A worry/rant about storylines till now (very very minor spoiler warning)

[OMEGA_HACK]

Personally I feel we will continue to get "these type of endings" until we leave Eorzea. Since the over all arc of the good NPCs is to unite Eorzea as a whole, elements from previous patches/expansions are going to leak in as long as we stay in Eorzea. However I feel we will have closure once we can explore a new continent.

[Mistoltin]

So I'm the only one disappointed with the fact that if someone purchased A Realm Reborn they're going to have to purchase Heavensward just to finish the story?
That's why I'm upset about the whole supposed cliff-hanger situation, it was in a place that should have definitely have been an ending, but eh, that's just my opinion.

[kyuven]

So I'm the only one disappointed with the fact that if someone purchased A Realm Reborn they're going to have to purchase Heavensward just to finish the story?
That's why I'm upset about the whole supposed cliff-hanger situation, it was in a place that should have definitely have been an ending, but eh, that's just my opinion.

FFXIV's story is like seasons of television. When the first finishes, you still have to commit either money or time to see the second season.
And in Japan, things that know they're getting a second season get REALLY cliffhangery

[OMEGA_HACK]

FFXIV's story is like seasons of television. When the first finishes, you still have to commit either money or time to see the second season.
And in Japan, things that know they're getting a second season get REALLY cliffhangery

Wait, the ones that don't get a new season aren't really cliffhangery? 99% of all Anime would like a word with you. :P

[kyuven]

Wait, the ones that don't get a new season aren't really cliffhangery? 99% of all Anime would like a word with you. :P

oh i never said that. Just that the ones that KNOW they're getting a second season are extra cliffhangery to the point of not even having a true final episode.

[Mistoltin]

FFXIV's story is like seasons of television. When the first finishes, you still have to commit either money or time to see the second season.
And in Japan, things that know they're getting a second season get REALLY cliffhangery

And how is that in any way a good thing?
When I thing of any video game that is a most akin to a television series, I think Telltale's Walking Dead series. All criticism aside, in season 1 the entire story is resolved, it comes to a resolution, a conclusion. However, the final scene you see does allude to a continuing story, however, it's not a cliffhanger, it's a tease. Season 2 then came out, what was shown in the tease is revealed, you go through the season and it concludes, but at then end you get a conclusion, it ends. It's like when you watched the Iron Man movie and the post-credit scene of Director Fury comes in, it's a tease, letting you know there's more in the pipeline but it doesn't invalidate what you just watched.

Almost two years of 2.0 to 2.5 and yet the story still isn't concluded because it now, for some reason, has to expand into the expansion. Warcraft 3, a game that within the original game, had self contained stories that concluded, but the expansion did exactly that, expanded on the game but weren't required to experience the story of the original.

Gaming industry sucks so bad, these days..

[OMEGA_HACK]

And how is that in any way a good thing?

*snip snip*

Gaming industry sucks so bad, these days..

!!!This post is a little spoilery!!!

I believe what Kyuven might have been trying to point out is it is a cultural thing, which makes it neither good nor bad thing, but just...a thing. She wasn't saying video games are like TV shows, but rather FFXIV is like a Japanese TV Show (which is why I made the anime joke).


Also to reference your idea on sequels in the game, the big bad in those games might have been killed or what not, however to use the walking dead as an example, the virus (the 'controller' of the state of the world) as are the Ascians--as the Ascians are quite literally controlling: Ishgard and the Garlean Empire and are more than likely influencing the baddies in Ul'dah as well as elsewhere--to FFXIV. To restate that without all the dashes and parens, the Zombie Virus itself in the Walking Dead is as the Ascians in FFXIV, because they are controlling the world around them. In each conclusion of the Walking Dead the Virus is not eradicated or stopped, the zombies still exist, however the "big bad" that is in front of them is taken care of, just as this game is doing--(DO NOT OPEN THE HIDE BAR IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED 2.55)

--as we kill Vishap and Teledji, the big bads in 2.5 and the Ul'dah story arc. However the Ascians as the controllers of events in the world are still at large and are still causing a muck because without them there would be no conflict meaning that they will be around for a loooooong time.

[Sanne]

I actually prefer it this way.
I want to feel like this.

I see nothing bad with it. To be honest I wasn't that excited about the new expansion, but this story made me excited. And to me that is a good thing.

I thought the expansion would just be a new story, bit like FFXI did, but this is so much better to me.

[kyuven]

And how is that in any way a good thing?

Well, let me tell you something about gaming...
See, somewhere down the line, multiple expansions will be sold bundled with FFXIV for the same price that we're paying for the base game. This is nothing new, and isn't something that should change.
The people who buy that will have the full experience from beginning to end.
We HAVE an experience from beginning to end. The one we technically PAID for is the storyline prior to 2.1. Everything after that is episodic intermediary content that we don't even technically pay for. We pay for the X.0s, not the .1-5+s.
And no, your subscription fee does not entitle you to the full story. Your subscription fee entitles you to access to their servers to play their game. No company in their right mind would guarantee content updates as part of the subscription fee.
By the same reasoning, we'll be PAYING for HW and get the story associated with that, and the rest will be "intermediary" leading up to 4.0.

[Lemuria]

I really hated the ending. It didn't feel satisfying in the least bit, and was just a shock trigger to give us a blank slate for the expansion. It somehow feels like we were cheated out of a proper resolution to events and just throws the world into anarchy for the sake of giving us something to do later on.

It didn't help that the events leading up to the conclusion could have EASILY been avoided had the 'Hero of Light' not been a completely and utterly useless tool. I put two and two together before I'd even returned to Ul'dah and spoke to Momodi. Even Momodi herself seemed utterly clueless, something totally out of character for her unless she was somehow in on the plan.

The Scions also seem to forget that they have with them the Warrior of Light. The same 'hero' who charged into battle against Primals, Ultima Weapon and even mighty dragons and survived. Yet they suddenly fear for YOUR safety when a couple of turncoats come for you. Let us live up to that name and fight our way out gods damn it.

Cliffhangers can work but only if you still have a satisfying conclusion to the core story you've been working through. Otherwise they're just a cheap hook to get you to buy the expansion. Sadly, this one is closer to the latter.