Wow, Wuk Lamat is really single-handedly ruining the DT story...

[StormChase]

This right here. Its not Wuk Lamats character that is the problem, its the writing that makes almost every character in this expansion unbearable. Wuk Lamat is as much a victim of the writing as Krile or the Leveilleur twins. The only difference is that the writing uses too much time to shove everything else in the background to make room for Wuk Lamat, which has created a lot of resentment for the character itself as she feels omnipresent.

The most hypocritical part of it for me is that almost everything Wuk Lamat is hated for, the WOL also does at some point.

"She's too strong." - Self-explanatory

"She relies on other people for help." - There are numerous times the WOL would've died without help from other people. Plus they have a magic crystal that lets them summon a full party whenever they want.

"She gets tricked and taken advantage of." - Lahabrea, the Crystal Braves, that barmaid who spikes their drink, Urianger and the Crystal Exarch, the fact they let Wuk Lamat go off with a stranger and don't press Sphene, etc.

"She tries negotiating with people who hate her." - Asahi, Varis, Emet-Selch, the Forum, the entire Garlemald section of Endwalker

"She feels bad for Sphene." - The game forces the WOL to feel bad for the Ascians and accept the fact Gaius gets to walk free as an ally now.

[MoiraTerrwell]

How many of you genuinely believe Wuk Lamat's the biggest problem and aren't just bandwagoning because it's popular right now?

Sure, in one case this might be true. We're coming from deep and complex expansions like Shadowbringers and Endwalker, so I was excited to explore new places. But I wasn’t prepared for Wuk Lamat to overstay after her chapter closed. She got the throne, great—now go rule. After we get a brief moment to enjoy the environment with Erenville, she’s back, taking all the attention.

Here’s how I see it:
In ARR, we learned about the world. After dealing with the Garleans, Teledji Adeledji frames us for Nanamo's poisoning, shaking things up. In Heavensward, we traveled with Estinien, Alphinaud, and Ysayle—each of us contributing in discovering what was happening. Stormblood didn't hit right with Lyse, especially if you didn’t start in the Twelveswood. Yda hadn’t really grown on me, making Lyse’s journey feel underdeveloped, though she probably would’ve ended up the same without us. Shadowbringers and Endwalker were stellar, with captivating characters like Tesleen, G'raha, Emet-Selch, Venat, and Hermes.

Then comes Dawntrail. We meet Wuk Lamat, who asks for our help, and we learn about her opponents—Zoraal Ja, who clearly shouldn’t succeed, and Bakool Ja Ja. Koana seems the only decent one among them.

Wuk Lamat’s approach doesn’t change throughout. She faces the same challenges as her opponents, but it feels like she always succeeds without much effort. She goes places, talks to people, and everything she learns becomes the best solution every time. Meanwhile, we—the Warrior of Light who just saved the world—never get to team up with anyone else but her. Alphinaud is sidelined, Estinien’s off on his own, Krile’s present but doesn’t contribute much, and Erenville is the tour guide.

We could have learned more about Krile or done more with Erenville (don’t get me started on Cahciua—she was unnecessarily mean). Koana shows up, disappears, then we meet him again, learning he’s smart but has a sister complex. We learn a little about Bakool Ja Ja, but barely anything about Zoraal Ja. There’s so much more to explore with him—maybe he wasn’t born of Gulool Ja Ja, maybe he lacked attention—so many possibilities.

Wuk Lamat is loud, and her weaknesses barely get addressed. She’s motion-sick but, after admitting it, suddenly seems fine. Where Zoraal Ja, Bakool Ja Ja, and Koana have distinct strengths (fighting, confidence, intelligence), Wuk Lamat’s strength is in her love and compassion. If I wanted Disney, I’d go for Disney—I didn’t expect this in FFXIV. Her winning felt unearned. If we backed Koana, she wouldn’t have stood a chance. Even after her victory, she sticks around, overstaying her welcome.


- Yeeted through AI for less characters and more comprehensiveness

[Allegor]

This right here. Its not Wuk Lamats character that is the problem, its the writing that makes almost every character in this expansion unbearable. Wuk Lamat is as much a victim of the writing as Krile or the Leveilleur twins. The only difference is that the writing uses too much time to shove everything else in the background to make room for Wuk Lamat, which has created a lot of resentment for the character itself as she feels omnipresent.

