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I've had this kicking around in my head for quite a while and I just had to get it out somewhere... do with it as you will, and any comments ideas are welcome. Obviously this isn't going to happen, but I think it would be something fun for those who like the FFXI storyline.
This is my concept for an over-arching final expansion to the game, something designed to tie up the storyline and act as the last story-based addition to FFXI. Obviously there are going to be spoilers, so you might not want to continue if you haven't finished all of the existing storyline.
Requirements: Rank 10, completion of RoZ, CoP (to include AN), ToAU, WoTG, and all 3 of the mini expansions.
Opening Cutscene: Triggered by going through any of the Cavernous Maws. Cait Sith stops you to say that (in the last parts of WoTG) you've changed the past enough that some things in your present might be slightly different.
Next Cutscene: Triggered by zoning into your home nation in the past. You ask Lilisette what the two of you might have changed, and she mentions that besides saving her father, your actions made the beastmen army attacking Tavnazia much smaller than it would have been otherwise.
Next Cutscene: Triggered by zoning into the Tavnazian Safehold. Prishe is wheeling about the upper circular level, engaged in a very long rant about how the Safehold is drafty and gets wet whenever it rains. She complains about how insufferable it is to see Orcs/Gigas/Dragons living amongst the ruins of Tavnazia while the remnants of the Marquisate huddle in the Safehold. Ulima patiently explains how retaking the city would be almost impossible given the amount of beastmen living there and the level of destruction rendered to the Marqisate and the surrounding area.
Prishe, of course, responds with some choice expletives and says that anyone with *real* guts could drive those beastmen right out. Spotting you on the bridge below, she leaps down, exclaiming that she knows the perfect person to lead a force to retake Tavnazia. Of course, she manages to land right on top of you, driving you into the wooden planks and knocking you right out.
They do one of those black screen to eye-opening transitions they've been using in WoTG recently and you see Ulima/Justinius hovering over you while Prishe continues elaborating on an attack plan in the background. As Ulima helps you stand up and apologizes, Prishe turns around with an "about time," and asks if you're on board, as if you had been listening to her the entire time. You aren't given the option to respond, as she simply says, "of course you are, now go round up some forces to help us retake Tavnazia."
Next Quest: You have to raise four different forces to help in an assault on Tavnazia.
First cutscene: Happens when you talk to the leader of your home nation. In recognition of your actions to achieve Rank 10, he or she deploys a company of either Iron Musketeers, Royal Knights, or War Warlocks to Tavnazia to aid you. One of the storyline characters (Volker from Bastok, for instance) volunteers to lead them.
Second cutscene: Happens when you talk to Gilgamesh. In recognition of your actions in RoZ, he agrees to get you support from Kazham. He can't spare any of his pirates, but he asks Jakoh Wahcondalo to lend you some of her Mithran Mercenaries. Lion, newly recovered after the events of AN, leaps at the chance to join you again and takes command of the mercenary company.
Third Cutscene: Happens when you click the gate to Imperial Whitegate. In recognition of your actions during ToAU, Nashmeira lends you a company of Immortals. She tries to sneak off to lead them herself, but is caught at the last minute. Instead, she assigns Naja to the task. Naja isn't happy about being under YOUR command, but she grudgingly agrees.
Fourth Cutscene: Happens when you talk to Aldo. Freshly motivated by the recent reunification with his sister (Crystalline Prophecy), he leaps at the chance to reclaim the very territory where he lost her. He can't spare any Tenshodo to help you, but he says that he's sure your old friends will show up when the call to help you goes out.
Complete quest.
Next Cutscene: Triggered by zoning into Tavnazia. The place is *crawling* with soldiers from your home nation, Mithran Mercenaries, and Immortals, Prishe is on the bridge, ecstatic over the rising army. Walking in with Aldo, you start to apologize for not having found a fourth company. She waves your concerns off, stepping aside to reveal your company from CoP (Tenzen, "Louverance," the Sin Hunters, etc). These will form your "party" during the remaining parts of the missions, even though you will have a party/alliance of real players (as they did in CoP).
