2.5 SPOILER THREAD (Do not enter unless you have completed 2.5 Story!)

[Jana]

*starts reading thread, stops reading thread at Hildy spoilers*

 

I thought the MSQ was kind of disappointing in how it petered out at the end, but I guess everyone's grieving and there's still more to come. While my character would know about that, I'm not really one to leave that as the endnote, really. :V

[Delilah Scythewood]

I love Hildy's mom. Holllyyyyyyyy fuck.

[Delilah Scythewood]

Also, just realized Hildy and co. are like a parody to Sherlock. For example, this famous little tidbit:

 

[Kellach Woods]

Keep in mind the MSQ is nowhere near done for this patch cycle - it continues in 2.5.2 and then in 2.5.3

 

Cliffhanger was weak, tho.

[Kage]

So far they have only mentioned 2.5, 2.51, and 2.55

 

2.5 (Part 1)

 

2.51 (Gold Saucer, Zodiac)

 

2.55 (Part 2)

 

They only said the main story will be in 2.5 and 2.55, they never mentioned anything about 2.51 containing any MSQ continuation.

 

< Better explicit JPN text. The main thing is that because (to us) the EN translation is more vague, it makes us think of different things. The JPN -> EN makes it seem like Midgardsormr is acting more like Ramuh (testing) with the PC.

[Melodia]

Also, just realized Hildy and co. are like a parody to Sherlock. For example, this famous little tidbit:

 

You like Sherlock? You just became my favorite person.

[LiveVoltage]

2.5.1 in a nutshell:   "Dragons Dragons DRAGONS!!! . . . followed by insane 1000 year old warlock wizard guys."

 

Best thing in 2.5 was the short hair that got added.

 

This does bring up a legitimate confusing point though. When Misgra. . .  (cant spell that dead dragons name, bleh) took away the WoL's blessing, he mentioned quite a few times that a new deal was struck between him and the warrior of light. I have a theory that in the place of the Blessing of light, the WoL is now protected by the dead dragon dude. This however, doesn't have any evidence to hold ground on and is just a theory.

 

That aside though, I really like what they did making him a minion/companion of sorts that made a reoccurring appearance. It added alot more life to the MSQ for me.

 

Ive got a feeling in my gut the dead Dragon dude is going to hang around the WoL for much of 3.0. Would actually be really cool if you think about it.

[Berrod Armstrong]

It felt like it was intentional to kill a femroe in the story. 

 

*senses discrimination coming from the FFXIV scriptwriter*

 

Thing is, to me, Moony wasn't just a Femroe - she was the most engaging and interesting of her race offered to us in these quests.  I mean, come on - smart, good with her axe, willing to get her hands dirty in a fight, flirty yet loyal (to an Elezen who was cold to her, even) , cool in demeanor with a touch of sass, and good at what she did.  She was THE Femroe.

 

Frankly, I think they killed her because nobody at SE is a good enough or smart enough writer to properly use a character like that, so they had to kill her before she took over the Scions simply because she was vastly more COMPETENT AT EVERYTHING than any of them save maybe Papalymo or Y'shtola at their best.  (I don't include Cid and crew in this comparison, but let's be honest - Biggs and Wedge would never get anything done with her around)

 

I would bet you a lot of gil that Moenbryda would never develop sudden leg cramps in Little Solace....

 

I just realized that I'm picturing replacing old Chuck Norris memes with Moenbryda memes, so... I am stepping away from the keyboard.

I still just think they made her like that so we'd feel it when she died.

 

Not to mention, all the newer characters they've introduced seem to have more life than the old. Keep in mind that the MSQ has actually been getting -better- as it goes along, even by a little. It's reasonable that a character introduced in one of the best story patches is more engaging than the ones who were already there. Moenbryda's death was written long before she entered the stage as well. Stepping back and looking at it from a storyboard perspective (and the perspective of someone who -wants- the players to feel loss instead of just saying, 'oh, so and so died'), yeah, I think it's actually fine for the most part.

[Aaron]

Sad I can't even do KoTL dungeon because this que is killing me.

[TheLastCandle]

Also, just realized Hildy and co. are like a parody to Sherlock. For example, this famous little tidbit:

 

You like Sherlock? You just became my favorite person.

 

Who doesn't like Sherlock? Also, Sherlock >>>>>>> Elementary

[Berrod Armstrong]

Sad I can't even do KoTL dungeon because this que is killing me.

That's what tumblr and skype RP are for! Also, bag and retainer organization. Mmmm.

[Telluride]

 

I still just think they made her like that so we'd feel it when she died.

