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

[Rulakir]

This argument only really applies to Endwalker specifically, which isn't really a fair comparison.

Not really, I've felt this way since SB. Going around listening to the stories of the people of Doma and Ala Mhigo I thought, wow, we haven't gone through much by comparison.

- Thancred was plucked off the street by Louisoix and led a privileged life after that point with the only major loss he's suffered being Minfilia who, IMO, he has an unhealthy fixation on and I'll leave it there lest I fly into a rant. :P He has a slight handicap of losing his ability to wield aether, which fundamentally makes him no different than a Garlean and hasn't had much of an effect other than a moderate inconvenience.
- The only 'bad' thing that's happened to Y'shtola is she lost her normal vision, which was replaced by a superpower aetheric vision.
- Urianger lost Moenbryda and, fortunately, wasn't as obsessed with her as Thancred was with Minfilia. >_>
- Alphinaud got cut down to size by the Crystal Braves and lost Ysayle.
- Alisaie lost Tesleen which, while traumatic, was still a side character we only knew for about 15 minutes.

Estinien and G'raha (more specifically the Crystal Exarch) are exempt, they're the only two Scions who've been through Hell and back. The rest of them, considering they've gone through multiple wars and world ending threats, have been incredibly lucky. I'd wager the average Ul'dahn refugee has been through more and compared to the antagonists it's just a joke.

We're probably just going to have to agree to disagree on this. I've lost more people in my life than most of the Scions have, so when it comes to suffering and despair I don't personally find them compelling. I'd gladly trade with any of them minus the two exceptions, they've all had it rather good. The characters who have broken my heart who I can't imagine everything they've been through have all been antagonists.

[CrownySuccubus]

Not really, I've felt this way since SB. Going around listening to the stories of the people of Doma and Ala Mhigo I thought, wow, we haven't gone through much by comparison.

- Thancred was plucked off the street by Louisoix and led a privileged life after that point with the only major loss he's suffered being Minfilia who, IMO, he has an unhealthy fixation on and I'll leave it there lest I fly into a rant. :P He has a slight handicap of losing his ability to wield aether, which fundamentally makes him no different than a Garlean and hasn't had much of an effect other than a moderate inconvenience.
- The only 'bad' thing that's happened to Y'shtola is she lost her normal vision, which was replaced by a superpower aetheric vision.
- Urianger lost Moenbryda and, fortunately, wasn't as obsessed with her as Thancred was with Minfilia. >_>
- Alphinaud got cut down to size by the Crystal Braves and lost Ysayle.
- Alisaie lost Tesleen which, while traumatic, was still a side character we only knew for about 15 minutes.

You've actually got a point on this one.

This problem runs parallel to my criticism that most of the Scions are Sharlayan. One of the cardinal sins they teach you to avoid in Writing 101 is to avoid ruining the diversity of your setting or characters by having too many identical threads tied to them. They were born in one of the most peaceful, enlightened areas of the world and didn't know any real hardship until they encountered it during their adventures. And they're unlikely to suffer anything as devastating as the people of Doma or Ala Mhigo, because that was basically the entire point of that expansion: to reveal how cruel Garlean occupation was and criticize the heroes for basically ignoring it up until that moment.