History FinalFantasyXIV / TropesAToC

** The story of ''A Realm Reborn'' properly starts with you boarding an airship and the people of your starting city waving goodbye as the ''Final Fantasy'' series' main theme plays. ''Endwalker''[[spoiler:'s end credits feature you and the Scions aboard an airship returning home with the same theme playing, this time with the entire world watching after your success.]]

* BrokenAesop: Considering how large the game is and how many different plots have been added between the main quest, sidequests, and quests for individual classes and jobs, this was bound to happen.
** One sidequest you can take from a member of the Conjurer's Guild involves you gathering ingredients for a ritual the guild will be soon performing, which involves killing various animals out in the forest and gathering parts from them. When you return with the ingredients, she compliments you for only taking exactly as much as you needed, and that recklessly killing random beasts will spell doom. From a purely monetary standpoint this holds up in regular gameplay, since it's rare for you to [[MoneySpider get gil from random ladybugs or living mushrooms]], much less enough to offset the amount needed to repair your gear, and even defending yourself isn't strictly necessary, since not every mob in the wild is actively hostile (and even ones that are stop attacking you on-sight if you're ten or more levels above them). But on the other hand, several enemies do drop various crafting ingredients, which tend to drop at a much lower rate than whatever a sidequest is forcing them to drop (e.g. you'll only get boar skins off of one in every six or seven wild boars), and there are hunting logs for every starting class, which grant you much-needed experience bonuses by killing various animals just for the sake of killing them.[[note]]The separate hunting logs you get from your Grand Companies, interestingly, don't have anywhere near the same problem, because the enemies you need to kill for them are both actively hostile in gameplay ''and'' major threats in-story too - the first level of each Company's log, for instance, includes sending you after specific varieties of Amalj'aa, who by the point in the story you're allowed to even join a Grand Company have already summoned their primal Ifrit and tried to feed you and several other captives to it.[[/note]]
** On the other hand, the same moral is brought up for the Botanist and Leatherworker class quests, primarily the latter, where it's mentioned that a specific animal was almost wiped out after people overhunted them for their leather. Thing is, these two classes are, respectively, a gatherer and a crafter, which are ''all'' you can do as those classes, and whatever animal you need to hunt or tree/bush you need to hit to get crafting ingredients invariably comes back after a set period or certain actions (enemies respawn on set timers, gathering nodes whenever you hit enough in an area or leave and come back to the zone in question), so there's nothing stopping you from spending hours on end gathering crafting materials until your inventory is crowded out, then actually using them to craft things and make a very hefty profit.
** The Samurai 60-70 questline in ''Stormblood'' revolves around stopping a bloody rebellion because, regardless of whatever corruption may be present in the government, the rebels' methods would cause a much larger and even bloodier civil war that would hurt a lot of innocent people, and it's much better to work with the system to change it from within. A noble goal that would have fit with a then-ongoing trend of popular stories about rebellions against dystopias, but it's undermined entirely by the main story being ''all about'' inciting bloody civil wars against corrupt regimes, that the oppressed people of Ala Mhigo and Doma don't have any choice ''but'' to go to war against the Garlean Empire, and how they should be willing to do so at any cost. Making it worse is that when the BigBad of the Samurai questline [[MotiveRant gives his reasoning]] for trying to start a civil war... ''everyone agrees''. In turn, most of the people who say that the war would be bad are those who happen to have been born within privileged positions of Hingashi society, meaning they have all the reason in the world to not want to change the status quo because they're exactly the kind of people that are propping up what the rebellion wants to cut down.
** [[spoiler:Yotsuyu]]'s post-''Stormblood'' arc is supposed to be a tragedy showing that not everyone can be redeemed, and even those who have the chance at it [[ThenLetMeBeEvil will choose otherwise]]. It falls flat primarily because prior to the ''Stormblood'' postgame, she had [[HateSink no redeeming qualities whatsoever]], and while [[AlasPoorVillain we're supposed to feel sorry for her]] being treated by the citizenry as if she's an irredeemable monster who should be put to the sword even as [[spoiler:an amnesiac with the mind of a child]], her actions [[spoiler:as soon as she regains her memories ''prove them right'', as she immediately goes completely off the deep end and channels a primal, thus sabotaging peace talks with the Garleans]].

** Shortly after the release of the 6.58 update came "The Path Infernal" a crossover event with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI''. This event sees Clive cross over from Valisthea into Eorzea & having to recover his memories from before his arrival, culminating in a fight against XVI's version of Ifrit. Players get a set of Clive's gear, alongside a Torgal mount & pup Torgal minion as rewards for completing the event quests.

** Shortly after the release of the 6.58 update came ''The Path Infernal'', a crossover event with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI''. This event sees Clive cross over from Valisthea into Eorzea & having to recover his memories from before his arrival, culminating in a fight against XVI's version of Ifrit. Players get a set of Clive's gear, alongside a Torgal mount & pup Torgal minion as rewards for completing the event quests.

