What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[aveyond-dreams]

As Senti mentions, portrayals such as how the Ancients were depicted in Endwalker have issues attached to them given how the game seemed to lead us into liking them only to wipe them out...for reasons that were then further elaborated on in the Omega quest as being illogical, given that resistance against despair is something unique to individuals rather than whole collectives. The situation regarding the depiction of mental health and the behavior of Hermes is another complex issue that I don't feel equipped enough to elaborate at length on, though understandably it was not received well in numerous circles.

Playing through the expansion, there was little if anything that made me think of the Ancients as scary or beings to be feared. They seemed cool, and as someone who likes making/creating/writing things I felt pretty at home with them. Their reactions to their circumstances struck me as logical, with Hermes and Venat being the sole exceptions. Now with Lahabrea set to make an appearance in 6.2, I disagree with the notion that these 3 alone are enough to paint their society as something that couldn't have overcome despair or that the suffering of the Sundered somehow makes them superior to their progenitors.

I am also aware that there were Russian players who took issue with the way in which Garlemald was depicted and handled in Endwalker, especially with the implication that they would be left behind should the plan to evacuate the star come to pass. I can only imagine what seeing that must have felt like, but it is a symptom of the game taking a bit too much from real-world locations and inserting them in the game. That sort of trend isn't sustainable, and given how much Thavnair was made to suffer in Endwalker in comparison to the other regions of the world, I too would take issue with the imbalance in the way in which this apocalypse affected the world.

[Striker44]

As Senti mentions, portrayals such as how the Ancients were depicted in Endwalker have issues attached to them given how the game seemed to lead us into liking them only to wipe them out...for reasons that were then further elaborated on in the Omega quest as being illogical, given that resistance against despair is something unique to individuals rather than whole collectives.

I feel like that missed the fundamental point of the Omega questline. He finds things "illogical" because he can't yet actually understand or process emotions. To him, the only "logical" course of action is something completely, absolutely, and utterly devoid of any emotion, which just isn't human. While each individual may have their own emotional reaction to something, every member of that "whole collective" will have an emotional reaction of some form and to some degree.

The situation regarding the depiction of mental health and the behavior of Hermes is another complex issue that I don't feel equipped enough to elaborate at length on, though understandably it was not received well in numerous circles.

Please stop with the mythical "numerous circles" tripe. It got old long ago, and typically ignores the immensely larger portion of the playerbase that feels completely differently than whatever your latest whine is.