A certain upcoming colab event..

[Theodric]

To be honest I'm hoping the developers just make this 'crossover' events into something fun but not necessarily canon. When FFIX launched there was an advertising campaign based around Coca Cola to spread the word. That doesn't mean FFIX was in any way linked to Coca Cola (and the game wouldn't be nearly as awesome as it is if something like that suddenly cropped up halfway through playing the game).

I think I'm concerned because 'Hildibrand' type quests are no longer contained to a specific set of quests. The over the top facial expressions and 'humour' is leaking elsewhere and that's precisely the sort of problem that made me grow weary of WoW - because despite all the decent lore it ended up being overshadowed by cheap gimmicks and silly quests. I'm worried FFXIV will go down the same route.

[Belhi]

To be honest I'm hoping the developers just make this 'crossover' events into something fun but not necessarily canon. When FFIX launched there was an advertising campaign based around Coca Cola to spread the word. That doesn't mean FFIX was in any way linked to Coca Cola (and the game wouldn't be nearly as awesome as it is if something like that suddenly cropped up halfway through playing the game).

I think I'm concerned because 'Hildibrand' type quests are no longer contained to a specific set of quests. The over the top facial expressions and 'humour' is leaking elsewhere and that's precisely the sort of problem that made me grow weary of WoW - because despite all the decent lore it ended up being overshadowed by cheap gimmicks and silly quests. I'm worried FFXIV will go down the same route.

I think their stance is that players can hold the canon status of the Hildibrand quests to their own preference. While there is lore in the quests that makes it into the main game it doesn't neccesarily mean the silliness is canon. Again, personal preference. For example Briardien's appearance outside the Hildibrand quests still has him have his characteristic body language but he isn't there in a comical role and the questline itself is quite serious as a drama.

As for the facial expresions, I suspect your refering to things like the expression on the priest at the end of the 3.1 MSQ. I think they wanted to display madness. It was a man who just couldn't cope with the core of his beliefs being riped out. Perhaps it didn't translate well but they were trying to use body language in a cutscene and honestly madness born out of desperation isn't easy to convey.

I would argue that WoW's biggest problem was it story completely lost a sense of cohesion. Stuff didn't make sense and often seemed either to contradict established facts or were done without taking into account other aspects of the story that made characters who were supposed to come across as wise or brave as foolish, bigoted or violent.

I don't think FF14 is going to go down that root. The MSQ has never really veered into the silly (except with moogles) during HW and generally SE has been pretty good at keeping its silly from it's serious. That said it is a FF and all FF games have had both silly and serious parts to them. Its a credit generally to FF games that they do it without diminishing the drama and depth of the story.