[Megathread] Final Fantasy XIV

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Well boys, patch 5.55 is in two days.

• They have one last chance to make good on the patch name "Death Unto Dawn" and kill someone off. Maybe Arenvald succumbs to his wounds? However, given how patch 4.5 "A Requiem for Heroes" and the 5.2-5.3 storyline also hyped up major deaths but then didn't deliver, I suspect we are about to get blueballs again.

• Reminder that if you want to make a ton of money really easily, do the new Bozja zone, Radnor. Don't open lockboxes; instead rush to the market board and put them up for sale. Join farm groups to farm coins or whatever new currency, and buy the most valuable items with it and put it up on the market board. This was how I made millions of gil really easily last time. Prices drop fast so if you want money, you had best be farming during the first few days.

[Xilurm]

Hoping for someone to get killed off is a really interesting thing to be excited about.

[Poppincaps]

Seriously Val, you have such a hard on for characters dying. From the way they've been talking I'm sure some of the Scions will die in Endwalker.

[Dakhath]

I actually agree with Val. How many times have people "died" and then somehow survived. After the first time or two, it's not even good storytelling anymore, its a meme.

[MrTharne]

Seriously Val, you have such a hard on for characters dying. From the way they've been talking I'm sure some of the Scions will die in Endwalker.

Let's look at : Urianger, Estinien, Alphinaud, Alisae.

If they make the twins grow up for 7.0, having 4 adult Elezens around would be too much I think. The obvious choice to me (and I really think that is what's gonna happen) is to kill off Urianger and have Graha takes his place as the lore guy. (It would also cut the need to write his old english style).
If they are bold they will kill Alphinaud (please no...).

[RampageBW1]

I actually agree with Val. How many times have people "died" and then somehow survived. After the first time or two, it's not even good storytelling anymore, its a meme.

Zenos can kiss my ass. He might've been a "good" villain for 4.0's story, but that's where his story should have ended. I didn't mind the Elidibus wearing Zenos' skin, because Elidibus is gonna do Elidibus things.

Zenos' father would have made a much more compelling villain going forward.

[Granyala]

Well boys, patch 5.55 is in two days.
They have one last chance to make good on the patch name "Death Unto Dawn" and kill someone off.

Eh?
5.55 does contain main story? though it was just Bozja stuff. I was under the impression that we are done with the MSQ until the expansion hits.

[Shakzor]

Seriously Val, you have such a hard on for characters dying. From the way they've been talking I'm sure some of the Scions will die in Endwalker.

Well, when you have a cast that is in "danger" but you know nothing will happen to them, then it takes away a lot of the tension. But when they have, let's say Alphinaud gets captured and just as we arrive, he gets killed off in front of the group, that allows for a whole lot of different approaches and side of a character we haven't seen yet. Would Urianger stay calm? Would Alisae immediately try to get revenge head on? Would Estinien just go into a deep depression over losing a dear friend?
If you know Alphinaud will get out safely then the whole hostage situation loses a lot of impact.
That's why Game of Thrones had the big popularity, because you never knew if there was a sense of danger, if they make it out alive, because the cast didn't seem to have plot armor and seemingly anyone could die.

[Katchii]

Eh?
5.55 does contain main story? though it was just Bozja stuff. I was under the impression that we are done with the MSQ until the expansion hits.

It does contain some MSQ. I have no idea how much, but the main site dose show that there's some.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/shado...ers/patch_5_5/

Death Unto Dawn - Part 2 - Main Scenario Quests

That's all that's shown on the page at the moment.

[Poppincaps]

Let's look at : Urianger, Estinien, Alphinaud, Alisae.

If they make the twins grow up for 7.0, having 4 adult Elezens around would be too much I think. The obvious choice to me (and I really think that is what's gonna happen) is to kill off Urianger and have Graha takes his place as the lore guy. (It would also cut the need to write his old english style).
If they are bold they will kill Alphinaud (please no...).

My guess would be that they'd kill off the "Old Guard" aka Y'shtola, Thancred, and Urianger. I highly doubt they'd kill either of the twins, or G'raha or Estinien since they both just joined.