Pretty much this. Wuk Lamat being a Mary Sue is a symptom of bad writing, not a cause. She had nothing to do with:

1. the hanuhanu not knowing their own cultural rites despite practicing it yearly
2. the pelupelu rite happening offscreen while we just chill out camping
3. moblins not knowing basic commodities and hygiene
4. Thancred and Urianger appearing as rivals and then...nothing. Back to being allies over and over
5. letting Wuk Lamat go back to town alone, surely nothing bad could happen
6. Valigarmanda being a glorified hunt target (narratively, not the fight itself)
7. Gulool ja ja neglecting Mamook for 80 years despite being a blessed sibling himself
8. Bakool ja ja commiting several acts ranging from cheating to what would be considered a war crime with zero accountability
9. cooking competition as if nothing happened (does Gulool even know what Bakool did???)
10. cooking competition basically contradicting what was previously established with how the rite of succession works
11. Bakool ja ja (again) having an unearned rushed redemption after we learn his tragic backstoryTM
12. Zoraal ja's daddy issues and extreme golden child syndrome thrown in last second to make him less a plot device and more a character for more tragic backstoryTM brownie points
13. Zoraal ja being a "we have Zenos at home"
14. Ketamine pulling an Y'shtola fakeout death on us
15. the WoL and Erenville forgetting what linkpearls are as they watch an alien spaceship very slowly fly toward Tuliyolall
16. Zoraal ja spending 30 years in Alexandria honing his skills, yet he still lost to his old, literally half dead dad
17. the whole gang watching Zoraal ja's evil monologue as he unalives his dad and walk away scotch free (bonus points: ALISAIE of all people stops us from going after him)
18. playing Smile as we build a bomb. (but we're building it with the power of friendship so it counts...I guess?)
19. the army Zoraal ja spent 30 years building decimated by cowboys with rubber bullets and Dragon ex machina (this one was cool tho)
20. that f***ing baby
21. Krile getting 5% screentime, when the whole B plot is indirectly about her
22. that f***ing baby stealing what little spotlight Krile had
23. the Scions basically just existing as trust companions, pretend they're not even there
24. the entirety of Living Memory

There's probably more but that's what I came up with off the top of my head. Now add every moment Wuk Lamat is involved on top of it and we can see why most people are unhappy with the MSQ. Heck, I like Wuk, and at first I genuinely thought "ohh it's just me being nitpicky, let's see how it goes" but the more I played, the more I questioned things, and at some point I acknowledged it wasn't me, it was the writing.

[Hallarem]

Endwalker was already showing glimpses of this horrid pacing. Zenos hovering and doing nothing. Labyrinthos being a throwaway filler zone, I forgave the rush and pacing cause I thought they were excited to show us the new arc. So they spammed two expacs into one. Think they even said that.

But this is the result of the rush? Another rushed and slowed at the same time product? But this time halfbaked. They rushed EW for this?? I am 100% sure some C to D back up team is working on Dawntrail and soon Square Enix is announcing 2-3 games

[honest_psycho]

How many of you genuinely believe Wuk Lamat's the biggest problem and aren't just bandwagoning because it's popular right now?

I hated Wuk Lamat before I even went to the forums here to vent.

But even if you cut out Wuk Lamat, the story has a shitload of other problems:

- Krile being sidelined for the most part and the single scene she got? The one eating ice with her parents? There has been 20 years of stuff to talk about, where was absolutely no reason for the awkward silence, I feel the writers actually hate Krile for some reason.

- Bakool Jaja not being executed for domestic terrorism (releasing Valigarmanda) or kidnapping a fucking keystone keeper.

- Ketenramm being the, by far, the most useless and irrelevant character in fiction, it's not even funny.

Am I still on a "bandwagon" or did I make my point?

[StormChase]

I hated Wuk Lamat before I even went to the forums here to vent.

But even if you cut out Wuk Lamat, the story has a shitload of other problems:

- Krile being sidelined for the most part and the single scene she got? The one eating ice with her parents? There has been 20 years of stuff to talk about, where was absolutely no reason for the awkward silence, I feel the writers actually hate Krile for some reason.

- Bakool Jaja not being executed for domestic terrorism (releasing Valigarmanda) or kidnapping a fucking keystone keeper.

- Ketenramm being the, by far, the most useless and irrelevant character in fiction, it's not even funny.

Am I still on a "bandwagon" or did I make my point?

So you agree? She isn't "single-handedly ruining the DT story"?

[Tunda]

Wuk lamat is the punching bag but honestly.. it deserves it

[honest_psycho]

So you agree? She isn't "single-handedly ruining the DT story"?

Bro, what are you talking about?
She's 99% of the shit-cake.
Stop defending this horrible mess of a story like everyone else is just to dumb to understand.

The questions we raise about the story are 99% rhetorical, we KNOW the answer is almost always "because the writers are absolute talentless amateurs".

[Daralii]

Bro, what are you talking about?
She's 99% of the shit-cake.
Stop defending this horrible mess of a story like everyone else is just to dumb to understand.

The questions we raise about the story are 99% rhetorical, we KNOW the answer is almost always "because the writers are absolute talentless amateurs".

He's trying to argue the thread title almost 300 pages in.

[StormChase]

Bro, what are you talking about?
She's 99% of the shit-cake.
Stop defending this horrible mess of a story like everyone else is just to dumb to understand.

The questions we raise about the story are 99% rhetorical, we KNOW the answer is almost always "because the writers are absolute talentless amateurs".

If that were true almost all of the problems would evaporate if she weren't there. But you admitted there's a shitload of other problems. So which is it?