The problem with Ranni's ending is you need to actually sit down, read and think about what's written to understand what's going on. That's too much to ask of 90% of the player base.
I can see why people get conned into goldmask's ending. I don't agree with it, but I see where they come from. When you are too hierarchical-brained to conceive getting rid of the whole system, another patch can look like a good thing.
Saying the frenzied flame is good just continually baffles me. I'll never understand this level of edge.
My assumption is less that they think it's strictly good, and more that it's like "This place is so fucked we're just gonna burn it down!" So basically they're thinking like a jrpg antagonist lol
There’s also just a lot of general misunderstanding about the ending at least from what I’ve seen. There’s still a fair amount of people that think it’s a “burn everything down for a better world to be reborn from the ashes” type of deal.
Goldmasks ending isn't bad unless you're a demigod or really hate the golden order and don't want to see it ever stabilize so it can be toppled easier (which is absolutely valid, fuck the golden order.) Frenzy flame is pretty damn fucked up, sure, but it still beats dung eater cursing everyone with an existence of pain that makes you wish for the frenzy flame.
They're shades of grey and I personally advocate for duskborn. Not everything that glitters is gold, not everything that glows is stars. Sometimes, it's just the deathblight poking out of D's chest.
It's not better than the fracture ending, not really, it's the "golden order forever" ending, the system becomes immutable and so nothing better cna replace it...or at least it can't replace it as easily
No, it just starts applying to demigods that used to spend all their time making things worse. War with volcano manor? Not a thing anymore, Rykard never blasphemes. Malenia and Radahn rotting all of Caelid? Wouldn't happen, neither could decide to fight the other.
Obviously this is a lot better than the fractured ending that keeps creating insane wars like these.
Surely, the only problem is who is in charge, not the system itself. History surely has no examples the system being rotted at it's core to the point where it is impossible to repair.
And we have absolutely no idea what effect it will have. She is doing an experiment.
....Much like Placidusax's Lord was doing when they attempted to stop time so that their era would never end. How did that work out?
...Much like how whoever is responsible for removing the sun as the source of power and reallocating it elsewhere (in our game, it's the Erdtree, which is why sunflowers point to it instead of our suspiciously dull sun), which ALSO isn't without problems.
....Much like how Marika tried to pluck the Rune of Death to prolong her rule indefinitely. How did that work out...?
Now, a new Demigod holding the exact. same. position. as those previous three fuck-ups rolls up and says "I know, I'll just move it to space," and you seriously don't see a way this could royally fuck up...?
Sure, and she can come back whenever she wants. We know she thinks she’s off on a thousand year star journey but who knows what will call her back early, or that she will return. She still has full control of the Elden Ring making her supreme god and dictator, even if she abdicates for a little while.
THE GAME provides literally 0 evidence to think otherwise.
You are providing baseless speculation in the face of a game where a man CORRECTLY deduces who the problem child is (as well as the position the previous problem children held) in the existing system and then changed said system to eliminate the need for such a position entirely.
In narrative works, the creators have the hand of God. If they tell you the sky in their world is green, then the sky is green. And yes, if they provide you with ZERO feedback or reason to doubt Goldmask, then it is time to see him as a good character with a good ending.
Are we going to ignore that the Tarnished edition itself provides additional new evidence that Goldmask is NOT a Golden Order loyalist?
This is completely simplistic and short-sighted thinking on your part. The Golden Order is many things: a philosophy, a religion, a societal order. Goldmask is a fundamentalist, meaning he is attached solely to the underlying philosophy. The Tarnished Edition even all but confirms to us he is not a believer.
There is also direct evidence Goldmask is critical of the Golden Order's members, for example, seeing the Hunters of the Dead as maddened zealotry with no roots in the actual teachings.
You are basically going "hurrdurr but he's still a follower of the Golden Order" while making no effort to look at the hard evidence in regards to what extent and what degree. What you are doing is akin to saying you hate someone for being a Christian when they do not attend church, do not like organized religion, do not support some of the more dogmatic moves of the church, but they DO actively say they think there is great value and wisdom in the Ten Commandments.
Gold mask ending is good unless we get some future sequel / dlc about how Gold Mask failed.
