Saturday 18 January 2025
Are you Hardcore or just gonna quit?
here is the source A video from Quazi Mourning FFXIV Dawntrail
This is not a part 3 To the Road to 7.2
But reoccurring comments from players including myself
I'm going to show off the heartfelt comments and feelings from a couple of players and also share my thoughts, even though I am repeating this to myself and to the readers who play FFXIV or just play games.
DawnTrail Was Hype despite Yoshi_P's telling us that there.
Discord comments
I do feel better lol. Like hey people get how sad a situation this is not in a tragic way that cripples me IRL, but a tragic way - like almost a grudging acceptance that the good times might not come back
DT had great concepts, but very poor execution. It's really a shame. Expansion should have focused more on Krile and Erenville (especially the former). They had way too little screen time. Also, Krile being a pictomancer and didn't really do any PCT-related things at all throughout MSQ.
Ironically, the fact that the team probably isn't crunching (hopefully) has meant that content is spaced out (and they also specifically pushed patches back a month to prevent this), which sadly means that releasing/changing things is also slow. I do think that most of the other content we have gotten has been good quality, especially battle content like the dungeons, raid, ultimate, alliance raid, and the new chaotic alliance raid. The issue is that the casual content HAS been promised, but is still yet to arrive, thus giving less content for the non-raiders.
New players still will have A LOT to do because most things are evergreen, but enfranchised players have most likely done most things they would aim to do a while ago.
The biggest problem the game has right now is that Yoshida has refused to acknowledge any of the issues people have brought forward, meaning there is not necessarily any guarantee that things will get better.
This is from a recent interview with Saudi Arabia, by the way.
"Starting something completely new"
is not an excuse for slipshod writing.
Not every expansion had this level of negative response. DT is literally rated User Score 5.3 on Metacritic which is a historical low.
This is not "some users"
I think the issue is not the ideas in the plot but the shaping and execution. Post-EW patches had good ideas, but when you evaluate it as a narrative arc, to some extent felt like we were on a hamster wheel. There's some really strange stuff with balancing and character development (or lack thereof) which I think are fair criticisms of DT.
Regardless, people aren't going to wait five years and just patiently subscribe in the meantime. At best, they will unsub and then maybe consider it if people say the next expansion story is good. (Just as some people never came back for DT because they hated the post-EW patches so much both in terms of story and then being bored with the game.
Bancho numbers are interesting and I expect the subs will continue dropping; whether due to dissatisfaction with the game or economic pressures. For a subscription service, this is one of my more expensive ones (higher than Apple Music, Netflix, you get the idea, even my Microsoft Windows). For a few hours of gameplay a week, I'm not sure how to defend it.
Quazi FFXIV Youtube comments lmao
They did Krile so dirty this expansion. First they forget to put her in the EW poster art, then they take what was supposed to be a big expansion for her and just gave her a little 10 min side story arc and that was it. Ignored for the remainder of the expansion. C'mon! Someone said it once and I've been repeating it as I agree, Estinien got the vacation adventure we were promised. Every time he was leaving I was just screaming at the screen "TAKE ME WITH YOU!!"
It's simple. Would Dawntrail be better if we had 10 years of Wuk Lamat before she becomes the ruler? No, probably not.
I never thought the promotion of Ms. Ishikawa would have such a tremendous impact on the MSQ story. I thought her guiding the younger writers would keep the story relevant for years to come. It seems she is much better at writing than editing.
I initially thought that maybe she would be in a position for overall story review and input. I think, though, that she's working on another game entirely. I will not be surprised when they announce that she wrote FF17. Then we'll know for sure where she went.
I think she's just very talented, but maybe not as good in teaching? Yoshi-P did mention that he gives his writing team many freedoms, and Ishikawa is simply gifted. She might do things naturally that are hard to convey, or maybe the younger writing staff just isn't there yet.
ts the old adage of people getting promoted over their competency level then settling there as a mediocre manager
I suspect that maybe she may not have been able to have as much control over what they wrote being there was likely an emphasis on pushing new writers getting a stab at things. I wonder if there was some behind the scenes red tape. She's a wonderful writer herself, and it's possible being newly promoted she wanted to give others a chance, but I honestly feel they needed better managing/ directing but I also don't know who they let write these things. But I'm curious if there isn't more going on.
