So I sat through DT...

And I can proudly state!

The story is fine for what it is. They showed us another continent in a way that was way more engaging than a wall of text. While predictable at times, I didn't find myself hating it. Wuk Lamat is literally just Female Naruto without as much of the childhood trauma, the latter I grew up watching. So, she really didn't rub me the wrong way. Especially when our party consists of different flavors of Sharlayan and an Ishgardian cool guy. I found her presence to be a welcoming addition alongside Erenville. She's endearing, determined, and overall a positive person.

This Xpac had a pretty smooth launch all things considered, and gave us a lot of cool upgrades. My many thanks to the team that put in hours of their lives to give us something I won't soon be forgetting. Have y'all really looked around at these zones? RP spots for DAYS!

I hope you have been enjoying the game as much as I have been. This has certainly brought a breath of life into the game for me, and I'm really curious to see what the post-story has in store for us after certain reveals at the end.

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Originally Posted by Brignadalee

The story is fine for what it is. They showed us another continent in a way that was way more engaging than a wall of text.

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That's about the highest praise I can give Dawntrail as well. It might have been the most boring exploration of a continent and its struggles than any other expansion, but at least I wasn't just reading boring text the entire time.

I'm glad to be done with the MSQ, because now I can focus on the things they did well! The dungeons and zones are definitely a step up. Sorry to be a bummer. I'm glad you enjoyed your time with it more than I did!

Indeed, the story is fine for what it is, and I didn't expect much considering that DT is a "fresh start" after a story thats been spanning for like 10 years.
Could it have been better? Probably.
But it could've been much worse.
At least it kept me entertained and that's all I'm asking for.

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Originally Posted by Evergrey

Indeed, the story is fine for what it is, and I didn't expect much considering that DT is a "fresh start" after a story thats been spanning for like 10 years.
Could it have been better? Probably.
But it could've been much worse.
At least it kept me entertained and that's all I'm asking for.

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this is what i need people to realize so bad. i also need them to realize wuk lamat's character development absolutely WILL NOT be finished by the end of launch MSQ. we have no idea how long this current storyline SERIES (each expansion is like a new book in a series in case y'all didn't realize that, and patches are like chapters) is going to last.

ShB and EW started exciting because they were starting off basically the climax of the Ascian storyline, and the end of EW closed that chapter.

gamers, please understand every expansion post ARR built off the previous one in continuing the Ascian story. please understand that now, at the culmination of EW patches, we have closed that book and are picking up an entirely new book series with Dawntrail. OF COURSE it's going to be slow and potentially boring. we have SO MUCH to learn and see, and you WILL NOT have learned and seen it all by the end of Dawntrail's LAUNCH MSQ. we have the entirety of 7.0 to see where it's going and see how Wuk develops.

people saying "weh character development piss poor" -- guys, she's literally just getting started. you haven't finished seeing it. stop it. she's barely even STARTed.

i swear so many people just hop on a bandwagon of hate as soon as someone else says it for them and just drag it on. get a mind of your own and consider that maybe that you're not supposed to be on the edge of your seat just yet because we're atm no where NEAR the climax of the current storyline. i don't even know if we've reached "rising action" yet.

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Originally Posted by boopadoop

this is what i need people to realize so bad. i also need them to realize wuk lamat's character development absolutely WILL NOT be finished by the end of launch MSQ. we have no idea how long this current storyline SERIES (each expansion is like a new book in a series in case y'all didn't realize that, and patches are like chapters) is going to last.

ShB and EW started exciting because they were starting off basically the climax of the Ascian storyline, and the end of EW closed that chapter.

gamers, please understand every expansion post ARR built off the previous one in continuing the Ascian story. please understand that now, at the culmination of EW patches, we have closed that book and are picking up an entirely new book series with Dawntrail. OF COURSE it's going to be slow and potentially boring. we have SO MUCH to learn and see, and you WILL NOT have learned and seen it all by the end of Dawntrail's LAUNCH MSQ. we have the entirety of 7.0 to see where it's going and see how Wuk develops.

people saying "weh character development piss poor" -- guys, she's literally just getting started. you haven't finished seeing it. stop it. she's barely even STARTed.

i swear so many people just hop on a bandwagon of hate as soon as someone else says it for them and just drag it on. get a mind of your own and consider that maybe that you're not supposed to be on the edge of your seat just yet because we're atm no where NEAR the climax of the current storyline. i don't even know if we've reached "rising action" yet.

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Terrible terrible argument, almost every final fantasy has been a stand alone story, it's a shitty weasel way out to say, o well yeah this title sucked but just believe the next one wont. If you cannot show any character development in 30 hours where that character has more than double the dialogue of the next nearest character, then you've done a piss poor job as a writer, I'm sorry.