After a moving speech by Justinius about how they will be reclaiming what was lost in the Crystal War and a briefing on the Beastmen forces you will be facing, everyone then turns to you, as the commander, for orders.
In order to retake Tavnazia you have to deal with the Orcs/Gigas surrounding the city, as well as kill the dragons currently nesting there. A massive Wyrm is said to make the palace of the former Marquis his home (the final fight).
You now have three options as to how to proceed, each one bringing you to the final battle.
Frontal Assault. This is the option for those who have an alliance worth of players doing the missions. This puts you and your alliance in the center of an instanced campaign-style fight. There are three different battles, each one more difficult as your army moves progressively closer to the city. You can afford to lose regular troops, but doing so will mean they are not available for future battles. The campaign is lost and must be re-started if you lose any of your generals (Lion, Naja, and the leader from your home city).
The first battle involves taking a fortification and using it as a staging point, the second involves defending it against an onslaught of orcs and gigas, and the third involves taking down the gates of Tavnazia itself.
Holding action. This is the option for those who have a party doing these missions. You command your forces to take a fortification and act as holding force to draw the orcs/gigas away from the city, allowing you and your party (story-wise, Aldo, Prishe, Ulima, "Louverance," Sin Hunters, etc., not your player party) to sneak in and make an attack directly on the Wyrm in Tavnazia.
This involves a series of three "dungeon" crawls through the woods of Tavnazia separated by three BCNM fights against progressively harder dragons.
Infiltration. This is the option for those who want to do this solo. The storyline is the same as the previous option (you're using the army to hold the orcs/gigas at bay).
This involves one very long dungeon crawl through the forest. At the end, you are jumped by a group of dragons. Your NPC party (in cutscene) each take as many dragons as they can, but one Dread Dragon is left for you. A difficult solo BCNM against this Dread Dragon caps the long dungeon crawl.
Regardless of which path you take, you end up in the Marquis' Palace facing an army of dragons of all types. When all seems lost, Cid shows up in his airship, raining down gunfire and causing most of the dragons to take to the air and give chase. That leaves you and your group to a BCNM, facing off against the final Wyrm.
If you did the frontal assault option, you have an entire alliance with you to take down a full-up Fafnir-level Wyrm.
If you did the holding action option, you have a party with you to take down a Fafnir-type Wyrm lowered to Nyzul Isle levels.
If you did the infiltration option, you have the same fight as above, but you are solo with NPC help. The NPCs are:
Original Storyline - Volker (75 WAR / 75 MNK), Trion (75 PLD / 75 WAR), or Ajido-Marujido (75 BLM/ 75 RDM), depending on which nation you're from.
RoZ - Lion (75 THF / 75 WAR)
CoP - Prishe (75 MNK / 75 WHM)
ToAU - Naja (75 WHM / 75 RDM)
WoTG - Lilisette (75 DNC / 75 NIN)
Obviously, the solo fight is going to be a hell of a lot easier. That would be the reward for making it through the long dungeon crawl and the earlier BCNM all on your own.
Final Cutscene: You and every NPC you've met through the course of the game (yes, even Maat) is crowded in the ruins of the Marquis' Palace, and a banquet is being held in your honor. Toasts and tributes are given, etc, etc. As a final shot, you and Aldo walk out on a balcony to the cheering multitudes of the army you led in to Tavnazia. The camera pulls back to show all of Tavnazia, now slowly being rebuilt, and continues to pull back all the way to the cliff at Blueblade Fell, where a small child of your race/gender is doing the finger smooshing thing from the opening cutscene.
Final Reward: Unlocks Tavnazia as a new city with Rent-a-Rooms as well as the surrounding woods. In these woods are exp mobs for level 75 that take standard physical/magical damage but take double damage from magic bursts and skillchain damage. Since the missions to get here hearken back to the early days of the game, it's fitting that the exp mobs are best killed by the old standard skillchain - magic burst exp methods.
You could even keep the old NPCs in the Safehold (for players not at this point in the storyline) by showing a small cutscene with Justinius saying how they are used to it and want to stay, given that they'd lived there for decades.
