Dawntrail - going by too fast

After playing it through and letting my feelings settle on the expansion.
My take away is that there's just, soo much going on, that the game kinda breezes past.

Which was something they stated in the live letters leading up to Dawntrail, that we'd be kinda all over the place to see what sticks. But... nothing really feels like it was given the time to stick. Especially in the second half. we spend soo soo little time in each of the zones from Shaaloani onwards that I feel like I never got the chance to get attached to any of them before the plot puts them through the ringer.

Meanwhile, the first half zones while charming and part of what I was sold on, a light hearted vacation adventure... feel soo separated from the plot. save for Yak T'el. and even then the throughline Yak T'el has is that it's where physically the door to living memory is

we visit all the tribes and people early on but then they are just soo uninvolved with anything that happens after.
at no point do we see how the interdimensional invaders affect the tribes we meet early on.

The transition from the succession story to the invasion story is soo abrupt and soo much I feel is lost in that.

They didn't budget their time well in the story.

and because we end the war Immediately that connective tissue can't even be restored.

the travel agency and all the stories involving the early tribes will probably just continue and be hardly affected by the fact there's a giant lightning forcefield that leads to another dimension where soul stealing robots attacked from right over yonder.

Considering the time you actually "play" during the MSQ, without watching cutscenes, you only get about 10-11 hours of actualy gameplay (and most of that consists of running from one NPC to another)

Yesterday i got my other character through the 7.0 part of Dawtrail, skipped all the cutscenes and that was my final playtime result.

https://i.imgur.com/LJoqMGb.jpeg

This is from when i started in Sharlayan until right after the credits, after defeating Eternal Queen.
There is also at least 1 hour of waiting for dungeons/trials included and i collected all the aether currents.

It always feels like it's too fast and like you spend too little time in the zones, unless you do sidequests.

Ultimately, it's your decision if you want it to "breeze past" or take your time doing sidequests and learning about the people and lore of each area.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arohk

Considering the time you actually "play" during the MSQ, without watching cutscenes, you only get about 10-11 hours of actualy gameplay (and most of that consists of running from one NPC to another)

---

Similar in other expansions. Especially Heavensward you can skip through so quick it's crazy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

It always feels like it's too fast and like you spend too little time in the zones, unless you do sidequests.

Ultimately, it's your decision if you want it to "breeze past" or take your time doing sidequests and learning about the people and lore of each area.

Similar in other expansions. Especially Heavensward you can skip through so quick it's crazy.

---

Wholeheartedly disagree. Expansions like Stormblood and Shadowbringers had plenty of actual gameplay (certainly compared to EW and DT) that made the MSQ feel like it had more meat to it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Basteala

Wholeheartedly disagree. Expansions like Stormblood and Shadowbringers had plenty of actual gameplay (certainly compared to EW and DT) that made the MSQ feel like it had more meat to it.

---

Not talking about gameplay. I am talking about the speed you can get through it. Usually expansions take about a day to get through, but ShB did take me a bit over a day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LuisMikhail

The transition from the succession story to the invasion story is soo abrupt and soo much I feel is lost in that.

---

I'd have preferred it if it were more abrupt. The cowboy side story was the weakest part of the MSQ. Had the crowning ceremony been interrupted by the invasion, and then followed by some WoL sheriffing in Shaaloani, it would have improved the pacing of that section in my opinion.

Gonna have to disagree with op.... dawntrail not moving fast enough im ready to be done with this trash......

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

Not talking about gameplay. I am talking about the speed you can get through it. Usually expansions take about a day to get through, but ShB did take me a bit over a day.

---

that is pretty much the norm in WoW though, everyone blasts through without reading any quest text and gets to max level at day 1, FFXIV is an exception where a lot of people actually follow the story, but there is also not really a reason to rush since there is no raid or other endgame to rush towards to.

However, important plot points in Dawntrail are not playable and are just cutscenes, The attack on Tuliyolal, the Train Ride to the Outpost.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zakuyia

Gonna have to disagree with op.... dawntrail not moving fast enough im ready to be done with this trash......

---

It dragged on and on and on. I was beyond bored.

Fully agree with you, OP.
It felt like they took ideas for two expacs and crammed them into one. When this cyberpunk mega city just dropped out of an empty sky, without any sort of built-up within the story, I felt like suddenly being in another game. Didn't like that feeling at all.

I had typed something out but the servers crapped out on me lol
basically I agree, and I find it weird that half the continent of Tural seemingly doesn't get a say in who gets to rule
It's referenced that there are new Dawnservants, but they didn't have anyone to test the claimants

It would've been more impactful to let the player visit the Viera village before the invasion and then as you leave it gets attacked, only to find out the place you were just at seemed drastically different and was constantly struck by levin

More dynamic areas would be fun, but I don't know how easy that is to implement
Maybe they could be two separate instances that don't interact with each other outside of shared FATEs counting for both versions

I think the expansion would have benefited from taking it slow, disregarding some of the writing issues that are obviously a problem

Post Yawntrail needs to end faster, Yawntrail itself already burnt 5 years off my life by sheer boredom.

This is all I can say about the DT story. In every expansion, including ARR, there have been parts of the story that I enjoy watching other people play through just to see their reaction. DT doesn't have a single moment that I care how anyone reacts to it. It's the first expansion so far that my own reaction was "Thank God that's over."

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Acesfool

This is all I can say about the DT story. In every expansion, including ARR, there have been parts of the story that I enjoy watching other people play through just to see their reaction. DT doesn't have a single moment that I care how anyone reacts to it. It's the first expansion so far that my own reaction was "Thank God that's over."

---

I've seen some good reactions to "SPEEEEEEEN. listentome!"

I also felt the same, they should have had the Rite of Succession be all of 7.xx and then Alexandria be 8.xx. I really wanted to explore and learn more about the 9th Reflection and to see what the Storm Surge has destroyed too. They also should have had Cahciua alive during the MSQ in place of a Scion, I really liked her character and since she was part of Gulool Ja Ja's squad, she knows how to fight for dungeons and trials. It would have made the impact of her being an Endless much more emotional.

I actually kinda like that as a metric. Is there a part I **want** to see other people's reaction to?...
for funny i would say the Building an exploding train set to smile..

as for story moments that I enjoyed enough I wanna catch how other people felt, my mind jumps to the scene about the skydeep cenote where you learn about the mamool ja children, because that's the darkest dawntrail gets imo and I have a fondness for when the story gets heavy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Coratanni

It dragged on and on and on. I was beyond bored.

---

Lol gotta ask tho....did it cure your insomnia, cause damn it cured mines lol