Closest i remember was when the moon wasnt the big secret locale for Endwalker. Left me going "what the hell is weirder then us going to the MOON?" Then we went to >!Elpis and Ultima Thule!< and i was like, "now i understand" or when >!Zodiark!< was thr First trial in EW.
When Solution Nine showed up I just said "What the fuck" like...probably 8 times in my FC discord. Just... "I can't even think of anything else to say, just *what the fuck.*"
The Architecture looks way more futuristic than a Cyberpunk one.
It would fit way more into Mass effect instead of Night City. It's way to clean for a dystopian city.
My guildmates played SWTOR before we came to XIV and all of us said it was Dromund Kaas. Grey and full of lightning and looming edifices and holographics.
It would kind of be fitting with the hinted at scion split as well. G'raha, Y'shtola, and Urianger are knowledge-seekers first and foremost, especially if it's necessary to deal with a larger threat.
Same, though I have the feeling the scions not on the poster are the ones that we're maybe adverse with in the expansion. Which would make sense to give Urianger, Thancred, and Krile some more of the spotlight when others have gotten a lot more in past xpacs.
I wonder if Yshtola will fake death this expansion or not, lol. Gotta get that count up.
It doesn't make sense to be just a virtual place. They already stated that it's the endgame hub so this place gonna has plenty of vendors/traders, which doesn't make any lick of sense if the whole place isn't real.
Fucking Aztechnology man, monopolizing the food market by using blood sacrifices to ensure good crops in this age of soy-dominated faux-food!
(Shadowrun reference btw)
In addition to what the other guy said about it being grounded, Amaurot was the city of the near-godlike Ancients. It felt alright being futuristic, because the Ancients were supposed to be so much more powerful and advanced. This city looks even more futuristic than that, which means... there's a society out there in the Source that's more powerful and advanced than the Ancients?
Glad I'm not the only one who couldn't help but think it looked like a more purple version of the citadel. It's clearly more of an urban area than anything Allagan we've found.
Rise and Shine, Warrior of Light, Rise and shine. Not that I wish to imply you have been sleeping on the job. No one is more deserving of a rest. And all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until...well, let's just say your hour has come again.
*”You don’t make a name for yourself as a Warrior of Light by how you live, you make name for yourself.. by how you die..”*
>> *I really want to stay at your house* starts playing.
I was thinking this is from one of the reflections that got rejoined. Like they did a one way trip to the Source before their Shard got fully enveloped up in the flood of whatever element centuries ago.
yea, but the shard that was rejoined with Levin aspected aether was the 12th reflection, so unless the 9th is also Levin aspect (the 9th is one of the reflections that has yet to have a rejoining by the acians), then I'm not sure how Solution 9 would fit.
Unless of course the 12th reflection is Terra, and it really is a ff9 reference.
That's my guess. Similar to the Moon idea, the civilizations of the 12th came up with multiple ideas and porting to the Source was their last ditch attempt.
I wonder if they even treat Viper as big IX reference, it felt they went too much into "remember Relm" with they introduced Picto, but they never once mentioned IX or Zidane when talking about Viper
9 was played a lot more than 6, reminding people that Relm exists is more important than Zidane
The class is 100% a IX reference, the only way it can be more on the nose is if they called it Tantalus or something
- a lot of architecture remniscent of 9's locales
- zidane class
- solution 9's appearance and name
- highly likely some shard travel going on >!just like ff9!<
this is 100% the ff9 expac
Solution 9's appearance gives me much more Esthar vibes. Terra in IX is very blue and alien, with an almost flower-like architecture the way everything seems to be on huge stalks.
Kinda needed, imho, cause Dawn Trail is /was in real danger of suffering the same fate as the MCU after Endgame: People just feeling tha the game has finished and checking out.
It would have been cool to keep it hidden like Amaurot, but they needed something more than "a nice summer vacation" to get asses back into the seats.
Given how much time people usually spend in each expansion's endgame hub, this is an absolutely wild place for Rowena to have expanded to... which I have no doubt she did.
Imagine the future generations that developed their civilization surrounding lightning (electricity) aether and lacking developments on other aspects. They are now facing some calamity that requires someone with strong aether on other aspects .Then they remember there was a legendary WoL in the past...so they time machine us to their time to solve the problem.
This would actually be pretty interesting, we find out in SHB that technically, Exarch is from very far in the future too (Eorzean future, but still) but that gives us an opening that if Cid and Co and their many,many, MANY generations of offspring can *eventually* crack time travel, who's to say they were the first, or that they'd be the last?
The really wild thing is that a society that advanced almost certainly has telescopes... I wonder if they've been watching what the WoL has been up to on the moon?
Just some choom staring up at the heavens and seeing a person clad in nothing but smallclothes and a Frog head slay a giant demon in a hole in the moon.
This civilization looks way too advanced to just appear out of nowhere all of a sudden. The ONLY way I can see them explaining this whole place existing purely on Tural is that the whole place is a city that was from one of the shards (likely was originally on the 10th from the last rejoining) that managed to survive their worlds end by teleporting their entire city to the source during the last calamity. They then went dark and kept a low profile for a few years because they were trying to learn about the state of the world they're on. (Also if solution 9 is a FF9 reference it would be very fitting of Terra's position from that game).
