A Storyteller’s Point of View on Final Fantasy XIV

[kindar1]

Eggs over Queasy (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w...gs_over_Queasy)

Here we are tasked with fetching eggs because Galfrid is short-handed. Once we deliver them, we find out the reason they are needed.

Story-wise, this is a simple, but well-built quest. We have something to do, a reason as to why us, instead of the NPCs who should be doing it, and on delivery, we get more story building.

Surveying the Damage (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w...ing_the_Damage)

The person we delivered the eggs to sends us to retrieve items a soldier left behind when trouble occurred and they fled. Again, on delivery, we get more story-building.

This quest only works, on a storytelling level, because we’re already there. This is a ‘you know, since you’re here, can you help me out?’ situation, but if I’d left the instant I concluded the previous quest, which I know I did the first time, and returned later, I’d be left with a ‘why didn’t you send anyone before now?’ sense, especially since there are other guards there.

A Soldier’s Breakfast (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w...%27s_Breakfast)

With the items delivered, we are tasked with thinning some of the creatures that are causing problems. We return with the news we carried through the mission, and are congratulated as well as told to take an egg we have collected to another person.

Story-wise, my only problem here is that with how quickly the creatures respawn in the game, there is no way killing 3 of them means her companions will be any safer when they go meditate.

We deliver the egg and are told how brave we are to have taken on those creatures. Another case of 'tell and not show', because there was nothing in fighting the creatures that felt brave or difficult. I basically stood in place and shot them. The only reason I stepped aside when they prepared their special attacks is because I need the practice with that.

Anytime the narrative doesn’t support the action, it pulls me out and can lead to me questioning why I play.

Addendum

As of the time I am posting this, my subscription has expired. The only way this affects me is that I will not be able to play beyond the last MSQ level 59 quest.

So, the story now has until I hit that point to convince me to buy a subscription.

I want to make sure it’s clear. This isn’t a ‘keep playing because things will get good eventually’ situation. Just about everyone who’s talked with me about the game has told me that already. No. When I hit that last quest and I’m informed that, unless I get a subscription, I will not know what the next quest entails. I must be at the very least sufficiently curious about what’s to come, that I’ll want to spend the money.

[SannaR]

I still want to know who or what you were labeling as being an author insert.

[kindar1]

May I ask who or what you're labeling as an author insert? The story more often then not assumes you've gone and done side quests.

Papalymo and Yda are who I consider Author inserts. they show up, do their thing, and leave. they add nothing to the sequence.

[kindar1]

while to some extent I agree, you have to be aware that the game has been around for 12 years.

they have changed the original arc to make it shorter for new players. this is going to cause issues with your attempt to critique the story, since its not the same as it was. in fact, they removed 13% of the ARR quests, lines of dialogue that used to be part of quests were removed to shorten the quest chains themselves. at this point, especially in ARR, you are being handed a book with entire paragraphs, pages and chapters that are simply removed to make the experience shorter because players complained it was too long.

while your attempt is interesting, I feel its conception is flawed from the start

I understand that things will change over time in a game like this. the creators have to adapt to a changing user base if nothing else. But I am not entering this game knowing what those removed quests were, and how they contributed, or not, to the story being told.

it is a storyteller's job to make sure any changes that occur due to the edits to the story don't render that story intelligible, they must alter how the story progresses to cover the gaps the edit created. that might mean changing a quest line, or adding a comment here and there within other quests to provide whatever was removed so the story flows again.

I don't know what the original intent was, so I can't speak to what I might have done to maintain that story. all I can speak to, is what I experience as I go through the quest they left in, and how I might make those more 'story structured' if I can think of a way.

[SannaR]

Papalymo and Yda are who I consider Author inserts. they show up, do their thing, and leave. they add nothing to the sequence.

Oh here I thought you had labeled them as the strangers. They're definitely not that since more than one person helps write the msq. They are there to be a hint that there is a group of people who help in keeping track of the movements of the beast tribes or anything else that might seem out of the ordinary. Since the three city states don't really have a big enough of an active military or guards. Thus relying on the myriad of adventures to do mundane tasks and the like. A lot of the time it's tasks that no one wants to do or might not have the time to do. Everyone and their pet budgie knows an adventure will do whatever gladly even if it's just for the coin.

[Absimiliard]

This is a person that does not know the game's lore and characters. They should at least be given the opportunity to revise their own opinions as they go along.

[kindar1]

This is a person that does not know the game's lore and characters. They should at least be given the opportunity to revise their own opinions as they go along.

will the MSQ provide me with such lore?

[Atelier-Bagur]

will the MSQ provide me with such lore?

They explain a lot of things of the world to you in detail. The ARR story is written in such a way that those unfamiliar with 1.0 can still follow along with the game's setting, lore and rules.

[Absimiliard]

will the MSQ provide me with such lore?

It will give you quite a bit of information, but it's gonna be a very long road. ARR, Heavensward, and to degree Stormblood will give you the "lay of the land," so to speak. You'll be learning a lot about the world at large (at least in Eorzea's corner of the globe), interacting with national leaders, encountering a plethora of different races and species, and many other things. The basics of aether and primals will also be introduced. There's a lot more, of course, but I'm omitting it for the sake of not spoiling it for you.

ShB and Endwalker deal more with matters of a much greater scope. They will teach you much about the world's distant past history and inner workings, as well as at least a bit about how the universe itself functions.

Suffice it to say, you've got a lot of information coming your way. The rate at which it is provided does pick up after ARR, which is notably a bit slow even with the revisions they've made.

I should probably warn you however that some important tidbits of lore have been revealed during interviews, in data books, in official short stories, and in one case another game entirely.

[Atelier-Bagur]

It will give you quite a bit of information, but it's gonna be a very long road. ARR, Heavensward, and to degree Stormblood will give you the "lay of the land," so to speak. You'll be learning a lot about the world at large (at least in Eorzea's corner of the globe), interacting with national leaders, encountering a plethora of different races and species, and many other things. The basics of aether and primals will also be introduced. There's a lot more, of course, but I'm omitting it for the sake of not spoiling it for you.

ShB and Endwalker deal more with matters of a much greater scope. They will teach you much about the world's distant past history and inner workings, as well as at least a bit about how the universe itself functions.

Suffice it to say, you've got a lot of information coming your way. The rate at which it is provided does pick up after ARR, which is notably a bit slow even with the revisions they've made.

I should probably warn you however that some important tidbits of lore have been revealed during interviews, in data books, in official short stories, and in one case another game entirely.

at least not to the extent of WoW where its practically required to do some outside lore reading to understand its plot. Its mostly just relegated to extra flavor stuff.