Thread: Our passive characters and why the 2.55 story fails (BIG SPOILERS) (rant warning)

I see a lot of compliments for what many consider to be a "good story" and I have to say, I vehemently disagree.

While by now I obviously have gotten used to how passive our characters are in cutscenes, one could chalk that down to typical Japanese storytelling of the under confident and humble fledgling hero.

The thing is of course it strains credibility to still be the under confident humble fledgling after saving the world about a dozen times by now, and with this story it's particularily infuriating. That isn't the only reason this story fails, so I'll break it down into clear parts.

The player character is a soulless puppet devoid of will.
All they do is nod and follow instructions and do not see blatant things that will get them into trouble later. For example, immediately after being informed that many of the Crystal Braves have been compromised, my character comes upon a random Crystal Brave and... tells him exactly what she's doing and who she's come to meet. Surprise surprise, this guy is one of the bad guys.

The most egregious example of this is just after Nanamo's poisoning (an element which by the way was so incredibly obvious, the creepy handmaiden who poisoned her might as well have been wearing a black top hat and mustache) our character passively submits to arrest by Teledi and a bunch of generic goons. No resistance from a multiple world saviour with a weapon that is worth more than all the goons' gear combined, nope, off in chains she goes!
Meanwhile Thancred faced with the exact same situation chooses to fight, and hey he gets away.

Alphinaud is really stupid
Okay, come on, really? I can buy he's a bit naive, but so incredibly dumb that 90% of his private army turn against him? And I can only assume Yoshi really hates Alphinaud, as they keep drilling home the point that he's dumber than a kettle of fish. Even after recognising that the Braves have been ridiculously compromised and after knowing one of his men was murdered by his fellows, he still goes off to meet a bunch of Braves alone and can thank pure dumb luck that he still has his head.

Raubahn is the only character in the entire plot with a functioning brain
I have to credit SE one thing, and that's they at least have one character see the paper thin conspiracy for what it is while everyone else is either fooled or just sits there sucking their thumbs in confusion. But it's hardly great writing to have one character look good by making everyone else look like imbeciles.

Every Scion except Thancred is completely useless
Even after Smirking Dummy (I forget his name) cuts Raubahn's arm off and admits to masterminding Nanamo's death, the rest of the Scions stand there and watch passively as Smirking Dummy and Raubahn fight. Most embarassingly, when Raubahn is punted across the room, Ysh'tola acts... only to shield herself and her fellow passive bystanders. No really, thanks for your support lady!
The worst part, the absolute worst part of course is when Raubahn unties my character. "Great!" I thought. "Now it's on! Together we will..." ... be told to run away even though in any logical term, Smirking Dummy + Random Goons vs. Me + Rauhban + Scions = Smirking Dummy loses.

Now before you say it yes, even if they still had to run from the whole Ul'dan army they'd be in a better position!

Let's shoe-horn Cid in, in a really bad way
So really. Me and Alphinaud flee to the Black Shroud and then get on the Enterprise for shelter in Coerthas?
Excuse me? We just went through several scenes where the leaders of the Eorzan Alliance state they will always put their own interests first and you're telling me it's not save in Gridania? Senna would just allow Ul'dans to search her territory, cajole her people and forcibly remove a Gridanian citizen (which my character is not that they'd remember that of course)?
I would totally get this idea if Cid, say, flew up to the Ul'dan ramparts and rescued our character that way. Which is entirely possible since he has an airship

Now please understand this is not me nitpicking. If I wanted to nitpick I'd point out that Yugiri with her mask off apparently walked around Coerthas in the middle of a dragon invasion without comment.
I can deal with minor niggles. I can't deal with a plot that's utterly disjointed and only works if every single character is drinking gasoline.
This story is not good, and makes me fear for the expansion if all we're going to get is more of this.

Unless, of course, this is all a genius subversive narrative intended to prove the Garlean Empire and everything Gaius said absolutely right. Eorzea completely needs the authority and leadership of Garlemald because hell, everybody in charge of it has no business leading a parade, let alone nations or organisations.

You can edit your post to bypass the character limit.

Anyway, will edit post, so sit tight! Spoilers ahead! Be warned!

Originally Posted by Velia

The most egregious example of this is just after Nanamo's poisoning (an element which by the way was so incredibly obvious, the creepy handmaiden who poisoned her might as well have been wearing a black top hat and mustache) our character passively submits to arrest by Teledi and a bunch of generic goons. No resistance from a multiple world saviour with a weapon that is worth more than all the goons' gear combined, nope, off in chains she goes!
Meanwhile Thancred faced with the exact same situation chooses to fight, and hey he gets away.

