Wow, Wuk Lamat is really single-handedly ruining the DT story...

[Voidmage]

Cut down because I’m on mobile.

I don’t disagree.
Wuk Lamat has her place in parts of the story. I would disagree what parts exactly but that would be just a discussion in itself.

You are right that some parts of the story wouldn’t work without her but stuff like that is the reason for the hate.

For all scenes where she fits there are two were she is not.
This amount of centering around her or I would even call it the plot bending around her is the reason for the hate.

I actually don’t interpret this thread as being so big because she is so diverse. I personally think it’s just emotion, nothing more, nothing less.
Wuk Lamat‘s personality in a game a large part of adults play and her being extremely pushed into the spotlight to the detriment of other characters just pushes some buttons.
Those buttons just happen to be the same for quite a number of people.

I agree with you that there are certainly other problems in the story my writing. I disagree though in that I personally would give Wuk Lamat and her placing in the story the biggest fault.

I didn‘t even roll my eyes this much on Zenos and I hated him.
That’s quite an archivement in my eyes.

[Shibi]

I was surprised they didn't force a romance plot at this point, was fully expecting it with her knocking on WoLs door every 5 seconds.

It was touch and go at one point. Sitting in the cabin and she came in.

Poochie has cooties.

[Malthir]

It's not a direct response to what you're saying here-- I agree with what you're saying. But I do want to follow up with one more general statement about the thread and other feedback threads about DT. I don't think it's a coincidence that this thread is more persistent than all the others. You will probably interpret that as "well this character is the most divisive". I would agree with you and disagree with you at the same time. I think Wuk Lamat is certainly divisive, but I also think there's a range of motivations behind her being disliked. It's simply an exaggeration to say she's on the screen 99% of the time (she's not, not even close to that) and she's certainly not the reason certain plot elements are weak. When people casually claim this kind of thing, it's hard to take it seriously because on its face it seems willfully misleading. Wuk Lamat has some scenes that are very good, and the finale is certainly enhanced by her story and her character, namely the conflict with Sphene and its conclusion. It wouldn't be as compelling without Wuk Lamat, because WoL has no idea what its like to be the head of a nation personally, and that's what the conflict was centered around. Wuk Lamat grows out of her peace era by getting her revenge on her brother and stopping Sphene. She's forced to accept that peace is not an option. It's not the most graceful of storytelling, but we can at least say she's thematically relevant to the ending. I liked how the story pitted these two leaders against one another and I think it is evidence of some character development for Wuk Lamat. So when I see feedback that she's just constantly the worst,or has no character arc, I just don't know about all that.

I mean she does have zero character growth and has more lines than any NPC in any of the expacs. In this expac alone she has double the lines of the next nearest characters, you're right though she's not in 99% of cutscenes, it's about 92% Which is still more than any new character. The hate for the character is completely justified, she's written poorly as are Koana and Bakool. They are hated less however, because they aren't shoved in the players face constantly, they aren't forced upon you, she is, which is why she is hated so damn much.

And to clarify I'm saying she is literally poorly written not just that I don't like her. I hate haurchefant's stupid face and hate that they keep dragging him into the story when he was a nothing burger of a character, he wasn't poorly written I just don't like him. There's a difference.

[TheJamJam]

[Midare]

Actually one of the aether current quests in Urqopacha is exactly what you're asking for, it's a Giant going like "i have never seen one like you, demonstrate how such a tiny baby man is capable of laying low the valigarmanda". I'm not sure what the quest entails exactly for other races but this part is definitely Lalabro exclusive dialogue, which for the record I appreciate whenever a quest acknowledges my race or job, it's a small detail but it makes it feel more immersive and generally is just nice flavor.

Yes I noticed that and I loved it.

Not only because for a change he didn't mention Poochie, but also for that bit of special dialogue that I know it's exclusive for us since I asked my brother who plays a male au ra and told me he wasn't told that during that quest.

[Masekase_Hurricane]

i WAS share the same mind, until I actually finished it anyway.
i hope you can maintain your perspective after you finished, unlike me.

Nope still feel the same way and see it as an overreaction. The story to me still seemed better than the start of ARR.

[Midare]

So, a friend who doesn't frequent the forums sent me this and well, I'm sharing it with his blessing.

[OMGJesuis66]

Wuk Lamat was set to failure due lack of understanding of the writers/developers at how much players are attached to Scions and WoL.

My point with that is, that all the criticism around her writing is simply a gamble SE did that did not pay off. She is not a bad character and is very on par with other characters that we have been exposed to throughout the entirety of MSQ.
People's attachment to their personal WoL does not allow them person to be content by putting their characters on the sidelines, Wuk Lamat is meant to be the protagonist of the story, and that forces the WoL to be on the sidelines, this is by far the biggest negative some people will have due their obsession with their very own characters and being protagonists.

As for the Scions, SE is afraid to pull away the characters that already concluded their story. Either two things should've happened in DT, either the Scions follow what they said and disband and shouldn't ever be involved in any of this, giving us a whole new cast of characters to be familiarized and group with (which also would remove all the screen time from Wuk Lamat as it had to be shared with other NPCs so we build involvements with them), or keep the Scions as before and be as relevant as they used to be before. This whole situation of the Scions being on the sidelines too, put another sour taste in people's mouths as people keep seeing the characters they know simply do not act or anything, and they complain about it being a 'plot hole' or removing their characterization.

The story by itself wasn't bad at all. Nor the characters given to us. It was how it was constructed and SE did not know how to play that to the game to properly live, it needs to be disconnected from the Scions and the WoL needs to be repurposed without removing their protagonist, which is a monumental task by itself with more misses than hits to be able to take what everyone is already used to and build something new out of that foundation. It's more narrative direction and game design direction than the actual problem with how the story was written. And while it had ups and downs in the story itself, it was still quite compelling, pacing issues aside. The first half was interesting due to the world-building and introduction of characters the second half felt much more interesting presenting threats, villains, and moral debacles.

We could even say that SE acted with this expansion being a survey to know how to proceed in future expansions and give the story the big narrative tool to unwrap those future plans, but the hate towards Wuk Lamat is unjustified. The problem is very much different, from SE fear to trying things new to players being unable to adapt to the notion that our story was done in Endwalker and now they need to bring something completely new even for us.

[Alchemii]

Snip

Wow the level of mental gymnastics your pulling. Bravo, I applaud your ability to ignore reality. You completely disregarded the majority's actual complaints to justify what you believe, completely ignoring the notion that you simply have bad taste. Wuk Lamat is a poorly written character that should never have been a main focus, and the story is just as poorly conceived as her.

Please go outside, touch grass, you clearly need. Or at minimum go take in some actual good stories, with good characters, and good writing so you can realize just how bad DT and Wuk Lamat are.

[Eyrilona]

I have a feeling like this thread goes through the same loop of arguments every 30 hours or so. The same arguments with no indication of people having read the previous 181 pages. If people are not reading what has already been argued and why those arguments were not convincing the last time they were brought up, then this is not a discussion forum but a serial soapbox.