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

[Skyborne]

This thread is a metaphor for the storyline, because it's just going in circles, achieving a time loop of despair roughly every X week.

Can I blame it on Dynamis?

I don't think any one here ever even implied Ancients themselves could just waltz into Ultima Thule.

Azem and Dynamis were both mistakes. As much as I liked the personal tie to the main villains, all the endless wanking about Azem and how this apparently makes you infinitely noble, justifies anything and how you're so quirky and *holds up spork* randum XDDDD is tiresome. The Seat of the Mary-Sue, which bloated many players' egos to even greater heights. Also telling they were evasive about any questions about the Unsundered 'us'. Probably don't want to step on any toes, understandably.

[Teraq]

Also telling they were evasive about any questions about the Unsundered 'us'. Probably don't want to step on any toes, understandably.

Yeah, I thought that was a given, honestly. I wouldn't want the Twitter antis to have an aneurysm at the thought that Unsundered Them might have had a hand in saving anyone on the Convocation, or had an intimate relationship with any of them. I'm not this much of a terrible human being!

[Atelier-Bagur]

That about sums it up for me. This Q&A has swiftly become FFXIV's Burning of Teldrassil—the event that convinces me I don't want to keep paying to play this game. And it's a shame, too. I really did enjoy Endwalker's story.

I think this game has reached the point where due to its MMO nature, will no matter what wont please everybody in terms of how its story was handled. Me personally I have been enjoying it for what it is and the personal emotional journey between my WoL and the main cast. Obviously story beats throughout this big arc has been hit or miss with some folk. Some people didnt care for Minfillia, some people really got attached to Ishgard and its plight, others didnt care for Ala Mhigo, others made the First their new home and others couldnt care less for the final Zenos fight. Certain moments that occur everyone will have their own interpretation for their meaning and its just difficult to gauge everybody's expectations, especially due it being an MMO story. Its clear that the writing team while they had a set end goal for this story, they didnt have every single detail set in stone from the beginning (that would honestly be too ridiculous to believe) and perhaps we should scale back a bit with how we should take the story presented here. Personally Ive been treating FFXIV as one of the best jrpg stories to date......but a jrpg story is still a jrpg story at the end of the day, you're going to have your usual tropes and themes.

Yeah it sucks that for some folk they wound up getting too disappointed for what was supposed to be the big pay off, although I think its a bit too much to think that we've gotten the next Burning of Teldrassil, thats being a little dramatic.

[Rulakir]

That about sums it up for me. This Q&A has swiftly become FFXIV's Burning of Teldrassil—the event that convinces me I don't want to keep paying to play this game. And it's a shame, too. I really did enjoy Endwalker's story.

I sympathize. Unfortunately, EW is not the first nor will it be the last of a series I loved that ended in a way I hated. I'll have to see what happens going forward. As long as I'm 1) not being preached at, 2) not being gaslit, and 3) no more protagonists win everything without breaking a fingernail while the sympathetic antagonists you don't even really want to fight are utterly defeated, then... do I ask too much? :P

I suppose, more than anything, I'm just disappointed that we're basically meant to not think too deeply on...quite a lot of elements related to the story.

I don't know if it's possible for me to enjoy lore on a surface level without any deep diving, but it doesn't seem I have a choice. There's no point in thinking about things the writers/devs don't even consider. I actually feel kind of stupid now sourcing dialog for debates because it turns out most of it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

[Theodric]

That about sums it up for me. This Q&A has swiftly become FFXIV's Burning of Teldrassil—the event that convinces me I don't want to keep paying to play this game. And it's a shame, too. I really did enjoy Endwalker's story.

Heh.

I heard about that particular controversy. I had long since quit WoW before that point but for similar reasons. I was getting pretty tired of the characters and races I rooted for consistently being given a raw deal, often through increasingly contrived plot devices and a lack of meaningful consequences for the characters responsible for their plight.

[Teraq]

Heh.

