Awfully weak story... or is it? [WARNING:SPOILERS]

[ashikenshin]

Man! reading lore threads is so much fun! I'm getting excited about where the story is going with the following patches. What expansions will bring. Good stuff!

ALso I like the empire more than the city-states. F those guys.

[DragonSlayer45]

One thing that stood out to me is when Gaius is face to face with Garuda and she tries to enthrall him she says something along the lines of him already being enthralled by another primal... something along the lines of "You have already been touched by her". So I always assumed Gaius was being manipulated by another Primal, also a female (maybe Shiva?) to erase the primal threat and save the aether and the lands of Eorzea for her. Unless I missed something else. So my thought is there may be a larger primal threat who is using the empire to gather the aether for themselves.

Something about that cutscene seems odd. I always assumed she was talking to our player character, even though a second ago she was throwing a hissy fit at Gaius and a second later, she's all like "SHE TOUCHED YOU. DIE."

[AnimaAnimus]

Something about that cutscene seems odd. I always assumed she was talking to our player character, even though a second ago she was throwing a hissy fit at Gaius and a second later, she's all like "SHE TOUCHED YOU. DIE."

well she says it just after she tries to enthrall Gaius (whom I always want to call Gaius von Baltar) so my assumption is she is speaking to him

[Nica]

Actually, I'm pointing out that all sides have committed crimes. But then, you seem the type who believes that America is always "the pure good guyz" and has never ever committed war crimes. Ironically, the country that was founded on "We're gonna forcibly take over these people's land with our superior technology." and still goes by that motto today. Sounds a bit like Garlemald.

So original, play the "blame america" red herring card, while continuing your terrible logic of "hey, those guys aren't angels either!"

Made all the more terrible considering I'm not actually from America.

Seriously, go read up on more actual lores instead of making terribad conspiracy theory about fictional politics.

[Kallera]

Yet you're the one who believes in a dictator: the admiral.

I'm just pointing out that Gaius uses the same justification as Admiral: establishing order.

Merlwyb isn't threatening the homes, culture and livelihoods of the players. If you're looking for pure utopias of immaculate ideals, you're not going to find one on Hydaelyn, and most utopias don't stand under scrutiny anyway.

So, yes, there are poor people, there are criminals, there are bastards and thieves. That's no excuse to destroy everything we hold dear, and that's what the empire represents to Eorzea: an outsider forcing the destruction of peoples' lives into a culture of conformity.

To use an American perspective, imagine a person running for the presidency, promising to eliminate unemployment, hunger, fix the roads and make it a stronger country, but to do all that, he must do away with the constitution and bill of rights.I'm not saying its impossible, but the circumstances would have to be nigh post-apocalyptic, and even then hope of restoration may still see him lose.

Hope is a plague to a man like Gaius, he is a min-maxer at heart who doesn't see people, he sees tools, and calls them defective or not. I couldn't respect a god with such an outlook, what chance does Gaius have?

[Nica]

And Godwin's law strikes again.

when one starts to justify and rationalizing genocide/institutionalized rape... well....

[Naunet]

Merlwyb isn't threatening the homes, culture and livelihoods of the players.

No, she's just threatening the homes, culture, and livelihoods of the beast tribes (particularly the kobolds), breaking a long-standing peace treaty because territorial expansion is super awesome fun times. But no one cares when it's beast tribes, huh?

when one starts to justify and rationalizing genocide/institutionalized rape... well....

Dude, it's a fictional character. I mean... really.

[Psychosamm]

I was also disappointed with the story line, never have i ever experienced such a short and poorly put together FF storyline. Not only was the story weak and not very well thought out, there was little to no character development. As well as a disturbing lack of voice acting, which in my opinion, really adds tons of depth to the storyline. It honestly felt like they just threw something together so you could blaze through it in order to get into end game just so we could start mindlessly grinding towards stupid gear... When i buy a Final Fantasy game i expect a compelling storyline, not this nonsense. I was very disappointed with the story.

PS: We pick a voice for our character and they never speak! Wtf?

[Kayokane]

No, she's just threatening the homes, culture, and livelihoods of the beast tribes (particularly the kobolds), breaking a long-standing peace treaty because territorial expansion is super awesome fun times. But no one cares when it's beast tribes, huh?

ignoring the fact that Limsa Lominsa broke the treaty with the Kobolds several generations before Merlwyb, the kobolds did not instantly respond and remained relatively passive until they were able to summon Titan after the Battle of Silvertear Skies, when Midgardsormr was felled taking down the imperial's flagship, Agrius.
or at least that was my understanding from the LL city part of the main story

[Kallera]

snip

Who is the more stupid, the "nonsense" game with a "mindless grind" or the critic still playing it as of yesterday?