Stormblood is weak but I wouldn’t go as far as to call it boring filler story (especially if you did the random quests that actually give detail as to the setting more than the MSQ somehow for that expac). But it definitely felt like the most adrift FFXIV expac since Realm Reborn due largely to the weaker Ala Mhigo plot, which is a shame considering how built up that a region was since FFXIV’s original failed launch.
They want it crafted exactly to their specific expectations. The same as the ones having a meltdown over every Star Wars sequel.
IMO, stories in RPGs need to be a little vague, to allow the players to fill in the gaps with their own imagination. That’s where I have the most fun, because it becomes partly my story, which is different than anyone else’s, just like life.
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From what I read, they apparently did a hard pivot for the post patch storylines because Ala Mhigo wasn’t appealing to folk. Likely the reason why, in the Ala Mhigan led expansion, we spent most of our time in Doma.
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The first few wow expansions had the benefit of having the RTS games to pull from so they could rely on name recognition, but in more recent expanions we’ve had villains that have appeared nowhere other than their current expansion and players just feel much less invested in them. You could fill 10 zones from that expansion with content of that villain and it’d still feel like they came out of nowhere.
Xal’atath next xpac should be received better since she’s had a few expansions of buildup. Even if you didn’t play a priest in legion she played a decent role in BfA.
the DF villains feel very “villain of the week” to me, they exist solely to be defeated by the players and not to have an impact on the wider narrative.
we’ll have to see how iridikron turns out, but they at least seem to be laying the groundwork for future storylines with him.
That’s the way it goes.
They skip quest text, skip cutscenes, skip entire zones, skip rep quests, skip all side quests, actively avoid as much of the story as possible.
Then say the story is bad.
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Yeah it makes total sense. There are so many cool vistas that just went totally unused, so sad! The biggest issue is there isn’t much of a cast for Ala Mhigo, and they fumbled Lyse by making her a current WoW caliber character: someone who just smiles and is nice. Crazy to think Warcraft is now known for bland Lawful Good characters now…
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What parts did you enjoy in the main plot?
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This is a very common occurrence on Reddit/these forums. A lot of the people who complain about the story don’t actually know anything about it. This lack of knowledge makes for a weird conundrum where these people hate a story but don’t even know or understand what’s going on in the story to begin with. Those players then get mad when you point of their lack of knowledge about what they’re are mad about.
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Yeah I wish, but obviously that’s not gonna fly in WoW where people’s idea of “good storytelling” is a bunch of cutscenes of muscular dudes fighting each other with 0 nuance or any ulterior motivations for you to pick up on lol.
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I really like the rebuilding of tyr and everything tyr related specifically.
Iridikron and the time travel stuff leading into void stuff has me hyped for sure.
Venturing into neltharions workshop was cool.
Fyrakk is obviously just a distraction but in reality he is a serious threat after absorbing shadow flame. Out aspects are weak right now and really wouldn’t stand a chance without teamwork.
People always complain about “having” to read books but the book was really good.
I loved the part where malygos basically 1v1d fyrakk.
Or the alexstraza vs vyranoth part and how she did a cheeky slide maneuver in visage form.
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Thats called understanding your audience. WoW has never had good writing, but it did have “edge.” People have literally played for years expecting exactly that and now we get…this, whatever it is lol.
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You are putting the cart before the horse. Many people tried the story in the past. Realized it was poorly delivered and you wouldn’t get the whole story in game. Then just noped out of caring about it. When someone on YouTube can fill you in a couple half hour videos.
I know some people like it but being a nameless adventurer got old after Wrath. How many times do you have to save the world before you get someone to use your name?
The delivery of WoW’s story has always been sub par but them leaning into books to fill in the gaps between story beats really made it much worse over the years. Final Fantasy is the other extreme at times but somewhere in the middle would be a good target for WoW to get to. Plus they already have the Hyadelyn arc pre planned out. Oops sorry. I meant World Soul Saga.
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Hear, feel, KILL!
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Hear, Feel, Profit… As we save money on having to come up with something new!
WOW has always been at its best when it’s stealing and iterating on ideas. They kind of flounder when they try to break the mold.
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Then ask for some Dragon Ball Z level complexity of writing. People asked for better writing, so they made the story more nuanced and complex, and then people didn’t read any of it or pay attention outside of cutscenes and went “this is bad, I want good writing” and it continues all over again.
I bet $100 that Chris Metzen is going to try to tell some complex, nuanced story with Worldsoul Saga like he has in the past for many expansions, and people will complain about it, too, because they didn’t pay attention to any of it outside of the cutscenes.
If you want a simple, easy to understand story, ask for it. If you want a complex story, then you’re gonna have to read it and pay attention to it. That’s just the way she goes.
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“Remember us, that we once lived” -Sylvanas and Nathanos to the playerbase after being the final bosses of The Last Titan.
Lol, edge.
More like bombastic.
I refuse to believe the WoW audience is that intellectually stunted. Most of those I play with, from quite diverse backgrounds, are appreciative of storytelling that goes beyond “Argh! Orc smash!” and other simplistic tropes. I think those who aren’t are over-represented because people who are enjoying things tend to keep quietly enjoying them.
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But…they didn’t do any of that lol. Theres nothing complex about it at all, its just bad.
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Im sure they are, they are just playing the wrong game lol.