The hell were they thinking when doing "Newfound adventure" back on 6.1???

With now Dawntrail on the horizon and seeing more in retrospective, why, just why pull out all the newfound adventure thing so soon when it would've been the literal PERFECT setup for Dawntrail?

The premise was simple, you've saved the world and now you're free to do whatever you want, go to whatever place you wish and so on we go to New World on a well deserved vacations... but after said talk Tataru gives us we're thrown onto the Golbez/void arc

Put anything, literally anything as an excuse for us to meet Estinien with his map and remove this, and instead move this literal moment to the end of this expansion, because everything just indicates it was made as a great epilogue to DT
Tataru's talk, a new glam indicating traveling without a defined job, on the patch image all previous jobs Derplander has had with a big smile just looking foward and being free on this time HIS next adventure

Please tell me i'm not the only one who thinks this because i just think it's a shame such perfect and ideal setup was wasted this back on 6.1

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Originally Posted by WantlessYoYo

With now Dawntrail on the horizon and seeing more in retrospective, why, just why pull out all the newfound adventure thing so soon when it would've been the literal PERFECT setup for Dawntrail?

The premise was simple, you've saved the world and now you're free to do whatever you want, go to whatever place you wish and so on we go to New World on a well deserved vacations... but after said talk Tataru gives us we're thrown onto the Golbez/void arc

Put anything, literally anything as an excuse for us to meet Estinien with his map and remove this, and instead move this literal moment to the end of this expansion, because everything just indicates it was made as a great epilogue to DT
Tataru's talk, a new glam indicating traveling without a defined job, on the patch image all previous jobs Derplander has had with a big smile just looking foward and being free on this time HIS next adventure

Please tell me i'm not the only one who thinks this because i just think it's a shame such perfect and ideal setup was wasted this back on 6.1

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IMO, the main story or even the entire expansion should've focused on resolving the Zodiark/Hydealyn arc, it just felt really rushed. Then 7.0 could've explored more about dynamis and all the jazz to give it time to breath a bit and be more digestible. But none of it matters since all of these is to get the catgirl and the old pimp back to the first to see their respective figureheads.

Their definition of "newfound adventure" was basically the same adventure but with a not so new coat of paint. I'm keeping my expectations low for Dawntrail, but I really do want it to be good.

They were thinking "Why the hell are the people from 2.0-4.5 still here? Go away, your purpose is long over and your money is no good."

Probably something along the lines of "damn the scions are so marketable and graha tia is a good character"

They were always planning to do the Golbez arc after 6.0 -- you can tell from all the FFIV references, going to the moon, etc.

"Newfound Adventure" means just that -- the start of something new, after the whole Hydaelyn/Zodiark saga has concluded.

As for relaxing and going on "vacation," well they sort of gave us that vibe with Island Sanctuary. The patch MSQ started off with a lighthearted premise, going hunting for a fabled island of treasures. This is a fantasy MMORPG with a focus on combat and story, they can't literally have the main protagonist lounge around on a beach doing nothing. That's not a game.

Also, why has everyone convinced themselves that Dawntrail is all about the WoL going on a beach vacation, like we aren't going to have any real reason for going there? This seems like a huge assumption, based on one very brief teaser trailer. We're even seen engaged in combat for a bit in that trailer, what kind of "vacation" is that?? The expansion story could start out calm and light, but within the first half hour or so things are going to go screwy and we'll wind up finding out about something sinister that needs fighting.

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Originally Posted by Fyrebrand

They were always planning to do the Golbez arc after 6.0 -- you can tell from all the FFIV references, going to the moon, etc.

"Newfound Adventure" means just that -- the start of something new, after the whole Hydaelyn/Zodiark saga has concluded.

As for relaxing and going on "vacation," well they sort of gave us that vibe with Island Sanctuary. The patch MSQ started off with a lighthearted premise, going hunting for a fabled island of treasures. This is a fantasy MMORPG with a focus on combat and story, they can't literally have the main protagonist lounge around on a beach doing nothing. That's not a game.

