Quote Originally Posted by Denishia View Post
And XIV isn't an open sandbox game, at least not the MSQ, nor does it have branching paths, so the single path that it does have has clearly defined protagonists and antagonists and supporting cast and one side will be the protagonists' side and the other given the focus needed to make antagonists work for the story.
Right. And isn't it ingenious and also convenient that we can say, "It is an MMO, but we are all playing the same role...as individual shards of this Azem person... who has certain values and mannerisms that all of us seem to have in common for some reason, according to the other characters..." That is why my immersion doesn't break much. Even the Zenos smirk seemed off but I was like yeah, they are having an Azem moment and that is just what they do. In some ways we can't escape our inherited traits, as anyone with crappy parents can tell you.

I hope this might help some people stay invested in their character. We are all different, but in some ways the same, and the shards-of-Azem thing is an elegant solution. And even if we aren't actually shards of Azem, it is people's expectations of us that have led to main character's development and mannerisms. I guess the opposite of feeling like words are put in your mouth would be the Crystarium people who are like "WE ARE ALL WARRIORS OF LIGHT!!!" I don't think that has been the way they've portrayed main character in the narrative, either. We have some agency. Like the Azim Steppe quest where the guy was sad because he couldn't fight with the weapon he was destined to fight with and wound up being a great hand-to-hand fighter.

It has been a very meta experience to play this game. I hope I am not alone. It gives me a lot to think about aside from which side my character is on or if they don't do the vanu vanu dance quite like I would IRL.