Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood - #64 - Doman Reconstruction complete!

[@TavernMasterZeyv]

Man.. just wanna let you know how much I appreciate all the effort you're putting in on this Dan, especially with both the reconstruction and Eureka which must've both taken so much time! Thank you so much

[@Landis963]

I'm still loving the barbershop Chocobo theme you use as transition music.

[@Caterfree10]

I love the way they wrapped up this little questline tbh. Like, recognizing the dead, especially with a ritual that had been banned, is such a touching capstone imho. Add in that, regardless of any given headcanon, the wol has lost people across their journey, so it’s a good way to address such losses too imho. It’s such a lovely touch.

[@ICountFrom0]

I, who have had grief, will always find it touching.

[@chan742]

Playfriends, it's time to finish up the Doman Enclave reconstruction. This is your spoiler free lore comment! Continuting off our last Doman Reconstruction lore, we'll talk about more crafting and gathering questlines. As an aside, the One Garden's pavilion does have a feature that I love: it's where the aged Isildaure shows up! He's made the long journey from Revanant's Toll to visit his buddy Homei, exchanging playing host to Homei in Revanant's Toll with playing visitor in Homei's home! The Fishing quests pick up after you help your fishing buddy Ishgardian nobleman regain his estate from his brother, with the assistance of the nobleman's new fishing buddy/girlfriend who is a part time assassin (there is not a better way for me to summarize the HW fishing quests in a single sentence). The Limsa Fishing Guild's perpetual shirker of responsibility and guildmaster, Wawalago, is once again caught skipping town to go fishing. But this time, you discover he's actually doing guild work, just covert guild work. The guild is tasked with maintaining the aquatic ecosystem around Limsa, and Wawalago received a request from an old friend of his. It's just that this old friend, Govv, can't walk through the gates of Limsa on account of being a Sahagin. Govv has noticed that "the shooting stars of the sea", a particular fish important to the Sahagin, has suddenly vanished from local waters. Tracking the fish back to Gyr Abania, you run into your friend, Reyna, the part time assassin/full time fisher. She helps Govv determine that the shooting stars are migratory, and the come from the east. The Far East! With Reyna in tow, you and Govv head to the Ruby Sea, finding smaller versions of the Shooting Stars in their waters. With a tutorial about the new spearfishing mechanic, Govv discovers that the reason for the sharp drop off in Shooting Stars is due to a massive increase in plesiosaurs in the Ruby Sea. It seems that there was once a festival to catch plesiosaurs, culling their numbers, but the Garlean invasion 25 years ago put a stop to the festival. Since then, the plesiosaurs numbers have been increasing, preying on the young Shooting Stars. With your assistance, the festival tradition is revived, and Govv is heartened to know that the Shooting Stars will return to his seas in time. The Mining quests start after finishing up the contract work with the Oschon's Raiders adventuring company. The new questline revolves around Stickqix, a goblin in Idlyshire who dreams of a new mech to help Idlyshire reclaim the Sharlyan ruins. Stickqix has assembled a diverse crew of engineers and artisans to produce the Gobroller, but needs you to help procure the raw materials for the prototype. Unfortunately, half your time is spent mediating disputes between his team of rivals. Eventually, the team completes the Gobtroller, spurred on by the belief that their bickering has caused Stickqix to abandon the project (in reality, he's just procuring additional materials). After the successful demonstration, Stickqix joyously tells you of his first attempt to produce the Gobtroller. Stickqix is a former member of the Illumanati, and that faction's leadership had twisted his design for the Gobtroller to become a warmachine. Disillusioned, he came to Idlyshire, and found the mixing of Goblins and adventurers to be just the world he needed to produce his dream project. The Leatherworker quests begin once you've completed the commissions for Elde and her boutique in Ishgard. Atelloune is one of the authors of the New Eorzean Geographic, and has a job for you and her young assistant Enion. Atelloune wants to bring attention to a series of endangered creatures across Eorzea and has a plan: Taxidermy! She's not tasking you with killing endangered animals, but procuring the pelts of naturally slain endangered animals for Enion to produce into stuffed examples for the people of Gridania to marvel at. After some starts and stops (naturally deceased animals don't always have pristine pelts for taxidermy), you manage to produce a few examples of threatened and endangered animals (in one case manipulating a far more common creature's fur to appear as the more rare breed). But then Atelloune discovers that her efforts are being undermined be one of Gridania's Conjurers. Marmaduke (yes, that's really his name) has been telling people that Atelloune's exhibit making a mockery of the creatures and that the Elementals will not take kindly to this display. But after some persistence and some assistance from the Leatherworkers Guild, Atelloune manages to put on a display at the amphitheater, showing just what she intended: conservation, not grotesque comedy. The crowd is amazed by your and Enion's work, bringing the majesty and plight of these creatures to the public eye. Marmaduke apologizes and ensures that future showings of the exhibit will proceed without interference. Finally, let's discuss the Alchemist quests. Hot off your stint as CSI: Mor Dhona, the Alchemists Guild has a peculiar submission that has piqued guildmaster Severian's curiosity. The Brass Blades have discovered a corpse that does not decay. A woman has been found who does not draw breath, but does not wake. She is cold to the world, but even after days in Erralig's Burial Chamber, she is the same as she was brought in, as if she could simply sit up and walk out the door. After some investigation, you discover that the woman is not the only corpse who retains its freshness, there is another, a man who has been interred at the Burial Chamber for years. When you inquire about who the man is, you discover he once had a lover, the Songstress of Ul'Dah: F'lhaminn. Minfilia's adoptive mother. F'lhaminn will confirm that the man is her husband Niellefresne, and he was slain using the cursed blade Heartstrike. The fact that a new body has appeared seems impossible, F'lhaminn's crew disposed of the blade years ago. Your job is to figure out how a destroyed cursed sword is being used to kill again, and who is responsible for the murders.