Also, why has everyone convinced themselves that Dawntrail is all about the WoL going on a beach vacation, like we aren't going to have any real reason for going there? This seems like a huge assumption, based on one very brief teaser trailer. We're even seen engaged in combat for a bit in that trailer, what kind of "vacation" is that?? The expansion story could start out calm and light, but within the first half hour or so things are going to go screwy and we'll wind up finding out about something sinister that needs fighting.

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I thought it was YoshiP himself that came out and has explicitly said, in interviews, that this is kinda a beach vacation? I remember seeing a thread and someone linked the interviews. Unless he's just bsing to throw off the vibe...

They got overeager to start the next thing and wanted a big separation between 6.0 and the story that follows, but all they had was a filler arc that retreads the same ground and doesn't feel like a new or different story.

Because Final Fantasy 4.

Personally I really enjoy seeing a lot of old elements from 4 in the game. Should it been a side story trial series? Maybe, but what would they put for the post MSQ?

If anyone reads the developer's blogs; they are taking a lot of time and energy focusing on the graphic's update. Perhaps that is why post Endwalker is the way it is currently. Its a good and bad thing, and I understand why some might be annoyed with it.

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Originally Posted by ChrysOCE

I thought it was YoshiP himself that came out and has explicitly said, in interviews, that this is kinda a beach vacation? I remember seeing a thread and someone linked the interviews. Unless he's just bsing to throw off the vibe...

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Hmm, well perhaps he did and I forgot about it. But for sake of argument, let's assume he did say it. That's probably meant as the "premise" going into the expansion, but there's no way the whole expansion's story is just that. Just like how the final quest of ARR "The Parting Glass" is that we're going to a fun dinner party. I don't think we really want Yoshi-P telling us TOO much, do we?

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Originally Posted by Fyrebrand

Hmm, well perhaps he did and I forgot about it. But for sake of argument, let's assume he did say it. That's probably meant as the "premise" going into the expansion, but there's no way the whole expansion's story is just that. Just like how the final quest of ARR "The Parting Glass" is that we're going to a fun dinner party. I don't think we really want Yoshi-P telling us TOO much, do we?

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There's multiple search returns with the common theme being: During FanFest, Naoki Yoshida described Dawntrail as a “summer vacation” for players during the FanFest keynote.

Oh I agree, but that is the pitch we seem to be getting (so far).

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Originally Posted by Gember

If anyone reads the developer's blogs; they are taking a lot of time and energy focusing on the graphic's update..

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Ahhh, good ol' Toriyama Era Square Enix, focusing the resources on making everything look like a movie instead of gameplay.
I'm sure those people who don't own a gaming PC will enjoy the experience of not being to play this anymore.

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Originally Posted by WantlessYoYo

With now Dawntrail on the horizon and seeing more in retrospective, why, just why pull out all the newfound adventure thing so soon when it would've been the literal PERFECT setup for Dawntrail?

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I agree. I suppose all it shows is that even when the Warrior of Light tries to go on a new adventure, they can't help but beat up world-ending bosses for target practice.

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Originally Posted by WantlessYoYo

With now Dawntrail on the horizon and seeing more in retrospective, why, just why pull out all the newfound adventure thing so soon when it would've been the literal PERFECT setup for Dawntrail?

The premise was simple, you've saved the world and now you're free to do whatever you want, go to whatever place you wish and so on we go to New World on a well deserved vacations... but after said talk Tataru gives us we're thrown onto the Golbez/void arc

Put anything, literally anything as an excuse for us to meet Estinien with his map and remove this, and instead move this literal moment to the end of this expansion, because everything just indicates it was made as a great epilogue to DT
Tataru's talk, a new glam indicating traveling without a defined job, on the patch image all previous jobs Derplander has had with a big smile just looking foward and being free on this time HIS next adventure

Please tell me i'm not the only one who thinks this because i just think it's a shame such perfect and ideal setup was wasted this back on 6.1

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im pretty sure they could easily set up the 6.55 story into 7.0, 6.1 was just mwant to be "hey guys this game isnt dead"

To me, this whole post-patch EW story has just been very much a who cares? Non of it feels like it matters. We just saved the whole universe, to then go: oh, by the way, some dude in the void wants to destroy the world or whatever. It just feels very much like they were stuck with an idea of what to do and decided, hey lets go with a world ending threat.... again!

