Thank you thank you THANK YOU for addressing the "it didn't have 10 years like Endwalker did" excuse. It's such a cop-out argument. 10 years of storytelling has nothing to do with:
– The awful pacing. – The constant forcing of Wuk Lamat into situations – someone counted and there are 139 variants of "Speak to Wuk Lamat" quest markers. – The absurd plot contrivances. – Characters either being shallow versions of themselves, or even acting completely out-of-character. Hi, Alisaie. – Krile. All of Krile.
FFXIV is in the fuck around and find out phase. They vastly overestimated how little effort they could put into the game while maintaining a playerbase. This isn't new, this has been the case since post-ShB. The amount of content is shrinking every patch and a dogshit MSQ has dispelled the illusion people have with this game. They're finally realizing how utterly mid this game actually is. Sorry YoshiP, I am not paying a subscription for a few hours of fun every several months.
I am one of those that let my sub run out and not renew. I didn't jump on DT right away because my PC was just below the minimum requirements and I wanted to upgrade first to get the most out of it. Many of my FC mates got the early access and the best response I got was barely a "meh." July 2nd rolls around, then a month later I upgraded my PC. I still couldn't get excited for DT. I logged in for weekly Cactpot, continued leveling up some of the below 90 jobs using fates while working towards "The Fortunate" achievement. I then just let my six month sub run out in September. I still don't feel like I am missing anything.
The thing i was most excited for in dt was all the pvp jobs getting updated… I feel wuk lamat failed as a character because she had nothing relatable for anyone. I didnt feel she was a person in the story she felt more like a failed attempt at an Ai trying to write a story.
DT has a lot in common with SB, a story that really feels like two stories where neither are truly fleshed out, having to travel with a companion that many people dislike, and much like Stormblood, it's a mixed bag. Personally, I don't really care about Wuk Lamat in one way or another. I think they got too much time, but to me DT is more than just Wuk Lamat. We have some of the best music, fight design, gear design, zone design, jobs are starting to get more varied (if only at the most basic level), new types of fights and content, better rewards for content that include alternate ways to gear, long form grinds for those interested for both combat and crafting/gathering roles.
It's a mixed bag, like everything in FFXIV. It's never been 100% great, even in Shadowbringers (no deep dungeon, trolley section, no hildibrand). ARR was a mess, especially within coils where T5 could not be beaten due to bugs. Heavensward had to nuke Diadem multiple times, and the Moogle questline was so disliked that it featured in the Dark Knight questline. Stormblood is Stormblood. Endwalker was also mixed with many people hating the story, not even to mention the reward structure or Island Sanctuary. It's always been mixed. New things are tried, sometime it works, other times it doesn't.
I think a lot of people are solely focusing on negative aspects, and discarding positive aspects. That's not to say that you shouldn't be critical, but part of being critical is also talking about what you do like, and why. But more importantly, this is a trend that I see more and more in general. I would have liked to have the contest be the entire 7.0 storyline as to me, it was the most interesting part, but many people hate part 1 and love part 2, which I would have wanted to be teased in the post-credit cutscene. Then again, I don't know what it is planned for the rest of the patches, so that might be completely moot.
It's not the best thing I've experienced, but it's not the worst. It's perfectly adequate for me.
I paid attention to the MSQ right up until Wuk’s ascension, hoping it was going to get better. It didn’t. This is the first expansion that I straight up cutscene skipped half of because I was so checked out I just. didn’t. care anymore. And then in the Eternal Queen fight there’s an unskippable cutscene where Wuk Lamat’s annoying voice shows up again just for the writers to remind us that this character nobody likes is still forcing her way into every situation because in this solo indie RPG Maker quality story she’s the real main character, apparently. It wouldn’t be so bad if she was at least well voiced, but her voice “talent’s” voice is so strained by trying to sound female(ish) that it has nothing left for emotion, pitch or inflection. Sadly they didn’t realise that if you want to get voice talent for a woman, you need an actual woman. Just like they also didn’t realise that if you want to write a story that can stand up to Endwalker, you need actual writers.
Wuk Lakat isn’t the only problem with Dawntrail. She’s just the dropped ball that made the biggest crater, in an expansion where absolutely nothing except dungeon design is executed well.
God I hate this game, now. And it makes me sad, because I used to love it. My backlog of single player games is in the 40s now, specifically because I was shelving them to go back to FFXIV. My backlog is now getting shorter, because I can’t force myself to log in to this disaster of an expansion.
