Quote Originally Posted by Kes13a View Post
1. this is a fair point, and I more or less agree. seems rather quick to jump in, but its an mmo. would you have preferred a couple releases where we agonize over it before saying yes?
I don't think there needs to be any agonizing at all; it would have been pretty straightforward for the journey to instead be framed as:
"Hey, I'm a Wuk Lamat, a contender for the throne. I'm inviting you to come visit my nation with me. To be transparent, I'm hoping you'll help support me in becoming the leader of my nation, but you don't have to decide that now. For now, just come to my country, meet its people, learn of its cultures, and enjoy its wonders. Do some adventuring! Once you get to know both my nation and myself better, I'm confident that you'll support my claim. If I'm wrong and you don't, you're under no obligation to help. Either way you get the chance to adventure in a new land, so you've got nothing to lose, right?"
Boom, we get a summer vacation exploring a new continent, and that gives the writers plenty of runway to organically introduce us to the all the context we'll need to "make the decision" ourselves. It will still be railroading, as there will never truly be an option to go against the path the writers carve for us, but by giving us the appropriate context before our character(s) make a commitment, the decisions they make can be seen as reasonable rather than reckless.

For a great example of how to do this, we can look at Shadowbringers. The Warrior of Light isn't initially forced to trust or truly align with the Crystal Exarch, and some of the Scions don't trust him either. But step-by-step you experience more of the world, get more context, and eventually you can understand why your character and your friends align themselves with his cause.