Starlight event - Spoilers be aware

I will make this brief.
This is the first time I am making a thread. I do like this game a LOT and it is my favourite mmo.
Saying that...

The STORY in this event "rubbed" me the wrong way ... SPOILERS SPOILERS PLEASE STOP READING IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS.


The part where the father has to go find "herb/remedy" for his son.
This whole game i have been doing random NPCs "random" quests.. trivial things the most part.. but for me reading the story .. I would be glad.. I would be Joyfull and Honoured to get the herbs myself (or with the father) as the Warrior of Light so this father could spend Christmas with his son... This for me should be the ultimate goal on this quest line...
I am the Warrior of light, the best, grandest warrior in All Eorzea.. let me do this so YOU the FATHER can spend CHRISTMAS with your son.

This quest for me.. gives the "idea" that this situation can be solved with a "present" where... for me.. again my personal opinion.. the presence of his father was THE BEST PRESENT.
Im sorry SE.. but for me this quest chain is not "Christmas".. for me this "occasion" is not about presents.. and what they represent.. but about FAMILY.

I just feel this quest chain should have been done differently.. and for me does not represent what "Christmas" is about.
I understand if you think differently .. again is just an opinion and how I felt during this quest chain.

(Please be aware this is just a personal opinion and Im not going into religion or politics here.. for me this season is about family and again just a personal opinion of how I felt about this event)

I feel exactly the same !

He didn't ask me to go and find the herbs. Ok, i guess not everyone know who i am. Asking someone you don't know to find something very important for your son is a norml thing.
But why the F... hell my char didn't introduce herself and say she can do it ? You go in a dungeon for goblin cheese, or you cross 10 time an island for some wine but you can't help and go pick some herbs ?

On the one hand I can understand that we're not going to find the herbs - after all we're supposed to be a pretty busy hero. I actually believe that the real problem lies more within the "main story" here: We're this godslaying, godlike creature and we're used to handle everything on our own, so things like this are sticking out.

It has always been some sort of a problem for me - remember that sidequest (around level 58ish) where you're in the slums in Ishgard and you meet that little girl that wants to go into sea of clouds to start a better life but actually starves/freezes to death before she can make it and we just take her belongings? While I was doing that quest I carried about 5 million gil with me, so... why cant I just give her some?!

I felt the same way. Before he handed me the gift I had assumed that I would be off to get the herbs when he mentioned it.

I share the same sentiment that Christmas is about family, however I disagree with your point of view.

I too had the same reaction when the herb part came. I too thought to myself "hey I could go get those and he can spend his xmas with his son" but the more i read, the more I understood how they have managed to, in fact, make it about the family, even if the dad broke his promise to his child.

Let me try to sihft your perspective on the subject, since you seem to be more focused on the child's perspective than the father's.

As someone who works in healthcare i can garatee you hell will freeze over before a parent will sit idly while their children suffer from illness. Now imagine you're the father and your child is sick. This business opportunity appears where you can get the medicine for your child and you happen to be a merchant. Basically the one skill you have is what may save your child. Are you going to let this random Joe who just popped up do it for you? Not in a million years. People are not rational when their loved ones are ill. It takes a whole lot of stomach to trust a bunch of strangers with your loved one's life.

I should also point out that like you said you are the WARRIOR of light. What you do is fighting, not haggling. That's what Alphinaud is there for. He does the talking, you do the bottom kicking.
The quest seemed to have implied it was a business opportunity. The warrior of light is both kind and strong and neither of those atributes are useful when it comes to business. Unfortunatly in the business world, kindness and honesty are severe handicaps. That is why all lalas are evil.

Final note: Children usually think of the now, while parents tend to think about the future.

Sorry for the long post. I hope I have shed some light on a different perspective regarding this whole situation.

Turn it around for a sec. You are the parent, and if you don't go on this journey for the herb that can cure your son, you won't have another opportunity for years. A stranger approaches you before you get on the boat and says that he'll go on this quest for you. Do you trust him to go, and not distract himself at every turn with sidequest upon sidequest, ultimately returning after several years of your son's prolonged ailing?

People tend to send us on sidequests that are either (a) so trivial that they're too lazy/busy to perform the tasks themselves or (b) so near impossible that they don't even expect you to live to return. For the truly important things, they do the things themselves (even if perhaps they almost die in the process, and then decide they're near impossible and they should involve an adventurer).

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Originally Posted by Jib

The STORY in this event "rubbed" me the wrong way ... SPOILERS SPOILERS PLEASE STOP READING IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS.