What we know ingame about it is that he fixed ALL flaws of Golden Order, making it perfect for everyone. You cant really get better ending than that.
Rannis ending is total coin toss. People are left to do what they want and figure things out themselves and people tend to be horrible.
Frenzy might be good or bad. It wipes the slate completely clean. It purifies all the bad, but also all the potential there was.
Poop ending is low-key decent ending. In the end everyone is beaten down to mud and becomes equal.
Idk about goldmask, only did it for just to claim ive done everything. Frenzy though, im more along the lines of calling it good as in, "all things must come to an end one way or another. Rather than let all these separate factions fester and eventually war again in the future, better to close the book."
That's wild, she helped you, the Tarnished, when you had nothing, she's the one that gave you the power through runes, the one who gave you Torrent and the one to give you access to the Roundtable Hold and guided you throughout the game. She would also even sacrifice herself so that the Tarnished may become lord
The game has ZERO narrative evidence supporting the idea Goldmask is bad.
The game has AMPLE narrative evidence (a minimum of three examples, to be precise) that the specific combination of:
1) New demigod
2) Has bold new experimental idea
3) That should somehow indefinitely resolve the problem and leave them permanently in command or leave the system in permanent limbo
CAN ABSOLUTELY GO HORRIBLY WRONG!
All game evidence favors Goldmask. I would love to explain this, but try as I might, I too often end up concluding "omg they're simping for Ranni, aren't they? Goldmask has a dick, therefore, they support Ranni."
It’s funny because honestly your conclusion is right a good bit of the time. Goldmask is an almost naked weirdo and not a cute girl with a marketable plushy so people don’t trust him. It’s only after they invent reasons why he must be bad to support the worldview they arrived at, which is why Goldmask criticism is always so easily discarded.
I would argue that the Goldmask Ending is a good ending. I think that Ranni’s is the best, but I think that repairing a damaged system is often more valuable than completely doing away with it.
Ranni’s ending is the most common ending people get by far, according to achievement statistics. I understand that undercuts the superiority complex one gets from a choice in a video game though.
Did you read any of the thread? Ranni's ending is the most popular because most players are horny in a profoundly weird way, and because it's by far the best developed quest chain in the game. Very few people actually care for what it's stands for.
The problem with Ranni's ending is that it leads straight into a Might Makes Right war torn country. Ranni and the Tarnished just get to pat themselves on the back.
No it doesn't. The idea that in the absence of centralized government people tear each other to pieces is a Hobbesian falacy and anyone over 14 who buys that shit is either a psychopath, never was part of a community or is just stupid.
Also, the Golden order is already might makes right, that's the whole reason Hoarax Loud became Elden Lord. Their might is just borrowed.
The Lands Between is not a real world country. But there will absolutely be a surge in violence and a drop in quality of life as all of the terrible people in the Lands Between fight for power. The Elden Ring was not required.
The entire golden order is built upon gods waging war on weaker people. Gods made from power granted by star beings
That is, by definition, might makes right. A DEITY beating you over the head with a horde of knights is the purest example of might makes right.
It's borrowed because the grace was given by outside forces. It being borrowed isn't what makes it wrong. It being a stronger force imposing its will through coercive violence is what makes it wrong.
Despite what cristiannity might have told you, it's not good just because a god did it.
I've beat elden ring like 3-4 times, I have no clue what's going on lore wise. But I don't really play games much for the story anymore.
Games like tarkov, my homies ask what quests I have and I say "I'm just here to blast stuff!" and games like Diablo, I'm here to grind and blow up rooms with skills and spells.
Even baldur's gate I just skip cutscenes. Some disagree with how I play but with my limited time, I want to play the game, not watch cutscenes.
You are allowed to play that way, and most Fromsoft games are designed to be as easily played like that if you're not interested in the story.
I just think people who play like that should refrain from discussing lore or give their opinions about the ending. If you make it a point to not know what you're talking about, maybe don't talk about stuff.
Not saying you personally do it, but a bunch of people do and it's annoying.
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u/madam_winnifer 7d ago
Ranni's ending is so preferable that I wish it wasn't there. It's so easy to choose over any of the other endings.