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

[Lauront]

Tbh I think that if a significant portion felt the way some of you do about the story then the game wouldn't have a 9.4 metacritic score.
Especially since people who feel this way tend to usually be significantly louder than those who don't.
Yes there's no way of knowing for sure and what the actual stats are, but all of the stats kinda speak against you here.

Nothing is universally loved there will always be people who dislike something, but I think it's fair to say that people in this thread are being a bit overly dramatic and are probably not representing a very significant portion of the playerbase.
I know that this isn't a significant representation of anything either, but even Streamers who go into it with a negative or very skeptical mentality with existing audiences they garnered from competing games have still ended up loving it some even calling it the best story they've ever experienced.
I mean there just rly isn't much implying that there's some large group of people here that are so negative about it.

My problem here is what you're referring to as the "stats". I could just as easily point to the direction the game's player numbers on steam are headed as a counter to this point, particularly when most of these Metacritic scores (if I was to use the argument many on here do about the OF: a tiny minority in their own right) are in the large majority dated now by several months, so sorry, but I don't consider this a great argument, and that's even assuming I was to take that score as being solely attributable to the story. I don't put much stock into what streamers, who have an interest in being positive about the product for audience engagement and financial reasons, say.

The fact, once more, that the writers felt the need to address ambiguities in the story via the methods I mentioned is not suggestive of critical views on the story are as tiny a minority as you may think it is. And this does not necessarily equate to a low score - many are able to compartmentalise this and focus on what they enjoyed, particularly for as complex a beast as an MMO, including in terms of story aspects.

You are using words.

Yes, I am using words, much like you are. You've passed your Perception check, bravo.

I don't think they mean what you think they mean. Ask anywhere. In game. Peruse the internet. FFXIV's story is overwhelmingly popular. You don't have to like the truth, but it doesn't make it any less true. At least using the same straw man arguments yourself that you and your buddies are claiming against me tells me all I need to know. It's sad some people desperately need justification and can't stand that their opinion is shared by very few. :\

I have perused the internet. This is part of the internet - I have also been on other sites like Reddit and Twitter to know enough about their characteristics, including that you in particular don't know those characteristics, if you think the former, for example, leans highly negative on this game. Going in-game is an incredibly biased sample and does not account for all those who stopped playing for a variety of reasons, either, but then you're assuming an answer here and I am sure if I was to probe, I'd find a variety of views on the topic, if such an exercise in pointlessness took my fancy. It's all the more curious to me that those who enjoy EW feel this need to console themselves that they're this huge majority - what do you need this validation for? I am not even disputing that reception of it is by and large positive. What I am disputing is that this means the story is flawless or that this majority is as absolute as you are presenting it as, based on other sites with similar issues as samples to the OF. Your approach does not really allow for the sort of nuance this topic requires, because it's not as simple as hate/love the story.