They need to rethink how they do story in 7.0 +

[IkaraGreydancer]

Ehhhhhh. I could never call any scene Fandaniel was in even the least bit "appealing". He made a terrible first impression on me in 5.3, and that never went away, even when he underwent a name change to "Amon". If anything, the scenes with Fandaniel were carried by Zenos, and not vice-versa. At least Zenos had an interesting type of logic to him, and a desire to understand you and be understood. Fandaniel was just "The Joker except not funny".

Fandaniel is the type of villain they had Emet-Selch pretend to be until he realized it was a bad idea. In this expac, they just stuck with the bad idea.

Amon never struck me as anything close to being like the Joker. And Amons logic would unfold through the story mostly after his death in the first quarter of the game. His goal was still basically the same as Hermes, he just took ore of a hands on approach. But ofc, opinions

Also wouldn't say they had Emet pretending to be Fandaniel. He seemed more like Ardyn from XV to me

[KizuyaKatogami]

Likewise, that's your opinion. Also...are you dipping back into 5.x? Because otherwise, I don't recall a single time Zenos "sat on a throne", unless you count a dinner chair no different than the one the WOL was sitting in. And yes, I checked. But if you remember differently, please correct me.

And even still, this was at least a chance to interact with and contrast with the WOL, and Fandaniel endlessly hamming it up isn't a valid substitute for actual character to me.

Yes i’m talking about ShB that’s why i said ShB lol

[CrownySuccubus]

Yes i’m talking about ShB that’s why i said ShB lol

Gotcha. I didn't catch that there was an "h" missing in "rehashed his lines from SB". My bad.

Still disagree about the ShB expansions, though. Fandaniel was the worst part of those senses to me, but...opinions.

[TaleraRistain]

You can see it as you like,that's fine. A filler is part of a story that if you take out will have no effect on the story.

We don't always see how relevant something is when it's first introduced, though. Case in point, Alisaie's whole story with Ga Bu. That seemed like just side filler to add some character depth, but ended up being incredibly important. And they do this throughout the MSQ.

[Ayuhra]

I think that the game will need more open world content and, well, gameplay. One of the reasons I make a lot of alts is ARR is one of the most fun expansions to actually play.

Endwalker especially felt like lots of walking from one cutscene to the next. I think I only ever went off the main paths to grab aether currents.

[DPZ2]

If this game was done in one language, that would seem feasible, but it's done in 5 or 6. That's your multiplier for each hour of voiceover which probably costs close to 200$ / hour for the actor and studio time. Of course, there's additional time for the team to fit all that in. Before that, there's the audition process. It's a lot of extra time and effort for something many will casually skip.

"However, typically, video game voice actors will receive between $200 and $350 per hour, with a minimum of two to four hours guaranteed per job. If you are working on a union contract, if a single session lasts up to four hours, you could be making $850 for a single session. This rate is typically for more seasoned video game voice actors. " (source: https://performerlife.com/video-game-voice-actors/).

A majority of the major video game producers are required to utilize union voice actors.

SAG-AFTRA rates are:

"DAY PERFORMER RATE - $875.75
This Off-Camera RATE is paid for any single Interactive Platform performance of up to Three Voices during a Four Hour Day. Add $292.00 for each additional voice. The Day Performer RATE for 1 voice / 1 hour is $404.65. Voices used on any ON-LINE or NETWORK Platform or used as a ‘LIFT’ to another program, add an additional 100% of the original RATE in each case if the rights are acquired within one year of initial release and 110% after such period." (Source: https://voiceoverresourceguide.com/s...fees-us-rates/)

[magitekLuna]

We don't always see how relevant something is when it's first introduced, though. Case in point, Alisaie's whole story with Ga Bu. That seemed like just side filler to add some character depth, but ended up being incredibly important. And they do this throughout the MSQ.

But I say this after finishing the story. Then you see well what worked and what was to make it a longer game. Longer do not make better. Look at the new TMNT game. It's short but so fun. Why? No filler nothing stay to long. All the filler need to be side quests. So the people that like them can do them.

[TaleraRistain]

But I say this after finishing the story. Then you see well what worked and what was to make it a longer game. Longer do not make better. Look at the new TMNT game. It's short but so fun. Why? No filler nothing stay to long. All the filler need to be side quests. So the people that like them can do them.

My point is that you don't know what is and isn't filler because you don't know what's going to become relevant in the future. You haven't finished the story in XIV. It's still ongoing. You've finished this arc, but there's every possibility small things from previous expansions will get the forefront in importance again in future expansions.

[magitekLuna]

My point is that you don't know what is and isn't filler because you don't know what's going to become relevant in the future. You haven't finished the story in XIV. It's still ongoing. You've finished this arc, but there's every possibility small things from previous expansions will get the forefront in importance again in future expansions.

They finished the story non will be.i finished 2.0 up to 6.1 and by 6.0 ending non is relevent for 6.1 and on. What importance me serving tea or move boxes or go from point at to b to c to a will have?

[Amenara]

Pretty sure they delayed by 2 weeks to make sure everything was polished storywise. Aso I'll never understand why folks talk as if ShB was far better and had superior pacing. As someone who went through it again with alts in my experience it has worse pacing (still an amazing expac ofc). Remember, you not liking something doesn't automatically make it a mistake

The pacing was weird to me, I think the most egregious one being going from Zodiark fight and the beginning of the final days to bunny side quests for the next couple hours on the moon. I also think thematically the Final Days felt real for about an hour or two in Thav part 2 and the Garlean duty and that was it. It didn't feel like a threat that was always present, something that we needed to hurry and fix before everyone was killed.

I think Labyrinthos was also very egregious as a filler zone when nothing there felt plot important other than picking a flower that randomly popped up in the story to say "Hey, everyone is happy or Hey everyone is sad" then the flower died. I am not saying Shadowbringers pacing was perfect as there were some definite slogs in Raktika and Ahm Areng part 2, but I always felt like there was a purpose for what was happening and that it had a nice build up with less jerking us around emotionally.