Final Fantasy XIV doesn't actually have that good of a story

[MilkieTea]

snip

Thancred
"I happen to be thoroughly enjoying the company of these ravishing young ladies and, gods willing, will still be doing so come sunrise."
"If I may, the lovely maiden beside me is named Y'shtola. Limsa Lominsa has the pleasure of being under her care."
"Ever at your service, fair lady!" (If you have a female avatar)

Each of these are some of the MANY lines he has in which he flirts with, hits on, or otherwise attempts to schmooze nearly every woman he encounters. He's an unrepentant flirt. Two of those lines are from the first meeting with the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Pray tell me, would Y'shtola saying these lines give you the same result?

Y'shtola being smart, sassy and unnaturally good at aetheric manipulation is what saved her and Thancred's lives. How doesn't that show, when the only other character able to teleport freely is US? And that's something said within the main story. It nearly killed her. Thancred literally flirts with female player characters. Your being a female affects his basic interactions with you. They have impact - I think you're focusing so much on thinking they're not showing it to you, that you missed what they showed you.

[WanderingMist]

Thancred
"I happen to be thoroughly enjoying the company of these ravishing young ladies and, gods willing, will still be doing so come sunrise."
"If I may, the lovely maiden beside me is named Y'shtola. Limsa Lominsa has the pleasure of being under her care."
"Ever at your service, fair lady!" (If you have a female avatar)

Each of these are some of the MANY lines he has in which he flirts with, hits on, or otherwise attempts to schmooze nearly every woman he encounters. He's an unrepentant flirt. Two of those lines are from the first meeting with the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Pray tell me, would Y'shtola saying these lines give you the same result?

Y'shtola being smart, sassy and unnaturally good at aetheric manipulation is what saved her and Thancred's lives. How doesn't that show, when the only other character able to teleport freely is US? And that's something said within the main story. It nearly killed her. Thancred literally flirts with female player characters. Your being a female affects his basic interactions with you. They have impact - I think you're focusing so much on thinking they're not showing it to you, that you missed what they showed you.

I'll grant you, some of those lines do bring out Thancred's character. It's a shame that they are forgotten amidst the sea of exposition. Y'shtola being able to teleport freely doesn't mean too much when the player can do it freely and the significance of it is buried amidst (you guessed it) more exposition.

[MilkieTea]

I'll grant you, some of those lines do bring out Thancred's character. It's a shame that they are forgotten amidst the sea of exposition. Y'shtola being able to teleport freely doesn't mean too much when the player can do it freely and the significance of it is buried amidst (you guessed it) more exposition.

But she isn't able to teleport freely is the point. She has such finetuned control over the small amount of aether that she can manipulate safely, that she was able to teleport herself and Thancred out of harms way - which lead to her near death. This just proves to me that you weren't paying nearly as much attention as you say you were. You are the ONLY OTHER PERSON able to teleport at will, and for you it's a piece of cake because of the sheer amount of aether in your possession. The game literally both tells you, and SHOWS you, this.

You're so obsessed with "show don't tell" that I think you've forgotten what that actually means. Exposition is necessary in certain circumstances, yet we are SHOWN Thancred's wit and personality, no one sits there saying "Yeah Thancred's a flirt!" We see and experience it. We are SHOWN Y'shtola's quick thinking under pressure, her sass, and her willingness to stand her ground. No one says that. We are SHOWN Yda and Papalymo's undying friendship and loyalty to each other in the face of uncertain futures. We are SHOWN Alphinaud's uncertainty and his naivety. We are shown that the Scions of the Seventh Dawn are a group filled with intelligent people, and ALSO told that.

Show, don't tell, doesn't mean characters can't talk. Show, don't tell means "Don't just say this character is quick witted. Show them BEING quick witted." Which is what the game does.

Thancred is a flirt - he flirts. Y'shtola is smart and able to finetunely control aether - she does JUST THAT. Alphinaud is naive - he literally gathers together a group of Sellswords and doesn't expect them to still be sellswords. Yda and Papalymo are friends to the literal end - these aren't things the game tells us, these are things you're SHOWN.

[WanderingMist]

But she isn't able to teleport freely is the point. She has such finetuned control over the small amount of aether that she can manipulate safely, that she was able to teleport herself and Thancred out of harms way - which lead to her near death. This just proves to me that you weren't paying nearly as much attention as you say you were. You are the ONLY OTHER PERSON able to teleport at will, and for you it's a piece of cake because of the sheer amount of aether in your possession. The game literally both tells you, and SHOWS you, this.

You're so obsessed with "show don't tell" that I think you've forgotten what that actually means. Exposition is necessary in certain circumstances, yet we are SHOWN Thancred's wit and personality, no one sits there saying "Yeah Thancred's a flirt!" We see and experience it. We are SHOWN Y'shtola's quick thinking under pressure, her sass, and her willingness to stand her ground. No one says that. We are SHOWN Yda and Papalymo's undying friendship and loyalty to each other in the face of uncertain futures. We are SHOWN Alphinaud's uncertainty and his naivety. We are shown that the Scions of the Seventh Dawn are a group filled with intelligent people, and ALSO told that.

Show, don't tell, doesn't mean characters can't talk. Show, don't tell means "Don't just say this character is quick witted. Show them BEING quick witted." Which is what the game does.

Thancred is a flirt - he flirts. Y'shtola is smart and able to finetunely control aether - she does JUST THAT. Alphinaud is naive - he literally gathers together a group of Sellswords and doesn't expect them to still be sellswords. Yda and Papalymo are friends to the literal end - these aren't things the game tells us, these are things you're SHOWN.

See, in my opinion the game does a very poor job of showing any of the traits you are explaining. You know what I'd love to see? The Scions actually fighting alongside you. That alone would drastically increase my feelings towards them. Also on a final point about Y'shtola's abilities, this is actually a trope you see a lot in games. You have some kind of ability that you (as the player) can do at the drop of a hat, like teleporting, and you're the only one who can do this. I had no idea until you told me just now that the player character had so much power when teleporting around the world is so simple and easy.

Here, this video does a much better job of explaining it: https://youtu.be/qxwy8kpFwZ0