Foggy Memory Syndrome

[Noelle]

I feel like you sort've missed my point, but that's fine I realise it's hard to grasp.

 

Remi was at the battle herself, she time warped. I am one of those who was there, please don't cut me out so quickly.

 

I'm trying to say that the iconic Warriors of Light that the people have forgotten would be the -main characters- in the -main story- of the game.

I don't see why everyone else who was present but not the light warriors is forgotten, it never mentions that. Infact they're clearly remembered, with the GC leaders as examples.

 

I could be mistaken, of course. You might be RPing out all the story missions and being the hero of Eorzea and have been all chummy with the NPCs.

 

But yeah, that's just my interpretation. Sorry if it still doesn't make sense.

[Aylis]

So I kinda sorta maybe? Have this very loose theory or idea, please remember this is just my interpritation and I'm probably 100% wrong as usual

 

So the way I see it? The one exact thing we all have in common, be it time warped, or staying? Its this dream we all have involving out favorite prophet Urianger!

 

I guess this could be interpreted as a couple things on each side? To the time warped ones he broke you out of your crystal slumber and placed the brand on you so you'd remember the past and who you were and all your close friends? To the ones that stayed behind we all had this collective dream he visited us and placed the brand on us so we would remember our past and who we were and who our close friends were?

 

So i guess either way the brand is the key to our memories IC and remembering?

[Ellie]

I know we've pretty much all have come to the same conclusion about what's going on with the foggy memories, but I thought I'd post this here as well.

 

 

During the last hour of the beta I rushed through the main storyline quests to get to the scene I remember seeing, and it pretty much lays out exactly what has and hasn't been wiped from memory.

[Blade]

I'm trying to say that the iconic Warriors of Light that the people have forgotten would be the -main characters- in the -main story- of the game.

I don't see why everyone else who was present but not the light warriors is forgotten, it never mentions that. Infact they're clearly remembered, with the GC leaders as examples.

 

I could be mistaken, of course. You might be RPing out all the story missions and being the hero of Eorzea and have been all chummy with the NPCs.

 

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. 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. It's fuzzy.

 

It's not a term that's reserved for the 'heroes of legend' as it were. 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. Bear in mind we're only seeing a part of the overall story; we still haven't got an answer as to 'why.' 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.

[Vashies Rosada]

i worked with it and around it from XI and seem be ok... though it was rather hard come up with a story line.

[Aysun]

I feel like you sort've missed my point, but that's fine I realise it's hard to grasp.

 

Remi was at the battle herself, she time warped. I am one of those who was there, please don't cut me out so quickly.

 

I'm trying to say that the iconic Warriors of Light that the people have forgotten would be the -main characters- in the -main story- of the game.

I don't see why everyone else who was present but not the light warriors is forgotten, it never mentions that. Infact they're clearly remembered, with the GC leaders as examples.

 

I could be mistaken, of course. You might be RPing out all the story missions and being the hero of Eorzea and have been all chummy with the NPCs.

 

But yeah, that's just my interpretation. Sorry if it still doesn't make sense.

 

First of all, my post was in NO WAY hostile to you or your idea. I'd appreciate it if you kept the same civil tone with me. There is NO reason for you to be responding with such malice over a simple discussion.

 

Second, as Blade clarified, all the adventurers who were at the Battle of Carteneau and were teleported are now known as Warriors of Light. We're not being special snowflakes by RPing this out. ICly I was not chummy with the main NPCs nor am I RPing being the main storyline hero. What I am RPing is being one of the numerous adventurers, including Remi, that went to Carteneau to fight, and are now known as the Warriors of Light. Due to that, when I come back, those without the Echo won't recognize who I am right away, even though they remember Aysun went to fight.

 

The GC leaders depiction of their own teleportation is not like ours. They seem to have been let out mere days at the most after the Battle, and thus do not seem to be affected like the Warriors of Light were. I assume that's why they're recognized and remembered no problem.

[Merri]

Let's please try to keep this discussion civil, everyone. People have differing opinions, and that's perfectly fine. No need to push anything further here on the thread. Personal matters can be discussed privately~

 

Now, here's a question (and forgive me if this has already been discussed! Haven't had time to fully read every single post). Time-skippers and the echo seem to be intertwined pretty heavily. Some of our characters already had the echo ICly, so it's no real difference to us, but what about you out there who didn't have the echo and were time skipped.

 

Would you have forgotten everyone as well? Even your friends at the battle? It seems like having the echo is what is allowing us to remember everything and eachother for the most part. Unless whatever "happened" to time-skippers while we were phased out from Eorzea would allow the connection regardless of echo.

 

Perhaps having been time-skipped forced the echo upon characters who lacked it?

 

Foods for thought?

[Nel Celestine]

Merri- it seems that everyone time skipped kept their memories.  Echo or not.

[Noelle]

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.  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.  It's fuzzy.

 

It's not a term that's reserved for the 'heroes of legend' as it were.  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.  Bear in mind we're only seeing a part of the overall story; we still haven't got an answer as to 'why.'  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.

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.

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.

[Fulcrum]

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.

[Blue]

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.

[Rhostel]

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.

[ArmachiA]

Ah, magical amnesia. The thing they do when they don't know what to do.

[Varus]

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." 

 

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. 

 

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.