[Murphie]

I also feel it's necessary to ask. Do your friends know anything about Asian cultures? Because apparently not.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

They must have looked at the stone wall around the city and thought, "Hey that looks like the Great Wall of China!"

[DakAttack]

Originally Posted by Malacite

After all, Bahamut is in actuality a fish.

Actuality is a strong word to use with a mythical creature.

[Prons]

Originally Posted by LyonheartLakshmi

They must have looked at the stone wall around the city and thought, "Hey that looks like the Great Wall of China!"

In fact, the city was based around a Pink Floyd LP.

[Feba]

[Kittyneko]

Feba, that's so very <other forum name> of you.

But yes, this thread does seem very silly.

[Malacite]

well SE does this sort of thing all the time. They take names or themes and base things (sometimes extremely) loosely on them.

Like Maat. Ma'at (SE changed the spelling) is the name of an Egyptian goddess of truth, law and order.

As for Bahamut...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahamut

In Arabic myth, Bahamut is a giant fish, described as so immense that a human cannot bear its sight;

[Callisto]

Originally Posted by Malacite

In Arabic myth, Bahamut is a giant fish, described as using FRIGGIN' MEGAFLARE!!!11

ftfy.

[Mhurron]

I believe that SE shied away from very strict alignments of areas to any particular existing culture to make the games history and characters universally appealing and understood. Where the things seem to stand out as strongly suggesting any specific influence, the influence is one that is generic and almost universally understood.

San d'Oria isn't French, it is generic late medieval European. This is something that is almost familiar to anyone familiar with fantasy stories or history. Aht Urgan is not Arabic, it is specifically 1001 Arabian Nights. Stories that predate anything that people know as Arabic and are so well known around the world because they are some fantastic tales.

[Callisto]

Originally Posted by Mhurron

I believe that SE shied away from very strict alignments of areas to any particular existing culture to make the games history and characters universally appealing and understood. Where the things seem to stand out as strongly suggesting any specific influence, the influence is one that is generic and almost universally understood.

San d'Oria isn't French, it is generic late medieval European. This is something that is almost familiar to anyone familiar with fantasy stories or history. Aht Urgan is not Arabic, it is specifically 1001 Arabian Nights. Stories that predate anything that people know as Arabic and are so well known around the world because they are some fantastic tales.

Yeah, especially considering that FF's 1-6 and 9 used the same generic knights & castles deal, XI is just the first one with intricately named NPCs, there are so many friggin NPCs and monsters to name they probably had to kind of dig deep for references and influences.

Best-named NM in the game: Black Triple Stars >.>

[Coinspinner]

Originally Posted by Malacite

well SE does this sort of thing all the time. They take names or themes and base things (sometimes extremely) loosely on them.
Like Maat. Ma'at (SE changed the spelling) is the name of an Egyptian goddess of truth, law and order.
As for Bahamut...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahamut

Or they might have changed the spelling of Mat, which is short for Mathew.

[Malacite]

Knowing SE I doubt that very much

[Kittyneko]

Well mainly mythical creatures and legends.. but a whole culture? The game is from Japan in first place, but they use chairs, not pillows on the floor. :p

[Theyaden]

When I started looking around Sandy I always thought Europe due o the castle ramparts, npc's in knightly armor, but when I started talking to the NPC's it was Parisian attitudes all the way.

Windurst I never saw any particular culture other than not being any industrialized one.

Bastok I thought was America during the industrial revolution with the subclass (Galka) forced to do all the jobs the humes didn't want. Addionally they have a section of town in Bastok Mines that looks like a ghetto. Not familiar enough with Germany to know if that would work too.

You can fit quite a few cultures into each citiy and I'ld be surprised if the developers didn't use one or more existing ones as a base to start from. (One more thing to pass time while lfg)

[Malacite]

Windurst fits Japan rather nicely I find.

Warring tribes (Feudal Era) eventually united by a Holy Leader. You could also argue the small people aspect but... tarutaru are taking that to the extreme >_>