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

[Theodric]

Sadly, I wouldn't hold your breath friend. They seem to have absolutely no interest in continuing that after Matsuno either left or got pushed out. Those plot threads were explained away in the post-Bozja field reports. Incredibly disappointing. Maybe we'll get to go there some day, but for some reason I find myself doubting.

I think it's far too late to salvage it now, unfortunately - though the game itself is simply a stepping stone to me until something better comes along. I've mostly been playing other games in my backlog and keeping an eye on some of the upcoming titles. They're thankfully being designed in such a way as to not really appeal to the 'Second Life' and 'Twitter Enthusiasts' that this game has unfortunately come to attract in droves. Generally speaking, they're the same crowd who turn everything into black and white morality, strip away nuance and make bizarre insinuations about anyone who can actually separate reality from fiction.

Matsuno being invited to work on FFXIV was a dream come true for me and it's bitterly disappointing that he wasn't given the opportunity to complete his work here. I feel for Ishikawa, too, since it seems like she was forced to suddenly change course as well.

We'll see how 6.2 fares, I suppose. Maybe it'll renew my interest, maybe it won't - but either way I at least intend to continue posting my thoughts about what I'd like to see until that point.

[Raoabolic]

I think it's far too late to salvage it now, unfortunately - though the game itself is simply a stepping stone to me until something better comes along. I've mostly been playing other games in my backlog and keeping an eye on some of the upcoming titles. They're thankfully being designed in such a way as to not really appeal to the 'Second Life' and 'Twitter Enthusiasts' that this game has unfortunately come to attract in droves. Generally speaking, they're the same crowd who turn everything into black and white morality, strip away nuance and make bizarre insinuations about anyone who can actually separate reality from fiction.

History has shown us that when the rot has become this bad then there is very little chance of the devs to fix it, doubly so if the income is still there. In hindsight I feel like I got bamboozled by buying the two encyclopedia eoreza books since the lore seems to change from expansion to expansion. At this point it feels like i'm playing WoW again and seeing everyone go "No, cata's story is actually pretty good!" while those that point out how cata is stretching the lore at best and flat out breaking it at worst are just "haters". XVI looks pretty good but it is a SE product so I do worry that half of the story will be broken up and sold as dlc and I do worry about what "online features" the game will come with, and let's not forget SE's ethics department. The worrying part is that I am playing less and less of XIV and more of my backlog but that backlog is starting to dry up. I need to expand my horizons, lol.

[Theodric]

History has shown us that when the rot has become this bad then there is very little chance of the devs to fix it, doubly so if the income is still there. In hindsight I feel like I got bamboozled by buying the two encyclopedia eoreza books since the lore seems to change from expansion to expansion. At this point it feels like i'm playing WoW again and seeing everyone go "No, cata's story is actually pretty good!" while those that point out how cata is stretching the lore at best and flat out breaking it at worst are just "haters". XVI looks pretty good but it is a SE product so I do worry that half of the story will be broken up and sold as dlc and I do worry about what "online features" the game will come with, and let's not forget SE's ethics department. The worrying part is that I am playing less and less of XIV and more of my backlog but that backlog is starting to dry up. I need to expand my horizons, lol.

Yeah, in hindsight I regret purchasing the lore books. The WoW comparison is very apt since it, too, decided to make sweeping retcons to large swathes of the existing lore and characters in order to prop up something else. It's a delicate balancing act because introducing new stuff is fine but if it's coming at the expense of what came before it then it's going to lead to a lot of disillusionment.

FFXVI is supposedly going to be 'complete at launch' so I guess we'll see if that remains the case. As for my own backlog, I've still got a decent amount of things to get through - it's mostly a new, fresh MMO I want at this point though the intriguing options to me are at least a year or two out.

[YukikoKurosawa]

They're thankfully being designed in such a way as to not really appeal to the 'Second Life' and 'Twitter Enthusiasts' that this game has unfortunately come to attract in droves.

You might have said this part in half-jest, but browsing twitter lately I've seen a shocking number of peope who quite literally mod their characters to look exactly like Second Life character models. Don't even want to imagine what these people actually do ingame.

But this is what the devs see when they look at FF twitter. Mayhap it explains the increased amount of modern-style clothing glams being put onto the mog station of late. They've realized the audience they've attracted and are banking off of it.

[Raoabolic]

You might have said this part in half-jest, but browsing twitter lately I've seen a shocking number of peope who quite literally mod their characters to look exactly like Second Life character models. Don't even want to imagine what these people actually do ingame.

You don't want to know. All I have to say is Miss Triss was a mistake and each day we stray further and further from the crystal.

[YukikoKurosawa]

Miss Triss

Whomst? Some mod creator or something?

[Theodric]

You might have said this part in half-jest, but browsing twitter lately I've seen a shocking number of peope who quite literally mod their characters to look exactly like Second Life character models. Don't even want to imagine what these people actually do ingame.

But this is what the devs see when they look at FF twitter. Mayhap it explains the increased amount of modern-style clothing glams being put onto the mog station of late. They've realized the audience they've attracted and are banking off of it.

Sadly it wasn't a jest! It's definitely one of the things that made the game world feel less interesting and magical to me. I think there's plenty of ways for the development team to make money off of players without necessarily compromising the established tone and aesthetics of the setting itself.

It's reached the point where I wish there was a filter to just sort of block out other players in cutscenes and stuff.

[YukikoKurosawa]

It's reached the point where I wish there was a filter to just sort of block out other players in cutscenes and stuff.

Can't filter out other players in trial cutscenes where the player is summoning other players who show up wearing clownsuits and ERP outfits to aid them for a serious climactic battle, sadly.

[Theodric]

Can't filter out other players in trial cutscenes where the player is summoning other players who show up wearing clownsuits and ERP outfits to aid them for a serious climactic battle, sadly.

They could probably add a toggle that allows 'immersive' generic NPC's to appear instead but honestly that seems like a waste of time in the era of 'you guys really care about the story, huh' in a game actively advertised for...its story.

[Raoabolic]

They could probably add a toggle that allows 'immersive' generic NPC's to appear instead but honestly that seems like a waste of time in the era of 'you guys really care about the story, huh' in a game actively advertised for...its story.

To be fair, Twilight and Dragon Age 2 was advertised for it's story as well. Advertisers and businessmen really do run the show, don't they? lol