My Review of 6.1 Story Content

[IkaraGreydancer]

The locations you mention are all ones I adore. Sadly the story has pivoted away from these locations (except in the case of the Confederacy and Thavnair presently, though apart from Vrtra there is very little of interest to me in the region). At the moment I feel refreshed now that I'm hyped for the void, and interested in learning more about the goings on there. Given the lack of interesting things left to do on the Source, I'll gladly step through the voidgate and see what's on the other side.

In the case of Garlemald, those of us who liked the concept of the Empire and ones similar to it were hoping for a better resolution. Thinking back to the often cited Archades, who ended up with Larsa as emperor, a benevolent figure who still loved and wanted the best for his country, someone to root for rather than just...such a lackluster finale here in FFXIV. Even a constitutional monarchy would be a vast improvement, a figurehead emperor is better than nothing at all if it must be the case.

I suppose it is a difference of perspective, I simply do not feel that G'raha Tia's actions are reciprocated and thus they come off as creepy and like an unwanted advance. At some point after enduring too much of that I'd rather just leave the situation or in this case, skip his dialogue and look away till someone else takes to the scene. It is ok to express admiration once, if not twice in the aftermath of a critical story moment. But this is excessive. He is more of a parody now than Princess Sarah in Stranger of Paradise, but without the self-aware storytelling that made her somewhat endearing.

I've never seen such a crap take on a character in this game tbh. It's well known that we are his idol, his inspiration. And for years he's dreamed of questing by our side and he now gets to do so. It's cute honestly. I fail to see how he's a parody of any kind. He's not making a pass at you and if you feel he is that 100% a you problem. You talk like you're well verse but can't understand simple implications...

In terms of Garl speak for yourself not other people.

[aveyond-dreams]

It's well known that we are his idol, his inspiration. And for years he's dreamed of questing by our side and he now gets to do so. It's cute honestly. I fail to see how he's a parody of any kind. He's not making a pass at you and if you feel he is that 100% a you problem. You talk like you're well verse but can't understand simple implications...

And we have given him a quest. The quest is now over. In comparison to the character I grew to respect during Shadowbringers, I do not appreciate the prioritization of G'raha Tia as a "cute" comic relief character given his most prominent role that he took on during Shadowbringers. The implication is that he wants to be near me. At all costs. I do not enjoy this, and I wish his behavior would stop and that he would act like a grown man.

You cannot hope to force characters such as him onto the player and not meet with some degree of resistance from those of us who are simply not interested in being obsessed over in this way. This is someone who has fallen from grace in my eyes, if he weren't acting so ridiculous then I may have been able to ignore his pushiness but this is becoming more of a nuisance each time it pops up.

If this game had a romance system then by all means let the fans of characters like him have their fill of him over there, and leave this behavior outside of the main story. Extensive resources are likely poured into animating his eyes and tail-resources I would rather see spent on animating more battle scenes. Action. Not slice of life content. Or better yet, pour those resources into fixing whatever on earth went wrong with Hrothgar, because the 3d modelers should have absolutely prioritized fixing those player models than playing around with the animations of G'raha Tia's face and tail.

I agree somewhat with your sentiment regarding G'raha, he feels like a bit much at times as someone who does not "ship" my WoL with him, but you lost me a bit saying it would be okay if it was coming from a more traditionally masculine character because I just don't see what that has to do with it.

His appearance combined with his mannerisms and behavior make for a character I just don't feel comfortable being around or speaking to. Not even Haurchefaunt was as bad as this. It's a feeling of dissonance, things just don't match up in the picture. I do not think it is unreasonable to prefer, if an npc must be so obsessed with my character, that they at least conform to some standards of attractiveness in line with their gender.

I can make a case for characters like Aymeric and Hien, different as they are in their physical appearances they both present themselves as heroes with admirable personalities and physical qualities that vary considerably, but check off points in what one might find attractive in a male. This does not hold for G'raha Tia. He dresses like...a scholar? I'm not sure how else to describe his outfit but it isn't anything particularly striking, and his hair has never been great but after he joined the scions I cannot unsee the resemblance between his hair and that of Lucy's from the Chronicles of Narnia. It's just so strange.

[PaulH]

Ah. It's a matter of perspective I suppose, I know there are a lot of people who are super duper hot for G'raha and headcanon that their WoL is dating him or something so his aesthetic definitely appeals to some.

I generally don't swing that way, and I headcanon that my WoL doesn't either with the rarest of exceptions, so appearances aren't really much of a factor in how I feel about his interactions with the WoL. It wouldn't matter if he looked different.

Thanks Teah and you're 100% right it is ALL about perspective.

I like Jonathan Bailey the VA of G'raha which is quite a nice coincidence and I am looking forward to seeing him in a play at the theatre next week. My in game miqo'te finds G'raha hot and I personally do not in any way find his character as creepy or annoying, he is just excited and hyped about doing stuff together so just positive. I get he annoys alot of people, he isn't to everyones taste but i love him around and I am sure others taste isn't mine either. Shame it isn't configurable or something.