100% they completely dropped the ball with dawn trail, especially with the MSQ. it had such terrible characters and terrible plot devices. Wuk Lamat is the worst but most of the other characters introduced are just as bad. The Koana arc in 7.1 was literal trash tier and I hope they do something about it. I think it might be a Creative studio 3 problem because I played FF7 rebirth and it had side quests featuring completely unknown characters that made me tear up. CS3 is either playing it too safe or getting complacent because they’ve been missing almost every swing they take even on things they’re supposedly good at
Aside from the Wuk Lamat issues (i have never sped through msq quests as fast as i did this expansion because she irritated me), I was looking forward to something super low-stakes. It was going to be nice not having to save the world again and assist a country with its politics. Whilst I enjoyed the cyberpunk end-of-the-world stuff, it would have been nice to have that as a separate expansion and fleshed out more, ie give the players a break for one expansion, then introduce the world-shattering high stakes kingdom of Alexandria. I wanted to learn more about the f^*ked up way Sphene decided to keep consciousnesses in a giant server room, i wanted to learn more about the creepy way people just completely forget someone when they're uploaded. It was so Bladerunner-esque and I wanted more of that. All I got was a quick visit, a word-vomit lore dump and and final battle that felt so rushed. When Wuk smashed through reality in the final confrontation i legitimately walked away from my pc for a sec because i couldn't believe she was ruining yet another scene.
FF14 dawntrail is garbage. Pure trash. It saddens me a lot, I’ve played since 1.0 and I’ve unsigned for the first time ever. Maybe I’ll return in a year or so. It’s a shame seeing the game stagnate
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.
I haven't touched ffxiv properly since a month after launch of DT. Compared to EW that had me coming back and constantly playing the game. I started in 5.4 so I can't really say much for ShB since they already had field ops and everything. But I just didn't feel that excitement to keep playing after launch. I liked some parts of the story, but a good chunk of it definitely felt so out of place. It felt like two expansions shoved into one. I wasn't expecting ShB/EW levels of excitement, I was expecting ARR levels of worldbuilding, but instead we got Wuk building the whole expansion. Don't get me wrong either I loved her at first. But the issue was that they kept shoving her onto us the whole expansion that by the end of it I was just exhausted of her. I would have preferred if Koana came with us to Solution Nine rather than Wuk. I get what they were trying to do, but again they just kept shoving her down out throats. Shaaloani felt like a breath of fresh air because we didn't have to deal with her. I do still have faith they can fix the story later on whether its post patch story or 8.0, but as of right now it's just all over the place. Shoving Sphene in as the final antagonist from another reflection was insane. It would have felt better if they built up to that reflection in another expansion than to just deal with it in one patch. Would have had time to build their characters more and not leave so many plot holes in the story. Krile and Erenville should have had a bigger role in the expansion, but they were sidelined by Wuk unfortunately. I'm not gonna lie to yall, I would have preferred the contest last till the end of msq and have Zoraal Ja as the final boss and there actually be some kind of city of gold like El Dorado instead of golden dust Amaurot/Ultima Thule.
Content wise, the instances have been super fun imo, huge step up to EW. But Yoshi needs to change the formula, having been 6 months and a half since launch and still not having any sort of casual content for us casual players to do is insane. I'm glad raiders have things to do, but come on. Exploration or relics should be something implemented 2 months after launch or even at x.1 patch. Having us wait till x.2 and we all know due to their formula we aren't gonna get it till the 7.25 patch which will be 2 months after launch of 7.2 is wild. Like I miss logging in everyday and doing content with friends. I really hope the field ops and relic grind can help bring that spark back for me, but as of right now I literally am never in the mood to login anymore.
i wanted more krile. dont get me wrong i like wuk lamat but i do agree they made a mistake making her the focus of the entire msq. the first half being wuk lamat heavy makes since and was fine but after that they pushed her a bit too much. tho i must say i did enjoy her as a character. hell i woulda liked it if second half was more koana focused
Dawntrail is flawed fundamentally. That's what causing so much discourse and confusion in the player base. It's not that the characters are bad, or the story is bad, but that it's told so badly that they never had a chance to be good. Dawntrail could have been a very compelling story if it were half it's length. End it at the coronation, move Sphene's section to the patch sequence, eliminate some of the filler and it would have been fine. Not amazing, but digestible.
The problem with a story that has bad fundamentals is that it tells your player base that someone didn't care. MMOs aren't like other games. It's players need to believe that the developers are just as invested in their game in order to feel safe spending money on your emotes, costumes, and mounts. Because someone didn't care about Dawntrail, it has shattered people's faith in YoshiP's 10 year plan for the game. How many more Dawntrails are in that plan? What happened this time? No experienced writing team should have ever made these mistakes. They're so blatant.
Stormblood, for all it's faults, still felt like a Final Fantasy story. Dawntrail doesn't. It feels like a shonen manga rejected from Jump.
I share your sentiment the DT MSQ had a lot of potential coming out of Endwalker with us starting a new adventure but the first half of the MSQ felt far too drawn out and there was far more that could have been explored with Krile and the second half of the MSQ without a certain character always being there outstaying her welcome.
In terms of content I have liked them trying out new things in dungeons and raids which has made them more interesting but with the patch content it feels like while we have had a lot promised but rather than being concentrated on the .2 to .4 patches the game would benefit with the content being better spread across all the patches. It was similar in Endwalker but I think the lack lustre MSQ makes the gap in content feel much worse this time around.
I hope that as we move through the patches we will start to see things improve as they get the chance to act on feedback and make improvements but we will have to see what future patches bring.
