The future

[Raigoth]

What do you hope for? Mainly talking about with the story mode as it continues. The thing id like to have happen is more emotion from the WoL. Its definitely gotten better since the beginning, but I feel like there should be more opportunities to select what you want to say. I wonder if they could even implement a way for you to select how you want to react to certain things.

I dunno, I just want my character to do more than just act like a statue when I feel like they should react some other way.

[JisKing98]

For SE to actually kill off characters and not bait us out. Thancred shouldve died a long time ago, Yshtola shouldve been dead since HW.
This one is my personal opinion but i want more evil choices. Like if someone asks for my help let me say no im busy. Matter of fact let me join garlmald please. They actually have cool armor pieces that shouldve been in the game since arr.

[MoofiaBossVal]

For SE to actually kill off characters and not bait us out. Thancred shouldve died a long time ago, Yshtola shouldve been dead since HW.
This one is my personal opinion but i want more evil choices. Like if someone asks for my help let me say no im busy. Matter of fact let me join garlmald please. They actually have cool armor pieces that shouldve been in the game since arr.

This. I would like for there to be actual stakes and consequences.

Would also be nice if the player could participate in some morally dubious stuff, though I have no hope of SE doing that.

[Tanis_Ebonhart]

For SE to actually kill off characters and not bait us out. Thancred shouldve died a long time ago, Yshtola shouldve been dead since HW.
This one is my personal opinion but i want more evil choices. Like if someone asks for my help let me say no im busy. Matter of fact let me join garlmald please. They actually have cool armor pieces that shouldve been in the game since arr.

I wouldn't mind it if they didn't bait the deaths so much then don't commit.

[Misplaced_Marbles]

This one is my personal opinion but i want more evil choices. Like if someone asks for my help let me say no im busy.

You...consider it an "evil" choise to not help some random asking for help? Wow, the bar couldn't possibly be lower than that.

If we'd go with the "evil" choices, I'd rather that my character has their own ambitions and end goal that may or may not cause some extreme collateral damage, all for their benefit, instead of just the usual a-hole hero who saves the world, just like the average hero. The average hero was only less of an a-hole about it.

What's the point of being "evil" if the worst you can do is kill some random nobody in the middle of nowhere for a little extra cash? Boring.

Now, obviously this kind of thing will never happen in a game with choices (FFXIV is not a game with choices), since they'd rather focus on the option that most choose, which is to say, the average hero. Best you can get is to (re)play Overlord 2.

[Quintessa]

Well, not all of it.
Basically, everything before Meteion made her report was awesome, probably the best SE has ever done.
The final 15% or so dealing with what REALLY caused the Final Days felt rushed, full of plot holes and bizarre decisions.

Meteion spoiler:

Bringing in bird lady ruined it for me because it told me the whole rest of the story right there. It's the classic bring in new character that stands out big time and is actually the big bad that caused everything, along with the footsoldier that nobody not even the big bad, gives a crap about.

They could've made it a little more suspenseful or added a red herring.

[Iscah]

I wonder if they could even implement a way for you to select how you want to react to certain things.

To a degree, your script choices come loaded with different emotes sometimes, though you can't always guess your character's exact delivery from the text choices.

We're not ever going to get "evil choices" though - at least not beyond the occasional grumbling but doing it anyway approach we already have. This just isn't a story that wants to allow that degree of flexibility in how the character acts.

While it's an inconvenience for people who want free choice, it makes it a lot easier to tell a single clear story, and we all have the same shared experience of events instead of having to constantly compare notes or debate which is the "correct" version of events.

[Sicno]

To wake up, discover Endwalker was all just a bad dream and we're back right after 5.3.

[Jennah]

To wake up, discover Endwalker was all just a bad dream and we're back right after 5.3.

Well, not all of it.
Basically, everything before Meteion made her report was awesome, probably the best SE has ever done.
The final 15% or so dealing with what REALLY caused the Final Days felt rushed, full of plot holes and bizarre decisions.

[Sicno]

Well, not all of it.
Basically, everything before Meteion made her report was awesome, probably the best SE has ever done.
The final 15% or so dealing with what REALLY caused the Final Days felt rushed, full of plot holes and bizarre decisions.

That's true. EW is a mixed bag with highs and lows and my post was an exaggeration. But it still pains me that this is how "the saga" concludes with such a disconnect between what came before and how it ends. The lore being trampled over, the characters taking so many stupid pills, the whole final zone. At times I prefer to believe that the story ended in 5.3, that with no more unsundered ascians we no longer have to fear any more rejoinings, Zodiark keeps doing its thing, the galaxy is at peace. The end. Even the final cutscene with the returned scions at Revenant's Toll could have been a fitting conclussion.

More seriously, for the future I also think they should keep things more grounded. In my opinion FF14's story shines the most when it focuses on the people, the relationships they keep, how they find a way to overcome their struggles, how THEY fit within the lore, etc. The things that made Eorzea feel like a living world. And when the lore keeps more grounded too and focuses on "things working". Please no more "mysterious energy sources that encompass all of creation but that we didn't know about in all these years". PLEASE NO MORE TIME SHENANIGANS. The FF14 universe with the "rules" that already exist has plenty of avenues for telling stories. Please remain focused on those and don't try to force new rules if they don't fit with what we already have.