DT's Writing: What Could've Been Better

[StormChase]

It took 32 quests in the post Shadowbringer quests for me to go from "Oh, who was this guy?... ah right, Elidibus." to "Oh god the poor thing! Let me hug him!!" while bawling my eyes off.

In 100 quests they couldn't make me like Poochie.

When you have such a black hole like her, everything else suffers, everything else gets pushed to the bare minimum in favor of that black hole.

There's your main issue.

That's not a fair comparison because Elidibus had been a part of the plot since 2.1 and the big payoff was in 5.3. Wuk Lamat's been a part of the plot since 6.55. It's because Elidibus' story had more time to be spread out that they could focus on other things too. If Elidibus suddenly appeared much later I don't think you would've seen him the same way.

[Daralii]

That's not a fair comparison because Elidibus had been a part of the plot since 2.1 and the big payoff was in 5.3. Wuk Lamat's been a part of the plot since 6.55. It's because Elidibus' story had more time to be spread out that they could focus on other things too. If Elidibus suddenly appeared much later I don't think you would've seen him the same way.

He was just a mysterious and mostly indirect antagonist until Shadowbringers. I don't think what and who he was started getting explained until 5.2.

[StormChase]

He was just a mysterious and mostly indirect antagonist until Shadowbringers. I don't think what and who he was started getting explained until 5.2.

True, but the fact he was around for so long without us knowing what his deal was made it all the more satisfying when we finally learned.

[Midare]

True, but the fact he was around for so long without us knowing what his deal was made it all the more satisfying when we finally learned.

Not really. I barely was even aware of his name once he started becoming more relevant. I barely even remembered him being part of the whole Ascian thing due to the fact that most of his appearances are in cutscenes when he was on his own.

Meanwhile, after one patch with Poochie I was aware that she was a princess and sister of a former student of Sharlayan, the friend of Erenville. Someone "spunky" and always hungry...

And still, 32 quests did a better job than 100.

[StormChase]

That's not a fair comparison because Elidibus had been a part of the plot since 2.1 and the big payoff was in 5.3. Wuk Lamat's been a part of the plot since 6.55. It's because Elidibus' story had more time to be spread out that they could focus on other things too. If Elidibus suddenly appeared much later I don't think you would've seen him the same way.

Also, another thing Elidibus has going for him is that he's a villain. A hero usually needs more on-screen time for their journey than a villain does. Not that there can't be rushed villains. If he was introduced in 5.2 or even 5.1 he wouldn't have been as effective.

[Raven2014]

Also, another thing Elidibus has going for him is that he's a villain. A hero usually needs more on-screen time for their journey than a villain does. Not that there can't be rushed villains. If he was introduced in 5.2 or even 5.1 he wouldn't have been as effective.

Gosetsu, Yukiri, Hien, Esternien, Ice Heart all had the same or far less screen time than WL and they'll all heroic characters. While not all of them are "great", they're all at least "good". At the sametime, if I say WL is "not that bad", that would just me being extremely polite. Heck, Moenbryda got introduced in one patch and killed in the next and still left a much stronger and more positive impression.

It's not about the time, it's what you do with it. You can cut WL's time in half, or you can double and I doubt the perception about the character would change. One pile of crap, two pile of crap or half a pile of crap, the amount ain't gonna change the fact they're still just crap.

[StormChase]

Gosetsu, Yukiri, Hien, Esternien, Ice Heart all had the same or far less screen time than WL and they'll all heroic characters. While not all of them are "great", they're all at least "good". At the sametime, if I say WL is "not that bad", that would just me being extremely polite. Heck, Moenbryda got introduced in one patch and killed in the next and still left a much stronger and more positive impression.

It's not about the time, it's what you do with it. You can cut WL's time in half, or you can double and I doubt the perception about the character would change. One pile of crap, two pile of crap or half a pile of crap, the amount ain't gonna change the fact they're still just crap.

Even the characters you listed have something going for them, though. Yeah, they're heroic, but none of them are at square one of their journey by the time you meet them. Gosestu, Yugiri, and Hien have already fought in a failed revolt. Estinien has years of experience under his belt as a dragoon. Ysayle's made a name for herself as a heretic leader. Wuk Lamat has none of that. That's the big difference with her. Also, this is a topic for another day but I wouldn't really call Moenbryda a good example of a character who got enough screen time.

