A Storyteller’s Point of View on Final Fantasy XIV

[Lunalepsy]

A couple of weeks ago, a friend and viewer on my gaming stream ask if I’d be okay with him gifting me Final Fantasy XIV. (I have a thing on my stream where if I’m gifted a game, I will play it for 12 hours in the gifter’s presence. It’s so I will give the game a fair chance and so they can watch me react to my first time playing it. It’s when I tend to be at my most entertaining.)

I’ve never played a Final Fantasy game, but I had heard of XIV

“That’s the MMO, right?” I asked.

There are 2 reasons I don’t play MMOs. 1) I am a firm believer in paying for a game once. 2) I despise being forced to play with other people to do the interesting stuff a MMO offers. I am not a social person in real-life, and I am not one in virtual-life either.

He explained FFXIV lets me play for free up to level 60, although I would lose access to most of the social aspect of the game unless I paid for the subscription. So there are 2 things in the MMO’s favor right there. And he added FFXIV allowed dungeons to be run with NPCs instead of players.

So… yeah. With those 3 things going for it, I was willing to give it a try.

Oh boy, was I entertaining during those 12 hours. And man, did I complain. To hear me talk, you’d think I couldn’t wait for those 12 hours to be done.

Thing is, I kept playing past those. Over 2 weeks, I played something like 36 hours. And a few days ago, I found myself thinking back on that start and the only thing I remembered clearly was being overwhelmed.

And I wondered. Is that why I disliked the start so much? Was there so much of the mechanic of the game I needed to understand that I didn’t notice the good parts? Shouldn’t I give the start of the game a new look?

So, here I am. About to embark on a new play-through to the dismay of the friend who gifted me the game. And I decided to document my thoughts on what I experience.

My Credentials.

Here I am, calling this the Storyteller’s thing, and I haven’t even shown if I’m qualified.

Over the last 10 years, I have published 15 novel. I have 3 more scheduled to be published over the next 6 months. I’m a full-time novelist and I stream my daily writing sessions on Twitch.

I by no means consider myself an ‘expert’, but I am experienced.

A Caveat.

As a Canadian, I am approaching the storytelling from a western way of telling stories. I understand that may be highly different from how the storyteller(s) behind FFXIV approached it. This is not meant as an attack on their skills, but simply my reactions and opinions on what I experience.

So, here we go.

I am playing an Archer and I will go through the MSQ from Gridania. Unlike my first start, where I scattered myself all over the place, the MSQ will be the driving force behind everything I do. One of the aspect I want to study is how/if the MSQ guides me to join crafts or even the archer’s guild, since I have no memory of HOW I ended up starting on the Archer’s progression quest.

see you soon

So... are you certified? are you a professional writer? We never figured it out.

[PirateRyanG]

So... are you certified? are you a professional writer? We never figured it out.

He is a self published author. If you get paid for something it does make you a pro, but (and I say this as an actual pro writer), the writing in hiss books is abysmal and it is evident it is self published using either no editor or a cheap one.

He is dressing himself up to be a bigger deal than he is here. He writes gay furry porn.

[Raoabolic]

He is a self published author. If you get paid for something it does make you a pro, but (and I say this as an actual pro writer), the writing in hiss books is abysmal and it is evident it is self published using either no editor or a cheap one.

He is dressing himself up to be a bigger deal than he is here. He writes gay furry porn.

Are you really going to shame a furry... on XIV... when Limsa exists... The writing is shaky. No amount of deflection will fix that. It's okay though, Sentai writing is shaky depending on the series but it's usually a fun time either way.

[PirateRyanG]

Are you really going to shame a furry... on XIV... when Limsa exists... The writing is shaky. No amount of deflection will fix that. It's okay though, Sentai writing is shaky depending on the series but it's usually a fun time either way.