As far as oversight, wasn't this mostly developed while Papa Yoshi was on FF16? That hardly feels like an excuse and any word search on the script showing the Wuk Lamat count should have been a huge red flag moment for the team. It just seems like if Yoshi isn't micromanaging that team we get Dawntrail… Like think back to 1.0 and what Yoshi had to do to fix the game, maybe that kind of attention and understanding has lapsed at CBU3… I wish Yoshi would apologize for Dawntrail. It has bled players and goodwill around the world.
Not only that its a new writing team handled Dawntrail, but also new localization lead is in charge. Koji fox really add a lot of charm on how the game was localized
its sad that these content creators who were actually invited to squeenix and had a good time when they visited.. high expectations, then after we all finished the story.. we common folks and even the content creators are so disappointed by it 😢
I've played since 2.1. I quit with 7.1. I HATED the story. Nothing new, it was such a badly done expansion, I honestly don't know why it was released. I followed the story, it was good, but what happened in 7.0? Wuk Lamat was an exceedingly bad character in almost every possibly way. Terrible dialogue, terrible story. Utterly annoying "SPEAK TO WUK LAMAT" blah blah. No, I don't want to. I want to enjoy my game. The pacing of this expansion was like a methhead wrote it. Krile was abandoned, in a moment that it could have been so cool. As the WoL, I felt like I meant nothing. Wuk Lamat was stronger, better, more liked, etc, than ME, who saved the entire world. I took down GODS. Wuk couldn't even do a greeting for people that lived in her own city. Wuk Lamat was a horrific character. The ONE very interesting thing, before Alexandria, was the issue with the 'blessed siblings.' MAN that could have been SO interesting…yet no. WUK LAMAT WUK LAMAT WUK FUCKING LAMAT. SquareEnix lost me. Cancelled my sub and went back to WoW.
Having played through ARR-EW several times, I was very excited for DT. The thought of a vacation in a new land and maybe some campy interaction with the Scions, I was expecting to feel refreshed and ready for the next heavy story theme. I mean, there are still Acians out there. But what I felt by the time I was at the point right before fighting Galool Ja Ja, was drained. It was like I had to babysit an overactive and spoiled toddler while everyone else enjoyed the vacation I paid for. And then the entire second half was so jarring in scenery, tech, mood, story direction. There was no build up to it, they just flipped the switch from sappy Disney to dark doom and gloom. I didn't care about the characters SE wanted me to care about. I cared about Krile and Erenville, and neither were treated well. Both had their stories rushed and heavy moments smothered by Wuk Lamat's silliness. Even the 7.1 Crossroads story, which is better than DT, I still can't find myself to care and that hurts. I've been dragging my feet in finishing. Lord I hope that SE truly understands why players are disappointed.
When FF14 tie everything to MSQ like dungeons and more, its a hastle to just get through, i have skipped all cutscenes lmao, the story is really boring
I felt this way about Dawntrail almost immediately. After buying the Digital Deluxe on pre-order with great anticipation, I was too annoyed by Wuk Lamat and the story in general to even finish the MSQ. The MSQ was my main reason to play FF14 going back to ARR beta. I will give FF14 another try if the next expansion is good. Paying for a story skip to bypass the rest of Dawntrail will be money well spent.
2:10 there is a second half to this argument that I think is being missed on both sides, which is that I think the only part of the MSQ that might actually rise above the typical quality standard in my eyes is shadowbringers. Almost every other part of the MSQ does the same things, but now this grand narrative is over, and all that's left are the fundamentals and their flaws. This is not to say that Dawntrail doesn't have it's own flaws on top of that, or that all of ffxiv is bad, but more that by it's nature as an MMO FFXIV has pacing issues, it's had a ton of wierd plot threads, it's had wierd unsatisfying bits, messy plotlines, it's NEVER been tightly written – outside of shadowbringers. But, it was charming, and this single story ended up capturing all our hearts through the good bits. I feel much the same about dawntrail, though it is just, slightly more of all the flaws it's always had. Never forget that art is a brutally difficult practice. It's not 'how could they fuck it up?' but 'they could reach where they got before' I don't say this to excuse the dev team, but to make sense of why it happens. I'm sure they had their reasons, and while they ended up being wrong, we can only easily criticize in hindsight.
I thought the msq was alright, wasnt expecting the same level as shb-ew but it was fine. Then again Im from south america and cyberpunk is my favorite aesthetic so Im a little biased.
I agree 😅 good thing someone from YouTube note this … I kinda semi quit 7.0 cuz kinda weak story and like alert to see what come ahead before buy the 8.0 or any future dlc the best story so far end walker and shadow bringer even the old heaven’s ward 😅 Thank you for info and note Have good days 🍻
I feel you, I still enjoy FFXIV because I'm a high end raider so I enjoy a lot the fights, currently progring FRU 🙂 But if it wasn't for that or my fc (8 years running it, it's hard to let it go) probably I would be in a very long break.
As someone who fell in love with XIV during the 2.0 beta, playing it for over a decade and having the privilege seeing the game "evolve" over the years…. but not for the good. Things used to be fresh, new, inventive, and fun. Not anymore. It feels lazy, phoned in, dumbed down and predictable. I've quit, with no plans on coming back. The XIV I fell in love with is gone, and while I don't want to go back, I don't want what we have now.
