The main storyline is insultingly bad

[Rrecall]

I tried at the start...but damn it's just soooo boring. Now I just go to quest giver and Esc. Esc. Esc.. until I get the quest. The "story" is utter garbage. As is the forced inventory management/expansion.

[Lotte]

Welp... We went being good again. That's like a big **** you to me.

 

Like what the hell?!?  just decide already. :U

 

Do you want to be evil and kill everyone on your path or be good a guy and help that random villager feed her pigs. :U

[Izah]

how is ur own story boring as fukk if u want good storys read a book

this is a game so play it 

[Finsternis]

On 21.3.2016 at 1:56 PM, Tsuchiryu said:

 

I both eagerly await and dread what they'll do to Act IV because of this. Will they try to fix these *cricket* ups? Will they be consistent with what  they already *cricket*ed up and end up piling plothole after plothole? Who knows?

And will we meet Madun ever again? I still need to punch him in the face for making me crash in the middle of nowhere.

[Yagion]

i just lvl'ed a new char just to go to the part where the survey asks you about story and say how bad it is, and the changes they did suck even more

[Dray0s]

well, I like the storyline tbh, (didn't enjoy cinderlands all too much) a few gripes, but I wouldn't say insultingly bad realistically, not many games offer Interactive Storylines specially not in the MMORPG world.

 

how the NPCS such as Jinsoyun talk, u were physically given a option of turning evil with her, yet u weren't, So its misleading cause ur forever wondering if u've missed a method to turn.

 

the End of Base game, makes the ENTIRE Game irrelevant, u Litterally stick hongmoon out constantly, you go through agony, all of a sudden, Somebody relieses u cannot be physically Cured and turns out all along simply balancing ur soul with darkness was the forever cure... u just went through torture for teachings u Abandoned before even seeing. I would have preferred the balancing with darkness to be much Closer to the beginning, where U would have a fighting chance during cutscenes etc etc, that don't involve just standing their paralyzed by a flower.

 

I wouldn't say the entire storys a Loop of betrayal tbh, as u go through u learn why Namsoyoo was so keen to get out, when u go to the Monastry in Viridian Coast, a Nan says "she always Dreamed of being a Empress" the Mere hope was what drove her to changing alliance so often with this constant promise, u will notice EVERY person she follows initially offers her that exact wish, She didn't really betray anymore then once realistically, She became Unhappy with her choices and Saw the negatives of what she did, her regret started once she reliesed u overpowered both captains.

 

Bumbak, was a Liar, and It sucks u had 0 options to distrust him and Execute him early on, instead forced to accept his Lies even tho ur at the screen shouting ITS A LIE KILL THE *cricket*ER.

 

Cinderlands did have some great moments, but they lead to nothing.

 

Myriuug,. the women who defys yonkais Laws, u don't see her again after that, Like She was one person ready for war with yonkai for victory and not supressing herself with fear... to actually have Slain yonkai yourself would have been much more fun, yet he simply dies to Jinsoyuns Hand, its literally a slap in the face that it was Just that easy to end him, and u forever question why the hell u didn't do that.

 

however I did like the sages, the full distrust your previous actions caused them into Just Not letting you near the Mushins Legacy to them Finally reliesing how Pure you really are when u sacrifice your hope of revenge to give yunwa life again, It sucked She was taken at the end of Cinderlands to be hidden.. but never returns to the storyline, even if she was present in the final Scenes with Mushin it would have been great, u gave up everything to save a NPC that disappears reguardless.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the Storyline it was quite engaging and tbh made the levelling process fun, however it did defintly have some areas that needed improvements and more option. Mushin Legacy was a great moment to have the option of Defying Master hong. balancing with the Darkness and Taking on War as Not the Light but Darkness against Darkness, Or Quelling the Hate to Save yunwa. Knowing that mushin would never forgive u for allowing his daughter to die. this could have lead into a different storyline path against mushin instead of with him..

 

overall, the only changes i'd really of made are

 

- player slains yonkai.

 

- Choice of what you do with Mushins Legacy.

 

- Balancing with Darkness to Happen in the Cinderlands BEFORE going on into Moonwater.

