What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[Cach]

If I had to go for the "overall package" instead of "story only" funnily enough I would pick Stormblood. It was the first time I was actually playing along newly released content and I also got really into crafting which ended up becoming one of my favorite activities. I enjoyed the class balance and most battle-related content. I also had a good time in Eureka, before it was cool.

I created a fresh character to help a friend, and that gave me a second wind. I was seriously planning another extended break from the game. I'm a sucker for the leveling up dopamine hits I guess.

Care to speculate what the supposed "certain event, this will completely change the story" they're supposedly doing to kickstart 7.0 is?

[Rulakir]

Care to speculate what the supposed "certain event, this will completely change the story" they're supposedly doing to kickstart 7.0 is?

Best case scenario is a rejoining and we find out now that Hydaelyn's dead the barrier between worlds has collapsed.

Unfortunately, I suspect it's going to be something dumb that Yoshi-P thought would be cool because that seems to be the direction of the game now.

[KageTokage]

Best case scenario is a rejoining and we find out now that Hydaelyn's dead the barrier between worlds has collapsed.

That seems like the most obvious direction they could go in for a "this changes everything" kind of scenario if it results in all the manner of strange anomalies manifesting in foreign lands like Ilsabard and Meracydia that we initially investigate in order to pin down exactly what is happening to the Source and the shards.

With the Ascians and Garleans no longer an immediate threat (Though still lingering in enough of a capacity to give me concern), we need something to shake things up and properly kick off a new story arc.

[Cach]

Best case scenario is a rejoining and we find out now that Hydaelyn's dead the barrier between worlds has collapsed.

Rejoinings happening despite it all would be the perfect sad trombone to end Endwalker with. Toss in the memory erasing doodad for good measure.

I'm rooting for a fresh start approach, but I'm not sure we'll get it.

[Lustre]

If I had to guess it'll have something to do with restoring the 13th which then has some kind of knock-on effect for the source. They'll probably want to market 7.0 similarly to 2.0 in order to leech off 2.0s success somewhat and keep the momentum going. Easier said than done with these drip-fed patches though.

[Jagick]

If I had to guess it'll have something to do with restoring the 13th which then has some kind of knock-on effect for the source. They'll probably want to market 7.0 similarly to 2.0 in order to leech off 2.0s success somewhat and keep the momentum going. Easier said than done with these drip-fed patches though.

I really hope they don't go this route. The Void is unique and interesting. A whole world consumed by darkness and aether-starved not-demons. Personally, the last thing I want to do is make it as normal and bland as the Source is, comparatively.

And in the back of my mind a primal fear just awakened that they're going to use 13th related stuff for some sort of Kingdom Hearts crossover someday.

[KageTokage]

I feel like we're just going to plant the seeds of change in the void as opposed actually fixing it within the game's lifetime; especially with the implication from the interviews that the voidsent lost sight of who/what they were originally and could somehow be "awakened" as a result of our foray.

[Jagick]

I feel like we're just going to plant the seeds of change in the void as opposed actually fixing it within the game's lifetime; especially with the implication from the interviews that the voidsent lost sight of who/what they were originally and could somehow be "awakened" as a result of our foray.

I hope you're right but I also wouldn't put it past this game to have everyone on Etheirys offer up their aether spirit bomb style to conjure a planet sized Porxie to fix the 13th in one go at the end.

[Raoabolic]

I hope you're right but I also wouldn't put it past this game to have everyone on Etheirys offer up their aether spirit bomb style to conjure a planet sized Porxie to fix the 13th in one go at the end.

Don't forget the part where Ysh'toela does the funny sailor moon dance and the audience claps!
(Said dance will be purchasable in the mogshop soon! Please look forward to it!)

[Theodric]

Well, if they do go the route where something shakes up the world on a wider scale then I do hope it's balanced. I'm really tired of the one sided consequences. Back in the days of ARR and HW the scars and consequences left in the wake of the Calamity were prominent. I cared about the world and the sense of danger looming over the lives of its inhabitants.

Now? I don't. The things I care about are the sympathetic antagonists who have to do horrible things because they lack the 'I WIN LOL' button that the 'good guys' get to press to avoid any meaningful consequences and realistic stakes. At this point we know that whatever we're set to fight is going to make for a flashy fight but not really achieve much beyond that.

There's a big problem when the likes of Elidibus and Emet-Selch are forced to be super honourable, concede multiple things to the protagonists but then die horribly losing everything they care about whilst never securing a single on screen kill. I guess it's why Nabriales stands out so much to me. Even Lahabrea - both scored an actual on screen kill.

I think the writers need to realise that no matter how desperately they try to get people to like and root for the Scions there's always going to be no small amount of players who care more for the antagonists. They've acknowledged this with other Final Fantasy titles and merchandise surrounding them. They'd make money hand over fist if they did it here, too.

Especially if they, y'know, actually threw a bone to fans of the antagonists now and then and didn't bend over backwards to justify genocide so long as it is targeted at the 'correct' races and civilisations.