Even our content creators cannot pretend to like the trashy writings of Dawntrail.

[Jojoya]

Doesn't matter if you understand it or not. The only thing that matters is that the devs and Yoshi P DO care. You don't have to like it. Other people don't have to like it. We could all collectively sit here scratching our heads in confusion and absolutely hating it... Doesn't change the truth of the matter.

The question is whether the developers care about the specific opinions of the content creators, or if they care about how content creators represent the game to their viewers. The difference is subtle but important.

Based on the all the comments YoshiP made to Zepla during the media tour general Q&A per the way she recounted it, he seems to be more interested in the latter. The "thank you for the video" was just a lead in to "don't do it that way in the future".

The answer to that is literally in this very thread, with people talking about how Content Creators have sway over their audience. When the biggest XIV creator starts saying negative things about your game, despite the amount of people going "I'm a free thinker, and won't let their opinion affect me!", there's a major chunk of people who either share that opinion already, are on the fence, able to be swayed, or will just agree with everything their "queen" says about the game. So when content creators start slamming your game in public, you NEED to listen. Because now it's someone with an impressionable audience spreading opinions about your game.

The door swings both ways. Content creators can have sway over the sheep in their audience that look to content creators to form their opinions for them but content creators many times adjust what they present to please their viewers (or to please those who have influence over whether they get to attend high publicity events).

I don't think any of the FFXIV content creators has such a large audience that any spread of opinions is going to reach very far let alone influence a significant number of players and/or potential new players. But I understand that someone who relies on content creator opinions to validate their own would believe otherwise.

[Sheriyana]

I can only attribute the writing failure to one thing : absence of Ishikawa

it was already dipping 6.1 - 6.5, but 7.0 is plain bad

6.0 was plenty bad on its own and so was most of 5.1-5.5. I don't think Ishikawa is some god writer that people think she is. Doesn't mean the current writing is any better though, just means the current writers are below par across the board.

[Isala]

6.0 was plenty bad on its own and so was most of 5.1-5.5. I don't think Ishikawa is some god writer that people think she is. Doesn't mean the current writing is any better though, just means the current writers are below par across the board.

Basically, we're not asking for The Lord of the Rings, or A Tale of Two Cities levels of complex writing. We're just asking for more like Alice in Wonderland, or Stuart Little, over Goodnight Moon, or When You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Because, man. DT's writing felt like reading a picture book at times.

[Themarvin]

Content creators are a joke anyway or clowns with mics.

[Priddy]

6.0 was plenty bad on its own and so was most of 5.1-5.5. I don't think Ishikawa is some god writer that people think she is. Doesn't mean the current writing is any better though, just means the current writers are below par across the board.

Why do you still play this game if you think it's been bad for half a decade?

[Dranni]

Based on the all the comments YoshiP made to Zepla during the media tour general Q&A per the way she recounted it, he seems to be more interested in the latter. The "thank you for the video" was just a lead in to "don't do it that way in the future".

Except it was far from being "just a lead in". Even if the delivery in her video was not stellar, her criticism was valid. Yoshi-P was thankful for it because it highlighted and helped bring the many deficiencies of the expansion to the developers' attention. And they listened. He knew that she was not alone in thinking this way and he quite literally told her that.

To add to this, having that video out helped the community at large not to be afraid to speak their mind about the state of the game if they felt critical of it. It's no secret that criticisms of the game were frowned upon, which prevented people from speaking up, fearing backlash.

[Sheriyana]

Basically, we're not asking for The Lord of the Rings, or A Tale of Two Cities levels of complex writing. We're just asking for more like Alice in Wonderland, or Stuart Little, over Goodnight Moon, or When You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Because, man. DT's writing felt like reading a picture book at times.

I understand, it would be at least a tiny bit better than what we got now, with a chance to be even excellent.

[Sheriyana]

Why do you still play this game if you think it's been bad for half a decade?

You know there's other things to the game besides story? And can you people stop using this stupid argument already. You're not even addressing the criticism, just telling people to leave because you don't like they have negative opinions.

[AlysanneVrannai]

The story writers desperately need a heavy-handed editor to hem them in and keep them from spiraling down very weird repetitive dialogue and story beats. There is a general lack of focus that is very bad, especially if you don't feel engaged with the themes and characters.

[Nebelheim]

I think it's not only the horrible way the story was presented I think even the music took a nosedive this expansion with the genre's of music going all over the place and mixing genre's that don't mix well together plus the song that sounds like something Disney would write about accepting one another and equality in one of there kid movies. The music didn't sound very final fantasy this expansion but Soken probably only had so much to work with and was told by the writers what they wanted with the music direction.