Please bring back Ishikawa and give her free reign!

[Lyth]

The development team introduced Daichi Hiroi as taking over Ishikawa's previous role in the October 8th, 2022 Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXIII (which was part of the Eighth 14-hour broadcast), and outlined their writing workflow and division of responsibilities. Coming up with scenario text is part of his duties. Hiroi also apparently gave an interview with Famitsu during the 14-hour broadcast in which he discussed bringing in his theatre background into the writing, and that he wants to focus on the flow of the characters' emotions in the writing as 'lead story writer going forward'. I'm sure that there are plenty of people writing scenes for the script, but it looks like he's their principal writer, regardless of how you want to localize his job title.

I personally don't care what they do with their writing team so long as they fix the quality of the writing that they put out in the MSQ, so you can take the information from the 14-hour broadcast or leave it, either way.

[Lurina]

I remember that broadcast, but that was two years ago, when the expansion was still in early production. The statement about it from Ishikawa was much more recent, and she named those two writers as the ones currently penning Dawntrail without him being mentioned at all.

Unless I'm misunderstanding something (which is possible, the specifics could have just been lost in translation and I can't find video to check myself), I'd be inclined to think he became disinvolved with the actual writing of the script at some point a while before release. Maybe that's because he simply stepped back after the initial drafting, but since a lot of Dawntrail's problems come down to the execution more than the outline, I'd at least say the situation seems muddy.

[Lyth]

It's unlikely that Hiroi stepped away from the writing if he's got top billing on the writing credits. But you're right that it's probably more accurate to describe Dawntrail's story as the product of a team of writers. Point taken, I will switch over to using Hiroi et al., going forward, in the name of accuracy.

Either way, I sure hope that Hiroi et al. can get it together in time for the next storyline.

[Dikatis]

Ah yes the toxic positivity strikes again...all jokes its ok for new writers to step in yes but the direction of the story should have been viewed much more carefully.

It's not even toxic positivity. It's Ishikawa's own decision to step away and let her juniors have the spotlight for once rather than clinging to the job forever. It's in her explicit wishes.

Edit: Ah, it was a joke. Still, while I agree that Dawntrail could have been better told, I don't particularly like how people put Ishikawa on a pedestal just to verbally flagellate any of the other writers.

[Cleretic]

Still, while I agree that Dawntrail could have been better told, I don't particularly like how people put Ishikawa on a pedestal just to verbally flagellate any of the other writers.

Every story could be better told, honestly, especially on a subjective 'what I would like more' level which is what most people are working on, even if they don't realize it. The fact that you could make improvements isn't a fault of the writers, and trying to call for the people responsible to be run out of the game is just awful.

It's honestly a big part of why I wish we'd stop exalting Shadowbringers. That story also has some serious flaws, and things other expansions do much better at, but found its success form taking a few gambles that happened to pay off among the wider playerbase. But as long as we keep treating it as The Perfect Expansion That Must Be Constantly Replicated, we fail to treat it like it deserves: as a story itself, that's got positives and negatives.

[justausername]

If I had to come up with a list of what I would hope from a MSQ writer at this point, I think it would be:

• Keep the player character central to the narrative. Proxy heroes are a terrible idea (see: GW2's Trahearne).
• Incorporate lots of player dialogue choices, and avoid deliberately reinterpreting what the player says. This is obviously not a branching storyline, but sometimes a snarky or humorous comment is the only way that the player can diffuse their frustration over a plot direction they have no control over.
• It's probably safer to build new characters over a long time (ideally a couple of expansions) so that you can lay down the groundwork and gauge audience reactions before giving them a more important role. It feels like characters like Krile and Estinien had bit parts for years before they got their big break.
• Be respectful of the work of your predecessors, both in terms of earlier worldbuilding as well as previous Final Fantasy installments. I didn't enjoy bratty Ramza or evil Garnet. Let me preserve the positive memories of these classic games, please.
• If you're going to use up a plot hook, leave another one for the next writer who comes after you. It really feels like we're burning through shards lately for the sake of cheap drama. We have three unknown shards left. Each 'mostly destroyed' shard that we get is a massive loss of worldbuilding potential.

