I'm Frustrated with FFXIV's New Direction

[Blackweaver]

Here's my personal take on Dawntrail. The Wuk Lamat story arc, is done. It had a beginning, a middle and an end. It was merely to set up for the warrior of light as a possible good memories later down the line. Something we can look back on and say "Yeah we did some good here". Wuk Lamat's story is done. She's going to more than likely be like Lyse, and be busy governing Tural as Dawnservant. We on the other hand, judging by the ending, our journey has only just begun. The side story is over and now, the story is going to be shifting back to us, as we continue our adventuring life. We may be asked to help intervein in Solution nine, as people there have just had their Ishgard moment. Their queen is dead, and now they need to learn to live normal lives, without feeding on others souls. Zoraal Ja used up a majority of the souls in the bank as we saw, there's almost nothing left in their storage. So we will likely be asked to help integrate them into the source and re-introducing them to life here in the source.

There's still going to be a big bad in this story arc. We never found out what our big bad was until endwalker. But we always thought the ascians were the big bad. And I suspect we aren't done with the ascians just yet. Either that, or some new minor villain group will show up we have to deal with. Either way, the game is still solid. Was Wuk over-used in this MSQ? Yes absolutely. SE will have learned a good lesson from this experience. The devs are human. They make mistakes like everyone else, and they take the lesson learned from mistakes and go forward better for the experience. Look at ARR. It was a complete rebirth from the mess that was 1.0. And a few expansions later, they did go back and streamlined the story a lot more, and cut out the bloat and it was made all the better for it.

Overall, dawntrail will get better. The story wasn't bad. We returned to being just another adventurer, who happens to have in their background, the fact we saved the entire planet. But our goal was to return to our roots. DT's MSQ was like ARR, it was setting up this new areas lore for us. Now that that is done, the real story for us begins. That being said, the amount of toxicity I am seeing in this forum... yeah this here is going to be my final post on these forums. I will continue to enjoy FFXIV. It is hands down, the best MMO on the market. Not even WoW can capture the majesty of this game. And that is a fact.

[Alice_Rivers]

Overall, dawntrail will get better. The story wasn't bad. We returned to being just another adventurer, who happens to have in their background, the fact we saved the entire planet. But our goal was to return to our roots. DT's MSQ was like ARR, it was setting up this new areas lore for us. Now that that is done, the real story for us begins. That being said, the amount of toxicity I am seeing in this forum... yeah this here is going to be my final post on these forums. I will continue to enjoy FFXIV. It is hands down, the best MMO on the market. Not even WoW can capture the majesty of this game. And that is a fact.

I don't think it's so important that we saved the world. I know multiple people on this forum (myself included) wanted a return to being just another adventurer having adventures but I really don't feel like DT delivered that. It certainly didn't deliver a low stakes story what with another attempt to end all life on the planet, the stakes don't get much higher... It's kind of a shame the story failed so spectacularly to capture the idea of adventure since the art and environment teams did such a good job, some areas could have done with more environmental storytelling but that's a fairly minor detail, instead the story team suffocated any adventure or lore or character development for anyone who isn't Wuk Lamat (or Wuk Lamat herself) with Wuk Lamat. Others have pointed out in other threads that Erenville and Krile's stories (such as they are) basically only exist for five minutes on the final map and Krile's entire racial history is written up in interactive screens that can be missed and then never read because they die with the zone! But our heroine considers this boring, probably because it isn't about her, she should be told to shut up and deal with it because the world doesn't revolve around her but she isn't and we move on.

I think a lot of people here don't mind not being the centre of the story as long as our existence is relevant and we have some agency but in DT we're a bystander until some combat thing happens and even then we get a roleplay solo duty where we're literally a bystander. I think people are justified in feeling somewhat put out, perhaps even offended, by DT's MSQ. For me, the patches have a LOT of work to do to salvage what has already happened, I'm glad you're happy with it, I'm happy for everyone who liked what we got even if I don't exactly understand how or why and I'd be disappointed if that really is your last post but that's your decision.

[Havenchild]

I don't think it's so important that we saved the world. I know multiple people on this forum (myself included) wanted a return to being just another adventurer having adventures but I really don't feel like DT delivered that.

I think a lot of people here don't mind not being the centre of the story as long as our existence is relevant and we have some agency but in DT we're a bystander until some combat thing happens and even then we get a roleplay solo duty where we're literally a bystander. I think people are justified in feeling somewhat put out, perhaps even offended, by DT's MSQ. For me, the patches have a LOT of work to do to salvage what has already happened, I'm glad you're happy with it, I'm happy for everyone who liked what we got even if I don't exactly understand how or why and I'd be disappointed if that really is your last post but that's your decision.

