Where are the Hildibrand Trials? :(

[bass9020]

It didn't get much popularity because it was a bit too serious. After the whole 3.0 feel train people just wanted something to get them off the pain they experienced from the Main Story and countless depressing side quests like that one side quest where a little orphan girl died before she could reach her dream.

Hildy series is popular because it gets people off the feel train and seriousness the Main story and countless other side quests constantly focus too much on.

Oh I know, I felt the Scholasticate lacked a bit of charm that Hildibrand series had and I figured thats why they brought him back for now. I hope the Scholasticate comes back with a bit more to it than what was originally released.

[Moomba33]

I admit that I was one of the people that was a bit disappointed with the Scholasticate quests. The Hildebrand questline was my favourite series of sidequests in ARR and I found the Scholasticate underwhelming by comparison. To be fair I don't think that it was bad, it was just a different tone than what I was hoping for.

I am looking forward to seeing how it plays out in 3.4. Hopefully it'll be more substantial than what we've been getting from Hildy lately since it has presumably been planned out more.

I'd also love to see more post moogle quests or adventurers with the Doman kids in Mor Dhona in the future. I really do love the side stories in XIV and feel that they add a lot to the world.

[EdwinLi]

Oh I know, I felt the Scholasticate lacked a bit of charm that Hildibrand series had and I figured thats why they brought him back for now. I hope the Scholasticate comes back with a bit more to it than what was originally released.

Actually it was not really the lack of success for Scholasticate but more that they already promised Hildibrand to return back in 2.X.

A SE rep did say that there would be more Hildibrand back in 2.X during a Fourm post.

Though i am a bit sad how short each episode in Season 2 is. Season 1 was great as the length allowed for a more wider story with its Pink Panther humor.

Also where the "Seven Hell" is Greg? He already said back in Season 1 it was not the last we seen of him.

[Toguro]

Actually it was not really the lack of success for Scholasticate but more that they already promised Hildibrand to return back in 2.X.

A SE rep did say that there would be more Hildibrand back in 2.X during a Fourm post.

Though i am a bit sad how short each episode in Season 2 is. Season 1 was great as the length allowed for a more wider story with its Pink Panther humor.

Also where the "Seven Hell" is Greg? He already said back in Season 1 it was not the last we seen of him.

Waiting for that Gilgamesh (Extreme)...

[Zeno_McDohl]

I suspect the real reason we don't have Hildy trials this time is that the questline was rushed out due to popular demand and didn't receive as much planning or development time as the ARR questline.

Maybe! But I mean we're already 2 patches into Hildibrand, and 1 year into 3.x. I understand the first Hildy questline not having a Trial but I was a bit surprised when 3.3 did not either. I like goofy Trials, and at this point at most we're going to have 2 Trials max (3.4, 3.5) if we're ever getting them.

[Enkidoh]

The thing is though, which most players don't realize, is exactly why Hildibrand was originally created in the first place - in 1.0 when he first appeared he was added as part of the quests to unlock the Inn Rooms, and then became a comic relief character intended to inject a little lightheartedness into a setting that was becoming increasingly dark and depressing (what with Dalamud looming overhead like the Sword of Damocles). This is why he wasn't immediately brought back in ARR, SE at the time felt he was no longer needed - Inn Rooms were unlocked early in the main scenario by default and the story didn't have quite such a pressing "we're all going to die if this giant space rock isn't stopped" situation hanging over it.

But players being what they are, requested his return and SE complied. However, as the story and setting of ARR by that stage was considerably lighter than the game was at the end of 1.0 when he first appeared, they needed some way to make him work. Unfortunately, he became a vehicle for sticking in fanservice trials (like FFV's Gilgamesh and FFVI's Ultros and Typhon) with virtually zero explanation or reason for those fights to be there (not that I hate fanservice battles, I loved the Gilgamesh fights, I just felt it could have been implemented in a better way than lumped in as part of the Hildibrand questline), and his character and storyline descending more and more into utter farce. He was still hilarious, but the increasingly ridiculous situations he was finding himself in just made the whole thing go from the cerebral comedy of Blackadder to cheap Looney Tunes-esque slapstick, to his detriment.

Luckily by the end of his ARR questline, things improved and the situation started to become a lot more serious and interesting, which gave hope that SE were restoring the 'comic relief but with dignity' style of comedy his 1.0 appearance had, instead of the farcical rubberfaced buffoonery that he had throughout ARR. So far his early appearances in Heavensward continue to give me that hope.

Also where the "Seven Hell" is Greg? He already said back in Season 1 it was not the last we seen of him.

Am I the only one who actually hates this meme? All throughout the FF series Gilgamesh has never once been called that even by fans - until now. What made Hildibrand's silly misnaming so special it has to be now used as a shorthand name for Gilgamesh? (I'm not attacking you Edwin, I'm just curious as to why everyone keeps calling Gil that).

But I guess that's enough of me being a sourpuss for one day.

[Noshpan]

Well, there's at least a couple more major patches coming before the next expansion, so maybe there will be a new Hildibrand trial added in one of them?

[Laerune]

Hildi quests hasnt realy been the same, it feels like the SE did not have a story for him yet, but they lacked side stories and knew that people liked Hildi, so they released those quests. I also noticed that the new Hildi quests are way shorter then the 2.0 quests.

[bass9020]

Hildi quests hasnt realy been the same, it feels like the SE did not have a story for him yet, but they lacked side stories and knew that people liked Hildi, so they released those quests. I also noticed that the new Hildi quests are way shorter then the 2.0 quests.

Im pretty sure this is what happened because the Scholasticate was suppose to be the new Hildibrand for the 3.0 series

[EdwinLi]

Im pretty sure this is what happened because the Scholasticate was suppose to be the new Hildibrand for the 3.0 series

I just hope the continuation is nice in length as they certainly had 2 patchs to cover their "readjustment" in the story for the Scholasticate.

It would be a bit funny if both Hildibrand and Scholasticate story ended in 3.4 with both of them giving off a small cliffhanger that the true villain has yet to be caught and some how in 3.5 both Hildibrand and Scholasticate story combined for a unexpect finale combining both the seriousness of Scholasticate and Pink Panther style story of Hildibrand.