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

[CrownySuccubus]

Eh, each to their own but that was never what drew me to the games in the first place. It was the nuance of the more mature titles - a trend I hoped that FFXIV itself would follow. FFXII appealed to me in large part because it didn't result in the Archadian Empire being cut apart and done away with. Larsa ascended the throne but we didn't get rid of the concept of an Emperor.

FFIX didn't end with Queen Garnet abdicating the throne either. I like Empires, Knights, Monarchies and other similar tropes. I'd rather not see them done away with or gutted to the point of every region just subscribing to the same bland set of modern day real world ideals that the Scions often enforce on everybody but themselves.

After seeing how the Ancients and Garleans were handled, I'd rather not see more elements of the game that I like be completely or near completely destroyed and changed. The game's rated for ages sixteen and up in my region so it can...afford to have some grit to it. Not everything needs to wrap up perfectly in a neat little bow.

I don't really know what you mean.

Ishgard was a corrupt theocracy that imploded on itself when its religion was revealed to be based on a lie. Their government may be a republic now, but that's more Aymeric's doing than the Scions'.

Gyr Abania decided themselves that, based on their history, reestablishing any sort of dictatorship was a really, really bad idea. The Scions explicitly had nothing to do with it.

Doma is literally still a dictatorship.

Eulmore was a former cult of personality that, again, decided to elect a democratic leader themselves.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Eh, each to their own but that was never what drew me to the games in the first place. It was the nuance of the more mature titles - a trend I hoped that FFXIV itself would follow. FFXII appealed to me in large part because it didn't result in the Archadian Empire being cut apart and done away with. Larsa ascended the throne but we didn't get rid of the concept of an Emperor.

FFIX didn't end with Queen Garnet abdicating the throne either. I like Empires, Knights, Monarchies and other similar tropes. I'd rather not see them done away with or gutted to the point of every region just subscribing to the same bland set of modern day real world ideals that the Scions often enforce on everybody but themselves.

After seeing how the Ancients and Garleans were handled, I'd rather not see more elements of the game that I like be completely or near completely destroyed and changed. The game's rated for ages sixteen and up in my region so it can...afford to have some grit to it. Not everything needs to wrap up perfectly in a neat little bow.

It’s especially bad when you see someone’s attempt at something else(crystal braves) fail miserably, yet said person is still being put in the position to help make decisions for other countries. A lot of it just feels unrealistic just to prove some weird point of “oh these powers are corrupt, but only really because they oppose the main cast!”

[Theodric]

I don't really know what you mean.

Ishgard was a corrupt theocracy that imploded on itself when its religion was revealed to be based on a lie. Their government may be a republic now, but that's more Aymeric's doing than the Scions'.

Gyr Abania decided themselves that, based on their history, reestablishing any sort of dictatorship was a really, really bad idea. The Scions explicitly had nothing to do with it.

Doma is literally still a dictatorship.

Eulmore was a former cult of personality that, again, decided to elect a democratic leader themselves.

Pretty much every leader figure the game has had our character interact with has gone one of two ways - either they've been killed or they've conveniently done exactly what the Scions have not so subtly nudged them into doing.

I'm already dreading the idea of Alphinaud and Alisae seeding the idea that Garlemald should do away with the idea of an Emperor so it can instead become a democratic republic again. An act which simply serves to strip away a lot of the established flavour...and it'd be further salt in the wound after the region wasn't even given the dignity of an actual expansion largely focused on Garlemald and Garlemald alone.

I also don't really consider the mere existence of a monarchy to be a 'dictatorship' or worthy of scorn. They're a key part of my own country, culture and ancestry and a large part of why I enjoy fantasy settings.

[aveyond-dreams]

I'd rather play games set in Monarchies than Republics. I have very little reason to root for "freedom!" when these republics end up with people like Lyse in government. Goodness.

I have no reason to care for ordinary citizens in a republic, especially when they do so little to get me to root for their cause like in Gyr Abania. Hien however, I was willing to help. Possibly because reclaiming one's throne and caring for one's people as a task passed on to you from your ancestors serves as a decent starting point in terms of character motivations. I would have loved to see Aymeric take the throne of Ishgard as well too.

It's simply easier for me to get invested in a world full of princes and kings than the United States of Final Fantasy.

