Shifting and Concerning Moods Regarding the Writing

[Absimiliard]

you mean the gods are ...constructs, like in... shadowlands?

oh no, no no no no no.

[Cilia]

6.0 was choppy due to having a few different writers on board (and presumably Yoshi-P editing).

6.x was filler to get Dawntrail written, and Dawntrail itself might end up being filler to get 8.0+ scheduled out.

That said, 6.x was... not very good. Slow start, interesting premise, but they wasted it on a trite aesop and predictable plotline. Golbez and the Archfiends were great, but beyond that it was dull and repetitive. Heavily reliant on IV nostalgia too, which just doesn't work for me. (I only played the DS version... and didn't finish it because it was so hard.)

I'd say to temper your expectations for Dawntrail - not because it'll necessarily be bad, but because it's clearly not going to be a gritty, dark, world-shaking story; and just because something isn't to your taste doesn't mean it's bad.

[Rolder50]

6.0 was choppy due to having a few different writers on board (and presumably Yoshi-P editing).

6.x was filler to get Dawntrail written, and Dawntrail itself might end up being filler to get 8.0+ scheduled out.

That said, 6.x was... not very good. Slow start, interesting premise, but they wasted it on a trite aesop and predictable plotline. Golbez and the Archfiends were great, but beyond that it was dull and repetitive. Heavily reliant on IV nostalgia too, which just doesn't work for me. (I only played the DS version... and didn't finish it because it was so hard.)

I'd say to temper your expectations for Dawntrail - not because it'll necessarily be bad, but because it's clearly not going to be a gritty, dark, world-shaking story; and just because something isn't to your taste doesn't mean it's bad.

Man are we already to the point of writing off Dawntrail as filler? How the mighty have fallen.

[Cilia]

Man are we already to the point of writing off Dawntrail as filler? How the mighty have fallen.

Theoretically.

I remember an interview somewhere saying the expansion after 6.0 (Dawntrail) might not be the start of the next epic arc, and knowing it looks like the "vacation episode," and taking all the rift travel advancements in 6.x... I can't help but wonder.

[Syrri]

6.x was more zany fun with our pals, as always I am looking forward to more adventures!

[Ephremjlm]

I mean how do they do it. They butcher the Voidsent AND Twelve story arcs with lackluster content and storytelling in one expansion...............post patches..............and not even all of em.

Part of me feels like Yoshi P. just wanted to watch the remnants of what was established going back to 1.0 burn with the rest of this expansion.

[WeebPolice]

Post

You are right, citizen. The Endwalker story has been quite the disappointment with no signs of getting any better. Things are not looking too bright for Dawntrail if this keeps up.




Goddess watch over you.

[Theodric]

I think a lot of people critical of the story's current trajectory would be more in favour of a filler expansion if not for Endwalker artificially taking many of the more intriguing elements of the setting and rushing to end their storylines prematurely. At the very least, perhaps Endwalker's patches could have been devoted less to filler and more to properly wrapping things up.

Dawntrail is still quite a way off and if the expansion itself is filler then that means...another three years until the expansion after that. I don't think it's unreasonable, then, to raise an eyebrow in concern. I know that various posters - myself included - have politely requested more variety in terms of themes and characters to better cater to a broader variety of personal tastes. For as much as some really like the Scions, they're wearing rather thin for many others - incidentally even amongst some of those who like them. I know quite a few fans of G'raha, for instance, who would prefer that he acts less like a clingy fanboy of the player character and instead a bit more like the Crystal Exarch.

I'm fairly easy to please, though it's hard not to notice that in terms of both PvE/PvP and the story itself a lot of things are being streamlined. Dragonflight in World of Warcraft is a filler expansion but that doesn't bother me because there's a great deal of exploration and interaction within the overworld. The same cannot be said of FFXIV, which sadly doesn't offer very much in terms of exploration. The closest we've gotten to that is a throwaway hidden quest where you can hand over a potion to a specific NPC to unlock two secret minions. There's also Eureka and Bozja, of course, which I enjoyed - but we didn't get an equivalent this time around and though it's stated that we might get one in Dawntrail it probably won't be until deeper into the patch cycle.

[Turtledeluxe]

I think a lot of people critical of the story's current trajectory would be more in favour of a filler expansion if not for Endwalker artificially taking many of the more intriguing elements of the setting and rushing to end their storylines prematurely. At the very least, perhaps Endwalker's patches could have been devoted less to filler and more to properly wrapping things up.

Dawntrail is still quite a way off and if the expansion itself is filler then that means...another three years until the expansion after that. I don't think it's unreasonable, then, to raise an eyebrow in concern. I know that various posters - myself included - have politely requested more variety in terms of themes and characters to better cater to a broader variety of personal tastes. For as much as some really like the Scions, they're wearing rather thin for many others - incidentally even amongst some of those who like them. I know quite a few fans of G'raha, for instance, who would prefer that he acts less like a clingy fanboy of the player character and instead a bit more like the Crystal Exarch.

I'm fairly easy to please, though it's hard not to notice that in terms of both PvE/PvP and the story itself a lot of things are being streamlined. Dragonflight in World of Warcraft is a filler expansion but that doesn't bother me because there's a great deal of exploration and interaction within the overworld. The same cannot be said of FFXIV, which sadly doesn't offer very much in terms of exploration. The closest we've gotten to that is a throwaway hidden quest where you can hand over a potion to a specific NPC to unlock two secret minions. There's also Eureka and Bozja, of course, which I enjoyed - but we didn't get an equivalent this time around and though it's stated that we might get one in Dawntrail it probably won't be until deeper into the patch cycle.

Imo G'raha is a symptom of the larger issue which is that many people are complaining about plot or characters when what they're actually tired of is XIV. What we really need is a level of new setting and new cast that we can't feasibly get by pushing on with the Scions in the Source.

Just imagine the next time someone praises the warrior of light or a Scion talks about how you never back down..

[Swordsman]

At the very least, perhaps Endwalker's patches could have been devoted less to filler and more to properly wrapping things up.

Yeah, but if they spent additional patches wrapping things up then they would be indirectly acknowledging that their story writing didn't provide proper closure the first time around. Knowing SE, these are issues that they are willfully going to ignore to avoid admitting fault.