Based of the complaint's on this forum, I will definitely disagree. Majority on the forums voicing discontent do NOT NOW want to be a side character.

This is a stark difference from the post patch endwalker forums where people were then claiming they didn't want to be the focus and wanted to take a back seat for DT (after saving the world etc). SE gave them just that and boom now the forums want the complete opposite.

[Supersnow845]

Based of the complaint's on this forum, I will definitely disagree. Majority on the forums voicing discontent do NOT NOW want to be a side character.

This is a stark difference from the post patch endwalker forums where people were then claiming they didn't want to be the focus and wanted to take a back seat for DT (after saving the world etc). SE gave them just that and boom now the forums want the complete opposite.

Because the story didn’t accomodate what the players were actually asking for in either situation rather than the players being flip flopppy.

The entire 6.1 marketing was about “getting back to the basics” which alot of people agreed with. Half a patch later we are in a story about the void wanting to destroy the source. So the back to the basics people aren’t happy because we are in world destroying territory again but the “WOL should be the entire central focus of the story” people weren’t happy because that position was given to zero

Then DT functionally did the same thing. The conflict scaled from “adventurer at heart wants to find the city of gold” to “the city of gold is a physical manifestation of a society that can’t accept lost and is determined to sustain their system even if it means destroying other worlds” in a single expansion but again the WOL wasn’t the focus of the story despite actually doing all the important leg work. Wuk lamat was. We weren’t even playing an actual “important side character” with useful information for the main character, we played the glorified braindead hired muscle. Same as in 6.x all the important development the scions facilitated in zero was done via y’shtola, we did nothing

So in both cases both parties; the “I’m fine with them as a side character” and “no my WOL is centre of my story” have both been let down in both instances because square won’t commit to either camp so they piss everyone off because we get the worst of both sides

[Havenchild]

Because the story didn’t accomodate what the players were actually asking for in either situation rather than the players being flip flopppy.

So in both cases both parties; the “I’m fine with them as a side character” and “no my WOL is centre of my story” have both been let down.

My point is, it doesn't actually matter how the story works it. There are members of this forum that want the story and everything and everyone else to revolve around their character. There is no way to reconcile this for the people that did NOT want that.

Also again we must be reading different forums. This is coming from the place that dragged SB MSQ (pre patch) and Lyse as a character for 7 YEARS as "garbage pacing and terrible story/character" and now suddenly because DT has alot of the same successes and fails, it's avidly defending both as "well written", "earned", "great".

The forums are flip floppy indeed.

[Supersnow845]

My point is, it doesn't actually matter how the story works it. There are members of this forum that want the story and everything and everyone else to revolve around their character. There is no way to reconcile this for the people that did NOT want that.

Also again we must be reading different forums. This is coming from the place that dragged SB MSQ (pre patch) and Lyse as a character for 7 YEARS as "garbage pacing and terrible story/character" and now suddenly because DT has alot of the same successes and fails, it's avidly defending both as "well written", "earned", "great".

The forums are flip floppy indeed.

Yes but you are acting like it’s the fault of the forums being flip floppy that caused nobody to be happy with the situation rather than square trying to appease everyone and ending up appeasing nobody. If two groups have completely opposing views and refuse to comprise at all you don’t take the worst aspects of both sides views and call that a compromise

Square needs to pick a lane and stick to it. This same appease everyone so you appease no one is why the healer design is so garbage right now, you can’t appease the healer mains, sylphies and god complex tanks all at the same time

Different groups espousing different opinions at different times on the forums doesn’t make them flip floppy

[Havenchild]

Yes but you are acting like it’s the fault of the forums being flip floppy that caused nobody to be happy with the situation rather than square trying to appease everyone and ending up appeasing nobody. If two groups have completely opposing views and refuse to comprise at all you don’t take the worst aspects of both sides views and call that a compromise.

Different groups espousing different opinions at different times on the forums doesn’t make them flip floppy

Yes, the forums tends to have alot of bad ideas and SE tends to listen to those bad ideas instead of just doing what they want.

That's exactly what I'm saying.

As for SE doing "both", honestly, they didn't really make the PC any less relevant even with Wuk Lamat taking up so much. But despite this, even that slight shift off the PC was enough to send people into an uproar. Now imagine if they really committed all the way through and things like Sphene / Queen, were resolved without your involvement. All in all, the focus shift was a sentiment people kept asking for post EW on the forums.

But I digress, the point remains the forum sentiment has dramatically shifted after dogging on SB and Lyse for years. SE didn't do anything to make SB's MSQ or Lyse more palatable. Outside of Zenos, they haven't touched anything from SB for quite some time. So yeah the forums are indeed flip flopping.