If you've read to this point, thanks, and let me know what you think.
This is my concept for an over-arching final expansion to the game, something designed to tie up the storyline and act as the last story-based addition to FFXI. Obviously there are going to be spoilers, so you might not want to continue if you haven't finished all of the existing storyline.
Requirements: Rank 10, completion of RoZ, CoP (to include AN), ToAU, WoTG, and all 3 of the mini expansions.
Opening Cutscene: Triggered by going through any of the Cavernous Maws. Cait Sith stops you to say that (in the last parts of WoTG) you've changed the past enough that some things in your present might be slightly different.
Next Cutscene: Triggered by zoning into your home nation in the past. You ask Lilisette what the two of you might have changed, and she mentions that besides saving her father, your actions made the beastmen army attacking Tavnazia much smaller than it would have been otherwise.
Next Cutscene: Triggered by zoning into the Tavnazian Safehold. Prishe is wheeling about the upper circular level, engaged in a very long rant about how the Safehold is drafty and gets wet whenever it rains. She complains about how insufferable it is to see Orcs/Gigas/Dragons living amongst the ruins of Tavnazia while the remnants of the Marquisate huddle in the Safehold. Ulima patiently explains how retaking the city would be almost impossible given the amount of beastmen living there and the level of destruction rendered to the Marqisate and the surrounding area.
Prishe, of course, responds with some choice expletives and says that anyone with *real* guts could drive those beastmen right out. Spotting you on the bridge below, she leaps down, exclaiming that she knows the perfect person to lead a force to retake Tavnazia. Of course, she manages to land right on top of you, driving you into the wooden planks and knocking you right out.
They do one of those black screen to eye-opening transitions they've been using in WoTG recently and you see Ulima/Justinius hovering over you while Prishe continues elaborating on an attack plan in the background. As Ulima helps you stand up and apologizes, Prishe turns around with an "about time," and asks if you're on board, as if you had been listening to her the entire time. You aren't given the option to respond, as she simply says, "of course you are, now go round up some forces to help us retake Tavnazia."
Next Quest: You have to raise four different forces to help in an assault on Tavnazia.
First cutscene: Happens when you talk to the leader of your home nation. In recognition of your actions to achieve Rank 10, he or she deploys a company of either Iron Musketeers, Royal Knights, or War Warlocks to Tavnazia to aid you. One of the storyline characters (Volker from Bastok, for instance) volunteers to lead them.
Second cutscene: Happens when you talk to Gilgamesh. In recognition of your actions in RoZ, he agrees to get you support from Kazham. He can't spare any of his pirates, but he asks Jakoh Wahcondalo to lend you some of her Mithran Mercenaries. Lion, newly recovered after the events of AN, leaps at the chance to join you again and takes command of the mercenary company.
Third Cutscene: Happens when you click the gate to Imperial Whitegate. In recognition of your actions during ToAU, Nashmeira lends you a company of Immortals. She tries to sneak off to lead them herself, but is caught at the last minute. Instead, she assigns Naja to the task. Naja isn't happy about being under YOUR command, but she grudgingly agrees.
Fourth Cutscene: Happens when you talk to Aldo. Freshly motivated by the recent reunification with his sister (Crystalline Prophecy), he leaps at the chance to reclaim the very territory where he lost her. He can't spare any Tenshodo to help you, but he says that he's sure your old friends will show up when the call to help you goes out.
Complete quest.
Next Cutscene: Triggered by zoning into Tavnazia. The place is *crawling* with soldiers from your home nation, Mithran Mercenaries, and Immortals, Prishe is on the bridge, ecstatic over the rising army. Walking in with Aldo, you start to apologize for not having found a fourth company. She waves your concerns off, stepping aside to reveal your company from CoP (Tenzen, "Louverance," the Sin Hunters, etc). These will form your "party" during the remaining parts of the missions, even though you will have a party/alliance of real players (as they did in CoP).
After a moving speech by Justinius about how they will be reclaiming what was lost in the Crystal War and a briefing on the Beastmen forces you will be facing, everyone then turns to you, as the commander, for orders.
