8.0?

[Altina_Orion]

The story defines the game world, and therefore the entire game. It is there 24/7, 365 days a year, 2.x years each expansion.
Without a story, you could run around as a blue sphere and shoot white spheres at huge red spheres to earn pink spheres which you take to a spheric merchant to increase your sphere's 5 base stats: Mass, Traction, Surface Type, Spin, and Core Energy.
Only the story gives a meaning to this stuff, that's why nothing is more important than the story.
At least that's the way I see it.

EW had a great story and the discontent really began to begin there because beyond story, EW was empty. The game isn't a VN despite how much people want it to be. Nearly every RPG's world is defined by its story, but a good story doesn't make a good game. An example of this in a non-mmo is Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Conversely the opposite can be true like Minecraft.

This is, despite what people say, an MMORPG and needs to keep players entertained between patchs, and even if the story is excellent, is it going to keep you online for 4 months once you finish it or are you going to play other games until the patch comes out?

[Volgia]

EW had a great story and the discontent really began to begin there because beyond story, EW was empty. The game isn't a VN despite how much people want it to be. Nearly every RPG's world is defined by its story, but a good story doesn't make a good game. An example of this in a non-mmo is Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Conversely the opposite can be true like Minecraft.

This is, despite what people say, an MMORPG and needs to keep players entertained between patchs, and even if the story is excellent, is it going to keep you online for 4 months once you finish it or are you going to play other games until the patch comes out?

I didn't have a lot of problems with the story on Dawntrail, I was okay with the characters, it's just the MSQ was kind of a drag, it could have been amazingly written, but if I get the same experience in the story watching it through Youtube then is it really a good game?

I don't feel like FF has to be Baldur's Gate 3 level of immersion, but an epic adventure can't be epic with no stakes both for the characters and the players, it's why I advocate for a little less chat and a little more action.

[Gwenkatsu]

This is, despite what people say, an MMORPG and needs to keep players entertained between patchs, and even if the story is excellent, is it going to keep you online for 4 months once you finish it or are you going to play other games until the patch comes out?

When the story defines an interesting world, I am entertained. So yes, it will definitely keep me online for 4 months.
As I said in another thread, I'm easy to please as a customer. Unless a company royally effs up /cough/ DT /cough/
Shaaloani alone made me quit DT for 6 weeks, and Solution 9 didn't help either. So although there was still a lot of content for me to play, I rather went somewhere else. Just because story and scenario sucked so bad.