** Shortly after the release of the 6.58 update came "The Path Infernal", a crossover event with "VideoGame/FinalFantasy XVI". This event sees Clive cross over from Valisthea into Eorzea & having to recover his memories from before his arrival, culminating in a fight against XVI's version of Ifrit. Players get a set of Clive's gear, alongside a Torgal mount & pup Torgal minion as rewards for completing the event quests.

*** On top of that, the aforementioned Allagan Empire? [[spoiler:The Ascians had a direct hand in its creation and development.]] Who else have they had a hand in shaping? [[spoiler:The Garlean Empire, to the point where Emet-Selch himself - in the persona of Solus zos Galvus - was its founder.]] Almost every single evil empire in Eorzea's history has been influenced to a degree by [[spoiler:the Ascians]] with the express intent on [[spoiler:causing Calamities, as they are required to merge the shard worlds back to the Source.]]

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', the Four Fiends were the enforcers of Golbez with little in the way of motivation or backstory beyond just serving him. In ''XIV'', each of them is revealed to have been a low-ranked voidsent until the Knight in Black found them and increased their power. [[spoiler:It also gives them a distinct motivation to go to the Source because the constant cycle of death and rebirth on the Thirteenth has driven them insane, which Rubicante says motivates Golbez to merge the Thirteenth with the Source so that the voidsent there can finally die permanently.]]

* AlphaStrike: Near the end of ''Stormblood'', the Eorzean Alliance unleashes all of its long-ranged firepower to breach the nearly impregnable gates of Ala Mhigo and take the fight to the Garlean forces occupying it. Ul'dah's Thaumaturges' Guild unleashes every fire and ice spell in their arsenal to soften the gates up with rapid heating and cooling before the Maelstrom and Temple Knights fire every cannon they have. Although such a formation nearly falls to the threat of the Garlean air force, the timely intervention of [[spoiler:Hien, Yugiri, and the Xaela of the Azim Steppe]] ensure that it works.
-->'''Pipin:''' Give me hellfire! Give me Ifrit's bloody inferno! Now give me a Coerthan winter! Enough ice and snow to bury a behemoth! All cannons, fire at will! Let no man say we neglected to knock!

* AdvertisedExtra: The Moon, of all things, in ''Endwalker''. It received a huge amount of attention and focus in both the post-''Shadowbringers'' lead up to the expansion and trailers and other promotional materials, but in the story proper it amounts to [[spoiler:the battleground where you fight the DiscOneFinalBoss and the location of the following BreatherEpisode]] and is never visited again.

** Frontlines has the "Battle High" system. Every takedown and assist fills a meter, at ten points for a KO and two points for an assist. Every twenty points, the player receives a Battle High buff that increases damage and HP recovery. At 100 points, the player earns Battle High V, which is called out in the chat log. Finally, when a player get a KO on an opponent, their team gains five points and the enemy team loses five points, so [[ComebackMechanic there's a way to get back in the game even when another team gets ahead]].

** [he final zone of ''Endwalker'' is [[spoiler:an expanse of several floating islands drifting among the ruins of destroyed planets and stars, with the lifeless dead husk of a burnt out sun hanging very close overhead.]]

** The Alzadaal's Legacy dungeon goes back and forth on this. The Warrior and Estinien decide to follow a treasure map to a long lost vault they can plunder to secure funds to aid the needy of Radz-at-Han. However, the map is of dubious reliability and when the two are out of earshot the merchant they bought it from admits he swindled them. [[spoiler:Turns out the map is real and the "swindling" is the merchant expecting them to die to the vault's guardian constructs like everyone else who's tried to raid it. Estinien and the Warrior recruit some other Scions and make short work of the defenses, at which point Vrtra arrives. He informs them the vault is not a long lost store of treasure but rather his personal rainy day fund that he was already going to use for the exact same reason they wanted it and all they've done is wreck his valuable guard automations. However, the Scions also found a Void gate locked within the vault that Y'shtola takes an interest in, setting up a new plotline where they intend to use it to explore the Void.]]

* ComebackMechanic: The Frontline PVP mode has mechanics in place to make it so every team still has a chance to come back and win. Getting a KO on an opponent gives your team points, while the KO'd player's team loses points. How many points each value is worth depends on the map, but it's a consistent mechanic across the entire mode. Secondly, the team that's in first place will have each member's LimitBreak gauge fill 25 percent slower, while the team that's in last place will have their limit gauges fill 25 percent faster. Thirdly, the Battle High mechanic rewards players for getting [=KOs=] and staying alive with buffs to damage and healing. However, every player can see anyone's Battle High rating, and getting KO'd will cut a player's Battle High rating in half, so you can aim at higher-profile targets if you want to. Finally, the Seal Rock and Onsal Hakair maps make higher-value objectives more likely to spawn the more time passes in the match, and the number of simultaneous objectives that spawn will also be reduced. The latter is done to force teams to fight against each other instead of [[VictoryByEndurance just running out the clock]].

