Stormblood MSQ Discussion (THERE ARE SPOILERS IN HERE)

[Faroth]

I will fite you! But really the gridanians aren't hippies and the rule of the elementals saves them frim being too generic and boring. But it gets little plot involvement and is just less interesting than the other regions visually imo.

Y U LIL!! *tackles...bites your ankle*

To be fair the autumn war was over 100 years ago now.

True. And without Ala Mhigans encroaching in the forest for nefarious reasons, I suppose there's no reason old wounds would open.

Dunno if you've completed it already or not, but the 61-70 BRD quests tie in very much with the Autumn War and some of the bits and pieces involved in it.

I haven't, actually. I picked it up, but my retainer is NIN so that took priority after SAM and PLD.

[Florena]

Also Gridania and the rest of Eorzea would probably like for ala mhigo to go back to being a bulwark to keep the empire out of Eorzea again.

[lawow74]

Gridania has always been interesting to me because unlike the real world where hippies talk a bunch of bullshit about nature and Gaia and whatnot, there really IS such a spiritual presence in the Black Shroud. They live there because the elementals allow it, period, end. But beyond that concept, it doesn't interest me much. I'll take the 'pirates trying to go straight' Limsa over 'wealth and corruption like the real world' Ul'dah any day.

Nevertheless, finished 4.1, nice to see things with Nanamo and Fordola and all such as that. I hope we'll see focus shift over to Othard next patch.

[StrawberryZebra]

I liked Ferdola's moments as well. I really like they aren't giving her a pass. Even though she saved them, they still won't forgive her. It feels more appropriate and I'm glad they didn't take the cliche "oh, you saved us, you really do have good in you, hooray!" model. She may become one of the most interesting characters we've had in a long time. She doesn't want the people to forgive her. I'd wager she doesn't want their gratitude for helping either. Because she hasn't/can't forgive herself and doesn't deserve gratitude after what she's done. She's suffering a worse punishment with the echo bombarding her in guilt. Her echo has given her a self directed blast of Ghostrider's Penance Stare, hahaha.

Honestly, I was expecting someone to comment about how Fordola was the hero you needed, but not the one you deserved etc etc. With the hints that Zenos is still alive in the ending cutscene I fully expect that Fordola is going end up killing Zenos, dying doing it, and being remembered as a hero who did whatever it took to liberate Ala Mhigo.

Because after his latest round of character development, there's no way that Righty is going to end up dying in a heroic blaze of glory to save the day.

[Kazgrel]

Honestly, I was expecting someone to comment about how Fordola was the hero you needed, but not the one you deserved etc etc. With the hints that Zenos is still alive in the ending cutscene I fully expect that Fordola is going end up killing Zenos, dying doing it, and being remembered as a hero who did whatever it took to liberate Ala Mhigo.

Because after his latest round of character development, there's no way that Righty is going to end up dying in a heroic blaze of glory to save the day.

What will be interesting concerning Righty, as you refer to Raubahn (sadly enough, that took me more than a second to discern...aka I'm fail ), is how will he affect the power structure within Ala Mhigo at this point. It's seemed evident the writers wanted to put Lyse forward into the spotlight as the new face of Ala Mhigo; to have Raubahn on the team, who already can command far more respect from his fellow Ala Mhigans than she has ever, could serve to undermine the push to have her in a lead role. Will be interesting to see how that pans out.

I'm thinking the Zenos comment by the imperial in that scene is almost a bit of an in-joke about the whole idea of "they're not dead until we see the body". We, the players, along with Lyse, Alphinaud, and a couple others (?) saw him commit sudoku. I would facepalm so much if they pull that stunt yet again. I was already rolling my eyes over Gosetsu's "death", and he was a character I liked. Perhaps they went that route because he had sooooo many obvious death flags raised throughout the story.

[Faroth]

Honestly, I was expecting someone to comment about how Fordola was the hero you needed, but not the one you deserved etc etc. With the hints that Zenos is still alive in the ending cutscene I fully expect that Fordola is going end up killing Zenos, dying doing it, and being remembered as a hero who did whatever it took to liberate Ala Mhigo.

Because after his latest round of character development, there's no way that Righty is going to end up dying in a heroic blaze of glory to save the day.

Zenos is definitely dead, I think. I think it's Zenos' face the Ascian is wearing that shocked the Emperor. That seems to fit all the required marks for what we've seen in Ala Mhigo and Garlemald now.

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What will be interesting concerning Righty, as you refer to Raubahn (sadly enough, that took me more than a second to discern...aka I'm fail ), is how will he affect the power structure within Ala Mhigo at this point. It's seemed evident the writers wanted to put Lyse forward into the spotlight as the new face of Ala Mhigo; to have Raubahn on the team, who already can command far more respect from his fellow Ala Mhigans than she has ever, could serve to undermine the push to have her in a lead role. Will be interesting to see how that pans out.

I can see Raubahn comfortably sliding into his old role from Ul'dah. General of the military and trusted adviser to Lyse. Though she won't have as much pressure on her as Nanamo since they're establishing a Republic so Lyse won't be squarely leading on her own.

