(MAJOR SPOILERS) Just beat Endwalker MSQ...

[Thenightvortex]

How were the ancients complacent? They did everything to protect their star with what little information they had up to and including sacrificing half of their number voluntarily. It survived only because of Zodiark.

[Travel]

You may want to consider completing all the side-quests and looking into various peripheral materials, including interviews and even a completely separate game, that contain a significant amount of information relevant to the plot. Oh, and talking to the NPCs in different zones. Some of them have pretty interesting (and relevant) things to say. The MSQ paints a fairly incomplete picture.

That's actually what I'm doing now; I'm going to be going back and completing the side-quests - which I never do - as well as talk to the different NPCs, just so I can do more story stuff.

Which game are you talking about, by the way? Is it FF: Tactics? I know XIV takes a lot from that game.

How were the ancients complacent? They did everything to protect their star with what little information they had up to and including sacrificing half of their number voluntarily. It survived only because of Zodiark.

The MSQ makes it pretty clear that the Ancients were more concerned with restoring their status quo than they were actually fixing the problem; from what I can gather, the Ancients were too used to paradise to really consider any alternatives. They seemed to have been too broken by despair to really try and make a difference - maybe "complacent" isn't the best word here - but when Venat confronted the group summoning Zodiark to try and get them to try and pick themselves up and move on, they instead went through with the summoning to try and get their old paradise back, despite that being impossible. In other words, they kept trying to focus on the past instead of looking towards the future.

[jameseoakes]

The MSQ makes it pretty clear that the Ancients were more concerned with restoring their status quo than they were actually fixing the problem; from what I can gather, the Ancients were too used to paradise to really consider any alternatives. They seemed to have been too broken by despair to really try and make a difference - maybe "complacent" isn't the best word here - but when Venat confronted the group summoning Zodiark to try and get them to try and pick themselves up and move on, they instead went through with the summoning to try and get their old paradise back, despite that being impossible. In other words, they kept trying to focus on the past instead of looking towards the future.

Ah yes just the thing to come and do to people grieving, to telling them that they are wrong to grieve for the loved ones what a hateful thing to do. Hey everyone you loved is dead, well just get over it and move on. it's a hateful spiteful mindset.
Greif breaks people and I find the idea that if people don't react in an someone imposed way then they don't deserve to exterminated to be one of the most evil acts I've seen in Final Fantasy.

[Kyuuen]

Ah yes just the thing to come and do to people grieving, to telling them that they are wrong to grieve for the loved ones what a hateful thing to do. Hey everyone you loved is dead, well just get over it and move on. it's a hateful spiteful mindset.
Greif breaks people and I find the idea that if people don't react in an someone imposed way then they don't deserve to exterminated to be one of the most evil acts I've seen in Final Fantasy.

Grieving is one thing, trying to raise the dead which the best, brightest, and sharpest minds of the ancients; if I'm not mistaken, had never managed to accomplish is another. Also tell me wherein is the logic of sacrificing a number of people to bring back another number of people? What happens when the people brought back wish to sacrifice themselves to bring back those that sacrificed themselves for the sacrificed? All this would do is create a cyclical problem that could yield even worse unforeseen consequences further down the road. And that's assuming Zodiark even had the capability to truly bring people back as there's been no proof to concept that it even could.

[Absimiliard]

Which game are you talking about, by the way? Is it FF: Tactics? I know XIV takes a lot from that game.

NieR Re[in]carnation. There's a bit of rather interesting info from the period leading up to and just after the sundering over there. I know how odd that sounds, but it was part of a crossover deal set in motion back in Shadowbringers. I don't know if you've done them yet, but there's a series of three 24-man NieR raids in ShB known collectively as YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse. The other end of that deal took the form of Emet-Selch and some relevant lore ending up in NieR Re[in]carnation. And yes, despite being revealed in another game entirely, it is considered canon.

Gonna be real. I consider that lore being gated behind NieR Re[in]carnation to be incredibly stupid. Most fortuitously, enough people shared this take for screenshots divulging the bulk of it to wind up all over the internet as to save others from having to play through that accursed mobile gacha game.

