7.1 MSQ Is Actually Pretty Funny If You Think About It

[Hallarem]

A little off-topic, I know - but I really don't get why anyone would think that.

I mean, granted he was affectionate toward her and there it was somewhat implied that he might have had romantic feelings toward her - but I don't recall anything that specifically indicated that she reciprocated those feelings.
So whilst there is little doubt that she'd like to see him again, I really don't think it'll have anything to do with them forming a relationship.

And that aside - looking from the meta perspective, the writers are NEVER going to have a significant NPC enter a relationship with another for various reasons.

Romance does happen. But its hidden in sidequests. Agreed though msq romance is a no-go while some of the FF series are known for their couplings. Because some fans are way too volatile, weird and might lash out and reeee

[Rithy255]

I skipped it but reading the comments here makes me glad i did.

[Carin-Eri]

Amen to this.
I still sympathize with the Dragons of Heavensward more than the Alexandrians. Those creatures that are SO SCARED of dying that they use SOULS to give themselves extra lives. And wonder why children born are either sickly or have reduced birthrates.
Burn the entire society to smoke and ash I say.

On that note. I do like how those Alexandrians who leave the doom are struggling to live within Eorzea and experiencing actual stress, such as being unable to use simple magic or start a fire. And people are actively trying to help them.
I do find that tasteful from a writing standpoint---Not everything is perfect.

I really do feel as if they should've added a moment where we briefly reflect on something we once heard Venat say under not completely dissimilar circumstances: "So please, open your eyes. To try and reclaim those lives we lost by sacrificing yet more isn't wisdom. It is weakness"
Because I honestly did feel something of a callback to her saying that when 'Sphene' suggested starting a suicide cult.

[Astronema]

I've had the same thoughts. They made these people too alien, too inhuman, for me to care about them. It's astounding when the same game has literal Dragons that act more human than the Alexandrians, and I can sympathize with their plight way more than "Oh no, death means people don't come back! We have to REMEMBER it happened too?! Awwwwwwwwwwww!!!!"

I should not be rooting for the villain to make something horrible happen to this place and its people, just because there's the CHANCE it might make it actually interesting, but here we are.

they are prawns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMpbdrLWxG4

[Daralii]

I really do feel as if they should've added a moment where we briefly reflect on something we once heard Venat say under not completely dissimilar circumstances: "So please, open your eyes. To try and reclaim those lives we lost by sacrificing yet more isn't wisdom. It is weakness"
Because I honestly did feel something of a callback to her saying that when 'Sphene' suggested starting a suicide cult.

DT's writing so far has seemed averse to referencing anything from before DT apart from all the "Hear, feel, think"s in 7.0, which were even cut down on for the English text.

[GartredZW]

All the segments inside Solution 9 certainly made me dislike the Alexandrians more and more. They are all simply petulant, incompetent children in adult bodies (admittedly not their fault). It makes it impossible to take them seriously, they are too simple minded to be a credible threat and too pathetic and irresponsible to empathise with, you can't feel bad for them because of how vile(?) and dependent their society is. From a writing hook perspective I suspect most people just want to leave them and never see their society again. Which is not great from the angle of trying to build up some sort of narrative tension or interest in your world building.

Exactly. I can kind of see where they want to go with this. It's potentially not bad. I'm aware it's not actually finished as a story yet, but these issues should have been at least addressed in 7.0
Take Eulmore for example. We're meant to spend all our time there in endgame content. Despite it being an unsettling place of sociopaths who don't see the poor who live outside as people, but mere playthings to be paid in scraps of food. Then Vauthry runs away, and there's a potent revelation amongst the people that they were wrong. There's a genuine effort by Chai-Nuzz to make amends, and prove that he and his citizens can be better. That's all in 5.0, and it's enough to make me fine with idling there in endgame. There's more to do, and we indeed do more in the patch content and side quests, but there's a start.
Now compare it to Solution 9. There's pretty much nothing from them in 7.0. We're told repeatedly that the regulators and their memory-erasure is all consensual, and that just puts the blame from Sphene or Zoraal Ja back to the individual. We're told to be cautious and not trust anyone here, but then are forced to pick between what factory made food we want to eat, then outright forced to drink an "energy drink" that's so potent as to be banned from sporting events. I don't want to do that, please don't make me. My Warrior of Light doesn't even drink alcohol.

