I don't get why people like the Arcadion's story (Spoilers)

[Hallarem]

I noticed that too. It was a huge shock that the President didn't care that we wanted to release all the souls or all the other things. In fact, his goals align perfectly with ours, to the point that kidnapping people has no actual purpose. You would think the President would want to run future tournaments after this one. But no. He only cares about finishing this one, like the WoL does. So our goals align and there's not really an overarching villain after all.

I think his main directive is to give the people entertainment. I think his whole purpose is tied into the Arcadion somehow, whether by personality or the fact that he's an endless that has been programmed to do it. I think the souls are just the honeypot to lure in the WoL to fight = more entertainment. I think it's all about the melodrama that wrestling has where everything from kidnapping to goofier stuff happens in the storylines too in WWE and other wrestling federations. Vince Mcmahon the chairman of WWE doesn't give a hoot about if his wrestlers use drugs, get mental health issues because of that, or if his wrestlers get hurt as long as the show keeps going.
I think the President think he can eventually beat us, maybe with a heavyweight champion, but I wouldnt be surprised if his only reason was to just keep the show going and making it as entertaining as possible with "storylines" which our "Non-soul using fighter braves the arena and fights soul-users to free all the souls!"

[Ath192]

... And i'm legitimately curious as to why people *do* like it. Convince me. Share with me the reasons that it resonates with you.

...

Enlighten me.

I don't even understand why it has to be evil. Why does everything have to be slap stick evil for some reason? Couldn't it just have been an arena with a wholesome tournament and savage fighters where you get a trophy and earn their respect at the end?

Nah.

It has to be full of Children getting pumped up with substances and getting cancer and kidnappings and people throwing their lives away just to look cool.

Yeah. Juvenile would be the word to describe it. Not overthinking it and keeping it straight forward would've been the correct choice here. But for some reason everything solution 9 does has to be absolutely toxic. May as well just burn the entire society down.

[hydralus]

I don't even understand why it has to be evil. Why does everything have to be slap stick evil for some reason? Couldn't it just have been an arena with a wholesome tournament and savage fighters where you get a trophy and earn their respect at the end?

I'd be down with that too but then you know the forums would be exploding over how stupid it is that there's no reason for the WoL to do it aside from ego/'proving Zenos right'.

[AshtonCrowe]

I think Arcadion story should've been MSQ Tbh, Way more depth than anything Wookie Lamat ever shown.

Arcadion Music Is SSS Tier, "Bee my Honey" & "Not Afraid" compliment the fights so well.

[Basteala]

Is it because of the spectacle? Is it a "turn your brain off and have fun" storyline that you just don't care if things make sense so long as it's got spectacle, good music, and cool fighters? Or are there other reasons?

Enlighten me.

I think people like it because it's the antithesis of what launch MSQ was for DT. It was a breath of fresh air. It's a lower stakes adventure where you're not trying to save the world, you're going on an adventure that shifts into a strong moral stance to save a few people and stop what your character finds morally deplorable--the use of souls for entertainment. The plot is basic, but this is kind of the premise DT offered and then failed to do.

And it's important to mention that you are doing it. You're coerced, but it's your choice. You're not being dragged around babysitting a side character with aspirations of upstaging you as the protagonist. That's going to be huge for a lot of players. Remember Shaaloni, the filler, was a favorite part of the MSQ for a lot of people during launch. Same reasons.

But then...compare the fighters to the Scions. All the Scions felt bland, lifeless shadows of themselves. That's--by far--one of the biggest complaints of DT's writing once you get past the bulging dossier on Wuk Lamat. The fighters, by contrast, have vividly different, and charming personalities. You could argue a little tropish, and that might be true--but I think some of them, especially in 7.2, get some more nuance to their personalities, or double down on the ideas to comedic effect--especially Honey B Lovely and Brute Bomber.

Presentation also matters--and the fact we get pretty good music that sets the mood and sometimes even expands on a character's thoughts and narrative (Wicked Thunder, Howling Blade).

Are there wrinkles and flaws I can point out? Do I have questions about the direction? Absolutely. Questions are only a problem if the answers are unsatisfactory, however (such as a President, I'll get into him). And mild, or even moderate flaws are forgivable if enough of the experience delivers.

This is gonna be a multi parter for the rest. Bear with me.

[Basteala]

Explaining that the President gave him purpose in life doesn't handwave away all the other relationships the story has been trying to build. It only makes his motives feel cheap.

If you've ever played RDR2, it's the same reason people were so loyal to Dutch. The President is bringing in strays. People lost, or at their low points, or desperate. He tells them everything they want to hear. Quitting a job isn't easy, especially if it's one you like. And for most of these fights, quitting means leaving everything they have.

For Honey Bee, on the other hand, the choice was easy. She already has what she wants: legions of adoring fans who will stand by her seemingly no matter what. She doesn't need the Arcadion any more when she can live as a streamer celebrity. The Arcadion essentially outlived its usefulness to her, so leaving wasn't all that hard.

