Hildibrand for relic? Really?

[MikkoAkure]

The "funny" bits have usually been balanced out in previous expansions but Endwalker has completely derailed that.

What in Endwalker completely outbalances everything to the "funny" side? Yeah there's lopporits but there's also the entire Garlemald zone before that which is a long war story involving desperation and suicide. Sure there's 5 seconds of a cat boy eating a hamburger, but there's also 5 seconds of a boy being transformed into a monster and then being squished by a larger monster right in front of his dad. Y'shtola says one funny line, but we also get told about how one of the original great wyrms was lost to the Void and her brother has been dwelling on it for thousands of years.

[aveyond-dreams]

What in Endwalker completely outbalances everything to the "funny" side? Yeah there's lopporits but there's also the entire Garlemald zone before that which is a long war story involving desperation and suicide. Sure there's 5 seconds of a cat boy eating a hamburger, but there's also 5 seconds of a boy being transformed into a monster and then being squished by a larger monster right in front of his dad. Y'shtola says one funny line, but we also get told about how one of the original great wyrms was lost to the Void and her brother has been dwelling on it for thousands of years.

The burger scene, more tea swirling, long drawn out hours of the Loporrits, Estinien and the boot, the Y'shtola magical girl moment, you know the ones that have already been pointed out to you multiple times in the past. This was an expansion of the End of the World. The End of the World should've been more than 2 zones, sorry.

[SturmChurro]

The burger scene, more tea swirling, long drawn out hours of the Loporrits, Estinien and the boot, the Y'shtola magical girl moment, you know the ones that have already been pointed out to you multiple times in the past. This was an expansion of the End of the World. The End of the World should've been more than 2 zones, sorry.

I think the biggest issue was that this expansion was effectively two in one to get the storyline over and done with.

[MikkoAkure]

I think the biggest issue was that this expansion was effectively two in one to get the storyline over and done with.

I blame the Tempest and Shadowbringers as a whole.

I remember an interview before ShB where Yoshi-P joked about the players wondering if he revealed too much of the story all at once. Then in a more recent interview he said he realized he revealed too much of the story already and there was only 20% left and after the "player reception of Shadowbringers", whatever that means, he decided to end it in one expansion.

While a lot of Endwalker was definitely rushed and more than a few things had quick explanations that didn't make sense, a part of me is glad that we didn't get Stormblood 2.0. The potential 1 of 2 future expansions would have just been another Garlean war one that probably wouldn't have been different enough from Stormblood, Werlyt, and Bozja to justify concentrating on just that for a whole 2 years or whatever the launch cycle is now. The whole idea to pause the run up to the climax of the Garlean arc that Stormblood was leading to in order to have adventures on the First is as silly to me now as it was back then. While Shadowbringers was a really good expansion, having it in the middle of everything going on and then getting all that exposition at the end threw a wrench in the story pacing.

[SturmChurro]

I blame the Tempest and Shadowbringers as a whole.

I remember an interview before ShB where Yoshi-P joked about the players wondering if he revealed too much of the story all at once. Then in a more recent interview he said he realized he revealed too much of the story already and there was only 20% left and after the "player reception of Shadowbringers", whatever that means, he decided to end it in one expansion.

While a lot of Endwalker was definitely rushed and more than a few things had quick explanations that didn't make sense, a part of me is glad that we didn't get Stormblood 2.0. The potential 1 of 2 future expansions would have just been another Garlean war one that probably wouldn't have been different enough from Stormblood, Werlyt, and Bozja to justify concentrating on just that for a whole 2 years or whatever the launch cycle is now. The whole idea to pause the run up to the climax of the Garlean arc that Stormblood was leading to in order to have adventures on the First is as silly to me now as it was back then. While Shadowbringers was a really good expansion, having it in the middle of everything going on and then getting all that exposition at the end threw a wrench in the story pacing.

I have seen people talk about that as well, in regards to ShB. People do have mixed feelings on a Garlean expansion, but either way it no doubt would have led to a more satisfying ending to the Garlean Empire, and would have freed up the next expansion to be wholly devoted to the final days. ShB for sure destroyed the pacing of the main storyline, and did feel like a filler arc.

[MikkoAkure]

The burger scene, more tea swirling, long drawn out hours of the Loporrits, Estinien and the boot, the Y'shtola magical girl moment, you know the ones that have already been pointed out to you multiple times in the past. This was an expansion of the End of the World. The End of the World should've been more than 2 zones, sorry.

As I said in the post you quoted from that had examples you just mentioned, those were balanced out like you said how there's balance in the rest of the story before this but it looks like you just stopped reading my post after the first sentence.

[aveyond-dreams]

As I said in the post you quoted from that had examples you just mentioned, those were balanced out like you said how there's balance in the rest of the story before this but it looks like you just stopped reading my post after the first sentence.

No, they did not feel balanced and Endwalker is already noted for having some of the worst story pacing since Stormblood. The focus was not where it needed to be. Endwalker was more of a visual novel than an RPG, and seeing more and more of the RPG being sacrificed to this trend is something I don't feel like staying silent about.

[Deveryn]

What in Endwalker completely outbalances everything to the "funny" side? Yeah there's lopporits but there's also the entire Garlemald zone before that which is a long war story involving desperation and suicide. Sure there's 5 seconds of a cat boy eating a hamburger, but there's also 5 seconds of a boy being transformed into a monster and then being squished by a larger monster right in front of his dad. Y'shtola says one funny line, but we also get told about how one of the original great wyrms was lost to the Void and her brother has been dwelling on it for thousands of years.

The physical ranged sidequest comes to mind with that little kid being mad at us for killing his friend / relative. That takes me back to that early sidequest in Hyrstmill where that girl hasn't heard from her brother in ages and we end up killing him. Things have always leaned heavily towards the dark side. We're given some humor to balance it out, but it's never 50/50. It's more like 70/30 in favor of the dark.

I think the biggest issue was that this expansion was effectively two in one to get the storyline over and done with.

Why fuss over the semantics and boundaries of "expansions"? This is what we were told it would be: One storyline ending, so another could begin. It's a different way to approach things and I think it works.

[SturmChurro]

Why fuss over the semantics and boundaries of "expansions"? This is what we were told it would be: One storyline ending, so another could begin. It's a different way to approach things and I think it works.

Well, because they were trying to tell two stories, but both become compromised and condensed in order to fit into one expansion. The story would have been more coherent and less rushed if it had happened as originally planned.

Not that I get too deep in story threads specifically, but that's my opinion.

[Deveryn]

Well, because they were trying to tell two stories, but both become compromised and condensed in order to fit into one expansion. The story would have been more coherent and less rushed if it had happened as originally planned.

Not that I get too deep in story threads specifically, but that's my opinion.

I disagree. In fact, this split of stories has generally been the case for expansion releases. Part 1 always has the story that finishes with a moment of triumph and they roll credits. Part 2 ends on some kind of cliffhanger.

Nothing felt particularly rushed, though I'm sure covid still had a substantial impact on things.