Would you like the WOL to have a villian arc (mSQ spoilers)

[sindriiisgaming]

(for the sake of cannon i will refer to WOL as a male)

i was brain storming in my own time, and i was thinking that rn our wol is pretty stagnant as a character. he doesn't do much in dt anymore. he was basically turned into wuk lamats rottweiler.

in the msq we learn that azem is going to have some extra impostance going forward since the key is his (please refer to side stories on the LODESTONE) and it has got me in a way that i feel like WOL is just turned into a mantle piece, but in SHB and EW WOL/meteor was a character too.(he was also a character in arr-stb too but lets be honest most of that was heavily suppressed) he had a story, he had feelings and emotions and he had a personality (tho it wasn't shown well) I get that writing for a character owned by a player isnt easy, you have to be careful not to remove the feeling of control from the player. In some ways this is sad, because it holds him as a character back from expressing himself.

so i wonder going forward maybe a villian arc for the WOL? what if it was not a full blown villain arc, but instead tieng into the final threat of msq. maybe accidentally helping them, like on the 1st when we helped emet without realizing it by becoming a sin eater. I was thinking, for his character development it might actually be good for him? hes definitely not a figure without tragedy, but at the same time. hes got things a bit easy now being a godslaying 7/14s rejoined ascian megabeing. not to mention hes azems legacy which is yet more power points for him.

perhaps, if we couldn't weaken the WOL organically. maybe we could balance him by making him do (willingly or unwillingly) something bad. creating a conflict between him and the other scions, and putting his power in check again. I would personally enjoy a trail of you (the wol) vs all of the scions as they try to stop you from whatever it is your tryna do. could be a good battle with interesting dialogue and mechanics. and besides,. your easily enough for 7 people. but maybe not these 7? this could also be a good way to make the scions feel useful again. ill never forget how weak i felt in dt when i was confronted by the endsinger, knowing full well i was absolutely no match for her all alone.

and then after this smaller arc concluded the wol would have some internal crisis where he has to regain his inner strength. remember shb also did this. and it was some of the best writing in the game. how about a little more of this?

anyway these are just ideas. would you like this too? would you like more development of the WOL, or is he fine as he is?

[Jeeqbit]

I mean yes, I thought a villain arc would be cool for the WoL.

I thought we were getting it with Shadowbringers. We were becoming the "Warrior of Darkness", after all.

But, you know how that ended up so...

[sindriiisgaming]

I mean yes, I thought a villain arc would be cool for the WoL.

I thought we were getting it with Shadowbringers. We were becoming the "Warrior of Darkness", after all.

But, you know how that ended up so...

wouldnt really have made sense to be a villain in shb tho XD

[hynaku]

They should make the story so has a path at the end where pick if want to follow the dark side or the side of light. I really want to be an anti-hero.

[Ramiee]

If it allows Thief to be added to the game then yes

[Rithy255]

If it was optional I would like it, I'll never see this as realistic otherwise though.

Sadly I don't think options with what your warrior of light does will ever be a thing.. as far as the story is concerned we're just a predetermined NPC who will always follow the same route. I think this leaves little room for a morally grey character because by default we're meant to be the "hero" and I don't think anything will change that.

[Bonoki]

The Warrior of Light indirectly gave Venat the idea for the Sundering, making us, by extension, an accomplice in that decision. If you think about it, every tragedy and calamity that followed can be traced back to that moment. In a way, we are already the villain of this story.

[AvoSturmfaust]

No, i want a "Alphinaud gets charmed somehow and turns evil" arc so i can finally kill the small rat and get rid of him

[FuwafuwaMii]

If I have to play a villain, I'll drop the game.

[Mainasu]

It would be difficult to justify being a villain in a traditional sense, but I could see them doing something where you're being painted as one by the antagonists. Something like with 2.5's ending, but have that be near the start of a new expansion, and go from there.

The WoL could be imprisoned near the start, and escape with the help of another convict, or several. Could have them become new party members. It would be more interesting if some of said convicts may have actually done some stuff to deserve being there.. I would appreciate having more varied, dissenting voices in the WoL's party, or just those with different moral compasses or motivations. I love the Scions, but they're nearly always of one mind for how to resolve certain crises.

A vague example would be having the opportunity to kill one of the lesser antagonists, but the WoL lets him go because they don't see him as a threat. One of your new convict companions argues with you about it and insists it's a bad idea. Maybe it comes back to bite you all later, and he could berate your decision way more vehemently, maybe even fights you over it. Interpersonal conflicts!

I do hope a more mature tone is something we can get back though in general. It's not about having a quota of dark THINGS happen during the MSQ, but how it's all told. We have an expansion that simultaneously has

a dead baby cave and a 4kids rubber bullet duel

and it clashes too hard. I'm fine with side quests having sillier, lighter things, but we need a more consistent tone for the MSQ.