[IronEleven]

I sort of like the Silverfrost storyline but it's not without its faults, and half of those are rushing out a half-assed patch rather than the story itself.
 

• Too much filler (suppose it's to be expected of an MMO)
• Ends abruptly mid-act
• The voice-acting makes the Blackram Supply Chain look good by comparison
  • The fact that Soha and the other dude's voice is a known issue means NCSoft KNOWINGLY rushed the patch with placeholder voices and expect us to be cool with it.

[Hisako]

So far, I kinda like what's going on in Silverfrost.

 

The story makes sense if you read the context behind it. Under "J," where your completed quests are, you can read more about the context of each story quest after you finish it, and honestly, it helped a lot.

 

I never knew that Dochun used to work for the Stratus Empire. I didn't know that Namsoyoo was actually Dochun's niece, and not his daughter. (Tells what happened to her mother as well, which adds to the "character motivation" that we can't see.) It talks about the things that the game doesn't have room for. (It also made me wish that Dochun had his own sidestory.)

 

Personally, I like it. Maybe it's because I've read up on the things I've missed.

[Yolie]

It is not surprising that some of you don't have the IQ to grasp the story.  Sorry, I don't mean to be insulting, but if you take off your FF5 gear for a moment you may see a good story here.  

 

This is reminiscent of a traditional Chinese Epic, the foundation which makes up many of the greatest epic novels and movies today.  It is this type of story that gave you Star Wars, LOTR etc. etc.  

 

Put down your Redbull for a second and pay attention.  Learn something about the culture and the iconography you see and your IQ might go up.

 

 

 

 

[Tsuchiryu]

3 minutes ago, Yolie said:

It is not surprising that some of you don't have the IQ to grasp the story.  Sorry, I don't mean to be insulting, but if you take off your FF5 gear for a moment you may see a good story here.  

 

This is reminiscent of a traditional Chinese Epic, the foundation which makes up many of the greatest epic novels and movies today.  It is this type of story that gave you Star Wars, LOTR etc. etc.  

 

Put down your Redbull for a second and pay attention.  Learn something about the culture and the iconography you see and your IQ might go up.

Still not quite the stuff of legend, no matter how insultingly you say otherwise.

[Ohlong Johnson]

1 hour ago, Yolie said:

It is not surprising that some of you don't have the IQ to grasp the story.  Sorry, I don't mean to be insulting, but if you take off your FF5 gear for a moment you may see a good story here.  

 

This is reminiscent of a traditional Chinese Epic, the foundation which makes up many of the greatest epic novels and movies today.  It is this type of story that gave you Star Wars, LOTR etc. etc.  

 

Put down your Redbull for a second and pay attention.  Learn something about the culture and the iconography you see and your IQ might go up.

If that's your normal attitude, you would better not talk about not enough IQ to grasp a video game story. Your dishonest apology afterwards doesn't help either.

It may very well be a reminiscent of what you said but that doesn't mean it's been done well for everyone, nor that everyone MUST like it as much as you apparently do. I'm usually fine with most MMO stories (SWTOR, GW2 etc) but BnS' story doesn't manage to reel me in to even level all the way to 50 (or even 45, nor does the oh-so-fantastic combat so, though). To be fair, it does seem that the korean dialogues and texts were better and more coherent with providing background information based on a reddit topic, so there might have been erased potential within the localisation

 

The only character I cared about and who seem to actually care about the player characters are/were Hajoon and Dochun. But yeah I agree with the main complaint(s) about the Cinderland arc.

[Yolie]

So... cap, and then we can talk about the story or at least get to 45.  But, I don't think that is why you are here.  You don't like the combat or the story?  Why are you here?

 

 

 

 

[Yolie]

5 hours ago, Tsuchiryu said:

Still not quite the stuff of legend, no matter how insultingly you say otherwise.

Nope.  Not the stuff of legend.  But interesting, despite some serious localization issues.  

 

I'm playing with a friend in Hong Kong and there is a dense story here which she has highlighted by explaining some of the nuances of Chinese culture.  It has its low points and over used tropes but nevertheless it is a good walkthrough another culture.

 

Hardly insultingly bad as this topic suggest hence my original reply.

 

 

[IronEleven]

Also I heard a lot of foreshadowing and subtlety got lost in translation.  At least that's what people who've played the other servers have told me.

