What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[Thenightvortex]

Another critical video analysis of Endwalker from Echoes of Etheirys, this time focusing on the writing’s treatment of Zenos.

https://youtu.be/F1wv4ehavhI

[Teraq]

The fact this topic is still going is telling me Endwalker's story must have really been a let down for some people here.

Well, it is indeed this in part.

But I feel like you are doing this game's great community a significant disservice by ignoring the other half of the equation: the fact that it is living rentfree in the minds of some people who are way more bothered than they should reasonably be by people being disappointed in a piece of fiction they had expectations for, or liking different characters than they do.

I believe this thread has lived on until now in large part because of the forums' format: there are no downvotes, no reply notifications, no private messages, no "feed" algorithm pushing controversial threads down into oblivion. It's just a good old message board of eld, where people can dig up old threads if they so wish with a quaint "BUMP" to give their post that musty 2001 scent, risking nothing but the unbridled wrath of the esteemed lore masters in doing so, and drop their hot takes without having to care about whether or not they get downvote-bombed or hundreds of angry replies in their nonexistent inbox. And literally anyone with an internet connection can readily and easily read their hot takes as long as the thread keeps getting replies pushing it back up to first page. You can also just block posters you don't care to read, because you're an individual who curates their internet experience, and there is little said posters can do about it – there is no way for them to even find out if you don't mention you've blocked them.

It is kind of a perfect storm for people who feel shunned by most other FFXIV social media to vent in a decently anxiety-free way.

And I guess that bothers some people who would rather we shut up or not exist in the social landscape at all. (Which, again, I find really weird. Other fandoms I've been in didn't feel anywhere this dramatic with regards to criticism and different opinions or "problematic" characters. I am honestly not sure what is in the water of this fandom, though if it is the waters surrounding Limsa Lominsa's aetheryte plaza, I'd rather not find out. I'm not sure my hepatitis B serology is up to date.)
It's not like we're going to "kill" this game by voicing our minority opinion. Blizzard didn't even manage to kill WoW in spite of their employees stealing breastmilk from the fridge, so I think FFXIV will survive people wondering what the point of that quite lackluster story in Endwalker was just fine.

This thread is inevitably going to get closed once it gets too "heavy", and its successor will most likely not get as much traction. (I suspect this is some people's primary motivation for posting their… ah… constructive contributions.) But also, by the time this happens, I certainly hope my SRI addled brain will have moved on to greener pastures. As cringe as it is to admit, it still hasn't for now, so I enjoy finding and reading likeminded people here. I've certainly made some new friends.

[aveyond-dreams]

This is the Game of Thrones season 8 of FFXIV. While Endwalker is not exactly the worst story ever told (... even though the moral disconnect is certainly something else), the fact that it ruins elements of a story people thought was genuinely good is what makes it especially awful. I don't think people would have cared as much if the game didn't have something before.
In a sense, the game is suffering from Shadowbringers' success in many ways.

At least Game of Thrones fans weren't as hostile to the idea that yeah, they dropped the ball in a pretty major way when it came to the finale. Here we get told we skipped cutscenes or goodness knows whatever else a certain crowd often resorts to.

The same crowd who, despite their protesting, would have loved any other alternate ending to Endwalker so long as it had official sanction by Yoshi. The inverse of the logic they are increasingly desperate to use in order to silence those of us who think for ourselves. They already proved as much is the case time and time again when the groupthink "corrected" for stuff like people calling out Menphina's design, only for the story then to switch to everyone somehow loving it? Or the same sort classic fear tactics used on streamers whenever they react to Elpis or Venat scenes the wrong way.

At any rate I do not understand why I should take those people seriously nor their constant need to jump in here. And to think, we might have gotten out of this expansion by summer's end if not for delay upon delay and we get to live the Endwalker experience all the way until possibly spring of 2024.

[Boblawblah]

This is the Game of Thrones season 8 of FFXIV. While Endwalker is not exactly the worst story ever told (... even though the moral disconnect is certainly something else), the fact that it ruins elements of a story people thought was genuinely good is what makes it especially awful. I don't think people would have cared as much if the game didn't have something before.
In a sense, the game is suffering from Shadowbringers' success in many ways.

*Checks metacritic*

GoT season 8: 4.1

Endwalker: 9.1

I have to wonder, do you ever just think to yourselves "You know what? I'm in the minority here. The majority of players really loved this, and I didn't."? Because at least then I could sympathize with people hating Endwalker. I can see how people would hate it. I disliked some parts of it. Comparing it to Season 8 of GoT however, which was almost universally criticized for rushing to finish the story is just being disingenuous.