I heard about that particular controversy. I had long since quit WoW before that point but for similar reasons. I was getting pretty tired of the characters and races I rooted for consistently being given a raw deal, often through increasingly contrived plot devices and a lack of meaningful consequences for the characters responsible for their plight.

I suppose I'm lucky in that while I've been playing Warcraft since I was a 6 year old girl who thought the Trolls with warpaint and big technicolor mohawks were cool (yes, I just played with cheat codes on and made my own maps), I've never really cared for WoW's storyline, I just find the lore of its world mildly interesting (or used to, anyway).

WoW lost me when it started to become apparent that they had stopped caring about entirely solo queue players like me, so around WoD. Thankfully, I turned to FFXIV, which to this day, still feeds me the weekly Valor cap through random queue faceroll instanced content I crave.

[Atelier-Bagur]

I don't know if it's possible for me to enjoy lore on a surface level without any deep diving, but it doesn't seem I have a choice. There's no point in thinking about things the writers/devs don't even consider. I actually feel kind of stupid now sourcing dialog for debates because it turns out most of it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

I mean, they have been literally doing that since the beginning. A lot of story details dont get explained or show up with relevance until waaaay later. One example I had was back in Heavensward with Unukulhai or however you pronounce his name. After the whole Warring Triad ordeal he sorta just...stayed at the Rising Stones and I was disappointed how it seemed that he wasnt brought up ever again for what I considered an important lore detail concerning the nature of his world. Especially with Shadowbringers's story. It wasnt until post-Shb that he was finally given a reason via an optional side quest and was content to see the game giving him a conclusion. Its obvious that the writers dont necessarily plan out every story bit from start to finish rather they go with "post it" notes in their story details for when they could use it for something later or not. Sometimes even changes within the structure causes for planned bread crumbs to stay in the back burner or go in a different direction (aka SB Hildibrand clearly looked like was set up for him to show up in the First but they decided against it at the last minute). Its just how it is or at least how I see it. Not trying to discredit you for trying to get attached to every lore bit but probably temper your expectations a bit. Or not since you're giving up on FFXIV's narrative at this point.

Just my 2 cents.

[Theodric]

I suppose I'm lucky in that while I've been playing Warcraft since I was a 6 year old girl who thought the Trolls with warpaint and big technicolor mohawks were cool (yes, I just played with cheat codes on and made my own maps), I've never really cared for WoW's storyline, I just find the lore of its world mildly interesting (or used to, anyway).

WoW lost me when it started to become apparent that they had stopped caring about entirely solo queue players like me, so around WoD. Thankfully, I turned to FFXIV, which to this day, still feeds me the weekly Valor cap through random queue faceroll instanced content I crave.

I favoured playing Blood Elves and Night Elves. I suppose if nothing else there's a certain irony in it. I left WoW due to becoming disillusioned with how the various Elven races were treated as an annoyance for doing everything possible in order to survive and for disallowing themselves to be subjected to genocide.

It took me a while to find another MMO that was to my personal tastes. FFXIV lured me in with what promised to be a more mature and consistent narrative. I liked both the Garleans and the Ancients as far back as ARR and yet here we are - with both the Garleans and the Ancients being treated as an annoyance for...doing everything possible in order to survive and for disallowing themselves to be subjected to genocide.

[Teraq]

Q: "What about all the Sundered Ascians that remain? We can count Zodiac signs, you know. We're still missing Altima, Deudalaphon, Halmarut and Pashtarot AT LEAST."

A: "Wow, I did not expect people to care so much more about Ascians than we did!"

I know. I've played through Endwalker as an Ascian fan, so I know.

I can't help but notice the /r/ffxiv Discord took down emoji/smiley reactions to the Q&A. I think they got tired of me reacting with :eyeroll:, :yawn: and :yikes:.

[KageTokage]

I was hoping the Q&A would improve my feelings about certain elements of Endwalker's story, but it kind of did the opposite.

It's not enough to make me completely lose faith in the writers like some other people seem to have, though.