[JoannaRamira]

..why... the 8 masters T-T

[Meliran]

Personally, I liked the storylines in the Cinderlands and the end of Moonwater plains (After the first 3 zones, which were just gather allies). However, the Silverfrost storyline is really dull compared to what it used to be. Rather than overtly showing yourself to be on the dark path by killing your friends and absorbing their powers, you're still helping others (if it isn't out of your way) and working for armies to get closer to what you want. After your turn from dark to light (which really wasn't much anything of a change), the story just becomes another "gather an army so that they can be NPCs standing around while you do the dirty work" story, instead of one of redemption and discovery.

[Tsuchiryu]

I'm actually liking Act IV a good deal more than the previous two.

 

Spoiler

Going the dark path felt more like a pragmatic, quick way to attempt to subdue the Mark of the Black Rose, but I think we all knew it could backfire. Mushin may have helped our character, but he still isn't exactly the most trustworth guy and later chapters confirm it. Who finished the story (or what we have of it released) knows what I'm talking about. Not that it changes the fact our character does become a bit more one-track minded, plus a bit of a jerk in the early chapters of Act IV, though I don't blame the frustration and despair behind it all.

 

I wouldn't put past NCsoft that there are some subtleties and foreshadowing lost in translation, but I like the feeling of closure we're getting here, with the backstories and all that. Old faces returning, with extra focus on some of them, like Juwol and Yungsang, who FINALLY makes its appearances besides being merely mentioned in passing by other characters, who are enjoyable in their own right.

 

Perhaps more importantly, it dialed back a bit in the unlikeabilty factor of Act II (I don't care if it's not the Hongmoon way, Yonkai should've just died sooner than he did, even if not by our hands... it also bothers me his second-in-command isn't even brought up after the fact, he's another punchable *cricket*... and where the *cricket* is Raven-Lusung), as well as the pointlessness feeling of Act III (getting Sacred Beasts to try to heal your chi, only for that to be pretty much undone by being given Dark Chi by Mushin after Iksanum and everyone in Brightstone dies... gg, Ilsim and other idiot traitors, it's what you get for working with Jinsoyun and Yura). If there's one thing I can say Act IV isn't compared to those other two is underwhelming.

 

Also, it has more Dochun. Cool old dude was fairly likeable in Act I, and IV isn't hurting any his place as my favorite NPC by far. I could've lived without his two aides, though. Chenghum sounding as annoying as ever and Dodan being same cocky idiot all around. Luckily those two fools were dialed back too, so they are at least easier to ignore... something I wish it hadn't happened to Yehara. Poor woman, reduced to hearing rumors about her lost prop/mcguffin, er... stupid niece (shouldn't have evaded your aunt to be kidnapped by Yonkai and later Lusung, brat... I'm putting the blame of all that happened later on you for being, ahem, 'free-spirited'). At least she's still lovable.

 

I'm hoping @Rahaya covers how this translation compares to the original, to see if there were any changes for the worse here. But for now, I wanna talk about the big negative of this Act IV IMO: the inconsistencies in the choices of voice actors.

 

Some were kept, others change voices out of nowhere (an old NPC guard being one of the first and more glaring offenders) and all returning NPCs who have different voices in Act IV sound worse. Some not too bad (Junghado's new voice isn't as deep and badass... it's still serviceable and fits the character OK, but still is definitely a downgrade), but others are downright grating and stupid (Soha did NOT need the 'southern cowgirl' accent, the Junghado 'deep and badass' style was leagues better than what we got now... why change that of all things is beyond me). Also, what some say not matching what's written in the subtitles is very distracting and a tad annoying.

 

[Yurp]

Who cares, play the game , or dont because the story isnt as good as you like

[Crum1515]

4 hours ago, Meliran said:

Personally, I liked the storylines in the Cinderlands and the end of Moonwater plains (After the first 3 zones, which were just gather allies). However, the Silverfrost storyline is really dull compared to what it used to be. Rather than overtly showing yourself to be on the dark path by killing your friends and absorbing their powers, you're still helping others (if it isn't out of your way) and working for armies to get closer to what you want. After your turn from dark to light (which really wasn't much anything of a change), the story just becomes another "gather an army so that they can be NPCs standing around while you do the dirty work" story, instead of one of redemption and discovery.