YOU didn't like it. From really any metric you can take however, most FFXIV players did.

[Teraq]

Ah, yes. One single dude on the page had the absolute gall not to foolproof his post with "IN MY OPINION...", "I FEEL...", "I THINK...", therefore it is time for the people I mentioned in my last post to jump in to correct this obvious mistake.

The majority has spoken, and the majority is always right.

Anyway, see you tomorrow at the same hour, I presume? Be sure to bring the Venat GIF to heighten the level of discourse.

[Kazhar]

*Checks metacritic*

GoT season 8: 4.1

Endwalker: 9.1

I have to wonder, do you ever just think to yourselves "You know what? I'm in the minority here. The majority of players really loved this, and I didn't."? Because at least then I could sympathize with people hating Endwalker. I can see how people would hate it. I disliked some parts of it. Comparing it to Season 8 of GoT however, which was almost universally criticized for rushing to finish the story is just being disingenuous.

YOU didn't like it. From really any metric you can take however, most FFXIV players did.

*audible snoring*

The worst part is that, literal seconds before posting, I removed portions of my post where I made clear that I was only talking about my peer's opinions because I wanted to keep it short. I thought "surely it will be obvious from context alone?".

Or maybe the worst part is that Teraq called people like you out 2 hours ago and you didn't even notice.

EDIT: So let's be clear. When I make the comparison with Game of Thrones Season 8 I'm not talking about the general critical reception of the story but why people (and by that I mean Endwalker's detractors, users from this thread or from elsewhere who showed disatisfaction at how the story was resolved [see how convoluted my post is, now? As a non-english speaker, this is painful to write]) felt so passionate about a story they now hate, to the point of debating about it more than a year later, not unlike r/freefolk users.

[aveyond-dreams]

And this is why we should not indulge people who want to derail things when it comes to how one phrases their posts. Endwalker was a major letdown. End of. I cannot believe how shockingly bad it was and I am eager to either see this game redeem itself or confirm my worst fears that it will never dig itself out of the hole that Ishikawa's contributions to the story made.

[Renalt]

And this is why we should not indulge people who want to derail things when it comes to how one phrases their posts. Endwalker was a major letdown. End of. I cannot believe how shockingly bad it was and I am eager to either see this game redeem itself or confirm my worst fears that it will never dig itself out of the hole that Ishikawa's contributions to the story made.

You are not the authority on it. END OF. Yours is just one of many people and their opinions...and you're in the minority.

[Striker44]

And this is why we should not indulge people who want to derail things when it comes to how one phrases their posts. Endwalker was a major letdown. End of. I cannot believe how shockingly bad it was and I am eager to either see this game redeem itself or confirm my worst fears that it will never dig itself out of the hole that Ishikawa's contributions to the story made.

Indulge what? I loved Endwalker. It was a major satisfying conclusion to the story so far. End of? I'm pleased with how enjoyable it was and I am eager for the game to continue along the overwhelmingly positive trajectory it's currently on.

See how it easy it is to simply state it the other way? The difference is people who make it clear what they're stating is their own opinion rather than those who act as if their thoughts are magically absolute fact (doubly so when said comments fly in the face of actual facts).

[AwesomeJr44]

You are not the authority on it. END OF. Yours is just one of many people and their opinions...and you're in the minority.

Stay mad Striker alt.

The worst part is that, literal seconds before posting, I removed portions of my post where I made clear that I was only talking about my peer's opinions because I wanted to keep it short. I thought "surely it will be obvious from context alone?".

In my experience, when you make posts on the forums, you have to assume the people reading your posts will intentionally take the worst possible interpretation of what you say, even when it's exceedingly obvious that that's not what you were saying. Either that or just assume you're talking to a child. You know what, it's probably both.

Indulge what? I loved Endwalker. It was a major satisfying conclusion to the story so far. End of? I'm pleased with how enjoyable it was and I am eager for the game to continue along the overwhelmingly positive trajectory it's currently on.

See how it easy it is to simply state it the other way? The difference is people who make it clear what they're stating is their own opinion rather than those who act as if their thoughts are magically absolute fact (doubly so when said comments fly in the face of actual facts).

Speak of the devil and he shall appear I suppose.