A Storyteller’s Point of View on Final Fantasy XIV

[PirateRyanG]

Anything I've ever read?

They seem to write gay furry self-published eBooks.

So, maybe?

[BRVV]

I can't wait to hear a self-published author critique a story from seasoned writers.

Remember that when you meet the top 10 plot holes in EW

[Tiramu]

Enjoy, I dont know what your credentials are, but as someone who works in the industry myself I'm aware of a lot of core storytelling issues but overall I still love XIV. It'll be interesting to see your thoughts unfold.

[BelgarathMTH]

Are you doing this project on camera? If so, could you please provide a link to your Twitch channel. I would be interested in watching videos.

Also, as far as the nature of the project premise provided, A Realm Reborn is considered by many people to get off to a weak beginning. I just finished it last night for the first time, and there is a movie length cinematic at the end of the post-patch. (Approximately 90 minutes of cinematic split into two parts). I will have trouble taking any analysis seriously that doesn't include at least the entirety of ARR.

I don't think one earns the right as a critic to deliver a review without having finished the entire piece. A critic who does that is a bad critic.

Just to clarify, there is a climax event that was the original end of the first release of the game, but then a patch was released before the second expansion, ("Heavensward" is the second expansion), that is so long it is almost an expansion unto itself, and that's the ending I'm talking about with the long cinematic.

I have one more concern about your bias going into the project - This is a game, not a novel. The writers' goals are not only to write a compelling narrative, but also to provide an MMO gameplay experience that will appeal to a large enough MMO market to make a profit.

I am anticipating many criticisms here about all the story-useless filler you're going to be encountering. The filler is there to stretch the amount of play time required to progress the story, because the developers' profit is dependent on time-played metrics with a subscription-based monetarization model.

Still, I will be curious if the gameplay filler component of the story-telling will stretch your patience to the point of causing you to abandon the project before it's finished.

[kindar1]

Also, when you create a FF14 account you get access to the Lodestone, where you can post blogs for each character you create. So if you wanted to, you could post a daily or weekly blog of your adventures in the FF14 world.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/

okay, that I will have to look into, and once I inevitably start a new character, I will probably give that a go

[kindar1]

Anything I've ever read?

Statistically, the answer is no. the link to my website is in my Basic information, since I don't know what the policy regarding posting links to 'business' is for the forum.

[Raoabolic]

Remember that when you meet the top 10 plot holes in EW

I hate that I read that in a WatchMojo voice...

"CHECK out OUR TOP... ten... PLOTHOLES in finalfantay14"
"Number teeeenn... a talking crystal?!"

[Absimiliard]

They seem to write gay furry self-published eBooks.

So, maybe?

[kindar1]

Close to Home (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Close_to_Home_)

This quest gets us familiar with some locations, the Aetheryte, the market, and one of the hand of war/magic guild, in my case, the archer. As with most starting quests, little danger is involved. Story-wise, Mother Miounne is upfront about the purpose, to give us a grasp of adventuring… I question the wording. We are also told to seek the Smiths should we need advice. We are also encouraged to help anyone who needs it in town.

The Aetheryte

Upon touching the Aetheryte, we get a cut scene explaining the use of the Aetheryte and encourage to attune to as many as we can. The one story detail that pops at me is how we are spoken to as if we don’t know where it is, after we have touched it.

The Market

Here we speak with Parsemontret, who for the price of 1 eel pie tells us about the market. While the interaction teaches us the mechanic of handing items to NPCs, the bluntness of ‘give me a bribe’ is a tad offputting.

The Archers.

So, I was sent to the archer from the start.

Here we speak to the receptionist, and get backstory on archery in the region. Other than the NPC acting like she can’t see my bow, therefore treats me as someone who doesn’t know archery exists, the storytelling is adequate

We return to Mother Miounne, are thanked for being an adventurer who is there for the population, and expresses hope that we will be there to help in the coming struggles.

One interesting note with the ending. She thanked me for helping some citizens, which I did not do. I think that is a slight flaw in the narrative.

To the Bannock (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/To_the_Bannock)

I had to do the first Archer quest to get to level 4 and activate this quest

We are sent to speak with an acquaintance of Mother Miounne on the off chance he has a use for an adventurer. Once there, we get more information on the strife the Calamity brought to the Twelveswood. And the quest ends with s reminder to listen to the people and their requests.

Passing Muster (https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Passing_Muster)

Here we are inspected to ensure we are properly armored.

I had to take a side quest to afford to buy the pieces of armor I needed to meet the requirement. It was the one to go looking for recruits that didn’t show up for training, and while this falls under game mechanics more than storytelling, I’m not a fan of how they are identified with an icon that can be seen from any good vantage points. It makes finding them a little too easy.

I passed muster and concluded the quest.

[kindar1]

Are you doing this project on camera? If so, could you please provide a link to your Twitch channel. I would be interested in watching videos.

my twitch is https://www.twitch.tv/theplayingtiger