The part where the father has to go find "herb/remedy" for his son.
This whole game i have been doing random NPCs "random" quests.. trivial things the most part.. but for me reading the story .. I would be glad.. I would be Joyfull and Honoured to get the herbs MYSELF as the Warrior of Light so this father could spend Christmas with his son... This for me should be the ultimate goal on this quest line...
I am the Warrior of light, the best, grandest warrior in All Eorzea.. let me do this so YOU the FATHER can spend CHRISTMAS with your son.

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...How do you propose to get to Radz-at-Han? Which is the Near East, which if memory servers me well, is near or "under" Garlean rule (used loosely since they have a bargain with Garlemald and aren't actually under rule)? I mean, I'd want to get it too, but the remedy is a rare herb in this place we cannot reach.

ALT: Yo, Roweeeeeeeeena! How many bear asses do I need to get you to make this a thing?

I completely understand the fathers behaviour dont get me wrong... but then he sends a "gift" and the rebel child accepts it and all is well !!! ...

Im sorry, I do understand your points of view dont get me wrong .. but as a player.. being the Warrior of light.. I mean i have defeated all the primals..., Sephirot, Nidhogg, Sophia... (you name it here).. all Eorzea knows who I am .. I pursue this questline and then I let this father go by himself fetch this remedy. Im not saying he couldnt go.. why dont I offer help and GO WITH HIM though? .. we get it together.. come back and then they both can be together...

But no SE finds it ok that a present and the knowledge of what the situation is can "compensate" for it..

Again just a personal opinion.. and I do appreciate and acknowledge your comments.. but for me its a poorly done questline regarding the "MESSAGE" it delivers... considering it is CHRISTMAS EVENT QUESTLINE

Because it's a journey of several months' time, and in the interim you have Primals, the Warring Triad, and the Garlean empire looming on the horizon?

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Originally Posted by Rongway

Turn it around for a sec. You are the parent, and if you don't go on this journey for the herb that can cure your son, you won't have another opportunity for years. A stranger approaches you before you get on the boat and says that he'll go on this quest for you. Do you trust People tend to send us on sidequests that are either (a) so trivial that they're too lazy/busy to perform the tasks themselves or (b) so near impossible that they don't even expect you to live to return. For the truly important things, they do the things themselves (even if perhaps they almost die in the process, and then decide they're near impossible and they should involve an adventurer).

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We could go with him .. Ok i fully understand that as a father I would do the EVERYTHING in my power to get what my son needs.. and that would include taking the BEST WARRIOR IN EORZEA.. the WARRIOR OF LIGHT.. with me to get this herb/medicin to my son.

instead he sends a gift.. an explanation .. and all is well ... For me it is poorly done and sends the wrong message.

I don't see the problem. The father was getting something to cure his son and this specific herb took years to find and he left a gift showing that he cares. Seems pretty fine to me. If I was the father I wouldn't miss this opportunity to cure my son.

Eorzea isn't a pleasant place. Not everything works out perfectly - nor should it if we want the setting to remain in-depth and intriguing. The Warrior of Light is powerful, yes - but he cannot solve every single problem that he comes across and neither does he have the time to rush off abroad to help a lone child recover from an illness. He did his part to lift the kid's spirits - which is more than enough. I'm baffled by the talk of the quest sending the wrong message. Fictional settings, characters and situations do not need to be 'safe spacey' and be dictated by feel good stuff at every turn. That aside I think you're just expecting way too much from what is a temporary throwaway quest chain for a seasonal event. We didn't even get a full set of glamour gear this time around.

I really appreciate all your comments. Im not here to "win" a thread. Really want to know what your opinions are. Thanks for them. If anything it is feedback that SE can have in terms of story plots for future events. Thks

I was actually really cynical at this part. I thought he was bullsh*tting us and going to abandon his boy. I mean, he's Ul'dahn AND a merchant. It's not out of the realm of possibility that his boy was holding him back and didn't want to care for him. There's that dad in the Gold Saucer who makes his boy work the silver mines to repay HIS debt.

Happily I was wrong and he really is trying to find the herb and not abandoning his son.

I thought the same but figured the trip is a long one so it isn't feasible to send 2 people for no reason.

Also it seems to be implied that in Eorzea news travel mostly in the form of word of mouth. I would assume people would not quite know about the primal threat other than the leaders (the whole "lets not create panic" situation) and if they know of your exploits it should be more along of the lines of "there is this person who is really strong", but no one really knows what you look like. Also it's part of the WoL's humility thing to not go shouting at the 7 winds that he is the WoL. You should be aware that it's exactly because of this word-of-mouth thing that a guy pretends to be part of a certain famous group when he fact he isn't.

Explaining the sitution to the child made him realize that he is sacrificing one starlight celebration to possibly have many more together, where he is no longer ill and can enjoy it properly without having his father worry about it (children do hate when their illness make their parents worry all the time. They feel like a burden because of that).

