Consequences Doesn't Necessarily Mean Death

[BrokenFantasy]

I mean, they have died multiple times, it's just that they keep coming back.

Y'shtola for example has done it so many times it's a cliche and the big problem is that she can NEVER die for real, she's far too popular both as merchandizing and amongst the playerbase. It's like trying to kill Superman, the guy is immortal not just because he's a Kryptonian but also because he's the lead character for a super lucrative comic line with merchandise being sold globally on the daily dedicated to just him, it's not going to happen and anyone that thinks otherwise has no concept of marketing or business.

That said I don't understand why people want any of the main cast to actually die anyways, they're all fun enjoyable characters that have been built up for 10 years, go kill off Raubahn if you need someone to die, the dude has been less than useless since Stormblood anyways.

Alphinaud is way more annoying than enjoyable - I became thoroughly fed up with his excessive monologuing in Endwalker.

[Rudje]

Honestly I think people would be less sick of the Scions being mostly static if they were allowed to ever take a back seat for a full expansion cycle. The set up for DT was perfect to put them to the side and let their constant omnipresence not grate on people who are tired of them while also making the people who want them around not have to deal with their faves being outright killed off, but it didn't happen.

[Catwho]

I keep hoping that Arenvald and Fordola will come back as a B plot, at least. Those two have definitely suffered some non-death consequences of their actions, and yet they still have so much more they can contribute to the story.

Arenvald has to learn how to be a leader from behind a desk, and Fordola has to live forever with the reflection of the suffering she caused others, even as she finds new purpose as his legs.

[Tint]

Eh.

Barring like, Krile and the twins, I feel like I'm just...... really over the Scions at this point.
I'm ready for new characters to slowly be in the limelight. It might sound kinda cynical but I just don't find the Scions to be very interesting to me anymore. They have reached a point of utter and total stability in their character arcs. This ain't to say one ought to just throw away a character once their arc is "done", no. It's just I kinda doubt the writers' ability to engage me with these characters in any way I might find interesting.

I really think the same. Their stories are over.

That Krile becomes more of a main character in DT is good news, she is here since HW but barely had any screentime.

Alisaie has become a boring side character as well. But that means she still a has lot of potential for character growth.

But the others? They should step down to a cameo appearance here and there.

[Supersnow845]

Assuming that we stay aligned with wuk lamet there is every possibility that he ends up an antagonist but I’d really like to see them give a lot of screen time to wuk’s brother (the miqote)

I know we are sick of stuffy sharlayan scholars but having someone potentially in opposition to wuk still be an ally to the WOL would be a nice dynamic and if they need to maintain a Scholar for exposition I’d rather it be him than y’shtola/urianger/g’raha

It would also be nice getting a new “studied in sharlayan but isn’t a stuffy scholar” sort of like old thancred from HW so to speak

I’m honestly worried though, I’m tired of the scions but i really don’t like wuk so far and erenville feels like a side character they stuffed into the limelight and had to hastily add a backstory to. He really doesn’t strike me as an expansion driving character like emet or hien (same as wuk)

[Hazama999]

Introducing a character who becomes a part of the "main cast" for a bit, but then actually turns into an antagonist through some sort of moral degeneration arc, would be interesting to me.

[DPZ2]

Some thoughts:

"Y'shtola for example has done it so many times it's a cliche" ... As a reminder, Y'shtola has been rescued from the Lifestream exactly twice. The first time was in Heavensward two-thirds of the way through the expansion. The second was in Shadowbringers, released four years later.

The first time was an act of desperation, the second time was a calculated risk. Two instances do not make something a "cliche". That term has been, in my opinion, overused because posters have been exposed to passing remarks about it, both pro and con, on a regular basis over the last five years.

I suspect Y'shtola is way more popular with the Japanese audience than the Western audience. From what I've seen, she's been a marketing icon for the game in both 1.0 and 2.0 versions. She's the only FFXIV character in Final Fantasy games such as Dissidia, and I'm looking at 14 other FF-related games where she also appears.

Familiarity and popularity are the key reasons one does not remove characters from an ongoing MMORPG. I have personally despised some of the characters from World of Warcraft for three quarters of the life of that game.

Why are they still there? Familiarity and popularity of continuing characters keep more people playing. It's the same formula one sees in Japanese manga and anime as well.