As much as I love the world of ffxiv, the biggest problem the game has always had is that the gameplay is terrible. Outside of instance content there is really nothing to do combat wise. The maps and areas are beautiful, but there is nothing to do in them, nothing to fight (and doing the same fate for the 100th time is not fun), explore or discover. So if the gameplay is bad, what is left? What made the game so successful? The story. We are all suckers for a good story. You mess that up, there is nothing else to fall back on, and you got a dead game. Bottom line, this is a video game. Gameplay is always king and should always be priority.
What's sad is people are afraid to call out stuff. What happened with honest thoughts? You have to be polite about everything. FFXIV embraced the woke. I wouldn't be surprised if baby inc is lurking in the shadows. IF they are – this game is dead already.
I've been playing Final Fantasy XIV since its original 1.0 release, and I even have a couple of 1.0 videos on this account. Before that, I was also there for the launch of Final Fantasy XI in the US. This game has given me countless memories and has been a significant part of my life. Through it, I’ve met so many incredible people, including my husband—whom I married both in-game and in real life. I've experienced it all: raiding, alliances, crafting, and even visiting RP venues.
However, 7.0 marked a turning point for me. For the first time, I didn’t log in on the day of an expansion release, and, sadly, I still haven’t. The story no longer captivates me, my friends have moved on, the game mechanics feel repetitive, and the content drip mirrors what we experienced during Endwalker amidst the pandemic. Despite this, I still cherish the music, the animations, and the boss designs. They remain top-notch.
Yet, I find myself reluctant to tarnish the wonderful memories I have with new ones that feel lackluster. If I ever had the chance to meet Yoshi-P, Koji-Fox, or Soken, I’d shake their hands and thank them for a job well done. But, as much as I’ve loved this journey, I’m beginning to feel like maybe this game just isn’t for me anymore.
If Wuk had been written well, I don't think it would've been as bad. I've never rolled my eyes at anything in 14's msq before her.
I haven't even managed to do any patch MSQ because of Wuk fatigue. I just login once a week now to keep my estates from demolishing. Hopefully the next xpac is better! 🙏
I think they just didn't hit he mark with this one and i mean the first time since 2.0 is pretty impressive. I expect em to learn and not repeat this in the upcoming expansion.
I’m so tired of people bitching about Wuk Lamat. Was she great? No. But like – you play WoW. On purpose. Talk about awful characters and stories, JFC. Like get over it already and leave this poor dead horse alone.
Yeah sad stuff. I actually preordered Dawntrail and wanted to play it. I never got around to even starting it. IDK if it was because the prequests didnt grip me in or what. I only played some pictomancer and viper and some of the Wuk Lamat quests in Endwalker. I never went into Danwtrail. This time I had I guess no urge to play Dawntrail. For the first time I actually spoiled myself of the story when Zepla did her video a few weeks ago. I felt nothing after being spoiled. I guess there was so little to be invested in that there was no reason to actually care what was going to happen, which is shocking compared to my investment with the pre-Dawntrail story. Now sadly after hearing everyone talk about it, I don't feel the need to resub anytime soon.. which is a big shame.
My feelings, looking at the timeline, are that key talent left FFXIV after Endwalker to work on FFXVI. Dawntrail's development would have been effected by that. I can understand why, after all that time, they would want to freedom to work on a different project. But for FFXIV it was a mistake to produce Dawntrail this way. FFXIV as a brand was harmed. For SE this must be seen as a mistake. Did FFXVI make more money for them then FFXIV has? Another Dawntrail might really kill FFXIV. I played until early December when my 6month sub expired, but decided not to renew. I had, for the very first time in all my years of playing, found a static that fit my crazy work schedule, and we progged through most of phase 2 of M4S, when they decided to take a break for the holidays. I would not have played so long if I did not have the obligation of a static. My server was dead, and had been for a while. My FC, which was huge in ShB and EW was also dead. And they had been dead since maybe only a few weeks after DT launched.
Your thoughts are similar to my own; the game is underwhelming in ways that do not make sense given past performance. Managerial decisions and creative choices usually follow a logical causal relationship. With DT, none of the creative choices feel intuitive. They feel like an imposition that people were too afraid to question. It's also painfully clear that they are not investing an appropriate amount of resources into the game. I feel unvalued as a customer, and that CBU3 doesn't care about earning my money. Fine, other companies can get it instead. CBU3 and SE really doesn't understand how once people stop playing 14, they're not coming back anymore. There's no MSQ to keep people engaged, and there's new live service games every year with pretty characters, interesting gameplay, good stories, and modern engines.
i think bringing scions along with was unneeded, build up a new cast without injecting the old for awhile so when they do come back people will get hyped, they basically had nothing to do
Thank you thank you THANK YOU for addressing the "it didn't have 10 years like Endwalker did" excuse. It's such a cop-out argument. 10 years of storytelling has nothing to do with:
– The awful pacing.
– The constant forcing of Wuk Lamat into situations – someone counted and there are 139 variants of "Speak to Wuk Lamat" quest markers.
– The absurd plot contrivances.
– Characters either being shallow versions of themselves, or even acting completely out-of-character. Hi, Alisaie.
