Final Fantasy XIV Hot Takes

[Lunalepsy]

As the title suggests, please share your hot takes on XIV here. I'll go first. The music really isn't all that memorable outside a couple of tracks. I keep many other games' osts in rotation in my regular listening, but not XIV. Furthermore, often after I hear it once when content is new I'll flip the music off and just pull up something of Spotify or YouTube.

This game is an instant gratification fest.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Yes, just as Alisae made us promise in SB, no heroic sacrifices!

Honestly main character deaths is a very delicate technique to attempt. You absolutely shouldn't just hamfist in someone dying because teh epic storiez, no. It has to be handled very carefully or else the whole thing ends up a colossal waste.

If not properly handled, a death can be severely cheapened by either being obvious said character was going to die (EW would have suffered this as there were main character death red flags everywhere, which is probably why some people were disappointed it never happened), or it ends up being distasteful because it came out of left field, worst case scenario it feels disingenuous because it was a character death purely for the sake of character death, a cheap and unwarranted grab at emotional impact.

Of course, fakeout deaths are often no better, especially when there's so many of them. But at least they don't have permanence. A character actually dying in a poorly conceived way is not just bad storytelling, it's also a colossal waste of that characters potential, because if they are subsequently brought back to try to fix that mistake, that then also cheapens *all* deaths in general.

I'm not gonna say there should never be main character deaths, but one should not *expect* them to happen. They need to be used sparingly and appropriately. Unless a character death is going to be a slam dunk, I'd rather they not try at all.

They havent been used for 3 expansions now. I think resorting to major plot armor and plot holes to keep a character alive is just as bad as killing one off. I think there should be at the very least some consequences depending on the state of the story. For example we just had

a world ending apocalypse but somehow everyone is perfectly fine afterwards,

it really lessens the impact lol

[Hezzlocks]

For example we just had

a world ending apocalypse but somehow everyone is perfectly fine afterwards,

it really lessens the impact lol

Funny. I remember a LOT of people dying in two zones in particular. Maybe not any main characters but to witness so much death and tragedy, along with the realisation that that's only what you can *see* and that sort of stuff was going on all over the region, and then say "everyone is perfectly fine" is a bit callous.

[HollowedDoll]

Funny. I remember a LOT of people dying in two zones in particular. Maybe not any main characters but to witness so much death and tragedy, along with the realisation that that's only what you can *see* and that sort of stuff was going on all over the region, and then say "everyone is perfectly fine" is a bit callous.

"everyone who isn't a 1 dimensional character created sorely for shock value death"
That about cover it?

[TheMightyMollusk]

The game has a blacklist system from the 1980s.

All those great online games from the 1980s.

[IdowhatIwant]

And there it is.

Shitty writing is actually the players fault. You heard it here first folks.

EDIT: And frankly I don't believe there were any credible threats anyway. Certain people always claim they were threatened with all manner of nasty things on the internet but never go to the police nor do they produce any even slightly credible evidence of it. It's just a convenient way to deflect criticism.

Nanamo's death and a lot of HW's plot involving it was rewritten because fans were upset that they killed Nanamo off. It is fairly apparent in the plot and the devs even talked about how they had changed it due to fan feedback.

[Vahlnir]

Nanamo's death and a lot of HW's plot involving it was rewritten because fans were upset that they killed Nanamo off. It is fairly apparent in the plot and the devs even talked about how they had changed it due to fan feedback.

Character deaths aren't meant to be pleasant though. Making these things less impactful (or not impactful at all in this particular case) just ruins the story. This is one of those things where I think they would benefit more from not listening to the player base to any significant degree.

[MilkieTea]

Character deaths aren't meant to be pleasant though. Making these things less impactful (or not impactful at all in this particular case) just ruins the story.

I'm of the idea that character deaths aren't needed for impact, and needless character death is shitty writing. However, I was expecting at least one death, and I'd been expecting it to be one of the major Archons. Not Alphinaud, as he's yet to fulfill his character growth arc (He's almost there, just not quite), AND he represents what the main character in a typical RPG would be. Not Y'shtola, because for all her fakeouts I think there's still a need for her (And she's the marketing face of the game, It'd be like killing Harry Potter and leaving him for dead). Not Thancred, because he still has responsibilities to take care of. Not G'raha, because he's yet to complete his 2nd growth arc. Not Estinien, because his growth has only just begun.

That left, in my mind, either Urianger or Alisaie, and my bets were on Urianger pulling some sort of big sacrifice so we could do something.

Seeing all of them "die" left me with this weird hole in my chest. It was sad, and I cried, because I knew that obviously while they were going to live, it had to have been a painful experience. But... The resulting happy ending felt unearned. Everything's fine, I guess? No one's dead, I guess? All the scions are gucci? Well.. okay... It's a happy ending and all but... it felt meh.

[Nav_Fae]

Hot take: Endwalker is a good expansion

[Vahlnir]

I'm of the idea that character deaths aren't needed for impact, and needless character death is shitty writing. However, I was expecting at least one death, and I'd been expecting it to be one of the major Archons. Not Alphinaud, as he's yet to fulfill his character growth arc (He's almost there, just not quite), AND he represents what the main character in a typical RPG would be. Not Y'shtola, because for all her fakeouts I think there's still a need for her (And she's the marketing face of the game, It'd be like killing Harry Potter and leaving him for dead). Not Thancred, because he still has responsibilities to take care of. Not G'raha, because he's yet to complete his 2nd growth arc. Not Estinien, because his growth has only just begun.

That left, in my mind, either Urianger or Alisaie, and my bets were on Urianger pulling some sort of big sacrifice so we could do something.

Seeing all of them "die" left me with this weird hole in my chest. It was sad, and I cried, because I knew that obviously while they were going to live, it had to have been a painful experience. But... The resulting happy ending felt unearned. Everything's fine, I guess? No one's dead, I guess? All the scions are gucci? Well.. okay... It's a happy ending and all but... it felt meh.

Yeah. They aren't needed for impact, I just think that they need to actually be impactful when they do occur. This game's writers just seem to struggle with that, in my opinion. I felt the exact same way about that bit at the end of Endwalker, too. Just kind of...underwhelmed by that entire sequence when it was done.