[*]Keep the player character central to the narrative. Proxy heroes are a terrible idea

very much disagree on this point. I, and my entire group of friends and FC mates very much enjoyed that we took a step back to foster the adventurous spirits of others, and that our otherworldly power wasn't the focus of the story. Been getting REAL tired of that for a while now. Like I get it. We're stronkist. Woo. Let's talk about something else and not have the weight of the world or even universe on our shoulders for a little while, yeah?

[Lyth]

People do tend to find it jarring when you're running a serial work about one character for 10+ years and then swap over to a new one, regardless of what you do. It's a bit like starting to play a new Phoenix Wright installment except Apollo Justice is the main character instead. You're naturally going to want the original back. The impact is doubled when the story was written as interactive fiction done in a second person narrative, and but you're now a side character, you no longer get to interact, and the entire story now hinges on you clicking with a newly introduced character. The writers are naturally going to miss much more than they hit with such an approach.

As a reference, Guild Wars 2 tried this very early on in the original release of their main game. The first part of the levelling process was all about you and your personal story as you build a name for yourself as a budding hero. In the second half, they introduce in a proxy hero who gets you to do tasks and then takes credit for saving the world. If I remember correctly, the players' reaction was so universally negative to this that said character was put on a bus, then possessed by an elder dragon and struck down tearfully by the player character a few expansions later. If you want to create a temporary shift in focus, you can't afford to be so extreme in your writing that you alienate most of your players.

I also don't think that the writing deemphasized the Warrior of Light's power at all, which was the strangest thing - it does get constantly brought up. It would have been a perfect opportunity, given that we're travelling to a new continent and nobody knows who we are. It seemed like in every fight the villains briefly turned over to the sidelines and said 'I sure am glad you're in the sidelines doing nothing, because you look super dangerous', and then we punched our hands and nodded for the proxy hero to continue. Like, what?

We haven't fostered anything here. I think if you want to create a sense of mentorship, then that relationship really has to grow over time. Characters like Krile, Erenville, and even Tataru are characters that we have a pre-existing relationship with, and could benefit from our battle experience if they wanted to. You could easily do an expansion with any of them in a more central role and there would be a lot more support for this. I think in Lamaty'i's case, she would have benefitted tremendously from just being a side companion for an expansion in a completely different area, much like Erenville did over the course of Endwalker. You also need interactions with the player where you actually can offer guidance and let them reflect over time, or even scenes like we did for Hamon Holyfist were you train them up and teach them to fight.

Hiroi et al. probably had a vision that they wanted Lamaty'i to have this beautifully dramatic scene where she could save the Warrior of Light in the last moment by jumping through a dimensional rift and then soloing the boss. They just didn't know how to develop the story to get her from the point of being kidnapped by King K. Rool's minions to the point where she is able to confidently solo extradimensional threats that said overpowered Warrior of Light struggles with. But the process of 'getting there' is unfortunately just down to writing quality, which Dawntrail had a drought of.

To me, though, the most egregious fault was that the principle writer very clearly looked at this game's dialogue choice system and scoffed at it. Not only are they rare, but the choices are generally all the same. With stories like these, not every moment is going to resonate or sit well with the players. If I'm getting a bit frustrated with a Shadowbringers or Endwalker scene, I usually have a chance to crack a silly joke and introduce a bit of levity into an otherwise tense moment, or I can express that I'm only grudgingly on board. Dawntrail makes a deliberate point of throwing out player choices, to the point where characters deliberately misinterpret disagreement as you being 'overwhelmed' and 'at a loss for words'.

I think a lot of these points just come down to remembering and respecting the legacy of those who have gone before you. This is a game and series with a rich history. The audience has invested 10+ years into it. There are conventions to the worldbuilding, writing, and player interactivity. It feels like Hiroi et al. have disregarded this legacy in their writing. I know that some things are a matter of taste, and there have been plenty of previous story directions that I've not enjoyed but simply shrugged at. This feels very different. This feels like it's written by someone who believes that their writing approach is better than what was put out before them, not just in this game, but in other entries in the series as well. That's what I mean by feeling discomfort around the writing.

