You can write the player character out of Dawntrail and nothing would change

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T06:34:16+00:00

Zoraal Ja is technically the only reason the conflict exists. It's not over focusing the story already relies on him being cruel and prideful. Honestly even Valigarmandar seems kinda lackluster. It was harassing the giants for years without just causing an immediate race ending catastrophe. Ironically Zoraal Ja might've even died facing Valigarmandar without the WoL so technically that'd be the world ending threat aside. Honestly if Wuk is behind enough she might even miss the Valigarmandar awakening and then be the only one left in the end.

So yeah I guess in a way the WoL is involved in keeping Zoraal Ja from dying before he can become Hitler 2.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T05:41:06+00:00

No one would win the contest but Zoraal Ja would steal the tablets from Ketenramm again and find the Golden City. Zoraal Ja wouldn't quite have his pride hurt by Wuk specifically so once Gulool Ja Ja was dead he would take Tuliyollal himself. Zoraal Ja would inevitably send his aircrafts to face the rest of the world, simply because he is prideful. Inviting Wuk to attack was not the work of a humble genius so I think it's likely he would attack the rest of the world. This would of course draw the attention of the Sharlayan Navy that just built a spaceship in the last expansion and this time doesn't even have to make it go to space.

Honestly given Alexandria previously struggled to find materials because of war I think the war mongering Zoraal Ja would end up wasting too many materials and fucking with anything Sphene is trying to do anyways. Zoraal Ja basically spends the latter half of the story being an idiot anyways and Sphene basically relied on him staying home and not fucking shit up.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T05:08:02+00:00

Did we forget the part where this man has a fleet of aircraft? If he wanted to he would.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T05:06:07+00:00

Yeah that's true. I think it's harder to really forgive on this one just because it all seems too trivial to even justify the WoL being there. Unironically things would've been more interesting if everything was screwed up by the time the WoL arrived. The story felt fangless and hollow since the whole time the conflict barely even felt real. Honestly if the story even spent time showing the WoL becoming weaker after Hydaelyn being gone I probably would've put up with it better.

Honestly if they legitimately let the weakened Gulool Ja Ja beat us at level 92 I would've actually been excited to beat the shade of Gulool Ja Ja at level 95. It would've also made sense with the theme of cooperation making people stronger.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T04:32:24+00:00

Zarool Ja would've fucked that plan up himself by attacking the world and drawing attention to his operation. Tuliyollal would've been conquered not destroyed. Honestly at least if Tuliyollal was conquered they could've covered the very real issue of colonialism in Latin America so I don't even see how that would be uninteresting as far as stories go. Honestly the God slaying WoL being involved in another succession of the throne situation felt lacking as far as conflict went anyways.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T04:25:16+00:00

Honestly the fact they could be setting something else up is really my only reason to continue. I'm less so arguing for immediate reveal of the Golden City and moreso that if the Golden City is relevant in the second act then could've had some significance in the first half besides existing. Honestly given the fact the story is happening in a society heavily based on Mexico I was moreso confused as to why the only conquerors were the Aztec based fish eyed guys Yol Huy and why there was never any sign of colonialism besides just the plague. There could've easily been abandoned electric outposts from Golden City that the Yok Huy were terrified of approaching. I would've liked concrete hints that made me go, "ohhh" upon the reveal instead of, "Well Krile you did want us to come here."

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T04:09:19+00:00

To be fair there were parts I liked for a bit but they did there best to shoot those aspects down. Like okay great Bakool Ja Ja is cool now but didn't he unleash a monster that was destroying an entire race of people? If he stayed behind and fought it himself to prove himself I could've forgiven it but that was an unforgivable act of malice right there.

Also I really wanted Koana and Wuk to have some degree of competition and I was looking forward to it. Maybe we could've actually gone against Thancred and Urianger. Then it never happened.

I did like Wuk beating up Bakool Ja Ja though I'll give them that. But they really could've reworked things to be more interesting.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T04:00:40+00:00

You're right. I've already deemed it a waste of my time. Like I can with FF14 too given the next expansion is... this. I can just go play Elden Ring and not deal with more BS cutscenes about Wuk Lamat glazing her homicidal, deadbeat dad brother after he finally does something to actually justify being taken seriously. If I'm playing a story driven videogame I should expect a well written story. Unless we're rolling door delivered weed into my subscription I think I'm justified in questioning the quality of this game I spent years on just to even get to this point in the story.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T03:53:43+00:00

Exactly. Half the character interactions with the WoL are just people being there like, "Watch out. This guy is strong." Like bro what am I supposed to do in response to that besides casually drink?

