I understand that this may be an unpopular opinion, and I don't mean to ruin anyone's fun if they've been enjoying it, but I have to admit that for some time now, I have really disliked the use of "fan-service" throw-away content for Raids and Alliance Raids.
I realize that these had some vague/token integration with the wider FFXIV lore, but it has still felt very "tacked-on" to me, and like content that belonged much more in a "Special Event" kind of setting (like Lightning, Iroha, or Shantotto).
I really enjoyed the (story of) the following content, because it felt like a distinct part of the FFXIV lore and world, and expanded our understanding of various "unique" aspects of the FFXIV lore:
Whereas, I really have not enjoyed these pieces of content, because they felt almost entirely like tedious, forced, unimportant "filler", "fanservice", or just straight-up "advertisements" disguised as raid content, which ultimately did not actually expand the lore very much, or just "tacked-on" or even "commandeered" a bunch of regions or plot elements solely to justify the raid existing in the first place:
...It's just really disappointing, as a player who is fascinated by the "real" lore of FFXIV such as Voidsent and Mhach, to end up stuck for 1-2 years at a time with raids that are just fan-fiction-like cut+pastes of other SE game characters and stories.
So, I just wanted to offer some sincere / non-sarcastic positive feedback and a "Thank you" for the information that both the Raid and Alliance Raid series of Endwalker will return to telling "original stories".
Continue reading...
I realize that these had some vague/token integration with the wider FFXIV lore, but it has still felt very "tacked-on" to me, and like content that belonged much more in a "Special Event" kind of setting (like Lightning, Iroha, or Shantotto).
I really enjoyed the (story of) the following content, because it felt like a distinct part of the FFXIV lore and world, and expanded our understanding of various "unique" aspects of the FFXIV lore:
- Coils of Bahamut
- Crystal Tower
- Alexander
- Shadows of Mhach
- Eureka
- Eden (if you don't count the 6 of 12 encounters that were just story-less, hasty recyclings of "memories" that we already encountered in ARR / 2.x)
- Bozja
Whereas, I really have not enjoyed these pieces of content, because they felt almost entirely like tedious, forced, unimportant "filler", "fanservice", or just straight-up "advertisements" disguised as raid content, which ultimately did not actually expand the lore very much, or just "tacked-on" or even "commandeered" a bunch of regions or plot elements solely to justify the raid existing in the first place:
- Omega ("did you know that FFV and FFVI are now available on iOS and Steam?")
- Ivalice ("also War of the Lions, now on iOS!")
- YoRHa ("Square-Enix also publishes other games, such as NieR: Automata!")
...It's just really disappointing, as a player who is fascinated by the "real" lore of FFXIV such as Voidsent and Mhach, to end up stuck for 1-2 years at a time with raids that are just fan-fiction-like cut+pastes of other SE game characters and stories.
So, I just wanted to offer some sincere / non-sarcastic positive feedback and a "Thank you" for the information that both the Raid and Alliance Raid series of Endwalker will return to telling "original stories".
Continue reading...