Finished base Stormblood last night, and while I'm going to wait to post my reaction highlights until I've finished the patch content, I do want to give my thoughts about the expansion as I've seen a lot of discourse around it.
(There will be spoilers and I'm hoping this is going to be long enough for Tumblr to naturally hide it behind a read more but if it doesn't I will add one)
To put it simply: if that's a "bad" Final Fantasy XIV expansion, then that just shows how strong this game's story is.
No, it wasn't perfect. My biggest problem with Stormblood is the order of events and how disjointed it feels at times (though luckily it never reached "kill a dragon to get cheese so you can fight Titan" levels of disjointed). The main goal of the expansion is the liberation of Ala Mhigo from the Garlean Empire, but it really didn't *feel* like a lot of time was spent achieving that goal, especially when half of the expansion is spent on a different continent altogether. Yes, I understand the logic behind this detour, but I had to remind myself that the entire reason the Scions are even in Doma to begin with is because they're using it as a trial run for Ala Mhigo/to prove liberation from the Empire is possible... so then why did this have to happen in the middle of the expansion? Why did we have to halt everything in Gyr Abania to travel to another continent, prove liberation is possible, and then go *back* to Gyr Abania where nothing has changed to then actually meet the goal of liberating Ala Mhigo? Why not *start* in Doma when the Resistance was critical of the Eorzean forces instead of doing fetch quests to prove we're serious about helping their efforts?? The logic behind the detour is still there and doesn't feel like we're halting one storyline to interject another, but maybe I'm just throwing ideas to the wall and this wouldn't actually address this criticism
Major gripe number two: the game doesn't give certain plot points enough time to breathe. Maybe this is just a me thing, but I feel like Yotsuyu and the whole Resonant thing were resolved wayyy too quickly. For Yotsuyu, she was very interesting because you could tell there was some kind of history that led to the woman presented within game... and then the tiny little hints became a monologue in the last scene you see her in. It genuinely felt as though the writers either didn't trust the player to put the pieces together on their own or they knew they ran out of time to explore this character without it completelt tanking the pacing. I also was fully expecting to fight Yotsuyu at one point -- like we did the other antagonists of the expansion -- but nope she just exists in the story for a bit and then becomes crushed by a collapsing building
To be perfectly honest I wouldn't be surprised if she shows up in the patch content because the game mentioned they didn't find any bodies in the ruins of Doma Castle but we'll see
As for the Resonant, I am fully expecting that to show up in patch content. The game moved on way too quickly from the whole "artificially giving people the Echo" thing for it to not be explored more in some form or fashion, but it still feels like something that should have been given more gravitas in the base content and not shunted to patch content (assuming I'm right about the patch content exploring it more)
HOWEVER, I did still enjoy playing through the expansion, even with these complaints. I adored most of the characters introduced in this expansion, and mourn what could have been for others (see my rant about Yotsuyu above). I'm sure my perspective on this expansion will change once I've completed the patch content, but for now, I stand by my point that if this is a "bad" expansion, then that just proves how great FF14 is.
Being asexual and racist is embarassing as fuck. Being racist at all is obviously embarassing as fuck but the amount of racism and especially antiblackness i have been seeing from asexuals recently is obscene.
One of the only asexual activists is Yasmin Benoit, a Black woman. She has raised so much awareness for the community. She was the first asexual person to lead Pride in London, she started the #thisiswhatasexuallookslike movement and is THE leading voice for the community.
And you all will celebrate international asexuality day on April 6th but we wouldn't even have that if she hadn't cofounded it.
Edit: why are you all too scared to repost this. Cmon. Be vocal about being against racism
I have learned how to turn off the level sync/how to solo duties, meaning I can actually experience the Binding Coils albeit not the way the devs intended...
...anyway I managed to get through turns 1-4 without too many issues (turn 2 did suck but that was mostly because paralysis would proc in the middle of my casts meaning my DPS was very low and I was in emergency heal mode more than do damage mode for the final fight) but turn 5 is kicking my ass atm because clearly this fight was not designed for a level 66 RDM to be able to clear it by herself
Is it possible if I was patient and learned the mechanics and what to do? Probably, but that clear will have to wait for another day ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I have learned how to turn off the level sync/how to solo duties, meaning I can actually experience the Binding Coils albeit not the way the devs intended...
...anyway I managed to get through turns 1-4 without too many issues (turn 2 did suck but that was mostly because paralysis would proc in the middle of my casts meaning my DPS was very low and I was in emergency heal mode more than do damage mode for the final fight) but turn 5 is kicking my ass atm because clearly this fight was not designed for a level 66 RDM to be able to clear it by herself
Is it possible if I was patient and learned the mechanics and what to do? Probably, but that clear will have to wait for another day ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I love you, crowsfeet; I love you, gray hairs; I love you, sun spots; I love you, smile lines; I love you, crinkle between my eyebrows; I love you, crooked smile; I love you, visible signs of a life lived