Well, when you have a cast that is in "danger" but you know nothing will happen to them, then it takes away a lot of the tension. But when they have, let's say Alphinaud gets captured and just as we arrive, he gets killed off in front of the group, that allows for a whole lot of different approaches and side of a character we haven't seen yet. Would Urianger stay calm? Would Alisae immediately try to get revenge head on? Would Estinien just go into a deep depression over losing a dear friend?
If you know Alphinaud will get out safely then the whole hostage situation loses a lot of impact.
That's why Game of Thrones had the big popularity, because you never knew if there was a sense of danger, if they make it out alive, because the cast didn't seem to have plot armor and seemingly anyone could die.

There are plenty of stories that have no major cast deaths that are still incredibly compelling and well written without any deaths. Avatar: The Last Airbender is considered a masterpiece and yet none of the main cast ever dies. It really depends on the story you're trying to tell. A lot of characters dying works for Game of Thrones, but even then too much death has the opposite effect where you become numb to it.

I'm not against any of the characters in FFXIV dying, but I don't think they should just get killed just for the sake of it.

[Nasuuna]

Eh?
5.55 does contain main story? though it was just Bozja stuff. I was under the impression that we are done with the MSQ until the expansion hits.

we always get small pieces up through x.58

usually just a quest or 3

[Kaelwryn]

.5's msq is always broken into 2 parts. one half in the initial major patch and the second half in a minor patch (2.55, 3.56, 4.56). 5.55 is probably going to be the last content patch, .57 and .58 probably going to be "clean up" patches so to speak. Unlocking things (savage if its not unlocked in .55, tower, etc), and adding mounts to totems, things like that.

[Katchii]

My guess would be that they'd kill off the "Old Guard" aka Y'shtola, Thancred, and Urianger. I highly doubt they'd kill either of the twins, or G'raha or Estinien since they both just joined.

They won't kill Y'shtola, she's the poster child for the game in Japan and used in a LOT of promotional artwork.

Urianger maybe as his role of being the super lore nerd and smart one has been somewhat usurped by Graha who has hundred of years of experience at this point due to his role as The Crystal Exarch. Spoilers just in case, I guess.

Thancred is also pretty expendable at this point with the addition of Estinien who also has skills in being able to get places he shouldn't/ can't be seen.

But none of these folks NEED to die, IMO. They still have roles to play within the Scions.

Alphinaud and Alisae won't die either. They're a proxy for character growth and the flow time, showing changes in maturity, appearance, mentality, skills, etc...

Graha and Estinien won't as they just joined.

I don't really see any of them dying. I could see them leaving the Scions to fulfill roles in other areas, or just going off on their own for extended lengths of time as part of their duty as a Scion. Like Urianger returning to Sharlayan in a more active role. Alisae could take a more full time role in traveling around and helping the tempered. Things like that.

There are plenty of stories that have no major cast deaths that are still incredibly compelling and well written without any deaths. Avatar: The Last Airbender is considered a masterpiece and yet none of the main cast ever dies. It really depends on the story you're trying to tell. A lot of characters dying works for Game of Thrones, but even then too much death has the opposite effect where you become numb to it.

I'm not against any of the characters in FFXIV dying, but I don't think they should just get killed just for the sake of it.

100% Agreed on all counts.

[Xilurm]

Eh?
5.55 does contain main story? though it was just Bozja stuff. I was under the impression that we are done with the MSQ until the expansion hits.

x.55 is always a reveal of sorts and a pretty important part of the final patch.

2.55 was the banquet.

3.55-6 was Baelsar's Wall iirc? Also Lyse's "reveal".

4.56 was the fight with Elidibus.

They always split the final patch MSQ into two parts.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't really see any of them dying. I could see them leaving the Scions to fulfill roles in other areas, or just going off on their own for extended lengths of time as part of their duty as a Scion. Like Urianger returning to Sharlayan in a more active role. Alisae could take a more full time role in traveling around and helping the tempered. Things like that.

They talked a bit about 6.1 during FanFest. They said that because it's going to be a new story the WoL will go travelling and someone will join them. They made it seem like they hadn't decided yet who that person is.

My take is that the scions will "retire" or just stay behind in Eorzea because that was always the purpose of the Scions, to safeguard Eorzea. Since the Ascians are pretty much done with there's no need for them to go somewhere else. 7.0 will probably take us to either Meracydia or the New World so we might have an entirely new cast instead of the Scions.