Back to the point, We kill Sphene, declare the son of a foreign invader as their new king, then go back to Tuliyolal. We don't hear anything about what the people of Solution 9 really think about these events aside from being glad Zoraal Ja is gone. They don't even know how evil Endless-Sphene was yet, or that we killed her. They're just still stuck in their ways of using the Regulators. It makes me feel uncomfortable just idling there crafting. It's like I'm undercover and just trying not to step out of line. This is from a purely roleplaying standpoint, but doing so should be intended for players to get immersed.
It also doesn't help that it seems like we're dealing with the soul issue in the raid series. Meaning that it's doomed to semi-canonicity forever.
I think in 7.0, that shutting down the Endless should have returned the memories of the deceased to the people, and this should have been the catalyst to abandoning the regulators. Seeing their anguish at remembering dozens of loved ones whom they've lost would do a lot to garner sympathy for them, and if a couple people started comforting eachother and assuring them that they can persist and forge ahead, then that's all you really need for a start.

[Dikatis]

I really do feel as if they should've added a moment where we briefly reflect on something we once heard Venat say under not completely dissimilar circumstances: "So please, open your eyes. To try and reclaim those lives we lost by sacrificing yet more isn't wisdom. It is weakness"
Because I honestly did feel something of a callback to her saying that when 'Sphene' suggested starting a suicide cult.

I think the difference is that the ancients were spurred to their decision out of weakness and an enormous calamity that rendered the world nearly uninhabitable. Zodiark was an act of desperation and it's natural to want to rescue others from their sacrifices. the Alexandrians have been doing this for centuries. Only the few people in Alexandria who refuse to wear regulators have ever experienced grief, so the thought of facing it is overwhelming to the point that it's easy for them to retreat back into their original lifestyles. Venat is calling her people out for a rash decision, while trying to say the same to the Alexandrians would be like telling them to give up what has become a daily necessity. It's just not that simple.

I've had the same thoughts. They made these people too alien, too inhuman, for me to care about them. It's astounding when the same game has literal Dragons that act more human than the Alexandrians, and I can sympathize with their plight way more than "Oh no, death means people don't come back! We have to REMEMBER it happened too?! Awwwwwwwwwwww!!!!"

I should not be rooting for the villain to make something horrible happen to this place and its people, just because there's the CHANCE it might make it actually interesting, but here we are.

I mean, these people have artificially dodged an untimely death for centuries and had all memory of the dead stripped from them willingly just so they wouldn't have to process grief. Of course their reaction is going to be different if there's almost no one alive who has experienced grief. The whole concept of a "funeral" is downright alien to them and they're awkwardly trying to reproduce it from comparatively ancient records in their struggle to grasp what moving past death is like.

[Dogempire]

All the segments inside Solution 9 certainly made me dislike the Alexandrians more and more. They are all simply petulant, incompetent children in adult bodies (admittedly not their fault). It makes it impossible to take them seriously, they are too simple minded to be a credible threat and too pathetic and irresponsible to empathise with, you can't feel bad for them because of how vile(?) and dependent their society is. From a writing hook perspective I suspect most people just want to leave them and never see their society again. Which is not great from the angle of trying to build up some sort of narrative tension or interest in your world building.

Yeah, I think the majority of players when they see the Alexandrians aren't going "Aww, poor sheltered babies", they're instead going "Someone needs to slap them across the face with reality because these people NEED to get used to living like literally everyone else."

We're literally facing the consequences of continuing to coddle them by not taking away the regulators in the fact that their memories are being manipulated by them and that's caused a whole can of worms because now "Sphene" can just waltz back in.

The setup for the next portion of the MSQ honestly feels like something that could only work if everyone was grossly incompetent (They are) instead of a believable and compelling story beat

[Papayatar]

When you put it that way it honestly make me think of the craziness that happens in America’s daytime soap operas more than cheesy reality TV. Maybe that’s why I didn’t mind it so much it was unknowingly reminding me of my childhood watching Passions and Days of Our Lives on snow days.

[GartredZW]

Yeah, I think the majority of players when they see the Alexandrians aren't going "Aww, poor sheltered babies", they're instead going "Someone needs to slap them across the face with reality because these people NEED to get used to living like literally everyone else."

We're literally facing the consequences of continuing to coddle them by not taking away the regulators in the fact that their memories are being manipulated by them and that's caused a whole can of worms because now "Sphene" can just waltz back in.

The setup for the next portion of the MSQ honestly feels like something that could only work if everyone was grossly incompetent (They are) instead of a believable and compelling story beat

Something tells me that this is going to be the major character development Lamat is going to get. She'll finally realize how destructive the regulators are to their society and learn a lesson on how being a leader means making choices that your citizens may not like in the moment, but will make them happier and more successful in the long term. (despite the fact that this line of reasoning really only works when dealing with children.)
She'll have the realization that all of us had immediately, and she'll be praised for it, while we're in the back nodding away waiting for our chance to compliment our illustrious Vow of Resolve.

I'm still a proponent of the "Wuk Lamat is a Primal" theory. It would retroactively make things make a lot more sense, and would give us an excuse to kill her.