The forum has been too much negativities lately

[PintyMcEars]

Not going to fake positivity for a product I paid full price for and a sub.

Its bad. Objectively. The msq has issue's the VA and cut scene designs have issues.

Depending on who you ask even quest and performance issues.

Heaven forbid if you where on an xbox and your game was completely unplayable.

So no as a player who loves this game I will be negative about that things that deserve it and positive about the things that do as well.

This expansion is not a positive thing for alot of players and they have a right to vent that negatively in whatever official format will listen.

It is literally what Yoshida told us to do to be heard by the developers.

You mean subjectively

[Malthir]

You mean subjectively

No it's objectively poorly written, there are standards to good story telling that are taught very early on in creative writing, this story fails almost all of them

Here are some examples of that I mean:

• Static Characters: Wuk,Bak,Koana and to a degree Zorall do not have any character developments, instead the character personalities snap back and forward depending on how they are needed in a particular plot thread, which brings me to the next point
• Poor Pacing: This isn't just about the way they dragged out and belaboured the same dialogue continuously. It also covers pre-emptively closing plot threads, which impacts the previously talked about point affecting character development. While some parts of the story are dragged out with many of the cutscenes in the first act repeating the same points established in previous cutscenes; For example the number of times Wuk states she loves her people. The 4 different cutscenes explaining the traders love of fair trade and lama's, which all could have been established in 1 3m cutscene and then gameplay. Pre-emptively closing plot threads on the other hand, is another sign of poor pacing. This is probably the biggest flaw the game has. Closing plot threads before they have chance to fully mature, completely removes any emotional feedback/payoff the players would receive, as the plot points ended before you can truly explore it. This has massive impact on character growth, as the characters don't have time to go through the problems before they are resolved. An example of this, Bak. He goes from a complete and utter monster of a person to a self-sacrificing but misunderstood boy in 1 3-5m cutscene. His actions prior to this have been monstrous, but suddenly he has a complete change of heart in 3-5m. There's no contemplation, no stages to the emotional journey, just bad guy good guy. This happens to all the characters in the plot making it the primary cause of the static characters. Likely the root cause of why people seem to hate this MSQ as a whole.
• Showing not telling: This is arguably the most unforgivable of the issues, purely as this is literally taught to everyone who learns any creative writing, almost immediately. They continue to break this rule throughout the entirety of the first arc, examples being Wuks constant repetition of how she loves her people, everyone's repeatedly telling you how impressive or amazing Wuk is. At no point do they show you any of this. The wild outlaw west, you're told it's wild and practically lawless, yet no where in the zone other than the brief MSQ plot do you see this. It's only due to Erenville literally telling you that it has an issue with lawlessness, that you even know that. A lot of places in the game do this, I literally don't have the character count in a reply to list them all.

That's not opinion, it's a fact that the story does those things. Which is why it's objectively poorly written. That doesn't mean people can't enjoy it, lots of people enjoy poorly written media. However the fact remains it's been botched.

[Musashidon]

No it's objectively poorly written, there are standards to good story telling that are taught very early on in creative writing, this story fails almost all of them.

everything is subjective the stardards made are made based on peoples opinions. there is no objectively correct writing.

[Gr1mwolf]

everything is subjective the stardards made are made based on peoples opinions. there is no objectively correct writing.

That's a terrible take. That's the same as saying that a stick figure on a napkin is just as good as the Mona Lisa because art is subjective and not everyone likes the same stuff.

[Musashidon]

That's a terrible take. That's the same as saying that a stick figure on a napkin is just as good as the Mona Lisa because art is subjective and not everyone likes the same stuff.

yes. what?! if someone hates the mona lisa it doesn't invalidate it sorta like if more people like it than a stick figure on a napkin it doesn't invalidate it.

you can objectively say it's harder to paint the mona lisa but you can't straight up say it's better and say its a fact.

[Enjuden]

yes. what?! if someone hates the mona lisa it doesn't invalidate it sorta like if more people like it than a stick figure on a napkin it doesn't invalidate it.

you can objectively say it's harder to paint the mona lisa but you can't straight up say it's better and say its a fact.

Okay, prove a stick figure is better or equal to the Mona Lisa if you truly believe what you say.

[Musashidon]

Okay, prove a stick figure is better or equal to the Mona Lisa if you truly believe what you say.

oh easy someone made it enjoyed making and loved that they made it.

[Malthir]

yes. what?! if someone hates the mona lisa it doesn't invalidate it sorta like if more people like it than a stick figure on a napkin it doesn't invalidate it.

you can objectively say it's harder to paint the mona lisa but you can't straight up say it's better and say its a fact.

But it's objectively bad by the standards of the industry it's in. It's a fact that it doesn't hold up to the tenants of good writing. Even in art there are universal truths, that how AI is capable of producing music that people like, because human enjoyment is a definable spectrum. I personally don't like the tropes they used and dislike the personality of Wuk, that's subjective, it's my taste, I can completely understand why some people would like loud childish characters, people have different tastes. The issues with character growth, pacing, showing not telling etc, however objective truths in the paradigm of creative writing.

[Musashidon]

The issues with character growth, pacing, showing not telling etc, however objective truths in the paradigm of creative writing.

every bit here is still subjective how much character growth is the correct amount? how much pacing is the correct amount? how much showing? you keep saying this is objective but it's still entirely subjective if they did the right amount.

No, there actually is. There are entire fields of study around narrative design and literature theory that discuss what makes a story well written or not.

That doesn't mean you can't still enjoy a poorly written story, but a well written story will be more impactful and generally enjoyed more for what it is.

so there is no well written stories at all that flopped and didn't do well? sorta like there are no poorly written stories that did well? in the end no matter what writting being good or bad is opinionated. you can say something sold well or is a classic it is what you are taught as a base in school but they are not some set in fact as what you have to do to have a good story.

[Xylira]

everything is subjective the stardards made are made based on peoples opinions. there is no objectively correct writing.

No, there actually is. There are entire fields of study around narrative design and literature theory that discuss what makes a story well written or not.

That doesn't mean you can't still enjoy a poorly written story, but a well written story will be more impactful and generally enjoyed more for what it is.