7.2 MSQ opinions (spoiler obviously)

[Mawlzy]

I don't think it makes a lot of difference, personally, as there is no good reason for Calyx to confront the Warrior of Light for the key (or possibly the Azem crystal) anyway - he's already holding all the cards. All he really needs to do is take hostages from Solution 9's population and just start killing people until the WoL concedes that there is no other choice but to hand the key over - which they absolutely would.

Yeah, fair.

Oh well, I'm sure we'll find a cunning solution if we go down the well-trodden "kill the hostages" blackmail route. White auracite will likely be involved.

[Mawlzy]

Maybe it would help if the brains of the operation were studying the thing to figure out how it works, rather than us hauling it around like an emergency ham-n-cheese sammich.

[Exmo]

I like that the scions have been backgrounded in ways that make sense for their characters. This allows them to be present to summarize background information, instead of the WoL needing to run around town and asking three citizens to complete a survey. It also frees up dramatic space for new characters to fill - Sphene for 7.2, Galool Ja and Koana for 7.1, Wuk Lamat for 7.0.

However, Krile and Graha felt more present than necessary in the early quests of 7.2 simply so they could serve as trust NPCs. The shallowness of this mechanical justification for their presence is emphasised by how little relevance they have to ongoing events. I like all the scions but I feel it would have been more appropriate to background Krile and Graha like what was done to Yshtola and Alissae, and instead allow Shale and Geode to join us as trust NPCs (great voice acting got Shale this patch btw). Foreground Graha and Krile when the material warrants their presence as major characters and when they can be done justice.

To my delight, 7.2 continued the understanding of elevated stakes that was featured all throughout 7.0 - the narrative stakes here are never "can disaster be averted" but rather "at what cost will these characters survive this trauma". The question of whether we will save the day is no longer interesting enough to keep on the table.

The Rite of Succession centered on Wuk Lamat's necessary character growth to become someone who can lead; the role she took uniquely prevented her from saving others in the Alexandria section of 7.0 from their self-appointed fates. In 7.1 we saw Koana and Gulool Ja both question the nature of their origins, for better or worse. And now we see Sphene struggling against walking the same path as her Endless counterpart. Will she resist the temptation of utopia as the consolation to her people's suffering? At what cost will Wuk Lamat prioritize the happiness of her own people, if it comes at the expense of others? I hope we see these two characters clash when it becomes evident that their similar ideals may lead to irreconcilable differences.

[Andevom]

Calyx is an awful villain. I know he's centuries old, but the whole "kid genius" vibe is one of my least favorite tropes in any media. "I'm super serious and only think about science, so much that I'm apparently incapable of being without my constant data readouts." It's just old. I can already see him having his breakdown moment where he gets redeemed and we're all friends because SE clearly loves characters like this. Bonus points if he gets a fake-out death that lasts all of one patch before he's shoehorned back in.

Fake Sphene exists to be coy and make poses at the party, which had a shelf-life of about 3 seconds before becoming annoying.

[ZephyrMenodora]

Calyx is an awful villain. I know he's centuries old, but the whole "kid genius" vibe is one of my least favorite tropes in any media. "I'm super serious and only think about science, so much that I'm apparently incapable of being without my constant data readouts." It's just old. I can already see him having his breakdown moment where he gets redeemed and we're all friends because SE clearly loves characters like this. Bonus points if he gets a fake-out death that lasts all of one patch before he's shoehorned back in.

Fake Sphene exists to be coy and make poses at the party, which had a shelf-life of about 3 seconds before becoming annoying.

And we have the good "kid genius" in the 8-man raid story. I didn't need it on both ends lol.

[Tsukino]

I don't really dislike the 7.0 story as much as (apparently) everyone else, but I did hate that for 7.1 they went back to their tired old "screw around for 95% of it, then end with a cliffhanger" formula. This was a big improvement on that for starting right with Sphene and having everything tie directly to the main plot. Like most people, I also quite like Sphene, and the sections where you went around Solution 9 with her actually felt meaningful rather than like filler.

