Yoshi-P tells PC Gamer that he is "not shocked" by mixed DT reception

[Rekh]

Or everyone will realize that in comparison to the size of the playerbase, those whining about Wuk Lumat are an insignificant speck because they unsubbed, it didn't make a dent, and all the people loving the Arcadion and patch content are where most people really are...

In an mmo gameplay is the most important long term bet. I don't know anyone that resubs to play the msq again for months until the next patch; not even heavensward achieved that feat.

[PassinLay]

Or everyone will realize that in comparison to the size of the playerbase, those whining about Wuk Lumat are an insignificant speck because they unsubbed, it didn't make a dent, and all the people loving the Arcadion and patch content are where most people really are...

You do know DT has 39% positive reviews for recent reviews on steam right ? And 57% overall?

You can keep coping bud.

[Zelda206]

Thank you to Uncle_Jafar for the post and update.

For the remaining folks here, there is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Yoshi is very much aware of why Wuk Lamat isn't liked across the community, both from his home team and from those abroad. Her character design is quite terrible in contrast to the marvels of characters we've gotten across games, not just restricted to the MMOs, and it doesn't help that the English studio took a dive for a myriad of reasons (I heard it was the transition to the new studio and a new director, though those are just some; you cannot dismiss some of the writing being repetitive and poor even with voice-acting, and I'm not going to go easy on a character just because of personal details of the VA; this is a performance, and sometimes you perform terribly, and those are the experiences you need to use in order to grow). The unfortunate side to Mr. Yoshi's response is that it comes off tone-deaf to the playerbase who embraced the game to its fullest and unleashed their qualms that seem to have nothing to do with us 'coming off the hero's high', but rather how poorly executed the DT MSQ was, from overshadowing important key figures with Wuk Lamat, to hemorrhaging vital plot points with Wuk Lamat, and then violating character development with the nigh-on Mary Sue that is Wuk Lamat by having only positive things to be forced to say from our own character and from the surrounding entourage. I'm not sure what the team was depicting when they made the character, but the 'complex' was a superiority complex and certainly not one towards her biological father nor her adopted father. Credit of Valigarmanda? Goes to Wuk Lamat. Power of friendship LB3 to overpower her biggest character flaw? Goes to Wuk Lamat. Awakening a genocidal robot and reaching out in understanding, but not doing the same for Zoraal Ja? Wuk Lamat.

Suffice it to say, it definitely seems like a 'brace yourself' message from Mr. Yoshi, since it's quite likely we'll be stuck with this character for future endeavors and I am not enthused at all to hear that. It's the worst developed character in Final Fantasy that I can think of, even if it's beloved by a sect of the community almost to a concerning degree on the border of zealotry, and it was hands down the biggest reason I hated Dawntrail. If the team can greatly reduce just how much Wuk Lamat does, thinks or talks in contrast to everyone else and we're giving back some semblance of criticism in our character towards others and not reduce us to a cheerleader, then I'll be that much happier to continue the content.

I am a little confused at the lack of transparency from Mr. Yoshi, but it's quite possibly a string of answers to satisfy journalists while keeping one's cards to one's chest; he's clued into the game and its people, so it would be confusing if what he's saying here was not only from the heart but all he could think of as to why the playerbase in NA and JP (confirmed) did not like DT and Wuk Lamat.

[Dante131]

A lot of folks dont realize this, but they mentioned it a few times now a decent portion of the FFXIV dev team had new leads come in with Dawntrail with old leads simply supervising or moving onto other projects (Current rumors of FF17 and FF9 remake.)

After 16 and DT i dont trust SE anymore hopefully theyll never remake my favorite game tbh

[Vinter]

I think the problem is that if you want to focus on a non-PC/non-scion character for the story, then by all means make it the villain. Let the bad guys win every now and again so we can have some tension and stakes in the story. Make them feel like a legitimate threat.

Also if they ever make a new FF MMO I would want them to not follow the same method of storytelling as this one. I understand why they want to do it this way, so that old content is kept relevant for new players and everyone can experience the same story, but because of that the game also feels very disconnected sometimes. You're watching some sprout run around and you know that they are looking at a completely different world than you are. Ul'Dah will never explode, Limsa will never sink into the sea, Ishgard will never crumble into the abyss because they need to be kept as they are for the sake of the old content. This does make the world feel less alive though.

One of the coolest things in XIV was the switch from 1.0 to ARR, where everyone got to see Dalamud descend together. I think it would be more fun in an MMO if the story was something we all experienced together, rather than separately. Also in an open world. I know a lot of people hated it but I miss the long ass boat ride from Limsa to Vesper Bay.

[Dante131]

I think the problem is that if you want to focus on a non-PC/non-scion character for the story, then by all means make it the villain. Let the bad guys win every now and again so we can have some tension and stakes in the story. Make them feel like a legitimate threat.