Scatterbrained thoughts are I feel like we should have been dealing more with the ramifications and loss and fear and rebuilding. There should have been lingering effects, from the stopping the Final Day, with the underlying idea of what was said, about how little we knew about and had explored of the world. That would be the set up to go visit the other places.

This whole Golbez thing could have been made into an expansion, later, to explore and recover the Thirteenth shard, somehow, instead of being shoehorned into post-patch and treated like oh no! the lady of wind! oh, she dead... whose next?

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Originally Posted by Fyrebrand

Also, why has everyone convinced themselves that Dawntrail is all about the WoL going on a beach vacation, like we aren't going to have any real reason for going there? This seems like a huge assumption, based on one very brief teaser trailer. We're even seen engaged in combat for a bit in that trailer, what kind of "vacation" is that?? The expansion story could start out calm and light, but within the first half hour or so things are going to go screwy and we'll wind up finding out about something sinister that needs fighting.

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This. One joke about it being a summer beach holiday doesn't undo everything else we were shown in the trailer and keynote.

We're specifically there for an adventure that will be taking us to a lot of different places with inevitable danger and stuff. Of course we're going to take a moment to do touristy beach things upon arriving in a tropical coastal town, but that isn't going to be the entire plot and we've already been told as much, and seen it in the trailer.

It's not going to be a whole expansion of lazing on the beach and having really intense volleyball competitions or something.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

This. One joke about it being a summer beach holiday doesn't undo everything else we were shown in the trailer and keynote.

We're specifically there for an adventure that will be taking us to a lot of different places with inevitable danger and stuff. Of course we're going to take a moment to do touristy beach things upon arriving in a tropical coastal town, but that isn't going to be the entire plot and we've already been told as much, and seen it in the trailer.

It's not going to be a whole expansion of lazing on the beach and having really intense volleyball competitions or something.

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To be fair though, that's not the fault of the people who think that. That's on Yoshida for putting that idea out there. He could have been like, hey this is going to be initially a low key thing, but what mysteries are hiding under the surface. It's him that started this whole vacation thing.

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Originally Posted by ChrysOCE

To be fair though, that's not the fault of the people who think that. That's on Yoshida for putting that idea out there. He could have been like, hey this is going to be initially a low key thing, but what mysteries are hiding under the surface. It's him that started this whole vacation thing.

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It was one probably light-hearted statement amid a whole presentation of what we would actually be doing and seeing there. People for some reason have seized on it as if he walked on stage, said "we're off to the beach!" and showed nothing but shots of the Scions doing tourist stuff.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

It was one probably light-hearted statement amid a whole presentation of what we would actually be doing and seeing there. People for some reason have seized on it as if he walked on stage, said "we're off to the beach!" and showed nothing but shots of the Scions doing tourist stuff.

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Because:
https://www.polygon.com/23811679/fin...ease-date-ff14 Quote attributed to Yoshida: Yoshida said, “you did just save not only all of Hydaelyn, but kind of the whole universe, so we thought we’d give you a little break”
https://www.eurogamer.net/final-fant...ummer-vacation Quote attributed to Yoshida: Indeed, Yoshida described it as "the very best summer vacation" for Warriors of Light and quite the change from Endwalker.
And that's just two links.
I get it, I agree. But Yoshida himself is out there talking about vacations and breaks. This isn't stuff that people just made up, based on a single throwaway comment. I don't think it's fair to be going: why is everyone reacting like this or making this up? It's not like Yoshida is some kind of novice developer. He knows what message he is putting out there.

I'm fairly sure there was mention of political intrigue over a rite of succession in the slides as well. Make what you will of that.

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Originally Posted by WantlessYoYo

With now Dawntrail on the horizon and seeing more in retrospective, why, just why pull out all the newfound adventure thing so soon when it would've been the literal PERFECT setup for Dawntrail?