[Semirhage]

The MSQ makes it pretty clear that the Ancients were more concerned with restoring their status quo than they were actually fixing the problem; from what I can gather, the Ancients were too used to paradise to really consider any alternatives. They seemed to have been too broken by despair to really try and make a difference - maybe "complacent" isn't the best word here - but when Venat confronted the group summoning Zodiark to try and get them to try and pick themselves up and move on, they instead went through with the summoning to try and get their old paradise back, despite that being impossible. In other words, they kept trying to focus on the past instead of looking towards the future.

Oh no. Hide, you poor thing. You've just activated the Emet fanclub. Their seething, raging, venomous loathing of fictional character Venat is a sight to behold. Prepare for a small but insistent flood that she's the most spiteful, evil, wicked, hateful, deceitful, vicious witch the canon of fiction has ever produced, and the Ancient utopia "deserved" to keep going forever. No, explaining story themes isn't a deterrent.

Glad you enjoyed the story.

[Gemina]

Oh no. Hide, you poor thing. You've just activated the Emet fanclub. Their seething, raging, venomous loathing of fictional character Venat is a sight to behold. Prepare for a small but insistent flood that she's the most spiteful, evil, wicked, hateful, deceitful, vicious witch the canon of fiction has ever produced, and the Ancient utopia "deserved" to keep going forever. No, explaining story themes isn't a deterrent.

Glad you enjoyed the story.

We were lead to believe that she struck down Zodiark and imprisoned him on the moon to save mankind. I know it isn't like we met with Hydaelyn for tea on Wednesdays or anything, but omitting the whole, "I kinda killed everyone too." was a bit convenient towards accomplishing her goals. Obviously, the WoL cannot know this early on in order for this story to progress, but it also doesn't change that Venat was all of those things you mentioned. Every one of them. Even Evil. The ancients are capable of both good and evil acts, and the most powerful ones like Elidibus, Emet, Lahabrea and Venat have the ability to produce phenomenal feats when fueled by either of those pursuits.

[Nav_Fae]

We were lead to believe that she struck down Zodiark and imprisoned him on the moon to save mankind. I know it isn't like we met with Hydaelyn for tea on Wednesdays or anything, but omitting the whole, "I kinda killed everyone too." was a bit convenient towards accomplishing her goals. Obviously, the WoL cannot know this early on in order for this story to progress, but it also doesn't change that Venat was all of those things you mentioned. Every one of them. Even Evil. The ancients are capable of both good and evil acts, and the most powerful ones like Elidibus, Emet, Lahabrea and Venat have the ability to produce phenomenal feats when fueled by either of those pursuits.

I think a lot of the distaste people have with EW is that we keep trying to apply modern-day real-life morality to a fictional video game Ancient. Especially in a society that had completely different ideals of life and death. A society where being sent back to the star was considered an honored and a privilege. A society that is fully aware reincarnation exists. A society that is fully aware of the Aetherial Sea and the life stream. The Final Days was a problem because it would have prevented reincarnation and birth of any kind. In one way of looking at things, the sundering increased the population of everything by times 13 of its current. The game even goes the extra mile to try to point out that even though you share a soul, you're still your own person and your past self doesn't follow you. (at least until death when all your memories of all your lives collects together before reincarnation in some weird curl fate)

[AwesomeJr44]

Oh no. Hide, you poor thing. You've just activated the Emet fanclub. Their seething, raging, venomous loathing of fictional character Venat is a sight to behold. Prepare for a small but insistent flood that she's the most spiteful, evil, wicked, hateful, deceitful, vicious witch the canon of fiction has ever produced, and the Ancient utopia "deserved" to keep going forever. No, explaining story themes isn't a deterrent. Glad you enjoyed the story.

I'm fairly sure that the people who don't like Venat (or at least most of them) have pretty much dropped the subject entirely as the people who like her were annoying to talk to. In fact, the people desperate to start debates over her seem to be the people who like her more than those who don't. Posters like SannaR were (I use 'were' because I stop caring enough to acknowledge when they do it) going into any story related threads they can find, either whining about how it's going to be derailed into a 'Venat thread' (it never does), or bringing the topic up out of nowhere and posting a gif of Venat to try and bait people. At best/worst you'll have people who don't like Venat simply state that they don't for the obvious reasons if the topic is brought up, but that's really it.