Our passive characters and why the 2.55 story fails (BIG SPOILERS) (rant warning)

[Ahru]

There is a gap between " being the immortal super hero of the death who can kill thousands in a blink " and being "the super inactive looser that's just blink and have two facial expressions in all the scenario".
We don't say our character should have kill all the bad guys and saved everyone going in a rampage of 10000 animations 4K full HD 360Noscope, but just make him DO something. Giving a punch, kicking a guard or two. Just a small moment of personal satisfaction you know.

I just don't want to sit and watch my character sitting and watching.

[Vydos]

Our characters passive? You clearly haven't played FFXIV 1.0 if you want to know what passive meant. XD
Our characters used to get either knocked out, just stand there(not even nodding or anything), and have a companion npc do all the talking in our stead. That luckily changed during the 1.2 era.

I think most of the things our character did made sense. Not so much the npc's though...Minus Raubahn that seemed to stay true to his character. You also need to realise that our action moments can't be placed in cutscene format. How would you even achieve this in a mmorpg. Different races, different height, different classes/jobs, gear, weapons. I wouldn't want to be the person trying to create a cutscene with so many factors...

Our "cutscene" action moment are our instanced fights. That's the way you need to look at it.

My only gripes about the storyline.

- Why would my character pick up a random empty bottle and keep it with him? Are we gathering random litter on the floor now?
- Yugiri's face is shown. And nobody, NOBODY asks questions? Not even that Ishgard Elezen. And how did she wander around Ishgard territory without anyone asking question about her unveiled face???
- Cid popping out of nowhere. I felt his appearance to be very misplaced for some reason. Give us a ride and go "Take care!".
- Let's head to Ishgard! Wait...why am I the only one standing at the gates? Alphinaud? Tataru? Yes I know they probably send me to check the grounds first. But still, make it clear in the cutscene.

I get the feeling that S-E was trying a bit too hard to create a dramatic ending and new opening to the next expansion.

[Roboviking]

This is a standard MMO story. You the player are always the one to save the world then watch the NPC talk about their part in the story. Without some system in place like BIOWARE (just an example) games with a dialogue wheel, that's just the way it is. You are meant to be passive because the alternative is to just take your character away from you and everyone do the same thing. There is no system in place in this game for complex plot lines with multiple endings and player choice in the story. What if I feel my character is cowardly? or evil? or clumsy? Would it make sense for them to flawlessly tear through waves of guards?

My point is, they are doing the best they can with the system in place.

[Namasu]

To OP:
For every point that you think is wrong with the 2.55 climax and every what-i-woulda-done you come up with, there will always be someone else that would prefer it another way. The writers can't please everyone within an MMORPG setting.

People also brought up the idea that Midgar wanted your character to be more independent and show your own will instead of being Hydalyn's pet. This is a great point that will get touched upon in Heavensward and if you are too impatient and don't want to consider that possibility then that's too bad.

Beside, if you really don't like the way your character was portrayed, then pretend it didn't happen and follow your own headcanon. It is a roleplaying game after all. If your new "reality" makes sense for your character, then that's awesome and no one can deny you of that, but you also have to respect the writer's work and realize that certain events are set in stone. For example:

- You got captured no matter what. It was a setup so even if you tried to fight it and think you can take down the 5 guards in the cutscene, how are you sure that there isn't another 100 waiting outside to take you down the moment you resist? It was just obvious that you are caught with your pants down. Do they need to explicitly remake the cutscene with the 5 guards charging straight at you and press their blades close to your neck like with Alphinaud?

- You got tossed on the floor like a ragdoll by That Dude. You can argue all you want about why you can't just bust out your primal slaying skill and one man army against the brass blade and crystal brave. The reality of it is, you are caught at a vulnerable moment and was cuffed with your arms taken away. They could have even beat the crap out of you to knock you down a peg before That Dude shove you over so easily.
Heck, you shouldn't consider yourself THAT strong because all your legendary feats were done with the help of 3~7 other Warrior of Light.

Lastly, all I can say is try enjoying the 2.0 -> 3.0 chain of events as a big picture instead of nitpicking at the few blemishes here and there.

[Darkshaunz]

My character's main class is a Bard, so it is perhaps "feasible" that she was apprehended because she didn't have her primary weapon handy during the apprehension.

Then there are those of you here in this thread who have main classes like MNK, NIN, WAR, DRG, and magic users. You telling me that your Ninja couldn't have dismembered those four goons? And how about the Warriors? You guys would have made them stain their pants brown just with a good warcry.

Don't even get me started on people that were decked out in full Dreadwyrm gear, that had to suffer the indignity of watching their character tossed to the ground like garbage. You walked out from hell and back, and THIS is the payoff your character gets?

If people here had the choice, I can say with great confidence that most of you would have chosen to stay and fight. Now, you are treated with suspicion and are quite literally, an enemy of the state.

[ElHeggunte]

My only real gripe (besides being captured by a bunch of goons) is the Scions sacrificing themselves so you, the Warrior of Light, could escape. That's like Aquaman throwing himself in front of Superman to protect him from a knife-wielding mook. Yeah, they needed their time to shine, but they could have gone about it in a less ridiculous, slightly less insulting way.