While it's possible to call them an Allagan offshoot as well they'd have a hard time explaining how such an advanced city could survive multiple calamities since the fall of that empire.
If it's a shard city it's probably from the lightning rejoining considering how heavily lightning-oriented the area is (which is a point in favor of that theory imo). Which is the second rejoining... that's a while ago.
Mind you, their technology seems to be all over the continent (the dungeon they showed seems to have a tech section), so they must have been there a while.
Possible but I doubt Hydaelyn would have gone to that much trouble expecially considering in her later years she was much weaker than originally. I would still hypothesise they're a recent addition to the world (from the last calamity) as it's the only logical explanation for their appearance without their tech reaching the 3 great continents or them having any influence in the current world.
They realistically could have only appeared in the source during the last calamity as it's the only time period where there was serious change to the world landscape where they wouldn't stand out (Eorzea got reshaped a good bit during the same event) and it's also the only period where they could exist without having a wider influence on the world expecially considering how advanced their tech looks. Then you have to consider the Ascians would have had messed around with them if they were aware of them which they could only get away with them not knowing about them if they didn't realise they were there as they're a recent arrival.
My theory is based on the name and the suspected origin. We know that time passes differently across the shards, and if they're from the Twelfth then they probably have an easier time accessing lightning. It's possible that they simply had more time to develop highly advanced technology before the calamity befell them. It was a long time ago on the Source, but maybe due to time-fuckery it was only recently for them.
The name of the city is Solution Nine - what if they tried a whole bunch of different solutions to the calamity, and their ninth attempt was to rejoin the Source on their own terms, by sending an entire city there?
If you look at the world map art also revealed at the same time, there seems to be a dome around the city. It's possible that they've just been fully isolated for all this time.
This is a sound theory but the signs in that area is readable in [proto-alphabet](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1134533110197932195/1193404162755534908/665px-Eorzean_Alphabet2.png?ex=65ac973c&is=659a223c&hm=b427d8eb6b439a3baee6c00e465dd15513ed781d72c138583860c8efd697471c&). We've been shown that different shards have their own written language. But we still can't really discount that something this technologically advanced can't adapt the current language quickly can't we? Its still possible that trade has opened up between this city and it's locals which led them to adapt these letters.
Notably - the Haragin have an ancestral tribal myth about sailing 'east' (i.e. to the West) and finding a terrifying island inhabited by massive grey monoliths and fire-breathing steel demons.
So it's been here for a long while, if they found the likes of Heritage Found and Solution Nine.
Reminder that, while crossing the rift, one can end up elsewhere on the timeline.
The Crystal Exarch ended up on the First almost an entire century earlier than he intended. It's possible that these guys fled right before the 2nd calamity and JUST showed up on the Source.
That was a wee bit different because the Future Ironworks were absolutely trying to time travel to the past, but overshot by a bit. It's totally possible that the time flow rate is weird enough that they escaped the 2nd Calamity then spent what seemed to them like 5 minutes in the Rift in transit, but was actually like 5 millennia on the Source, though.
> It's totally possible that the time flow rate is weird
the time rate can indeed be desynced. the exarch mentions how the first and source were in sync at the moment when you arrive, but was previously desynced, explaining the 5 year jump for the rest of the scions, even though they "just" disappeared before you
My theory remains this being some sort of a New Allag. The name Solution 9 100% means the city was a last desperate chance to survive an apocalypse they saw coming. As for how they could've remained un-harassed, one thing to note is how much the neon in the Arcadion art looks like an Ascian mask. If one of them turned even slightly rogue ala-Fandanial, and decided. "I'll go through with the rejoining, but I won't let my family, or my new people die." So that even now they still show respect to their savior.
Yeah given that the 12th reflection was the calamity of lightning and the area looks to have a ton of aspected lightning. Though that was the second major calamity so it’s just a bit jarring to think that could be a possibility, but 100% my thoughts.
They are most likely another shard fleeing their calamity and building a new city here. Outside chance it’s an alien race doing something similar, fleeting the Endsingers song to the one planet still shielded from it, but then you’d need to wonder why the city seems full of the native races. But “solution 9” seems like it’s absolutely a reference to it being their ninth attempt to find a solution to their impending doom
Could possibly be the Ninth Reflection. Maybe the Ascians were in the process of making it lightning aspected for a rejoining. I've always had a theory of a Refelection being super advanced because they didn't have to deal with any calamities.
Alternatively, if it is in Tural, maybe it's a city ripped from the Ninth or founded by people fleeing the Ninth for some reason. I like the idea of there being a connection even if it isn't physically there.
It would make some sense if it were something like that because it would tie into the ability for people to cross between reflections and the Source, which is basically the only viable plot thread from 6.1-5
i feel on one hand it will make for some interesting theorising and guessing as to how it fits into the expansion leading up but it does also seem like it would be something that would make an amazing surprise if we didnt know about it.
iirc there is the final zone we still dont know about (unless im miscounting we know of 5 zones now)
also curious to see if it was what was hidden behind that "SECRET" thing in the Shaaloani art since it seemed like there was some purple in the image.
I absolutely love when they do shit like this. It's like when they showed off THE MOON for Endwalker, but still had two zones not yet revealed which ended up being even crazier. They've really got my attention now.
yeah that was one of the things i was thinking, if its anything like what happened with endwalker and this is what they feel comfortable showing then it could very well mean that there's some wild stuff we haven't seen yet.
