YoshiP “Torn" Over What to do with the Scions (Interview)

[BabyYoda]

No expansion will be as good as ShB until there is change in narrative design.. change scions.. change formula of storytelling

[AnnRam]

The whole cast were completely useless 90% of the time at DT.

But in terms of what companion should be removed ASAP is Eren I mean why in the world you put this guy as your side kick when he can't fight, doesn't bring any useful information and only stands there just like WOL.

[Raven2014]

Somehow literally none of the feedback from the past years has been understood it seems. None of the current feedback is understood. "Wuk Lamat is not confident enough" is NOT the takeaway! "Seems like players can't manage a second with the entire cast of scions breathing down their necks" is NOT the takeaway! "7.0 was a testing ground for character arks, and uhh, idk, players not happy for some reason" when Krile/Erenville get 5 minutes of screen time is NOT the takeaway!

This maybe copium talk but I honestly don't think Yoshi is that stupid, and the backlash is strong enough that he had probably at least went through it himself. There is an old saying "sometime you learn more by observing what people don't do, rather than what they do". His responses to the MSQ doesn't sound honest and more like deflection, so the question is ... why? If he doesn't think the issue is serious, he would address it directly. The fact he's trying to deflect make me think he does know how bad it is. One of the thing Yoshi is known for is that he's fairly protective of his staffs as far as public relation goes. I forgot under what circumstance it happened but in the past he had called for players to stop being viced and harass his staffs because they're human too. IMO he's choosing a diplomatic approach and make it sounds like a collective failure rather than throwing the currents writers under the bus.

I doubt Yoshi is the only one reviewing the situation, the feedback is strong enough that it's probably an all hand on deck situation that included the previous senior writers. And if you notice that in their own interview about the issue, they too pretty much tried to dance around the issue as well.

[Voidmage]

I'll be blunt.
All the interviews with Yoshida right now read as damage control in my eyes.
I want to have faith but I can't completely believe that they planned all this to "see how the players would react".

Anyway on topic:
I think the devs are more afraid of leaving the scions behind than the players. Yes there will be voices over them not being in the expansion but I only see two fractions of that tbh.
G'Raha Tia had enough adventures with us for a while now, no matter what his hardcore fangirls think but tbh he is the one I'd have the least problems with (if they keep his crushing on the WoL in check).

The twins are just annoying at this point.
Alphinaud is complete with his character ark and Alisaie is just obnoxious now and only has her sass as a personality trait all centered on us.

Thancred, Urianger, Y'sthola could use a little break and Estinien has no idea what he wants to be now.

Krile is barely a scion and needs far more time to be fleshed out.

Let them take a break (minus Krile) or only have one or two of them with us and give us new characters for an expansion.
The idea of Wuk Lamat was good but horribly used.
The WoL and Krile should have had her, Koana, Bakool JaJa and Zoarl Ja in a team, rotating and interacting with each other.
Later Otis and Sphene would have also joined and done... a good team that had made the betrayal and all the stuff far more meaningful.

Tldr:
Scions need a break,
new characters can work if they actually interact with the WoL (like the scions in the past),
Devs are the ones afraid of leaving the scions behind and not the players.

And yes, I am someone who likes the scions and who has Thancred as one of his favourites.

[Infindox]

I think how Estenien is portrayed in DT is how it should be with most of them: they are still there in the background, working on their own goals or just adventuring, and showing up when needed. The twins had a good reason for coming along this time, and G'raha literally was there just because of all the Alligan parallels with Alexandria 's use of beast souls. (And while people like to think the gondola scene was a "date scene", it was an interesting thought from him about if he went about things the same way Sphene did. Also no, Twitter, that scene wouldn't have worked with anyone else.) And of course Krile was there because it was her time to (though she didnt get enough imo). Otherwise that whole plot with Thancred and Urianger was pointless, and I felt that Y'shtola didn't even need to come to begin with.

[Khryseis_Astra]

People will only complain if you don\\\\'t give us a good enough REASON for their absense. If I feel the only reason a character isn\\\\'t included in the story is because the writer didn\\\\'t want them there, then I\\\\'d be upset (like I was in Dawntrail). If I feel like "ok, that makes sense, and we will meet them again and see how that went afterwards", and then we get to see the result of their work at a later time, then it\\\\'s satisfying.

