Can I please have the option to dropkick Alphinaud and Minfilia

[ddwarbird]

A number of characters in FFIX and FFXI have old english speaking patterns. It sounds as though a lot of your troubles are based around the voice acting decisions, have you tried the alternate voice overs? Some of them are quite helpful (the memorial scene is soooo much better in japanese, except for Merlwyb, i love her 2.0 english voice, the background character chatter is so much more bearable even without jems like arrr where's me cutlass)

Merlwyb, in my opinion is the only character in this game that actually has any resonance with me because she is just so awesome. I feel that this game, story-wise lacks really strong characters on the level of Cloud Strife which you would expect from a FINAL FANTASY game.

I mean, like him or hate him, Cloud Strife IS memorable but hardly any characters in this game are because they lack any sort of resonance. I forget the names of important people at regular intervals because most of them are so boring.

[Ashkendor]

Merlwyb, in my opinion is the only character in this game that actually has any resonance with me because she is just so awesome. I feel that this game, story-wise lacks really strong characters on the level of Cloud Strife which you would expect from a FINAL FANTASY game.

See, and I feel the "pirate" thing is bombastic and overdone. Different people like different things! Amazing!

[AskaRay]

Merlwyb, in my opinion is the only character in this game that actually has any resonance with me because she is just so awesome. I feel that this game, story-wise lacks really strong characters on the level of Cloud Strife which you would expect from a FINAL FANTASY game.

If you want to get technical, Cloud was a bit of a deviation to the Final Fantasy main character when he was originally introduced.
..and still sort of is, honestly.

[Kurogaea]

I actually still don't like Minfilia or Alphinuad. There voices irritate me to a point that I feel just about nothing to where something bad happens to them and I wouldn't care much or give a blatant shrug. Its funny how the side characters in this game actually intrigue me more than the main ones, and its not that I'm tired of seeing the same people. I'd rather spend most of my time adventuring with Y'shtola, that chick from the FFXI game, Miah Molkot, Lucia, Hilda, V'kebbe or Jacke, Fray (you know who I'm talking about) and many others. Thats just my opinion though. I come to not like Krile too much after this patch actually.....I still want her coat though >_>

[ddwarbird]

I also feel this game kinda lacks a strong villain, the Asicans are alright for a side story but (and I am going to reference WoW here, before anyone gets mad), every expansion of WoW has had a CLEAR main villain with a strong backstory and motivation that is ultimately the climax of the entire expansion. I do feel that FF XIV lacks a kinda clear direction on this, or a decent threat to the actual world.

The Primals are great, they are the best bosses in this game because they are recognisable from other Final Fantasy games and their fights are suitably epic for their majesty. The music in this game is beautiful and the atmosphere and gameplay is really engaging but I just feel the story falls flat worse then Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy X because the plot just blindsides you with stupidity.

"Oh no, a tribe the worship Ice"

"Well who could be their primal since we just killed Ramuh and the Slyphs who all used Thunder"

"Duuuuuh... I dunno boss"

AND

The Scions just sit around and wait for the next earth-shattering events rather then actually BEING PROACTIVE!

[dinnertime]

I also feel this game kinda lacks a strong villain

Then you haven't met Nael Van Darnus.

[Divine_Intervention]

Couldn't agree with this thread more. Can't STAND alphinaud. He's a stupid child who thinks he's a leader, and has proven repeatedly he's naive to a fault. And yes, the getting told to run around like a headless chicken after these idiots is severely irritating lol. I've been crying out for them to write him off every patch...

[Divine_Intervention]

To be fair ...

3.2 SPOILER


The scene with the hot drink in Dragonhead , put a smile on my face , i enjoyed it because it feels like Alphinaud really cares about the YOU , he is the loyal friend that care about you as person, not because of WHO YOU ARE (warrior of light) , because of HOW YOU ARE...he is a little annoying? sometimes , but hey we all have friends like him.

Let Alphinaud grown up a bit , im sure he will be a great character like his Grandpa.

See i interpreted that differently. It felt really needy, and then once again back to the "ok greatest warrior of our land, here's what your going to do, and everyone else will fall in line".

[dinnertime]

I'm on the side where I believe they're really not "useless", or bad characters.
Honestly, people just seem to overlook the characters and value them from their usefulness or what they've done for you rather than their relationship with you which just sickens me with people how believe Minfilia and Alphinaud are useless and need to get rid of. People seem to overlook what they've done for you as well and assume they did nothing at all.

Both of them are great characters. Minfilia in 1.0 was leading a small group of people who possess the echo, although she wasn't treated as one, and that she couldn't do much with so little people, she didn't give up on protecting Eorzea from the Garlean Empire. Louisoux also trusted her a lot to take his place to lead the Circle of Knowing, which enough says that Minfilia is a great leader Louisoux and the rest of the scions and her people can rely on.

Most players just want to see her fight and be a badass even though she doesn't really know how, so people see her as "useless".
Let me tell you about Kan-E Senna. She's the leader of Gridania, she's a competent, wise, and kind person and just about everybody likes and respects her but have you seen her fight at all? No. Being able to fight isn't what makes a character great.

Alphinaud on the other hand I didn't like at first because of how bratty and smug he was but with what happened in 2.55 from learning his lesson and in Heavensward, his shift in character made him one of my favorite characters. All I could say is that he's grown up and opened his eyes.

[Ashkendor]

The Scions just sit around and wait for the next earth-shattering events rather then actually BEING PROACTIVE!

I don't get that impression at all. It seems more to me that they keep a close watch on a lot of things about the world and only bring the WoL on board when the threat is imminent and therefore there's just no other way to deal with it than to bring in the big guns. We aren't told about things until we're brought on board because we simply don't need to know about them. We're just one part of an organization. Early on, we were just any old newbie adventurer (hence why we did tons of lame fetch quests, working our way up) but now we've proven ourselves to be an extremely powerful hero. Yes we also do menial things like distributing uniforms and handing out soup to soldiers, but that can be pretty much written off as simple PR. They make a huge point of this in the 3.2 story. The WoL is basically a celebrity. Given that celebrity status, we end up having to do a lot of seemingly menial things for the sake of things like public image and the morale of the people around us.