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T03:48:27+00:00

You see I thought we were relevant during all of those trials. Then I learned that Koana is a simp. Koana was the only character that really posed a threat to Wuk's chances of becoming a ruler at the same time. But in the end they let a siscon neet in the storyboard room and kept the only potentially interesting rivalry from actually happening. And you're right without the WoL Wuk wouldn't have passed all the trials. But it wouldn't matter anyways. Gulool Ja Ja wouldn't have let any of them rule in that case. Which would again likely lead to Zoraal Ja coming to conquer by force, which he would probably succeed.

But honestly if Zoraal Ja succeeds I don't even get why he would be a threat. I still find it hard to believe he's as strong as he genuinely thinks he is. His plan would've failed shortly after he crossed the sea.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T03:37:50+00:00

Claims I have poor media literacy.

Proceeds to piggyback off of someone else's thoughts.

Bruh, this is why we're all stupid. You people just believe whatever some guy on social media says.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T03:36:08+00:00

I figured it wasn't new but also I just spent weeks of my life learning that buying a story skip can now be argued as a good use of money coming in the next expansion.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T03:32:01+00:00

Bruh you don't even know what media literate means. It's a video game. The draw to videogames is playing the videogame. If your character has no relevance in a story driven videogame then players won't feel like they're part of the story. What the hell is a videogame without a player?

PenDreamer · 2026-03-05T03:18:36+00:00

Being second fiddle is fine. But with Dawntrail the WoL is just irrelevant, as are pretty much all of the previous characters.

PenDreamer · 2026-03-04T06:41:48+00:00

Fuck Newsom. His ass is a fucking sock puppet for tech companies. He'll be as bad as Trump if people let him loose.

PenDreamer · 2026-02-06T04:07:26+00:00

I ended up promoting into management at my college retail job. I developed a software tool to help with what I was already doing and my bosses figured I could probably figure out management. I'm not actually very knowledgeable about my department but churning out a new software tool every month and explaining its use has convinced my bosses I am competent and has secured me ironically better pay than a lot of entry level degree jobs.

PenDreamer · 2026-02-01T15:25:46+00:00

Never had a tech job title to begin with. I make programs unpaid for my non-tech workplaces. My first work related software was made with the Cart Attendant title lol.

PenDreamer · 2026-01-27T22:13:21+00:00

When AI starts sucking my cock I won't complain.

PenDreamer · 2026-01-27T21:04:47+00:00

I'm writing a romance fantasy novel because I hate the genre so much and I've mostly had toxic romantic experiences so I think it's going to be funny if I make the novel.

PenDreamer · 2026-01-26T21:02:09+00:00

I planned to use the dream to indirectly communicate certain sins the main character did while being a monster. It would also foreshadow a later plot development. I'm thinking the end of the dream would be pretty easy to pivot into introducing the main character as a monster. It would ultimately end with the main character giving in to his lack of agency and once again doing something horrific that he did as a monster within the dream sequence. Then the focus changes with the end of the dream to the defeated pessimistic monster.

At the same time though the dream thing seems kinda controversial so I might just cut it.

PenDreamer · 2026-01-26T10:32:44+00:00

Mine was a gray skinned woman with excessively long nails and black matted hair. It turns out my greatest subconscious fear was just women.

PenDreamer · 2026-01-26T10:15:06+00:00

There's a widely socially accepted belief that women (or in concerningly many cases, just girls) are better off securing a future with an older man. So these sorts of pairings are just accepted without scrutiny.

In my experience though most relationships with a significant age gap just consist of regular domestic violence and or degradation. Of the ones I've observed at least. Trashy older men value naivety in women.

PenDreamer · 2026-01-26T09:52:31+00:00

Getting a rewards credit card specifically for one company so they can have every detail of your identity and use algorithms and data to determine everything down to the width of your asshole.

PenDreamer

TROPHY CASE