Hildibrand for relic? Really?

[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.

[Kaurhz]

I'm going to need to start taking a tally, honestly...

[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.

[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.

[LisSquid]

I honestly think EW should have been extended over the patches, with Zodiark being the final boss of the main MSQ. We're not talking about that here, though.

It's entirely selective to the viewer how much silly/grim the story is because each theme is literally book-ended with the other. Even the darkest themes of FFXIV teeter into the realm of absurdity, and play out wonderfully campy. Just.. Zenos.

Hildibrand is just as FFXIV, and just as deserving of being a relic grind theme as whatever the great googly moogly Bozja was.

[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.

[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.

[angienessyo]

I'm fine with it as many people have missed out on some fun trials by skipping the questline. At least they've given people a pretty big heads up so they have plenty of time to get caught up. People that aren't into it can just skip the cut scenes and it's relatively easy to get through it all. At least they aren't locking stuff behind doing the delivery moogle questline. I'm pretty sure that's the most lengthy and time consuming quest in the game, and it isn't always clear how to get the next quest.

[TaleraRistain]

Enjoy your Hildibrand relics.

Thank you. We will.

Can't wait for the 8.0 relics to be tied to Moogle Delivery quests

Doesn't sound like you actually did those either because many tied into old world FATE stories and characters and were rather nice additions to the lore. My favorite was probably the one about that old drunk from the FATE at Buscarron's Druthers, because it's not immediately obvious who is involved.