The current story arch for Final Fantasy XIV has been going on for years now. It has its ups and downs throughout the relaunch and the new expansions. However, the rivalry between Hydaelyn and Zodiark were laid bare in Shadowbringers, and brought us one of the most morally empathetic stories in XIV, if not the Final Fantasy history.
There were ups and downs throughout the last 8 years. Some of the characters were just awful in my opinion but then they just kept getting centre staged, which I seriously do not understand why. Other characters met their demise when I thought there was so much more potential to them. And still some others turned from cool and interesting to really dull and boring. But that’s what happens in a grand scale story right? What is a good story if nothing is at stake and no sacrifices are required?
I always felt that after Shadowbringers, how can Yoshi-P and his team further top the story in XIV? I mean with the current progress in the arch, without giving out much spoiler hopefully, it feels that things are just going to get really repetitive with characters I hated at centre stage again. So, I was so glad to hear that the current main story arch will finally wrap up with the new expansion, and even better, we don’t need to drag on with a few more patches to get it over and done with.
Endwalker will mark the end of the current Hydaelyn and Zodiark arch, which I hope will be the end of the story of those annoying Ascians and antagonists who just kept coming back against my wish.
Yeah, I am invested. Me as the Warrior of Light / Darkness had gone through a lot to get to this point, so I really want to get these annoying bugs over and done with in one go.
Personal investment aside, from a story telling point of view I think Yoshi-P made the right choice to put an end to the current story arch. The story had been told over 8 years now, if we disregard 1.0, so if the rivalry between two camps just continues to drag on, it just feels like dragging on to milk the franchise, instead of getting more creative with storytelling to open up new fronts. Yoshi-P understands that a lot of players, like me, are playing the game for the stories. Hence, even for side quests in the game, the story writing kept on improving to keep players engaged, making them more than experience filling errands. So, if the current arch keeps dragging on, a lot of gamers like me will just start to feel like it is a chore. And if the story quality drops, then that would be end for part of the player base. Certainly, I would come log back in or resub to catch up with the story from time to time, but would I further invest in a monthly subscription to keep playing? That I don’t know.
For me playing XIV is a way to relax after a day of work. I don’t mind running dailies to keep my gear up to date so I can move on with the story when new patches drop. However, if it became another meaningless job or chore that takes out the rest of my night, I will probably go do something else. But with different engaging stories for different quests plus an engaging main story quest, I would be willing to try different things in between patches to stay engaged. So, ending the current story arch would allow Yoshi-P to reboot the world while giving players a sense of accomplishment after 8 years of devotion to this story and these characters. And also give something else for us story players to look forward to. Meanwhile, hopefully really get rid of those annoying antagonists that I am so done with.
Whether the new main story arch will be as engaging as the current one I don’t know, but I do know that this is something I look forward to. And of course, you cannot determine the quality of the new arch with just one or two patches, which means the engagement will continue to be extended right till the launch of the following expansion.
From both a story telling and player engagement point of view, I think this is brilliant. From a creative point of view, it completely offloads all the baggage created by the current story arch. It also allows greater freedom to create new things with new ideas and approach to the game. One of the best ways to revitalise the creative team and continue to surprise their players.
It will still be some time before the new expansion drops. Whether this strategy would work is still yet to be seen. However, as long as Yoshi-P and his teams are willing to continue to innovate, I will be interested to see what are yet to come.