It's simple. Ishikawa is simply not working on FFXIV or is being too generous. She is even the senior writer, so she is even above the main writer. But nothing happened. There could still be management issues/behind the scene stuff, but that would be a completely different subject.
The problem is very different, ihmo. WoL and the Scions (except Krile) have exhausted their narrative arcs, they don't have much more to say after what they went through from ARR to Endwalker. it would take master writers to continue to keep the story interesting.
it did not, every single story beat and story is still checked and approved by her being the writing director. people glaze her much too highly she is the one who was responsible for the doma part of stormblood which completely screwed up the story beats of stormblood.
sorry, but I'm going to say this... even if they dont get ishikawa back, they should fire the team who did dawntrail. i know it's harsh, but the story is basically the backbone of ffxiv, and if this team keeps doing this, well, we're all really going to mourn ffxiv
I really felt underwhelmed with how much they felt they needed to shoehorn in the Scions. It seems they were both too afraid to let go of the past and too afraid to try something brand new. I think Krile could've benefited from more screen time but they could've cut all of the scion nostalgia. It's okay to let those characters rest to focus on the newer cast. I think for the most part the Scions have completed their arcs, we didn't need them to tag along here too. But I may be alone on this one.
100% agree. Imo, we should've left the Scions at home and take on this journey with only Krile and Evenville, and Wuk Lamat. No twins, no "this is Thancred", no Urianger. No Y'shtola, no G'raha (like heck, I dont care whether or not the Baldesion Annex is looked after). I still believe it was a cowardly move to save the Scions back in Ultima Thule.
No it's not just you. Dawntrail didn't connect with a lot of people, this is very very apparent, in my personal circle, in the circles of my friends, and many online communities. Some of the people I started the game with actually said they're giving the story a last shot in 7.2 and if it remains at this level, they'll quit the game. And to my surprise, even people who initially liked Dawntrail's story, are slowly waking up due to various reasons. For example, a friend of mine recently watched a sprout friend play through dawntrail for the first time and finally realized how devoid of logic the entire narrative is. This has nothing to do with "growing out of a game", this is the game falling short on basic expectations.
I hate to say this, because I've played since ARR, I love the game, but Dawntrail was the first time I felt like the devs didn't care. The other expansions had hits and misses but there was polish and things felt fully thought through. Dawntrail, the MSQ was a mess, plot holes everywhere, lack of consistent cause and effect. Characters were inconsistent, most damning being Wuk since she's the entire focus but they couldn't even keep small things, like fear of heights, consistent. Scenes like the throne room that could easily have been fixed if we had been fighting outside and couldn't help. The voice acting was crazy in English for a bunch of the characters and again most damning being Wuk, letting the main character go to launch with bad line delivery is insane. Soken almost never misses but Smile, the pitchy vocals being left as they were, I still cannot believe it as the main theme of the expansion. The tone was all over the place. The new dye channels barely changing anything on so much gear. It's hard to believe that everyone, in every department seemingly, fumbled. It feels like no one really cared so they didn't check or take the time to fix these things. How hard is it to tell a VA what happens in the scene and have them read the line again with a different delivery? DT shook my faith in the devs and I hate to say that.
I think they spent the last 4 years on the Shadowbringers and Endwalker high that they let themselves too loose this time around. Here's hoping they learned their lesson and will be back at it for next expansion.
t even felt beyond being comfortable. Things like "Spheeeene, listen to me", even someone that doesn't know a word of English could hear that and know the emotion is lacking and it didn't match. So much felt like they just whipped up a first draft, no one even cared to check it and they were like "They'll buy it anyway, who cares?".
