Building a better Alphinaud

[aveyond-dreams]

I think the absolute last people I want to see return in 6.2 (besides G'raha Tia) are the twins, them and their father have probably had the run of Garlemald for some time now and I have no interest in seeing one of my favourite locations brought to heel under the ideals of Sharlayan democracy. They are no one to invade another country and then have a hand in setting up provisional governments. The overall way in which the conclusion to the region's story was handled leaves much to be desired but the involvement of the Leveilleur family only worsens the blow.

What purpose Alphinaud could serve in the Void is absolutely beyond me. Voidsent, I'd like to believe, are beyond his reach and unwilling to mediate with the scions. If they somehow yield and make peace with them then it is only a matter of time before the 13th is unified under the banner of yet another republic. This is not what I come to the game for. With each fallen nation the world gets more boring and the preaching about the virtues of individual liberty and democracies only becomes worse and worse.

Give us a new cast already, and stop ruining this game's world.

[CrownySuccubus]

I think the absolute last people I want to see return in 6.2 (besides G'raha Tia) are the twins, them and their father have probably had the run of Garlemald for some time now and I have no interest in seeing one of my favourite locations brought to heel under the ideals of Sharlayan democracy. They are no one to invade another country and then have a hand in setting up provisional governments. The overall way in which the conclusion to the region's story was handled leaves much to be desired but the involvement of the Leveilleur family only worsens the blow.

What purpose Alphinaud could serve in the Void is absolutely beyond me. Voidsent, I'd like to believe, are beyond his reach and unwilling to mediate with the scions. If they somehow yield and make peace with them then it is only a matter of time before the 13th is unified under the banner of yet another republic. This is not what I come to the game for. With each fallen nation the world gets more boring and the preaching about the virtues of individual liberty and democracies only becomes worse and worse.

Give us a new cast already, and stop ruining this game's world.

Once again, "another democracy" is absolutely no different than "another monarchy", no matter how many times you try somehow repeat this argument ad nauseam.

Also, calling the Levellieurs "invaders" (as I'm assuming the "no one" in that sentence was a typo, otherwise it makes no sense) is ridiculous in the context of Garlemald -- when all they do is go into a country and turn it into a province while usually getting rid of whatever royalty was originally in charge. It's ridiculous for the other dictatorships in the story, too. You can't be an "invader" when the country in question is aggressively trying to kill you.

[aveyond-dreams]

With all due respect if you want to play in a game world full of republics and the sort, why not play games like Call of Duty which are more based off the real world? People play fantasy games because they want to experience something different. Why should an american teenager pick up and play FFXIV if it's just going to be a bunch of republics in game just like the one they live in real life? It doesn't make sense.

As I said above, they have no right and are nobody to try and cause regime change in Garlemald or have any say in their future. Sharlayan is under no threat from being invaded by Garlemald. Leaving the Garlean Empire with nothing but a faceless senate in order to continue to push the ideals of Sharlayan democracy was a mistake. It has robbed the region of the things that drew me towards it in the first place, but I suppose if what you want is to see your own real life ideals reflected directly in the game world then you'd have no issue with the current state of the writing.

I however do not. I want my fantasy world to remain as such. I do not believe that people who want the real world in FFXIV should be prioritized in this manner, there are fundamental pieces of world building that shouldn't be compromised in the way in which they are now. Garlemald should have remained a monarchy. There should be far more monarchies as well. Ilsabard as a whole was left underdeveloped by the decision to rush the conclusion of Season 1, and my confidence in the current state of affairs is at an all time low.

[tokinokanatae]

I’m not really sure where this assumption that Alphinaud would be tied to the Void subplot were he to make an appearance in 6.2 is coming from. The narrative has been studiously avoiding bringing him and Alisaie into that plot, since, yes, the Void issues probably aren’t in his wheelhouse.

Concern about him showing up randomly in it is like me worrying about Y’shtola suddenly having a major role in the Aglaia plot. It’s possible, but there’s no evidence for it right now and were I to rant about her showing up without that evidence, it just makes me look like a biased Y’shtola hater that will take any excuse to complain about her existence in the game, even when it isn’t warranted.

[CrownySuccubus]

With all due respect if you want to play in a game world full of republics and the sort, why not play games like Call of Duty which are more based off the real world? People play fantasy games because they want to experience something different. Why should an american teenager pick up and play FFXIV if it's just going to be a bunch of republics in game just like the one they live in real life? It doesn't make sense.

I however do not. I want my fantasy world to remain as such. I do not believe that people who want the real world in FFXIV should be prioritized in this manner, there are fundamental pieces of world building that shouldn't be compromised in the way in which they are now. Garlemald should have remained a monarchy. There should be far more monarchies as well. Ilsabard as a whole was left underdeveloped by the decision to rush the conclusion of Season 1, and my confidence in the current state of affairs is at an all time low.

