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

[kpxmanifesto]

Welcome aboard!

I dunno if I am a Zodiark Trancer, there are some things I still like in XIV (Even though it doesn't look like it) but there are lots of things I think that needs to be dealt with but all the XIV lovers loves to disregard them.

I am just a negative nancy I guess

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong. There are still plenty of things that I like about the game, otherwise I wouldn't be playing it. Most of the dissatisfaction I have with the game comes from the story, which is what the name Zodiark Trancer seems to be referring to.

[Lauront]

Also just dropping this here, the product of a joint project of some of those of us critical of the story (or to some, 'Zodiark trancers'):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c98qO-wW30A

The remaining parts will be released gradually over the coming couple of weeks, so I'd recommend subscribing to the channel if these catch your fancy.

As ever, a link to the discord for those who'd like to catch up outside the thread remains active here.

[Renalt]

People keep talking about Zodiark Trancers and all I wanna see is Acisans doing this...



Maybe BeneG will do this.

[Xeronia]

I dunno if I am a Zodiark Trancer, there are some things I still like in XIV (Even though it doesn't look like it) but there are lots of things I think that needs to be dealt with but all the XIV lovers loves to disregard them.

I am just a negative nancy I guess

I would say I probably fall in "Zodiark trancer" territory according to some but it seems lost on others there are still things I play the game for aside from the story and that I do in fact still like parts of Endwalker. I loved finally seeing Thavnair for example and I enjoy crafting/gathering. I just found Endwalker's story and patch story to be a massive disappointment to me as well I didn't really see anyone as right in the Zodiark V Hydaelyn argument but if I had to pick a side the Ancients trying to fight off a threat they knew nothing of would get my vote over someone who knew what was happening and kept it to themselves.

Also I think it is missed how much Endwalker is not only in my own opinion a bad story but also has glaring flaws elsewhere in the expansion which just makes it so much worse. I could ignore a mediocre story if I had stuff to do other then stocking my war chest for next expansion. There is just not a lot of repeatable content or something I care to grind. Add in my poor little Primal here is starting to step into a grave due to data center travel and well that certainly isn't helpful to giving the feeling of a populated world with stuff to do.

[Theodric]

Also just dropping this here, the product of a joint project of some of those of us critical of the story (or to some, 'Zodiark trancers'):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c98qO-wW30A

The remaining parts will be released gradually over the coming couple of weeks, so I'd recommend subscribing to the channel if these catch your fancy.

As ever, a link to the discord for those who'd like to catch up outside the thread remains active here.

To follow up on this, for those curious there's also a couple of older videos to be found within the channel itself, one focused on Zenos and another focused on Hermes.

[Eisi]

Yo Lauront, that's so cool! I love reading stupid fanfiction like this, big time enjoyed what is his name's Endwalker rewrite back in the day as well!

Gonna enjoy it laterz

[Xeronia]

Also just dropping this here, the product of a joint project of some of those of us critical of the story (or to some, 'Zodiark trancers'):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c98qO-wW30A

The remaining parts will be released gradually over the coming couple of weeks, so I'd recommend subscribing to the channel if these catch your fancy.

As ever, a link to the discord for those who'd like to catch up outside the thread remains active here.

I wanted to comment on it but missed it before, I am glad someone is putting out videos that are pointing out narrative failing and giving "unpopular" opinions on other things such as Zenos. The Venat series really hits home some of my issues with her storyline of how it really harms the overall narrative to me personally by ignoring all those themes of hope and overcoming despair for the Ancients. Honestly I think the best solution would have been nixing the bird girl for Ultima to play a Jenova like role for the MSQ as then it isn't anyone's real fault the Final Days happens and a disagreement on how to handle it is much more understandable with something no one can comprehend or knew of. It also would have book-ended ARR better for Ultima to be the problem here instead of in the raid series given the last bosses of 2.0 in my own opinion.

[Theodric]

Yeah, I do wonder if the original intention was to lean more into the body horror side of things. The Terminus beasts and Blasphemies had some pretty cool designs and the interior of the fleshy towers did as well - though it all sort of falls apart when the real cause of it all is some screeching artificial creation as opposed to some bizarre, unfathomable parasite from the deepest reaches of space that managed to bury itself into the core of the planet.

Something that could not be rooted out without risking the health of the planet as a whole would have worked better as an excuse for an accidental sundering as well, leaving Venat in a better position as a tragic and well meaning figure as opposed to a genocidal narcissistic who takes out her own people for reasons that simply do not hold up and would never hold up if applied to the protagonists.

As Lauront mentioned in a post on the previous page, they would have been able to maintain my interest had they only written things in such a way as to retain some long term staying power. I don't know why this game is so eager to throw large swathes of its own story aside on a whim in a way other MMO's do not. It's like the writers can't fathom that a decent chunk of players care more for the world itself than the Scions.

[LilimoLimomo]

Overall I enjoyed Endwalker. It had valuable, meaningful themes (that honestly changed my life for the better), and it did a great job of exploring those themes with the overall vibes of the expansion. That said, the narrative itself feels like it could have used another year of development, as it had a bunch of major plotholes that took me out of the experience at pivotal moments and made the story frequently feel clumsy and contrived. Beyond that, Fandaniel and Zenos simply weren't compelling villains: one is a world-wide school-shooter, the other is a nihilistic sociopath. If there is something worth exploring with those archetypes, Endwalker didn't.

Even with those criticisms, I still think it's one of the better expansions. I had no misconception that Endwalker was going to somehow manage to be as good as Shadowbringers, especially given that Endwalker had the unenviable job of tying together a bunch of messy loose threads.

[KageTokage]

I feel like they desperately need to introduce some kind of new long-term plot hook, because I don't think making a transition to completely self-contained stories for future expansions is going work out well given all the post-patch story that has to be considered.

The only thing that really springs to mind is the state of "natural" rejoining hypothesized by Y'shtola resuming now that Hydaelyn is gone and we have to deal with the unpredictable consequences of such over the next future expansions before ultimately finding a way to stop it before the shards and the Source as we know are toast.