I really hope than Fandaniel and Zenos are not... (spoilers)

[Rinhi]

Well the way he worded it it seemed like Eden was going to be the 5.0 boss with Emet as the 5.3 boss. It makes sense though because yeah, Elidibus as the 5.3 boss was just insanely rushed and poorly done. Was basically a butcher of his character. I have really low hopes for Endwalker because i don’t see how they’re going to fit what was supposed to be in a whole extra expansion, in just one. They aren’t even using the post patches to finish the arc either they said. The entire arc is supposed to be ended by 6.0, not 6.3 which is even more concerning. And with how much they need to cover between all of the new areas, Garlemald, Sharlayan stuff etc. I can’t help but think it’s going to be a mess and we’re going to see more rushing like we saw with Elidibus.

elidibus really deserved a whole expansion dedicated to him, tbh

[TeraRamis]

elidibus really deserved a whole expansion dedicated to him, tbh

I'd like to think that they are aware that the whole Ascian thing has kind of run its course.

[Starflake]

I always thought the Zodiark frame we see in some cutscenes to remind me of FF9 Necron

[Kozh]

Well the way he worded it it seemed like Eden was going to be the 5.0 boss with Emet as the 5.3 boss. It makes sense though because yeah, Elidibus as the 5.3 boss was just insanely rushed and poorly done. Was basically a butcher of his character. I have really low hopes for Endwalker because i don’t see how they’re going to fit what was supposed to be in a whole extra expansion, in just one. They aren’t even using the post patches to finish the arc either they said. The entire arc is supposed to be ended by 6.0, not 6.3 which is even more concerning. And with how much they need to cover between all of the new areas, Garlemald, Sharlayan stuff etc. I can’t help but think it’s going to be a mess and we’re going to see more rushing like we saw with Elidibus.

Oh boy, we're going to speedrun sharlayan's "redemption arc", aren't we? It took more than 3.0 to deal with ishgard, and now we're going to deal with sharlayan AND the calamity+Garlemald+etc in a single base expansion. I just hope they don't half-ass the garlean conflict, since I'm more intrigued by them than thavnair etc.

[ReynTime]

Wish Emet lasted until 5.3 and then we got Elidibus, not spoiled priviledged bored sleepy anime boy, for the 6.0 antagonist.

Oh boy, we're going to speedrun sharlayan's "redemption arc", aren't we? It took more than 3.0 to deal with ishgard, and now we're going to deal with sharlayan AND the calamity+Garlemald+etc in a single base expansion. I just hope they don't half-ass the garlean conflict, since I'm more intrigued by them than thavnair etc.

Garlemald was doomed the moment they decided that "ascians did it" was a good origin story for the empire.

[Theodric]

Garlemald was doomed the moment they decided that "ascians did it" was a good origin story for the empire.

I think that there's some rather baffling decisions where Garlemald is concerned. I can't help but wonder how differently the game's story might have gone if the writer largely responsible for ARR and HW had not been quietly shuffled over to FFXVI. I'll be rather disappointed if, in turn, FFXVI ends up revolving around many of the plot points that were hinted at in FFXIV and then quickly abandoned.

The way in which Elidibus and Varis were handled was rather questionable. Both existed since the days of ARR and then both abruptly end up being written off the moment they finally step up and enter the spotlight directly. All so Zenos can inexplicitly hijack the focus of not only Garlemald but the Ascian storyline as well.

I've always been fond of Garlemald, personally - and it's a real shame that more inspiration was not taken from the Archadian Empire of FFXII. Perhaps it will go in that direction after the inevitable Garlemald reconstruction is introduced.

[ReynTime]

I think that there's some rather baffling decisions where Garlemald is concerned. I can't help but wonder how differently the game's story might have gone if the writer largely responsible for ARR and HW had not been quietly shuffled over to FFXVI. I'll be rather disappointed if, in turn, FFXVI ends up revolving around many of the plot points that were hinted at in FFXIV and then quickly abandoned.

The way in which Elidibus and Varis were handled was rather questionable. Both existed since the days of ARR and then both abruptly end up being written off the moment they finally step up and enter the spotlight directly. All so Zenos can inexplicitly hijack the focus of not only Garlemald but the Ascian storyline as well.

I've always been fond of Garlemald, personally - and it's a real shame that more inspiration was not taken from the Archadian Empire of FFXII. Perhaps it will go in that direction after the inevitable Garlemald reconstruction is introduced.

I'd argue there were a few cool lore/plot points way before that, in 1.0 days, that were disappointingly brushed off with horrible excuses like "calamity did it", such as the elementals in the shroud, the amber rock, much of Vylbrand and while we had/have the political intrigues with the monetarists in Ul'dah the power struggles/scheming to get to the top that was hinted by the intro storyline was honestly a pretty interesting side that got almost as toned down/cast aside as the dark atmosphere of the original shroud.
People like to bash the intro stories from 1.0 as "boring", but I say they're a lot more fascinating than the childish chase against mysterious masked man that the nations got in 2.0. I'd love to revisit those darker sides of each nation but we won't see them again because as of 5.3+ they're all getting the closest thing to a flowery happy ending.
I think the way Garlemald has been treated by the writing is the tip of the iceberg of a lot of interesting things that could have been built up if the original release of the game hadn't been a disaster.

Honestly discussions like these really help me cement the fact this game has long since took a detour that I was never on board with.

[Theodric]

Honestly discussions like these really help me cement the fact this game has long since took a detour that I was never on board with.

I attribute a lot of it as pandering to the very vocal portion of the game's player base that flocks to Twitter. You may or may not be familiar with Attack on Titan - which finally concluded its story not too long ago. It, too, suffered similarly rushed pacing during the final arc and questionable shifts in tone/mood/character motivation. All to appease the portion of the fanbase who weren't on board with what the story set out to do and were so deep down the rabbit hole of head canon and shipping that the priority for the writer became turning the final arc into...a love story, of all things.

I've come to notice a lot of similar patterns in regards to FFXIV. We've gone from having a game world that felt dangerous and of consequence to...G'raha wriggling his ears because he's so obsessed with the player character.

I'll be giving Endwalker a fair chance, though I do hope it has at least some real stakes and lasting consequences for the protagonists given that it is meant to be the conclusion of most of the game's plot points from the days of 1.0 and 2.0.

Then it'll just be a matter of seeing what the new story elements involve - if they intrigue me, I'll stick around. If they don't, I'll either stop caring about the story altogether or just go elsewhere.

[Lauront]

Wish Emet lasted until 5.3 and then we got Elidibus, not spoiled priviledged bored sleepy anime boy, for the 6.0 antagonist.

Aye, same. Heading into a conflict between Venat, Elidibus and the true instigator (Fandaniel?) of the Final Days in 6.0. At least two of them are still around, I guess, which is why I'm still intrigued enough to see it to the end. If it had just been Zenos, I'd be tuning out.

[KizuyaKatogami]

elidibus really deserved a whole expansion dedicated to him, tbh

He honestly did. I feel like they just gave what he was supposed to be entirely to Emet, and just sidelined him. Then used him for shitty fanservice lol. The only thing i can really hope for is he somehow comes back but at this point they seem to just want to quickly end things so :/ But yeah the thing that will always leave me salty is zenos of all people getting not 1 but two expansions dedicated to him, and having double if not triple the amount of screentime elidibus had. It’s why i can’t take people seriously when they’re still saying “give him a chance.” He’s had two expansions now to have his chance, he hasn’t changed. He’s cost us two good characters at this point i’m just hoping he’s killed off early in 6.0.