Compare this to say...Sugar Riot. Her wants are similar. Her art was a tool of expression first and foremost, and she deeply enjoyed the attention her work received. However, without the Arcadion, she loses her biggest audience. She can go back to the city where people can see her graffiti, but it doesn't have same notoriety or admiration. But to her that's still better than losing it all in dying. So she's despondent, but willing to retire.

Then you have Dancing Green who's sticking with the job more or less out of routine at this point, even though the passion is gone. For him all it took was a little push to leave, and the revelation was a big shove.

Which leads to Howling Blade and Brute Bomber, who both felt they had nothing before the Arcadion. The danger of their career literally killing them is worldshaking. It's natural to be in denial (Brute Bomber) when facing such bad news so abruptly. The Five Stages of Grief are a thing; he gets through three of them before he dies.

Howling Blade, on the other hand, is not in denial at all--if anything he's in the last stage of grief where he's accepted it, and has decided he would rather enjoy a short , joyful life than be--in his mind--miserable for a long one. Like Eutrope before him, Howling Blade's fight lyrics tell a narrative about his headspace. The most important thing in that context is how he only feels not just purpose, but a sense of who he truly is when he becomes Howling Blade. More on that in a second.

Now you might say Howling Blade has Eutrope and he's being an idiot. Absolutely. But being an idiot in a relationship and worrying about whether you measure up is honestly very realistic. And remember--he thought Eutrope left him. We see that exchange right before we break the news to Brute Bomber.

[Basteala]

Hell, they will flip on a dime when the story suits it too..

Kind of agree that this could have been handled better, but this is where I think the context of Retsarra's mindset (I'm using his real name here) becomes really important. Retsarra is practically wedded to his face as Howling Blade. His whole sense of identity is attached to this character. Retsarra doesn't want to accept the terms of the WoL's challenge, because he knows it for the trick that it is. However, as soon a the crowd starts heckling him he accepts the challenge under pressure because it's what Howling Blade would do. Howling Blade wouldn't fear such a challenge, so he accepts it regardles of what Retsarra thinks about it. Likewise, he accepts defeat gracefully and agrees to those terms because that's what Howling Blade would do. To turn down the challenge, and especially to continue fighting would be to break Howling Blade's character, and thus break who he sees himself to be.

Now we're asked to accept a lot of this at face value, Howling Blade's self identity matter as well as the fact we're not really told why, but this isn't a problem unique to Arcadion so much as the Normal Raid stories as a whole. Cutscene time is limited, and the first casualty is nuance. I think Arcadion does that better than, say...the imperfect creation magic of Eden (which can be explained but it's a lot of work and speculation--also why did we summon two primals at once in the name of speed? What rush were we in at that point?), or the inner mechanical details of Alexander's time loop, how a soulless creation in Alpha can suddenly develop a soul, or even just why the human spirit matters in a fight (although EW does explain this two xpacs later, Omega arguably setting the groundwork for Dynamis--but we wouldn't have known that then).

* Our big bad, the President..

The President is one of the "questions" that needs a satisfying answer in 7.4 and it could really make or break the plot. I have a pet theory about this President's motives--I think he's against the use of Feral Souls. Not necessarily for moral reasons, but as a purist--remember that the Arcadion never used Feral Souls in the past. That's why he's so interested in recruiting you--the unaugmented fighter. If you win the title, you prove that Feral Souls aren't necessary. And while they might be less visually interesting, you will absolutely have people trying to copy your success, so you releasing all the feral souls creates kind of an "oh well" situation where the President can nudge people back into the old ways.

Now if he's not acting this was as someone with an axe to grind with feral souls, I got nothing. I could somewhat see it as a Rock esque corporate villain because wrestling reference, but that falls a little flat right now because the story is completely out of public awareness.

[Basteala]

* The solution to the problem is literally pulled out of thin air by a child at the most opportune moment.

THIS on the other hand I absolutely agree with. I can buy that Oblivion has resources and that the military has a solution to combat the use of Feral Souls--after all--we do see that in Vanguard and the man seems unconcerned about the dire consequences of the illness.

HOWEVER, what I don't buy is that Eutrope never found this herself. That she found everything she knew in the Arcadion's hidden databanks and then just...never looked anywhere else? I guess it could be argued that it would have been more difficult with Zoraal Ja at large and Oblivion busy with getting him out of power, but it seems odd that Eutrope's thorough investigation was still so limited.

Then, conveniently, she's spirited away before she can do anything about it.

That's a box standard plot device. I get how it can feel uninspired if you already have objections to the plot, though. Likewise people that enjoy the plot aren't going to care about one of the oldest tricks in the writing book. This is probably the proverbial cilantro of the story.

Sorry for all the posts. I had a lot to say and I wanted to give each point you made proper attention. It's refreshing to have a civil discussion about story for a change.