What would you change to improve Dawntrail’s MSQ writing?

[ForteNightshade]

Honestly, I don't think this is a problem.

The WoL was a sidekick to Hien during the second half of Stormblood and, as I understand it, Hien is liked by a big part of the playerbase.
On the other hand, with all the issues all the other characters had (Bakool Ja Ja suddenly changing gears from one scene to the other, the rather subtle hint to Zoraal Ja's drive, Koana's sister complex), everyone but the main character we're supposed to be a sidekick for seems more interesting and seem to actually develop as a character, albeit at a poorly planned pace seemingly.

Meanwhile, Poochie just keeps being the oh so quirky character the universe revolves around and only needs to lift a finger to get her way, or rather, use us to get her way and she's just not a compelling character or even entertaining to see.

We weren't so much a side kick but more an ensemble cast. Think Friends or Seinfeld. There were episodes or whole arcs which clearly favored one or two characters but rarely was any of the cast made completely irrelevant. Neither Hien nor Lyse could have accomplished what they did without us nor did they hog the spotlight. The big issue with Wuk Lamat outside of simply poor writing is she's exhaustively front and center for everything.

Even when we move on to a new plot arc, the narrative is still desperately looking for ways to shove her back into focus. Meanwhile, our character is completely and utterly useless. We do absolutely nothing to move the story forward, and frankly, could be replaced by literal any random NPC with minimal impact. What makes this worse is the few dialogue prompts on offer force us to praise Wuk Lamat. We're not even given the usual "..." because the writer can't seem to stop swooning over his character. Heck, if we opt not to call her Lama'ty, Krile literally gaslights us by insisting we were just too caught off guard but would love to call her Lama'ty. It's downright nauseating how much of a black hole sue Wuk is.

[EponaTBHSMH]

-Instance against Thancred and Urianger
-Wuk Lamat group not necessarily succeeding all of the feats
-Koana not giving up the race
-Battle Royale instance between the claimants for who gets all the tablets
-Bakool Jaja not switching to the good guys THAT fast
-more emotions for EN Wuk Lamat voice acting and less running gags about her being seasick/planesick etc
-much shorter Living Memory area, I would go as far as zap Namikka and Otis part tbh

[Mosselyn]

This is going to sound paradoxical considering how slow and plodding the MSQ felt to me, but I think it needs more time to breathe. The characters need more/different time on screen to develop. Same with the cultures. The secondary (?) themes of parent-child relationships and cultural exploration aren't well developed so they just end up feeling like empty filler.

Wuk Lamat, like Lyse, suffers from too big a leap from initial clueless dingbat to world leader. It's annoying, and it's not even remotely believeable. Bakool Ja Ja's redemption was similarly rushed. I don't mind the idea of it, but the volte-face from mustache twirling villain to wanna be hero was extremely silly. Zoraal Ja would have been a much better villain if we'd had more opportunities to explore his relationship with his father and his motivations, instead of just a lot of brooding stares and then a leap off the deep end. Erenville and Cahciua deserved more time together, too.

Some of the voice direction seriously needed to be toned down. It contributed to making some of the characters caricatures. Wuk is too enthusiastic, Bakool Ja Ja is too "muhahaha", Cahuciua is too kindergarten teachery before Living Memory, etc. I think the VA's are capable of delivering better performances - and do at various points in the story - so I think it's the direction (and script) rather than their talents.

The whole thing just needs to take the time to make you care. About the individual characters. About the people and their cultures. I never once gave two hoots about any of them. Prior to that, even SB (which I did not like) touched me more deeply and more often. DT felt like all the worst parts of the old ARR patch quests.

[RabendaShin]

I made a post the other day that highlights my main gripe with the writing. I'd like less railroading and more player agency.

[Silver-Strider]

Something that also bothered me about the story is the inclusion of Gulool Ja. I love the little guy but I just cannot comprehend Zarool Ja procreating when he seemed hellbent on just being a warmonger, just to abandon him afterwards. If it's later revealed that he's just a clone or test tube baby, that just rises the question of why they couldn't just recreate bodies for the Endless, making an already contentious aspect of the story even more so.

[Isala]

Delete Wuk Lamat. Replace her with Koana. The expansion is immediately 500% better. Literally every scene we're interacting with the guy, he's actually using us, and the Scions in ways that are befitting our skill sets, even as he has character growth where he realizes that trying to replace tradition with technology is terrible. ESPECIALLY considering the final zones, where he can see the terrible consequences of relying on too much technology. It would have been a massive moment for him, and he would have had the courtesy to not jump in our boss fight like an absolute tool.

[Hallarem]

- Remove empty characters that are just sideprops
- Have meaningful conversations and development during the story
- Avoid padding
- Have proper stakes
- Write for the characters to FEEL things and REACT to things and INTERACT with things
- Take your time with characters and don't rush their development
- DONT REPEAT someone's goals and make them shout it out, we are not watching and playing a saturday morning anime. We don't have the memory of a goldfish, we aren't infants. Let them SHOW their goals, not shout them out like Naruto.
- Don't shine the focus so much one one character and don't make it obvious from the mid-phase on who is going to be the next dawn servant. Make the players guess a bit and surprise them with an earned twist.
- Introduce the main villain much much earlier and make them actually mean something, instead of being an AI puppet in a world of imaginary memory men and women. STAKES
- and everything else I can't remember

Honestly, the sidequests are more well written than the MSQ, I am currently enjoying those

Support all this with well directed voice acting and new questing systems

[Cerbolt]

I'd cut down on Wuk Lamats screen time by a lot and spread it out between the other characters. Like Krile, Erenvile Gulool Ja, Zarool Ja and Koana. Their stories needed more time to really work. I'd also introduce solution 9 sooner and have Koana accompany us instead of Wuk Lamat since his whole thing is technology.

[Rolder50]

For the second half of the story, mainly the last two zones, swap out Wuk Lamat and Koana. Having Koana be the diplomat and Wuk Lamat be the person interacting with all the high tech stuff makes absolutely no sense. Swapping them would make more sense with their characters and give people a break from Wuk Fatigue.

[Immut]

My main complaint is that everything was over way too quickly. I see a lot of complaints that the MSQ dragged on, but only because there was so much there.

The rite of succession should have been the entire 6.0 storyline, ending with Wuk becoming dawnservant and zoraal ja entering the golden city. 6.1-6.2 should have been Shaaloani fun cowboy times, and the bomb train should have been its own entire dungeon but only because the battle team isn't cool enough to make it a trial. 6.3-6.4 should have been Everkeep, then 6.5 sets up whatever the hell the rest of the expac is going to be about.