6.0 Story Speculations

[Enkidoh]

I never trusted or expected to reach an understanding with two members of the group whose goal is to cause calamities and kill everybody, especially not with Emet saying things like “it’s not murder if I kill you” and “my goals are unchanged.” Every third quest, I was waiting for them to drop the act and attack me, so when shenanigans happened it was in no way shocking.

Fanboy has already put up his towers around the world, trapped people in them, summoned primals, caused lots of death and has the machinery in place to cause a lot more, and isn’t even pretending to want dialogue like the last two Ascians. Plus his partner/patron is the guy who wants to destroy the world to get a big pointless backdrop for his big pointless fight. He isn’t acting like he wants to be talked to, he’s acting like he wants his head caved in posthaste.

Not to mention that of all the bodies to possess as his host Fandanglelangadingaling chose someone that was already heavily despised by players anyway - it's like he wants us to hate him, even despite his nihilistic jabbering. And yes, it's clear he's long past the point of any possibility of reasoning with him.

Well, at least we will finally get to rub that damn arrogant smirk off from Asahi's face ourselves, even though he isn't actually Asahi anymore of course.

[BlitzAceRush]

My point was never that we're going to talk down our opponents, it's that part of the WoL's character is that they'll at least try once, or failing that, as our dialogue with Y'shtola post Elidibus points out, we'll try to understand our enemies and given that Danny's up there putting on a play, trying to see past that would aid in stopping him. Though like every antagonist before him, someone will likely try and reason with him, it'll likely go nowhere, but someone always tries, my point was just that his assertion means little.

[Tensaihime]

My point was never that we're going to talk down our opponents, it's that part of the WoL's character is that they'll at least try once, or failing that, as our dialogue with Y'shtola post Elidibus points out, we'll try to understand our enemies and given that Danny's up there putting on a play, trying to see past that would aid in stopping him. Though like every antagonist before him, someone will likely try and reason with him, it'll likely go nowhere, but someone always tries, my point was just that his assertion means little.

How has the WoL not learned by now, when the end result is always a beatdown anyway? Just... let the Scions save their breath, focus on crushing the threat to those who don’t want another calamity.

[Tensaihime]

Not to mention that of all the bodies to possess as his host Fandanglelangadingaling chose someone that was already heavily despised by players anyway - it's like he wants us to hate him, even despite his nihilistic jabbering. And yes, it's clear he's long past the point of any possibility of reasoning with him.

Well, at least we will finally get to rub that damn arrogant smirk off from Asahi's face ourselves, even though he isn't actually Asahi anymore of course.

Tell me about it! Any other body and I’d be more interested in learning about the guy, but as it is all I want to do is knock out his teeth. The only way I could loathe his choice of host more would be if he bodyjacked Ilberd, or stitched the halves of... screw it, my notes have him as “Television” back together. Then again, Raubahn and/or the WoL would have turned him into a fine red mist if he did that and he’d have to go possess somebody else anyway.

Why don’t Ascians ever take Au Ra hosts? That would be rather imposing, I think. Or if one of them possessed Lolorito -I’d be crying laughing for days.

[BlitzAceRush]

How has the WoL not learned by now, when the end result is always a beatdown anyway? Just... let the Scions save their breath, focus on crushing the threat to those who don’t want another calamity.

Because what if it works? If we ever did manage to one time to talk down someone, we could save a lot of people and destruction. (it's a game, so we won't or it won't stop the bad because there needs to be a plot)
If you could end a conflict before it gets worse and all it cost you to try was some air, wouldn't you try it every time?

[KageTokage]

I'm not really expecting Fandaniel to develop much aside from us learning that he does have a reason for wanting to destroy the world and that he just didn't consider it anything worth mentioning to anyone.

Yoshi P hinted that there's someone who's related to him somehow (I'm thinking it's probably Venat) and I feel we're more likely to learn the what/why from them then the man himself.

[Iscah]

I can't remember the exact conversation we had about it, but are we maybe going to try to talk to him to find out his true reasoning, not just the hammy "I just want to destroy everything" claim?

Well, at least we will finally get to rub that damn arrogant smirk off from Asahi's face ourselves, even though he isn't actually Asahi anymore of course.

On a side note I am still disappointed that they used "Asahi's face" for Moren. It's clearly that face and it's distracting because Moren isn't anything like Asahi but I keep thinking of him regardless.

[BlitzAceRush]

I'm not expecting much from him either, though they could always surprise us, I'm just looking at it from the WoL and the Scion's perspective, we also tends to try and reach out, if it works, great, if it doesn't then nothing lost, we do as we always do, if we learn something of use in the process all the better.

[Vyrerus]

How has the WoL not learned by now, when the end result is always a beatdown anyway? Just... let the Scions save their breath, focus on crushing the threat to those who don’t want another calamity.

Mainly because the scriptwriters won't let anyone get seriously harmed when they try. I imagine the WoL wouldn't be so intent on trying to talk to Fandaniel if a past Ascian had, idk, killed somebody close to us when they tried to talk'em into being morally upstanding.

Though what's somewhat funny about this plotline is that the one person we did not try to talk into being not bad was Zenos. However, Zenos did try to convince the WoL that they are the same, and they could be friends, if they weren't so alike in their lust for battle.

It's actually kind of a recent development for the WoL, I feel, to be this way. Perhaps Alphinaud has rubbed off on him. I don't much appreciate it, especially after already having a villain like Fandaniel in Nidhogg. Not exactly alike, mind you, but there was no reasoning with Nidhogg. There was barely reasoning with Hraesvelgr.

In fact, now that I really think back on it, usually in the past we've never tried to reason with our foes. Garleans in Castrum Meridianum? No reasoning. We kill them or caused them to flee. Gaius extends an olive branch, saying we could be his right hand.

Ishgard's Pope? Aymeric tried and Alphinaud (of all people) called him a blind idealist. We sure as shoot didn't try talking to him, and even got a dialogue option about making Ser Zepherin pay.

Warriors of Darkness? Nope. No talkin' attempted. Ilberd? Nope.

Hmmm... maybe Azem's Crystal is already playing on our mind?

[BlitzAceRush]

I feel it started as they expanded the dialogue options, we only really got to talk a fair bit more in Stormblood onwards and even then they didn't really seem sure what they want to do with the system, even now it fights itself, the WoL is partly an established character, it's clear they're supposed to be a particular person with certain ideals and values and we just get to name them and design them, other times we get some varying degree of agency that range from just flavor text to changing the whole tone of a response, then in side stories it can often feels like the WoL becomes a different person, they seem to just give the guest writers almost free agency to write what they want.
Though in the MSQ the WoL's modesoperande is now just: exhaust the talk action until all lore has been expunged and boons granted, then proceed with the beatdown.