It was also pointlessly dramatic since it's most likely going to be one of those "you didn't see the body" kind of sacrifices that'll allow them to pop back up early in the 3.0 storyline. The same for Nanamo, since we only saw her collapse and only took Teledji's word for it that she was dead (unlike the Scions she probably is, though again... we didn't really see the body).

Otherwise all of the other reveals and events were too built up to be any real surprise. All of them except for...

Urianger showing up in the Ascian realm. His purpose is left ambiguous, but he seemed to have business with Elidibus who himself seems to be at odds with the other Ascians. Interesting indeed.

Also, Raubahn had better return with a new magitek arm and/or a greatsword after someone invariably springs him from prison.

[zeroaru]

Let's shoe-horn Cid in, in a really bad way
So really. Me and Alphinaud flee to the Black Shroud and then get on the Enterprise for shelter in Coerthas?
Excuse me? We just went through several scenes where the leaders of the Eorzan Alliance state they will always put their own interests first and you're telling me it's not save in Gridania? Senna would just allow Ul'dans to search her territory, cajole her people and forcibly remove a Gridanian citizen (which my character is not that they'd remember that of course)?

I think you missed a point here, they didn't flee to the Black Shroud at all - the fled to Black Brush Station - I.E Central Thanalan - Which is just north of the Excavation site the MC appears from. They were no where near Gridania.

Hiding in a neighbouring state wouldn't be a good idea either, suddenly driving a wedge between one state and its unstable neighbour wouldn't be the smartest move at a time of political unrest. Ishgard, as mentioned in many cut-scenes and specifically brought up in the ending cut scene, is famed for its inhospitable nature and open suspicion of outsiders. Ishgardians denying entry and investigation into their sovereign lands would not rouse suspicion, Limsa and Gridania might and it may put strain on an alliance that still needs to stand against outside threats regardless of the troubles that plague it internally. Ishgard isn't yet a formal part of this alliance.

I liked the Story line, it actually made me want to go back and re-play the MQ since I skipped a lot of the cutscenes. There are points in the CS's where you have to remove yourself from the altruistic all seeing player perspective and see only what your character sees. Was it foolish to keep hold of the bottle your character found? Yes. Did the character have any reason to suspect it could be used in a plot to frame him/her? No, not without seeing what we as players see in Cutscenes completely disconnected from the MC.

It was nice to see Alphinaud get his dose of reality. I do hope this experience will drive the MC to make more measured decisions moving forward, I hope it acts as a catalyst separating our Nodding dog nature from the story line and introduces a more proactive involvement with the calls being made by the scions/MQ quest givers moving forward -even if it's totally scripted or leads to the same end result, my characters neck aches from nodding so much.

Urianger showing up in the Ascian realm. His purpose is left ambiguous, but he seemed to have business with Elidibus who himself seems to be at odds with the other Ascians. Interesting indeed.

Also, Raubahn had better return with a new magitek arm and/or a greatsword after someone invariably springs him from prison.

Agreed, I like the ambiguity. I don't personally think the Urianger would side with the Ascians - Even one who may be at odds with the order, though he may enter into a temporary alliance for neutral reasons that further both agendas, whatever they may be. His previous displays of skill with magical arts certainly lead me to believe that unlike Thancred, Urianger could effectively stave off influence from Ascians so I really don't see SE repeating that plot device. Or at least I hope they wont.

/10charedits

[Atreides]

Agreed, I like the ambiguity. I don't personally think the Urianger would side with the Ascians - Even one who may be at odds with the order, though he may enter into a temporary alliance for neutral reasons that further both agendas, whatever they may be. His previous displays of skill with magical arts certainly lead me to believe that unlike Thancred, Urianger could effectively stave off influence from Ascians so I really don't see SE repeating that plot device. Or at least I hope they wont.

I might be mistaken but they refered to Urianger as Archon, which means "the first" which leads me to believe that he actually is a full fleged Ascian that simply has no business with the other party as he was quite displeased with them calling him.

/10charsblah

[ElHeggunte]

I might be mistaken but they refered to Urianger as Archon, which means "the first" which leads me to believe that he actually is a full fleged Ascian that simply has no business with the other party as he was quite displeased with them calling him.

They did, but that's because he was a member of the Circle of Knowing in 1.0 (as were all of the Scions) and another name for them was the Archons.

10bananacreampies

[Imakun]

One thing I'm really interested in is the whole "stripped of our powers" bit. Severing our connection to the Mother Crystal might be the way for our character to escape the status of Warrior of Light and become something more than just a puppet.
I'm honestly glad the whole Light VS Dark thing is over. It's too easy to see things in just black and white and there's just so much dept you can add to this kind of setting.
The best part of XI's plot was, for me, that there was no such a thing as plain good and plain evil. Darkness was as necessary as light and hopefully we might see something along these lines now. It's time for the story to become more adult and take more daring turns with Heavensward.

Fingers crossed for the future!