The premise was simple, you've saved the world and now you're free to do whatever you want, go to whatever place you wish and so on we go to New World on a well deserved vacations... but after said talk Tataru gives us we're thrown onto the Golbez/void arc

Put anything, literally anything as an excuse for us to meet Estinien with his map and remove this, and instead move this literal moment to the end of this expansion, because everything just indicates it was made as a great epilogue to DT
Tataru's talk, a new glam indicating traveling without a defined job, on the patch image all previous jobs Derplander has had with a big smile just looking foward and being free on this time HIS next adventure

Please tell me i'm not the only one who thinks this because i just think it's a shame such perfect and ideal setup was wasted this back on 6.1

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Plus the overall storybeats of 6.1 dungeon is just 4.1 all over again with a repeat of Skalla. (Go on an adventure with a friend to find a lost stash of treasure, only to end up using the treasure for others).

I think alot were expecting us to finally be going back to beng adventurers again, just for the second half of the patch to rail-road us onto another world saving quest.

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Originally Posted by ChrysOCE

To me, this whole post-patch EW story has just been very much a who cares? Non of it feels like it matters. We just saved the whole universe, to then go: oh, by the way, some dude in the void wants to destroy the world or whatever. It just feels very much like they were stuck with an idea of what to do and decided, hey lets go with a world ending threat.... again!

Scatterbrained thoughts are I feel like we should have been dealing more with the ramifications and loss and fear and rebuilding. There should have been lingering effects, from the stopping the Final Day, with the underlying idea of what was said, about how little we knew about and had explored of the world. That would be the set up to go visit the other places.

This whole Golbez thing could have been made into an expansion, later, to explore and recover the Thirteenth shard, somehow, instead of being shoehorned into post-patch and treated like oh no! the lady of wind! oh, she dead... whose next?

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It's very weird, to the point I'm confused why it isn't talked about more - even criticism regarding 6.1 onwards is mainly to do with the quality of the void quests. If they want to rid themselves of the entire arc they've worked on for a decade that brought them immense popularity with a perplexing sense of speed and dismissal, fine, but I don't understand not even devoting some of post-6.0 to looking at any after-effects of what was a world-altering affair. Every expansion that came before made a clear point of doing so, and under much less impactful circumstances. And in exchange for... this. Some strange, lacklustre IV rip-off they couldn't even dredge some original lore or the Mhach raids for.

Really, really weird. I feel like any other company would have wanted to take advantage of the explosion of interest for as long as they could, but it's like they couldn't wait for it to be over.

6.1 and 6.2 atleast kinda made sense with where they were going, they seamlessly directed you into the alliance raids/trials which has been an issue in previous expansions.
Say what you want about crystal tower but it would be less common if Void ark/Ivalice were better signposted for new players.

But then near the end of 6.2 they veered off by keeping zero as the focus, stretching the very simple trial storyline over the duration of MSQ.

This time from 6.3-6.5 could have been used to introduce new characters, places and ideas to lead into the Dawntrail plot.
As it stands now everything both said and implied about Dawntrails plot seems counter to what most players want and if their willing to throw the patch MSQ under the bus by handing it off to junior writers who says they won't half-ass the expansion too?

lets be real, the newfound adventurer arc was where we left off the MSQ..
its just the trial series and its self contained arc were for some reason added as the MSQ plot while the devs mysteriously worked on ff16 instead.. *weird*

I just have the impression that whole Archfiend arc was supposed to be the self contained trial questline like the four lords, warring triad, the weapons etc. but they decided to cut corners (yet again) and relegated it to MSQ. I can't really think of another explanation.

Still, since we got the DT trailer, we know that our "new" adventure is just the same recycled style they've been doing lately: same old characters, same old beast tribes, same old fetch quests and content formula.

Maybe I've just been playing this game for too long now but it really hurts to see this game in such a poor, stale, bare-bones maintenance-mode state

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Originally Posted by Shikiseki

I just have the impression that whole Archfiend arc was supposed to be the self contained trial questline like the four lords, warring triad, the weapons etc. but they decided to cut corners (yet again) and relegated it to MSQ. I can't really think of another explanation.

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If they changed it, they changed it very early on, because the story as it stands relies on the dungeons and all five trials to pull it all together.

