A lot has been said about the rather poor quality of Dawtrail's storyline. One part of this is of course the omniprescience of Wuk Lamat, and her indomitable ability to soak up screentime like a tank does damage. However one oft umentioned side effect of this that I feel like people don't specifically talk about is how uninteresting the Dawntrail traveling group is due not wholly, but in part of this.
The travelling party in Dawntrail lacks any sort of chemistry. I cannot for the life of me remember if Krile and Erenville even conversed with each other. Which I think is especially egriogous considering the events in Living Memory. The scions just kind of exist. Alphinaud or Alisaie don't have anything interesting to say to Wuk Lamat, who is trying to be a leader. Alphinaud bringing up the Crystal Braves incident to Wuk Lamat's blind naievty would have been gold froma writing standpoint but all he really does is soak up screentime from Krile.
Erenville mostly only really talks to us (mostly due to Shaaloani) which does somewhat fit his character, but the fact that none of our group tries to have a conversation with him is very sad. Perhaps Krile could have attempted to talk to him during Solution Nine, which he naturally closes off the conversation because he prefers to keep to himself, but after Cachuia gets turned off, he opens up in a very nice character building scene in an attempt to be more adventurous and carry on Cachuia's legacy in some way, and the two comfort each other regarding their recent experiences.
Graha gets a nice gondola scene with us, and while the execution of the Ice cream scene leaves something to be desired, it's been long implied that Krile and G'raha are good friends, due to Krile's use of calling G'raha Raha. It was nice seeing G'raha try to make it easy for Krile and her parents to talk to each other. I hope in future we get to see more of their dynamic, since it's clear that the intent is that these two know each other really well and I feel like we haven't really seen that much in the story. I feel like the WoL officially becoming a Student of Baldesion is such an easy and obvious thread to catapult us into future expansions I'm surprised it hasn't happened already.
Another way they could have made the party more interesting is if at any point there were some small squabbles or points of conflict that the party discuss, but this never happens.
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09-02-2024, 11:45 PMEmpyrDawntrail and it's lack of interesting party dynamics or npcs
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09-02-2024, 11:45 PMEmpyr
Another major part I feel like Dawntrail lacks that doesn't really get much attention is the background npcs of each zone. Most are simply unnamed but the zones lack really memorable characters to both flesh out the world. In shaaolani, we talk to someone who knows Erenville, but we spend so much little time there and said character basically does nothing but act as a springboard for exposition.
The only good npc is probably Erenville's mother Cachuia. She doesn't seem to be the best mother, and comes across as kind of insensitive to Erenville at times, which seems to have caused a very obvious strain on their relationship to each other. Even so, it's clear that they both do care deeply for one another and as a result, they feel a lot more real and alive than the rest of the cast. It's the only case where an non antagonistic force has some kind of conflict with a member of our group, thought the conflict is much more on the emotional side, which I feel like Dawntrail would have benefitted from more of, instead of Sphene's Kill everyone for aether plot.
Erenville briefly mentioning how he found the city of Gold, and then just walking away is probably one of the most memorable parts of the expansion to me.
Perhaps the only other memorable npc in the expansion is Wuk Evu. Alas he's nothing more than a stock gag character who. I only remember him because I found the joke unfunny and he shares the wuk part of Wuk Lamat's name, so it stands out. I think a character like this would be completely fine in the hildibrand quests and arguably would have a place there, but I hope no similar stock characters appear in the msq forward.
It's also really eaasy to remember Gurfurlur, but he's also a dungeon boss so he's kina cheating. In a good way though.
In comparison Shadowbringers had stellar side npcs like Runar, the Chais, Tesleen, Lyna, Beq Lugg, Feo Ul, Seto, the shade of Hythlodaeus, whose existence in the msq helped not only to flesh out the world of the first but also to propel and further develop the scions as characters, and is undoubtedly a big reason as why ShB s greatly beloved. (Obviously Ryne is a major npc and not a side npc so I'm not counting her here)
Endwalker also had some stellar npcs like Erenville (who promotion was unfortunately flubbed), Matsya, Nidhana, (Not sure where to count Vrtra concerning his involvement in the patch story), Dokkol Kankol, Jullus, the Elpis trio (Hythlodaeus is really just such a delight to be around) and Growingway (The only good loporrit). Even characters who people don't tend to like like Hermes and Meteion are extemely memorable due to their actions in the msq. Even the unnamed npcs in Garlemald who make a run for it leads to a very poignant Alphinaud and Alisaie scene.
Even Stormblood had some great npcs. We have Mango, Conrad, Sadu, Cirina, Magnai, Gyodo.
(This isn't really counting the arcadion npcs, as being fights their inherently more memorable, and so far the raid seems to have more engaging writing than the msq lmao)
My biggest hope 7.0 -7.3 patch story is that the npcs in Solution Nine and Tural get fleshed out. As a group, Oblivion seems prime to have some development with the promised tension brewing towards's Gulool Ja as Solution Nine's new king. I also hope some of them apeear in duty support, cause the fact that they don't for the Everkeep and 2nd trial was a big missed opportunity. -
09-03-2024, 12:33 AMCarin-EriIt could be that Oblivion could assist if Preservation reappear. At least I hope that'd be the case.Quote:
Originally Posted by Empyr
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09-03-2024, 01:20 AMMondschnee
I'm still not over the fact that Erenville was left wondering what happened to his home until he himself had to point that out. I was screaming at my screen and wished to at least be able to ask how he's doing but nothing. What's worse, his supposed childhood friend Wuk Lamat didn't seem to care much...
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09-03-2024, 03:54 AMDaraliiIf Preservation reappear, it'd likely be the MSQ steering towards a conflict with one or more of the remaining 2-4 red mask Ascians. Alexandria's advancement around electrope sounds like a page out of Emet's playbook, and with the shard being as imbalanced as it is, it could have been being primed for a Rejoining. That could also be where Arcadion's story goes if Wrath of Zeus in M4 was supposed to be a hint and not just a random reference to 11's Ixion or the item from 3 and 4.Quote:
Originally Posted by Carin-Eri
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09-03-2024, 04:48 PMAsari5she has to befriend sphene, thats much more important, obviously. her singular goal is to make new friends... not keeping the old onesQuote:
Originally Posted by Mondschnee