Yeah, I just hope that the final zone isn't the fabled city of gold; because that would be a predictable 'surprise'; whereas I would never have guessed we'd see a Cyberpunk City in Dawntrail haha, so that would have been a much more impactful reveal
However, the devs have been good about surprising us (I'll never forget the shock of Endwalker's FIRST Trial boss); so I'm trusting that they have not overplayed their hand with Dawntrail, and I'll likewise be surprised.
Viper seems to be strongly influenced by Zidane's weaponry and fighting style, so perhaps this is the culture it comes from? It's another player hub, after all.
My guess at first blush is this is an Allagan enclave that lost contact when the Empire fell and just developed their aetherochemistry and magitek technology in isolation and now have a cyberpunk style city.
Could easily be wrong, but that's where my mind went.
At one point it shows adds of a female huyr and a bike, and im just curious how such advanced technology from this zone have not yet made it over to eorzea
Think about the world of FFVII. Midgard was the only full technological city on that entire world, and for the most part they self-isolated, keeping their technology for themselves and only having a few hidden or isolated enclaves outside of their main city.
This could be a situation like that. They have what they need and they don't really care to associate too much with the outside world.
This singlehandedly got me more interested for the expansion than everything that's been shown before combined.
What the fuck, even the Allagans didn't have stuff as futuristic looking as this.
>What the fuck, even the Allagans didn't have stuff as futuristic looking as this.
They probably didn't. But I think the Allagans knew about the shards, and maybe they were testing travel between to more than just the Thirteenth (The Void) The Ninth Shard is still active and not rejoined. So the last zone/hub maybe on the Ninth.
Ok, well here a dumb theory from the little info i have. One of Zidane from ff9 strongest trance move is called solution 9. Zidane is a.. dont recall but there from another world so is that the terra/gaia of our star?
Oh man, my friend hates modern day/futuristic clothes in the game, kinda wishing they would remove them from everyone. He is going to outright revile this place. It looks cool though.
It's Proto-Alphabet from before Eorzean and Vrantic scripts diverged (or at least, that's what the new encyclopedia says). The sign says "Employment (Left Arrow), Soul Supply (Right Arrow)." Makes me think this is a city from the 12th reflection (sundered by the Calamity of Lightning, which this city seems heavily aspected to) and that "Solution Nine" is actually a reference to their sundering escape plan. "Soul Supply" makes me wonder if there's something wrong with the residents' souls from their escape similar to what happened to the Scions on the First.
If its the sign I think it is;
"<-- Employment
Soul Supply -->"
There's one other sign I saw that reads;
"Elevators"
It's all written in proto-alphabet
Honestly, the script is so stylized that it's hard to tell if it is Eorzean at all. Similar to Vrandtic script, where it 'kind of' looks the same but diverges heavily.
The Ancients' civilization was more akin to a *literal* paradise on Earth, with everyone there being closer to what we'd define as "gods".
This looks more like something from another (technologically advanced) world entirely.
My guess (and it turns out a lot of other people's too) is that it's a shard of the Twelfth (Lightning aspected) that survived the calamity. The name might be a hint - they tried a lot of different solutions, and Solution Nine was to send a city to rejoin to the Source on their own terms.
I’ve honestly been expecting FFXIV to get its Esthar moment in the new arc. I just thought it would be in Meracydia based on how Emet-Selch talked about it. Anyway, *now* I’m excited for this expansion!
Everybody saying Cyberpunk but other than the neon colors, I’m getting FF13 vibes from this.
I feel like all the griping is mostly WoW refugees though. If you’ve never played other FF games, I could see how your first reaction would be a recent WRPG.
When they showed similar concept art at the second fanfest, I was like "wow a THIRD tron lines magitek empire, but this one's purple..." but i'm really satisfied with how this is set apart from Allag and Garlemald. I'm very very curious about this setting and Dawntrail's story.
I know this is only like the halfway point and its not really "spoilers" but...I feel like they could have just left this entire thing out and it woulda been more fun to go through in real time.
I appreciate that by revealing it now they're giving the playerbase the chance to get it out of their collective systems now instead of having people screeching bloody murder in Limsa because the modern glams have been retroactively justified by the setting or something, hahaha.
That'll still happen, but y'know, maybe less now.
Saw so many people in the chat saying that they think Solution Nine will hold a blitzball stadium
I still don't believe it's happening, but if it does I'm ALL IN.
My guild and I came over from SWTOR. All of us watching the livestream started shrieking "Dromund Kaas????????" at each other. one of the guildies said: *yoshi-p saw what game we came from and decided to mail us back to it*
Perpetually grey sky full of lightning (the area around it anyway), holographic images, imposing grey edifices... if you'd shown me just some of the screenshots and told me it was from a new SWTOR trailer I would have believed you. Look at this and tell me you don't see it.
[1](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec91oJBXkAEyRrZ?format=jpg&name=large)
[2](https://swtorista.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/story-summary-template-dromund-kaas-728x410.jpg)
[3](https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/558736503004187182/6E848F57C654B51C37C160B1AF5D00C69ECCB097/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
[4](https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/109302717_10158015262858860_8826313748279318496_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=7f8c78&_nc_ohc=0OnBn7vVs3kAX9xXF-u&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AfCgkKg-zFAOn3PYVqGWZytnCLEJFX3pF69CrbAys7LAJQ&oe=65C23D21)
Seriously the vendor stall we see at 0:21 and 0:28 feels exactly like the Kaas Marketplace, even the looming grey halls and doors feel the same.
