Quote Originally Posted by LunaHoshino View Post
People are free to "win" the game however they want. That doesn't change the fact that SE has its own definition of what constitutes "winning" in the game, and to them, collecting mounts and minions is not "winning." That is the crux of my argument. They are the creator of the game, their word is law when it comes to how the game works.
Feel free to link a direct statement by SE where it explicitly mentions the exact terms to winning this game. You've already been told minions and mounts are featured in a player's Lodestone page under the Character tab and in game both their guides are also under the Character menu, meaning they're considered by SE themselves to be just as important for a character as their gear and stats. Their word is law after all and it's right there for everyone to see.

If you somehow still think progressing through the story is the only thing that counts as winning, then a PvE oriented player can't ever truly win the game either because DoH/DoLs also have their own storylines. Even the minions and mounts are provided with tiny bits of lore, therefore a player who doesn't obtain them all can't really win either because they won't ever get the game's entire story and lore. That's as silly as your argument sounds on your own personal definition of winning.