– Krile. All of Krile.
FFXIV is in the fuck around and find out phase. They vastly overestimated how little effort they could put into the game while maintaining a playerbase. This isn't new, this has been the case since post-ShB. The amount of content is shrinking every patch and a dogshit MSQ has dispelled the illusion people have with this game. They're finally realizing how utterly mid this game actually is. Sorry YoshiP, I am not paying a subscription for a few hours of fun every several months.
Based video, keep it on Quazii. Dawntrail is a racket.
I am one of those that let my sub run out and not renew. I didn't jump on DT right away because my PC was just below the minimum requirements and I wanted to upgrade first to get the most out of it. Many of my FC mates got the early access and the best response I got was barely a "meh." July 2nd rolls around, then a month later I upgraded my PC. I still couldn't get excited for DT. I logged in for weekly Cactpot, continued leveling up some of the below 90 jobs using fates while working towards "The Fortunate" achievement. I then just let my six month sub run out in September. I still don't feel like I am missing anything.
The thing i was most excited for in dt was all the pvp jobs getting updated…
I feel wuk lamat failed as a character because she had nothing relatable for anyone. I didnt feel she was a person in the story she felt more like a failed attempt at an Ai trying to write a story.
DT has a lot in common with SB, a story that really feels like two stories where neither are truly fleshed out, having to travel with a companion that many people dislike, and much like Stormblood, it's a mixed bag. Personally, I don't really care about Wuk Lamat in one way or another. I think they got too much time, but to me DT is more than just Wuk Lamat. We have some of the best music, fight design, gear design, zone design, jobs are starting to get more varied (if only at the most basic level), new types of fights and content, better rewards for content that include alternate ways to gear, long form grinds for those interested for both combat and crafting/gathering roles.
It's a mixed bag, like everything in FFXIV. It's never been 100% great, even in Shadowbringers (no deep dungeon, trolley section, no hildibrand). ARR was a mess, especially within coils where T5 could not be beaten due to bugs. Heavensward had to nuke Diadem multiple times, and the Moogle questline was so disliked that it featured in the Dark Knight questline. Stormblood is Stormblood. Endwalker was also mixed with many people hating the story, not even to mention the reward structure or Island Sanctuary. It's always been mixed. New things are tried, sometime it works, other times it doesn't.
I think a lot of people are solely focusing on negative aspects, and discarding positive aspects. That's not to say that you shouldn't be critical, but part of being critical is also talking about what you do like, and why. But more importantly, this is a trend that I see more and more in general. I would have liked to have the contest be the entire 7.0 storyline as to me, it was the most interesting part, but many people hate part 1 and love part 2, which I would have wanted to be teased in the post-credit cutscene. Then again, I don't know what it is planned for the rest of the patches, so that might be completely moot.
It's not the best thing I've experienced, but it's not the worst. It's perfectly adequate for me.
I paid attention to the MSQ right up until Wuk’s ascension, hoping it was going to get better. It didn’t. This is the first expansion that I straight up cutscene skipped half of because I was so checked out I just. didn’t. care anymore. And then in the Eternal Queen fight there’s an unskippable cutscene where Wuk Lamat’s annoying voice shows up again just for the writers to remind us that this character nobody likes is still forcing her way into every situation because in this solo indie RPG Maker quality story she’s the real main character, apparently. It wouldn’t be so bad if she was at least well voiced, but her voice “talent’s” voice is so strained by trying to sound female(ish) that it has nothing left for emotion, pitch or inflection. Sadly they didn’t realise that if you want to get voice talent for a woman, you need an actual woman. Just like they also didn’t realise that if you want to write a story that can stand up to Endwalker, you need actual writers.
Wuk Lakat isn’t the only problem with Dawntrail. She’s just the dropped ball that made the biggest crater, in an expansion where absolutely nothing except dungeon design is executed well.
God I hate this game, now. And it makes me sad, because I used to love it. My backlog of single player games is in the 40s now, specifically because I was shelving them to go back to FFXIV. My backlog is now getting shorter, because I can’t force myself to log in to this disaster of an expansion.
100% they completely dropped the ball with dawn trail, especially with the MSQ. it had such terrible characters and terrible plot devices. Wuk Lamat is the worst but most of the other characters introduced are just as bad. The Koana arc in 7.1 was literal trash tier and I hope they do something about it. I think it might be a Creative studio 3 problem because I played FF7 rebirth and it had side quests featuring completely unknown characters that made me tear up. CS3 is either playing it too safe or getting complacent because they’ve been missing almost every swing they take even on things they’re supposedly good at
Aside from the Wuk Lamat issues (i have never sped through msq quests as fast as i did this expansion because she irritated me), I was looking forward to something super low-stakes. It was going to be nice not having to save the world again and assist a country with its politics.
Whilst I enjoyed the cyberpunk end-of-the-world stuff, it would have been nice to have that as a separate expansion and fleshed out more, ie give the players a break for one expansion, then introduce the world-shattering high stakes kingdom of Alexandria. I wanted to learn more about the f^*ked up way Sphene decided to keep consciousnesses in a giant server room, i wanted to learn more about the creepy way people just completely forget someone when they're uploaded. It was so Bladerunner-esque and I wanted more of that. All I got was a quick visit, a word-vomit lore dump and and final battle that felt so rushed. When Wuk smashed through reality in the final confrontation i legitimately walked away from my pc for a sec because i couldn't believe she was ruining yet another scene.