[@Sanctferum3]

the Stormblood Alchemist quests are a very nice treat to us 1.0 players who started in Ul'dah, and were left with the mystery of what exactly the deal was with Niellefresne's assassination for years on end. Yup, that plot point goes back that far. Nielle was one of the conspirators behind the parade incident that left Minfilia (or, Ascilia as she was known then)'s dad, Warburton, dead, as was F'lhaminn. Hence F'lhaminn adopting the newly orphaned Ascilia as her own, as penance for her role in the incident.

[@LucificNight]

The crafter/gatherer storylines were amazing. All these stories did so much worldbuilding, like holy cow, writing a CSI-style storyline for the alchemist guild? Or the Leatherworkers guild being asked to assist with taxidermy for spreading awareness of rare species conservation? Plus, seeing Wawalago actually doing work was mind-blowing, and trying to hide it from Sisipu, no less. It's wild how inventive the writing was, and how much it FITS the world. Like consulting the alchemist guild when there's something fishy about a corpse is something I'd never have thought of, yet seems so natural when you actually think about it. Zero regrets about walking around with a full inventory while leveling up the crafter/gatherer classes.

[@ShadowWingTronix]

I'd kind of like to see this alchemist story.

[@TheIvoryDingo]

The best way to sum of the HW Fisher quest I would say is as follows: People keep getting interrupted by responsibilities when all they want to do is fish.

[@sirB0nes]

I 100% agree with Dan's closing thoughts after the tanto-okuri. I really appreciate the inclusion of this change of pace and tone into both the game and this series. Thanks for all your efforts, Dan!

[@mattkuhn6634]

These little side stories are absolutely great! One of the things that I really like about FF XIV is that it doesn't handwave away real problems. Things like the tensions between the beastmen and the folk of Eorzea, or the lingering religious conflict in Ishgard, these get addressed and handled fairly realistically. I think a big part of how they pull that off is through stories like these. So even though I know it was a pain to film, thanks for doing these stories, Dan! Frankly, after doing Eureka for this series, you're entitled to pick and choose whatever content you want to do from here on out!

[@saoirsegenus5957]

01:24 Short King spotted! Having a Lala WoL presumably gives his neck a break, which is nice... 09:55 The Buduga are so nice and brotherly, it's easy to forget that they technically are here to kidnap strong men- namely, Hien- to press gang into their tribe...hopefully they privide as much support as trouble. 15:10 Good call; I don't see Hien as the self-aggrandizing type even without the massive war they just had... now is the time for utility. 20:15 I note that Ishibushi has facial scars... In the right place, they can paralyze the muscles that control expressions. no wonder he's so taciturn, poor guy. 26:50 Catboy in Summer-mode gives me life :) 41:00 What a sweet finale The Doman Reconstruction is a nice little way to make your mark on the world... you get more gil and materials you know what to do with, so It's nice that you have a way to clear up your inventory, and do well by doing good by bringing a city-state back from the brink.

[@Finvaara]

You have no idea how happy I was to see you go through the entire Doman Restoration. It was one of my favorite things to play through when I was catching up on Stormblood content myself.

[@JoyceW-Art]

Oh the cutscene with the paper lanterns was absolutely gorgeous!

[@ICountFrom0]

Woodsworth, I wandered lonely as a cloud, heh, good reference.

[@FearlessSon]

16:30 - When I saw the character standing next to Durmin, my first thought was, "Is that Dante from Devil May Cry?"

[@the6ofdiamonds]

33:56 "They tried to kill us, they failed, let's eat"? 35:06 I was about to say... the irony. 35:41 That's such a spectacle. 37:03 "Our dead friends will have the time of their lives!" ...What? 43:10 Ah, so that kidnapping thing went off, did it? 44:37

[@ruthnovena40]

Loved this, thank you for going through the whole thing..

[@natoriousthehopeful2786]

This has been a long time coming, but Durmin finally did it: the Reconstruction has been fully paid off at last 🤩 I just imagine all of the other saiyans watching and Cher's shock and questioning how he got the funds to pull this off😂

[@andy4an]

also, a lot of other money things are silly when you have tens of millions of gil. like, there's a whole storyline about gostetsu's sword breaking the bank, but a lot of crafters could probably just drop stacks and make the problem go away.

