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

[Rulakir]

I don't understand the problem. Try to voice criticisms of EW on Reddit and see how far you get before you're downvoted until your post is hidden and dogpiled on by everyone telling you that you're wrong, you didn't pay attention, you were skipping cutscenes, you didn't understand the story/themes, etc. I know someone who made a bingo card based on the repetitive responses.

Xirean is right, we all have different reasons for disliking EW and don't always agree with one another. Also, at this point, I'm getting annoyed that this thread continues to be derailed about this when prior to the Zepla call out we were having some good discussions.

Yeah, EW is simultaneously my second favorite expansion after Shadowbringers, and my least favorite expansion. The parts I enjoyed and found compelling and well-written were still moreso than, again, anything except Shadowbringers, whereas the parts I disliked are the parts I probably most disliked in all of FFXIV and made me consider, for the first time ever, starting to skip cutscenes. It was, uh, sort of a stressful experience overall, in that way!

I've always said that I don't think the "bad" aspects of it were done maliciously, and that's part of why I'm willing to talk about it on the much-maligned official forums - a very, very naive hope, especially for a product-based corporation like this, lmao, that perhaps if the writers understood what had happened and what they actually ended up writing, it might actually mean something to them, and they might course-correct. (And perhaps they are...? Omega Quests Good, Please Continue In This Direction)

And for better or worse, I'm still talking about it and thinking about it actively, moreso, again, than any other expansion besides ShB - six months after the fact. Does that say more about me or the game? It Is A Mystery.

I wanted to talk about ShB after the fact because I loved it. I needed to talk about EW after the fact because I hated it. I'm the type of person to whom a bad ending can ruin an entire story.

I didn't dislike all of it, but Elpis carried EW hard. Like you said, it's a simultaneous feeling of both loving and hating it. I think that without Elpis, EW is a middling expansion. I enjoyed Garlemald, but I was bored out of my mind with Sharlayan/Labyrinthos. The moon was disappointing for a myriad of reasons. Thavnair was so-so. I have mixed feelings on UT. Elpis was just a bipolar experience of going from manic to depressive.

[CrownySuccubus]

Try to voice criticisms of EW on Reddit and see how far you get before you're downvoted until your post is hidden and dogpiled on by everyone telling you that you're wrong, you didn't pay attention, you were skipping cutscenes, you didn't understand the story/themes, etc. I know someone who made a bingo card based on the repetitive responses.

Yes, I already said that every other place is equally bad with dividing into factions and groupthink.

Also, at this point, I'm getting annoyed that this thread continues to be derailed about this when prior to the Zepla call out we were having some good discussions.

What exactly are you getting annoyed about, though? I said that 90% of the thread is good discussion, but sometimes it devolves into a circle-jerk.

What do you want, exactly? For everybody to step in line and admit that this thread is a flawless diamond?