It's possible that they did it to cut corners, but it's also possible that they started out conceiving of it as a trial questline before deciding they couldn't do it justice in that "three trials, one solo duty" format or even the Four Lords approach of adding in a dungeon or two but keeping the same trial structure. If that happened and they had no other solid plans for what to do with MSQ between the end of one major story arc and the beginning of the new one, then it does make sense to make use of the MSQ story channel with its more generous amount of duties.

This arc was a test to see how the community reacts to small, self contained arcs and not a grand arc similar to what we finished. From what I have seen, most want a large multi-expansion story with smaller arcs within.

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Originally Posted by Hyperia

This arc was a test to see how the community reacts to small, self contained arcs and not a grand arc similar to what we finished. From what I have seen, most want a large multi-expansion story with smaller arcs within.

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I'm not sure that is the case, since a lot of this MSQ relies on things we have learned in previous arcs, and has us visiting characters from previous arcs. It was not all that self contained.

Bold of you to assume they actually knew what they were going to do for Dawntrail back in 6.1.

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Originally Posted by Hyperia

This arc was a test to see how the community reacts to small, self contained arcs and not a grand arc similar to what we finished. From what I have seen, most want a large multi-expansion story with smaller arcs within.

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I wouldn't mind if they did self contained stories for each future expansion similar to ff11 instead of another multi expansion arc.

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Originally Posted by Hyperia

This arc was a test to see how the community reacts to small, self contained arcs and not a grand arc similar to what we finished. From what I have seen, most want a large multi-expansion story with smaller arcs within.

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Actually its really most likely yet another impasse within the story team and the main dev team where they understood where the 6.X series was going to go but the trial series team really wanted their story to focus on the 4 Elemental Fiends because cool FFIV reference. And since the story was taking place within the 13th alongside whatever their intended version of the MSQ, what prolly happened was a compromise between the team in integrating the trial series and its msq at the same time.

This wasnt the first time, the FFXIV devs had conflicts with where they intended to do stories such as the lost Garlemald expansion that was supposed to be Shadowbringers. Of course this is all just speculation, but its the theory that makes the most sense to me considering how they develop both story and content. Their process tends to be an organized mess.

I don’t think people think it’s a literal beach vacation at least the whole time although will probably go to the beach.

It’s just that the story will be so mid it may as well be a beach vacation because at least that’s nice to look at.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

It was one probably light-hearted statement amid a whole presentation of what we would actually be doing and seeing there. People for some reason have seized on it as if he walked on stage, said "we're off to the beach!" and showed nothing but shots of the Scions doing tourist stuff.

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Except, he's had interviews after fanfest where he's said it is a vacation arc, the 6.5 MSQ has told us we need to take vacation three times, and he recently said they want to provide players with the "ultimate catharsis" after Endwalker finished the previous arc. By all accounts, 7.0 isn't going to be that serious and anyone expecting it to be are setting themselves up for a major disappointment when the narrative turns out to be super self contained with little to no stakes that linger afterwards. Will there be a villain and conflict? Always, he even said as much at fanfest that while it's a vacation story, its still an FFXIV expansion. Obviously though, with his catharsis and lowering the stakes comments, it's not going to be world ending, it's not going to even be high stakes. I suspect it'll be something relating to the Rite of Succession and some mustache twirling doof is going to pop up, screw up what's going on by trying to unearth/awaken an ancient evil to conquer Tural and we'll take that down near the end; probably in the city of gold.

That said, I find it sad that many are starting to discredit everything that's been said about Dawntrail's narrative; he's said a lot, is foolish and only this playerbase would willingly do so because they've convinced themselves that SE lies about the game all the time. I don't believe this is the case with your statement, to clarify, I'm just bothered by the sudden negativity and lack of trust they have for a dev team and director/producer who have an incredibly solid track record of not blowing smoke up our behinds.

Either way, its far more than one statement at fanfest and more like a dozen-plus across fanfest and various interviews afterwards. Its not a one-off statement in the slightest.

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Originally Posted by Atelier-Bagur

This wasnt the first time, the FFXIV devs had conflicts with where they intended to do stories such as the lost Garlemald expansion that was supposed to be Shadowbringers. Of course this is all just speculation, but its the theory that makes the most sense to me considering how they develop both story and content. Their process tends to be an organized mess.