FF14 dawntrail is garbage. Pure trash. It saddens me a lot, I’ve played since 1.0 and I’ve unsigned for the first time ever. Maybe I’ll return in a year or so. It’s a shame seeing the game stagnate
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.
I haven't touched ffxiv properly since a month after launch of DT. Compared to EW that had me coming back and constantly playing the game. I started in 5.4 so I can't really say much for ShB since they already had field ops and everything. But I just didn't feel that excitement to keep playing after launch. I liked some parts of the story, but a good chunk of it definitely felt so out of place. It felt like two expansions shoved into one. I wasn't expecting ShB/EW levels of excitement, I was expecting ARR levels of worldbuilding, but instead we got Wuk building the whole expansion. Don't get me wrong either I loved her at first. But the issue was that they kept shoving her onto us the whole expansion that by the end of it I was just exhausted of her. I would have preferred if Koana came with us to Solution Nine rather than Wuk. I get what they were trying to do, but again they just kept shoving her down out throats. Shaaloani felt like a breath of fresh air because we didn't have to deal with her. I do still have faith they can fix the story later on whether its post patch story or 8.0, but as of right now it's just all over the place. Shoving Sphene in as the final antagonist from another reflection was insane. It would have felt better if they built up to that reflection in another expansion than to just deal with it in one patch. Would have had time to build their characters more and not leave so many plot holes in the story. Krile and Erenville should have had a bigger role in the expansion, but they were sidelined by Wuk unfortunately. I'm not gonna lie to yall, I would have preferred the contest last till the end of msq and have Zoraal Ja as the final boss and there actually be some kind of city of gold like El Dorado instead of golden dust Amaurot/Ultima Thule.
Content wise, the instances have been super fun imo, huge step up to EW. But Yoshi needs to change the formula, having been 6 months and a half since launch and still not having any sort of casual content for us casual players to do is insane. I'm glad raiders have things to do, but come on. Exploration or relics should be something implemented 2 months after launch or even at x.1 patch. Having us wait till x.2 and we all know due to their formula we aren't gonna get it till the 7.25 patch which will be 2 months after launch of 7.2 is wild. Like I miss logging in everyday and doing content with friends. I really hope the field ops and relic grind can help bring that spark back for me, but as of right now I literally am never in the mood to login anymore.
i wanted more krile. dont get me wrong i like wuk lamat but i do agree they made a mistake making her the focus of the entire msq. the first half being wuk lamat heavy makes since and was fine but after that they pushed her a bit too much. tho i must say i did enjoy her as a character. hell i woulda liked it if second half was more koana focused
I personally think this was done so that the main team can setup the next expansion properly.
Dawntrail is flawed fundamentally. That's what causing so much discourse and confusion in the player base. It's not that the characters are bad, or the story is bad, but that it's told so badly that they never had a chance to be good. Dawntrail could have been a very compelling story if it were half it's length. End it at the coronation, move Sphene's section to the patch sequence, eliminate some of the filler and it would have been fine. Not amazing, but digestible.
The problem with a story that has bad fundamentals is that it tells your player base that someone didn't care. MMOs aren't like other games. It's players need to believe that the developers are just as invested in their game in order to feel safe spending money on your emotes, costumes, and mounts. Because someone didn't care about Dawntrail, it has shattered people's faith in YoshiP's 10 year plan for the game. How many more Dawntrails are in that plan? What happened this time? No experienced writing team should have ever made these mistakes. They're so blatant.
Stormblood, for all it's faults, still felt like a Final Fantasy story. Dawntrail doesn't. It feels like a shonen manga rejected from Jump.
I share your sentiment the DT MSQ had a lot of potential coming out of Endwalker with us starting a new adventure but the first half of the MSQ felt far too drawn out and there was far more that could have been explored with Krile and the second half of the MSQ without a certain character always being there outstaying her welcome.
In terms of content I have liked them trying out new things in dungeons and raids which has made them more interesting but with the patch content it feels like while we have had a lot promised but rather than being concentrated on the .2 to .4 patches the game would benefit with the content being better spread across all the patches. It was similar in Endwalker but I think the lack lustre MSQ makes the gap in content feel much worse this time around.
I hope that as we move through the patches we will start to see things improve as they get the chance to act on feedback and make improvements but we will have to see what future patches bring.
Brother it’s not just you. I feel the exact same way, you just put it into words for me.
As far as oversight, wasn't this mostly developed while Papa Yoshi was on FF16? That hardly feels like an excuse and any word search on the script showing the Wuk Lamat count should have been a huge red flag moment for the team. It just seems like if Yoshi isn't micromanaging that team we get Dawntrail… Like think back to 1.0 and what Yoshi had to do to fix the game, maybe that kind of attention and understanding has lapsed at CBU3… I wish Yoshi would apologize for Dawntrail. It has bled players and goodwill around the world.
