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

[Seera1024]

At this point I'm convinced that 95% of the time you have no idea what you are talking about.

EW is like a fresh fish, it starts out smelling mildly unpleasant and the longer you let it sit the more it starts smelling like rot and makes you want to vomit.

The only thing connecting it with wine is that it can be applied to EW like to a bad date, you can get drunk until it looks okay to you. Which I have a feeling is something far too many people here are doing, but it also puts them in the mood to come here and unload their sloshy, needlessly wordy and pseudo-intellectual stream of consciousness about why it is so great.

Conversely, there are people who do enjoy the story, despite its flaws, without needing to be drunk - either figuratively or literally. Such as myself. Was the story perfect? No. It's probably 3rd/4th in order of enjoyment (can't decide if I like EW or SB story more). I enjoy the EW story overall. There were some pacing problems and some problems with how it explained some things. But they weren't problems to a high enough degree to impact my enjoyment of the story. But I also realize that for some people, those problems do impact their ability to enjoy the story.

[Lauront]

Conversely, there are people who do enjoy the story, despite its flaws, without needing to be drunk - either figuratively or literally. Such as myself. Was the story perfect? No. It's probably 3rd/4th in order of enjoyment (can't decide if I like EW or SB story more). I enjoy the EW story overall. There were some pacing problems and some problems with how it explained some things. But they weren't problems to a high enough degree to impact my enjoyment of the story. But I also realize that for some people, those problems do impact their ability to enjoy the story.

For context, the particular poster she is responding to is in the habit of coming here (but not only) to loudly proclaim how we're just a tiny minority, how it's the best story ever, that people just wub wub WUB <333, and this then spawns counter-reactions in equal force, while he jumps around the OF trying to constantly berate criticism of the game as "toxic" and just down to a handful of complainers. Thus he garners responses like that. Is this whole dynamic the most productive or conducive to civil discussion? No, but then neither are his posts, which is rather ironic since he is given to frequent tone policing and offering unsolicited advice on how to word posts, which he himself doesn't really follow. Were people to approach this as you do, this would be a lot less common.

[Theodric]

If they hadn't tried to cram everything into one expansion so they could brush the whole story to the side, they could have built up Venat as a likeable character with some actual plot reasons as to why a Sundering was the only option.

But no, they didn't and the result was pure nonsense that didn't connect at all. The comic is nice, but the best thing SE could have done was not rushed the conclusion to a decade worth of story build up.

I think they were always going to struggle with trying to pass off the deliberate genocide of an entire group of innocents as a good and necessary thing. At best, having the Sundering be a tragic accident and unintended consequence would have worked decently well - but there's no real consistency when it comes to the story.

If anyone was attempting to wipe out the Scions or a major allied City State they would be considered an outright villain regardless of how sympathetic their motives happened to be. Nor would the protagonists be expected to just roll over, die and accept it. Yet instead of applying that same stance to everyone else, we instead get some desperate attempt to pretend as if sometimes genocide is fine and perfectly acceptable.

I like consistency and if we're going to be forced to sit through lengthy foppish speeches about 'forging ahead' and a 'better tomorrow' then the least the game could do is actually operate within its supposed established moral framework across the board.

[Reap00]

In the end nothing in this thread really matters. A series of opinions and nothing more. The game will not change. The vast majority of players will love the story regardless. You guys keep this thread alive though if it makes you feel special.

[Lauront]

Whatever helps you get through the night.

[CrownySuccubus]

I mean, it usually doesn't matter how politely someone tries to point out that this thread holds a relatively niche opinion or that, sometimes, the complaints here come off as toxic. The backlash is still just as ferocious.

[Rulakir]

The Omega quest chain would disagree, which is why I think we get comments like this because people feel threatened. Feedback was enough for them to walk back half of the reasoning for the sundering as well as make it so that the WoL can disapprove of what Venat did.

[Kazhar]

I mean, it usually doesn't matter how politely someone tries to point out that this thread holds a relatively niche opinion or that, sometimes, the complaints here come off as toxic. The backlash is still just as ferocious.

Whenever someone comes to tell us that the opinions here are niche, no matter how polite, the intent is always the same: "you're the minority so you don't matter". Don't act like this is not the case, especially since it usually comes from Striker44 who's a known offender. Or that user just a few post above who's not even hiding it.
So yes, I understand why nobody is having it.

[CrownySuccubus]

Whenever someone comes to tell us that the opinions here are niche, no matter how polite, the intent is always the same: "you're the minority so you don't matter".

I can say for a fact that it's not the case, because I SHARE that opinion but am very much still aware that it's a minority.

An opinion can be valid but still niche.

[Theodric]

The Omega quest chain would disagree, which is why I think we get comments like this because people feel threatened. Feedback was enough for them to walk back half of the reasoning for the sundering as well as make it so that the WoL can disapprove of what Venat did.

Yep. Not to mention the existence of an emergency 'clarification' Live Letter to further elaborate on elements of the story. I don't remember anything like that happening in the immediate aftermath of previous expansions.

If the development team take our feedback on board? Great. If not, oh well - I'll just care less about the game and drift away. I'm already devoting most of my gaming time at the moment to TESO.