 

Not to mention, all the newer characters they've introduced seem to have more life than the old. Keep in mind that the MSQ has actually been getting -better- as it goes along, even by a little. It's reasonable that a character introduced in one of the best story patches is more engaging than the ones who were already there. Moenbryda's death was written long before she entered the stage as well. Stepping back and looking at it from a storyboard perspective (and the perspective of someone who -wants- the players to feel loss instead of just saying, 'oh, so and so died'), yeah, I think it's actually fine for the most part.

 

There's a wrestling term for what SE used Moenbryda for, then: "Cheap Heat."

Also, to invoke wrestling terms, Moenbryda jobbed for Minfilia.

 

At this point, I think we could use a program/flowchart to help us figure out who will and wont' be killed in the MSQ:

 

x=charname

Set A = "safegroup"

Set B= "disposable"

If Wind-Up [x] exists, add x : Set A

If attribute [x] = annoying, add x : Set A

Else add x : Set B

[Kellach Woods]

Minfillia is HHH y'all

[Warren Castille]

If we go down this path and start talking wrestling, we may never return.

 

NEW EMPEROR, WE COMIN' FOR YOU

[Delilah Scythewood]

Personally I'm pretty blah about almost every one of the Scions. Just not feeling it. Never really had, even in the beginning when I started out this game with Y'sh.

[Sounsyy]

At this point, I think we could use a program/flowchart to help us figure out who will and wont' be killed in the MSQ:

 

So, my couple years as a screenwriting major in college taught me a few things. The moment a main character starts monologue-ing at the start of a scene without any prompt (ie. Moenbryda talking about her axe and Urianger) that character is likely going to die soon.

 

And unfortunately, the way SE has written the other Scions into the storyline, it makes it very difficult now to kill many of them off without killing a lot of them off.

 

Y'shtola is safe because she still has a mysterious side-story arc going on with Merlwyb. There's a lot of tension in Limsa that SE brought up in 2.2 but have since waited to expand further on. If you kill of Y'shtola, you lose an entire potential Lominsan story arc.

 

Yda and Papalymo are safe mainly due to the fact that if you kill one, the other must die as well, because thematically they're two half-characters who, together, make a single identity. Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum, Merry and Pippin, Fred and George Weasley, etc.

 

Thancred is the prime candidate for the sack because he's the plucky sidekick character. The charismatic and funny guy always gets it. Think Wash in Firefly or really any character played by Alan Tudik. However, Thancred is probably safe because he's already been possessed by an Ascian. It's possible, but not likely that they'd place his character in mortal, heart-wrenching danger again - that's Minfilia's job.

 

Minfilia and her damsel in distress trope really is starting to wear thin, and it's high time she steps up to the plate for the first time in her life and has some character growth. Thematically, she's been established as this type of woman from early 1.0 when we knew her as her real name, Ascilia. She's frozen in terror as she stares down a charging goobbue. She's catatonic after the fact of her father's death She allows herself to be manipulated by several different parties thereafter. She seems to rely on Thancred for much of her early teenage years until finally meeting Louisoix. It's he who persuades her to create and lead the Path of the Twelve under his guidance. She was never a leader by choice, so it's very understandable for her character to be really really struggling to cope with life on her own after Louisoix's death. She's always relied on other people for help. But now, she's lost another friend and it's either her time to step up and get some character development and be the strong character her fans know she could potentially be... or become the living vessel for Zodiark's return by Elidibus' hand. Cuz one or the other is going to happen.

[Telluride]

On some of Sounssy's points (which are ever well-informed, reasonable and always worth reading)...

 

Poor writing and character development in the past do not mean that any character should ever be doomed to poor development forever.

 

If either Yda or Papalymo WERE killed or at least changed, the development for the other would be drastically increased. Neither of them in the FULL LENGTH of the MSQ has been as well developed as Moenbryda was in her brief stint, so I discount all value of them as well-established characters except by default. Frankly, I believe that the cheap tactic of killing Moony to develop Urianger would have been ten times more useful for the Yda/Pap pairing. At least split them up for a while and force them to develop just like, to pick a good example from Sounssy, Merry and Pippin, who became whole and better people when they weren't sure if the other survived, and thus had to make their own ways. I want to like Yda... I want to... but she's only interesting when she's punching things.

 

Thancred would be better served by having him oust Mini as the Scions leader, and it would even be natural. What little we get from the MSQ is that Thancred was trying his best to become the next Lousioix, and working himself near to death (usually off screen and informed rather than stated, of course) to do it. This is complicated when Moenbryda shows up and we're told that she's pretty much the real heiress to Louisoix's abilities...uh, whoops. And, uh, whoops again, she's gone. Get Mini out of the boss' chair, put Thancred there, and let his performance anxiety and concern over his past failure be natural and realistic character angles for him, more MORE than they are for Mini, who just doesn't DO ANYTHING.