[@forcesinbalance5685]

@@andy4an Indeed, omnicrafters tend to end up rather wealthy...and then don't really buy anything. "A million gil for that katana? Hah!" Then they grab some random junk from their saddlebags and forge you a better blade on the spot.

[@wavesofbabies]

It's a Starlight Celebration miracle

[@Artista_Frustrado]

it really speaks volumes of the game's character writing that this little quest works so well & ends up being so satisfying, and the characters are so likable you want them to finally get closure - so reading from the comments, half a bell is half an hour, which is pretty excessive for a change of guard - I mean i get wanting to get rid of the Garlean watchtower, but i feel is probably well built enough you could have disguised it

[@forcesinbalance5685]

It would have been very bad symbolically to leave it in place: "The Empire is still watching you" is not a sense you want to have in this reconstructed home. Many of the inhabitants would have felt a pang each time they saw it, and a watchtower is highly visible. That aside, I believe it was also damaged and probably unsafe to use, so it was better to replace it as a practical matter as well.

[@Artista_Frustrado]

@@forcesinbalance5685 good points then again they had to use a lot of explosives to dismantle it... which probably had nothing to do with the structural integrity, so yeah Good point

[@AVeryTiredChild]

Fun fact, from your random watcher who's been studying japanese for a few years: While Doman culture seems to be inspired by multiple far-asian cultures (mostly Japan, some China and Korea, and probably more I'm not as familiar), a lot of the language seems to be Japanese. The festival they celebrate is called "Tento-okuri", which could be a lot of things since we don't know how they spell it, but is probably "点灯"-tento, lighting a lamp, and "送り"-okuri, to send off. Now, the festival itself seems to me, in addition to being related to obon, is similar to the Lantern Festival, which is a traditional Chinese holiday. What's also interesting is that (from what I know and understand), this holiday also acts as a Buddhist day of observance, meant for "the cleansing of the defiled mind". This is very interesting symbolically with the Domans using it as a way to celebrate the end of Garlean occupation

[@Wanderingsage7]

Option c: a large statue of hien that works like a lighthouse

[@DaneeBound]

About time in Hydealyn: They measure it much like we do in the real world, but there are some odd quirks to it. Hours are called bells, days are called suns and months are called moons. Additionally a week is actually 8 suns long, while a moon is always 32 suns.

[@wavesofbabies]

Just to add a bit more context: this is how time works in-universe in comparison to our time, not in-game. Time in-game moves much faster. How fast? Well a bell (hour) on Hydaelyn is 2 minutes and 55 seconds in real life time. Again that's just how it is represented in game, not how long it actually is in fiction as compared to our reality. There are many reasons for this, but chief of all is making things easier on players. Time of day can matter for a lot of non-combat reasons: what fish you can catch, when weather changes, when FATEs spawn, when sightseeing logs can be completed... And having all of that be synced to real world time Animal Crossing style would be a real pain in the neck. Imagine having to wake up at 3 am to catch a certain fish. No thanks! So if you ever see the weather change or it suddenly turn from night to day during a snap jump, know that doesn't mean Dan recorded that section hours later. That's just how the game works.

[@TheIvoryDingo]

​@@wavesofbabies While there aren't cases of fishes only being available at 3am irl... there are CERTAINLY cases where Big Fish are only available for a small period at an (often inconvenient) specific time and then may not be available for a couple irl WEEKS. Big fishing is no joke.

[@Duiker36]

Hours being called bells was pretty common in the real world (mostly because timekeeping in medieval times was done by ringing a bell on the hour). Indeed, hourly bells is essentially how you end up with class lengths, because it came there through factory shift changes. And if you inspect the actual etymology of words for "day" and "month", you'll often find them traced back to suns and moons (in Chinese and other Sinitic languages, it gets quite literal).

[@andy4an]

i checked if the 5 second delay was actually 5 seconds, and yes, it was.

[@Landis963]

It seems like things are progressing rather piecemeal - funds are allocated towards one project, then the next, then the next, with little to no incentive to go back to old areas once complete. What would it look like if we were introduced to these quests sequentially, and saw things progress in tandem, perhaps with a big party quest (EDIT: not unlike the tento-oguri quest, I imagine) once the Enclave was complete, I wonder? Would bouncing between projects work to maintain player interest, or would engagement plateau, or even drop off?

[@darter9000]

Doman Kickstarter Campaign

[@scottstuddert9178]

Durmin backed it at the level that gets you a shirt.

[@adiksaff]

43:21 - =;) All those days, watching from the windows

[@Wanderingsage7]

I'm just assuming that Hien is out visiting Cirna on the steppe. Otherwise he's usually like, just over there. A messenger seems a bit excessive.

[@Duiker36]

Yeah, I was surprised Hien didn't show up for the final festival, either. It seems like the kind of thing he'd be present for. I'm guessing there's some policy of not sticking the mainline story characters into these side stories, beyond passing mentions.

[@Sphagnopsida]

💙