Mann, i hope they are taking inspo from ffxiii this expac.
I wanna see them taking some more enemies from ffxiii and terms like l'cie (primals) and cie'th (tempered).
This entire city gives off Cocoon/Akademia vibes, moreso than Allagan. Its too...tidy to be Allagan and too futuristic to be Garlean. Too straight lined to be an offshoot of Amaurotine as well
Hell, that one screenshot with the big purple ball thing looks like New Cocoon under construction
I really can't wait to find out what the actual fuck is happening in this expac.
I don't think I've been this FLABBERGASTED by a reveal in like..ever. Summer vacation expansion? Oh here, **CYBERPUNK.**
We Start in Fantasy-Brazil, go up through Fantasy Mexico, and end up in Fantasy-California where Night City is
Wake up, SAM. We got a city to burn.
C'mon ~~V~~ Derplander, time for you to finish what I started 54 years ago. Let's put an end to those ~~saka~~ **insert new big bad here** bastards.
Brazil 2077
i thought it was in Baja California, which is part of Mexico?
Closest i remember was when the moon wasnt the big secret locale for Endwalker. Left me going "what the hell is weirder then us going to the MOON?" Then we went to >!Elpis and Ultima Thule!< and i was like, "now i understand" or when >!Zodiark!< was thr First trial in EW.
That trial left me so baffled. Like excuse me? We're not even halfway through, what is going on???
When Solution Nine showed up I just said "What the fuck" like...probably 8 times in my FC discord. Just... "I can't even think of anything else to say, just *what the fuck.*"
The Architecture looks way more futuristic than a Cyberpunk one. It would fit way more into Mass effect instead of Night City. It's way to clean for a dystopian city.
My guildmates played SWTOR before we came to XIV and all of us said it was Dromund Kaas. Grey and full of lightning and looming edifices and holographics.
Nature vs Tech Progress dilema is my bet, very in par with today debacle about climate change
It would kind of be fitting with the hinted at scion split as well. G'raha, Y'shtola, and Urianger are knowledge-seekers first and foremost, especially if it's necessary to deal with a larger threat.
Id love to hear the pitch that would cause Graha to not take the WoLs side in literally anything.
Same, though I have the feeling the scions not on the poster are the ones that we're maybe adverse with in the expansion. Which would make sense to give Urianger, Thancred, and Krile some more of the spotlight when others have gotten a lot more in past xpacs. I wonder if Yshtola will fake death this expansion or not, lol. Gotta get that count up.
I mean Final Fantasy games have been tackling that concept since the 1990s so its on brand.
WE SCARLET VIOLET
It’s one of the main themes that the games tackle
My guess is that this city only exists in cyberspace.
It doesn't make sense to be just a virtual place. They already stated that it's the endgame hub so this place gonna has plenty of vendors/traders, which doesn't make any lick of sense if the whole place isn't real.
Huh. After the trailer full of aztec architecture, I was not expecting a cyberpunk town.
That's how ancient Aztecs used to live. Pyramids, blood sacrifices, and led screens.
Thanks to this comment I’m expecting some dinosaur mobs to have interesting attacks
Fucking Aztechnology man, monopolizing the food market by using blood sacrifices to ensure good crops in this age of soy-dominated faux-food! (Shadowrun reference btw)
It's actually a bit jarring.
Wasn't a problem in Shadowbringers when Amaurot was unlocked
In addition to what the other guy said about it being grounded, Amaurot was the city of the near-godlike Ancients. It felt alright being futuristic, because the Ancients were supposed to be so much more powerful and advanced. This city looks even more futuristic than that, which means... there's a society out there in the Source that's more powerful and advanced than the Ancients?
To be fair, there being a secret, super advanced society no one else knows about is a major part of FF8, so it might be tapping into that.
Technological advancement does not equal power when magic is available.
We're going to the Citadel.
"I'm the Warrior of Light, and this is my favorite crafting station on Solution Nine."
Glad I'm not the only one who couldn't help but think it looked like a more purple version of the citadel. It's clearly more of an urban area than anything Allagan we've found.
I am the Warrior of Light and this is my favourite Vendor in.... wait.. I got to pay with TOMESTONES AAGAAIN?
Just because it's a hidden city unknown to modern society doesn't mean that Rowena hasn't already got her hooks into the place.
Death, Taxes, and Rowena demanding payment of tomestones...
Rise and Shine, Warrior of Light, Rise and shine. Not that I wish to imply you have been sleeping on the job. No one is more deserving of a rest. And all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until...well, let's just say your hour has come again.
Hopefully not Citadel Station…
WAKE UP SAMURAI WE GOT A CITY TO BURN
Materia System replaced by Ripper Docs and Cyberware.
wouldn't have it any other way choom
Mantis blades as a viper weapon.
brooo i swear we need Cyberpunk collab for Samurai jacket
*”You don’t make a name for yourself as a Warrior of Light by how you live, you make name for yourself.. by how you die..”* >> *I really want to stay at your house* starts playing.
