Quote Originally Posted by Brinne View Post
Like I said, if I went full "screw story integrity, the heart wants what it wants", FFXIV would become All Ancients All The Time - and I wouldn't hesitate to cut Labyrinthos in favor of another Garlemald or Elpis zone, but my preference between them is definitely Elpis. But then again, I think part of EW's problem beyond the dreaded Venat Discourse is that when you look at its core elements, it does come down to All Ancients, Baby.
Not that it's at all plausible (unless they make a FFXIV-2 :P), but I'm at the point I'd rather just play as Azem. The unsundered world, their life, their friends, eclipses the WoL's in every way. It's not that I didn't enjoy FFXIV up to this point (except ARR), but I fell in love with the Ancients. My issue with returning to an adventurer isn't about 'how do you top fighting a cosmic threat' it's 'how do I move past the best characters and lore in the game to return to the Scions and Eorzea', bleh. Seriously, just let me go save some grapes from a volcano with Emet & Hythlodaeus in tow and I'm happy.

I am just baffled by Yoshi-P wanting to rush the conclusion of the most popular arc by a significant margin not to mention close the book on the fundamental lore of the world, and for what? I don't need a break after EW I need a hook, especially as EW did not have a happy ending for me.

And not a single one of the Scions particularly cares about the Ancients.
This part is frustrating too. It's an isolated set of experiences for the WoL/player that I doubt the Scions can understand and I'm not convinced they care either. I wanted to smack the grin off Alphinaud's face after the Hades trial. I frequently wish this story hadn't been told in an MMO because I feel like we suffer a lot for the sake of ambiguity so everyone can maintain their personal headcanon. Regardless of the fact that my WoL would've had an issue with everything Venat did, not the least of which was ending my original existence and then manipulating my reincarnation, losing Emet and Hythlodaeus again was rather traumatic. Much like ShB, it's a happy ending for everyone else because they're not emotionally invested in the Ancients nor do they have a connection with their unsundered selves like we do. Course, on the flip side, the game makes it seem like Haurchefant's death is the worst grief my WoL has ever experienced and, no, not even close. I didn't even cry until Edmont's reaction to it, which broke my heart.

I've joked that 5.0 was basically a love triangle between the WoL, Emet, and the Crystal Exarch. It's quite amusing to play through it with that lens. Needless to say, I imagine G'raha is thrilled for Emet to be out of the picture. :P