This was probably the most realistic thing they ever wrote. We can't solve every problem (people already wrote off the WOL as being an invincible boring hero because they never lose), but how we deal with it is the bigger picture.

Realistically this wasn't a problem with a magic fix. He wasn't just getting the herb. He was securing a reliable source. Are we, the WoL, going to go on a sea voyage that takes a couple of months repeatedly to secure one herb? Or are we supposed to be acting as the Merchant's buyer, something the WoL isn't really experienced in.

It wasn't the gift that made the difference to the boy. It was the knowledge that his dad was making this trip for him. He felt abandoned before and the knowledge of why his father was making the trip reassured him that his father cared for him.

The WoL for all their power cant save everyone themselves. However they can inspire and enable. That is what we do in the Dragonsong war. We create the opportunity for peace but it is the will of the dragon and the people of Ishgard themselves and their efforts that are what truly end the war. The WoL might fight gods but they aren't a god themselves.

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Originally Posted by Jib

I just feel this quest chain should have been done differently.. and for me does not represent what "Christmas" is about.

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It's not Christmas. It's the Starlight Celebration. It's a different holiday.

The WoL can not go to Radz-at-Han, where the herbs are supposed to be, we don't even know what it takes to get there, like permissions, resources... And even if we could go pick these herbs, the father can't traverse the lifestream to go back to Ul'dah like we do, so what is he supposed to do? Give up on the herbs just to see his son 2 days late after the starlight?


It may not be the perfect happy ending, but it's realistic and logical.

The way I see it: A Father has used his business and connections to find said herb, goes to get it for fear it could be years before he has another chance, doesn't risk leaving it in the hands of another; who to him is a stranger.

Makes sense to me.

First page, all I am seeing is people missing a very important fact about daddy getting herbs. THEY ARE FAR AWAY IN THAVNAIR. This isn't an NPC doing his own fetch quest, the boy's dad is going on an epic journey of his own to save the kid. Small details matter, folks.

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Originally Posted by Jib

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Sorry I'm going to have to greatly disagree here. I understand what you are saying, but you are saying it in a manner that I find personally and completely wrong.

For one like KingCanadane pointed out, this is not Christmas, this is the Starlight Celebration inside of Eorzea, not outside in "Earth". This is not only a completely different world, but not even the same holiday (though it shows very strong parallels obviously.)

The present in question you are quipping about... is in my opinion a good thing. I see you understand that a parent would go to the ends of earth, hell, or even heaven to save their child and that is what this father is trying to do. And lo-and-behold his actual profession and skills are actually allowing him to possibly find a long time if not full out cure for his son!

Yes it would be HEART-wrenching to leave my own child especially during the holidays, but if it meant the chance to save his life?! Of course I'm going to risk hurting his feelings and even my own feelings to make sure I get even more holidays with him in the future! I'd do anything it took to make sure he was safe, and to me?

That is a very moving and wonderful holiday story and it touched my heart and it does feel quite the realistic story as some have said in here. It's nice to see that some people out there can take care of themselves and don't always need to rely on the Warrior of Light.

The thing is we're talking about a completely different situation in this quest. Usually our fetch quests send us around the main land, the father is going to a completely different place. To put it into perspective. Imagine living on an island in Japan, people ask you to run errands on that island and you happily do it, then one day you find this man going to find herbs to save his son, these herbs only grow in South America. That would be a HUGE ask, even for us to travel all the way across the world to get the herbs that he's heard RUMOURS are there.

I absolutely loved this quest :)
One thing I would note to the OP is that its available at level 15, so you're not the primal killing demigod and "grandest warrior in All Eorzea" at that stage of the game.

His father will be back on Christmas day with the herbs.

Thanks for your input i really appreciate it.

I guess after doing so many "pointless fetch" quests on this occasion it left me with a bittersweet taste the way they handled the whole story.
I understand your arguments and most of them do make sense.

In a way it is good that a questline provokes different reactions and thoughts in different ppl. At the end it is what a lot of us look for in a rpg, different compelling stories that we can interact with.

Again thks for the inputs and happy holidays :)

I agree, when that part happened I assumed I would be the one to get the herbs.
Really weird that we didnt do that as the WoL.

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Originally Posted by Kling-Klang

I agree, when that part happened I assumed I would be the one to get the herbs.
Really weird that we didnt do that as the WoL.

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Why would the Warrior of Light travel all the way to Radz-At-Han, somewhere they've yet to visit for themselves and cannot access easily, for the sake of a lone child they met for a very short period of time? Especially considering that the Warrior of Light has far more important issues to deal with such as PTSD and being available to show up if a new threat emerges to threaten Eorzea. The Warrior of Light isn't there to help every single person they happen to come across. Even when they do help minor NPC's out they don't stick around to continue solving every last little problem that they have.

