Thread: 6.1 MSQ showcases the narrative problems that continue to plague the game's story

Originally Posted by Jason_Ashford

what exactly are you expecting them to do? they said well in advance that we would essentially be starting from square 1 once again because this is the start of a brand new story, hence the appropriately titled Newfound Adventure as the name-card of this patch. They are not going to immediately jump into another world destroying crisis. it takes time to set the stage for future events, so of course things are going to slow down, they have barely begun setting up events lead into the next expansion.

Sounds great. The way that they should have done this patch was having us go to a bar like we did at the beginning but actually meeting our new party members there. Something like that 1.0 cinematic where we get a taste of the Season 2 cast. We go hunt for treasure in the dungeon, actually get to keep the treasure instead of yet another super dooper altruistic endeavour, and finish off with a campfire scene where we get to learn more about their backstories. Then at the end they can tease the void.

Instead they opted for whatever 6.1 was, bringing back the same stale old characters who've been around for the last 10 years. At least they teased us with the void, but given the writers' mission to subvert our expectations no matter how late or how sudden, there's a good chance we'll end up somewhere entirely different in 7.0.

Originally Posted by aveyond-dreams

One point of concern for the apparent direction of the story moving forward is a continued focus on more nebulous "battle of morals" nonsense which I don't think is a good place for Season 2 to start off with. Granted, we already started it off on the wrong foot given that no attempt was made to distance ourselves from the Season 1 cast and anyone who starts the game as 6.1, which we know from translations to be considered as a potential future starting point, will be hopelessly lost. In these respects, the patch greatly failed in delivering.

Well, maybe that wasn't the intention of the patch at all. I'm honestly not sure where everyone has gotten this season 2 idea except as their own preference or what they would do. The devs have certainly never called it that. When Yoshi-P mentioned the Codex in the Live Letter, he said it's something they could use if they decided to make a new starting point in the future, but they have never said "This is the new starting point and it will not connect to anything from before at all". And given the way this game constantly references back to even the smallest details in past lore, I don't see them ever doing that.

I think people had very unreasonable expectations for what "Newfound Adventure" meant that weren't based on anything the developers had confirmed and that's where your dissatisfaction is stemming from.

Originally Posted by aveyond-dreams

Estinien is just kind of along for the ride, and as much as I'm a fan of him I'd wish he was back to his angry self. Even he is starting to wear on my patience.

So...now you're against character development? He moved past the reasons that made him angry and was able to embrace a new path. You claim the Scions aren't well written but then just want to erase one character's progression because you prefer to have AngryMan back.

Interviews touched on the battle of morals returning as a concept sometime after Endwalker's launch. And yeah, the angry guy with a revenge story that was still happening was more entertaining than the guy who *had* a revenge story and is now mellowed out. In any case, a new cast for Season 2 isn't an unreasonable ask but if they want to continue with a cast of immortal Scions then I have little confidence in the potential of future storytelling given the stifled nature of those characters.

Originally Posted by Jason_Ashford

would you rather they straight up delete the rest of the scions and introduce a brand new cast that no one cares about?

omg yes, yes omg yes.

I'm still bitter that over the course of 10 years of fighting Primals, Gods and beings with power that is beyond our comprehension, everyone was so wrapped in plot armor they were never in any danger. It took so much out of the story that it took all the tension out of the msq. I mean, prior to the fight with Emet, he rained giant pointy things on the scions and missed every single one of them. During the final days, not a single hair was lost, not even a single tear in their jackets.

While I didn't want any of the scions to die, well except Y'shtola, Alphinoob and Graha, having them all come out without even a scratch was infuriating. I would have much rather had some main characters die here and there to make the story better and more intense, than just rolling my eyes and thinking "oh golly gee no" whenever one of them got "hurt".

That being said, they can still exist in the world, we could still see them here or there, which would make sense since they disbanded and want to keep their heads low, but nope, can't have that cause reasons. The story has all kinds of issues beyond this and anyone who is not blinded by sheer devotion can see it. But they really should have taken the XI approach and given us a brand new cast of characters with minor interaction between us and the scions every once in a great while with each new story and expansion from here on out.

Originally Posted by aveyond-dreams

Sounds great. The way that they should have done this patch was having us go to a bar like we did at the beginning but actually meeting our new party members there. Something like that 1.0 cinematic where we get a taste of the Season 2 cast. We go hunt for treasure in the dungeon, actually get to keep the treasure instead of yet another super dooper altruistic endeavour, and finish off with a campfire scene where we get to learn more about their backstories. Then at the end they can tease the void.

Instead they opted for whatever 6.1 was, bringing back the same stale old characters who've been around for the last 10 years. At least they teased us with the void, but given the writers' mission to subvert our expectations no matter how late or how sudden, there's a good chance we'll end up somewhere entirely different in 7.0.

You talk about scions being poorly written and then type out the most cliche plot point ever with "new" companions that you'd likely equally complain about. Sounds like FFXIV story telling just isn't for you.

Originally Posted by MicahZerrshia

omg yes, yes omg yes.

I'm still bitter that over the course of 10 years of fighting Primals, Gods and beings with power that is beyond our comprehension, everyone was so wrapped in plot armor they were never in any danger. It took so much out of the story that it took all the tension out of the msq. I mean, prior to the fight with Emet, he rained giant pointy things on the scions and missed every single one of them. During the final days, not a single hair was lost, not even a single tear in their jackets.

While I didn't want any of the scions to die, well except Y'shtola, Alphinoob and Graha, having them all come out without even a scratch was infuriating. I would have much rather had some main characters die here and there to make the story better and more intense, than just rolling my eyes and thinking "oh golly gee no" whenever one of them got "hurt".

That being said, they can still exist in the world, we could still see them here or there, which would make sense since they disbanded and want to keep their heads low, but nope, can't have that cause reasons. The story has all kinds of issues beyond this and anyone who is not blinded by sheer devotion can see it. But they really should have taken the XI approach and given us a brand new cast of characters with minor interaction between us and the scions every once in a great while with each new story and expansion from here on out.

Its 6.1 and the start of a brand new story....We're not going to get major plot points and potential new characters introduced until the patch right before 7.0 or in 7.0 proper.