Live Letter Thoughts

[TaleraRistain]

I really like how estinien grew from making meaningful connections. How he's now more relaxed to be able to even make jokes. And how he trusts people more that he willingly sacrificed his life for them in UT.
Not every growth has to come from tragedy.

I love Estinien's growth. I was pointing out the hypocrisy because aveyond has complained about the change in Estinien before and said he was better when he was gloomy and edgy. He had character growth. But it wasn't the "right" type of growth.

[aveyond-dreams]

I would much rather see the medieval soldier in the party behave like one as opposed to being reduced to the end of a joke whose only growth over the course of Endwalker was learning to manage money. It fundamentally did not deliver on the experience I hoped the addition of this character would provide. There was no back and forth, no banter, no sarcasm, nothing that made his presence in the plot memorable for me aside the 2 scenes with Vrtra at the beginning and during the return to Thavnair.

I expected and would like to see more done with him, and less using him as a means to portray "virtues" like the business with the orphan. We didn't want him to be added to the party so he could completely fall in line with the perfect hero types of the scions. We wanted something different to them. I don't feel like this character was respected in Endwalker and he certainly wasn't in 6.1. At this point in addition to G'raha Tia I feel that I've also been turned against Estinien as well.

With how this expansion went on at length about how perfection was bad you'd think that he'd have been able to retain at least some of the character flaws that made him an interesting person to watch on-screen. I don't know how much he will bring to the table in 6.2 but after that whole "give them a second death" line I can't say that I have a lot of confidence in him.

In regards to the depiction of the Sundering, I feel that so much confusion and discussions that have arisen since the launch of Endwalker could have been avoided had a faithful depiction of it taken place in the main game. Hydaelyn and Zodiark's transformations, their duel, and the aftermath. These were perfectly reasonable expectations and I am not interested in hearing arguments against this basic principle: the expansion about these two gods should have gone into further depth about them both as opposed to the numerous distractions and detours that took away from them in the MSQ.

[hagare]

I love Estinien's growth. I was pointing out the hypocrisy because aveyond has complained about the change in Estinien before and said he was better when he was gloomy and edgy. He had character growth. But it wasn't the "right" type of growth.

I'm just glad SE didn't go the way he wants him to go.
God. That'd be terrible.

[Rulakir]

I feel like Ishikawa may have have made a misstep on this one. There's a problem with making anything crossed over into another game canon to the original game in the first place, but it's made more of a problem when it directly contradicts the canon of the original game. And this goes against what Emet himself described to us about the effect of Sundering in Shadowbringers.

The only thing it goes 'against' is his visual demonstration with Ryne. His description of the sundering is otherwise consistent. The issue is people incorrectly thought when he said "malformed creatures" it was because he viewed the sundered as lesser beings not because that's literally what they were and that they didn't figure being sundered 13 additional times (bearing in mind Ryne was only snapped once) would result in reducing the person to practically primordial goo rather than just being copied and pasted 13x more.

[aveyond-dreams]

The only thing it goes 'against' is his visual demonstration with Ryne. His description of the sundering is otherwise consistent. The issue is people incorrectly thought when he said "malformed creatures" it was because he viewed the sundered as lesser beings not because that's literally what they were and that they didn't figure being sundered 13 additional times (bearing in mind Ryne was only snapped once) would result in reducing the person to practically primordial goo rather than just being copied and pasted 13x more.

Indeed. This is then confirmed by Yoship's answer when he confirmed that the Sundered races "evolved" into forms like Hyur, Roegadyn, etc. due to selective pressures. This information should not have been in a Live Letter Q&A nor a mobile game - it should have been in the expansion itself. Why this is not the case will forever mystify me.

[VelKallor]

i wanted something different to them.

Just correcting your sentence

In regards to the depiction of the Sundering, I feel that so much confusion and discussions that have arisen since the launch of Endwalker could have been avoided had a faithful depiction of it taken place in the main game. Hydaelyn and Zodiark's transformations, their duel, and the aftermath. These were perfectly reasonable expectations and I am not interested in hearing arguments against this basic principle: the expansion about these two gods should have gone into further depth about them both as opposed to the numerous distractions and detours that took away from them in the MSQ.

Yes, we can see clearly you dont listen to anyones views but your own...whilst again claiming that you speak for others.

Which you dont.

[Rulakir]

This information should not have been in a Live Letter Q&A nor a mobile game - it should have been in the expansion itself. Why this is not the case will forever mystify me.

The answer is simple: had they depicted the sundering accurately in game rather than stylized in a music video players wouldn't have felt sorry for Venat, which undermines the entire narrative of trying to make her out to be some kind of tragic heroine who saved the world.

[VelKallor]

As for whether Endwalker was a good story, I'd call it decent but definitely could have been done better. I think the problem is that they smashed what had originally been planned out as 2 expansions worth of story into a single expansion

..and then we'd be getting complaints from guess who that the MSQ was 'too long"

[Atelier-Bagur]

I mean, that sort of thing is kinda a "well duh" given how usually this stuff plays out when it comes to evolution.

I'm more curious about the actual origins of each races that caused that evolution, not that it obviously happened.

[aveyond-dreams]

The answer is simple: had they depicted the sundering accurately in game rather than stylized in a music video players wouldn't have felt sorry for Venat, which undermines the entire narrative of trying to make her out to be some kind of tragic heroine who saved the world.

The manner in which she was depicted in Endwalker and in which 6.2 is set to portray her as such is a matter of controversy among those of us who approach the story from both a more analytical view or those who were fans of the antagonist faction. It is far too late to revisit and undo plot points that have brought us to this moment, and I struggle to come up with ways in which the lasting impact of this writing might be mitigated.

Dialogue options that allow the player to voice thoughts against Venat or resent being called her champion is one way, unlikely as it is.

More simply, the plot of Season 2 could have fully disconnected itself by starting with a true new adventure not based off pre-existing plot points and with a fresh cast that had never been involved with the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga.

Either way, couple the apparent difference in perspectives along with the refusal to allow the player to defect from Venat no matter how minor the form, except in a sole quest locked behind a raid series, and it makes for a problem that needs addressing. Too many groups and factions, several of which don't interlap or intermix at all feel as though the writing of Endwalker did not do them justice:

Zenos, the Ancients, the Ascians, and Garlemald - all of which were not given sufficient attention or satisfactory conclusions in Endwalker, except from the perspective of one who actively dislikes one or more faction while favoring the Scions or Venat.