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

[Theodric]

It doesn't. Not consistently.

There's plenty of plot points/sidestories that present trying to preserve or save something with standing tradition as unambiguously good or positive. Such as preserving the peace of Hingashi even after establishing that its government is corrupt as hell. Or maintaining the traditions of the Viis and the Ronka in the Greatwood.

Hence 'most'.

It conveniently almost always portray it as wrong or bad when the antagonists set out to preserve something. Whilst issue can be taken with the methods employed in such a venture, taking issue with the methods is more than enough justification for the protagonists to oppose it. Instead we get weird lectures about how the very same entities who suffered the most from a situation need to 'move on' or basically just roll over and die so that the entities who stand to benefit the most from the same circumstances can continue to prosper.

By portraying the struggle between the Unsundered and Sundered as a clash of like wills and two heroes shouldering the burden and future of their respective civilisations a healthy balance was struck back in Shadowbringers.

Most people would have been happy with the same stance continuing into Endwalker, I believe. Rather than everything being rewritten or obscured in a deceptive attempt to reframe opposition to genocide as 'not forging ahead'.

It's why I'm wary of the next storyline being a 'conflict of values'. I can't imagine how many arguments will break out if the game tries to portray everything the Scions desire as correct only to insist that we need to kill everyone who thinks differently to them.

But wasn't the SAM storyline panned by the playerbase for that happening with Hingashi? I distinctly remember a LOT of players showing dislike of the 60-70 questline for doing that.

I enjoyed it. I don't want to eradicate any and all grit or flaws in a specific fantasy nation. It just takes away from the 'fantasy' for me and makes it all dull and boring.