[Zakuyia]

And yet, at the end of the expansion story, who is it forces their way in to defeat the big bad? Whose music is it playing when the big bad is defeated? Whose moment is it? The answer to all of these questions is the same and it's not "the actual hero of the story".

I don't think it's so important that we saved the world. I know multiple people on this forum (myself included) wanted a return to being just another adventurer having adventures but I really don't feel like DT delivered that. It certainly didn't deliver a low stakes story what with another attempt to end all life on the planet, the stakes don't get much higher... It's kind of a shame the story failed so spectacularly to capture the idea of adventure since the art and environment teams did such a good job, some areas could have done with more environmental storytelling but that's a fairly minor detail, instead the story team suffocated any adventure or lore or character development for anyone who isn't Wuk Lamat (or Wuk Lamat herself) with Wuk Lamat. Others have pointed out in other threads that Erenville and Krile's stories (such as they are) basically only exist for five minutes on the final map and Krile's entire racial history is written up in interactive screens that can be missed and then never read because they die with the zone! But our heroine considers this boring, probably because it isn't about her, she should be told to shut up and deal with it because the world doesn't revolve around her but she isn't and we move on.

I think a lot of people here don't mind not being the centre of the story as long as our existence is relevant and we have some agency but in DT we're a bystander until some combat thing happens and even then we get a roleplay solo duty where we're literally a bystander. I think people are justified in feeling somewhat put out, perhaps even offended, by DT's MSQ. For me, the patches have a LOT of work to do to salvage what has already happened, I'm glad you're happy with it, I'm happy for everyone who liked what we got even if I don't exactly understand how or why and I'd be disappointed if that really is your last post but that's your decision.

Man truer words man i wanted to go back to being a sell sword. Yet here I am saving the world with a spot light hog.....

[Talamh]

We returned to being just another adventurer, who happens to have in their background, the fact we saved the entire planet. But our goal was to return to our roots. DT's MSQ was like ARR, it was setting up this new areas lore for us.

While I haven't even touched on Dawntrail yet because I want to clean up all other sidequests first, I always feel a twitch in my brain when I hear people utter this line...

What Roots?

Hydaelyn put you together by coalesce enough souls in the Aetherial sea in order to further this end goal of creating her child, the Warrior of Light.
You never were, just a mere adventurer. As far as you know, you awoke last Thursday on a caravan heading to a city state. You are, the chosen one and your mother is Hydaelyn.
This is something people never seem to get with XIV's story. Even Lahabrea points this out to you in the ARR Ultima cutscene.

Otherwise where are your parents?
Why are they never acknowledged at all?
Is the Wol an orphan like traditional FF3? Acute Memoryloss like FF1?
No. You are a child of the mother crystal. The Warrior of Light. Not some mere adventurer.

XIV's story was always bad with small glimmers of greatness.
From what I've heard regarding the end of Dawntrail, I'm not the least bit interested in an interdimensional shard-hopping civilization with computers.
I just want the 1.0/ARR/FFXI clothing style back where it felt like there was a consistent style rather than... all over the place.

[Supersnow845]

While I haven't even touched on Dawntrail yet because I want to clean up all other sidequests first, I always feel a twitch in my brain when I hear people utter this line...

What Roots?

Hydaelyn put you together by coalesce enough souls in the Aetherial sea in order to further this end goal of creating her child, the Warrior of Light.
You never were, just a mere adventurer. As far as you know, you awoke last Thursday on a caravan heading to a city state. You are, the chosen one and your mother is Hydaelyn.
This is something people never seem to get with XIV's story. Even Lahabrea points this out to you in the ARR Ultima cutscene.

Otherwise where are your parents?
Why are they never acknowledged at all?
Is the Wol an orphan like traditional FF3? Acute Memoryloss like FF1?
No. You are a child of the mother crystal. The Warrior of Light. Not some mere adventurer.

XIV's story was always bad with small glimmers of greatness.
From what I've heard regarding the end of Dawntrail, I'm not the least bit interested in an interdimensional shard-hopping civilization with computers.
I just want the 1.0/ARR/FFXI clothing style back where it felt like there was a consistent style rather than... all over the place.

This completely ignores the lore of legacy WOL’s and the dubious canonicity of the fact that it’s possible that all players “experienced” legacy and were sent forward by louisoux even if only legacy players “remember” it

The backstory is up to the player but haedalyn had nothing to do with it. Hell the starshower legacy players saw has nothing to do with haedalyn anyway, it’s a natural phenomenon. The only “predetermined” aspect of your player is the fact that you are a shard of azem but that’s how the aetherial sea works