 

To be honest, I'd say Y'shtola is just fine. She doesn't get tons of screen time, but in what she gets, she is largely competent, she knows her job and her role, and she's not afraid of combat even though she knows that a strategic withdrawal is sometimes better than a fight. Give her a little more story, let her play herself up like she does for the Titan and Limsa lvl5 story quests, and she's as solid as the Scions can be.

[Dravus]

Thancred would need to mature if he were to take Minfilia's place in my opinion. His whole 'hit on anything with a pair of breasts' angle became stale rather quickly. I'd find him a lot more interesting if the whole possession thing had left him physically and emotionally scarred...but as it stands it just seems like it's been cast aside.

[Balmungo]

At this point, I think we could use a program/flowchart to help us figure out who will and wont' be killed in the MSQ:

 

So, my couple years as a screenwriting major in college taught me a few things. The moment a main character starts monologue-ing at the start of a scene without any prompt (ie. Moenbryda talking about her axe and Urianger) that character is likely going to die soon.

 

And unfortunately, the way SE has written the other Scions into the storyline, it makes it very difficult now to kill many of them off without killing a lot of them off.

 

Y'shtola is safe because she still has a mysterious side-story arc going on with Merlwyb. There's a lot of tension in Limsa that SE brought up in 2.2 but have since waited to expand further on. If you kill of Y'shtola, you lose an entire potential Lominsan story arc.

 

Yda and Papalymo are safe mainly due to the fact that if you kill one, the other must die as well, because thematically they're two half-characters who, together, make a single identity. Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum, Merry and Pippin, Fred and George Weasley, etc.

 

Thancred is the prime candidate for the sack because he's the plucky sidekick character. The charismatic and funny guy always gets it. Think Wash in Firefly or really any character played by Alan Tudik. However, Thancred is probably safe because he's already been possessed by an Ascian. It's possible, but not likely that they'd place his character in mortal, heart-wrenching danger again - that's Minfilia's job.

 

Minfilia and her damsel in distress trope really is starting to wear thin, and it's high time she steps up to the plate for the first time in her life and has some character growth. Thematically, she's been established as this type of woman from early 1.0 when we knew her as her real name, Ascilia. She's frozen in terror as she stares down a charging goobbue. She's catatonic after the fact of her father's death She allows herself to be manipulated by several different parties thereafter. She seems to rely on Thancred for much of her early teenage years until finally meeting Louisoix. It's he who persuades her to create and lead the Path of the Twelve under his guidance. She was never a leader by choice, so it's very understandable for her character to be really really struggling to cope with life on her own after Louisoix's death. She's always relied on other people for help. But now, she's lost another friend and it's either her time to step up and get some character development and be the strong character her fans know she could potentially be... or become the living vessel for Zodiark's return by Elidibus' hand. Cuz one or the other is going to happen.

 

Gods I hope the FFXIV writers read this. Somehow. Someway. PLEASE. Surely they know the damsel in distress trope doesn't fly anymore....seriously.

[Warren Castille]

If it gets used as part of a greater narrative as mentioned? More power to them for not giving us a payoff right away. If this leads to Minf womaning up and realizing that inaction loses lives, it's a great plot device.

 

Let me ask you, though, Final Fantasy faithful: How many late-arriving NPCs who seemingly are more competent than your current party survive, again? I can think of more than a few examples where we've met someone who'd be a GREAT addition to our group who... doesn't last more than a chapter or three.

[Telluride]

 

Gods I hope the FFXIV writers read this. Somehow. Someway. PLEASE. Surely they know the damsel in distress trope doesn't fly anymore....seriously.

 

I wouldn't mind the Damsel trope so much if we're not actually forced into accepting that, as soon as said damsel is rescued again, she gets to keep being the leader, and giving orders, over and over and over and over again, not seeming to learn much from it.

 

By comparison, there's only so many times Mario can rescue Peach before it starts to creep into his brain that maybe, just maybe, she needs to stand down. "Who's-a the ruler around here? It's-a me, Mario!" But Peach has had a few games in which she's shown to have a few skills of her own - not so with Minfilia.

 

I'd at least like to see F'lahmin sit down with her daughter and have a little talk...

[Delilah Scythewood]

Mother-daughter time would be nice to see!

[Kage]

It's Hammer Time.

Y1sfFBTsfTA

[Sounsyy]

WTB Godbert Manderville for T13 Farm! PST No experience required, just a big hammer.

[Havoc Snow]

It's Hammer Time.

Y1sfFBTsfTA

I watched this video like 10 times in a row...