I thought it was a nice story honestly. The WoL can't personally solve everyone's problems.
In this story a father made a heart wrenching decision to do what was best for his son and the son learned how much he really meant to his father by the sacrifices he was willing to make.

The only real problem I see is the father didn't make the purpose of his trip clear in the letter he sent to his son.

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Originally Posted by Kling-Klang

I agree, when that part happened I assumed I would be the one to get the herbs.
Really weird that we didnt do that as the WoL.

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And how does the WOL know where to go exactly? Do they know how to get there? Is it going to be a long trip? Are they going to run into other problems on the way to a land that the Empire could be in?

We can easily travel from Uldah to Limsa but cant get some herbs for a guy, weird.

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Originally Posted by Kling-Klang

We can easily travel from Uldah to Limsa but cant get some herbs for a guy, weird.

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Again, it's a matter of scale, ul'dah to Limsa is not far. That would be like travelling from Chicago to New York, 2hour drive or an hour plane ride. Travelling to radz-at-han, a completely different continent, by boat, would be like taking a boat from America to Europe, probably an 8 day or more trip. To follow a lead that may or may not end in us finding the herb.

I enjoyed this year's event story for two reasons. First, a lot of people can relate to this kind of story. Sometimes parents cannot be there for a special event (birthdays, holidays, sports, etc) no matter how much they want. My mother is a nurse and there were plenty of times she had to make that decision. It doesn't mean her children were less important, it was her turn to take care of the sick and dying. Also, if she shirked those duties and got fired then she couldn't help provide. I'm sure there are parents on these forums that have had to make similar decisions. :)

Second, I liked that it was different than the traditional Hallmark stories we always see. The story was new, something that doesn't get done often. We had a happy ending, but it wasn't the usual happy ending. We get to see the Reuverre (I probably butchered that) mature a bit and understand how the world works. He realizes his dad loves him and what he does isn't always for self gain. :)

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Originally Posted by Kling-Klang

We can easily travel from Uldah to Limsa but cant get some herbs for a guy, weird.

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Because we are not attuned to an aetheryte over there. Duh.

Not every story has a fairy tale ending.

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Originally Posted by Jib

The part where the father has to go find "herb/remedy" for his son.
This whole game i have been doing random NPCs "random" quests.. trivial things the most part.. but for me reading the story .. I would be glad.. I would be Joyfull and Honoured to get the herbs myself (or with the father) as the Warrior of Light so this father could spend Christmas with his son... This for me should be the ultimate goal on this quest line...
I am the Warrior of light, the best, grandest warrior in All Eorzea.. let me do this so YOU the FATHER can spend CHRISTMAS with your son.

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I will admit that I thought that's where the quest was headed when initially speaking with Reauverre's father, but I wasn't upset with the outcome. I think the heartwarming aspect of the story was Reauverre changing his attitude despite not getting his wish for the holiday. Knowing his father loved him and wanted him, and that they would be together in the future was enough for Reauverre and a much better a gift than spending only the holiday with his father.

Life isn't perfect. What you do to handle a less than perfect situation is really what affects how happy or "blessed" you are. Reauverre turned it around with a fighting spirit, and we had a hand in that change of heart, as Warriors of [Star]Light. I liked the story. :)

I wasn't disappointed, but rather shocked that for once I wasn't being sent on an errand or quest for someone who for some reason, can't do it on their own. Even as the father explained, I kept thinking, "Don't you know who I am? I'm Debbie-do-anything. I will find your herb so you can be with your son for Starlight." I felt it was a welcome change that most would appreciate.

I enjoy that many of these event quests don't use the fact that you are the WoL as a means of obligation. Most don't even acknowledge it, and you actually feel just like any of Eorzea's citizens lending a helpful hand in any way you can. It was very relatable, and I for one knows how it feels to want a parent present for the holidays to only be met by disappointment, so this struck a few strings for me.

Ultimately, the boy had his spirits lifted and stopped believing his father is a money-grubbing deadbeat. Hopefully the lad doesn't slip back into depression the moment he sees another father-son interaction.

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Originally Posted by Kling-Klang

We can easily travel from Uldah to Limsa but cant get some herbs for a guy, weird.

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It's not just about getting an herb (which is rare, but as I recall isn't specifically mentioned as only being available in the distant country). The father is brokering a business deal that he can only obtain from the place in question to have a reliable and constant source of the needed herb...he's absolutely better suited to that than we are, and it's a limited window of opportunity for him as well.

Our skillset? Fighting gods and dragons and inspiring others. That last one is what we can best provide for the son.