What would you like to see changed or addressed in the game? (poll)

[aveyond-dreams]

I voted for story improvements. I've been around since ARR and have seen this game's lows and highs. I want Heavensward back. I want the team that was more concerned with fleshing out the world and giving credible arguments for the motivations of our antagonists rather than the team who prioritizes college slice of life scenes, giving interviews about pixie pronouns, and "battle of morals" storytelling. All while slopping together some of the worst endings possible for plot threads like the Garlean political crisis. After that experience, I have no idea what to expect from the Omega questline coming later.

You can sell me a game with obtuse gameplay like Heavensward Dark Knight so long as the story holds up - but right now both gameplay and story are suffering. The people who made the story that really gripped me and got me to start paying attention to cutscenes was (rightfully) assigned to go work on FFXVI in order to make sure the mainline series didn't suffer another blow to its reputation after the mess that was FFXV when it originally launched. FFXVI will launch with a coherent story, but whether that will be the case for 7.0 feels like it's up in the air. We're stuck with a cast that is seemingly invincible and immortal, with very little in the way of stakes or character development for the remaining Scions. A party incapable of banter, back-and-forths, unlike the trio of Alphi/Ysayle/Estinien in Heavensward and Venat/Hythlo/Hades in Elpis.

We were teased with a "newfound adventure" only for us to be thrown directly into the Void plotline and stuck again with the same tired cast. Starting Season 2 by shard hopping was the last thing that should have been considered. A complete and self-contained story on-par in scale with Heavensward, set in Meracydia, the New World, or the former Garlean territories would make for a more logical starting point than jumping head-first into the 13th.

I imagine a combination of factors led to the writing style we are seeing now, with Covid having evidently dampened their will to put characters through trying situations with all the issues people all over the world were facing. However, a story with not a whole lot going on isn't what I'm paying for here. Shadowbringers had a near constant feel of danger around the corner, this didn't hold for Endwalker with all its fluff scenes mixed in every other hour. Then we have the twitter fanart crowd who people don't seem to realize will attach themselves to the next pretty face that comes along - the moment you make the new postergirl/posterboy they will go obsess over that and forget all about the likes of G'raha Tia and Y'shtola. Then maybe those of us who are sick of these stagnant comfort characters can catch a break from them too.