Thread: Making the case for a new starting point in 7.0

Originally Posted by Atelier-Bagur

I love how you ignore how all of the Scions Shb arcs had a conclusion. Thancred with coming to terms with Minfillia and Ryne, Urianger with him trying to do whats best for everyone, Alphinaud's entire character growth, and G'raha Tia finally being able to let go of his burden and to live out his dream with adventuring with the WoL. There was never the need for them to carry all that ShB baggage going into Endwalker because they all had their conclusions prior to it. Also I really dont care if you like to criticize certain characters, I for one share some of your criticisms, especially regarding Y'shtola but Im not going to just ignore the stuff that worked with her and all the other characters that still keeps them relevant. This story is an on going narrative, and whatever story comes in 6.1-6.5 we'll just have to wait and see how potentially accessible it'll be for new players to just skip everything prior and jump into 7.0

I quite literally stated earlier that their arcs had ended and that their continued presence serves no further purpose. They have finished growing and are now stagnant. Please reread the above posts. You cannot expect people to sit through a story in which the characters cease developing in the way that the Scions have currently. Either something exciting happens with them, or it's time for new cast members. In any case only time will tell what buildup we will see in the coming patches, anything is possible these days.

Originally Posted by SieyaM

So we would end up ignoring the fact the we have already made contact with Dalmascan resistance forces and our name would be known to them for all of our effort in the Ivalice raid series?

The Ivalician raid series is optional content. For reasons that are obvious to most they are likely to remain so. Forcing new players to complete these raids to gain access to an Ivalice-expansion would prove to be an unmitigated disaster unless the raids were nerfed to the level of current Crystal Tower raids. However, the point remains. There is little lost in an extra line explaining who Lente's Tears are and a brief exposition of the Dalmascan Resistance, whose presence was barely felt in the raid series or in Bozja. They do not carry enough relevance.

Originally Posted by Atelier-Bagur

Keyword I made "Shb Arcs" Their Shadowbringer's arcs, not their entire character arcs. They still served a purpose within Endwalker, and some still even had notable developments in the story; aka Urianger and the Lopporits/Moenbryda's parents, way to go to just outright ignore that whole emotional moment. But for most of us whom have followed this story and the characters we appreciate and love just being able to continue to interact with them (we'll most of us, clearly you stopped caring) while still keeping them relevant. Anyway Im done arguing with this. Go ahead and ignore yet again everything I say here.

I do not consider anything to do with the whole Moenbryda backstory meaningful. The guy was bullied as a kid and had a friend step in. I'm not interested in exploring that any further, not when you have characters like Estinien who knew more brutal suffering in their upbringing. The Loporrits were comic relief/fan service characters that would have been executed perfectly had they not overstayed their welcome and cannibalized any additional MSQ focus on Zodiark on the actual moon.

The only thing left to do with these characters is seemingly to continue the trend of "slice of life" fanfiction writing as if this were a Persona game set in Sharlayan. I struggle to believe that they will somehow find a way to make Thancred interesting in patch 6.1, and eagerly await the release of FFXVI so I can invest my time in a more grounded story while the FFXIV writers recalibrate and figure out where they want to go from here.

Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

So suffering has to be a game of one-upmanship? Estinien's suffering may have been more outwardly noticeable but being bullied and excluded because you're smart or bookish damages someone in just as meaningful but not obvious ways. Urianger showed an incredible vulnerability that we haven't seen from him before. It showed just how important having someone like Moenbryda in his life to "get" him and accept him was and how much he was suffering quietly having lost her.

Uh, yeah it kind of has to be. I didn't come here because some elf was bullied as a kid and his girlfriend had to step in, I came here because there was a war against the Empire and a war going on against Dragons that had visually impactful and impressive scenes as we entered Ishgard proper and as we dealt with the victims of the Empire's brutality. The revenge driven soldier was a lot more interesting to have on-screen than some dude who was bullied.

It doesn't help that plot thread was tied in with the second half of Labyrinthos which nearly everyone agrees was poorly paced and a headache to go through. That sure was some payoff. In any case at least his arc is over for the time being, though this again leaves him in a position where its difficult to go anywhere interesting from here. Maybe they should give him a new girlfriend or something. Or make him eat a hamburger. Failing that I welcome a total revamp of the cast and the removal of the Scions in favor of party members with more varied personalities and backstories that are suitable for whatever setting we go to moving forward. They have served their purpose.

We do not need to go the WoW route of having the same cast of characters for nearly 20 years. The writing will only continue to suffer for it. It's ok for people to leave the plot if they aren't contributing anything meaningful or of entertainment value. This keeps things fresh and can appeal to more people besides the twitter RP crowd who are probably the only ones capable of tolerating the same characters for so long regardless of what little they actually do.