I'm thinking the Zenos comment by the imperial in that scene is almost a bit of an in-joke about the whole idea of "they're not dead until we see the body". We, the players, along with Lyse, Alphinaud, and a couple others (?) saw him commit sudoku. I would facepalm so much if they pull that stunt yet again. I was already rolling my eyes over Gosetsu's "death", and he was a character I liked. Perhaps they went that route because he had sooooo many obvious death flags raised throughout the story.

The ascian was wearing a face that shocked the Emperor. I'm pretty confident it's Zenos' face.

[Kazgrel]

Zenos is definitely dead, I think. I think it's Zenos' face the Ascian is wearing that shocked the Emperor. That seems to fit all the required marks for what we've seen in Ala Mhigo and Garlemald now.

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I can see Raubahn comfortably sliding into his old role from Ul'dah. General of the military and trusted adviser to Lyse. Though she won't have as much pressure on her as Nanamo since they're establishing a Republic so Lyse won't be squarely leading on her own.



The ascian was wearing a face that shocked the Emperor. I'm pretty confident it's Zenos' face.

The thought occurred to me that the Lyse/Raubahn thing could shape up akin to Aymeric/Lucia.

That Elidibus could be using Zenos as a corporeal form/puppet is plausible. I'm hoping it's someone that Varis knows but we don't. That would take the impact out of it, though...oh noes Elidibus is Randy Orton, straight outta nowhere!

[Faroth]

The thought occurred to me that the Lyse/Raubahn thing could shape up akin to Aymeric/Lucia.

That Elidibus could be using Zenos as a corporeal form/puppet is plausible. I'm hoping it's someone that Varis knows but we don't. That would take the impact out of it, though...oh noes Elidibus is Randy Orton, straight outta nowhere!

You thought the WoL getting beat at Rhalgr's Reach was something? RKO! RKO! RKO! RKO OUT OF NOWHERE!

[Kazgrel]

You thought the WoL getting beat at Rhalgr's Reach was something? RKO! RKO! RKO! RKO OUT OF NOWHERE!

"Bah God, the WoL has a steel chair!"

[lawow74]

That was one of the things that really irked me about the solo duty. Oh no, I can't kill the Primal, not me the Warrior of Light, I didn't get a permission slip, I have to let the NPC do it...fuck you, SE. Seriously. Bad enough all that Aether sphere bullshit was some pass/fail retardery, then you gotta insult my story role on top of it?

[Florena]

That was one of the things that really irked me about the solo duty. Oh no, I can't kill the Primal, not me the Warrior of Light, I didn't get a permission slip, I have to let the NPC do it...fuck you, SE. Seriously. Bad enough all that Aether sphere bullshit was some pass/fail retardery, then you gotta insult my story role on top of it?

Didn't it end with us killing it while Fordola made a safety bubble for us?

[Kazgrel]

Didn't it end with us killing it while Fordola made a safety bubble for us?

Lyse got the KB with the MNK LB3 that she's able to use even while solo.

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That was one of the things that really irked me about the solo duty. Oh no, I can't kill the Primal, not me the Warrior of Light, I didn't get a permission slip, I have to let the NPC do it...fuck you, SE. Seriously. Bad enough all that Aether sphere bullshit was some pass/fail retardery, then you gotta insult my story role on top of it?

It was intentional for story development. They wanted to give Fordola a role in battle to kickstart her path to redemption. Lyse being present, despite not having the echo, was so that she realized she can actually be helpful to her Echo-imbued friends, namely the WoL, even though it mostly involved us playing Pac-Man running around eating orbs. It gives Arenvald an opportunity to show he can be of some assistance in combat (and does a pretty good job helping eat the orbs). We already know Raubahn's a badass, even being shorthanded.

Being that the whole sequence at the end is meant to be scripted, it sure as hell had me wondering "Uh why the fuck is her hp not dropping" once Lakshmi was at 20%. Intentional to build tension, I suppose, cause I sure as shit thought I was about to fail the duty.

[lawow74]

Being that the whole sequence at the end is meant to be scripted, it sure as hell had me wondering "Uh why the fuck is her hp not dropping" once Lakshmi was at 20%. Intentional to build tension, I suppose, cause I sure as shit thought I was about to fail the duty.

And that's what pissed me off. Being hard-gated from being able to do it cos Lyse has to have a chance to look good. Fuck that, you let Fordola out, good enough. I AM THE WARRIOR OF LIGHT, DO NOT TREAT ME LIKE A FUCKING SPECTATOR. I want that kinda treatment I'll play fucking World of Metzencraft.

[Faroth]

That was one of the things that really irked me about the solo duty. Oh no, I can't kill the Primal, not me the Warrior of Light, I didn't get a permission slip, I have to let the NPC do it...fuck you, SE. Seriously. Bad enough all that Aether sphere bullshit was some pass/fail retardery, then you gotta insult my story role on top of it?

I loved the fight having the pass/fail component.

Didn't it end with us killing it while Fordola made a safety bubble for us?

Yep.

Lyse got the KB with the MNK LB3 that she's able to use even while solo.

