What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[Seiori]

New World a Wild West,steam punk theme setting,Gun Slinger class(yes please, I am a Wild Arms fan lol). That would be pretty awesome if that happen.

[aveyond-dreams]

I was disappointed Ishgard became a republic. I suppose there wasn't any other way to go about it though since the collapse of the church and they didn't have a monarchy.

As for the New World, it might have some possibilities if they did a Wild West theme, perhaps with steampunk. Machinist being the obvious choice for featured class. I know the woke crowd is already up in arms about any depiction of colonialism, but I don't see why it has to mirror American history which, IMO, is not particularly interesting. They already sort of did a Central Americas theme with the Ronkan Empire and, frankly, as a WoW refugee I'm tired of that aesthetic since it is prominent among the troll races. I'd rather they do something completely new. It's a fantasy video game, the options are limitless, content doesn't have to be based on real world history (and I'd prefer it not).

My main concern with Meracydia is it being HW 2.0 except with dragons vs. Allagan descendants. I loved HW, but am not all that interested in a similar story with a different skin.

I do not believe a dominant wild west theme would appeal to the Final Fantasy audience, but it admittedly has a higher chance of success compared to a dominant tribal Central American theme. "Wild west" balanced with more of the Neo-Ishgardian steampunk style is something I would at least be mildly interested in, but it is still a long ways away from what I believe makes up the core of Final Fantasy.

I will not speak in great detail as to the plot I wrote for the 7.0 concept thread coming later-only that it is not a very clear-cut "dragons vs. allagan descendants" situation. Dragons are there, of course, but I would not say they are as an overwhelming focus as they were in Heavensward.

I tried to flesh out the 7.0 setting to a reasonable degree, and I can say securely that I veered away from more tiring elements. While it is on the scale of Heavensward, I also wove in elements that would serve as a basis for an overarching season 2 plot that would take center stage after 7.0.

[Lauront]

Well, there is Monster Hunter World which they could always draw upon for inspiration for the New World...

[Pyro2hell3]

It probably won't happen, but I'd think it hysterical if part of the next involves the wol of going "Okay I've saved the world what the hell do i do now?" then inadvertently leaving a trail of chaos in there wake while trying to answer that question. they try going back to being an adventurer but case some kind of bidding war or people panic since there's no way the wol would go somewhere to solve a mundane problem. Then they try finding rare items for people are way to successful casing several markets to crash (tataru was really unhappy with us for that one) etc. and during all of this our character is expecting to just walk by Zenos drinking tea in café or something

[Teraq]

Jeez, I made the mistake of peering at /r/ffxiv and instantly saw people praising Emet's Ultima Thule scene and how it made them cry.

Personally the only reason why it might have made me cry was watching Emet not even being mad at Venat for everything, and going yass queen we dumb Ancients could have never figured this out.

Also I found his line about "I bid you remember, yet it was us who had forgotten" to sound kind of apologetic? But like, dw Emet that's not your fault at all, you couldn't really help it if one crazy dude had a convenient memory-wipe machine and his co-conspirator never told you the truth and just let you toil and suffer for 12,000 years.

I'm not over FFXIV social media yet, let me stay in this bubble some more.

[Theodric]

Honestly? It's a real turn off for me. I'm all for people not being unfeeling constructs but over the last decade or so it really seems like the bar has been set so low that a bit of sad music will play and a character will look upset and that will be mistaken as excellent storytelling.

Arguably because many consumers are a bit too prone to turning on the waterworks in response to every little thing. Even if what is supposedly 'sad' doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

You're absolutely right in that Venat should have been given a very scathing lecture (even if she wasn't there at the time to receive it).

Something that annoys me is that the potential for genuinely saddening moments is often overlooked. I'm still salty that we never got to see Varis' reaction to Regula's demise. The pair were friends since childhood which is decades ago - and to me that's a far more tragic loss than Haurchefant. A guy we knew for, what? A few weeks or months at most? To say nothing of the simple fact that it's also arguably up in the air as to whether he threw himself into danger because he was a genuinely good person or because - particularly in the Japanese localisation - he was utterly obsessed with the player character to a rather creepy degree!