Not only that its a new writing team handled Dawntrail, but also new localization lead is in charge. Koji fox really add a lot of charm on how the game was localized
its sad that these content creators who were actually invited to squeenix and had a good time when they visited.. high expectations, then after we all finished the story.. we common folks and even the content creators are so disappointed by it 😢
I've played since 2.1. I quit with 7.1. I HATED the story. Nothing new, it was such a badly done expansion, I honestly don't know why it was released. I followed the story, it was good, but what happened in 7.0? Wuk Lamat was an exceedingly bad character in almost every possibly way. Terrible dialogue, terrible story. Utterly annoying "SPEAK TO WUK LAMAT" blah blah. No, I don't want to. I want to enjoy my game. The pacing of this expansion was like a methhead wrote it. Krile was abandoned, in a moment that it could have been so cool. As the WoL, I felt like I meant nothing. Wuk Lamat was stronger, better, more liked, etc, than ME, who saved the entire world. I took down GODS. Wuk couldn't even do a greeting for people that lived in her own city. Wuk Lamat was a horrific character. The ONE very interesting thing, before Alexandria, was the issue with the 'blessed siblings.' MAN that could have been SO interesting…yet no. WUK LAMAT WUK LAMAT WUK FUCKING LAMAT. SquareEnix lost me. Cancelled my sub and went back to WoW.
Having played through ARR-EW several times, I was very excited for DT. The thought of a vacation in a new land and maybe some campy interaction with the Scions, I was expecting to feel refreshed and ready for the next heavy story theme. I mean, there are still Acians out there. But what I felt by the time I was at the point right before fighting Galool Ja Ja, was drained. It was like I had to babysit an overactive and spoiled toddler while everyone else enjoyed the vacation I paid for. And then the entire second half was so jarring in scenery, tech, mood, story direction. There was no build up to it, they just flipped the switch from sappy Disney to dark doom and gloom. I didn't care about the characters SE wanted me to care about. I cared about Krile and Erenville, and neither were treated well. Both had their stories rushed and heavy moments smothered by Wuk Lamat's silliness. Even the 7.1 Crossroads story, which is better than DT, I still can't find myself to care and that hurts. I've been dragging my feet in finishing. Lord I hope that SE truly understands why players are disappointed.
When FF14 tie everything to MSQ like dungeons and more, its a hastle to just get through, i have skipped all cutscenes lmao, the story is really boring
it wont be lol
I felt this way about Dawntrail almost immediately. After buying the Digital Deluxe on pre-order with great anticipation, I was too annoyed by Wuk Lamat and the story in general to even finish the MSQ. The MSQ was my main reason to play FF14 going back to ARR beta. I will give FF14 another try if the next expansion is good. Paying for a story skip to bypass the rest of Dawntrail will be money well spent.
2:10 there is a second half to this argument that I think is being missed on both sides, which is that I think the only part of the MSQ that might actually rise above the typical quality standard in my eyes is shadowbringers. Almost every other part of the MSQ does the same things, but now this grand narrative is over, and all that's left are the fundamentals and their flaws. This is not to say that Dawntrail doesn't have it's own flaws on top of that, or that all of ffxiv is bad, but more that by it's nature as an MMO FFXIV has pacing issues, it's had a ton of wierd plot threads, it's had wierd unsatisfying bits, messy plotlines, it's NEVER been tightly written – outside of shadowbringers. But, it was charming, and this single story ended up capturing all our hearts through the good bits. I feel much the same about dawntrail, though it is just, slightly more of all the flaws it's always had.
Never forget that art is a brutally difficult practice. It's not 'how could they fuck it up?' but 'they could reach where they got before'
I don't say this to excuse the dev team, but to make sense of why it happens. I'm sure they had their reasons, and while they ended up being wrong, we can only easily criticize in hindsight.
I thought the msq was alright, wasnt expecting the same level as shb-ew but it was fine. Then again Im from south america and cyberpunk is my favorite aesthetic so Im a little biased.
This is the first time since 1.0 that I haven't even considered playing an expansion.
I agree 😅 good thing someone from YouTube note this …
I kinda semi quit 7.0 cuz kinda weak story and like alert to see what come ahead before buy the 8.0 or any future dlc the best story so far end walker and shadow bringer even the old heaven’s ward 😅
Thank you for info and note
Have good days 🍻
Wuk Lamat ruined 7.0 on SO many levels. She's the worst, and I hope the devs take note and get rid of her and any characters like her moving forward.
I feel you, I still enjoy FFXIV because I'm a high end raider so I enjoy a lot the fights, currently progring FRU 🙂
But if it wasn't for that or my fc (8 years running it, it's hard to let it go) probably I would be in a very long break.
As someone who fell in love with XIV during the 2.0 beta, playing it for over a decade and having the privilege seeing the game "evolve" over the years…. but not for the good. Things used to be fresh, new, inventive, and fun. Not anymore. It feels lazy, phoned in, dumbed down and predictable. I've quit, with no plans on coming back. The XIV I fell in love with is gone, and while I don't want to go back, I don't want what we have now.