Wuk has actually more dialogue than any other character in any MSQ and they failed to show any growth or likeability for alot fo people. If you like it, good for you, serious I'm glad you're happy and that someone still can play this game. However please understand the MSQ is extremely long, and there is pretty much zero actual gameplay just stand there and listen to Wuk talk and wuk do things, the way Wuk was written makes her marmite. For those that hate how she's written this is like being held hostage since you cannot just not do it. Sure you can skip most cutscenes but even then it's a slog. Unlike any other character in the history of the game they injected her into EVERYTHING in this expac, there's no plotlines that don't involve her, this isn't WoL on an adventure and part of it is Wuk's story, the advert should just have been wuks face cause that's all that happens. Again if you like Wuk good for you that's great I guess, but alot of us find her unbearable and after 30 hours of having to deal with someone you find absolutely intolerable, well you can surely understand why we're so damn angry.

Heyyyy totally didn't make this in efforts for some positivity. Leave arguing out of this, please. It's fine to not like a character and to disagree, but post something you appreciate from Dawntrailer. Got nothing? That's cool as well, have a nice day!

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Originally Posted by boopadoop

this is what i need people to realize so bad. i also need them to realize wuk lamat's character development absolutely WILL NOT be finished by the end of launch MSQ. we have no idea how long this current storyline SERIES (each expansion is like a new book in a series in case y'all didn't realize that, and patches are like chapters) is going to last.

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I hate to be that person - but if you have a central character who takes up a hefty majority of the narrative space of your main story and they dont become a developed character, then that is a major fault of the writing.

How many more cutscenes and quests need to revolve around the character to be fleshed out if they cant figure out how to write the character in the longest portion of the story? People crucify Lyse for less.

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Originally Posted by Brignadalee

Heyyyy totally didn't make this in efforts for some positivity. Leave arguing out of this, please. It's fine to not like a character and to disagree, but post something you appreciate from Dawntrailer. Got nothing? That's cool as well, have a nice day!

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You came to the wrong place to spread positivity, we forum dwellers live to complain and argue over everything.

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Originally Posted by genuine_stranger

argue over everything.

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I disagree, lets argue over it.

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Originally Posted by Brignadalee

Heyyyy totally didn't make this in efforts for some positivity. Leave arguing out of this, please. It's fine to not like a character and to disagree, but post something you appreciate from Dawntrailer. Got nothing? That's cool as well, have a nice day!

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unfortunately our forums will never be a nice place :')
always someone to be contrary or troll
don't worry too much about it, i'm sorry
idc to argue either. try to give another perspective and ppl don't wanna hear it

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Originally Posted by Malthir

Terrible terrible argument, almost every final fantasy has been a stand alone story, it's a shitty weasel way out to say, o well yeah this title sucked but just believe the next one wont. If you cannot show any character development in 30 hours where that character has more than double the dialogue of the next nearest character, then you've done a piss poor job as a writer, I'm sorry.

Wuk has actually more dialogue than any other character in any MSQ and they failed to show any growth or likeability for alot fo people. If you like it, good for you, serious I'm glad you're happy and that someone still can play this game. However please understand the MSQ is extremely long, and there is pretty much zero actual gameplay just stand there and listen to Wuk talk and wuk do things, the way Wuk was written makes her marmite. For those that hate how she's written this is like being held hostage since you cannot just not do it. Sure you can skip most cutscenes but even then it's a slog. Unlike any other character in the history of the game they injected her into EVERYTHING in this expac, there's no plotlines that don't involve her, this isn't WoL on an adventure and part of it is Wuk's story, the advert should just have been wuks face cause that's all that happens. Again if you like Wuk good for you that's great I guess, but alot of us find her unbearable and after 30 hours of having to deal with someone you find absolutely intolerable, well you can surely understand why we're so damn angry.

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Even IF you like Wuk, there's major problems with the story, and especially pacing.
I could say a lot of things about a certain caricature of a cartoon villain who's then suddenly redeemed at the drop of a hat, but instead let's focus on pacing.

Every time we finally get to do something interesting, and not just listen to Wuk complain about transportation or blabbering on about food, we always get pulled right back into the mundane stuff. It's not like there aren't interesting hooks, we just get pulled out of them to go do boring things instead. The most outrageous part is when we finally find the city of gold, but then we just fuck off and go to western town to deal with bandits. This is honestly the worst part of the MSQ by a long shot, even though Wuk isn't even in it. It's just so mundane, and we don't even have an overarching goal anymore until the Zooral ja pops up again. Truly horrid pacing.

And yeah, the almost complete lack of MSQ combat and the immense amount of XP they give means you're just gonna spend the entire 90-100 doing MSQ and nothing else.

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Originally Posted by boopadoop

unfortunately our forums will never be a nice place :')
always someone to be contrary or troll
don't worry too much about it, i'm sorry
idc to argue either. try to give another perspective and ppl don't wanna hear it

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Personally I'm liking this expansion a lot. The dungeons are such a breath of fresh air, the extremes are a lot of fun, and the visual update is nice.
I really wish the last zone didn't permanently turn into grey sludge though, that's such terrible design. It looked sooooo good before. I have no idea what they were smoking.

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Originally Posted by boopadoop

this is what i need people to realize so bad. i also need them to realize wuk lamat's character development absolutely WILL NOT be finished by the end of launch MSQ. we have no idea how long this current storyline SERIES (each expansion is like a new book in a series in case y'all didn't realize that, and patches are like chapters) is going to last.

