The feeling of beeing Home ...

[Rilifane]

EW was entertaining to play through once and I enjoyed it as long as I didn't delve too deep into anything. I played it more like I'd watch an action blockbuster: brain off, sit back, let it entertain me and that was nice. The moment I started doing what I did in the past, especially in HW, and dig for more lore, more details, thought more about it etc. I just found it lacking and even contradictionary so I stopped and that also made me care far less about the story overall. Now it's another action blockbuster with funny one liners for me.
I had wanted to see more of everything they hinted at, especially the Garlean side of things and the conclusion was overall unsatisfying for me. Instead I got a "New Adventure" that isn't really one because it's just more of the same. Surrounded by the scions and their exposition speeches. I'm not hyped to continue MSQ at this point, I'll do it to be able to unlock other things. It's a means to an end right now.

And telling someone to quit just because they don't enjoy the story anymore is a bit much.
Contrary to what some people like to say, FFXIV is not a pure story game - singleplayer do that much better.

[Raoabolic]

All I can say is that I agree with the OP but it's their ball to pop in front of the crowd. Sure, you have the right to do whatever you want with your IP just don't be surprised when people leave because they wanted to play soccer/basketball/baseball/ect.

[Ransu]

There are entire continents that we haven't visited yet all with their own lore/culture/story to tell.

I'm happy to be done with the ascian arc and to move on to something new after nearly a decade of the ascian arc panning out.

[Payadopa]

That's just normal. You enjoyed something like a good book or movie and now it's gone. That's human nature. Now new stuff needs to be build up.

[NekoMataMata]

A lot of the old mysteries have been confronted now and it made me question what was left. That was why they got Emet-Selch to talk about the mysteries that remain that we hadn't thought as much about. That made it better and probably saved the story from ending in despair.

What happens to Garlemald is shown in the trailer. If you haven't done all of the side quests, spoiler, Ascians are still alive in some side quests.

You are a part of the story of Eorzea if you consider doing little seasonal events or side quests as being part of it. We will start to feel part of something bigger, the whole star, Hydaelyn. Already we are in Thavnair doing beast tribes and eventually we will visit other islands or worlds.

The Ascians in the other side quests aren't really relevant to the MSQ though. Even the finale of the ShB job quests combined with the bit from the HW containment bay story line will likely have nothing to do with the current story line and that's despite the fact that the 13th is involved.

[Skivvy]

That's just normal. You enjoyed something like a good book or movie and now it's gone. That's human nature. Now new stuff needs to be build up.

That's assuming that all story endings have equally good endings. If a story is tied up well, you may be bummed that the story as a whole is finished, but overall you'll be content. On the flip side...well, I'm sure we can all think of some hugely popular TV show that really butchered their final season, so much so that people will pretend it doesn't even exist. I'm thinking that's probably more inline with how OP is feeling about XIV's story at this point.

[SentioftheHoukai]

Now that my best friend Zenos is dead (again), I have a hard time paying attention to the story, especially when I'm teamed up with the worst WoL fanboy Graha and stinky Estinien.
I first became truly interested in the story when Zenos kicked my ass at Rhalgr's Reach! Now that he's gone, I'm struggling to stay interested like in ARR and HW.
I'm trying tho! Luckily, I still enjoy many other things about the game besides the story.

Not to give you false hope, but....



Yoshida didn't actually give us a clear answer here. Like many things on the Q&A docket, his answer to the Zenos question was wishy-washy and not at all certain. Sometimes it feels like FFXIV's plot is decided via Rule of Cool.

Many players don't want Zenos to return (he's meh to me, neither like nor dislike him), but based on the vague answer they could bring him back if he's popular enough I'd argue.

[Renalt]

The Scions disbanding should have been the end of the story for those character. Time to bring in new characters for the New Adventure.

but nah...bring them all back in literally 5 minutes after disbanding.

[Equitable_Remedy]

Man, I really hope those around you, who love and care for you, do not employ this utterly silly answer whenever you have a lull in your life or make a few bad decisions.

This is a video game.

[Jeeqbit]

I feel like this whole "New Adventure" thing is what Yoshida wanted, not me. The Ascian/Garlean plot was finally going somewhere interesting and I wanted a satisfying conclusion, not a rushed one to get it out of the way.

Yoshi-P's concern was that if he dragged out the Ascian/Garlean plot for too long it would become stale and people would believe it's never going to be resolved.

It did feel that way for a long time but we were still excited for a Garlean expansion in Stormblood. Shadowbringers put a big dent in that by distracting us from the Garleans and then making them irrelevant by saying "they were just an Ascian creation". Rebuilding the excitement for a Garlean expansion was rough but Bozja and the weapon trial series did a good job of it.

They rushed the ending and ruined a lot of great setups by previous expansions they might have explored. At this point, I'm feeling mostly disappointment about what could have been and hopelessness about what might come.

Obviously, they ruined the possibility of a Garlean expansion but I saw it as an interesting subverting of expectations. Given the amount of people that express this sentiment, they were successful at that.

We also will be getting more Garlemald since we haven't gone back to Julius and the twins yet.

If you haven't done all of the role quests, then I suggest doing that because Garlemald is involved and it's possible it was involved enough that they won't return to it in the MSQ.