I think FFXIV should be more political actually

[Iscah]

I think the main difference between them was that Fordola went to jail, and when she was given a chance to redeem herself, she was still under tight watch and faced judgement. It's like everyone forgot Bakool Ja Ja was involved in literal terrorism by freeing Valigarmanda..? And then he got a job in Tuliyollal's guard, which made zero sense to me. He can do a 180 when he finally realizes we're not trying to demonize him and want to give him a chance, but he still has to answer for his crimes and redeem himself in the eyes of the people affected by his actions, not unlike Fordola.

Maybe I'm just overjustifying something that shouldn't be justified (I do agree it feels like he got off too lightly) but I think there may a difference that Bakool is just young enough that the situation is treated as "teenager made stupid decisions and needs a chance to do better" while Fordola is being treated as an adult?

I'll be very interested when we get the fourth lorebook (if not sooner) to find out how old Bakool is supposed to be. The game is vague about it but I suspect he's younger than he seems, particularly as there are a few characters throughout the game who are young-teenage and treated as quite mature.

[RedLolly]

It does feel in character for Wuk Lamat to hear how legitimately messed up Bakool Ja Ja's backstory is and just let him off the hook.

He is the only candidate I found interesting and I still find it curious that he was even in the contest when he's technically just a rando and constantly cheated the rights, so I can't help but conclude that Galool Ja Ja put high value on blessed twins despite himself and being fully aware of the eugenics and sheer quantity of dead babies involved to make one set. (And the fact the other three candidates were his children he raised.)

But Wuk Lamat and Koana both come off like a teenagers 99% of the time they are on screen.

[kinslayer-]

One of my favorite cutscenes from Stormblood was the Eorzean leaders meeting with Varis Zos Galvus, they haven't replicated another political encounter like that in the following expansions.

[Veritas-Ancora]

One of my favorite cutscenes from Stormblood was the Eorzean leaders meeting with Varis Zos Galvus, they haven't replicated another political encounter like that in the following expansions.

That was such an epic moment. I loved how everyone was so defensive about their position.

[Kahnha]

I've said before, I feel like that one scene of him releasing Valigarmanda is the "odd one out" that might have gotten written as something else, but then for some reason it was rewritten to make him look more villainous without reviewing what it did to the surrounding story.

Other scenes suggest that Sareel Ja plans to manipulate Bakool Ja Ja into being useful to his goals, which implies that Bakool didn't get the idea to release Valigarmanda on his own but was talked into it. Given that context - along with what we later learn about his actual situation - it would make more sense if he'd been talked into releasing it in the belief he could defeat it and prove himself the worthy ruler despite failing in the competition, especially since he's rather desperate by that point. So if he did that and failed miserably at the defeating part, we'd still end up in the same position of having to track it down and fight it but wouldn't have Bakool being evil for no good reason.

one thing that REALLY would have helped it show that it was not his idea and it would have given a seed to him having a redemption arc would have been him taking responsibility and fighting the thing along side us.

back to Gaius when Lahabrea used Ultima Gaius was mortified at the destruction the weapon was capable of he was fully against the bad guys after that and it also showed that he was not just interested in destroying the people he was against despite how scummy the empire is Gaius was not a complete scumbag even less funded writing did the villains better than DT.'

we'll ignore that alphino was also one of the villains (I still hate that kid in the BG)

[Asari5]

when it comes to bakool ja ja the thing that bothered me the most would be the scene when he just leaves one of his own people to die.
'you're hurt? well we wont slow down, good luck surviving against the wild beasts.'
the writers just wanted to make him appear more villainous while it was too soon to show his soft heartedness.

i get that he would be pressured to do something like that even though he would feel its wrong, but come on someone like that would hesitant and feel sry. its not even a stranger

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

[...]the writers just wanted to make him appear more villainous while it was too soon to show his soft heartedness[...]

It really seems like the writer did not bother to include the nuance needed to make said character development believable. This also presents in other characters such as Koana in the same patch. There were too few moments dedicated to let players know how he went from "I know I can rule my country and protect it through technological deterrence" to how he came to a conclusion that he lacks his sister's compassion (and to an extension, Urianger and Thancred too who would've very likely question the absurdity of this decision, but decides not to?). One could think his kindness isn't quite well known, but if that's true, then it strikes wonder to me how there were those two Tuliyollan came to his face jubilantly & was excited to see him potentially claiming the throne pretty early in 7.0., which implies that he's not that unkind and thus undermines the narrative.

The characters had decent starting point, but all too quickly being rushed to love the main character in order to satisfy the predetermined outcome of the story. That's not going to come out well.

[LynxDubh]

It's not just "politics" imo. what 14 currently doesn't have is a villain that can actually cause harm to the general populace with an army or by rule of law.
We got rid of the empire, so now were left off with villains that have to find some "magic object" to cause havok with.

And Zoraal Ja was supposed to be this new threat since he was mocking the weakness of the Empire, but he didn't even have an army and Wuk Llamat made it sound like he was
this tyrannical leader, which he wasn't really a leader of anything yet.

So when you introduce these new villains to the story they always fall flat because we know they don't actually have alot of influence on people themselves, they rely on magical gadgets to rule people with.
But true villains are people who show up and have a massive army behind them and actually start to take take over areas in the world and turning them into some wastelands.

And through that, you can have political situation happen in the story because the opposition is literally in your direct opposition and actively tries to ruin the peace.
But if it's just a dude with magic crystal yelling "I hate people", it's never going to go anywhere deeper cause all we need to do is get that crystal away from them and they're just a baby without anyone supporting them after.

Honestly, it kinda feels like the Solution 9 stuff should have been its own expansion. It would have really built up better if that stuff were post patch content or something. Zoraal Ja building his forces and harrying the borders of Tural with his invading forces. Both the Tural section and the Alexandrian section feel like they did not have enough room to breathe and really show off their strengths and were just speedruns.

[Iscah]

He is the only candidate I found interesting and I still find it curious that he was even in the contest when he's technically just a rando and constantly cheated the rights, so I can't help but conclude that Galool Ja Ja put high value on blessed twins despite himself and being fully aware of the eugenics and sheer quantity of dead babies involved to make one set. (And the fact the other three candidates were his children he raised.)

I believe he was in due to winning some contest in Mamook for a sort of wildcard entry?

Rather than placing high value on him, I wouldn't be surprised if Gulool Ja Ja is expecting him to fail, or at least unfussed about him failing, and showing that blessed siblings aren't inherently better than other people.

[Asari5]

bakool ja ja won some kind of official tournament. soraal ja was busy so he couldnt participate. they said that specifically which i do find weird. why would someone who already has the right to fight for the throne be allowed to also take the only ticket someone unrelated could get?