. In particular they have been providing medical aid to refugees and the poor at their compound in Ul'dah, and by making regular relief trips to Little Ala Mhigo. 3. Zaralette Valeneaux is the recently named head of both the Clan, and the Merchant House. Her father Cousteaux having recently fallen terribly ill. 4. The Valeneaux hired Deirdre Ta'ae to capture the bandit Yssen Van, and has been very public about the success of the operation. Zaralette has stated that she intends to share the knowledge gleaned from the bandit with the public for he first time at this event. That would be about it. Sorry for the length of the post, and hope to see many people at the event and involved. Thanks for your time and interest. ^ ^

Dragoon is not an easy job to play, but that does not make them any more or less viable than any other job. A lot of the problem does stem from the player base of the Dragoon job itself. Like the DRKs of 11, there are a lot of people out there that only half utilize the tools at their disposal. There are a lot of things that most Dragoon players completely for get to do. I notice this mostly when I am tanking through the daily roulette fun. The most common things would be. 1. Jumps are there for a reason, use them. When ever they are up, whenever power surge is up. Granted the jumps were a bit broken in 2.0 and are much better in 2.1, but I feel like Power Surge and the Jumps are wicked under utilized. Which is sad because I have seen Jump damage spike for crazy amounts, and none of the Jumps cost TP. They also have some very nice side benefits, which leads us too... 2. Battlefield Mobility. Yes, BRD and other Ranged DPS can do their rotations from a longer distance, but DRG has a lot of tools that let them get where they need to be very very quickly. Elusive Jump is a great "oh crap button" and with practice allows you to stay in a void zone for just a bit longer to finish off that last link in your combo. Spineshatter and Dragonfire Dive take you to your target, and have a crap ton of range. You can also move while executing a Doomspike or Ring or Talons. With practice this leads to DRGs bouncing around battlefields like Gummy Bears, which is a valuable thing in fights that require good positioning. This is also a really good tool for setting up your combos. 3. There are more combos to your rotation than the Full Thrust Combo, use them and increase your damage out put. I see many many DRG simply sticking to the Full Thurst combo, sometimes without slapping down Heavy Thrust. They should utilize everything. Impulse Drive > Chaos Thrust, Phlebotimize, Everything. The Full Thrust combo reaches its maximum potential only when Disembowel, Heavy Thrust, and Blood for Blood are stacked up. Throw up Life Surge and giggle with glee when Full Thrust hits with those ducks in a row, it is nuts. 4. Last strange thing I see people do with DRG is gear it like MNK. This is a mistake. They are two different jobs and they play very very differently. They reach their full potential by focusing on very different gear builds. DRGs get a little more out of Skill Speed than MNK does, and their skills hit harder. You want DRGs to go faster than they you would normally think they should. The exact ratio is a subject for debate, but the main point stands. Don't gear build a job just like another job. You are not playing to the job's strengths that way. I am not telling anyone here anything they did not already know, just pointing out my own observations of others playing DRG when I step outside the box into another role. There will always all be a lot of tunnel vision from other players as far as "what set up is best in life." The answer is there is no set up that is "best." All things are viable, everything is permitted. Everyone just needs to be on their game and know their job and their role, and how to maximize their potential. Have fun out there guys. ^ ^

(Rescue is indeed an option, but first ya gotta find out where he is being kept. More stuff shall happen. If you are interested in jumping on the bus, send me a PM.)

Wanderer's Shadows. Active.