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

[Lauront]

The problem with the "it's just fiction" justification is that it can be applied to just about every argument in the story, and runs the risk of rendering all discussion rather pointless. The world of FFXIV shares our morality (or thereabouts) and beliefs, and I'd rather the game acknowledge and deal with questionable scenarios when they arise rather than brushing off certain acts whilst condemning others because "it makes for a cool fantasy story."

It certainly features a distillation of such views, as voiced through the protagonists, whatever the practical application of that, including consistency in this, ends up being. I think this comes down to differing preferences in world construction. I enjoy games like the Witcher 3 for their rather thorough-going depictions of such regimes, both in their good and bad aspects, which is beyond the scope of this game and, if I am frank, seems unlikely to be a significant focus of its future plotlines, especially with the Ivalice stuff seemingly drawing to a close. I will probably look to other MMOs (maybe Ashes of Creation, where it's a major feature) for such things, but it remains my hope that they do take on board and embed feedback for how they dealt with the ancients when considering ways to keep the future plot interesting for what it does choose to make its focus, which is a little nebulous right now.

The failings in FFXIV's worldbuilding is what is also serving to drive me full force into the arms of FFXVI, which has a far more balanced platter of nations. A duchy, two kingdoms, one holy theocratic empire, and one republic - important to note because the more republics you have the less unique they become. In the monarchies or "dictatorships" as they've been decried at least you have the chance to get a more colorful cast of characters to root for. Am I really supposed to be excited about a senate or parliament whose members are never on screen? Multiplied by 3 in the case of FFXIV? Give me a break.

I am keen to see if it will live up to expectations with Yoshida unshackled by a legacy plot and the pressures which exist upon XIV's writers. Certainly, as described, it has piqued my interest, and I would hope as a single player title designed with a vision for it at the outset that it will feature better narrative cohesion than a live service MMO where the plot had to be chopped and changed part ways through...