Highlight a FFXIV blog that is completely different to yours, whether in terms of focus or style, but you really enjoy.
:3
Probably @saeta.
A very different kind of blog than mine - lots of beautiful aesthetic posts, original and commissioned art and a non-WoL OC who is far better realised than anything that I could produce.
Also a very talented artist in their own right - check out their seasonal event Chibis at various points throughout the year.
Rating the accessibility of each Hub City in FFXIV (Spoilers some seriously suck)
One thing I love about video games is the immersive world design! Some games are so well crafted I can get lost just wandering their streets and towns. FFXIV is no exception. However, as someone who has spent significant time immobile and is likely to be so again later in life indefinitely, I got too wondering, could someone with mobility issues and aids (such as wheelchairs, which we know exist in universe, crutches, and like) be able too live in any of these cites? Some shocked me in how accessible they are, some shocked me in how inaccessible they are, and some were expected.
Going to be going forward assuming the city has ways to allow a citizen too attune too all the aetherytes without touching each. EW has precedent for it.
Gonna judge off 5 types of places you can go: Job (any jobs you can do to make money), Market (main market and/or any shopping districts), Entertainment (anyplace to enjoy the day), Church, and Town Hall (any place too do taxes, meetings, or follow laws). As well as overall traversal through the city.
SPOILERS UP TILL AND INCLUDING DAWNTRAIL!
Ul'dah
This is a better city of them all. A citizen can enter the city and IMMEDIATELY start shopping with no issue whatsoever. You can also easily get too the Grand Company. But that's where it gets tricky. You cannot leave the main aetheryte plaza at all. However, that isn't as big a deal as it seems since you can just teleport out or enter through the main entrances too the city. You can easily get too the inn and colosseum so entertainment is handled, however, you cannot get too the Gold Court at all so no plants for you. For jobs, your only options are inn, goldsmith's guild, at the market, or colosseum. You also cannot get close too the Promenade but you can be in the back of the crowd during speeches. You also cannot go to either church too pray which is a major dint in life for the average citizen.
Overall 3.5/5. the lack of church accessibility take quite a bit off as does the barriers too multiple jobs.
Gridania
This place honestly dissapoints me. I had high hopes for it. But by the very nature of it having stone and mud paths, it loses a point from the get go.
Now good news from there. You can get a lot of places. Almost every path is a ramp or flat path. You can get too the amphitheater very easily as well as the market and leatherworkers guild. So two jobs and a major place of entertainment. Also most vistas are accessible.
However you cannot enter the carpenter's guild at all and the inn is gonna be a struggle without help. As is the conjurers guild to pray. Both due too small but existing steps. The conjurer's guild has stone steps that would be very difficult to go up and down safely. The Grand Company is also no available to enter for news.
Overall 3/5. The place is held back by the mud and stone paths and the issues getting into various important places for daily life.
Limsa Lominsa
This place disappointed me so much. It started so well. Ability too traverse hawker's alley from docks too gate with no issue. you can even touch the aetheryte with little too no issue. That's sadly where the good mostly ends.
First you cannot enter customs at all. You can enter the fisherman's guild but cannot enter the ferry nearby so doing your job will be very difficult when not doing big missions. You can get seating at the culinarian's guild but they are very off too the side and arguably the worst seats. Once again, like Gridania you the inn has difficult steps to get up. You cannot get too Llymlean's mark too pray. You also cannot get a job at the blacksmith or armorer's guilds but you can commission them.
You can however get too both town square and the grand company for meetings. So there is that.
Overall 2/5. I am very disappointed in this place. For a city founded on arguably the most disabled trope of character, it has horrible accessibility.
Going too skip Mhor Dona due too not having access too the majority of the area due too it being a castle city. But what I've seen is very bad.
Ishgard
AUTOMATICALLY LOOSES A POINT DUE TOO NO SEATS OUTSIDE THE HIGH CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD
I was gonna call this class separation the city, BUT IT ISNT EVEN THAT!! It is Hostile Architecture the City!!!!
The Good! You can enter the city from the aetheryte or main gate.
Now all the Bad!! You cannot pray too Halone. You cannot get into the inn. You cannot get into or out of the brume without teleport, the only job is chocobo porter. You cannot get too the Tribune so no entertainment or government help. You cannot get too the market. You cannot enter the pillars at all without teleport. You cannot get too the airship at all. And every house is on raise steps. Even the firmament. Even the rich dont get anything. Heck their seats are on steps! The poor have better mobility then them.
0.5/5. That's only because you can enter the damn city.
Idyllshire
This one is horrid. Just straight up horrid. You cannot enter or leave the city and you cannot enter any building or even the market.
Overall 0.25/5. Because you can teleport in, technically. Pray you don't end up on the landing.
Rhalgr's Reach
This is a very accessible place, to the suprise of no one. Its a largely flat valley. The only dent is the ground quality. Its atrocious. You can go too the markets, vistas, and even graveyard and Rhalgr's mark too pray. Although you cannot give an offering. You can even visit the leaders with a bit of difficulty due to ground quality.
Overall 4.5/5. For a slapped together rebel camp its very traversable. Nice Change of pace from Cortheas.