The attempt to just take us out in one huge strike was a pretty good change of pace, but I also don't really care about Calyx as a villain. Anyone is better than Zenos, but emotionless science kid is, like, second to the bottom of the barrel for me. All his animations with the stylus, tablet, and floating info screens are so hokey.

[MicahZerrshia]

Calyx is an awful villain. I know he's centuries old, but the whole "kid genius" vibe is one of my least favorite tropes in any media.

I swear the ppl doing the writing just sit around watching anime and eating all day with all the tired anime tropes and that weird food fetish that is leaking into every aspect of every narrative. I still say that no one behind the keyboards these days would survivie a high school level intro to writing course. It all just reaks of bad anime/food fanfic.

[Catwho]

Do we know what the production timeline for patch content is like? Something that struck me is how ambiguously Sphene is written; there are plenty of reasons for her both to stay and pick up Endless Sphene's mantle, and to leave so she can protect her people indirectly with the Scions. It has me wondering if SE wanted to get fan feedback before deciding whether she joins the cast or not.

The plot is planned and written out for most of the expansion long before production. They might make some tweaks, but they won't radically change the story beats based on feedback until several patches have passed.

This is because the scenario has to be written before they give stuff to the art designers, the battle designers, Souken and the music teams, etc. I know Yoshi P won't let them start working on the patch content until the base expansion is released, which is why 7.1 was relatively thin in terms of content, but the actual story up through 7.3 was planned out, because the scenario writers are Step 1 in a long development process.

(Hell, the writing team is already probably brainstorming ideas for 8.0, since they'll use patch 7.4 and 7.5 to introduce some of the topics/areas/ideas we will see in the 8.0 expansion.)

That said, Sphene probably was left open ended to some extent. Much like we loved G'raha Tia and they found a way to make him stick around, they will undoubtedly find ways to use her in the future, whether she stays with the Scions or remains the leader of the Alexandrians.

[Kozh]

The plot is planned and written out for most of the expansion long before production. They might make some tweaks, but they won't radically change the story beats based on feedback until several patches have passed.

This is because the scenario has to be written before they give stuff to the art designers, the battle designers, Souken and the music teams, etc. I know Yoshi P won't let them start working on the patch content until the base expansion is released, which is why 7.1 was relatively thin in terms of content, but the actual story up through 7.3 was planned out, because the scenario writers are Step 1 in a long development process.

(Hell, the writing team is already probably brainstorming ideas for 8.0, since they'll use patch 7.4 and 7.5 to introduce some of the topics/areas/ideas we will see in the 8.0 expansion.)

That said, Sphene probably was left open ended to some extent. Much like we loved G'raha Tia and they found a way to make him stick around, they will undoubtedly find ways to use her in the future, whether she stays with the Scions or remains the leader of the Alexandrians.

Depends. Ishikawa said that she already had created 2 scenarios for 5.3; one where graha survive (basically what we got) and one where he doesn't. Then she waited to see fans feedback for him before deciding his fate.

But I do agree with you that they likely will leave her ending open. Maybe she won't join the scion right away or even in 8.0. Maybe we recruit her for 9.0 when we eventually go shard hopping (as I predict 8.0 will be meracydia).

[Kozh]

I swear the ppl doing the writing just sit around watching anime and eating all day with all the tired anime tropes and that weird food fetish that is leaking into every aspect of every narrative. I still say that no one behind the keyboards these days would survivie a high school level intro to writing course. It all just reaks of bad anime/food fanfic.

I swear, idk what's the obsession with foods lately in ff14. Like, I get it, you want to show some nice looking food or the engine physics for liquid, but can't that be done in side quest? It's always the same scene anyway when character gets introduced to a food, took a bite, then have sparkly eye reaction because apparently it's so good.
Either that or spicy food joke.