Let's Talk About the Awesome Quality of Side Stories in this Game (Minor Spoilers)

[Striker44]

Since a troll thread was thrown out there of course bad-mouthing every single thing possible in the game, I figured let's balance it with a more honest assessment

I LOVE the side stories in FFXIV. They're varied in style, and I love how they find ways to link some of them together in unexpected ways that makes you smile when you realize the connections and callbacks. My favorite so far has been the side quest in Sharlayan to find the rogue Carbuncle and the realization that it's Tataru's from a loooong time ago that she thought was a failure. Instead it turns out she created one of the strongest carbuncles ever (able to survive without the direct connection to its summoner).

Then you have things like the role quests. Each one has a distinct theme, AND they contribute significantly to world-building to boot. (Anyone raising their eyebrows about how the same people complain the Hildibrand relic idea wouldn't be world-building, but then complain that the role quests ARE world-building?) And by separating them by role instead of each individual class, it's much more accessible to a wider population who doesn't have the time to level each and every class, but can at least get one of each type going. They still experience the full story.

Then there's things like Hildibrand. Pure fun. Silly comic relief that doesn't pretend to be anything but silly comic relief. A breath of fresh air that I think we all need when playing a game.

The effort they put into even the small side-quests at the hubs and give them meaning is impressive.

[Denji]

How about we talk about the fact that every time legitimate criticism pops up about this game now someone wets their pants and screamcries making a thread that is the exact opposite of the one that got them going.

This is getting ridiculous.

[Raoabolic]

How about we talk about the fact that every time legitimate criticism pops up about this game now someone wets their pants and screamcries making a thread that is the exact opposite of the one that got them going.

This is getting ridiculous.

Welcome to the world of extremes, enjoy your stay, lol.

That said, the pld questline was pretty sweet. I wonder if the Criterion dungeon will touch more on that or if that reveal will stick with the pld questline.

[BaconBits]

the pld questline was pretty sweet.

You like the Paladin quest line, your sense of taste is already questionable at best.

That being said, Aldis is best boy and I demand to have more of him in-game.

[Syln]

How about we talk about the fact that every time legitimate criticism pops up about this game now someone wets their pants and screamcries making a thread that is the exact opposite of the one that got them going.

This is getting ridiculous.

A lot of those "legitimate" criticism aren't constructive at all, dismissive with people that disagree, vitriolic sometimes or just obvious troll that use arguments so silly you wish you had a real ignore feature that made anything they do invisible to you.

Legitimate criticism aren't frowned upon, the hrotgar/viera megathread is a perfect exemple of that.

[KariTheFox]

A lot of those "legitimate" criticism aren't constructive at all, dismissive with people that disagree, vitriolic sometimes or just obvious troll that use arguments so silly you wish you had a real ignore feature that made anything they do invisible to you.

Legitimate criticism aren't frowned upon, the hrotgar/viera megathread is a perfect exemple of that.

People need to realize that criticism itself can be open to critique. Someone disagreeing with a particular point of criticism doesn't mean they're refusing to accept any negativity.

They might just think that particular criticism is not argued or reasoned well. Or y'know, it just kinda sucks as critique.

[Adamantini]

How about we talk about the fact that every time legitimate criticism pops up about this game now someone wets their pants and screamcries making a thread that is the exact opposite of the one that got them going.

This is getting ridiculous.

at least now I can make a bet on which topic will get the most likes. So, who are you betting on?

[Deveryn]

I generally enjoy them. Nothing stands out as particularly awful. They're not so much side quests as they are bonus content. There are a lot of hidden gems here and there, whether it's more background on a character, a nod to a meme or some social commentary.

The focus in that other thread was on the EW role quests. I feel like those did their job of wrapping up different story points that didn't necessarily fit into MSQ. I knew there would be more to Arenvald's story and rather than shoehorn it into MSQ, they gave it its own space. Roles didn't feel forced into odd situations.

[GrizzlyTank]

How about we talk about the fact that every time legitimate criticism pops up about this game now someone wets their pants and screamcries making a thread that is the exact opposite of the one that got them going.

This is getting ridiculous.

It gets a bit tiring seeing largely the same posters run multiple threads writing essays about how much they dislike this game story over minor grievances...

Not going to lie, for me i would have preferred a Garlemald focused expansion seeing how the story excels when having a slightly political tone, and would have preferred less focus on Zenos since he is a black hole for the political. But still i found enjoyment and satisfaction from both the main story and the side-stories.

[Nizzi]

It gets a bit tiring seeing largely the same posters run multiple threads writing essays about how much they dislike this game story over minor grievances...

Not going to lie, for me i would have preferred a Garlemald focused expansion seeing how the story excels when having a slightly political tone, and would have preferred less focus on Zenos since he is a black hole for the political. But still i found enjoyment and satisfaction from both the main story and the side-stories.

Zenos was the best part of Endwalker, fight me