Unenthused About Dawntrail

I suppose for me I’m more focused on the content types and quality of said content. Because I know they need to start the story again etc I’m hoping for at least this to be a stormblood 2.0 (I thought the story was meh but content great) so that’s my core hope for Dawntrail I of course will be checking it out day 1, the other thing is… it’s just nice to see new areas lol it gets all samey after 2 years so that will be a nice change of pace.

The formula its going to be exactly the same :

-Walls of unvoiced text and cutscenes
-10 hours of MSQ
-A few dungeons (corridors-mobs-corridor-boss-mobs-corridor- green items that are worst than the current max Ilevel from EW so it doesn't matter)
-Same scions/characters but doing low effort japanese humor.
-After defeating literally gods and one that can wipe the entire universe now a generic lizerdmen design from ARR its kicking the floor against WOL.

I hope the new areas are just comfy for the first hours of gameplay.

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Originally Posted by Teah_Kaye

I really think the trailer is a red herring and that they're purposely affixing happy-go-lucky vibes to something that might get kind of dark.

The lead MSQ writers for Dawntrail are the guys responsible for Sorrows of Werlyt and the pixie tribal quests.

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We said the same thing that EW was being made by the DRK writer and this meant it was guaranteed to be flawless, it was……controversial

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Teah_Kaye

I really think the trailer is a red herring and that they're purposely affixing happy-go-lucky vibes to something that might get kind of dark.

The lead MSQ writers for Dawntrail are the guys responsible for Sorrows of Werlyt and the pixie tribal quests.

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I for one will be completely happy if I am wrong about the dying hype factor. The MSQ is usually enought for me, but im so tired of the Scions as the end all be all. In the end, ill buy/play it either way, but even the devs seem like they're just going along with the flow. Gameplay wise, that blandfest doesn't seem to see any possibility for changes

I'm not overly worried about non MSQ content as devs have seemingly acknowledged 6.0 was lacking in this regard. 6.0 had variation but it was missing scope-- hopefully their new exploratory zone will breathe some life into the patch cycle this time around and actually be a large scale thing you can do with other players.

As far as being stuck with the Scions, the MSQ quest structure, the story pacing...this has always been a struggle with this team imo, whether you're talking about Heavensward or you're talking about FFXVI. This particular team can execute insanely high highs but when it comes to the lows, they fumble and don't know where to go sometimes.

I would imagine 7.0 is going to have some kind of twist that sets up the new arc, but it's likely going to be a lot of busy work to get there vs. doing stuff that's surprising/fun.

Admittedly, a friend and I have discussed whether this may be our last expansion. While I'm not quite to that extent yet, he's pretty firm if they repeat Endwalker dismal content longevity he'll quit. I'm more on the "may start unsubbing" train of sorts. There's still plenty I like about the game but the sheer lack of staying power really hurt. Hell, the last couple months I've logged in mostly for my subs or if someone asks me to. Otherwise, I'm playing other games, namely Cyperpunk at the moment.

For both of us, Dawntrail needs to impress though. This is easily the most "muted" I've gone into a new expansion. I'm hoping my lack of expectations winds up leading to some hype along the way.

Wasn't super hyped for Dawntrail until I got to see hrothgals! The trailer is nothing amazing and given I don't care much for either of the new jobs I was not super interested. I don't doubt I will enjoy the MSQ, I loved Endwalker MSQ and the patch series was ok but would have much preffered they give EW story more space in the patches than wrapping it up all in one but I understand why they made the choice they did.

The content for EW I was so hyped for, island sanctuary I had so much hope for but in the end it's fallen short of what it could have been imo. The criterion dungeons I think are a fantastic addition and I hope they improve savage rewards so we can gear with that content. Nothing announced content wise for Dawntrail has me excited like I was for the EW content announcements. I'm glad they are looking into refreshing encounter design to make it less boring, but I hope they do something about jobs being very samey after all these years.

I expect to enjoy DT but not as much as I did EW or SHB releases. But that's nothing shocking given the story in DT is fresh! I am also glad of more item slots in houses, two dye channels and other qol announced.

Why should I be excited about Dawntrail?
It seems to be heading down the same path as all the other expansions, a path where they add a topping but it doesn't change the taste at all,
when they had the opportunity to overhaul gameplay, rethink the farming system overall, modify the way MSQ work, etc...

Making major changes for 7.0 was a real opportunity after finishing a 10-year storyline arc and after receiving so much feedback on Endwalker where people were generally bored.

We can see from the fanfests that there will be no changes, that the patch cycle will remain identical and predictable, that there may potentially be no changes to the combat system given what they've said,
so the presence of the 120s burst meta will persist, making Endwalker 2.0 gameplay.

And it's just my personal opinion, but I found the CGI trailer absolutely mediocre, the music is certainly the most mediocre they've ever released, the introductory story patch of Dawntrail was really bad according to my tastes,
so while it doesn't mean much, it still sets the tone.

I'm cautiously optimistic to neutral. While some of the stuff we have seen so far is promising, the overall Job Design could be a make or break for me. As a former healer player that started in 4.05, I want to see some decent changes to the Healer jobs and Dark Knight. Praying that they'll be at least one healer job that I can play next expansion. As for right now, I'm just playing whatever job sticks this time (BRD is fun at least).

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Originally Posted by Turtledeluxe

but it's likely going to be a lot of busy work to get there vs. doing stuff that's surprising/fun.

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So most of 2.0?