A Storyteller’s Point of View on Final Fantasy XIV

[Kes13a]

I think that is the biggest flaw in Final Fantasy XIV. I as a player and main character, have no agency, or even the illusion of agency in how the game will progress.

I do have to ask, have you played any other mmo? I mean no offense, but mmo's of all stripes are not going to allow you the license to "pick your own destiny". even your stories will not allow the reader to have any agency as to the final outcome. no matter how much you scream at the main character in your stories, they will still walk into that ambush, or situation, despite you knowing it could have been done better or another way or avoided all together.

yes, the guards could have likely have dealt with the issue, maybe even defeated the golem instead of running away. there were certainly enough people training to have assisted to bring it down. the npc's around you could ask someone more qualified to do all their tasks, but then... what would your purpose be? what would the purpose of your character be if everyone else is competent and able to do their own things?

the closest experience with that would likely be a single player game with a story that you can be good or evil and affect the eventual outcome in some fashion. in an mmo, they are essentially guiding you towards their final vision, just like in one of your stories you have published. just like when you start reading the first page, from your first baby steps in an mmo, your final outcome is already known. the writers know, and its not usually one of several options because they have a goal. you truly have zero agency. if you really wanted you could skip the whole game and watch the entirety of your eventual ending in video or written format online. it is not going to change.

though since you are a published writer, and even though the books dont fall into genres I generally read, I may have to read some of them to see if you manage to avoid the very situations you are critiquing. do they have open endings where the main character ending can be changed by the reader. are there situations you create where if I put the story down for several hours.. the story continues on without me.

according to your critiques you should manage to avoid all these pitfalls and the stories should be an exciting read, since very rarely have I been so immersed in a book I feel I have any license to change an outcome, and am not just along for the ride so to speak. but we will see. but keep up your journey and the critique. the viewpoint is interesting all the same

[Atelier-Bagur]

I do have to ask, have you played any other mmo? I mean no offense, but mmo's of all stripes are not going to allow you the license to "pick your own destiny". even your stories will not allow the reader to have any agency as to the final outcome. no matter how much you scream at the main character in your stories, they will still walk into that ambush, or situation, despite you knowing it could have been done better or another way or avoided all together.

yes, the guards could have likely have dealt with the issue, maybe even defeated the golem instead of running away. there were certainly enough people training to have assisted to bring it down. the npc's around you could ask someone more qualified to do all their tasks, but then... what would your purpose be? what would the purpose of your character be if everyone else is competent and able to do their own things?

the closest experience with that would likely be a single player game with a story that you can be good or evil and affect the eventual outcome in some fashion. in an mmo, they are essentially guiding you towards their final vision, just like in one of your stories you have published. just like when you start reading the first page, from your first baby steps in an mmo, your final outcome is already known. the writers know, and its not usually one of several options because they have a goal. you truly have zero agency. if you really wanted you could skip the whole game and watch the entirety of your eventual ending in video or written format online. it is not going to change.

though since you are a published writer, and even though the books dont fall into genres I generally read, I may have to read some of them to see if you manage to avoid the very situations you are critiquing. do they have open endings where the main character ending can be changed by the reader. are there situations you create where if I put the story down for several hours.. the story continues on without me.

according to your critiques you should manage to avoid all these pitfalls and the stories should be an exciting read, since very rarely have I been so immersed in a book I feel I have any license to change an outcome, and am not just along for the ride so to speak. but we will see. but keep up your journey and the critique. the viewpoint is interesting all the same

Yeah while this is not trying to give excuses to criticizing the story, its probably better to take the story from a different approach. As much as this game advertises itself for its mostly single player experience, from my years of playing numerous jrpgs I dont see FFXIV to be up to par or ever live up to its more single player brothers and sisters in the series, but dear lord does it try and I commend them for it as an MMO.

[DPZ2]

As with too many of the quests to date, my only purpose is to kill something so the story can happen around me. I don’t have an actual impact on the story.

I think that is the biggest flaw in Final Fantasy XIV. I as a player and main character, have no agency, or even the illusion of agency in how the game will progress.

To this point in the game, you are a useful, but hardly essential, adventurer. Again, you are not the Warrior of Light. You are "that Ra'hashir guy who hangs out at the Adventurer's Guild looking for work". Every MMORPG out there starts that way in one form or another.

Also ... how many MMORPGs have you actually played? None of them provide you with any agency (or illusion thereof) when starting out. In most of them, you are not even the Main Character of the game, although you tend to hang out with the Main Character(s) a lot.

[Boblawblah]

To this point in the game, you are a useful, but hardly essential, adventurer. Again, you are not the Warrior of Light. You are "that Ra'hashir guy who hangs out at the Adventurer's Guild looking for work". Every MMORPG out there starts that way in one form or another.