(And the bane of Chinese donghua where villains spend up to 100 episodes before the hero actually gets to battle them one last time).

[MareBearTheCareBear]

Some thoughts:

"Y'shtola for example has done it so many times it's a cliche" ... As a reminder, Y'shtola has been rescued from the Lifestream exactly twice. The first time was in Heavensward two-thirds of the way through the expansion. The second was in Shadowbringers, released four years later.

The first time was an act of desperation, the second time was a calculated risk. Two instances do not make something a "cliche". That term has been, in my opinion, overused because posters have been exposed to passing remarks about it, both pro and con, on a regular basis over the last five years.

I suspect Y'shtola is way more popular with the Japanese audience than the Western audience. From what I've seen, she's been a marketing icon for the game in both 1.0 and 2.0 versions. She's the only FFXIV character in Final Fantasy games such as Dissidia, and I'm looking at 14 other FF-related games where she also appears.

Familiarity and popularity are the key reasons one does not remove characters from an ongoing MMORPG. I have personally despised some of the characters from World of Warcraft for three quarters of the life of that game.

Why are they still there? Familiarity and popularity of continuing characters keep more people playing. It's the same formula one sees in Japanese manga and anime as well.

(And the bane of Chinese donghua where villains spend up to 100 episodes before the hero actually gets to battle them one last time).

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ANY NEW PLAYERS READING
Let's not forget her near death experience with Zenos slicing through her. Using the blood from the mouth trope that had many people suspecting that she may die, and slap on her "death" in EW. You know the point people are making is that SHE is the one who is targeted a lot for these "sacrificial lamb" moments. Don't act like it's not overdone when EVERY expansion so far has had something in hand with her "dying". HW only counts because that's the expac bringing her back.

[DPZ2]

Yup. She's popular. Like many beloved anime and manga (and video game) characters who Do Not Die.

Zenos in Stormblood isn't a particularly good example though. Blood from the mouth is a well known trope in Chinese donghua. You take a big hit and spit up blood, wiping the trailing edge from the corner of your mouth. And then you get back up and Fight to Win, or you get dragged off of the arena to fight another day. It's like those Wuxia/Xanxia heroes and villains are nearly immortal or something. [Pun intended].

I've seen a lot of similarity in Japanese manga and anime.

As far as the end of main story in Endwalker, you have to realize that the entire game ends immediately with the 6.0 MSQ if there are no survivors. Including your Warrior of Light. Lack of bodies should have been your first hint. The Power of Future Marketing should have been your second hint.

That, and the Ghost of Christmas Futu.... er, the aetheric entity formerly known as Emet Selch is still relatively powerful.

[MareBearTheCareBear]

Yup. She's popular. Like many beloved anime and manga (and video game) characters who Do Not Die.

Zenos in Stormblood isn't a particularly good example though. Blood from the mouth is a well known trope in Chinese donghua. You take a big hit and spit up blood, wiping the trailing edge from the corner of your mouth. And then you get back up and Fight to Win, or you get dragged off of the arena to fight another day. It's like those Wuxia/Xanxia heroes and villains are nearly immortal or something. [Pun intended].

I've seen a lot of similarity in Japanese manga and anime.

As far as the end of main story in Endwalker, you have to realize that the entire game ends immediately with the 6.0 MSQ if there are no survivors. Including your Warrior of Light. Lack of bodies should have been your first hint. The Power of Future Marketing should have been your second hint.

That, and the Ghost of Christmas Futu.... er, the aetheric entity formerly known as Emet Selch is still relatively powerful.

I never said she should of stayed dead anywhere in that. Just saying you shouldn't act like it's overdone when literally every expac has a moment of something like this happening to her. Regardless of popularity, it's something anyone is gonna get sick of seeing if they've been here since the beginning of the game like you have. And she didn't just get up and wipe the blood off her face. She took a freaking dirt nap from that cut and was out for the most of the base expac if I remember right. That's not something she just got up from, she was seriously injured to make her fans gasp and think she was gonna die lmao. The whole point is she has way too many death baits in the game and it's hard to take any of them remotely seriously. Just like I half bet we're gonna get another fake death from Shtola again in Dawntrail. And btw, in my opinion? Using "The Power of Future Marketing" is a weak excuse to not kill a character in the story. Because then that just makes them write characters who are entirely meant to die, which also just feels cheap. I just want the death baiting to stop till they actually want to kill a character off.