Quote Originally Posted by R041 View Post
To be fair though, we've been able to comfortably criticize MSQ until Shadowbringers happened. After that? It's been literal hell trying to even say 'Stormblood bad'.. Because Shadowbringers somehow cleansed all of ARR-Stormblood. It was SO GOOD, "You have to like everything before it, because it sets up the story!"

They often forget all 3 ARR, Heavensward, and Stormblood had horrible pacing issues for the majority of their story. There are some good nuggets in there, but they could have been had for far less linear time and text.
I still count Shadowbringers among the terrible pacing. Truth is, every expansion suffers from pacing issues and its mostly because of the quest design being not fun at all. Sure there are story bits that drag on (like that damn Talos section TWICE) but if everything in between was sprinkled with fun battle content then it wouldnt be bad and the story would arguably be a lot better for it.

This is why I dont think FFXIV's story is THAT good. Its above average but what makes a game story compelling is when you also make it fun to go through. This is why other single player rpgs have FFXIV beat in its content because they make sure the gameplay experience is tailored to go along with the narrative, but the msq is bogged down by "talk to this npc" numerous times and its just not a good thing to swallow.

This problem isnt just EW related.