Not me. I got my big SAM attack off at the same instant as the LB3 from Lyse. We pulled a Chrono Trigger cross attack for the win!

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And that's what pissed me off. Being hard-gated from being able to do it cos Lyse has to have a chance to look good. Fuck that, you let Fordola out, good enough. I AM THE WARRIOR OF LIGHT, DO NOT TREAT ME LIKE A FUCKING SPECTATOR. I want that kinda treatment I'll play fucking World of Metzencraft.

So you're mad that for one time throughout the entire game of gushing over the player as if they're god's gift to Eorzea, this one time you're not the center of attention?

Yeesh.

Not to mention our god worthiness as Warrior of Light conveniently ignores the MSQ telling you to gather 7 companions for primal battles all the time. It is odd. We're never soloing these fights, and they acknowledge that going into them, yet they always forget it afterwards.

[lawow74]

ISo you're mad that for one time throughout the entire game of gushing over the player as if they're god's gift to Eorzea, this one time you're not the center of attention?

Yeesh.

Not to mention your god worthiness as Warrior of Light conveniently ignores the MSQ telling you to gather 7 companions for primal battles all the time. It is odd. You're never soloing these fights, yet they always act like it afterwards.

You're going to treat me like my ability doesn't matter in actually killing the enemy, don't fucking bother making me fight it, just save the insult to my time and do it all in a cutscene.

[Kazgrel]

And that's what pissed me off. Being hard-gated from being able to do it cos Lyse has to have a chance to look good. Fuck that, you let Fordola out, good enough. I AM THE WARRIOR OF LIGHT, DO NOT TREAT ME LIKE A FUCKING SPECTATOR. I want that kinda treatment I'll play fucking World of Metzencraft.

It was merely to add tension/drama to what otherwise would've been a mudhole stomping. Heavy-handed on SE's part? Sure. An egregious offense? Not in my opinion.

Maybe it was because I did the MSQ for this patch as DRK (cause fuck waiting on dps queue for the dungeon), so I was like "Oh hey, she's using LB, cool...uh, any day now...Lyse?". I'd been a little happier had it been Lakshmi with some sort of shield up reducing damage received, or some sort of indicator that her HP wasn't supposed to move at that point.

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Not me. I got my big SAM attack off at the same instant as the LB3 from Lyse. We pulled a Chrono Trigger cross attack for the win!

Well when you put it that way, I ate her bosom...er I mean soul, yes, soul, with Soul Eater.

[lawow74]

It was merely to add tension/drama to what otherwise would've been a mudhole stomping. Heavy-handed on SE's part? Sure. An egregious offense? Not in my opinion.

Generally speaking I hate it when games try to get cute and pull some minigame bullshit that overshadows my character abilities. Either make it a clearly separate and optional minigame or fuck off. Cos I'm playing the game cos I wanna play MY CHARACTER and use MY CHARACTER ABILITIES to win. Not some derpy fucking 'ooh look we added a SPECIAL BUTTON' or 'now you must watch as DM's Favorite NPC does things instead' idiocy.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the overall story. But solo duties in general annoy me and this type just makes me wanna fly to Japan and slap the shit outta whoever thought it up.

[Katchii]

Seems like FFXIV would rather take the Story > Game play route rather than the other way around like in some games.

I don't entirely disagree, but it's not something I care enough about to get worked up over.

[Kazgrel]

Generally speaking I hate it when games try to get cute and pull some minigame bullshit that overshadows my character abilities. Either make it a clearly separate and optional minigame or fuck off. Cos I'm playing the game cos I wanna play MY CHARACTER and use MY CHARACTER ABILITIES to win. Not some derpy fucking 'ooh look we added a SPECIAL BUTTON' or 'now you must watch as DM's Favorite NPC does things instead' idiocy.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the overall story. But solo duties in general annoy me and this type just makes me wanna fly to Japan and slap the shit outta whoever thought it up.

I mean...it would be pretty boring if we could just hand wave everything off like we did in the very cutscenes leading up to that battle.

That being said, that very clip reinforces the idea of "if we're such BAMFs, why did we need these other people? They're just slowing us down"...which would make us like Kabuto or whatever the Kojin dude's name is. We aren't that derpy, imo.

While I have my nitpicks about that fight that I've mentioned, the entire sequence as a whole is fine, IMO, even with Lyse trying to sneak in some kill stealing glory. But I'm the kind of asshole who joins his friend in Frontlines and steals all his killing blows...as SCH, so there I am going from doing 1k damage a cast to 1.2k, weeeee!

Note: The kill steals aren't intentional; I'd simply be marking targets with Chain Strat and telling him to fire away. I'd say he would get the kill at least 90% of the time.

[Florena]

Oh no we needed help with a situation.

Let's say for sake of argument that you're right. Go tally up the number of times NPCs have shown us up and how many times the WOL is the BEST THING EVER and you'll see how insignificant occasional things like these are in the long run.

If anything the issue with the game's story is that it's waaaay too eager to suck up to the WOL at every turn. Even in crafting/gathering quests.