The Merchant's Tale: A Social Commentary on the Playerbase by the Devs?

Did anyone else catch on that The Merchant's Tale is a clever social commentary on those players who do and do not complain about rewards? It's a video game inside a video game. A shiny weapon, a carpet mount, a housing trophy item...the Maiden was unimpressed because these are not what matter. A simple dirty plate is a memory of a journey, an experience lived. My dirty plate will be when I stopped beside the vast beautiful field of grapes and looked upon their massive number of polygons and I understood how much of an improvement the DT graphics update has been. Thank you Devs!

The 'blinders' for clearing all routes: the cherry on top! ;)

I, personally, was amused at the dialogue choices during the pre-dungeon cutscenes... the moment we're given two options to select when discussing the story, and one of them is "so I'm not the main character?"
Couldn't help but think back to all those discussions pertaining to "main character syndrome" during 7.0.

Grapes in this game are like cows on a road trip.

"Omg GRAPES"--Me when I see grapes in FF14
"Omg COWS"--Me when I see cows on a road trip

This is how I see the game, personally. I am creating memories. The nature of the reward is kind of irrelevant, but helps me get there regardless. For example, I have a giant collection of parasols and facewear I'll never use. They are moreso just memory crystals of my time doing the content, to me.

Yoshi-P once said he doesn't understand attaching memories to rewards, because that isn't common in Japan. It was in reference to our tendency to fill our inventory with currencies and not delete them. But part of the reason to not delete things like totems or Savage books is that a memory is associated with them.

So whether it is a totem, a book, a parasol, a facewear, a mount, a minion, it's just an achievement to me.

I think Yoshi P and fans overthink this and it's not a black and white situation. Rewards can be the reason someone does content they otherwise would not have done, and by extension, the reason memories end up being made in the first place. It's not deep, crazy or philosophical, and we can look at all manner of MMOs to see this is a thing. Quest is funny and all, but whoever wrote it is being manipulative and trying to make you feel bad for basic expectations.

Ya know, that may or may not be an intended subtext, but it’s a fun one! And definitely it was a mix of playing for rewards and playing for fun for me, with playing for fun predominating during most of my time in FFXIV. I overleveled like crazy while I was coming up through the MSQ because I enjoyed duty roulettes, and during most of the past 3 years I kept enjoying them. I used to even do “Wondrous Tails the hard way” where I wouldn’t unsync anything if I could avoid it (a challenge because I refuse to engage with EX Trials at level) because I found it fun. That’s changed over the past six months or so as I’ve finally started getting tired of this game’s vast library of old combat duties, my friends have fallen away from the game, and the remaining players I encounter have been increasingly sour hardcore players.

To be quite honest, if this variant dungeon had come a patch earlier, I would have been all over it like catnip. It’s beautiful, charming, and the potsherd glam is gorgeous. It sounds like the Advanced version might even be an example of the kind of midcore content that’s been missing from the game, but I’ll never know because I don’t have enough friends left who play regularly and have made it through the MSQ to put together a premade party and try it out. As it stands, it came too late for me, but despite the lack of a mount reward and the excessively long boss fights I regard it positively.

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Originally Posted by Carin-Eri

I, personally, was amused at the dialogue choices during the pre-dungeon cutscenes... the moment we're given two options to select when discussing the story, and one of them is "so I'm not the main character?"
Couldn't help but think back to all those discussions pertaining to "main character syndrome" during 7.0.

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I noticed this immediately, and was definitely put off. I of course picked that option to see my PC was not joking and started sulking like a child.

It's a bit insulting to the players who actually care about the story and spend time providing feedback, IMO.

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Originally Posted by ZephyrMenodora

I noticed this immediately, and was definitely put off. I of course picked that option to see my PC was not joking and started sulking like a child.

It's a bit insulting to the players who actually care about the story and spend time providing feedback, IMO.

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That's a shame. I picked the bodyguard option because, as it turns out, my WoL actually is a mercenary bodyguard when he's not Warrior of Lighting, so it fit. Sucks the other option came across poorly, though. (I feel that way whenever I pick options to dunk on Y'shtola and the game acts like my WoL is scared by her reaction. He...isn't. Not even a little bit.)

When it comes to dialogue options, the WoL's characterization is just whatever is most convenient to the writer in that moment. I'm at the point where I wish they didn't exist outside of the MSQ, where at least we usually get some small degree of inconsequential freedom.

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Originally Posted by Hastatus

Did anyone else catch on that The Merchant's Tale is a clever social commentary on those players who do and do not complain about rewards? It's a video game inside a video game. A shiny weapon, a carpet mount, a housing trophy item...the Maiden was unimpressed because these are not what matter. A simple dirty plate is a memory of a journey, an experience lived. My dirty plate will be when I stopped beside the vast beautiful field of grapes and looked upon their massive number of polygons and I understood how much of an improvement the DT graphics update has been. Thank you Devs!

