Although I am aware that it is too late to change much about the plot and zones of 7.0, I urge the developers to consider carefully whether taking inspiration from FF7R is truly needed in any capacity.

Yoshi P has said that they want to do a huge collab with FF7R, more than a simple seasonal event. This rang many alarm bells, not least because the last one that we had, with Nier:Automata, presented us with a story that did not integrate with FF14's world and lore.

There are now rumors that the new expansion's story is FF7R-inspired. Although the chance is low, if this is the case: Please stop.

We do not need Fate Whispers in FF14 defending Erenville from being killed by Sephiroth.

We do not need random Sephiroth Echo flashbacks with absolutely no context through the MSQ.

We do not need Krile to begin as a flower girl but then magically tell us all about what the Whispers are out of nowhere with no explanation (although, lately Y'shtola is basically filling that role of the Great Explainer).

We do not need irrelevant and obnoxious villains like Roche who serve absolutely no purpose other than wanting to fight, because quite frankly we are sick and tired of budget Zenos clones.

We do not need to see Papalymo come back to life in another timeline because we managed to defeat the Whisper bosses as the Lv100 boss in the MSQ.

If the 7.0 MSQ is really FF7R-inspired as the rumors suggest, I guarantee you Square Enix, you will lose half of your playerbase.