This ^

I don't know if it's the fact that I know what it used to be which is causing me to dislike the story now, or if it's the presentation/localization.  I feel the elements are very abrupt, and it seems cut and pasted together.  There are missing bits that would act as segues or even iteration.  After going through the NA/EU version I am left feeling unfulfilled, like when you see a click-bait title saying how they are gonna cure cancer, and then you click on it and its old people hugging and the caption is "With Love".

[Meliran]

7 hours ago, Crum1515 said:

This ^

I don't know if it's the fact that I know what it used to be which is causing me to dislike the story now, or if it's the presentation/localization.  I feel the elements are very abrupt, and it seems cut and pasted together.  There are missing bits that would act as segues or even iteration.  After going through the NA/EU version I am left feeling unfulfilled, like when you see a click-bait title saying how they are gonna cure cancer, and then you click on it and its old people hugging and the caption is "With Love".

Any chance you know what the act 7 storyline is? I kind of doubt I'm going to be playing much longer after I finish my guide revamp, and I'd kind of would like to know what happens after.

[Crum1515]

51 minutes ago, Meliran said:

Any chance you know what the act 7 storyline is? I kind of doubt I'm going to be playing much longer after I finish my guide revamp, and I'd kind of would like to know what happens after.

I stopped playing over-seas back in October so I haven't seen it yet or looked for spoilers. I will probably pop over and run through it once I get to max in NA and get bored here soon haha.

[Spiderbot]

I think the main problem with the storyline (I haven't been in Silverfrost yet) is that it requires the player to be a blind idiot. Everything is blatant and in your face, but your character acts like a complete imbecile, falling into all the telegraphed traps. 

This isn't much of a problem in Viridian Coast, since those betrayals are actually handled pretty okay. But it's much worse in the Cinderlands (and gets slightly better in the level 36-45 areas). There you are forced to work for Yonkai, becoming complicit with his atrocities because killing him wouldn't be "the Hongmoon way". You have to be patient and mercyful with a tyrannical *cricket* with no redeeming qualities...but killing all the mobs and NPCs you end up killing for MUCH LESS and mostly for working with him is COMPLETELY OKAY for the "hongmoon way".  

 

At the end of Moonwater plains you have another very stupid moment where your character allies himself with Mushin and Yura. Yura! The demoness you saw manipulating a prince into killing his own sister and corrupting a whole town. 

 

It doesn't make sense, but the writers know it. And they don't care. That's why the player character is a complete idiot: because otherwise the plot couldn't continue in the way the writers intended.

[JoannaRamira]

On 27/3/2016 at 3:39 AM, Spiderbot said:

At the end of Moonwater plains you have another very stupid moment where your character allies himself with Mushin and Yura. Yura! The demoness you saw manipulating a prince into killing his own sister and corrupting a whole town. 

 

It doesn't make sense, but the writers know it. And they don't care. That's why the player character is a complete idiot: because otherwise the plot couldn't continue in the way the writers intended.

Ah yeah... we know and SEE how Ilsim actually met JSY and yet... we can't warn Iksanun about Ilsim's treachery.

 

Well.. if we can maybe Silverfrost act would be bit better :3 With Iksanun finally know what kind of person Mushin is :3 Would love to see him beating his head to wall.

[Tsuchiryu]

1 hour ago, JoannaRamira said:

Ah yeah... we know and SEE how Ilsim actually met JSY and yet... we can't warn Iksanun about Ilsim's treachery.

 

Well.. if we can maybe Silverfrost act would be bit better :3 With Iksanun finally know what kind of person Mushin is :3 Would love to see him beating his head to wall.

You didn't play Act 3 to the end, did you?

 

Spoiler

Because if you did, then you should know Iksanum dies at the end. Both he and Master Hong die without knowing Mushin's true nature. If their spirits learn it later or some such, I've no idea.

 

[JoannaRamira]

 

On 29/3/2016 at 11:56 PM, Tsuchiryu said:

You didn't play Act 3 to the end, did you?

 

Hidden Content

 

I did.. i do prioritize main storyline.