The feeling of beeing Home ...

[CrownySuccubus]

Well if word of mouth isn't a concern, I suppose not.

Your word of mouth does not count for more than anyone else's.

[Jeeqbit]

Am I really supposed to get excited for this?

The .1 and .2 patches are usually relatively boring like this.

In Heavensward the most exciting thing we do is with the antitower. Otherwise we just find Thancred and meet the Warriors of Darkness. Seeing them for the first time is about as exciting as the dungeon we're about to get.

In Stormblood we just help clean up the lochs and get Ala Mhigo and Doma some finances to fund their new democracies.

In Shadowbringers, we just sort out eulmore's future and learn about souls for the obvious return to the source in 5.3. Since we know that's where it's heading, the first 2 patches are not very exciting.

But all of them get better from the .3 patch.

[aveyond-dreams]

The .1 and .2 patches are usually relatively boring like this.

But all of them get better from the .3 patch.

This is hardly a defense as to why the quality of .1 and .2 MSQs should be like this. The playerbase deserves better.

[Rulakir]

The Ascians were a pretty tired idea by this point.

The Ascians didn't even have a story until ShB, which was just one expansion ago. They're also part of the foundational lore of the world, which was unceremoniously rushed in EW. Instead of answering everything, I have even more questions and it's frustrating that because it seems like Yoshi-P (who admits his own staff would like more Ancients) wants to be done with them they'll never be addressed.

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.

I don't know either. I had a lot of issues with EW ranging from it feeling preachy and self-help, to being more concerned about themes than telling a good story, and ultimately the "it's okay if we do it" hypocrisy.

What I'm left with is everything I was invested in story wise is gone and a writing direction that doesn't inspire confidence in the future, quite the opposite.

[aveyond-dreams]

I don't know either. I had a lot of issues with EW ranging from it feeling preachy and self-help, to being more concerned about themes than telling a good story, and ultimately the "it's okay if we do it" hypocrisy.

What I'm left with is everything I was invested in story wise is gone and a writing direction that doesn't inspire confidence in the future, quite the opposite.

Agreed on these points. I like to write a lot of things but...I don't build stories around "themes" nor do I like being as blunt about them in the way Endwalker was. The playerbase is largely composed of adults who deserve to be respected more than they were in Endwalker in regards to how it handled such messaging. There were too many inconsistencies holding up the story that have all gradually come apart as time has gone on. FFXIV's first arc deserved a better ending than the one it got, and now its second arc so far hasn't done much to restore my confidence nor establish strong interest in the story moving forward.

[Jeeqbit]

This is hardly a defense as to why the quality of .1 and .2 MSQs should be like this. The playerbase deserves better.

Perhaps, but it's what SE do. They want to create a sense of calm before the next storm and making it boring is their way of achieving it. They seem to want to tidy up the political future of every nation we interfere with even though politics usually bores people. Maybe it's just a loose end in Yoshi-P's mind that he always has to settle. We could probably just get a reference a few patches later that says how they solved all of their political problems instead of getting us to do it. It even happened with Radz where we had to tidy up their political problems.

[Lauront]

blabber

Plenty of "I'm sures" in there. I'd just like something a bit more objective to provide that assurance, which is hardly unreasonable to ask for, especially to get a better sense of where they're drawing their feedback and how that compares to more systematically collected feedback, and what that is telling them. I've always stipulated that there are certain criteria that would result in me quitting - I am playing it by ear to see how the epilogues to the ancient stuff shapes up.

I don't think the anti-Zodiark, pro-Mommy or "white knight" factions are energetic enough for a Discord considering anti-how-the-story-went people in any media are much more driven,

If you say so.

[Tehmon]

If there's an anti-Zodiark discord, hit me up then.

[MikkoAkure]

If you say so.

I mean, the only Discord I've ever seen promoted on here is by Rulakir for y'all to echo chamber amongst yourselves.

If there are any edgy pro-Venat comics with WoL going into "Hydaelyn Trance", I haven't seen any.

[Lauront]

It's more the quoted section in my post, just above the gif, that I found rather hilarious in how ignorant it is as a statement. I wouldn't have to go too far, oh to a certain subsection of this very forum, or even reddit, to find rather 'energetic' defences of the story as written and a certain someone. As for the discord, yeah it was made by someone for those of us who want to, to keep in touch because some were unsubbing from the game and thus the forum.