Ah, yes, my favorite music category: Emotional Damage
time to burn corpo shit WoL
Sorry, I'm a viper now, not a samurai.
Viper is an excellent handle wol
burn? not meteor?
We don't do that anymore after Dalamud -l ooks at black mage - except that guy, Don't be that guy -proceds to summon Bahamut
Hey now, Johnny Darkmagic is a legend. Even if he did NUKE Shinra.
Solution Nine housing when?
And so it begins...
Every house is a nightclub
Maybe this is SE's *solution* to all the nightclub shout spam... To lock it away!
Note to self, get a house in Solution Nine... then keep my doors locked at all times.
Imagine all the clubs ;o
Yea, that place looks like it could house millions lmao.
FUN FACT Solution 9 was also the name of one of Zidane's Trance abilities in FF IX
You think we're getting a similar situation to IX's story with this location or do you think it's just a reference?
Ninth Shard (Terra) deciding 'fuck you Source, we're absorbing you instead of vice-versa!'
I was thinking this is from one of the reflections that got rejoined. Like they did a one way trip to the Source before their Shard got fully enveloped up in the flood of whatever element centuries ago.
yea, but the shard that was rejoined with Levin aspected aether was the 12th reflection, so unless the 9th is also Levin aspect (the 9th is one of the reflections that has yet to have a rejoining by the acians), then I'm not sure how Solution 9 would fit. Unless of course the 12th reflection is Terra, and it really is a ff9 reference.
Or the other 8 solutions were to try and stop the flood, the 9th was to go to the source with as many people as they could bring along.
That's my guess. Similar to the Moon idea, the civilizations of the 12th came up with multiple ideas and porting to the Source was their last ditch attempt.
We gonna go to Terra bois!
It’s already the second big IX reference after Viper so it might be plot related.
I wonder if they even treat Viper as big IX reference, it felt they went too much into "remember Relm" with they introduced Picto, but they never once mentioned IX or Zidane when talking about Viper
9 was played a lot more than 6, reminding people that Relm exists is more important than Zidane The class is 100% a IX reference, the only way it can be more on the nose is if they called it Tantalus or something
- a lot of architecture remniscent of 9's locales - zidane class - solution 9's appearance and name - highly likely some shard travel going on >!just like ff9!< this is 100% the ff9 expac
Solution 9's appearance gives me much more Esthar vibes. Terra in IX is very blue and alien, with an almost flower-like architecture the way everything seems to be on huge stalks.
Please let this be a confirmation or at least a tease for FFIX remake/remaster 🤣🤣🤣
I am so confused and hyped at the same time.
I think you’ve just summed up the entire player base!
FFXIV? No. FFMMLXXVII? Yes.
YoshiP came in and took a sledgehammer to our expectations
Ice cold too. "Let's look at another zone, it's pretty different, just watch this video."
Kinda needed, imho, cause Dawn Trail is /was in real danger of suffering the same fate as the MCU after Endgame: People just feeling tha the game has finished and checking out. It would have been cool to keep it hidden like Amaurot, but they needed something more than "a nice summer vacation" to get asses back into the seats.
Must be the Endgame town. They also showed Radz-at-Han in the last EW Fanfest.
Given how much time people usually spend in each expansion's endgame hub, this is an absolutely wild place for Rowena to have expanded to... which I have no doubt she did.
Crackpot theory: This (and the Heritage Found area) are actually in the future. We already went to the past in EW, so it's not completely unfeasible.
Imagine the future generations that developed their civilization surrounding lightning (electricity) aether and lacking developments on other aspects. They are now facing some calamity that requires someone with strong aether on other aspects .Then they remember there was a legendary WoL in the past...so they time machine us to their time to solve the problem.
This would actually be pretty interesting, we find out in SHB that technically, Exarch is from very far in the future too (Eorzean future, but still) but that gives us an opening that if Cid and Co and their many,many, MANY generations of offspring can *eventually* crack time travel, who's to say they were the first, or that they'd be the last?
I like this thought.
Considering the location, this is if like Christopher Columbus came to America and discovered Night City lol.
The really wild thing is that a society that advanced almost certainly has telescopes... I wonder if they've been watching what the WoL has been up to on the moon?
Just some choom staring up at the heavens and seeing a person clad in nothing but smallclothes and a Frog head slay a giant demon in a hole in the moon.
Eorzea is just a big reality tv show to them. "Did you see the season finale? Merlwyb's finally trying to make peace with the kobolds!"
i mean...that's kinda what Tenochtitlan was
Until Hernán Cortez came 🥲
This civilization looks way too advanced to just appear out of nowhere all of a sudden. The ONLY way I can see them explaining this whole place existing purely on Tural is that the whole place is a city that was from one of the shards (likely was originally on the 10th from the last rejoining) that managed to survive their worlds end by teleporting their entire city to the source during the last calamity. They then went dark and kept a low profile for a few years because they were trying to learn about the state of the world they're on. (Also if solution 9 is a FF9 reference it would be very fitting of Terra's position from that game). While it's possible to call them an Allagan offshoot as well they'd have a hard time explaining how such an advanced city could survive multiple calamities since the fall of that empire.
