There’s a lot to be excited about even from the little information we’ve been given in the announcement showcase. Of course, the thought that we’re going to finish up the story arc about Hydaelyn and Zodiark is pretty exciting, but it’s not what’s got me MOST hyped.

Island Sanctuary

I already noted that I was totally ready for the Island Sanctuary content, so I’ll just say it again.

I adore games like Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. So if you can mix that kind of “slow living” (they kept using that term) into my MMO which usually has everyone pumped up to run-run-run dungeons/raids/content, I’m there for it.

Seeing that the official tweet said this is something that will evolve over the length of the 6.0 expansion cycle, I’m keeping my expectations down for release. I know how the FFXIV team works – they release a foundation for a feature set and don’t always give everything at once (how could they?). But the ultimate vision for the feature is much larger, and by the time it’s all done, you understand what they were shooting for.

So yes, I’m excited for this, but I’m not hoping for TOO much at first.

Thavnair

I’m more excited that we get to finally go to Thavnair in this expansion! It’s a place we’ve heard of since 2.0 but have never seen. I even kinda guessed that this would be one of the places we’d go to due to that… also due to the fact that we don’t have a lot of Middle Eastern inspired locations in game yet.

What makes me most excited about it is that I’ve written it into my main character’s backstory that she’s of Hannish descent. I looked into what little lore we had about Thavnair when trying to develop her backstory, and have been looking for a way to expand on that more over time.

Being able to go there might be the inspiration I’ve been looking for to develop her story a bit more! So this is the main reason I’m especially excited about Thavnair.

New Job

I’m not talking about the Sage.

Sage looks cool and all, but barrier healers and I aren’t a great mix. I’m happy for those who are excited for Sage, but my hopes are really riding on this OTHER unannounced job.

All we know about it is that it will be melee DPS. And that Yoshi-P’s t-shirts consistently depicted a death-like scythe-bearing character on them during the announcement and the Live Letter.

Some folks are speculating Necromancer. But Necromancer (unless they shake it up quite a bit) doesn’t hit me as a melee DPS class. Some folks are calling it a “Reaper,” which I’m a bit more inclined to believe.

Either way, I’m hoping for a very cool scythe-wielding melee DPS class because…

It is all that my alt, Tai, has ever really needed in FFXIV.

He’s currently a Dragoon who uses Edda’s Scythe as a glamour over his polearm. But to actually get a scythe weapon job in the game would be AMAZING. Also, if I could hope that it shares maiming gear with Dragoon, that would be INCREDIBLY AMAZING…. because I really want to keep this coat that he’s wearing up there if possible.

In fact, this got me so motivated that I finally pushed Tai through the last two patches of Shadowbringers over the past weekend. Thanks to Syn who helped me out with Elidibus! Now he’s fully caught up with the end game story along with the rest of the characters I have at that point.

So for me, those are the points of the expansion that have me hyped.

Well that and all of the FFIV references I’m seeing. Did they hint at a Hummingway beast tribe on the Moon? I would adore that! Yes, please!