[Teraq]

I am honestly salty about everything Varis. Just when he was gearing up to step into the spotlight he was offed by a worse character. He deserved better.
It did make for an interesting setting in EW Garlemald as I found it to be the best part of MSQ in retrospect (sorry Elpis but IMO you jumped the shark so hard even Mitron would think that was over the top), and yes admittedly I credit Jullus with being the first EW character to make me break down in tears, but I still think of what Garlemald could have been.

I can picture the entire fanbase crying at everything in Ultima Thule. Though personally the one part that did make me cry was the Ea. Staying home waiting to dissolve into a puddle, barely remembering how to function and do social things again, just kind of hit way too close from home for me.

[Kozh]

Jeez, I made the mistake of peering at /r/ffxiv and instantly saw people praising Emet's Ultima Thule scene and how it made them cry.

Personally the only reason why it might have made me cry was watching Emet not even being mad at Venat for everything, and going yass queen we dumb Ancients could have never figured this out.

Also I found his line about "I bid you remember, yet it was us who had forgotten" to sound kind of apologetic? But like, dw Emet that's not your fault at all, you couldn't really help it if one crazy dude had a convenient memory-wipe machine and his co-conspirator never told you the truth and just let you toil and suffer for 12,000 years.

I'm not over FFXIV social media yet, let me stay in this bubble some more.

As Emet fan, 100% this. I cried during the conclusion of Elpis when I realized we can't save him and Hytlo. But in Ultima Thule? I feel it was a disrespect actually by making HIM, out of everyone, to validate Venat's decision. Like, really?? Can we please have one scene where the devs aren't bashing our head with "See? See?? Venat is the right one". I just sit there dumbfounded for a while and went "F that". And I get even more salty that we don't even get the option to say farewell and call his real name, meanwhile we have the option to do so for both Hermes and Venat.

Other people have mentioned it before; but yeah, this game attempted to present morally gray story/point of view, yet at the same time isn't brave enough to commit to the idea that the protagonist side isn't that much different from the "bad guy".

[Teraq]

As Emet fan, 100% this. I cried during the conclusion of Elpis when I realized we can't save him and Hytlo. But in Ultima Thule? I feel it was a disrespect actually by making HIM, out of everyone, to validate Venat's decision. Like, really?? Can we please have one scene where the devs aren't bashing our head with "See? See?? Venat is the right one". I just sit there dumbfounded for a while and went "F that". And I get even more salty that we don't even get the option to say farewell and call his real name, meanwhile we have the option to do so for both Hermes and Venat.

Other people have mentioned it before; but yeah, this game attempted to present morally gray story/point of view, yet at the same time isn't brave enough to commit to the idea that the protagonist side isn't that much different from the "bad guy".

Ah but you see, I surmise we were meant to think of Hermes and Venat as "morally grey"... at the cost of throwing the Ancients under the bus narratively, of course.

[Lauront]

As Emet fan, 100% this. I cried during the conclusion of Elpis when I realized we can't save him and Hytlo. But in Ultima Thule? I feel it was a disrespect actually by making HIM, out of everyone, to validate Venat's decision. Like, really?? Can we please have one scene where the devs aren't bashing our head with "See? See?? Venat is the right one". I just sit there dumbfounded for a while and went "F that". And I get even more salty that we don't even get the option to say farewell and call his real name, meanwhile we have the option to do so for both Hermes and Venat.

Other people have mentioned it before; but yeah, this game attempted to present morally gray story/point of view, yet at the same time isn't brave enough to commit to the idea that the protagonist side isn't that much different from the "bad guy".

At least it's not worded as badly in French (the part about "setting foot here"), but I agree, the scene is being used to try seal a "happy" ending for all of them (why Hermes should be included in that final art is beyond me), to the point that even anger which would be justified is being scrubbed away. His people are wiped out, his two close colleagues Lahabrea and Elidibus have lost their identity in what would be a vain struggle (since the time to fix it would've been much before but someone never told them because of supposed time travel shenanigans) and their souls denied their return to the Underworld, and having to play villain and go against the remnants of their close friend when they finally found them. As a method of bringing me to like her? It doesn't work, in fact it achieves the opposite. I'm not the type to cry and the Ultima Thule stuff did nothing for me beyond the plight of the dragons (there you could really see the tale of a species broken by senseless destruction.) By contrast, the Garlemald stuff with Jullus, Elidibus's fate and acceptance of it, and those wandering ancients around Zodiark? That stuff was much sadder.