Irrelevant question and argument. People play fantasy games for a large number of reasons, and the existence of some republics in a fantasy setting doesn't take away from the numerous monarchies and other oligarchal governments which also exist in the game. This is not a zero-sum where it's Oops, All Monarchies or nothing else.

As I said above, they have no right and are nobody to try and cause regime change in Garlemald or have any say in their future. Sharlayan is under no threat from being invaded by Garlemald. Leaving the Garlean Empire with nothing but a faceless senate in order to continue to push the ideals of Sharlayan democracy was a mistake. It has robbed the region of the things that drew me towards it in the first place, but I suppose if what you want is to see your own real life ideals reflected directly in the game world then you'd have no issue with the current state of the writing.

I mean, technically speaking...Garlemald lost. If we're adhering to a medieval-esque standard of nations and war (as you claim to want), then the moment that Garlemald was no longer able to defend itself and surrendered to the Eorzean Alliance, the latter technically had the "right" to do whatever they want. They could have carved up the area like Europe did Africa or East Asia. The fact that the EA leaders are giving the people ANY autonomy on how they want to rebuild at all is pretty progressive from a modern standpoint.

And like I said before, if that ruins the game for you, then oh well. You won't be the first or the last to be displeased.

[tokinokanatae]

Is the problem that you don’t understand that both monarchies and republics are forms of government that exist in the real world? Monarchies aren’t magical fantasy inventions created solely to populate fictional stories. Their inclusion or exclusion in any given work does not make it more or less fantastical—and Americans aren’t the only nationality playing this game.

[aveyond-dreams]

Is the problem that you don’t understand that both monarchies and republics are forms of government that exist in the real world? Monarchies aren’t magical fantasy inventions created solely to populate fictional stories. Their inclusion or exclusion in any given work does not make it more or less fantastical—and Americans aren’t the only nationality playing this game.

Yes but given that it's a medieval world you'd think that the former would be more prominent. The fact that they are constantly being toppled with the same song and dance preaching the same repeated values over and over again is extremely bothersome and takes away from my experience. I'm sick of it. Especially when the mouthpiece for this show is a 16 year old rich kid.

[Brinne]

The perceived lack of character creation options has consistently been a common criticism of the game over the years, though. It just so happens that whenever anyone suggests that maybe some more time and effort could be put into expanding the range of options available to those of us who appreciate masculinity the suggestions are shot down - mysteriously quite often by those who seem to drift towards feminine and/or androgynous aesthetics themselves.

I know that poisoning the well is, like, your thing, but framing others offering their own opinions when a topic comes up, that happen to be different from yours, as a targeted attempt to "shoot you down," is pretty ridiculous and transparent. Everyone has a right to voice their thoughts, so long as they're not pretending they're doing anything except speaking for themselves, and it doesn't have to have anything to do with specific "shooting suggestions down" - the way that trying to ascribe those who feel differently to you to some sinister, nebulous Twitter crowd who likes androgyny actually is. (It's me, yes! Hello! I love androgyny! I also hope that the Hrothgar players get the customization and updates that they deserve, and wish them well! SE did you all pretty dirty!)

[aveyond-dreams]

I do not believe that characters with androgynous traits like the twins should be pushed to the front as much as they are, which is to say nothing of the overbearing presence of gender-neutral hairstyles in this game that to date satisfy neither gender. People aren't looking at characters like Alphinaud and saying, wow! I can't wait to play as/go on adventures with that character! Quite the opposite in fact.

He is both visually and ideologically unimpressive. If this game had its own Illidan equivalent I imagine it would do a lot more to appeal to people than some white haired teenager with magic lasers and his crew of samey yes-men.

[Vahlnir]

I do not believe that characters with androgynous traits like the twins should be pushed to the front as much as they are, which is to say nothing of the overbearing presence of gender-neutral hairstyles in this game that to date satisfy neither gender. People aren't looking at characters like Alphinaud and saying, wow! I can't wait to play as/go on adventures with that character! Quite the opposite in fact.

He is both visually and ideologically unimpressive. If this game had its own Illidan equivalent I imagine it would do a lot more to appeal to people than some white haired teenager with magic lasers and his crew of samey yes-men.

It's all about charisma, even with Illidan. Sure, he looks cool. However, if a character is not likeable by default, that is where the issue lies. Illidan didn't/doesn't really have that problem, like a lot of WoW characters that have come and/or gone. Alphinaud has had his moments, but I don't think I've ever felt like I've bonded per say with any of the Scions since I started the game back in ARR. I've felt like the 3rd wheel this entire time, and I know that wasn't the intention of the writers, because many people seem to adore them.