The 'blinders' for clearing all routes: the cherry on top! ;)

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>be Yoshi-P
>promise better rewards for content
>releases new variant dungeons
>doesnt add more, but even removes rewards
>"This is a good thing, actually!"

Unbelievable, do you want the game to keep getting worse???

always a good sign when notoriously out of touch devs take shots at their playerbase

The thought did cross my mind, based on the hoopla surrounding the rewards right now, if this was actually just some gigabren move by the devs to gauge which players actually play the game for the sake of playing the game without use of a survey (because they are ever so allergic to those after all, and direct input).

Pretty amusing here watching from the sidelines either way. I hope they get the data they need if it is! Though there does appear to be a seeming uptick in the behaviour that a reward needs to be exhibitable in order to be mobilized to do anything, or worse, doing that unenjoyable thing just to get it... maybe not applicable to this case*, sometimes the content is just bad/boring (and certainly not helped along by the current state of combat).

*(I have not done the content nor plan to do it in the immediate future, maybe eventually if the whim takes. /disclaimer)

It will be even more of a social commentary piece when the sub counts drop further. I am certain the developers would be very content to see that.

Dont forget, While Casuals are told to put on a blindfold and ignore everything as their reward, The Hardcore players are given "Wish fulfillment" in the form of a Genie.
A reminder that hardcore players get everything they want while the rest of us are told "Pay your sub and turn a blind eye to the faults/neglect."

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Originally Posted by Sililos

Dont forget, While Casuals are told to put on a blindfold and ignore everything as their reward, The Hardcore players are given "Wish fulfillment" in the form of a Genie.
A reminder that hardcore players get everything they want while the rest of us are told "Pay your sub and turn a blind eye to the faults/neglect."

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Not only a false equivalence but also flat out wrong. The rewards for Criterion haven't improved, they actually haven't changed at all.
It always dropped a mount you could sell on the marketboard and that is the same case this time, you can also buy a framer's kit, an orchestrion roll and materia...so the rewards are exactly the same as every previous Criterion.

None of the issues with Criterion's rewards have been fixed, they just made the rewards for Variant worse to have something they could put into the new "midcore" mode.
Because Advanced is certainly not hardcore, it's around extreme trial level if not easier.

Considering how the launch of Dawntrail, the decline of FFXIV and the PR statements Square Enix has been making in passive side-remarks to the gaslighting their '[western] staff/stance' cause(s) (JUST TO NAME A FEW THINGS), the 'tongue-and-cheek' shots at the audience felt unprofessional and came off 'western'.
"You're not happy you're NOT the center of attention? You're not the hero this time? Pout, you little brat. You didn't like our shining poster child for the expansion and we ignored your actual criticisms and have chalked your whining up to you not being the center of attention. Eat and be fed, you little emperor you."

Probably not the INTENDED message, but that soured my experience nonetheless and I feel compelled to blow it up into a grotesque representation of what it is. You could put a top hat on Taylor Swift, but once those words leave, it won't make her look anymore dapper.

To the bodyguard and Not the main character option, I felt that was a snide jab at players who didn't enjoy the main character of Dawntrail.
I don't mind being a bodyguard, but at least I want to offer my service to worthwhile customers and causes.
This snide jab has made me look at Devs with disappointment and made me dislike the DT main character more. And I've been a strong supporter for FFXIV and it's Devs since I started playing in 1.0. Never taken breaks.
I feel all that support is just not being mutually respected and unless 8.0 is great that I feel like it's time for my WoL to do the Emet snap and return the Aetherial Sea/Star, as she's done all that she's set out to do.

I feel sad that I've started to feel like this as ARR to EW has been one of the most insane experience I've had playing videogames for 40 years now. :/

Maybe they can do a social commentary (through content) on the state of the game, when even more people have started to move on.

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Originally Posted by Absurdity

Not only a false equivalence but also flat out wrong. The rewards for Criterion haven't improved, they actually haven't changed at all.
It always dropped a mount you could sell on the marketboard and that is the same case this time, you can also buy a framer's kit, an orchestrion roll and materia...so the rewards are exactly the same as every previous Criterion.

None of the issues with Criterion's rewards have been fixed, they just made the rewards for Variant worse to have something they could put into the new "midcore" mode.
Because Advanced is certainly not hardcore, it's around extreme trial level if not easier.

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I see.

Little hard for me to judge advanced and i have never been able to get into criterion savage for any of them.
There has not been a single group up for even advanced on PF on OCE, and the ones i have made? Not one joiner after hours on end.
Marketboard prices for the items that do appear? 45 mil+

For OCE players advanced may as well be Ultimate difficulty for all the ability to find groups for it we have.

