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

[Theodric]

If nothing else it was the Garleans and Ascians that served as the biggest hooks for me to invest in the game's ongoing story. I've come to enjoy other elements along the way - such as Hingashi, Doma and Ishgard - but it remains to be seen if the writers can fill the gaping hole left by the departure of the game's main antagonists thus far. It's only a few days until 6.1 goes live, at least, so we won't have to wait long to get a feel for what awaits us next though I wish I could say I'm more optimistic than I am at present.

We're supposedly dealing with a conflict of values next, though we'll see if that ends up being handled with tact and nuance. With the way in which Venat was praised as a 'herois' for engaging in genocide on a massive scale...well, I suppose we're in for some potentially interesting times.

[Skyborne]

To be honest, I'm basically actively disinterested in the general pining for more Garlemald content and don't think the direction it sometimes takes is the most relevant thing if we've settled on the idea of this being a place to "discuss EW's flaws" rather than an overall negativity thread. So sometimes I wish it had its own topic, but at this point in time, four months after the expansion's release, the boat's sailed, so it is what it is. Unless/until we get slapped with some hot new content that will give me an excuse to bring out a fresh new tidal wave of Hydaelyn Discourse. Little do the people know that the drive-by cracks about beating a dead horse actually give me power.

Yeah, I was making fun of the 'noooo, stop talking about things I don't want you to talk about!' kind of stuff, nothing against also beating it alongside you... in future patches, anyway, if the subject comes up.

[anhaato]

Garlemald really should've been 5.0, not sure why they skipped directly to the First after SB's patches were very clearly setting up the closure of Garlemald's story. Or they were until 4.4, at least, then everyone was getting soul abducted all of a sudden. Just a very weird turn to take, if they had followed SB immediately with Garlemald then it would've been a better ramp-up to the First. Then they wouldn't have to bend over backwards to justify certain things off screen, like "oh you disappearing actually isn't a problem at all because uhhhh internal conflict we stalemating now." They did a great job with Emet but it would've been even better had we more time to get to know him before his feature expansion. That and Elidibus also wouldn't have been killed off prematurely. I wouldn't change a thing about 5.0's story personally (the patches on the other hand...), but if Garlemald had come before it then I would've loved it even more, if that's even possible.

[Caurcas]

If we're getting diversity than I'd rather it take the form of diversity of thought, opinions and allegiance. FFVII and FFXII are great in that regard since at times you're opposed to Shinra/Archades and at other points you're working alongside them for the sake of mutual benefit. FFXIV could easily do as much and it'd interest me far more than the constant whining about 'oppression' in the MSQ's that is often taken out of context.

For starters, Doma, Bozja and Ala Mhigo were treated more harshly than other provinces as a consequence of sparking uprisings. How convenient that the Ancients and Garleans have to 'move on' when they lose their homelands but even decades later conquered provinces have to be cut loose despite many Eorzean nations benefitting from occupied territory themselves.

I would have liked to have seen Garlemald follow a similar trajectory to the Archadian Empire in FFXII and undergo reform without losing its status as an Empire. The prospect of every single nation our character visits ending up as part of a globalist organisation that exists to push a very narrow set of values with minimal conflict doesn't really appeal to me much, in all honesty. Rivalries, territorial disputes and political intrigue are much more to my liking in what is meant to be a fairly mature setting.

Sure, they can throw in a Raen or a Roegadyn or whatever as part of the main cast for 'diversity' but if they just end up agreeing with the Scions on everything then we're back to square one.

I see Gloablist and think Alex Jones. I would be down for Eorzean Alex Jones...and all the humor when it turns out he is right about everything. "The Scions are putting dynamis in the water that turns the freaking magitek to Lalafells! "

[aveyond-dreams]

I just hope that whatever story is planned for the coming patches has at least some more effort put into it than the upcoming Hrothgar hairs. That is also where the bar is as far as the Scions' character development is concerned.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

I like to be hopelessly/Mindlessly optimistic and trust the Devs to deliver something I love.
So far the only disappointments Ive had is PvP, the Drop Rates on Gear, Waiting 2 more Years for FemHroths, the new Hrothgar Hair, and Ninja and Dark Knight not being fun to play (IMO)

