(05-28-2015, 09:20 AM)ArmachiA Wrote: (snip)
All the bad guys are winning! What will happen to our hero? That always makes for great drama to SEE the hero at their lowest point, and it's an amazing narrative point in RP.
There is something we are massively overdue in getting in this story:
The montage.
In particular, the montage that shows the hero finally getting tired of being beaten down, outwitted, outfought, demoralized pushed aside. It would be nice to have a little internal story recap, with the WoL remembering every... single... primal... and.... supposedly... unbeatable... boss being taken down, and then having an epiphany: "I'm taking crap from these people/monsters/primals WHY, again?"
It's overdue, way overdue, WAY overdue, BECAUSE - and this is why SE should be taken to task for it - they have made this frustration THE ACTUAL CONTINUING VILLAIN OF THE STORY: Not one entity or person or Ascian, but the idea that no matter how many times the WoL saves the world, the people who should be grateful refuse to stop their petty Bulls**t and treat the Scions with anything resembling real respect and support. Everything the WoL/Scions do is undermined by people who SHOULD be getting behind the program turning up their noses and acting in their own ignorant self-interests. Sure, some of them do occasionally help, but never until they're forced into doing so, and too too much of the story is basically everyone abusing the WoL and taking him/her for granted.
Again, this tendency is the real, actual, and unbroken "bad guy" of the entire story of FFXIV. Of course, it's the same story of a LOT of the history of Final Fantasy, and that's the exact point. Except, FFXIV, alone of all the released FF games, hasn't ended, so we don't have, and may never get, that moment where the protagonist can turn to the entire planet, and scream, " I #$^#$% TOLD YOU SO!"
We can argue that this is realistic - that the real world works like this for heroes. But in the real world, heroes eventually figure this out, and it becomes part of their story. This applies equally to other fictional stories. How many modern Superman stories, for example, involve him taking a moment to ask himself, "Has it NOT occurred to these people that I could kill each and every one of them without really breaking a sweat?" That he DOESN'T do it is part of the reason Superman still has validity as a character, but it is valid only because he HAS asked the question, thought about it, acknowledged it, and came to terms with it. Our WoL has yet to even be given this sort of real acknowledgment. No, our SuperWarrior simply obeys orders and suggestions like the most powerful sheep on the planet. In fact, the WoL is pretty much like Cloud at the beginning of FF7 - following orders and suggestions blindly, having no real inkling of his own truth or potential, and having to be dragged through his own painful truth.
But the beginning of FFXIV is over. We should be passing that now.
At risk of being a broken record (broken record... broken record... broken record), I'd truly love to see the WoL have a moment of pure determination, and actually put his/her foot down and remind somebody that his/her boot stomped every single punk who dared to step up, and remind that somebody that the boot is in very, very good shape still. I'm not even saying the WoL has to WIN, but it has come to the point where, for me at least, I not longer care much at all for this avatar I am supposed to wear.
EDIT: Hm. Looks like I might have strayed from the thread topic. Ah, well. Here: "Some of the best villains are not people, but situations, or the pecadilloes of writers." There.
"But in the laugh there was another voice. A clearer laugh, an ironic laugh. A laugh which laughs because it chooses not to weep."
![[Image: 3610850.jpg]](http://assets-cloud.enjin.com/users/1266293/pics/original/3610850.jpg)