But I still stand by the comment about the Genie mount being Wish fulfillment for SE's favored minority vs the blindfold for everyone else to 'suck it up'.

The main character option was very cringe and tonedeaf
Is it also present in the JP script?

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Originally Posted by Sililos

I see.

Little hard for me to judge advanced and i have never been able to get into criterion savage for any of them.
There has not been a single group up for even advanced on PF on OCE, and the ones i have made? Not one joiner after hours on end.
Marketboard prices for the items that do appear? 45 mil+

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I have not seen any PFs for Advanced on Aether NA, but I've completed several runs using Duty Finder without any issues. Players in your region might be using Duty Finder exclusively too. There's no need for progging Advanced in PF like is done for Extreme or Savage Raids where there is a feeling of 'strictness' and a high level of performance required from everyone. FYI: We can use Phoenix Downs in there too! 8)

Thats funny. I wouldnt be peeved about rewards if jobs werent lobotomized over the years, the 'journey' is boring.

Isn’t it literally just the story of Siddhartha with slight variation? Material wealth is secondary to emotional / spiritual wealth etc*

I don’t think it was a commentary on the players at all, just a classic legend with a twist.

* not to say that’s an issue or anything; it’s a pretty classic story archetype of ‘character is offered everything but it means nothing without emotional meaning / less is more / etc’ so it’s fairly standard to adapt such things I’d say, especially in video games.

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Originally Posted by Connor

Isn’t it literally just the story of Siddhartha with slight variation? Material wealth is secondary to emotional / spiritual wealth etc*

I don’t think it was a commentary on the players at all, just a classic legend with a twist.

* not to say that’s an issue or anything; it’s a pretty classic story archetype of ‘character is offered everything but it means nothing without emotional meaning / less is more / etc’ so it’s fairly standard to adapt such things I’d say, especially in video games.

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If that's the case and it struck some players then they needed to hear that moral lesson, I fear.

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Originally Posted by Connor

Isn’t it literally just the story of Siddhartha with slight variation? Material wealth is secondary to emotional / spiritual wealth etc*

I don’t think it was a commentary on the players at all, just a classic legend with a twist

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It can be both! The meaning of art comes both from the creator and the viewer.

To be honest this is a great piece of content to come as I’m winding down my time in the game. I used to play mostly for the enjoyment of the content, not for the reward — for the journey, not the destination. The fun went out of the game for me during the 7.x patches and I kept going for the rewards, and from inertia. I should have left last year, but at least the new variant dungeon sends me out on a high note.

They should do a quest that references stockholm syndrome, sunk cost fallacy, cults, or all 3 at once.

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Originally Posted by Connor

Isn’t it literally just the story of Siddhartha with slight variation? Material wealth is secondary to emotional / spiritual wealth etc*

I don’t think it was a commentary on the players at all, just a classic legend with a twist.

* not to say that’s an issue or anything; it’s a pretty classic story archetype of ‘character is offered everything but it means nothing without emotional meaning / less is more / etc’ so it’s fairly standard to adapt such things I’d say, especially in video games.

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Oh I didn't know the origin of the story, thank you for mentioning the reference material! :)

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Originally Posted by Connor

Isn’t it literally just the story of Siddhartha with slight variation? Material wealth is secondary to emotional / spiritual wealth etc*

I don’t think it was a commentary on the players at all, just a classic legend with a twist.

* not to say that’s an issue or anything; it’s a pretty classic story archetype of ‘character is offered everything but it means nothing without emotional meaning / less is more / etc’ so it’s fairly standard to adapt such things I’d say, especially in video games.

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Not sure it's literally Siddhartha, could be, but it's absolutely a bog-standard morality play. The only thing I can think of that might actually have been a dig at the players was the "main character" bit, and if it was, it doesn't work well for it because it makes it sound like the WoL likes being the main character, rather than the player.

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Originally Posted by Astronis

Not sure it's literally Siddhartha, could be, but it's absolutely a bog-standard morality play. The only thing I can think of that might actually have been a dig at the players was the "main character" bit, and if it was, it doesn't work well for it because it makes it sound like the WoL likes being the main character, rather than the player.

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I didn’t even realize the paradox of saying it’s ‘literally’ the same story ‘with slight variations’ lol. I should’ve used ‘basically’ instead lol - it’s not a play-by-play of the exact same story but the core message and drive for the plot seems to be largely the same - character is offered material wealth but finds it devoid of value before realising emotional/spiritual wealth is the true ‘treasure’. Theres probably a lot of other stories that fit that sort of ‘archetypal’ narrative too, since as you say its a fairly commonly used ‘morality play’ to demonstrate that stuff can’t buy happiness basically. Siddhartha was just the first thing that came to my head lol.

