FFXIV has lost it's heart

[ZephyrMenodora]

Ok. I don't think Wuk Lamat's moment was unearned. I think it was earned through the MSQ of Dawntrail, which went to great lengths to develop her character and show how she grows.

Sure.... walking around her own country and having the Scions solve almost all of her problems, or just dumb-lucking her way into a solution really feels earned. Certainly she should be able to find interdimensional rifts with her dumb luck and then out-dps a raid team by vast margins for ???? reasons. She sure should be more powerful than WoL's with 10 years of star-saving experience who felled the Gods and the Endsinger.

[ovIm]

Wuk's moments just felt unearned and forced. Along with her overpowering the entire story, many of us just had enough of her and that was a final straw.

As much as I find the "Wuk Lamat Bad" discourse exhausting, these sentences ring the truest though. Because of the writing, Wuk was put as a centerpiece of almost every cutscene in the 7.0 MSQ. Of course that is not going to be seen positive by everyone at the end of the day.

And as for that final bossfight... it was just insulting to the player. Sphene considers us the biggest danger (rightfully so), pushes out the other two so we can have a final epic clash, only to have to be saved by Wuk who was much weaker than us just moments ago to the point of being labelled "irrelevant" by Queen Eternal. That just felt bad.

[Basteala]

As much as I find the "Wuk Lamat Bad" discourse exhausting, these sentences ring the truest though. Because of the writing, Wuk was put as a centerpiece of almost every cutscene in the 7.0 MSQ. Of course that is not going to be seen positive by everyone at the end of the day.

And as for that final bossfight... it was just insulting to the player. Sphene considers us the biggest danger (rightfully so), pushes out the other two so we can have a final epic clash, only to have to be saved by Wuk who was much weaker than us just moments ago to the point of being labelled "irrelevant" by Queen Eternal. That just felt bad.

I think one of the worst things about that scene isn't even Wuk Lamat's interference, but--ironically--how much it downplays the connection the player had with Wuk Lamat. Whether we like it or not, Wuk Lamat feels she has a strong familial bond with us after the Rite of Succession. And why not? We *did* help her turn from weak willed woman with bravado into someone (allegedly, the plot doesn't do the best job of it) with a strong will and courage to match, with enough humility to ask for and accept help, all while supporting her onto the throne. There's a lot for her to feel that connection to us.

But then...her and Sphene basically have one tour in Alexandria, and find out they have a few things in common over low poly grapes. The screen time they share together can probably be recorded in literal minutes, and you can count the quests on one hand.

Yet somehow, somehow, this fosters such a strong programming that it can overcome Queen Eternal's programming. I don't necessarily hate the idea in an FF14 universe, but there was so little time for that bond to steep that the situation borders on lunacy. This would be like if we met Emet Selch properly only after returning to Eulmore, and then everything else happens the same way. The impact would just not be there.

The new writing staff, more than anything, needs to learn the value of time.

[RyoXander]

Well when the current armor sets look like what was worn by thugs robbing a CVS in NYC I would say so ... Urban soulless monoculture and dei is taking over the game

Gross take.

[Kaurhz]

So sure on the story and all, but really there were only a few where it actually felt like that.. Namely HW and ShB.

With respect to content design, it isn't that it has lost its heart, it's just the simple fact that the game doesn't know what it wants to be from 1 patch to the next, so we end up with all this half baked content. Modding back then, there was no reason for the lack of modding, a lot of it was simply down to the game and the communities not being developed at the time. Even resource development plays a large factor in this. You could put a HW-esque expansion in the modern era and it would be the same result, because everything that has happened with respect to this is entirely on the community ultimately.

[Exmo]

Sure.... walking around her own country and having the Scions solve almost all of her problems, or just dumb-lucking her way into a solution really feels earned. Certainly she should be able to find interdimensional rifts with her dumb luck and then out-dps a raid team by vast margins for ???? reasons. She sure should be more powerful than WoL's with 10 years of star-saving experience who felled the Gods and the Endsinger.

Again, there are instances throughout the game of NPCs dealing more damage than the players' party, so it's weird to focus on only this one as egregious.

Regarding the scions taking her around her country and solving all her problems... That's not what happened. There's a fair spread of each character in the group collaborating on the solution. For example, in the Mamool Ja village, her well-substantiated resistance to the initial trial lead to her and friends investigating the townsfolk's problems and together finding a solution. She acted as the driver, and her people-focused approach brought together others from different disciplines.

[Daralii]

Estinian having a moment against Nidhogg was completely earned in his story as the Azure Dragoon. Lyse one-shotting what? A trash mob? Who cares. Whatever mob she killed was such a non-issue I don't even know what your referencing.

Wuk's moments just felt unearned and forced. Along with her overpowering the entire story, many of us just had enough of her and that was a final straw.

The important thing about the moment in Ghimlyt is that Lyse or one of a few other NPCs(I think Yugiri, Pippin, and Hien are the others) will LB3 the iron giant and then stay back to guard the rear with Kan-E because the WoL's party is better suited to the task ahead than they are. This is never the case with Wuk. She is always at the fore, even after becoming co-ruler of an empire, and it is always the correct decision because she's the strongest because the plot says so.

[Gunz_Zbestest]

Regardless of nitpicking over terminology, Wuk does have moments of completely unearned power increases for someone who only had trained in a confined setting and barely has any experience out in the world. Outperforming the WOL in the end trial is ridiculous.

But when you do hang around rock climbers or endurance trainers, you pick up a few tricks. Same as hanging around the types of people gifted with talent and I think the story tried to exemplify the positive impact you have on the people around you. Like you give them strength to be better. But I don't know, some people interpret stories differently.

[Exmo]

But when you do hang around rock climbers or endurance trainers, you pick up a few tricks. Same as hanging around the types of people gifted with talent and I think the story tried to exemplify the positive impact you have on the people around you. Like you give them strength to be better. But I don't know, some people interpret stories differently.

Dawntrail is all about how people are influenced by one another and how a society characterizes and is characterized by its citizens, so this interpretation is on point.

[Yukimin]

I'm sorry but FFXIV has been over since Endwalker. Not even the story can keep me interested. Endwalker, for example was lame and predictable. If I wanted a good story about Hope vs. Despair I'd just play Danganronpa again because FFXIV did a poor, poor job at tackling it.