Anyone else get the feeling they are still figuring out the story for 6.X and 7.0 ?

[Jeeqbit]

the return to a potentially high fantasy setting in the provinces of Ilsabard with a plot that treats the political situation there with greater care than that of Garlemald would strongly interest me. However, the fact that the story doesn't even want to mention that part of the world right now instead of gradually leading up to it is disappointing.

Graha mentioned Corvos a lot, enough to make me wonder if it was being hinted for the next expansion.

I want FFXIV to lean more towards a refined and mature way of storytelling and not being afraid to do bold things with its characters. That was how things were when I fell in love with the game back in Heavensward but now it seems that the storytelling is no longer aimed at players like me.

If you think about it, the people who were killed in the MSQ were not that endeared to us for a long time.

• The nameless scions killed by Livia.
• Moenbryda makes sudden first appearance in 2.0, then dies.
• Haurchefant just an ishgard soldier, battles with you a bit but you didn't really know him that long.
• Ysale designed for the HW expansion, died for the HW expansion.
• Papalymo had been lost since ARR, usually was away with Yda.
• Minfilia had been irrelevant and forgotten for many expansions when she died.
• Hydaelyn we barely had interaction with. Once we did, it was contained to an expansion.

None of these characters are in the same league as the amount of text interaction we have had with the current scions. Even at the point of each of their deaths, we had more interaction with others than them. You could argue they have never been as bold as we are imagining.

The Void being reduced to patch content filler arcs instead of a devoted expansion set in a dark fantasy world is disheartening

I agree it would be a good expansion idea, just like Shadowbringers but in reverse, but I am sure this occurred to them and they just decided to do it in patches for now. Maybe it's too close to Shadowbringers.

It doesn't feel like those in charge of these aspects of the game are getting an accurate read from a wide variety of perspectives, causing them to double down on elements like modern slice of life or humor that is starting to deter players like me away from the game.

The game has always had a strange humor thing. It was hard to read at first but I just accepted it as a quirk of the game. One of the recurring ones in beast tribes is making you complete a quest and then being honest that it was excrement.

[Deveryn]

I agree it would be a good expansion idea, just like Shadowbringers but in reverse, but I am sure this occurred to them and they just decided to do it in patches for now. Maybe it's too close to Shadowbringers.

The void has been an ever present topic and threat, much like Garlemald. I disagree with having a full expansion set in that world. We already had Shadowbringers. Why do we need something more or less the same in reverse?

The game has always had a strange humor thing. It was hard to read at first but I just accepted it as a quirk of the game. One of the recurring ones in beast tribes is making you complete a quest and then being honest that it was excrement.

XIV has a lot of reference humor in it. These quests in particular reference past MMO fetch quests where they straight up told you to go farm shit. Starting levels had you killing rats, bats and spiders and picking up all manner of trash. Having gone through that, it's actually funny to find out you've been tricked into doing that.

In general, the humor isn't all that strange if you've had any familiarity with anime and their storytelling. Even other FF games are like this. You need humor to balance out all the serious stuff or the whole experience is less enjoyable. The game is supposed to be a fun escape. If the story moved along more like Game of Thrones where all manner of characters are just getting killed for the sake of it, this game wouldn't last all that long.

[Striker44]

• The nameless scions killed by Livia.
• Moenbryda makes sudden first appearance in 2.0, then dies.
• Haurchefant just an ishgard soldier, battles with you a bit but you didn't really know him that long.
• Ysale designed for the HW expansion, died for the HW expansion.
• Papalymo had been lost since ARR, usually was away with Yda.
• Minfilia had been irrelevant and forgotten for many expansions when she died.
• Hydaelyn we barely had interaction with. Once we did, it was contained to an expansion.

None of these characters are in the same league as the amount of text interaction we have had with the current scions. Even at the point of each of their deaths, we had more interaction with others than them. You could argue they have never been as bold as we are imagining.

Honestly, the only one from that list I'd agree with is possibly Ysayle. ARR was all about the Scions, and Paplymo was just as much a part of the team as anyone else. His was also the first death of a main Scion, which in itself gives it an impact. Not to mention the impact a certain side quest in Old Sharlayan has on people in EW...

Moenbryda's death was meant to be shocking, and again a first for a main associate character to be killed off.

Haurchefant's death remains one of the most tear-jerking moments in the entire game, and was most certainly as "bold" as we think it is. People still have strong reactions to even little things like your character doing the /haurchefant emote when talking to Venat in Elpis. He was much, much more than "just an Ishgard soldier"; he was the first friend and ally we had in an otherwise hostile land. It's even stronger in the Japanese version, where the feelings between Haurchefant and the PC are explicitly made deeper.

Minfilia was an extremely popular character and the single biggest driving force behind your PC's story progression in ARR. While she took a back seat afterward, that doesn't mean people will suddenly forget about her or think it's meaningless if something happens to her. That still hits people deep.