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Correction: Garlemald expansion was supposed to be 6.0, not 5.0. After the success and critical acclaim of Shadowbringers, they pushed the ending of the story ahead by a full expansion.

It's because that's literally a 'new' adventure, or to label it better: sidequest. I think the branding is what misses the mark a little bit, because the storyline is no different from any other (raid, trial, alliance raid) sidequest with 'chapters' through patches.

I feel that could really be a Trial side storyline and instead of resolving the Hydaelyn x Zodiark at 6.0 breakpoint, they could have done it through the whole patch cycle. Even if they kept the same narrative premise they did for Endwalker, it would make a lot of sense to finish at the Moon with Zodiark, and 6.3 or 6.4 being the Endsinger herself. This way there would be a lot of room to make more of Garlemald plot (Having Anima being the actual trial 2) if we think there would be 2 extra zones to play with.

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Originally Posted by Nebelheim

I wouldn't mind if they did self contained stories for each future expansion similar to ff11 instead of another multi expansion arc.

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I wouldn't mind if I hadn't seen what the "self contained stories" look like with the 6.1-6.5 patches. If this is the future of the story then they quickly need to come up with something else to draw players in because the gameplay sure doesn't fill that purpose anymore.

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Originally Posted by Aniya_Estlihn

he even said as much at fanfest that while it's a vacation story, its still an FFXIV expansion.

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That right there is why I am not bothered by the "beach vacation" thing. It's still an FFXIV expansion – visiting interesting settings and dealing with local goings-on in each of those locations. I'm not at all in denial that the overarching plot will likely be lower stakes than the preceding expansions; I'm just not bothered by that prospect.

At the same time, the fact that it is an FFXIV expansion means that the plot is going to be something more complex and engaging than ten levels of "relax on the beach", which seems to be what people are picturing when they object to the base concept of the game as shown thus far.

As for your final paragraph, I've read it several times and I'm still not sure exactly who you're calling foolish or whether you're including me in "the playerbase" as if everyone who plays the game has the same take on things.

I actually had wondered the same thing since even 6.1.

What was the point of all that talk of throwing away titles and starting anew and whatnot if we were going to go headfirst into the Void within the span of two patches? I understand that ultimately it's damn near impossible for the WoL to "go back" to being a simple adventurer. After everything they've been through, and especially after Endwalker, you don't just go back to being that level 1 rando who walked into [starter city] unsure of wtf to do... That said, some manner of de-escalation of stakes before another rise is what I'd like to have seen. 6.1 was not enough. We started on what appeared to be an adventure on the more mundane side of things and then we practically rocketed into an interdimensional romp featuring FFIV.

Again, I get that that kind of adventure is bound to eventually come up after all we've been through... But I really would have rather something much more mundane for just a little while longer. I'm glad that we're seemingly getting some of that with Dawntrail, but yes, TC, the start of 6.1 felt rather jarring considering what followed.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

As for your final paragraph, I've read it several times and I'm still not sure exactly who you're calling foolish or whether you're including me in "the playerbase" as if everyone who plays the game has the same take on things.

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Generalized statement, not directed at you, no. My apologies. A bit of venting due to the mass amounts of negativity and naysaying or people suddenly acting like Yoshida is the devil incarnate because sometimes he misspeaks, things are lost in translation or get pushed back. A bit of a knee-jerk addition to my reply that wasn't really all that necessary, so again, my apologies. Not directed at you at all and more just a generalized "rebuke" of current prevailing trends among more vocal facets of the playerbase. Edit: I've added something akin to what I just said here to my previous post. Sorry for the confusion or implied aggression you might have felt from me, not my intent at all.

I do agree that the 'relax on the beach' vibe is a bit weird from people. Surely there will be instances where our character does relax, as they've implied it, but that's likely going to be reserved for moments of levity between each major story beat akin to how we had a massive dinner with the Scions in Endwalker.

I kind of wanted the scions to take a break, have us meet new people and have new character dynamics, and maybe meet them later to see what they were doing. But it seems it's headed to the same main cast. It makes me have this feeling of "wow, they really can't think of anything new can they", but idk sniffing all that copium rn and hoping they surprise me.