Patch 7.1 Discussions

[Lunaxia]

Pandaemonium

I have to give it to them, each time I think I've set the lowest bar for expectations possible, they keep finding a way to limbo under it.

I don't really have much to say except that was some genuinely awful writing. Endwalker was bad, and the Void quests were even worse, but I put at least part of it down to both arcs being rushed. Is the whole of DT like this? Everyone sounds so painfully stiff and awkward.

[Cleretic]

Pandaemonium

I have to give it to them, each time I think I've set the lowest bar for expectations possible, they keep finding a way to limbo under it.

I don't really have much to say except that was some genuinely awful writing. Endwalker was bad, and the Void quests were even worse, but I put at least part of it down to both arcs being rushed. Is the whole of DT like this? Everyone sounds so painfully stiff and awkward.

Dawntrail is the best expansion in my book; I don't think you'll take that as a vote of confidence, but there you go. But is the Pandaemonium bonus quest really the only part of Dawntrail you've done? Because I feel like this question can only exist in those conditions, and those conditions are baffling, especially given that I don't think you actually liked Pandaemonium.

[PorxiesRCute]

Dawntrail is the best expansion in my book; I don't think you'll take that as a vote of confidence, but there you go. But is the Pandaemonium bonus quest really the only part of Dawntrail you've done? Because I feel like this question can only exist in those conditions, and those conditions are baffling, especially given that I don't think you actually liked Pandaemonium.

To be fair, the Pandaemonium capstone quest is level 90. It's very possible to have it unlocked without reaching Dawntrail.

[Lunaxia]

Dawntrail is the best expansion in my book; I don't think you'll take that as a vote of confidence, but there you go. But is the Pandaemonium bonus quest really the only part of Dawntrail you've done? Because I feel like this question can only exist in those conditions, and those conditions are baffling, especially given that I don't think you actually liked Pandaemonium.

As Porxies says, it's a level 90 quest.

I did actually like Pandaemonium, for the record - the Lahabrea/ Athena-centered portion, anyway. The part that comes afterwards, not so much, but it's a done deal at this point, especially given the direction they've chosen to take this quest in.

[Cleretic]

As Porxies says, it's a level 90 quest.

I did actually like Pandaemonium, for the record - the Lahabrea/ Athena-centered portion, anyway. The part that comes afterwards, not so much, but it's a done deal at this point, especially given the direction they've chosen to take this quest in.

Well, I can tell you that it's a freak one-off as far as Dawntrail's writing. It's sadly very predictable from the perspective of Ancient writing, though; like I said way back when the last Endwalker short story released, the Ancients have crossed a point where they're only being written for established Ancient fans without even a scrap for anyone else, and this only proves it.

Dawntrail barely ever mentions the Ancients, for the record, and is much more focused on telling its own story, with what callbacks it does have being to very different and less well-worn parts of the setting. Again, I think it's great, but I'm me and you don't often have the same taste as I do.

I do think it's very peculiar that going by your post history, you've been subscribed since Dawntrail launched, and apparently exclusively posting in topics about Dawntrial's story, and yet have never touched Dawntrail whatsoever. It's clearly not for lack of time or access to the game; again, you've been subscribed this whole time, and played the one new piece of content you had access to within days of its launch. I don't really understand this approach you apparently have, and I'm also not sure I believe it.

[Lunaxia]

really

I've never made any secret of the fact I was curious about DT's reception, so my being around and joining in discussions during launch is hardly strange. Since then, I've subbed... twice, and two (2) of the handful of posts I've made were actually related to DT in some way - most were about this segment of the current patch, so I don't get why it wouldn't make sense that I'd have done it. Very weird that you're paying more attention to my sub history than even I bother to and that for some bizarre reason you seem to think I have some secret agenda where I'd bother playing DT and not announce it, but you do you. Baseless assertions have ever been the fortifying foundation of your reasoning, why stop now?

[SannaR]

Alliance Raid ramblings spoilers for post Rank 5 of San d'Oria missions, part of Wings of the Godess and San d'Oria WotG nation quests. Sorry if I get full on whose Pepe Silvia.

OK so I think I figured out who Alxaal is meant to be and I feel that he's Rochefogne. He starts off as a semi mysterious figure in the rank quest lines until one day he straight up all you're going to cause a calamity and yells at the adventure. You later on find out that he is the late Queen of San d'Oria's brother one Rocgefogne I Tavnazia.

Tavnazia is an island in present day Vana'diel. It wasn't always this way. To most in present day Vana'diel the way this came to be is the orcs used the equivalent of a nuke during their attack on Tavnazia that which caused it to become physically separated from the rest of the land. This made them loose almost all contact with the main land.

Now what you learn either via the San d'Oria missions in the past or through the main story of Wings of the Godess I can't remember is that it wasn't the orcs but San d'Oria itself. They found this sword that has ungodly powers (don't ask how it got forged). So ungodly that you could think of it as Mjolnir in that only a certain type of person can wield it. We get to the point in time when the attack on Tavnazia happens during a mission in the past and the super weapon is the damn sword itself. The weilder if I remember right only unsheathed it which causes a beam of light to shoot from the sword. It not only saved Tavnazia but also caused said separation.

