The Actual Problem With Dawntrail

[elioaiko]

I would say that DT just suffers from the story needing to "restart" after the conclusion of the OG story that's been brewing for years.

The writers have to set up a story while leaving enough for possible future stories. It's clear that they were struggling to decide where to go.

And no, having a "vacation arc" isn't really compelling for an entire expansion. Sure they didn't need to have a big ole fight with a massive save the world sequence, but they needed to have conflict, climax and ending. You can't really have that with a chill arc.

I think the story was pretty okay until the turning point with the involvement of reflections. I didn't mind a tournament storyline with some tribal/clan drama and thought they should have leaned into that rather than cheap out on another reflection needing our help. Idk the reflection bit was a cop-out IMO.

Wuk Lamat is really not the issue tbh, because she just suffers from a lackluster VA performance. But she functions as the main protagonist and I thought her journey with her and Koana understanding what it means to lead was nice.

Truth be told that WoL story is done. There's no more mysterious or origin story for us as that was revealed and explored in EW. We're only here as a vehicle for other characters to take the spotlight.

I thought that the story should have had Krile as the main character bc she's very underutilized and her voice work is more compelling. We did get some closure for her with DT but she's one of the scions whose story wasn't quite done yet.

Tbh, I wish they had done something like the Eureka storyline. For one, Krile was present and worked great as the lead for that storyline. The mystery and set dressing for Eureka was so much more interesting IMO.

Overall, I think they played it a little too safe and it showed because it felt been there done that.

I do think that the raid storyline is interesting. I'm curious with the alliance raid tho. Like Eureka, it's gonna be XI themed so there might be room for exploration on that front.

[Silver-Strider]

I would say that DT just suffers from the story needing to "restart" after the conclusion of the OG story that's been brewing for years.

I'm not a writer but even I could've woven a better narrative than what the Dev did for Dawntrail that would've had plenty of arguably low stakes in regards to our character but have been reasonable for the new cast they introduced to help flesh them and the world out more and without the rushed high stakes storyline tacked on at the end. I'm going to focus solely on the 1st half of the story to try and salvage it in a more impactful manner.

1st off, let's make the people of Tural seem like an actual community. The Peruperu people are hardcore merchants so why is there so little interaction between them and the Moblins that are housing craftsman that provide high quality work? To actually learn about the cultures of these people, I felt that these 2 groups of people should've been in closer proximity to one another and have active interactions with one another. The Moblins need some supplies to keep their potsworns content so the Peruperu do their thing and supply them with the goods while the Moblins provide some prime items for the merchants to peddle in town. This would've given us a meaningful insight to not only the cultures of both these groups of people, but we also get a brief look into Tural's financial infrastructure. We can have the bandits even be a part of this narrative to show that the system isn't perfect, an issue that Wuk Lamat's little speech at her inauguration brings up briefly but we never actually address it. This would've potentially given Wuk Lamat some means of trying to address the issue then as well to show some level of competency as a character.

Next up, we get some slight racial tension between the Hrothgar and Mamool Ja but I feel that they never went far enough with it. The whole reason Wuk was even sent to Galool Ja Ja was because an attempt was made on her life as a child so what exactly is preventing something similar from happening. What if someone had poisoned the dish during the contest? Apart from Bakool Ja Ja being the clearly obvious person to pin the blame on but just for the sake of narrative, what if it wasn't him but Zarool Ja's advisor? The man was sus as hell for the entire 1st half and nothing is done with him but if he had a secret agenda to elevate the standing of the people of Mamook, it would make sense as to why he asked for Bakool Ja Ja to be kept alive when he asked Zarool Ja to spare him, despite him being a very clear obstacle in Zarool Ja's chances of becoming the Dawnservant. As for Mamook, that could've been this very hostile place for Wuk Lamat that culminated in discovering their whole Eugenics project ourselves, without the Bakool Ja Ja's heel turn moment to reveal it for us. We had to search the town anyways to learn their culture, so I think hearing something about the Skydeep Cenote and us going to investigate it to discover that plotline would've been a hell of a shock if told in this manner.

The Hanuhanu could've straight up just summoned a Primal accidentally. This is the Scion's bread and butter conflict. This gives them an actual reason to be involved in the story narratively and not just be shadows of their former characters, following along as little more than Yes Men for Wuk Lamat. The minute I saw that beam of light hitting that effigy of the Hanuhanu's deity, I FULLY expected a primal to come out as a result and I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

Finally, the giants and Valigarmanda. For the most part, I had very little issue with how the narrative of it all played out, except for the aftermath of it. Bakool Ja Ja setting free Valigarmanda should've given the rival faction of giants a very clear motive to denounce the Dawnservert and their trials because of Bakool's actions and actually tried to entreat the other giants to join them in seeking revenge. Again, putting Wuk in a position to actually attempt to uphold the peace her father put in place. She could've brought Bakool Ja Ja to justice for his crimes as a means of atonement and to prove that we are worthy of going on their sacred mountain to stop Valigarmanda before he could do more harm. Now, admittedly, this would break up the story structure that SE has set in place by introducing 2 trial bosses relatively close to one another narratively but what's wrong with shaking up the formula a little bit now and again? One of the major criticisms of DT is a lack of gameplay involved so would giving us an extra trial, or even just a solo instance against the Hanuhanu Primal really have been so outlandish? I don't think it would be.

The story was there, it just needed to be pieced together better than what we got, with story elements being added just to give depth to characters and actually flesh them out. The major downside to this story though was that it does paint the Mamool Ja and Bakool Ja Ja as purely evil but that's what the post patch story is for. We give Bakool Ja Ja the Fordola treatment and actually have him earn his redemption. We actually help the people of Mamook handle their problems and try to address the racial tension little by little. There was potential and it was squandered.