Just gotta update the title now really, since obviously, more than one mystery exists about Miao Village and definitely not all of them are solved! Also congrats Switch on the findings!
Of course and actually this is what makes the mystery more of a mystery, we will never fully know how the area blended into the surrounding areas, without a confirmation or playable build, maps or something else concrete. (by blend we mean a multitude of different things)
Since it offends you so much, I'll happily change it for you. Any suggestions? Would "The Mystery (to 99.9% of us) of Miao Village Is Finally Solved" be more fitting? Because it seems the majority are awfully satisfied with what's been presented here. I hate to speak for anybody, but when that Muecas update on Shenmue.com revealed the removed (name unknown at the time) village, I'm pretty sure our ponderings consisted mainly of the following five...
1. What is this place?
2. Where is this place?
3. What's Ryo doing there?
4. Who is the old guy?
5. At what point were we going to visit? It looks like Guilin.
My post effectively answered all five of these questions with such:
1. Miao Village (assumed but not confirmed)
2. Near the South Carmain Qr. (theorized by some, not confirmed)
3. Looking for the Wulinshu (theorized again, not confirmed)
4. Yunhai, who is the priest at Miao Guang Temple (we had no clue)
5. While looking for the Wulinshu (ties in with #3)
Pretty sure that's chiefly what we've all been wanting to know. Of course, our content deprived minds will wander off and imagine what other kind of NPCs wandered around, what all the huts looked like inside, what smaller cutscenes might have taken place inside... but generally, we wanted context of the screenshots and a basic understanding of what was going on. Maybe Xiuying and Ziming's house was originally here, judging by the clothing hanging in the background during the flashback. Who knows? But if we're going solely based off of what
could be out there on some hidden build, we'll never know. Again, is there any solid proof? Like I said, I hope there is. I will very happily eat my words and tell you you're the MVP, again. Then you can just make a new post with everything in one pretty little package.
I'm sorry I robbed you of being the hero with my incomplete analysis, but what was I supposed to think? This beta has been in the hands of you and several people for well over a month now, looked over quite extensively during that time judging by the initial release story. Not by me though, despite offering to pitch in and alleviate the sting of the cost. I waited like a good soldier and got it when everyone else did. Once it's released out to the public, it's kinda fair game at that point, right? You couldn't have possibly expected no one to go through these and post this, while you work to unravel the Miao frog hopping code first to make the puzzle complete. Besides, nobody ever told me about anything Miao related being on here, so I couldn't have known I was trampling on anyone's path to clout to begin with.
I really didn't want to go down this road with you, but I'm done with having my post downplayed. Done with the sarcasm, the repeated efforts to flood my thread with childish jealously, and the passive aggressiveness. "Congrats on the finds, Switch!" Shit like this is why I became a lurker around here quite some time ago. I'm a grown ass man and don't have the time for drama like this. It's stupid. We're all in this together. I've always been cool with you, appreciated what you bring to the table and shown nothing but respect. Unfortunately, you couldn't give me that in return.