[Granyala]

I don't really see any of them dying. I could see them leaving the Scions to fulfill roles in other areas, or just going off on their own for extended lengths of time as part of their duty as a Scion. Like Urianger returning to Sharlayan in a more active role. Alisae could take a more full time role in traveling around and helping the tempered. Things like that.

This would be infinitely more satisfying to me than just killing them off for some fake gut-punch moment.

Thanks for the info regarding MSQ deployment, everyone. I admit that I never paid much attention to when they release what. ;D

[Cattleya]

Urianger and Thancred are the most dispensable, but for Thancred, they already missed the best story opportunity to kill him, which was Shadowbringers. Having him survive only to be killed off for shock value in the next expansion where he has no big story significance would be dumb.

But yeah, regardless I don't really see a need to kill off scions just because "the story needs more deaths".

[Poppincaps]

Yeah, I definitely think there will be some shake ups to the Scions roster going forward. I could see Urianger and Y'shtola staying in Sharlayan to lead the new Forum once they presumably get their heads out of their ass after Endwalker. Of all the Scions I feel like Thancred gives me the most "death flag" vibes. I feel like his story has kinda been told. The two people he loves the most Minfilia and Ryne are gone or he can't see them anymore.

I'm also wondering if we might see a time skip after 6.0 with Alphinaud and Alisaie being adults and the Scions going their separate ways with a new conflict bringing them back together.

[draugril]

Well, when you have a cast that is in "danger" but you know nothing will happen to them, then it takes away a lot of the tension. But when they have, let's say Alphinaud gets captured and just as we arrive, he gets killed off in front of the group, that allows for a whole lot of different approaches and side of a character we haven't seen yet. Would Urianger stay calm? Would Alisae immediately try to get revenge head on? Would Estinien just go into a deep depression over losing a dear friend?
If you know Alphinaud will get out safely then the whole hostage situation loses a lot of impact.
That's why Game of Thrones had the big popularity, because you never knew if there was a sense of danger, if they make it out alive, because the cast didn't seem to have plot armor and seemingly anyone could die.

For this type of long-form storytelling, the how of the resolution is more important for me than the if.

I know Kirk, Spock, and McCoy will beam up from the planet at the end of the episode. And sure, that guts a little bit of the overall tension. But these characters do not exist to serve an overwrought, dramatic narrative - they exist to play off of each other's strengths and weaknesses and devise a clever way to solve their current predicament. Week after week. If you killed off Spock in the second episode, sure, you might have made that second episode more dramatic, but you've just robbed every following episode of an essential element that people enjoy.

This is not to say that character deaths are not without purpose, but they require a much more foresight in this kind of medium than in a movie, book, or even TV series. If this was a one-shot Final Fantasy game release, sure, kill some people off. Kill off the whole cast, if that's what resonates! That is the appropriate medium for this kind of dramatic device.

FFXIV is a different beast entirely. Is a little short-term drama worth sacrificing potential years of that character's ongoing involvement in the narrative?

[TidalConflux]

I got finished through MSQ this morning -- I wasnt exactly impressed with the introduction of the twin's father. His role and the Sharlayan involvement seemed way extremely forced and given cheap heat to make them the next expansion foils.

I liked the final quest though. Outside of that I am not happy to do more of Bozja. I am not a fan of how short MSQ was either for this small patch in comparison to Bozja -- I feel like they had to put so much into three quests (as on patch notes) that it feels forced.

Also: the ending to the Anogg/Komagg story line fell flat -- I am assuming this is supposed to be the analogy of Konagg dying with the appearance of Anogg in godly light rays to him and them walking off into the glaring light scene. But due to how that entire side story was handled -- the resolution just isnt there for me

[Merie]

Urianger and Thancred are the most dispensable, but for Thancred, they already missed the best story opportunity to kill him, which was Shadowbringers. Having him survive only to be killed off for shock value in the next expansion where he has no big story significance would be dumb.

But yeah, regardless I don't really see a need to kill off scions just because "the story needs more deaths".

Yep. See, this to me is a much bigger issue than not enough people dying. It's all the "fake out" deaths that get jam packed in. "Oh no! Will he/she be ok?!?!" Yes. Of course they will. Every.single.time.