In present day San d'Oria the sword dubbed Lightbringer had been stolen and was about to be found by the orcs in a desperate attempt to restart the crystal war (this is an almost constant thing in XI. Just like how Odin has some kind of involvement in any of the major story lines) but we know that in the past the sword was "lost" on purpose with a swearing to secrecy.

Now Rochefogne found out about what really happened 20 years in the past so knows what Lightbringer is capable of doing. Thankfully the attempt to just unsheathe the sword is averted. As somehow it got tied to the San d'Orian royal line of succession where only the true heir to the throne would be able to wield it.

I'm thinking that if Axaal is to be Rochefogne but with memory loss is because of Atamos. In XI Atamos has the power to eat false histories or time lines that would cause a paradox. It lives in the rift. During the main story of Wings of the Godess we see what those affects can lead to as it gets persuaded into eating the time line that would result in present day Vana'diel. People start forgetting one of the main npcs and how things actually unfolded during the crystal war. So that events would be remembered with how they played out in a parallel time line where the Shadow Lord won only to have Odin betray the Shadow Lord and become a heartless ruler over all of Vana'diel.

Now I could be wrong and that's fine. He could be just a nobody who happens to know Prishe and had a hand in defeating the Shadow Lord at some point in time. And yet why not use a guy who would have good reason to know Prishe, has the same hairstyle and is a sword and shield user. Many XI players wouldn't know of him as you only had to be rank 6 in order to start Rise of the Zilart missions and rank 5 story for all starting nations gave you an ending. I don't think you even had to start rank 6 mission. Just to be rank 6.

[RinaB]

Sure I'll discuss 7.1. It sucked and the reaper changes are trash. I would love some new mechanics outside of dodge my aoe in my aoe beside my aoe. The fundamental screw up with rpr design isn't even acknowledged. Might take 15 years I'm over it

[Rekin]

The patch is about a 7/10.
MSQ:

The overall story is fine. Follow up on death of Solution Nine's monarch leads to their entire society feeling uneasy about the future.
I feel our ability to at least say it's inappropriate for us to be there is a positive step in the right direction compared to our dialogue choices in 7.0.

"Not Texas" segment felt weak. Koana's "heroic" defense cutscene should have been done differently and it feels like the scene was a combination of either the writers relying on Japanese Cliches or just budget cuts.
To elaborate: Koana is an intellectual with bouts of passion, when running to the defense of the lone cow I thought the part of him shooting the dino was fine up until he he tried to block the charge. The scene could have been cooler and still had the same point if when he reached the cow he did the mch's heavy arms thing and unloaded on the beast and in the resulting dust cloud it still could charge through and hit him.
What this changes is makes him appear less idiotic while still getting what the devs wanted to convey thematically through the action of defending the cow.

Another problem with that particular scene is how is he outrunning Wuk and the WoL(assuming to be a melee job). Wuk should outpace him easily and intercept the trex first to get nosale'd which then reasonably makes sense for him to be in a position to stand in front of the cow and do his speech.

The Zoraal Ja freakout is pretty good. The man has more daddy issues than all the primarches from 40k combined. I wish that was given more time and attention in 7.0.

Deathcult following not-Sphene is a nice turn of events. I hope it's not wrapped up in one patch and given time to breathe and grow into something bigger for at least 3 patches.

Overall I feel the writers are incapable of writing scenes that allow multiple moving parts given how stiff the "action" parts are. There is no believable situation where you have multiple hyper-competent martial masters not be able to react to surprise events. Anyone who has played Monster hunter knows even a bunch of idiots are able to react when a Rajang shows up.
At one point or another the writers are going to have to figure out how to explain why things happen in the manner they do that makes actual sense.

24-Man

As a FFXI Vet who left during the last expansion I love all the references and I love seeing Prishe do exactly what I expected her to do. The bosses were great each one better than the last. As a massive fan of the Ark Angels fight in FFXI I loved how they handled it here it was the best.

I'm not too fond of Sareel Ja being a thing. I highly suspect he isn't the true villain. It would be very cool if instead, they played on FFXI's long theme of Odin being the one pulling the strings again. I was upset when Prishe went off with the FFXI adventurer stand in and didn't invite the WoL. I hope they give us a wind-up minion at least later.

[EdwinLi]

The patch is about a 7/10.


24-Man

As a FFXI Vet who left during the last expansion I love all the references and I love seeing Prishe do exactly what I expected her to do. The bosses were great each one better than the last. As a massive fan of the Ark Angels fight in FFXI I loved how they handled it here it was the best.

I'm not too fond of Sareel Ja being a thing. I highly suspect he isn't the true villain. It would be very cool if instead, they played on FFXI's long theme of Odin being the one pulling the strings again. I was upset when Prishe went off with the FFXI adventurer stand in and didn't invite the WoL. I hope they give us a wind-up minion at least later.

A little detail other players are finding with this FFXI raid is that once players complete it...

Alxaal and Prishe can be found in the open world at random locations since they are now traveling the world as Adventurers. It seems they may become permenant side characters that wander the world with this Raid storyline. Their group may even expand each raid section if new characters are planned to be introduced to their group.

This will be a nice touch to this raid if it adds the FFXI adventurer group into the world of FF14.