i may not port anything myself but as someone generally curious about the background work those notes are worth so much

ShB made those characters, then they just stayed around forever after, to the detriment of other new ones. I really hope future patches find a way to satisfy their fans while giving us new ones to like, we've had the same crew for 6 years now

It's baffling to remember how little people cared about the scions back in SB compared to now
Haurchefant dominated the charts, and some of that still endures today, but Thancred had less of a presence than Eos and there weren't enough people who remembered who G'raha was to run roulettes

*beating the drums* AND IS ALSO WHY LETTING BLENDS OF MAIN PARTY MEMBERS, EXPAC CHARS, AND NEW CHARS STAR IN SIDEQUESTS IS SO IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING AND SHOULD HAPPEN 100X AS OFTEN AS IT DOES!!!!!! LET THE THREADS OF THE WORLD MINGLE OUTSIDE OF THEIR RIGID BOXES FOR FUCKS SAKE

i agree with everything said here and I want to add to it: I think an unsung facet *of* shb's ability to make us care is letting us into the daily lives of the characters. all the bonds they've built up with others who aren't just the main party, what they've spent their extra time doing

i could ramble on and on about ShB and the common thread between Hydaelyn's chosen for hours but Ryne is such an unsung hero I need everyone to appreciate her more

She needed to be there, but everyone around her (except thancred but he gets a pass for now because he got her out of eulmore), especially Minfilia herself, was ready to help her be more than just the Oracle. By the end of ShB and in Eden, she assumes that role because she wants to, and I love that.

It works beautifully with the ongoing WoL's party being made up of those carrying the torch of those who walked before, and I think ShB would've fallen apart if it had just been people from the Source fighting an Ascian to save the Source (and a reflection while they're at it)

ShB works because it makes you fall in love with the world, but alongside that is Ryne's character arc of learning to trust herself, to know that people are there for *her* and not for the Oracle, all while Thancred slowly gets his shit together and gets ready to become one of those left behind

She's the only one of the main cast who's actually native to the First, she's the one the burden of killing the Lightwardens was going to fall back on if the WoL couldn't be summoned, and early on she was willing to surrender her individuality, believing it'd be better if Minfilia took over.

They might have looked into the Lapis Manalis dollmaster/gridanian goldsmith for his impressive craft too, only to decide everything he left behind was too horny and gory to actually be used

i needed some yuri after the silly football game bombarded me with a city tour montage... right back to it i go

maximum brain take: they reduced the amount of QA they do for DT patches so they can introduce the basic stuff to meet the corporate automation quota and please investors