** Zig zagged. Being knocked out leaves you with two options: return to your home point/start of the dungeon or wait for another player to revive you. Being revived lowers your strength, dexterity, intelligence, and mind by 25% (Weakness) for a bit but gets you right back into the action. Returning to your home point or the dungeon's entrance does not leave you with any penalties other than the damage to your equipment and possibly wasted time, but you must travel back to where you were before you were defeated. In the case of dungeons, returning to start while your party is fighting a boss will leave you locked out of the boss room until the fight is finished. However, if you're knocked out again while under the Weakness status, getting revived again puts you under the Brink of Death status, which lowers your stats by a whopping 50%.

** Im the Blacksmith storyline, Sekka comes to Limsa Lominsa's Blacksmiths' Guild in hopes of learning how to forge the finest swords in the world. She's aghast when she finds that the guild is more focused on fulfilling orders and commissions than a goal or an ideal in their craft. She soon tries to impose her beliefs on the rest of the guild, even challenging the Warrior of Light to a smithing contest to prove herself right. She winds up losing due to being overly focused on showcasing her skills rather than fitting the sword to the client, humbling her and making her more open to Brithael's gradual and laissez-faire style of learning.

** ''Heavensward'': Telling the truth, however painful, is ultimately going to be a better choice than maintaining a comforting lie. In the Dragonsong War, both Ishgard and the Dragon Horde are each painting their own convenient narratives about what happened, leaving out key facts to push their own agenda. [[spoiler:Ishgard is lying about how the Dragonsong War started, since King Thordan I attacked an innocent dragon in paranoia of what dragonkind could do to Ishgard, and stole this dragon's eyes as a source of power. This ended up becoming a SelfFulfillingProphecy, as the dragons were now motivated by vengeance. Meanwhile, Nidhogg, the vengeance-fueled leader of the dragons, refuses to explain anything about why he's attacking and is [[SinsOfOurFathers punishing innocent Ishgardians for the crimes of their forefathers]]. Not only does this continue a vicious cycle of death and vengeance, but it's only when the whole truth is exposed and the ones pushing the false narratives are held to account on both sides that peace can be restored.]]
** ''Stormblood'': All people deserve to be free of oppression, but freedom is never going to come easily. As Raubahn puts it, "such victories are rarely won without sacrifice. But the prize is worth the price." For as much as Garlemald consistently tries to [[HopeCrusher crush the hopes and dreams of Ala Mhigo and Doma]], and as much as [[SafetyInIndifference the people have just accepted oppression as their lot in life]], it consistently fails to completely stop the clarion call of freedom when a HopeBringer shows up to unite them.
** ''Shadowbringers'': Let the past die. For as much as expansion BigBad Emet-Selch pushed the idea that only his people deserve to exist, he gets constant pushback from everyone because that's not his call to make. While wanting to go home and be reunited with your loved ones is an admirable goal, you must accept that your time has passed sooner or later and make way for the new generation.

* AntiPoopSocking: Every player has a daily {{Cap}} of one hundred Duties; when this cap is reached, the player can't register for anything else until the following day. Most players will never even come close to hitting this cap -- dungeons take a minimum of fifteen minutes to clear, with later dungeons taking up to half an hour. This isn't just to stop people from playing the game too much; it's also there to stop bots from running instances over and over to grind for items and/or Gil that can be transferred to someone else.
* AntiTrollingFeatures:
** The game features a [[{{Freemium}} free trial option]] that imposes several restrictions. Part of this is to encourage people to buy a subscription to unlock every feature, but it's also to discourage trolling. The /shout and /yell commands (which alert a large number of players) are disabled outright, as is /tell (which whispers a message that only one player can see). Free accounts can't participate in any PlayerVersusPlayer modes. Free players can't create parties, join Linkshell groups, or send friend requests (though they can accept all three from paying users). Free accounts can't use the Market Board, can't use the Moogle Letter Delivery Service, can't join Free Companies, and can't trade items. Free players can't challenge any other player to the Triple Triad mini-game, nor can they be challenged by anyone. Finally, free players cannot log into the Lodestone, the official forum, or Companion phone app. These restrictions on free accounts means that there are very few ways for trolls to annoy people.
** The chat options in the Crystalline Conflict PVP mode are a set of "quick chat" messages, No other chat modes -- including typing messages or using items -- are allowed. This was an express choice to prevent abusive language/trolling during play or post-game.
** Kicking someone out of a Duty for no reason is explicitly against the game's Terms of Service. Repeatedly kicking people out of your groups could result in a suspension or ban if done too often on players who weren't doing anything wrong.