Also ... how many MMORPGs have you actually played? None of them provide you with any agency (or illusion thereof) when starting out. In most of them, you are not even the Main Character of the game, although you tend to hang out with the Main Character(s) a lot.

This is a small streamer/self-published author. They're only playing the game because a viewer asked them to, so I'm guessing this is just an attempt to possibly advertise their channel/books, and get a few bucks out of it. I also believe they stated that they don't play mmos really at all, so they're going to be judging this as if it's a single player game like the witcher.

Predictably, it will get negative, they'll get attention for it, and then they'll disappear.

[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.

[kindar1]

I do have to ask, have you played any other mmo? I mean no offense, but mmo's of all stripes are not going to allow you the license to "pick your own destiny". even your stories will not allow the reader to have any agency as to the final outcome. no matter how much you scream at the main character in your stories, they will still walk into that ambush, or situation, despite you knowing it could have been done better or another way or avoided all together.

The last MMO I played was DCUO, a decade ago, possibly longer. I reached the ending, and abandoned the game when I replayed it as a villain to see what writers working with storytellers of DC's caliber would do to make the villain angle interesting, and it turned out to be the exact same quests, only instead of going to rescues or retrieve something, you are kidnapping and stealing. I never looked at that game again even though I have a lifetime account with it.

though since you are a published writer, and even though the books dont fall into genres I generally read, I may have to read some of them to see if you manage to avoid the very situations you are critiquing. do they have open endings where the main character ending can be changed by the reader. are there situations you create where if I put the story down for several hours.. the story continues on without me.

according to your critiques you should manage to avoid all these pitfalls and the stories should be an exciting read, since very rarely have I been so immersed in a book I feel I have any license to change an outcome, and am not just along for the ride so to speak. but we will see. but keep up your journey and the critique. the viewpoint is interesting all the same

as an author of a novel, my job is to convince you that when a character makes a decision, they are the one who makes it, not me dictating that they do it. of course, you know I'm who's calling the shots. but if I do my job well, you'll be willing to let slide that I'm actually the one in charge. if I do my job extremely well, you'll forget I exist. (I'm nowhere near that good)

I'm not asking that the people behind FF14 give me ultimate freedom. I'm not even asking to the illusion of freedom. I'd be more than happy with a story that is crafted well enough I'm willing to let slide that they're the ones in charge.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

as an author of a novel, my job is to convince you that when a character makes a decision, they are the one who makes it, not me dictating that they do it. of course, you know I'm who's calling the shots. but if I do my job well, you'll be willing to let slide that I'm actually the one in charge. if I do my job extremely well, you'll forget I exist. (I'm nowhere near that good)

I'm not asking that the people behind FF14 give me ultimate freedom. I'm not even asking to the illusion of freedom. I'd be more than happy with a story that is crafted well enough I'm willing to let slide that they're the ones in charge.

...again, this is a different Medium of Story-telling.
I get what you mean in a sense, but thats just not how story telling works on an MMO Game Vs Reading a Book.
Maybe Im different or Im weird, but I never think of the author when I play a game, or I read a Book, Im focused on the world and its characters. A story is written to be told as its written from Beginning, Middle, and End. And for me as a reader, I consider the world and its cast to be in charge. Not the author....even though He/She wrote it to play out the way that it does.

I feel like if I ever think of the author...then Im not immersed in the story or the world.

[BelgarathMTH]

This is a small streamer/self-published author. They're only playing the game because a viewer asked them to, so I'm guessing this is just an attempt to possibly advertise their channel/books, and get a few bucks out of it. I also believe they stated that they don't play mmos really at all, so they're going to be judging this as if it's a single player game like the witcher.

Predictably, it will get negative, they'll get attention for it, and then they'll disappear.

I checked out the channel, and to date it was about six hours of him doing botany and carpentry, and not saying a word. Admittedly, I was skipping, because who wants to watch six hours of silent gathering and crafting, but I'm not sure if he did any MSQ at all in the posted videos. If he did, it wasn't much.

I think the OP is coming into this with a sour attitude where he's already decided he doesn't like the game, and just wants to reinforce that with an onslaught of negativity. At this point I have no idea what his actual motivations are for continuing to play a game he clearly hates. (Except for maybe botany and carpentry. )

[Atelier-Bagur]

I checked out the channel, and to date it was about six hours of him doing botany and carpentry, and not saying a word. Admittedly, I was skipping, because who wants to watch six hours of silent gathering and crafting, but I'm not sure if he did any MSQ at all in the posted videos. If he did, it wasn't much.

I think the OP is coming into this with a sour attitude where he's already decided he doesn't like the game, and just wants to reinforce that with an onslaught of negativity. At this point I have no idea what his actual motivations are for continuing to play a game he clearly hates. (Except for maybe botany and carpentry. )

Come on now give him a chance, I'm curious to see how this plays out

[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.