As much as I love the world of ffxiv, the biggest problem the game has always had is that the gameplay is terrible. Outside of instance content there is really nothing to do combat wise. The maps and areas are beautiful, but there is nothing to do in them, nothing to fight (and doing the same fate for the 100th time is not fun), explore or discover. So if the gameplay is bad, what is left? What made the game so successful? The story. We are all suckers for a good story. You mess that up, there is nothing else to fall back on, and you got a dead game. Bottom line, this is a video game. Gameplay is always king and should always be priority.
What's sad is people are afraid to call out stuff. What happened with honest thoughts? You have to be polite about everything. FFXIV embraced the woke. I wouldn't be surprised if baby inc is lurking in the shadows. IF they are – this game is dead already.
most of the msq story was ASS, the raids were pretty good, but I mainly play for the story and it left me empty.
Between xvi and dt, it feels like YoshiP is really losing his touch. So sad to see it, but I’m the one mistaken to get my hopes up.
I've been playing Final Fantasy XIV since its original 1.0 release, and I even have a couple of 1.0 videos on this account. Before that, I was also there for the launch of Final Fantasy XI in the US. This game has given me countless memories and has been a significant part of my life. Through it, I’ve met so many incredible people, including my husband—whom I married both in-game and in real life. I've experienced it all: raiding, alliances, crafting, and even visiting RP venues.
However, 7.0 marked a turning point for me. For the first time, I didn’t log in on the day of an expansion release, and, sadly, I still haven’t. The story no longer captivates me, my friends have moved on, the game mechanics feel repetitive, and the content drip mirrors what we experienced during Endwalker amidst the pandemic. Despite this, I still cherish the music, the animations, and the boss designs. They remain top-notch.
Yet, I find myself reluctant to tarnish the wonderful memories I have with new ones that feel lackluster. If I ever had the chance to meet Yoshi-P, Koji-Fox, or Soken, I’d shake their hands and thank them for a job well done. But, as much as I’ve loved this journey, I’m beginning to feel like maybe this game just isn’t for me anymore.
If Wuk had been written well, I don't think it would've been as bad. I've never rolled my eyes at anything in 14's msq before her.
I haven't even managed to do any patch MSQ because of Wuk fatigue. I just login once a week now to keep my estates from demolishing. Hopefully the next xpac is better! 🙏
I think they just didn't hit he mark with this one and i mean the first time since 2.0 is pretty impressive. I expect em to learn and not repeat this in the upcoming expansion.
I’m so tired of people bitching about Wuk Lamat. Was she great? No. But like – you play WoW. On purpose. Talk about awful characters and stories, JFC. Like get over it already and leave this poor dead horse alone.
Yeah sad stuff. I actually preordered Dawntrail and wanted to play it. I never got around to even starting it. IDK if it was because the prequests didnt grip me in or what. I only played some pictomancer and viper and some of the Wuk Lamat quests in Endwalker. I never went into Danwtrail. This time I had I guess no urge to play Dawntrail. For the first time I actually spoiled myself of the story when Zepla did her video a few weeks ago. I felt nothing after being spoiled. I guess there was so little to be invested in that there was no reason to actually care what was going to happen, which is shocking compared to my investment with the pre-Dawntrail story. Now sadly after hearing everyone talk about it, I don't feel the need to resub anytime soon.. which is a big shame.
It doesn't have to be super ultra high stakes, but it needs to at least catch my attention to want to read more.
I did not feel that this entire expansion.
My feelings, looking at the timeline, are that key talent left FFXIV after Endwalker to work on FFXVI. Dawntrail's development would have been effected by that. I can understand why, after all that time, they would want to freedom to work on a different project. But for FFXIV it was a mistake to produce Dawntrail this way. FFXIV as a brand was harmed. For SE this must be seen as a mistake. Did FFXVI make more money for them then FFXIV has? Another Dawntrail might really kill FFXIV. I played until early December when my 6month sub expired, but decided not to renew. I had, for the very first time in all my years of playing, found a static that fit my crazy work schedule, and we progged through most of phase 2 of M4S, when they decided to take a break for the holidays. I would not have played so long if I did not have the obligation of a static. My server was dead, and had been for a while. My FC, which was huge in ShB and EW was also dead. And they had been dead since maybe only a few weeks after DT launched.
Your thoughts are similar to my own; the game is underwhelming in ways that do not make sense given past performance. Managerial decisions and creative choices usually follow a logical causal relationship. With DT, none of the creative choices feel intuitive. They feel like an imposition that people were too afraid to question. It's also painfully clear that they are not investing an appropriate amount of resources into the game. I feel unvalued as a customer, and that CBU3 doesn't care about earning my money. Fine, other companies can get it instead. CBU3 and SE really doesn't understand how once people stop playing 14, they're not coming back anymore. There's no MSQ to keep people engaged, and there's new live service games every year with pretty characters, interesting gameplay, good stories, and modern engines.
i think bringing scions along with was unneeded, build up a new cast without injecting the old for awhile so when they do come back people will get hyped, they basically had nothing to do
For like 5 years straight I logged in every single day. Now I haven't logged in in weeks. I am so unengaged. I don't even want to do the new content.