A Storyteller’s Point of View on Final Fantasy XIV

[kindar1]

On to Bentbranch (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w..._to_Bentbranch)

Mother Miounne sends us to Bentbranch to continue our adventuring, where we are to meet with Keitha.

And that’s it. We arrive, get told how much they heard of us and we get the Quest reward.

This feels more like a waypoint that’s part of a greater quest than a quest itself.

No storytelling to speak of. On to the next quest.

You Shall Not Trespass (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w...l_Not_Trespass)

A ratman thief has broken a chocobo egg, and it’s a disaster. We are to go see Roseline for how to deal with it.

Because there were 4 thieving ratmen, we are to kill 4 of them as an example… all for the crime of trying to steal 1 egg, dropping and breaking it.

This is where, if I had the option, I’d walk away. I’m not some assassin for people who value an egg over another species’ right to survive.

We do the job, and get rewarded. At least she acknowledges the task was grim.

Storytelling-wise, it’s straightforward and teaches us that to be an adventurer is to be ready to murder whoever we are paid to with little needed provocation. The Gridanians are all about nature and balance, but this mission makes me think they mean “so long as they do what we tell them”.

Oct 11th, 2022, addendum

Question - the qiqim's egg theft, committed 'to survive' - was it a fertilized chocobo egg? My impression at the time is the fellas stole it for greeds sake as well, rather than as a desperate act of hunger that could only be satisfied by crunching on baby eggs. Doesn't make the retribution any less brutal, but does put things into perspective.

Alright. you raise a good point. I tracked down the dialogue, and while there is nothing in it going out of its way to make the ratman's act malicious, they use "looting" to describe what they did that led to the egg being broken. to me, looting invokes an act of desperation, someone driven to do something bad to survive. I think that's why the retribution felt disproportionate.

but, Looting can definitely be an act of vandalism, and I think this is what the authors were going for here. as you said, the ratman was driven by greed, and didn't care for what got damaged in the process. So I'm more okay with what we are sent to do.

Don't Look Down (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w...%27t_Look_Down)

And since we’re already there, we get drafted into being janitors and cleaning some mushrooms off the root that serves as a stairwell too. And why are we tasked with this job? Because the guy at the top of the root has a problem with height.

“Not my ideal posting, but we all do what we must.” Theodore
“Except you should be clearing the mushrooms, not adventurers.” Me

The storytelling is simple, and other than making me question the dedication of certain soldiers, it works

In the Grim Darkness of the Forest (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w..._of_the_Forest)

Theodore needs us to take a message to Rosaline at the bottom of the root because he can’t yell at her to come up. (I mean, really. He’s afraid of heights or of her?) we tell her and “if I want to sate my curiosity, I can check it out”

Okay. This is not good storytelling. As a player, I should be able to make my own decisions, even if it means the game needs to create a second path to get me to where it needs me to go.

So we investigate a campsite that is perfectly in sight from the root where they stand not doing anything and return with a bag. And she decides it belongs to the person causing trouble for the chocobo, so no longer shall she be lax in her duties.

What the story is telling me here is that these wood wailer guards only care about their duties when it affects chocobos.

[DPZ2]

Okay. This is not good storytelling. As a player, I should be able to make my own decisions, even if it means the game needs to create a second path to get me to where it needs me to go.

Final words: MMORPGs are not "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, no matter how much you might think they should be. You are abusing the process of critical analysis. I consider your "analysis" as nothing more than a self-serving promotional gimmick.