I love the Scions. I don’t want an expansion where they don’t show up at all. But yes, I want a reason for their presence and/or absence. I want them to feel like an active part of the story. While I enjoyed the MSQ, I did feel like most of the Scions, and at times even my own character, were just tagging along.

For DT, it was fine that the twins went… but even though they had a few speaking parts here and there, they didn’t really feel like themselves. Krile should definitely have had more spotlight… half the important reveals in her story were done offscreen! And we should have had more conversation with Erenville during his arc… I know we’re not quite besties at this point, but he got a pretty heavy emotional bomb dropped on him, and I know my WoL would’ve wanted to at least try to console him and talk about it!

As for the others, I see a lot of missed opportunities. We should’ve had at least one fun friendly sparring match with Thancred & Urianger as a solo duty type thing. Other than that, they had a reason for being there, and were actually relevant to Koana’s story. Graha was okay, and in particular, the gondola scene was great, but they could’ve given him more in the lead up to LM. Y’shtola I feel will have more of a role in the patches, as we (hopefully!) research the key and see what it can do, but didn’t seem like she was utilized as well as she could be where she appeared.

I wrote this in another thread, but I would also like NPCs in general, but big ones like the Scions in particular, to be more interactive outside of the MSQ. Some of the examples I used were “mini-quests” like dropping in on Y’shtola for a cup of tea and chat about the latest (plot relevant) book she found in the restricted section, or go bar-hopping with Thancred, or stargazing with Urianger? Teach Alphinaud to swim? Have a sparring match with Alisae? Learn to paint with Krile? And most of those could have been done in Tural too. We could’ve went back to that taco stand with Graha and finally gotten our taco!

But it would be nice if we could get more than a one-line response from the big NPCs after the MSQ has concluded, like actually spend some time with them. It would also be a way they could still be included during storylines that don’t really have a major plot point for them, so the people that dislike them don’t feel like they’re being shoehorned in, but those who enjoy them don’t feel like they’ve been left out.

[gumas]

Watch the dev remove scion in this new trilogy and make wuk lamat our new "alphinaud"

Please no....

[Infindox]

As for the others, I see a lot of missed opportunities. We should’ve had at least one fun friendly sparring match with Thancred & Urianger as a solo duty type thing. Other than that, they had a reason for being there, and were actually relevant to Koana’s story. Graha was okay, and in particular, the gondola scene was great, but they could’ve given him more in the lead up to LM. Y’shtola I feel will have more of a role in the patches, as we (hopefully!) research the key and see what it can do, but didn’t seem like she was utilized as well as she could be where she appeared.

I wrote this in another thread, but I would also like NPCs in general, but big ones like the Scions in particular, to be more interactive outside of the MSQ. Some of the examples I used were “mini-quests” like dropping in on Y’shtola for a cup of tea and chat about the latest (plot relevant) book she found in the restricted section, or go bar-hopping with Thancred, or stargazing with Urianger? Teach Alphinaud to swim? Have a sparring match with Alisae? Learn to paint with Krile? And most of those could have been done in Tural too. We could’ve went back to that taco stand with Graha and finally gotten our taco!

My issue with the whole thing of them being there for Koana is that once he decides he will help Wuk Lamat out to win, they literally disappear from the plot until the whole "fight against the Alexandrian invaders" part was going on. And they had a good scene with Koana, but that's about it. Kinda wanted more of that "two gay dads help out Koana" feeling that cutscene had even after he decided to stop winning.
I do agree with Y'shtola though, hoping that is the case.
Also those would be fun little side quests they could do, kinda like the Tataru ones in EW.

[Shibi]

I really liked Erinville and Robot Otis.

Would have been a good chance to retire off two core scions to the overworld, for later visits. With another two going later, then another two later.

RedSGE Alphi was just a hollow waste of breath sniping my heals and shields. RedSGE when I was GreenSGE - but still letting him heal and shield - just proved they couldn't even get that part right. Why not give Erinville a weapon instead?

[Infindox]

I really liked Erinville and Robot Otis.

Would have been a good chance to retire off two core scions to the overworld, for later visits. With another two going later, then another two later.

RedSGE Alphi was just a hollow waste of breath sniping my heals and shields. RedSGE when I was GreenSGE just proved they couldn't even get that part right. Why not give Erinville a weapon instead?

I personally think Erenville should stay combat job-less and be a party member that doesn't fight but helps out in other ways. It's an interesting dynamic that he has.