Is there a way to buy a story skip for "Just" Heavensward? (Spoilers)

[Jojoya]

There were no main story quests where Ishgard is trying to make amends with the dragons.

Before amends can be made, a truce must exist.

That couldn't happen while Nidhogg exists. Nidhogg's sole purpose in life became to destroy Ishgard and nothing could stop him from trying to do it. Not his own siblings at the time he started his vengeance, not his father once his father recognized the new Ishgardian leadership was ready to end the conflict and seek peace with the dragons.

So 3.2 and 3.3 deal with the efforts to establish a truce and peace.

As for amends, how could either side make amends for the past slaughter that can't be undone? They can't. All they can do is change their ways and do better in the future.

Which would have seen in the MSQ if you allowed yourself to experience all of it instead of skipping it.

Remember this is fiction. It is a story, not real life, and one that is interwoven so initial events have an impact on events yet to come. You may not like the story that is being told, but it is written that way for reasons that become apparent later.

Skipping is going to cause you problems because you won't have context for where you find yourself when Stormblood begins. You won't know who a couple of the characters are even though the story is written as if you're very familiar with them. You aren't going to have context for your WoL's opinions about historical villains in Shadowbringers.

That the story can provoke the current response you're having to it out of you that you're having shows how well it's actually written. If it wasn't well done, you'd be feeling bored instead of upset. You may want to reconsider skipping any of the MSQ if story matters to you.

[Kira619]

Before amends can be made, a truce must exist.

Disagree, amends can be made to show a truce is authetic and not paperweight. Now I'm not saying the amends would disolve the long history of war they had, but the amends need to be displayed from both sides instead of Ishguard saying "gimme gimme gimme" all the time. Now how could Ishguard show they want peace? Simple, the dragons had a Gnath issue. Instead of relying entirely on the warrior of light, they could have send a small battalion to aid in the dragons dealing with the Gnath. It shows the "give" part of a give/take relationship. It shows Ishguard is willing to come to the dragons aid instead of it always being the reverse, and with the warrior of light leading the battilion, it gives an inroad for both sides to help show the dragons that they mean business. But as I said, the storyline was mostly under the lenses of Ishguard and how the dragons had to bend over backwards for there to be peace, which again was offputting.

LOL I think we disagree heavily on a game making me want to quit shows how well written it is. The only reason I'm continuing with the game is that I regularly see folks say Endwalker and Shadowbringer are the top tier of MMORPG content and often I see folks say FF14 has the best story out of any FF, including 7. Seeing as 7 is my favorite, I had to check it out. This isn't publicity where folks say bad publicity=good publicity. If a game makes you want to quit, it's not a good game in that person eyes. Fortunately, I have the ability to skip lol. For any parts I miss, I can always watch on Youtube and then it's someone else's character going through it instead of my own.

I detested the story of heavensward so much it was genuinely a chore to get through (I played on it's release, many many moons ago).

Thank you, I'm not saying everyone needs to agree with me. I just found it shocking that I kept seeing heavensward being the turnaround for FFXIV when for me it felt a step backwards from ARR. I can respect the story's attempt for nuance, but then you get whiplash by the pidgeonholing you get associated with that nuance which = cognitive dissonance. Especially when it's supposed to be "your character" that's in this role. If this was the story of say "kratos", I wouldn't have cared anywhere near as much because it's not supposed to be my character. And when you say the classes were in a much more enjoyable state, were you talking about the change to summoner? Because coming back to that was another shocking change lol.

In any case, thanks again for the info, and it's been a lot less stressful and more enjoyable now I can definitely say that.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Disagree, amends can be made to show a truce is authetic and not paperweight. Now I'm not saying the amends would disolve the long history of war they had, but the amends need to be displayed from both sides instead of Ishguard saying "gimme gimme gimme" all the time. Now how could Ishguard show they want peace? Simple, the dragons had a Gnath issue. Instead of relying entirely on the warrior of light, they could have send a small battalion to aid in the dragons dealing with the Gnath. It shows the "give" part of a give/take relationship. It shows Ishguard is willing to come to the dragons aid instead of it always being the reverse, and with the warrior of light leading the battilion, it gives an inroad for both sides to help show the dragons that they mean business. But as I said, the storyline was mostly under the lenses of Ishguard and how the dragons had to bend over backwards for there to be peace, which again was offputting.

In this particular issue, there's one big reason that Ishgard couldn't send help: Ravana. Throwing troops without the Echo into battle against a primal is just handing the primal more conscripts. It's even noted that Ravana is a big reason the dragons are struggling with the Gnath at all, because they're not protected against tempering either and don't dare get close to the hive.

[Brynne]

Fortunately, I have the ability to skip lol. For any parts I miss, I can always watch on Youtube and then it's someone else's character going through it instead of my own.

You're about done with Heavensward so I recommend not skipping, or at least make sure you watch on Youtube before continuing with Stormblood. There's some crucial pieces that set up Stormblood coming up, so you'll want to know exactly what's going on before you step into that expansion.

As for pigeonholing your character, I'm afraid that's something the story does fairly frequently. It's quite nice when you agree with it but a little jarring when you don't. The story will have you feel certain ways about certain characters, agree with certain philosophies, and so on. I do recommend holding out for Shadowbringers since you've made it this far, but if you're still unhappy with the game after that, Endwalker probably won't save it for you. Sometimes a story just doesn't resonate right for whatever reason.