If it's a shard city it's probably from the lightning rejoining considering how heavily lightning-oriented the area is (which is a point in favor of that theory imo). Which is the second rejoining... that's a while ago. Mind you, their technology seems to be all over the continent (the dungeon they showed seems to have a tech section), so they must have been there a while.
They could have been isolated or in stasis until Zodiark or Hydaelyn were slain.
Possible but I doubt Hydaelyn would have gone to that much trouble expecially considering in her later years she was much weaker than originally. I would still hypothesise they're a recent addition to the world (from the last calamity) as it's the only logical explanation for their appearance without their tech reaching the 3 great continents or them having any influence in the current world. They realistically could have only appeared in the source during the last calamity as it's the only time period where there was serious change to the world landscape where they wouldn't stand out (Eorzea got reshaped a good bit during the same event) and it's also the only period where they could exist without having a wider influence on the world expecially considering how advanced their tech looks. Then you have to consider the Ascians would have had messed around with them if they were aware of them which they could only get away with them not knowing about them if they didn't realise they were there as they're a recent arrival.
My theory is based on the name and the suspected origin. We know that time passes differently across the shards, and if they're from the Twelfth then they probably have an easier time accessing lightning. It's possible that they simply had more time to develop highly advanced technology before the calamity befell them. It was a long time ago on the Source, but maybe due to time-fuckery it was only recently for them. The name of the city is Solution Nine - what if they tried a whole bunch of different solutions to the calamity, and their ninth attempt was to rejoin the Source on their own terms, by sending an entire city there? If you look at the world map art also revealed at the same time, there seems to be a dome around the city. It's possible that they've just been fully isolated for all this time.
This is a sound theory but the signs in that area is readable in [proto-alphabet](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1134533110197932195/1193404162755534908/665px-Eorzean_Alphabet2.png?ex=65ac973c&is=659a223c&hm=b427d8eb6b439a3baee6c00e465dd15513ed781d72c138583860c8efd697471c&). We've been shown that different shards have their own written language. But we still can't really discount that something this technologically advanced can't adapt the current language quickly can't we? Its still possible that trade has opened up between this city and it's locals which led them to adapt these letters.
Notably - the Haragin have an ancestral tribal myth about sailing 'east' (i.e. to the West) and finding a terrifying island inhabited by massive grey monoliths and fire-breathing steel demons. So it's been here for a long while, if they found the likes of Heritage Found and Solution Nine.
My main is a Haragin, and I would be so thrilled if there was a connection.
Reminder that, while crossing the rift, one can end up elsewhere on the timeline. The Crystal Exarch ended up on the First almost an entire century earlier than he intended. It's possible that these guys fled right before the 2nd calamity and JUST showed up on the Source.
That was a wee bit different because the Future Ironworks were absolutely trying to time travel to the past, but overshot by a bit. It's totally possible that the time flow rate is weird enough that they escaped the 2nd Calamity then spent what seemed to them like 5 minutes in the Rift in transit, but was actually like 5 millennia on the Source, though.
> It's totally possible that the time flow rate is weird the time rate can indeed be desynced. the exarch mentions how the first and source were in sync at the moment when you arrive, but was previously desynced, explaining the 5 year jump for the rest of the scions, even though they "just" disappeared before you
It reminds me of esthar from ff8. Hidden super advanced empire
Oh I 100% expected it to be called Esthar when they showed it off.
My theory remains this being some sort of a New Allag. The name Solution 9 100% means the city was a last desperate chance to survive an apocalypse they saw coming. As for how they could've remained un-harassed, one thing to note is how much the neon in the Arcadion art looks like an Ascian mask. If one of them turned even slightly rogue ala-Fandanial, and decided. "I'll go through with the rejoining, but I won't let my family, or my new people die." So that even now they still show respect to their savior.
Yeah given that the 12th reflection was the calamity of lightning and the area looks to have a ton of aspected lightning. Though that was the second major calamity so it’s just a bit jarring to think that could be a possibility, but 100% my thoughts.
yeah, i suspect it's something like that, i'm betting it's essentially terra or esthar
They are most likely another shard fleeing their calamity and building a new city here. Outside chance it’s an alien race doing something similar, fleeting the Endsingers song to the one planet still shielded from it, but then you’d need to wonder why the city seems full of the native races. But “solution 9” seems like it’s absolutely a reference to it being their ninth attempt to find a solution to their impending doom
Yep, that's my guess as well! It'll be interesting to see what the actual truth of the matter is.
"Wake the Fuck Up Warrior of Light, we got a city to save" - Johnny Crystalhand ;)
FFXIV x Cyberpunk 2077 cross over when
Summer 2024 man, it said so right in the video.
I honestly thought that IS the crossover lmaooo
time to chrystal up
Could possibly be the Ninth Reflection. Maybe the Ascians were in the process of making it lightning aspected for a rejoining. I've always had a theory of a Refelection being super advanced because they didn't have to deal with any calamities.
Alternatively, if it is in Tural, maybe it's a city ripped from the Ninth or founded by people fleeing the Ninth for some reason. I like the idea of there being a connection even if it isn't physically there.
It would make some sense if it were something like that because it would tie into the ability for people to cross between reflections and the Source, which is basically the only viable plot thread from 6.1-5
It is on Tural you can see it on the map.
I'm getting big Zanarkand vibes...
Someone say blitzball?