The storytelling for Dawntrail felt like they delegated it to interns that were forced to take everything that came before and cram it into DT. I still have difficulty believing that Ishikawa had 'a supervisory role', because none of her style or quality was found in DT. The BIGGEST mistake Dawntrail made, in my view, is that it tried to copy Shadowbringers and Endwalker. We did NOT need another emotionally taxing experience. I wanted an epic journey, full of silly situations and resolving in an epic finale. Estinien got the vacation that we should have gotten. Say about ARR what you want, but the Praetorium and everything that came before and after is epic. I expected such a story, but improved with the writing prowess that they've accumulated over the years. What we got, instead, was a final region that caused me emotional fatigue (I play story games to FEEL, for crying out loud) and triggered the burnout I'm still in. They completely missed the mark and I have no faith that they can restore it, for they've now irrevocably damaged the core trifecta that are key to any (RPG) game: gameplay (by nuking Bard and Noct Ast, I started playing because BRD utility drew me in), immersion (Noct Ast fit my character fantasy to a T) and story (DT). Another massive mistake was not using DT as a second step-in point for the story. Now I HAVE to put DT in light of everything that came before, and newcomers are forced to go through over 500 hours of story to get to the current story. That's not drawing in new people, especially in this attention-span obliterating day and age.
RR even had better storytelling -fundamentals-. More interesting things happen in DT, absolutely, but none of the foundation was laid for them to land. The final region was like 75% effective, I saw what they were doing and appreciated the vibes a lot! But the actual story that plays out there is fucking insulting.
I sometimes wonder if they have a skeleton crew on FFXIV at this point or not. A lot of stuff so far has felt unpolished in both 7.0 and 7.1.
The writing team is currently being led by the guy who did the story for the Void Ark raids and the EW post patch quests....you know, some of the most forgettable story in the entire game.
Ooof. The post patch EW stuff wasn't all that bad minus being a bit nostalgia bait-y and the end feeling kind of forced with the "Let's be friends" crap.
DT has had the same exact impact for me. I am surprised (and sad) by the degree to which failing to feel emotionally engaged with the story has made me feel apathetic towards the whole game, even though the time we spend doing story content is small compared to the time we spend doing other content. There are things I could be doing, and would have been doing during ShB and EW, but now, I just...don't. Trust me that it is not because I have changed: I am in my 60s and fairly fixed in my personality, likes/dislikes, life. For now, I'm holding out hope that future DT patches will rekindle the storytelling spark.
The more I look back the more I feel like Dawntrail wasn't what was supposed to happen after Endwalker. There was absolutely zero trails pointing towards The New World other than literally the very last patch of Endwalker. Everything has been pointing towards Meracydia for a while now and I feel like that was the natural progression. We freed Tiamat and she went back to Meracydia. We saved Azdaja after she was lost to the Void after fighting for Meracydia against the Allagans. IDK it just feels like somewhere along the lines things changed and they kind of just threw together Dawntrail almost last minute.
Going back to the discord chat here are My comments
Very interesting “something new on the table?” Make a good arc? Instead of repeating it? Hmmm… what if it was the other way around lol haha I think Yoshi-p has a good point he has mentioned this throughout FanFest NA2023 lol I think player expectations were high and thought man it’s gonna be a banger opening lol haha.
Maybe Stop subbing the game until someone says wow check it out! Or just wait 4 more years to fully grasp the whole story “like those including me who heard this buzzing sound coming from Shadowbringers lol”
We as the players want something new but not too new that it throws us off not liking it. Or be like fuck the beginning we want the end!!!
Idk maybe Yoshi-P looked at the Western audience and thought maybe we gotta change it up or had a difficult choice and just edited it in the writer's room later.
I guess it gonna take 5 years or so to fully adapt it like how it took 7 years for WWE to say Roman Reigns is cool lol.
In the end will Yoshi-P Prove the casual players that this is not some Summer anime beach episode of a game? lmao...
P.S good content to copy and paste it on here lol since you kinda already know I love ffxiv lol