Ardbert's Party vs the Scions Analysis

[VelKallor]

Tolerating Y'shtola and the de-fanged Estinien is already quite an ask, to say nothing of the rest.

Estinien is not the man he was, not the creature he was, he met his reflection and was healed..thanks again to another consequence ( remember when you said the WoL didnt need anyone else? ) of Alphinaud putting his life on the line to save him from himself.

He is now the man he could have been, had the War not taken place, at peace with his demons, healed, whole. Again with Yshtola and quote frankly i am still waiting for an answer to this

there would not be so many calls to replace her as the game’s postergirl and retire her from the cast.

Says WHO?

All I see is your opinion, an ill informed one at that, seeing as Heavensward was universally praised, Endwalker lauded, and here YOU are telling us all you could have done better???

OH PLEASE.

If it took him 10 years to bring the Scions to the point where they are now, that isn't enough to secure my confidence in these characters moving forward.

When or if you EVER reach Ishikawa Natsuko - san's level of writing excellence, I suggest you apply to Square Enix as a MSQ writer.

[aveyond-dreams]

It’s ok for a game to make you feel sad. Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, or worse have that love turn into disdain with time.

[Avidria]

It’s ok for a game to make you feel sad. Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, or worse have that love turn into disdain with time.

The game has left me feeling sad before. Plenty of characters I loved have died or otherwise run off into the sunset, unlikely to be seen again. Heck, even the nameless random NPCs who have died or been otherwise impacted by MSQ events have had an emotional impact on me. I mean right down to the family that gets twisted into a pack of enemies in Vanaspati - that crap was horrifying. That entire segment was horrifying, and those were all entirely nameless characters. If I listed all the named characters I've liked who have died or been lost I'd probably be here for a while.

Point being, the world is bigger than the main cast, and I don't need main characters getting killed off for the story to have an emotional impact.

I don't even disagree that I'd like to see more character development and interesting dynamics, and even some new folks actually brought to the forefront, but I still don't agree with the calls to kill them off entirely.

...frankly the only Scion I'm genuinely surprised is still alive is Arenvald. Dude's been waving death flags for ages. I love the guy, but I'm shocked he's survived Endwalker so far.

[Alleo]

But quite a few of us have already loved and lost characters from FF14. I lost two of my favorite characters (Haurchefant and Ysayle) and even losing someone like Moenbryda hurts. We also lost Ardbert even if he still is part of us.

The devs might not kill of the scions (now, we dont know what will happen in the future) but they have no problem with killing other beloved NPCs. They might not have been main characters but they still were important to quite a few people including someone like Haurchefant. You can see this by the amount of fanart and stuff posted. Or when you watch streamers and see how their face changes if certain characters are mentioned. People can care for more than the main casts and those dont need to die to have a game that leaves emotional impact.

And lets be real. I really doubt you would have liked Endwalker much more if they decided to kill 1-2 scions. (And more than that would be highly unlikely.)

[VelKallor]

I love the guy, but I'm shocked he's survived Endwalker so far.

As a foil for Fordola's story arc, perhaps..theres a "big brother" vibe going there.

[Slatersev]

As a foil for Fordola's story arc, perhaps..theres a "big brother" vibe going there.

Arenvald is hinted to be crushing on her in the SMN 80 quest.

But regardless he is here foil. He is also the one person she has an unmessy history with. Everyone else is somebody she once directly fought against and that tension is a core part of her arc post Stormblood.

There relationship is super cute though, its part of what made Healer the best written EW rolequest, and there happy high five at the end was so sweet.

Also, as for Estinien, calling him defanged is super goofy. Poking fun at the fact that he neglected every part of life that didn't involve fighting dragons and that logically left him unequipped for things like haggling or casual social situations is not defanging him.

Especially when the literal start of 6.1 shows he is fully capable of further growth. Everyone assumes he got duped into paying way to much again for the map only for him to immediately reveal he knows it was way overpriced but that doesn't really matter for his goals.

[VelKallor]

Arenvald is hinted to be crushing on her in the SMN 80 quest.

Yikes..well,..i guess if you are going go for it...aim high.....

[SentioftheHoukai]

Bold of you to assume Venat is a part of my WoL's adventuring party, Aveyond.

#NotMyWoL

[Graeham]

Agree. Can not be allow to play with the King Solus and the Hythlod because to make party with the Venar is the betrayment to the Ascian Overlords. Is very sad. Must making the party by social with the other player.