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Originally Posted by Mouthbone

The main character option was very cringe and tonedeaf
Is it also present in the JP script?

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I'd like to know this too.

I found this quite insulting, but to be honest this says more about the writers than it does about the players.

So petty and childish, to be added to their list of failures in 7.0.

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Originally Posted by Connor

I didn’t even realize the paradox of saying it’s ‘literally’ the same story ‘with slight variations’ lol. I should’ve used ‘basically’ instead lol - it’s not a play-by-play of the exact same story but the core message and drive for the plot seems to be largely the same - character is offered material wealth but finds it devoid of value before realising emotional/spiritual wealth is the true ‘treasure’. Theres probably a lot of other stories that fit that sort of ‘archetypal’ narrative too, since as you say its a fairly commonly used ‘morality play’ to demonstrate that stuff can’t buy happiness basically. Siddhartha was just the first thing that came to my head lol.

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I just meant I wasn't familiar with the story you referenced! Very sorry if what I said came across otherwise!

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Originally Posted by Astronis

I just meant I wasn't familiar with the story you referenced! Very sorry if what I said came across otherwise!

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Ah I see what you mean! I didn’t take it as combative or anything, just that I realized my mistake after what you said and wanted to clarify in case I wasn’t making any sense lol (which is often)

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Originally Posted by Hastatus

Did anyone else catch on that The Merchant's Tale is a clever social commentary on those players who do and do not complain about rewards? It's a video game inside a video game. A shiny weapon, a carpet mount, a housing trophy item...the Maiden was unimpressed because these are not what matter. A simple dirty plate is a memory of a journey, an experience lived. My dirty plate will be when I stopped beside the vast beautiful field of grapes and looked upon their massive number of polygons and I understood how much of an improvement the DT graphics update has been. Thank you Devs!

The 'blinders' for clearing all routes: the cherry on top! ;)

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Funny how easy it is for some people to laugh at casuals who are unhappy with the changes of the reward structure.
"Haha, well, just enjoy the game! Create memories! You should be happy enough with that! You are never happy, no matter what they give you. Just take the facemask and be happy you even get anything."

Hmmm...I wonder what would happen if they would just remove weapons from the next Ultimate and give them a face accessory for completing it instead. A stupid looking one at that.

"Haha, the experience and the feeling of accomplishment should be more than enough for you! Be happy you get anything at all. Oh and..memories and stuff bla bla."

...no, you wouldn't read that anywhere. The forums would be on fire. And rightfully so.

Well if want speculate that it's that more fuel is that the Title for Completing 13 paths is Professional Protagonist so yeah can see how take as a angry Dev/s. So yeah kinder feels like a couple possible shots at the community for DT reactions.

The main character option was funny, genuinely you guys need to learn to make fun of yourselves.

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Originally Posted by VeyaAkemi

The main character option was funny, genuinely you guys need to learn to make fun of yourselves.

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Voluntarily laughing at yourself is not the same thing as a company insulting their customer base because they can't take constructive feedback.

I thought the main character thing was kind of rude, too. A lot of the issue with base 7.0 wasn't so much not being the main character since that's been the situation in Heavensward and Stormblood, but not getting the chance to interact with the world and characters nearly as much as the WoL did in previous expansions. It felt very much like we were watching the actions instead of participating (which the post-patches did well in fixing so we feel part of the ensemble again) so if their only takeaway is players didn't like not being the main character, that is very much incredibly tonedeaf.

I also thought it didn't really make sense because the NPC has just said before talking to the maiden that they must be the protagonist. Are they saying our WoL is too stupid to know what protagonist means?

Also, it didn't make sense for the WoL to even make that reply because as we've seen from the DRK quests they are often acting on the expectations of others that they will fit a certain role and don't always want that. So that also made it very much seem like taking a shot at the players themselves.

I don't know what happens when you choose that since I chose the bodyguard option as that made the most sense for what the WoL character would say. But from what some have said, it doesn't sound good when you do choose it.

I thought it was pretty funny to be quite honest. I enjoy silly dialog from time to time.

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

I don't know what happens when you choose that since I chose the bodyguard option as that made the most sense for what the WoL character would say. But from what some have said, it doesn't sound good when you do choose it.

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I can answer that, as I did choose the option just to confirm the writers were taking pot shots at player like myself who spent time discussing the plot.

Your character sulks and looks petty. It's how they view the players with concerns about their 7.0 writing I am sure.

I wouldn’t sweat it too much. It’s an exchange inside a magic storybook with a character who, while apparently good at her job, is also introduced as someone who will attempt to eat a rock to see how it tastes.