In order to retake Tavnazia you have to deal with the Orcs/Gigas surrounding the city, as well as kill the dragons currently nesting there. A massive Wyrm is said to make the palace of the former Marquis his home (the final fight).
You now have three options as to how to proceed, each one bringing you to the final battle.
Frontal Assault. This is the option for those who have an alliance worth of players doing the missions. This puts you and your alliance in the center of an instanced campaign-style fight. There are three different battles, each one more difficult as your army moves progressively closer to the city. You can afford to lose regular troops, but doing so will mean they are not available for future battles. The campaign is lost and must be re-started if you lose any of your generals (Lion, Naja, and the leader from your home city).
The first battle involves taking a fortification and using it as a staging point, the second involves defending it against an onslaught of orcs and gigas, and the third involves taking down the gates of Tavnazia itself.
Holding action. This is the option for those who have a party doing these missions. You command your forces to take a fortification and act as holding force to draw the orcs/gigas away from the city, allowing you and your party (story-wise, Aldo, Prishe, Ulima, "Louverance," Sin Hunters, etc., not your player party) to sneak in and make an attack directly on the Wyrm in Tavnazia.
This involves a series of three "dungeon" crawls through the woods of Tavnazia separated by three BCNM fights against progressively harder dragons.
Infiltration. This is the option for those who want to do this solo. The storyline is the same as the previous option (you're using the army to hold the orcs/gigas at bay).
This involves one very long dungeon crawl through the forest. At the end, you are jumped by a group of dragons. Your NPC party (in cutscene) each take as many dragons as they can, but one Dread Dragon is left for you. A difficult solo BCNM against this Dread Dragon caps the long dungeon crawl.
Regardless of which path you take, you end up in the Marquis' Palace facing an army of dragons of all types. When all seems lost, Cid shows up in his airship, raining down gunfire and causing most of the dragons to take to the air and give chase. That leaves you and your group to a BCNM, facing off against the final Wyrm.
If you did the frontal assault option, you have an entire alliance with you to take down a full-up Fafnir-level Wyrm.
If you did the holding action option, you have a party with you to take down a Fafnir-type Wyrm lowered to Nyzul Isle levels.
If you did the infiltration option, you have the same fight as above, but you are solo with NPC help. The NPCs are:
Original Storyline - Volker (75 WAR / 75 MNK), Trion (75 PLD / 75 WAR), or Ajido-Marujido (75 BLM/ 75 RDM), depending on which nation you're from.
RoZ - Lion (75 THF / 75 WAR)
CoP - Prishe (75 MNK / 75 WHM)
ToAU - Naja (75 WHM / 75 RDM)
WoTG - Lilisette (75 DNC / 75 NIN)
Obviously, the solo fight is going to be a hell of a lot easier. That would be the reward for making it through the long dungeon crawl and the earlier BCNM all on your own.
Final Cutscene: You and every NPC you've met through the course of the game (yes, even Maat) is crowded in the ruins of the Marquis' Palace, and a banquet is being held in your honor. Toasts and tributes are given, etc, etc. As a final shot, you and Aldo walk out on a balcony to the cheering multitudes of the army you led in to Tavnazia. The camera pulls back to show all of Tavnazia, now slowly being rebuilt, and continues to pull back all the way to the cliff at Blueblade Fell, where a small child of your race/gender is doing the finger smooshing thing from the opening cutscene.
Final Reward: Unlocks Tavnazia as a new city with Rent-a-Rooms as well as the surrounding woods. In these woods are exp mobs for level 75 that take standard physical/magical damage but take double damage from magic bursts and skillchain damage. Since the missions to get here hearken back to the early days of the game, it's fitting that the exp mobs are best killed by the old standard skillchain - magic burst exp methods.
You could even keep the old NPCs in the Safehold (for players not at this point in the storyline) by showing a small cutscene with Justinius saying how they are used to it and want to stay, given that they'd lived there for decades.
If you've read to this point, thanks, and let me know what you think.
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