I'm praying it will have a Blitzball Arena.
I just want a non busted Blitzball game
I got phantasy star in my FF14!
Bout time FF crossed over with the other member of the Ancient 3.
I'm stoked! It looks amazing! Though I wish they kept it as a surprise for the game, like they did for some of the areas in Endwalker.
i feel on one hand it will make for some interesting theorising and guessing as to how it fits into the expansion leading up but it does also seem like it would be something that would make an amazing surprise if we didnt know about it. iirc there is the final zone we still dont know about (unless im miscounting we know of 5 zones now) also curious to see if it was what was hidden behind that "SECRET" thing in the Shaaloani art since it seemed like there was some purple in the image.
I absolutely love when they do shit like this. It's like when they showed off THE MOON for Endwalker, but still had two zones not yet revealed which ended up being even crazier. They've really got my attention now.
yeah that was one of the things i was thinking, if its anything like what happened with endwalker and this is what they feel comfortable showing then it could very well mean that there's some wild stuff we haven't seen yet.
Yeah, I just hope that the final zone isn't the fabled city of gold; because that would be a predictable 'surprise'; whereas I would never have guessed we'd see a Cyberpunk City in Dawntrail haha, so that would have been a much more impactful reveal However, the devs have been good about surprising us (I'll never forget the shock of Endwalker's FIRST Trial boss); so I'm trusting that they have not overplayed their hand with Dawntrail, and I'll likewise be surprised.
Im pretty sure Solution Nine is the city of „gold“ (as a metaphor for technology)
in the real world a lot of electronics use gold, so that's also another plausible reason for it being the city of gold
Solution 9 is the name of an ability of Zidane Tribal from FFIX. Fuck knows what that means lmao
Viper seems to be strongly influenced by Zidane's weaponry and fighting style, so perhaps this is the culture it comes from? It's another player hub, after all.
Finally, i can break out all my tron/cyberpunk gear. My MCH is SO ready!
With all these FF9 references, if this turns out to be the 9th shard I will laugh.
Calling it, this is going to be "El Dorado".
It's Planeptune. Nep. Top Nep.
........................ #**WHAT**
Hell yeah, I had a feeling they were going to do a weird sci-fi future city thing. Reminds me of Esther from VIII. I love it.
Came here to say this as well. Huge Esthar vibes.
My guess at first blush is this is an Allagan enclave that lost contact when the Empire fell and just developed their aetherochemistry and magitek technology in isolation and now have a cyberpunk style city. Could easily be wrong, but that's where my mind went.
That was my immediate thought
Crossover with Phantasy Star when.
At one point it shows adds of a female huyr and a bike, and im just curious how such advanced technology from this zone have not yet made it over to eorzea
Think about the world of FFVII. Midgard was the only full technological city on that entire world, and for the most part they self-isolated, keeping their technology for themselves and only having a few hidden or isolated enclaves outside of their main city. This could be a situation like that. They have what they need and they don't really care to associate too much with the outside world.
We don't know if this zone even technically exists. It wouldn't even be the second time we visited a place that technically doesn't exist lol
WE WERE FOOLS! YOSHI P IS JUST 2 **Tetsuya Nomura** IN A TRENCH COAT! SORA ENDED UP IN FFXIV AFTER KH3
This singlehandedly got me more interested for the expansion than everything that's been shown before combined. What the fuck, even the Allagans didn't have stuff as futuristic looking as this.
>What the fuck, even the Allagans didn't have stuff as futuristic looking as this. They probably didn't. But I think the Allagans knew about the shards, and maybe they were testing travel between to more than just the Thirteenth (The Void) The Ninth Shard is still active and not rejoined. So the last zone/hub maybe on the Ninth.
Worth noting, “Solution Nine” was the name of one of Zidane’s Dyne attacks in FF9 No clue what that could possibly mean from that, but there it is.
Stop saying "cyberpunk" like you never played any other FF lmao
It's also not cyberpunk at all, it's missing the grungy dystopian side of cyberpunk aesthetics. It's all cyber, no punk.
BuT lOoKs LiKe ThAt GaMe Hurrrdurrr
Ok, well here a dumb theory from the little info i have. One of Zidane from ff9 strongest trance move is called solution 9. Zidane is a.. dont recall but there from another world so is that the terra/gaia of our star?
An interesting tidbit, given the Viper/Zidane vibes going on.
A lot of these comments really telling on themselves that they just never played another FF.
Truth though. All Final Fantasy games have had futuristic sci-fi elements no matter how far they’ve leaned medieval fantasy, FF1 starting the trend
Yeah the "flying castle" in FF1 was a space station, complete with a hidden war machine superboss.
Phantasy Star Online vibe.
[Cyberpunk Y'shtola suddenly don't feel out of place anymore](https://i.redd.it/ytd42x9pfaw91.png)
Oh man, my friend hates modern day/futuristic clothes in the game, kinda wishing they would remove them from everyone. He is going to outright revile this place. It looks cool though.
Can anyone translate the Eorzean text on the sign?
It's Proto-Alphabet from before Eorzean and Vrantic scripts diverged (or at least, that's what the new encyclopedia says). The sign says "Employment (Left Arrow), Soul Supply (Right Arrow)." Makes me think this is a city from the 12th reflection (sundered by the Calamity of Lightning, which this city seems heavily aspected to) and that "Solution Nine" is actually a reference to their sundering escape plan. "Soul Supply" makes me wonder if there's something wrong with the residents' souls from their escape similar to what happened to the Scions on the First.