Also if they ever make a new FF MMO I would want them to not follow the same method of storytelling as this one. I understand why they want to do it this way, so that old content is kept relevant for new players and everyone can experience the same story, but because of that the game also feels very disconnected sometimes. You're watching some sprout run around and you know that they are looking at a completely different world than you are. Ul'Dah will never explode, Limsa will never sink into the sea, Ishgard will never crumble into the abyss because they need to be kept as they are for the sake of the old content. This does make the world feel less alive though.

One of the coolest things in XIV was the switch from 1.0 to ARR, where everyone got to see Dalamud descend together. I think it would be more fun in an MMO if the story was something we all experienced together, rather than separately. Also in an open world. I know a lot of people hated it but I miss the long ass boat ride from Limsa to Vesper Bay.

i'm afraid if you let a new antagonist win some times, then you will need a good explanation why the most powerfull Person in the world lose to someone. They could nerf the WoL ofc but this might piss off some people aswell.

[GartredZW]

If you want to 1:1 compare placement on the timeline, Dawntrail is Battle for Azeroth, so 8.0 is Shadowlands.

oh no. the start of Shadowlands was when I gave away all my gold, deleted all my characters, and went on a journey to find a new MMO.
This tragedy, greater even than the Seventh Umbral Calamity must be undone. If history must be unwritten, let it be unwritten.

[KisaiTenshi]

No, clearly the only problem is that she didn't realize how perfect she was. Just look at the perfectly balanced screen time.

Considering we were basically telegraphed this would be about Krile before Wuk Lamat showed up in the last patch to Endwalker. It's just really frustrating to see Krile sidelined until the Heritage found map.

Could we have sidelined all the Scions but Y'shtola (who actually has the interest in travelling to other reflections) and G'raha (Who actually is the WoL's fanboy), yes. Due to specific duty requirements, Wuk Lamat has to be the tank or DPS, which means that you still need a healer (Alphinaud), because they gave both Y'shtola and Krile DPS job's. So there has to be some logical reason WHY these characters are still around. So the twins continue to be involved in this story, minimally, and G'raha is the only all-rounder, but you can't do that without making him important to the story either.

Like what they really should have done was made Krile the all-rounder in the style of Venat so she could always be in the "NPC party" when Wuk Lamat is in the party, regardless of what role the player is in, and left everyone else at home. Whoever is important to the story at that point in the MSQ should join as party member #4 DPS.

But I digress. I don't think DT is the worst, it's certainly written a lot more poorly than some parts of ARR, but you are at least not wandering aimlessly like ARR. I find most of the criticism about Wuk Lamat to be misplaced, with the English localization probably being a bit weaker, but people needlessly beating up on the VA choice for reasons that have nothing to do with the game. Just people being hateful. If you don't like the English voice acting, the Japanese voice acting is still an option.

[Tizzy_Tormentor]

Dawntrail's writing is Juvenile, thats the issue.

Remember when Gulool Ja Ja solved decades of generational hatred and conflict with tacos? Or how we fix the decades of resentment and mistrust with the residents of Mamook in an afternoon by just chatting with them? Expect more of this in the future.

[Carin-Eri]

Considering we were basically telegraphed this would be about Krile before Wuk Lamat showed up in the last patch to Endwalker. It's just really frustrating to see Krile sidelined until the Heritage found map.

Could we have sidelined all the Scions but Y'shtola (who actually has the interest in travelling to other reflections) and G'raha (Who actually is the WoL's fanboy), yes. Due to specific duty requirements, Wuk Lamat has to be the tank or DPS, which means that you still need a healer (Alphinaud), because they gave both Y'shtola and Krile DPS job's. So there has to be some logical reason WHY these characters are still around. So the twins continue to be involved in this story, minimally, and G'raha is the only all-rounder, but you can't do that without making him important to the story either.

Like what they really should have done was made Krile the all-rounder in the style of Venat so she could always be in the "NPC party" when Wuk Lamat is in the party, regardless of what role the player is in, and left everyone else at home. Whoever is important to the story at that point in the MSQ should join as party member #4 DPS.

But I digress. I don't think DT is the worst, it's certainly written a lot more poorly than some parts of ARR, but you are at least not wandering aimlessly like ARR. I find most of the criticism about Wuk Lamat to be misplaced, with the English localization probably being a bit weaker, but people needlessly beating up on the VA choice for reasons that have nothing to do with the game. Just people being hateful. If you don't like the English voice acting, the Japanese voice acting is still an option.

I agree.

I feel Wuk Lamat's voice delivery was lacking in places but so far as I am concerned the larger issue was with voice direction which evidentially failed to give the VA context regarding the scenes (with one grating, obvious, example that particularly stands out) and made the decision that the final take was acceptable.