6.1 MSQ showcases the narrative problems that continue to plague the game's story

[dustdjinn]

I personally loved the 6.1 story and the direction its heading. I'm so excited for everything coming up!

[Darthgummibear]

I honestly think EW was the direct result of trying to cram two expansions worth of story into one. Too much happening with having less depth for the individual aspects.

[kpxmanifesto]

Yes, hence why I knew Meteion was the cause of everything and as a result viewed her as little more than a science experiment gone wrong because that's all she really amounted to.

I thought Meteion was a terrible villain for the FFXIV story. Not only was she a science experiment gone wrong, but apparently she has access to this miraculous power source (dynamis) that was suddenly shoehorned into the final expac. Meteion and dynamis were both just major disappointments that were added way too late into the game for them to be convincing reasons for the Final Days.

[Jason_Ashford]

Yes, hence why I knew Meteion was the cause of everything and as a result viewed her as little more than a science experiment gone wrong because that's all she really amounted to.

she was the end result of a society that failed to understand the necessity of sorrow and hardship. she is the epitome of nihilism, the manifestation of all the despair that countless worlds fell victim to because they, like the ancients of Etheirys, tried so hard to discard sorrow because they refused to accept that failure is a part of life, and a necessary one at that. triumph and success in the absence of failure, or hardship is meaningless.

[Jason_Ashford]

My only problem with 6.1 is that I thought the Scions were supposed to be disbanded and we'll meet some new characters ands tuff. Nope, we got back together not even one patch after we disbanded. Just so we could pretend we disbanded. Like what was the literal point of disbanding in the first place? That never needed to happen. Like if you want more scion screen time, fine. I don't mind. But don't bait us with the whole "we disbanded and went separate ways" when in reality we never did.

it would be more suspicious if they deliberately went out of their way to completely ignore their former companions from the scions. No one would bat an eye at a handful of them getting together to go adventuring together every now and then since they are supposed to be friends.

[Payadopa]

I thought Meteion was a terrible villain for the FFXIV story. Not only was she a science experiment gone wrong, but apparently she has access to this miraculous power source (dynamis) that was suddenly shoehorned into the final expac. Meteion and dynamis were both just major disappointments that were added way too late into the game for them to be convincing reasons for the Final Days.

How does 'science experiment' equal bad story? Is Frankenstein a bad book because it has an experiment gone wrong? What about Resident Evil? Okay, the last one is more silly, granted. lol But it's been around for decades as well, so there is that. x)

[aveyond-dreams]

it would be more suspicious if they deliberately went out of their way to completely ignore their former companions from the scions. No one would bat an eye at a handful of them getting together to go adventuring together every now and then since they are supposed to be friends.

Nah, they advertised 6.1 as the start of Season 2 of FFXIV, and it's little more than a standard epilogue of us checking up on Final Fantasy's blandest casts. I was expecting at least 1 new cast member but they did not even deliver that. Instead I had to skip through another sparkly eyes G'raha Tia scene. Because now it is a standard rule that one must be included per patch.

Vrtra *may* join us in the guise of Varshahn but we already knew who he was nor do we know what fighting role he may fulfill. There's also the chance that just becomes a mission giver like Minfilia, in which case everyone will just turn against him and he'd be better off elsewhere.

[Jeeqbit]

The writers are boldly assuming I genuinely care about these characters (of whom I've barely known) and are forcing me to listen to their life's struggles. When I was discussing bloody tax policies with Vrtram, I had almost lost my patience.

Maybe the problem is that you regard Vrtra as a side character. Since 6.1 is supposed to be the start of a new story, that new story is obviously going to focus on some new characters and Vrtra is one of them. I like them a lot and found learning about their past fascinating. That they are not afraid to let you participate in his affairs helps to build your personal relationship with Vrtra.

The lopporit tour of Labyrnthos was just outright padding and I refuse to believe otherwise.

For the story, we needed to get control over the ship to change what happens. Why would these people give control of something so important to a bunch of people, scions or not? They had to make some sort of deal to earn that right. With that deal being to build a better engine, it's reasonable that it can't be done right away and that it takes time so the story wants to create a feeling that it took some time before it was completed.

I think the problem is in part the problem that many long-running fantasy stories face where they become TOO big so the story gets dragged down by the sheer vastness of the world and number of characters, and the writers want to give all these characters a good amount of screentime

There are plenty of characters that you don't talk to anymore or that were pushed off into sidequests. You could add Cid as one of them actually, but you have some that were pushed into role quests as well.

[DezereDawn]

While i agree on the pacing in endwalker (Mostly relating to loporrits, who i feel were an effectively worthless addition to the storyline, last second shoehorned in because "Haha FF4 reference funny guys!"...

I think 6.1 isn't too bad on that front, it felt reasonably snappy, and i liked getting some more smaller scale characterization directly focused on those around Thavnair and a more focused view on former scions as well, i much prefer a smaller little squad of friends

[Puremallace]

Dude 6.1 cutscenes were almost as long as the theatrical cut of Lord of the Rings. Pacing is not the problem. The issue is we just went to the literal end of the universe and have to return to being a normal dude again.