The feeling of beeing Home ...

[Jeeqbit]

We all know those stories weren't finished (garlemald+provinces/ascians/beast tribes/grand companies)

Although we could have had another Garlean expansion, we had Stormblood which saw Othard liberated and the entire Ivalice and Bozja plot which sees the territories next to Othard liberated. It's not like we had nothing.

I doubt any expansion could pull off a war as well as Bozja did. Critical Engagements blow Stormblood out of the water in making it feel like a war/battlefield with trenches. It took until the very end of Stormblood just to give us the closest thing to that, the Ghimlyt Dark.

The Ascians were a pretty tired idea by this point. They could have milked them more and made a "Revenge of the Ascians" expansion, but the risk with that is letting it become a really tired idea. Sometimes ending a plot on a high is better.

If you actually ranked up and did all of the beast tribe stories, their stories were finished already. It only seemed rushed in the MSQ for people who didn't bother with them.

I don't know what stories could remain with the grand companies. They are politicians. All they can do is tell us about Kan-E-Senna's political priorities.

and yet now we stand staring at probably the last remaining thread from ARR, the voidsent.

And Meracydia and additional information about what the allagans got up to.

But after all the streamer reactions have been siphoned, and the heat dies down, what is left exactly? A villain of the week scenario where we kill a generic big bad every expansion?

New lore is being created already. The New World's mention in EW, in the blue mage quests and its visibility from the moon for example.

We already get a new "generic big bad" every expansion. Zenos was a new character in Stormblood, Emet-Selch was a new character just before Shadowbringers, Meteion was a new character in EW. If this continues it doesn't seem like it will be a problem because these were all great characters with lots of fans.

[Hurlstone]

Do people really think Endwalker wrapped the story up just to get reactions from streamers and sales? Not that they decided to finally close the current story arc after almost ten years to start afresh? I get the expansion was not what everyone wanted (Kinda surprised how many people wanted an expansion-full story based around Garlemald) but I thought it did a decent enough job wrapping things up. Could have got the ball rolling in a few more areas, but I expected worse. Plus, we may still see stories based around the Ilsabard area or the Grand Companies (I for one would not mind seeing Ul'dah burst into flames n and have to being anew from its sea of corruption…) but I am excited to see some fresh lore.

I cannot help thinking comparing Endwalker to Cataclysm is overkil, then again my favourite WoW expansion was Mists of Pandaria so what do I know…

[MikkoAkure]

Cool story, all I know is that I haven’t been listened to and that my feedback and that of others has seemingly not been passed on or acted upon in favor of people who are overwhelmingly positive and largely unwilling to scrutinize the areas in which the game could stand to improve.

Just because you have an opinion doesn't mean that the developers are beholden to implement it or even acknowledge it.

[aveyond-dreams]

Just because you have an opinion doesn't mean that the developers are beholden to implement it or even acknowledge it.

Unless they want to keep me as a customer.

[CrownySuccubus]

There's no reason whatsoever that they should worry about keeping you specifically over anyone else.

[Tehmon]

Having a somewhat divisive story in a story-focused MMORPG and a monthly subscription fee is one of the worst outcomes, as it breeds completely new type of entitlement about a products story that really doesn't exist in any other media, I feel. And I can't outright disregard that sentiment either, even if I think some people take it way over the top to the point it becomes creepy and beyond entitled. And it shows in my ignored users list.

[aveyond-dreams]

You're absolutely correct in that I am not the sole priority in this situation. The multitudes who have left this game for others due to disappointments with the story, gameplay, and content are. I just happen to form part of that group. My time in FFXIV now consists of clicking on an npc to turn in things for gil at the end of the week, because there's nothing else to do.

At least give me a story worth looking forward to. We shall see what the patch trailer next Friday brings with it. So long as the Scions are involved however, I have a feeling I can probably predict the patch's MSQ to the point where I don't need to bother playing through the whole thing:

-We regroup in Thavnair
-Cid appears to give us a new gizmo to let us go into the Void for the dungeon
-We're short a tank and a healer, so we go back to the Scions yet again instead of adding new characters
-We go into the Void, can't find the dragon at the end of the dungeon, Y'shtola offers a lore explanation, and we turn to leave
-Zenos's voidsent appears to us alone and stares at us for several seconds. It then leaves without a word
-We go back to Thavnair and listen to Y'shtola talk more

Am I really supposed to get excited for this?

[CrownySuccubus]

You're absolutely correct in that I am not the sole priority in this situation. The multitudes who have left this game for others due to disappointments with the story, gameplay, and content are.

And the multitudes that have joined or continue to play counteract that.

Again, feel free to leave, but there's no reason that anyone has to feel bad about it.

Am I really supposed to get excited for this?

You may or may not get "excited" for anything. Your feelings are your own.

[aveyond-dreams]

Well if word of mouth isn't a concern, I suppose not. However given the state that the game is currently in, I no longer recommend it to people both irl and online. How am I supposed to convince any of the guys I talk to play a game where G'raha is right there front and center in the spotlight? I can't. It's embarrassing. He's not exactly a great hit with the women I talk to either, who are in agreement that there's something off about his face. In Shadowbringers we had a high quality fantasy adventure that knew what it was going for, even if the main party wasn't particularly exciting, but in Endwalker I struggle to define what FFXIV is trying to be.

[Jojoya]

Unless they want to keep me as a customer.

They're not concerned about retaining any single player over any other single player. It's rather arrogant and self-centered of you to think you have such significance.

SE can't implement all of the several million ideas that a couple of million active players are going to have. The vast majority are going to end up disappointed as their feedback gains no direct response and no implementation.

Quite honestly, if you're that unhappy with the game I can't understand why you bother to log in to do a couple of leves then log out. It's a tiny amount of gil that isn't going to do you any good as you play your other games and won't amount to anything helpful if you decide to return when 7.0 is released.

When you're getting too unhappy with a game, the best thing to do is walk away. That's what I did with WoW when I got fed up with all the changes there. The game it became was not the game I used to enjoy. There's no point wasting money on something you don't enjoy thinking that somehow that's going to make it better. Make a clean break, give it several months, then decide if it's worth giving the game another try.