The Negative Impact of Poor Character Writing on the Quality of Dawntrail's MSQ

[SirShady]

I think I'll make you go even more insane if I bring up a plot hole that's so insane that I can't believe I didn't notice it when first playing:

Why doesn't Sphene bodyswap while Otis is protecting her? Otis, the one almost good character in this expansion, dies for literally no reason. She bodyswaps away immediately after he dies. She could have done this at any time. Why did he need to defend her. She was never in danger. Why did this happen. This is one of the few almost emotionally resonant moments in the expansion, and it is ruined by a gigantic obvious horrifying plot hole. In a comedy of errors, this obscene unforced error has undermined literally any attempt this narrative has made at approaching being good.

Yep! There's another one! To be honest, I probably didn't give Otis the respect he deserved. He was actually entertaining. I was just falling asleep when I got to his part of the MSQ. He came across as just another overly likeable characters like Wuk Lamat, Sphene, Cahciua where the writing doesn't know how to give them texture or depth so they just pile on as many positive traits/quirks as possible.

Usually just to kill them off later...

I realized later that was the point, and he was supposed to be the overly chivalrous Steiner character, but at that point it just felt like a rip-off and I was just exhausted from the writing too much to have fun with it.

[Icycrits]

That is this expansion in a nutshell. You're so fatigued with the mundane that by the time you get to the fun parts you just have no attachment. I mindlessly clicked through half of the dialogue with Wuk Evu as well before my ears perked up and I realized, "wait a minute, I actually really like this character."

[duckorz]

That is this expansion in a nutshell. You're so fatigued with the mundane that by the time you get to the fun parts you just have no attachment. I mindlessly clicked through half of the dialogue with Wuk Evu as well before my ears perked up and I realized, "wait a minute, I actually really like this character."

I honestly haven't even really logged in since I finished and I don't even know if I care to redeem my full release code. I looked forward to this for months, took time off for it, and I didn't expect to just want to do literally anything else but play FFXIV by the end of it.

[Voidmage]

That is this expansion in a nutshell. You're so fatigued with the mundane that by the time you get to the fun parts you just have no attachment. I mindlessly clicked through half of the dialogue with Wuk Evu as well before my ears perked up and I realized, "wait a minute, I actually really like this character."

That was my expirience also. At the end I was left so defeated that I just clicked the dialogue away everytime Wuk Lamat sproke.
Then I had a couple of points in the last zone where I was like "wait, that stuff is actually kinda inter- nevermind, Wuk Lamat's face is on screen again".

It's just sad. There was potential here and there like, as in OP's post the Graha talk or Kriles parents but the negative far outweight the positive.

Every time Wuk Lamat was zoomed in on my screen I had to look away at the end.

Funny anectode:
At the last boss I was so shocked by her appeareance that i just typed "not her again" and got a lot of player recommendations. Maybe that was because of my stupid gameplay but I want to believe otherwise. xD

[fioravictorine]

Lol, people come up with literal literature like this to explain why Dawntrail is bad.

Meanwhile the only thing Dawntrail MSQ defenders can come up with are statements with similiar tones like,

'I enjoyed it, its a very good story'
'I like it, Wuk is cool. 10/10 expansion,

[ForteNightshade]

As a character that fails, Wuk Lamat is not a mary sue - but simply a character that is never challenged in any way for their failures, nor is ever stimulated to grow and develop, which makes her difficult to relate to and root for. She is presented with very few problems that cannot be solved immediately by the mere suggestion of platitudes of peace and happiness (or, if the situation is really difficult, food), and any difficulties she faces are summarily eliminated by the Scions near uncritical support for her regardless of any legitimate concerns we may have about her capacity to lead a massive, diverse continent. This fundamentally makes her unrelatable to us as an audience, and makes it impossible to connect with her as a human being.

I would argue she is, indeed, a Mary sue, albeit in a difference sense.

Going strictly off the definition, she falls into nearly every category one way or another. While far from "inexplicably competent" her supposed naivety and inexperience are neither shown nor impede her character whatsoever. A prime example of that being her confrontation with Bakool Ja Ja. Despite having zero build up whatsoever, she suddenly has to power to not only defeat him but his entire entourage by herself all because the story needed her to. Likewise, we're told repeatedly how powerful Zarool Ja is yet not only is punked out in nearly every scene he's in, Wuk never actually struggles contending with him. For some "inexplicable" reason, she's on par with the best of us and going toe to toe with other world superpowers all thanks to "FRIENDSHIP AND HARAMONY!!"

Suffice it to say, this also covers the unique talent or powers aspect of being a Mary Sue. And you've already aptly described how every character surrounding her is reduced to little more than a hollow variation of themselves simply there to praise her "many deeds." Even Krile and Erenville take a complete backseat in their respective storylines due to the narrative constantly relying on Wuk Lamat. Really, the only part we cannot say for certain about her Sue-dom is whether she's an author insert character. Otherwise, she's checking off most of the boxes.

[Tethan]

I would argue she is, indeed, a Mary sue, albeit in a difference sense.

She is indeed a textbook example of a Black Hole Sue.

The Black Hole Sue: Her gravity is so great, she draws all the attention and causes other characters (and, often, reality itself) to bend and contort in order to accommodate her. Characters don't act naturally around her. They instead serve as plot enablers for her, with dialogue that only acts as set-ups for her response. She dominates every scene she is in, with most scenes without her serving only to give the characters a chance to "talk freely" about her. Most people don't oppose her and anybody who does will either realize their fault in doing so or just prove easy to overcome.

The very laws of the universe bend to accommodate her. If there's only one in a million chance she could succeed at something, she'll accomplish it with flying colors. If the logical outcome of the story would end in her failure, a Deus ex Machina will ensure her victory. Nothing is too implausible for her to accomplish, whether it be going from Rags to Royalty, killing an Eldritch Abomination, or bringing about world peace. Even the most disdainful and unmoving characters will be Easily Impressed with her. Is there some great deity of unimaginable power in the setting? Expect her to have them astounded by her abilities. If she is so inclined, she may do all that before sitting down to a breakfast consisting of the original story.

This is fairly blatant author favoritism in effect, with the author using his or her effective position as God of the story to carry the character through by her hands. In the rare cases when Sue fails, it will usually be a temporary setback that will either prove advantageous in the end or else just serve to hammer in the point of how special the character is. These failures can often involve just as much Deus ex Machina as her successes, setting up events in which she logically shouldn't fail.

Because of this, the character just ends up rather boring to witness. Heroes might be naturally predisposed to winning and some villains might never seem to be taken care of, but Black Hole Sue does away with anything resembling logic to prop up the characters. It stops being a story and just becomes more like a fictionalized resume of improbably fantastic deeds.

[CosmoBabylonia]

Lol, people come up with literal literature like this to explain why Dawntrail is bad.

Meanwhile the only thing Dawntrail MSQ defenders can come up with are statements with similiar tones like,

'I enjoyed it, its a very good story'
'I like it, Wuk is cool. 10/10 expansion,

I'm having fun with reading some of the literature. Someone even made a Wuk joke using Blink - 182 lyrics.

[SushiOishiiii]

It definately takes you out of the immersion when characters say one thing and do another. Also, I do agree with no subtext making the story bland as well as it's trying to almost educate me rather than entertain me.

[Lady_Silvermoon]

She is indeed a textbook example of a Black Hole Sue.

You know, I've been arguing the character isn't a Mary Sue because the game stops every 2.5 seconds to TELL us she sucks at everything, but if you look at her actions, she literally succeeds at everything she attempts when there is no logical reason why. Like girl, you just got kidnapped by henchmen, how come you can beat Bakool Ja now?