
Originally Posted by
arstoka
Even when the plot decides we can move on, it still centres around her and it's infuriating.
Spoilers below for Level 95 Quest(s):
The first subplot of Shoalaani has you chasing down a crook who stole Namikka (Wuk Lammat's NURSE MAID) bracelet. A woman who we have interacted with once, maybe twice, and was boasting out loud to EVERYONE about the fabulous gift she got from Wuk Lamat.
AND we get saddled with an oranged haired peace-lover who we rescue from being kidnapped only to follow his asinine plot to get the town Sheriff arrested which works. The writers get to do a nice little, epic moment cutscene for a non-character while we just stand around and clap. I'd care more if it was fleshed out better.
On top of that but this plot point was already visited with Koana doing the EXACT SAME THING but in order to draw out the bandits. This isn't foreshadowing, this is poor, unfiltered and uncritical writing.
The plot was super silly filler but I actually appreciated that we got to see
Erenville being an actual, active character instead of just a cynical background prop. He is so much fun and his personality, as it turns out, is actually interesting. Plus he is smart, strategic and self-sufficient, which was a big contrast to the continuous clumsy "we need to make sure she doesn't fall into a cenote" babysitting shtick Wuk Lamat was afflicted with.
(And that cutscene when he kicked over that barrel with the stolen goods was kinda badass.)
And more importantly, we were actively involved. We actually cooperated with our companion NPC and solved the problem together instead of just being a retainer.
I felt so much more engaged during that episode and had actual adventurer feelings, whereas I had nothing of that sort from level 90 to 96.
Giving another character room to develop and unfold really made that padding plot a lot more enjoyable to me than anything that had come before, even though it was completely pointless. If they had shifted the focus to other characters more frequently I'm sure it would have helped the story a lot.