It's a tremendous privilege for someone to write for a Final Fantasy game. I want to see a respect for the game and series legacy brought out in the writing.

[EdwinLi]

As a reference, Guild Wars 2 tried this very early on in the original release of their main game. The first part of the levelling process was all about you and your personal story as you build a name for yourself as a budding hero. In the second half, they introduce in a proxy hero who gets you to do tasks and then takes credit for saving the world. If I remember correctly, the players' reaction was so universally negative to this that said character was put on a bus, then possessed by an elder dragon and struck down tearfully by the player character a few expansions later. If you want to create a temporary shift in focus, you can't afford to be so extreme in your writing that you alienate most of your players.

Trehearne was not a proxy hero though. He was a side character who did the aspect of a Job that no Player will want to do so the Player's character can have the freedom to be a Adventure. He often credited the Commander a lot but people tend to tunnel vision his actions as taking credit because the Commander was not given the role as Leader of the pact by default without considering all the work the Commander will have to do as Leader for a massive organization that is still young but growing rapidly and they did talk about all these things Trehearne had to deal with offscreen very often that players would have gone NOPE over if they had to deal with it with their character.

He handle the paperwork (a large amount at that due to how young the organization is), meetings for the organization, trading negotiations, recruitment advertisements, Public appearances for PR stuff, hire people who can help manage some of these tasks daily, and etc daily tasks for managing a entire organization that players will never want because it will turn GW2 into a real life desk job simulator. They were very upfront with Trehearne being busy with these task so he never had the freedom to go around adventuring like the Commander while the Commander was given room to do adventuring stuff or whatever a Player does because he sacrificed his time for these things so the Commander has to never deal with them.

Logan took up the Pact Leader job after Trehearne passing partly since he meets the qualifications for this job because he can also manage all these things and still be skilled for field combat due to his previous job as Sperah.

[Moomba33]

I enjoyed the writing in Dawntrail more than most people. It addressed a lot of little issues I've had with the game over the years, like letting you be a bit harsher to the antagonists than usual. I also liked how the lower stakes didn't make it feel like you were ignoring a crisis to hang out with the locals.
I do understand its uncomfortable when the game makes your character do things/have feelings you don't agree with (for me, I'm perhaps one of a handful
of people that dislikes the Dark Knight quests), I just lucked out and the narrative went in directions I enjoyed this time.

[*]Keep the player character central to the narrative. Proxy heroes are a terrible idea

very much disagree on this point. I, and my entire group of friends and FC mates very much enjoyed that we took a step back to foster the adventurous spirits of others, and that our otherworldly power wasn't the focus of the story. Been getting REAL tired of that for a while now. Like I get it. We're stronkist. Woo. Let's talk about something else and not have the weight of the world or even universe on our shoulders for a little while, yeah?

Same here.
It was also a nice change to me having the npcs you meet excited to see Wuk Lamat instead of you. I was a bit disappointed when the Arcadian went back to "Omg you're the best fighter ever we love you" with some npcs. Although nothing will ever be egregious as the Ancients praising you as the bestest familiar ever.

For me, Dawntrail's main struggle was pacing. Some stuff dragged on for too long (see the alpaca trading arc), and gameplay could have been spaced better throughout. But I do like the overall story and wouldn't mind seeing more from these writers.

[Cleretic]

Same here.
It was also a nice change to me having the npcs you meet excited to see Wuk Lamat instead of you. I was a bit disappointed when the Arcadian went back to "Omg you're the best fighter ever we love you" with some npcs. Although nothing will ever be egregious as the Ancients praising you as the bestest familiar ever.

This is something that occurred to me just today: while Dawntrail isn't the only expansion where we're basically a nobody to most of the people around us, Dawntrail is the first expansion where someone else's reputation and charisma is opening all the doors for us. House Fortemps basically just got us into Ishgard in Heavensward, it didn't get further than that.

I can kind of agree on the Arcadion, but in fairness that's literally a fighting arena, and we saved Solution Nine while in Solution Nine. Yeah we're riding on our own reputation there, but it's a very locally earned one. (Also it doesn't really get us far, that crowd scene after M1 clearly showed we're not a crowd favorite.)