Pretty Good compared to everything else.
Still excited for the next 10 years

[AziraSyuren]

Since Stormblood I always felt that there was more to Zenos's story, that his desire for a fierce battle in order to "feel" something would have some more development. And once I saw him made his "return", jumping from body to body I was like "yeah, I knew it! his real backstory is coming later". Aaaaaaaaaaand... it never happened. Instead he became a mere power lvl monster and a poor attempt at Vegeta, and they had the gall to flaunt "yeah, we couldn't be bothered to make an actual backstory. Would it have changed anything?" And honestly if they couldn't deal with that by the end of this story, the "story to end all stories" I don't see how I could care about anything relating to that character if he ever comes back.

Speaking of wasted potential, remember the multiple times through the story where the echo was said to allow "transcending the barriers of the soul"? Like the ascian fusion at the end of Aetherochemical Research Facility and Zenos possessing Shinryu, not to mention all his body swapping. It was said that we hadn't yet gained full control of what the echo could do... And then there's the mess with the echo and the blessing of light in EW. I'm not completely sure how that game of calvinball ended but it looked like soul-transcending was completely dropped.

He had a backstory. A very cool one that perfectly explains his behavior and motivations, at that.

It was just in side content.

All of it.

[aveyond-dreams]

He had a backstory. A very cool one that perfectly explains his behavior and motivations, at that.

It was just in side content.

All of it.

Admittedly, I would have been able to enjoy Zenos more in Stormblood aside from his 1 scene with Yotsuyu had they bothered to show us the events of one of his short stories in game. Instead I found it some years later after someone had posted it to the Final Fantasy Wiki. Sure would have made for better entertainment than suffering through the early stages of Gyr Abania with Lyse.

However, it would do little to solve the later problems with his character, which completely exhausted my patience with him. I do not want the villain of an mmorpg to be a foil to me. That cannot work when the character is entirely your creation like the WoL, whose personality is up to us to determine. Villains need to have their own distinct personalities and goals that go beyond "seeking the ultimate fight" or whatever it was Zenos wanted.

[CrownySuccubus]

I like the concept of a "foil" to an MMO protagonist on its face, because by its nature, an MMO protagonist (or player character) is a completely different beast than anything else in the world they dwell.

One of the reasons I've always fully admitted to Zenos that my primary reason for fighting is to seek stronger opponents and live in the moment is because, on a self-aware level, it's true. I became an adventurer (bought a sub) because I want to face challenges (dungeons, raids. etc.), get stronger (level up, improve mechanics, etc.), and have fun (aka, having fun). The story is a secondary concern. Yeah, I want to right wrongs, help the helpless, and investigate the secrets of Etheirys, but if that were all there was to it, I wouldn't be playing between patches. And besides that, the story is on rails. I can't affect the outcome or tell my own unique story, so it really has nothing to do with me.

I liked the concept of Zenos wanting to be the one to finally challenge us (because getting told how invincible and super amazing I am at everything all the time gets kinda repetitive). But Zenos screwed himself over (both in-story and on a meta level) because by starting an apocalyptic event, he is literally beneath my concern now. Even if I weren't disgusted by what he did to his own people and helped Fandaniel do to others, the fact that his goal is so juvenile given the scale makes the idea that he's my "mirror" nonsense. Buddy, you aren't even the person who caused this mess; a blue space bird with clinical depression is higher on my to-do list.

[LalafellDown]

The Devs didn’t know where to go with the story. They just wanted it wrapped up as quick as possible. About time I say. We played the hero role fare too long. I wish we could choose a side like in DC Universe Online has it. Joining the villains you help cause chaos, but there is a common enemy so you end up help save the world.

I hope the new adventure isn’t us just finding new friends to cry about in the end. Where friend ship saves the world. I give the devs a job well done. I enjoyed it.

But now I would rather us take on a role of our choosing. Who we want our character to be. I personally would like the DCUO route. How we have quests where we choose a faction. How the factions methods isn’t our concern. We are there fighting the opposite faction. Our ways will cause pain in the world but we’re committed to take the other faction down.