This game lacks a good villain

[Velhart]

A few things needed to make a good villain.

-They do need a simple name. Something easy to roll off the tongue. Not Flerdade'busi'ne'sin. This was more of an issue in FFXI than FFXIV. Right now through the series we had Darnus, Gaius, and Thordan. Names easy enough to remember. Ascian names are questionable at times but Lahabrea and Elidibus are not too bad either.

-Characters need simple traits and not over the top complex motives so they are easier to relate to and understand. They need to be three-dimensional and easy to understand.

-Villain needs more screen time. Something in FFXIV I noticed is a lot of times, we don't get to see the villains too often and when we do, it is to come in, do something bad that sets the party back, then leaves. We get very few scenes expanding on the villain and their motives. They do to an extent, but not as much as they should.

-Design. Design is such a heavy part in this. This is something FFXIV severely lacks right now. The most significant looking designed villains are Darnus and Gaius. Even then, we never see Gaius with his helmet off. We do for Darnus, but not in 1.0 when he/she was more significant. The ascians are the worst abusers of this. All in the same type of cloak and the only thing differentiating them is their name. Elidibus only being different by wearing a white cloak instead of black. I get we are going for a Organization XIII type thing here, but at least they took their hoods off to show a unique design. For the ascians, it is the same mask never taken off and just throw in a different voice actor. We never even saw what Lahabrea looked like without using a vessel like Thancred. If you want memorable villains, you have to give them memorable yet simple designs.

You do have to remember also that this is a evolving game. So a lot of stories and villains are going to be contained within the areas of the expansion. I can only see real high stakes and world shattering events happening when we have enough expansions that eventually join together similar to how Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia worked into the Apocalypse Nigh quest line in FFXI. Not the same story structure, but how we work into bigger stakes is the point I am getting at.