No. I am saying his opinion isn't the be all and end all as some people here like to think. He is a self-published writer, not selling much in the way of copies. He isn't a storyteller, and his opinion on this subject is no more exceptional than ours. He is dressing up the idea (likely for advertising purposes) that he is a crazy good writer, when in reality his books seem to be full of mistakes, poor structure, and lack of editing. I don't really think he is in a position to highlight story telling tropes and say "yeah, this is where FF went wrong" when he isn't a game writer. He is a self-published Kindle writer (with POD books)

[Raoabolic]

No. I am saying his opinion isn't the be all and end all as some people here like to think. He is a self-published writer, not selling much in the way of copies. He isn't a storyteller, and his opinion on this subject is no more exceptional than ours.

Careful, your bias is showing, lol. Instead of attacking credentials or history (Gee, I wonder who else uses this "tactic") how about attack them on what they are saying about the story itself. Big fan of the story he's criticizing? Show up with some counterpoints. Can't be that hard, right?

[Kes13a]

Careful, your bias is showing, lol. Instead of attacking credentials or history (Gee, I wonder who else uses this "tactic") how about attack them on what they are saying about the story itself. Big fan of the story he's criticizing? Show up with some counterpoints. Can't be that hard, right?

the thing thats nagging me, is something about the method he is using and I cant wrap my head around a good way to express it. In my thinking, the story evokes feelings, but how many feelings can be evokes by picking apart every quest for writing flaws? the FFxiv story is decent by MMO standards, and unlike WoW for instance, is relatively self contained (as in you dont need reams of external materials to even make sense of some things) but it IS a story in an MMO... its not the equivalent of a short story or a novel. so regardless of writing skill on the part of the OP, its not a good comparison since the writing will not be the same. the "author inserts" that bug him so much are there for a reason, not just throw aways, but to pass along things happening beyond our scope and a low level character. they provide signs that we might be involved in bigger things as we level up. in a book, or short story, the author provides background a different way, MMO's need to use characters in quests or what have you to provide it.

I dont know, the premise the OP is using just seems flawed. and I am having a difficult putting in words exactly why its flawed. but will continue to work on it.

[kindar1]

Threat Level Elevated (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w...Level_Elevated)

After her dereliction of duty, she charges us with going around and passing a letting to them with the information I’m gathered, and getting them to sign the letter confirming they read it. We do the rounds, and that’s it.

Nothing to tell here story wise, other than if given the choice, I wouldn’t have played along with Roseline trying to salvage her career.

Migrant Marauders (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w...rant_Marauders)

Since we are there, Eylgar imposes on us to look in on a claim of a winged beast endangering passersby. We find an egg, are attacked by vultures, defeat them and report to the guard on the other side of the road. And they are shocked to learn vultures had established a nest within their line of sight and they never noticed it. And, as the great guards they are, instead of owning to their dereliction of duty, they ask me not to mention the egg or nest to his boss.

We can see why the woods are in such troubles, if these 2 guards are any indication of how attentive most of them are to their duties.

Here, I have no idea if showing the guards to be slackers is on purpose, or just a side effect of the Devs not putting this encounter somewhere along the route that is out of sight from any guards. If this doesn’t become a story point, then I’m mark it as weak.

A Hearer Is Often Late (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/w..._Is_Often_Late)

And because he still can’t be bothered to do his duty, Lothaire sends us to check in on a Hearer, who is late for her departure. He’s not worried, but the person in charge of the Hearer’s schedule might be, so maybe we can go prod the Hearer in his stead?

The Hearer is still busy and needs me to tell the others she will be late because she is investigating an evil presence in the woods. Once I deliver the message, they don’t seem worried the Hearer is left alone in the woods where evil is afoot. They’ll simply reschedule the departure.

Here, I’m attributing my disbelief that they are leaving what seems to amount to a priest alone while there might be something evil nearby to me not understanding how powerful a Hearer is. But if I have to go rescue them…

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

He is a self published author. If you get paid for something it does make you a pro, but (and I say this as an actual pro writer), the writing in hiss books is abysmal and it is evident it is self published using either no editor or a cheap one.

He is dressing himself up to be a bigger deal than he is here. He writes gay furry porn.

So um...he has a page?
Asking for a Friend XD

(Edit)
Nvm, found it

[ronibosch]

So um...he has a page?
Asking for a Friend XD

(Edit)
Nvm, found it

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

Man I didn't think I'd be this entertained reading this thread...but you guys turned it into gold. I love you guys.