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If you can't make a character likeable in 30 hours of storytelling, you've failed to write a compelling character. And she's not meant to be an unlikeable character who wins us over. Clearly we're supposed to be on her side by the end of Dawntrail. Have you see how much they make us smile and nod at her? This expansion has solely focused around her. Nobody else gets to do anything. It is just her for 30 HOURS and she STILL sucks! No other character has ever gotten this much of a blatant spotlight on them for an entire expansion, and Wuk Lamat is a perfect reason why. If you can't write a good main character, the entire experience becomes insufferable.

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Originally Posted by boopadoop

people saying "weh character development piss poor" -- guys, she's literally just getting started. you haven't finished seeing it. stop it. she's barely even STARTed.

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God, do NOT tell me that! If an ENTIRE 30 hours was just getting "STARTed" and she's this crap of an embarrassing fan fiction oc, that means every other character is going to continue to be props for the Wuk Lamat Show for another 30 hours before it becomes tolerable or we all develop Stockholm Syndrome.

I swear you people will defend anything with the worst excuses imaginable. It's fine to like what you like, but don't go discrediting other people's opinions on a 30 hour long story by saying "it's just getting started" and "it's a new arc". 30 hours is more than enough time to have an opinion on something. Now we just have to pray that the post patch content manages to salvage something from this dumpster fire, but as of 7.0 Dawntrail and Wuk Lamat, are both a massive disappointment to a lot of people.

Oh, you didn't like ARR? Well you can't say you don't like it until you beat Endwalker! Oh, people who beat Endwalker and enjoyed that last part of the series STILL don't like ARR? Weird. It's almost like people can dislike one part of a series and have a valid opinion on it.

Oh, you didn't like Stormblood? Well you can't say you don't like it until you finish the post patches! Oh, you thought the post patches were an improvement but the main expansion was still a slog? Weird. It's almost like the main expansion heavily impacts people's enjoyment, and that people can still separate their opinion of the main expansion from the post patch content.

Man! Opinions sure are crazy!

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Originally Posted by SirShady

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hi, i didn't say anything a bout how you feel about wuk or other expansions :) i said her character development is not finished so don't expect her now to be how she is the entirety of the story. by the end she may be a very different person.

my point is that ARR and Dawntrail both are the expositions of their story series, meaning they are the beginning of a much longer story. every expansion is expanding on the previous one at different points; heavensward and stormblood were picking it up, shb and endwalker were the climax and resolution. the overall feeling towards every expansion correlates as to why people don't care for them as much -- because they're not the most exciting points of the storyline. ascians have been wrapped up, so we're beginning anew with another exposition where they have to set up the story for what comes later. it's not gonna be thrilling off the bat. it's to introduce you to people and the setting and give hints of what to come. you can feel however you want, but understand we may not be on a thrilling ride every other second til we get closer to the climax of this story.

hope that helps.

p.s. ??????? i feel like i'm experiencing saying "i like pancakes" and hearing "so you hate waffles?"
we don't know the pace of her character development. this is also a developing game, not an anime. we don't know when literally anything will happen. i'm saying be patient and Please Look Forward To It later on when it might suit you better.

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Originally Posted by boopadoop

hi, i didn't say anything a bout how you feel about wuk or other expansions :) i said her character development is not finished so don't expect her now to be how she is the entirety of the story. by the end she may be a very different person.

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Did you read what he said though? He's saying Wuk Lamat barely changed in 30 hours of content. If a character's story is 2000 hours, is it acceptable to have no development or growth for 1500?
How many more dozens of hours do you think Wuk Lamat needs? Will you wait indefinitely for her development? What if it comes in patch 10.3, in 8 years? Is that acceptable? Is this the point being made here?

I don't know why I bother asking. SirShady was right, you people will excuse anything, no matter how droll it what's presented is. His core argument that 30 hours is plenty to show growth and explore a character is correct. Many memorable characters have way less time than that. I live and die by the church of Homura Akemi and she had literally 1/5 of Wuk Lamat's screen time. Maybe because they actually explore her character and show her struggles and growth.

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Originally Posted by SirShady

God, do NOT tell me that! If an ENTIRE 30 hours was just getting "STARTed"

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30 hours is nothing, my friend!
It's reeaaaallly gonna kick off in 2 years in 8.0, trust! That's what we're building up to, the big investment and payoff!
It's bad on purpose to make you more excited later!

Wait... what do you mean it was just filler? Wait until 9.0, that's when it's really going to kick off...?

The final zone hurt my soul

I thought everything thus far was worth it for this uniquely beautiful and creative zone, and then I progressed the story. Now it's the *worst* zone.

I think its fine and also servicable as a storyline. Could it be better? Sure. Is it the worst? Nah. If its meant to be the ARR equivalent of Tural, then it already is leaps and bounds better than ARR.

I'm glad it was more interesting than a wall of text. Maybe 8.0 will be more interesting than a vending machine!