Hydaelyn has also been there the entire time, and the connection with her was even substantially deepened with the entire Elpis part of EW itself.

These are people who were significantly and deeply endeared to us for a long time. For some of the ones who died earlier (Haurchefant, Papalymo, etc.), check YT or Reddit threads from years ago when those deaths occurred and you'll see people most definitely felt strongly about them back then, too.

[Jeeqbit]

Haurchefant's death remains one of the most tear-jerking moments in the entire game, and was most certainly as "bold" as we think it is.

It wasn't for me and it wasn't for many people. It was a shocking moment, but I was not as connected to Haurchefant as the game wanted to pretend I was. I had forgotten about him by the time we visited the grave at the end of Heavensward and I didn't care for seeing him in the 3.3 cutscene where we throw the eyes away. I would have rather seen Ysale next to me. I think most people's connection to Haurchefant now is more about the fanfiction and fan art that has been created around him.

Minfilia was an extremely popular character and the single biggest driving force behind your PC's story progression in ARR. While she took a back seat afterward, that doesn't mean people will suddenly forget about her or think it's meaningless if something happens to her. That still hits people deep.

If, as a new player, you do the story right now, then Minfilia is probably recent in your mind, but if you only did ARR all the way back in 2013-2015 then she is going to be very faded in your mind by now. It was a lot easier to lose her after that many years but I can understand if that is different for a new player.

Hydaelyn has also been there the entire time

Not talking to us at all though. Almost the only thing we got when we talked to her was either "Hear, Feel, Think" or words by proxy of Minfilia and then we had nothing for many, many years. There isn't that much connection to be had with a silent crystal.

If the only deep connection to Hydaelyn that we really formed was in EW, then it doesn't count as bold because it was effectively a character created in EW, to die in EW. That's very different to what I think is implied by "bold", which is killing Alphinaud, Y'shtola and the other scions who have been with you for many expansions talking to you for the last 10 years.

And yet, each and every npc on that list was way dearer to me than any of the current scions, except Tataru and Alphi. If the rest of the scions was to die now (like they pretended to do many times so far) I wouldn't even be sad, maybe even happy, while for almost all those I cried plenty when they died.

I know how I would feel because I was confronted with this possibility in EW and although I might handle some of them dying, my feeling toward all of them dying was the very word they were using, despair. They spent 10 years building these characters up and to get rid of all of them would be like throwing the last 10 years out of the window. They could kill some of them or make them all side characters, but I don't think killing all of them would have been the right answer.

I wouldn't mind if Tataru and Alphinaud died, to be honest. My attachment to Alphinaud decreased a lot when the actor changed in Heavensward.

[Striker44]

It wasn't for me and it wasn't for many people. It was a shocking moment, but I was not as connected to Haurchefant as the game wanted to pretend I was. I had forgotten about him by the time we visited the grave at the end of Heavensward and I didn't care for seeing him in the 3.3 cutscene where we throw the eyes away. I would have rather seen Ysale next to me. I think most people's connection to Haurchefant now is more about the fanfiction and fan art that has been created around him.

See, here's the thing. When you have a game played by hundreds of thousands of people, you'll be able to find "many" people that agree or disagree with any thought simply because there are so many people. It doesn't make whatever that opinion is the norm or anywhere close to the most common opinion. I'm actually of the same thought as you in that I wasn't as connected to Haurchefant, but I also realize that's actually a minority opinion. Go practically anywhere and you'll see tons of people talking about how significant a moment it was for them (many, many more than you'll see share our opinion).

If the only deep connection to Hydaelyn that we really formed was in EW, then it doesn't count as bold because it was effectively a character created in EW, to die in EW. That's very different to what I think is implied by "bold", which is killing Alphinaud, Y'shtola and the other scions who have been with you for many expansions talking to you for the last 10 years.

Thankfully, it's not the only "deep" connection we've had to Hydaelyn. That's existed since ARR. You know, the entire life of the game since 2.0.

[Jeeqbit]

The need for new characters is obvious, I just think it's obvious enough that SE can see it too. I have been expecting we will meet someone else in the expansion.

A new adventure implies meeting new people, otherwise it's not much of a "new" adventure.

Thankfully, it's not the only "deep" connection we've had to Hydaelyn. That's existed since ARR. You know, the entire life of the game since 2.0.

I'm defining deep connection as the amount of text interaction we had with them and all the people I listed had less text interaction with us than those who lived at the time of their deaths. Even though we have a lot of text interaction with Minfilia in ARR, 3 expansions worth of other character interactions probably overshadows it.

[Tlamila]

If you think about it, the people who were killed in the MSQ were not that endeared to us for a long time.

And yet, each and every npc on that list was way dearer to me than any of the current scions, except Tataru and Alphi. If the rest of the scions was to die now (like they pretended to do many times so far) I wouldn't even be sad, maybe even happy, while for almost all those I cried plenty when they died.