Are <5.0 main villain> fanboys also supportive of <6.1-6.5 main villain>? *SPOILERS*

[Lady_Silvermoon]

Yeah, pretty much. In the end it's a situation not unlike what caused a large ripple of disappointment through World of Warcraft's lore community. You have a similar character there who is responsible for horrific acts of attempted genocide and the complete destruction of a beloved city and when the time comes to finally and actually hold her accountable for her actions it's revealed that her evil side was responsible but her good side is back in control now so all is to be forgiven. Sylvanas slinks off to 'atone' ready to someday be brought back out for some cynical fanservice.

At no point did the fans of the characters who Sylvanas murdered in cold blood see any real payoff for it. What's unfortunate is that I encouraged some friends who were playing WoW to come over here because I believed that FFXIV would not make the same mistakes. Instead we end up with a character who not only has even more blood upon her hands for Sylvanas but also one who is actively praised for it and treated as a deity worthy of fond remembrance.

It's the most bizarre storytelling I've seen in some time, though I suppose it remains to be seen if lessons will truly be learned moving forward. I doubt it, personally - if only because the game seems thoroughly intent on catering to venue goers first and foremost these days.

I would take split personality over what we got. At least if her "bad side" had done it, we wouldn't be arguing about good and necessary genocides.

[Theodric]

I would take split personality over what we got. At least if her "bad side" had done it, we wouldn't be arguing about good and necessary genocides.

Heh. That's true. I think the biggest problem with the way in which it is all written is that it is practically impossible to discuss many aspects of the story without it tying back to the Ancients in some way. The other problem is that the Scions are inevitably going to encounter some minor, low stakes antagonists in the upcoming expansion and very likely display more of an emotional reaction to their antics over anything displayed towards the horrific cost of Venat's actions.

In many ways, Venat herself deserved better as a character. I think she'd actually be more popular than Emet-Selch had she actually been played straight and called out. They're clearly not above redeeming antagonists with blood upon their hands as they just did as much with Golbez. It's honestly quite baffling that they didn't take such a route and it's even more baffling that certain posters insist that there's some 'conspiracy of hate' against specific characters when the truth is many of us would very much enjoy the character if she was handled with more tact.

It'd be equally eye-roll worthy to me if Emet-Selch was at no point criticised for the cost of the Rejoinings. Consistency is key, really - and the setting spent so long being extremely preachy about its morals that not applying them equally across the board simply came off as a rather jarring sharp turn.