[StormChase]

Even the characters you listed have something going for them, though. Yeah, they're heroic, but none of them are at square one of their journey by the time you meet them. Gosestu, Yugiri, and Hien have already fought in a failed revolt. Estinien has years of experience under his belt as a dragoon. Ysayle's made a name for herself as a heretic leader. Wuk Lamat has none of that. That's the big difference with her. Also, this is a topic for another day but I wouldn't really call Moenbryda a good example of a character who got enough screen time.

For reference, it's almost like claiming Estinien could've started his dragoon training in 2.55 and there would be no negative impact on Heavensward's writing quality if it stayed the same length.

[Raven2014]

Even the characters you listed have something going for them, though. Yeah, they're heroic, but none of them are at square one of their journey by the time you meet them. Gosestu, Yugiri, and Hien have already fought in a failed revolt. Estinien has years of experience under his belt as a dragoon. Ysayle's made a name for herself as a heretic leader. Wuk Lamat has none of that. That's the big difference with her.

Not even sure what your point is. All characters will always come with a background because they're obviously not just something that poop out of existence, and that goes the same for WL. She' s royal princess. She has two brothers she looked up and probably knew them for 10+ years. She even has a very interesting snippet that tied back to one of the most bloody conflict on the continent ... People had pointed it out many time, WL could had been very interesting story if it explored her dark past more, or show more of the dynamic between the three sibling growing up, or how Gulool Ja raised them. But no, instead the writers waste all of their time on shallow affirmation nonsense.

Also, this is a topic for another day but I wouldn't really call Moenbryda a good example of a character who got enough screen time.

And who said she is a good example of that? 'Cause that wasn't what I said. I listed all of those characters to show you that your argument about screen time is essentially irrelevant.

- Esternien and Ice-Heart had comparable screen time to Wuk.

- Moenbryda had very little screen time to Wuk.

- Gosestu and Yugiri screen time falls somewhere in between the two extremes.

Yet in their own way they were all deeper, more interesting comparing to WL. Again, it's not about how much time you have, it;s about what you do with those times. And the problem with Wuk is her writer essential waste all the time they were given on stupid stuffs.

What you're doing is the same as a lot of people do when they try to excuse the writing. Like oh it's a new story, oh it's vacation .etc. while the real reason is extremely simple: the writing is bad, that's it. In fact, just look at the old job quest line and you'll see none of the "points" you're trying to make really matter.

- The DK quest line took the players by storm because of how good it was.

- The PLD and MNK quest lines are so stupid sometime they make me glad we no longer have specific job quests.

They all have similar length, the characters all have similar level of background exposure. So why the difference? Simple, the DK's quest was written by good a writer, the other quest line were not.

[StormChase]

Not even sure what your point is. All characters will always come with a background because they're obviously not just something that poop out of existence, and that goes the same for WL. She' s royal princess. She has two brothers she looked up and probably knew them for 10+ years. She even has a very interesting snippet that tied back to one of the most bloody conflict on the continent ... People had pointed it out many time, WL could had been very interesting story if it explored her dark past more, or show more of the dynamic between the three sibling growing up, or how Gulool Ja raised them. But no, instead the writers waste all of their time on shallow affirmation nonsense.

I'm saying that when you first meet her she doesn't have the same amount of experience that these other characters have. The big thing with her character is that she hasn't yet had the same kind of impact on her country as her brothers. She has a background, but she's also at an earlier stage of her journey. And that's why she needed more time to be built up.

I'm not sure how much this'll make sense but think about the Warrior of Light in A Realm Reborn. They're also at square one when they arrive in the starting city. Obviously they had some kind of life before they came here, but (unless you're playing a legacy character) as far as the game's concerned they haven't made any achievements yet. And because of that they climb up 50 levels instead of 10 like the expansions.

To be fair I do wish they showed more of her relationship with her family. It would've been interesting to see Koana act patronizing towards her at first because he wants to protect her.