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

[Theodric]

Took quite a bit of searching to find a video telling like it is regarding how Ultima Thule's writing was abysmal, and it got me wishing people as articulated as Theodric, aveyond, Lauront, Vyrerus or Teraq would make videos criticizing what needs criticizing about FFXIV's writing.
Because it's incredibly hard to see any thumbnails that don't have people who need the views to make a living as creators with these predictable dramatic expressions in their thumbnails and yellow letters saying "BEST STORY EVER MADE" etc.

There is the saying "be the change you want to make" but even if I could make videos myself I'm not well articulated at all. As can be seen in any of my posts in the forum.

Hah. I appreciate the kind words! I actually considered it a few years back but my encounters with some of the more unhinged members of this community made me not want to put anything out there that would make me easy to identify in the real world.

I usually go by a different name in each online community that I'm a part of so I won't rule out possibly doing it for another game that takes its worldbuilding more seriously in the future...provided any of the upcoming MMO's manage to live up to their lofty promises and expectations.

I think FFXIV has essentially just shifted its target audience and genre altogether at this point which is highly unfortunate. It markets itself as a 'story driven' experience but it really isn't that at all - the amount of actual story we get in each content patch is often based around retconning things established earlier on, showcasing the same tiresome characters that we've been stuck with for a decade already and slowly eliminating anything with depth or grit to it such as piracy, political intrigue, religious zealotry, knowledge hoarding, warfare and so on.

I'll be continuing to provide feedback here on the forum at the very least but I'd be lying if I said most of my attention has already strayed to other games. I'm mostly just curious to see if the development team will course correct and throw a bone to those of us who didn't want the Ancients and Garleans to effectively be rendered obsolete. A vain hope, maybe, though in all honesty if it wasn't for the Garleans and Ascians I would never never have bothered sticking with this game in the first place. I'm not here for bland, one sided tales from self proclaimed 'heroes' who have minimal stakes and lecture everybody else for not being gifted with plot armour and every possible advantage to ensure their victory one way or another.

It certainly wasn't the Scions who kept me invested. Alas, if not for WoW crashing and burning at the time I never would have jumped over here in the first place and that game spiralled even further out of control after I left.

It's ironic, I suppose, that two MMO's have been ruined in large part by refusing to hold female antagonists to the same standards as their male counterparts.

[aveyond-dreams]

I actually considered it a few years back but my encounters with some of the more unhinged members of this community made me not want to put anything out there that would make me easy to identify in the real world.

That too, given the sort of mean-spirited behavior that FFXIV players engage in outside the forums whenever someone has a (valid) critique of the game, it makes it too much of a risk. FFXIV players seem to regularly interpret things like rightfully calling out characters like Venat's motives or asking for more customization options appropriate for either gender as infractions against their morals - ones that are not shared by the entire playerbase but that doesn't stop them from engaging in all sorts of behavior that would lead to repercussions in real life.

I'd rather switch games than deal with that. So I basically have, back to single player titles while FFXIV figures out what it wants to do with itself while its community carries on as usual. A playerbase whose voice is dominated by such individuals isn't worth that much of my time or effort to save from itself, especially if they're brazen enough to engage in the sort of behavior they've already demonstrated against other people.

Maybe if Yoship hadn't pandered to them not only would the story be in a better state, but there would actually be somewhat of a feeling of "home" left in this game instead of vague hostility for not towing the same line as everyone else. The only solace I have is that the kinds of players people are concerned about seem to have entrenched themselves deeply into FFXIV and seldom play other games, so I don't have to worry about them chasing after me elsewhere.

Diofield Chronicle is already coming out next week. And with it I gain a new world full of the sort of things that brought me to this game in the first place and whose absence now turns me away.