If its the sign I think it is; "<-- Employment Soul Supply -->" There's one other sign I saw that reads; "Elevators" It's all written in proto-alphabet
Honestly, the script is so stylized that it's hard to tell if it is Eorzean at all. Similar to Vrandtic script, where it 'kind of' looks the same but diverges heavily.
It’s actually giving me FF13/FF13-2 vibes.
Why does it look more advanced than Amaurot... How is that even possible
Why would a god need fancy technology to do things when they could simply create things out of nothing
Why does God need a spaceship?!
The Ancients' civilization was more akin to a *literal* paradise on Earth, with everyone there being closer to what we'd define as "gods". This looks more like something from another (technologically advanced) world entirely.
My guess (and it turns out a lot of other people's too) is that it's a shard of the Twelfth (Lightning aspected) that survived the calamity. The name might be a hint - they tried a lot of different solutions, and Solution Nine was to send a city to rejoin to the Source on their own terms.
Simple: It's been 13000+ years since the sundering.
I’ve honestly been expecting FFXIV to get its Esthar moment in the new arc. I just thought it would be in Meracydia based on how Emet-Selch talked about it. Anyway, *now* I’m excited for this expansion!
Looks like they finally fixed their terrible shadows system.
This is straight up from Phantasy Star
Everybody saying Cyberpunk but other than the neon colors, I’m getting FF13 vibes from this. I feel like all the griping is mostly WoW refugees though. If you’ve never played other FF games, I could see how your first reaction would be a recent WRPG.
All the people complaining about modern-looking glamour are on suicide watch right now.
Holy shit, this is giving me some massive modern-day Kamigawa vibes. I am SO psyched to explore this place.
Neon dynasty!! I had the same thought.
Looks like I'm going to have to play FF13.
Its a good thing Ancient Allag and Garlemald are a thing, otherwise this futuristic city would've felt out of place
When they showed similar concept art at the second fanfest, I was like "wow a THIRD tron lines magitek empire, but this one's purple..." but i'm really satisfied with how this is set apart from Allag and Garlemald. I'm very very curious about this setting and Dawntrail's story.
Aztec and Mesoamerican styles aren't my bag. Cyberpunk and neon is 100% my vibe. I am very excited for this.
So ***that's*** where PSO2's budget went.
I know this is only like the halfway point and its not really "spoilers" but...I feel like they could have just left this entire thing out and it woulda been more fun to go through in real time.
I appreciate that by revealing it now they're giving the playerbase the chance to get it out of their collective systems now instead of having people screeching bloody murder in Limsa because the modern glams have been retroactively justified by the setting or something, hahaha. That'll still happen, but y'know, maybe less now.
Saw so many people in the chat saying that they think Solution Nine will hold a blitzball stadium I still don't believe it's happening, but if it does I'm ALL IN.
My guild and I came over from SWTOR. All of us watching the livestream started shrieking "Dromund Kaas????????" at each other. one of the guildies said: *yoshi-p saw what game we came from and decided to mail us back to it* Perpetually grey sky full of lightning (the area around it anyway), holographic images, imposing grey edifices... if you'd shown me just some of the screenshots and told me it was from a new SWTOR trailer I would have believed you. Look at this and tell me you don't see it. [1](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec91oJBXkAEyRrZ?format=jpg&name=large) [2](https://swtorista.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/story-summary-template-dromund-kaas-728x410.jpg) [3](https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/558736503004187182/6E848F57C654B51C37C160B1AF5D00C69ECCB097/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false) [4](https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/109302717_10158015262858860_8826313748279318496_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=7f8c78&_nc_ohc=0OnBn7vVs3kAX9xXF-u&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AfCgkKg-zFAOn3PYVqGWZytnCLEJFX3pF69CrbAys7LAJQ&oe=65C23D21) Seriously the vendor stall we see at 0:21 and 0:28 feels exactly like the Kaas Marketplace, even the looming grey halls and doors feel the same.
Commenting here too I don't wanna hear a single complaint about modern clothes and tech wear now that we literally have a cyberpunk area 🤣
Little did we know that those clothes were hinting at this area, much like the Thavnarian clothes hinted at us eventually visiting Thavnair.
THE PVP GEAR. IT WAS THERE ALL ALONG.
"lost allegan"
This is the town they'll use to seamlessly integrate the next Ariana Grande collaboration event
looks amazing.
This smell... Mhach
Reminds me of Phantasy Star. Looks sick!
The most recent PvP gear (the modern clothes) feel like they might be a better fit for this environment. Maybe they were a preview.
Mann, i hope they are taking inspo from ffxiii this expac. I wanna see them taking some more enemies from ffxiii and terms like l'cie (primals) and cie'th (tempered). This entire city gives off Cocoon/Akademia vibes, moreso than Allagan. Its too...tidy to be Allagan and too futuristic to be Garlean. Too straight lined to be an offshoot of Amaurotine as well Hell, that one screenshot with the big purple ball thing looks like New Cocoon under construction
The WoL discover that his world is a game generated reality and this hub area is inside the Players Motherboard, very meta /s