[CrownySuccubus]

Pretty much every leader figure the game has had our character interact with has gone one of two ways - either they've been killed or they've conveniently done exactly what the Scions have not so subtly nudged them into doing.

I'm already dreading the idea of Alphinaud and Alisae seeding the idea that Garlemald should do away with the idea of an Emperor so it can instead become a democratic republic again. An act which simply serves to strip away a lot of the established flavour...and it'd be further salt in the wound after the region wasn't even given the dignity of an actual expansion largely focused on Garlemald and Garlemald alone.

I also don't really consider the mere existence of a monarchy to be a 'dictatorship' or worthy of scorn. They're a key part of my own country, culture and ancestry and a large part of why I enjoy fantasy settings.

A monarchy and a dictatorship are not the exact same thing. "Dictatorship" is merely a word. It refers to a government in which one individual holds most or all of the executive power. That's what Ishgard, Eulmore, Gyr Abania and Garlemald were, and what Doma currently is. Their leaders had the final say on just about all government action or policy. A monarchy that is also dictatorship is called an "Absolute Monarchy".

Gridania, Uldah, Limsa and Hingashi just barely do not fit the technical definitions of "dictatorship" since their leaders can't just do anything they like and usually have to run their ideas by committee.

That being said, absolute monarchies and dictatorships have lots of fundamental problems that are basically proven by history. I really don't care whether or not they're included in a fantasy game with gods and demons and magic, but within the real world, I'm going to treat any form of monarchy and/or dictatorship with a wide berth. And the exact circumstances behind the falls of Ishgard, Eulmore, Garlemald, and Gyr Abania are exactly why.

[aveyond-dreams]

I'll take more absolute monarchies in game if it actually results in more interesting plots and characters not solely tied to *1* country of all the ones in FFXIV's world, whose dangerously close to being ruined for those of us who enjoyed Garlemald as an Empire rather than another copypasted republic.

Right now we all we have for the most part are a bunch of republics who stoically nod in agreement on pretty much everything, just like the scions.

[CrownySuccubus]

I'll take more absolute monarchies in game if it actually results in more interesting plots and characters not solely tied to *1* country of all the ones in FFXIV's world, whose dangerously close to being ruined for those of us who enjoyed Garlemald as an Empire rather than another copypasted republic.

Right now we all we have for the most part are a bunch of republics who stoically nod in agreement on pretty much everything, just like the scions.

Yes yes, we get it. You're not interested in anything except European Fairy-Tale Kingdom #74,230.

[aveyond-dreams]

Yes yes, we get it. You're not interested in anything except European Fairy-Tale Kingdom #74,230.

Yeah, because there isn't anything interesting going on with a bunch of republics who are on the same page on 100% of issues, have nerfed their leaders into submission, and have very little in the way of backbones.

Contrast this with individuals like Clive, Garnet, and so on. One kind actually manages to grab and hold onto people's attention beyond the twitter fandoms that form around characters for inexplicable reasons like Zenos.

Why can we not have a Rosaria, or Sanbreque for 7.0? Why can we not have someone like Clive and say, I'm going to do things *my* way and if you disagree then I'm going in solo? Or character growth arcs and funny interactions like those between Zidane and Garnet?

What on earth is G'raha Tia and Alphinaud supposed to do to keep me entertained in Final Fantasy Australia or the New World? Moralize even more about how oppressed some kangaroo tribe is by the local Meracydians who are hunting them for meat in what is supposed to be an empty wasteland? Cause yet more regime change in the colonies of the New World? These are stories that are going nowhere and doing nothing for people outside twitter, who will somehow find fault in the way the situation is handled regardless of how "careful" they go about it.

[CrownySuccubus]

Yeah, because there isn't anything interesting going on with a bunch of republics who are on the same page on 100% of issues, have nerfed their leaders into submission, and have very little in the way of backbones.

Yeah, dude. Because Hien being a dictator totally stops him from being on the same hand-holdy rainbow coalition as every other world leader.

This is a writing problem that has nothing to do with the style of governments being used and everything to do with FFXIV having an extremely hackneyed plot and tendency toward black-and-white morality.

[Brinne]

Gotta say, feels pretty good to be part of the oft-cited apparently terrifying Twitter fandom overlords that love Zenos.