Kugane
This shocked me in a good way. I was expecting this place too be a nightmare, but it has enough ramps and teleports too get almost every important area. You can't enter the city via aetheryte but that's a non-issue due to its position. You can get to almost any job from docks, to bar, to markets. You can shop at the aforementioned markets. You can go see a show at the Mujikoza. You can get a drink at the bar. And you can visit every government building including the Sekiseigumi, although you have too pass through their training yard to get too other such buildings. The worst is you cannot visit either the inn or bathhouse due too stairs. But still very good! Also there isn't much religious locations in the city so I assume most citizens have home shrines.
Overall 4/5. Very good place too live, not the best to visit as a tourist.
Crystarium
Not gonna lie. I entered this one immediately scared. the initial stairs set me on edge (Ishgard will forever haunt me) but there are ways around the outer ring and enough ramps and teleports to get most places with relative ease. The main aetheryte is, once again, useless. This is feeling like a running theme lately. Its surrounded by stairs that then connect too stairs with ramps. Soooo why not just have ramps on those as well Raha? So you have too take the gardens too get inside so once again mud. You can get too the Crystarium Mean and the markets so you can do most jobs. You can't however get too the Hortorium or the Cabinet of Curiosities. So most jobs that would be disability friendly are out. It also means you can't go check out a book too read. You can get too the bar so that's something. You can also get too the main plaza and the apartments. However, the apartments are gonna be a struggle too get into due too ramp placements. You can also get too the amaro launch. So not the worst place too live but it will be boring.
Overall 3/5. Raha, check your privilege please.
Eulmore
Do I really need too give the city that ate poor and disabled people a review? It ate the poor and disabled. And the city design reflects this. Can't enter the city, can't enter any room, can't do anything.
Overall 0/5. Societal Inequality the visual metaphor is bad. Shocking, truly.
Old Sharlayan
Nerd Island needs a reality check! What else is new? Honestly this being the basis of Idyllshire makes sense. Again, useless aetheryte is useless. This place has ramps but the serve no purpose. All the houses are raised (seriously elezen, why do you do this?). You cannot get too classes in the Studium. You can get to the Noumenon but that will hurt. You can get too the Rostra but cannot get too the main site too pray too Thaliak. You can get too the Last Stand but it will also hurt, but hey they can deliver too the house you can't enter.
Overall 1/5. Please read a book about disability nerds. Please.
Radz-at-Han
This place is so bad. Its horrible. You can do nothing besides enter your home. You cant get to the market. You cant get too the bar. You can't get to Meghaduta. You can't get to any job location. You can get too your house and the airship landing. That's it.
Overall 0.5/5. Bad ableist Dragon!!! BAD!!!
Tuliyollal
The City of Stairs lives up too its name. If only the aetheryte shards were in better places. Good: You can enter the city and go to city hall. You can also go to the cabins. Bad: Cannot get a job. Cannot go to the bar. Cannot go too your house. Cannot go to the airships.
Overall 0.5/5. Bad ableist Lizard! BAD!!
Solution Nine
I, really don't know how to judge this one because of one big thing. There is no way they don't have hoverchairs instead of wheelchairs. But to give it a fair judge of they don't. You cannot get too the cafe. You cannot get too the Residential Zone. You also cannot get too the bar. You can get too the Arcadion. Can get too Resolution with some difficulty. You can get too the Nexus Arcade with a bit of hassle. So you can get too every job.
HOWEVER THIS IS ALL MEANINGLESS!! A significant portion of the population is paralyzed. There is no way they don't have hoverchairs. Heck all the stairs look suspiciously like they can become ramps. THE RESIDENTIAL AREA HAS ELEVATORS!
Overall 3/5 or 5/5. Without the obvious advanced tech its not that great. But let's not kid ourselves.
Conclusion
There were some very good highs but so many lows. I would love if the devs would take such an important part of societies into account for once, and it seems they do a bit. But, even their best outside Solution Nine has major gaps in accessibility and mobility. Can't wait for 8.0!!
I ran around a single major region in the base game of FFXIV - The Black Shroud, including the city of Gridania and its residential area, the Lavender Beds - and took screenshots of every unique flower I could find.
I don't know if they have names. I assume not, but who knows if some long-forgotten side quest or repeatable job had a throwaway term for some of them? I've seen a tiny little allied society quest from the most recent expansion that gives a local flower a name; it would be easy to miss.
The first flower grows on shrubs in Gridania and Central Shroud. The second and third are huge and grow around the tiny Sylph village in East Shroud and have glowing varieties (the third one is also a different color - blue) exclusively in The Lavender Beds. The final set are also huge (some stalks have to be at least ten feet tall, compared to my 5'2" character) and also glow - pink and purple in The Lavender Beds, and the brightest cyan blue is only found deep in Stillglade Fen, where the Conjurer's Guild resides.
There are many more flowers in the Shroud, let alone in the various other regions of the game; these have only scratched the surface. Maybe one day I'll sketch more of them. While some flowers were reused in various areas or with recolors, there's a surprising variety, and they seem to be quite different from one area to another, even within a single region.
Gridania, they say, is a land belonging to the elements and she cannot deny the way its forests and streams stir her heart. And yet, she senses an undercurrent of pain and sorrow in its people that no amount of natural beauty can mend.
Severia spends about a year living in Gridania, joining the Archer's Guild, learning to be an adventurer, and exploring the nearer parts of the Shroud. And then one day she meets a most unusual pair.
Everything seemed warm. The colors, the sunlight, the breeze in the trees. And she began to hope this was at last the place she needed to be to find a purpose for herself in this world.
Severia arrives in Gridania for the first time, age 21.