Well, being accused for treason is serious business. Retaliating against them would only serve to cause more conflict. Sure, you could fight back, but then you'll only be stirring more trouble. Plus you're surrounded, and stuck in that small room with only one exit. I do think that there could be more that the WoL could have done, but Nanamo already drank the poison. Thancred managed to get away simply because only a few goons were sent to apprehend him. The WoL had no means of escape and was terribly outnumbered and also was in the presence Teledji Adeledji - a member of the Syndicate, mind you.

Originally Posted by Velia

Alphinaud is really stupid.

I personally thought he explained himself well in the final few cutscenes of why he didn't act sooner.

Originally Posted by Velia

Every Scion except Thancred is completely useless
Even after Smirking Dummy (I forget his name) cuts Raubahn's arm off and admits to masterminding Nanamo's death, the rest of the Scions stand there and watch passively as Smirking Dummy and Raubahn fight. Most embarassingly, when Raubahn is punted across the room, Ysh'tola acts... only to shield herself and her fellow passive bystanders. No really, thanks for your support lady!!

Raubahn took arms against a member of the Syndicate in an place and situation where weapons are forbidden to be drawn. Ysh'tola only acted in defense which is why she put up a shield.

Originally Posted by Velia

The worst part, the absolute worst part of course is when Raubahn unties my character. "Great!" I thought. "Now it's on! Together we will..." ... be told to run away even though in any logical term, Smirking Dummy + Random Goons vs. Me + Rauhban + Scions = Smirking Dummy loses.

They probably wouldn't. Risk being captured over one man or flee to see another day? You saw the number of people hunting your group down the moment you stepped out of the banquet hall, right? Any later than that and you would have been easy prey for capture.

Originally Posted by Velia

Let's shoe-horn Cid in, in a really bad way
So really. Me and Alphinaud flee to the Black Shroud and then get on the Enterprise for shelter in Coerthas?
Excuse me? We just went through several scenes where the leaders of the Eorzan Alliance state they will always put their own interests first and you're telling me it's not save in Gridania?

See, there's a problem here too. If Ul'dah were to find out that either Limsa Lominsa or Gridania were protecting the fugitive they are hunting down, it would cause terrible political consequences. Hence, this is why the group went to Ishgard - because at that point, Ishgard isn't part of the Eorzean Alliance, yet.

Anyway, I'm just pointing out what I thought of why the events went down as such. I loved the narration and story - this latest implementation is no exception. Am I biased? Probably.

Originally Posted by Velia

- My complaint with the poisoning is exactly that it's too obvious to us. There's such a thing as subtlety in storytelling.

Yeah, you know the poison is there, but the characters do not. It creates suspense. You know there is poison, but you're helplessly sitting down there yelling at Nanamo to not drink it. You'd need to break the fourth wall to even have a chance of stopping her from drinking.

Originally Posted by Velia

- Teledi is an obvious fraud, he's been painted as an obvious fraud for several patches now. If he's reached the point he's openly arresting you there really is no way things could get worse and again I remind you Thancred in the exact same situation chooses to resist.

At the time you were with Nanamo, I don't think you had a weapon with you. Correct me if I'm wrong. I just don't remember seeing a weapon.

Originally Posted by Velia

- Alphinaud is fully aware of Teledi's bribery several cutscenes prior, and was informed of Wilred's death. He has few excuses really.

He was suspicious, yes. But I do not recall Alphinaud being privy to the information given to you at the Rising Stones. Again, correct me if I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by Velia

- Ilberd was it? Ilberd just admitted to regicide, and don't tell me they couldn't hear him when everyone else was deathly quiet. Keep in mind all of the Scions had just been accused of treason so who cares about the rules especially since once again Thancred did not.

Notice how everyone left the room - including the Admiral and the Seedseer. Thancred did have a weapon with him which allowed him to retaliate. I don't know if anyone else had any other weapon since it was stated that it was forbidden to draw your weapons in that room.

Originally Posted by Velia

- Easy prey with Ilberd dead and the ringleaders taken care of? I think not. Plus with Raubahn with them they'd have more of a chance.

Not necessarily. Again, reinforcements were pretty close after you ran out of the banquet hall. Ilberd could have stalled for more time and you would eventually be outnumbered.

Originally Posted by Velia

- Okay since we're talking politics, who has more of a reason to cooperate with Ul'dah? Gridania or Limsa, which have already declared they'd put their own interests first, or Ishgard, which now has a vested interest in gaining the support of the Alliance before it falls to a Horde invasion? Yeah. Oops.

I don't think you understand. Finding out another city-state is protecting a fugitive that you would be after would cause huge political problems and conflict between city-states. You'd end up with an all-out war against each other. To add, Ishgard was still in the process of joining the Alliance. They are not members just yet, if I remember correctly.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter. I guess the only thing that irked me was..

During the escape. We can see that Papalymo blasts the gate shut, but why not do it from the other side? I think it was unnecessary for them to even try to stall for time. The gates should have been enough at the least. :U