No Lady Webbs this time, please

[Lucaltuve]

 

I disagree, I like the way that was handled. It sounds like you object to the plot itself, to the entire reason for your character being a watcher and motivations for the main quest. Like it's certainly not perfect but it allowed for a lot of roleplaying and only forced you into choices that were needed for the plot. Even then it's a past life it doesn't determine who your character is or what kind of person they are it only causes their drive to want to know about their past life either because they want to know or because they want to save themselves from madness. It's a lot like the first Baldur's Gate actually, which I imagine was intentional. 

 

 

I don´t disagree with my character´s motivations for the main quest... because I gave him those by roleplaying him. I do agree that it seems like an intentional throwback to Baldur´s Gate which is fine I guess, but it still seems like a lazy shortcut to me and the execution is one of the most poorly written parts of the game imo.

Given the massive importance of reincarnation in the plot/world I guess the temptation to give a concrete past life to the MC was probably too much to bear, I just think it could´ve been handled in a more elegant manner (and yes, preferably with no ties to the main bad guy) and Iovara exemplifies this lack of elegance.

[Yosharian]

she´s also part of the only thing about Pillars that I absolutely  despise: Every element about your past life is terrible and it´s nothing more than a way for writers to FORCE a roleplayed character to have the past that´s convenient for THEM, not their actual character. Yes, yes, it´s a past life and you can make some choices but it´s a hackish way of introducing  mandatory personal "stakes" and relationships to a plot that really didn´t need it. It´s having your cake and eating it too.

 

If I come off as bitter or anything let me be clear: I absolutely love this game and most of the writing, just giving my two cents on some stuff that bothers me.

 

This, a million times.  When the game starts asking me to choose from a list of past actions, or worse forces past actions on me, I immediately begin to switch off mentally.  It's really, really off-putting.

[The Sharmat]

If you want your backstory to matter besides a few occasional offhand references over the course of the game, the scope by necessity has to be narrowed so the writers can actually make each choice have an impact. Given that this is a previous life and not even the character you're playing (and indeed, may be a very different person. The kind of concept that's interesting to roleplay) I thought it was an excellent compromise and one of the best bits of writing in the game.

 

I mean, being able to say I was the Living Lands' Walter White at the start of the game may be funny and I suppose if I want to write a bunch of fanfic on deviantart about it the game won't step on my toes with its content, but it's way less engaging than, say, realizing that in a past life my character sold their little sister to Thaos because he was too weak to do otherwise and its haunted their soul since and caused all manner of violent backlash.

[Lucaltuve]

If you want your backstory to matter besides a few occasional offhand references over the course of the game, the scope by necessity has to be narrowed so the writers can actually make each choice have an impact. Given that this is a previous life and not even the character you're playing (and indeed, may be a very different person. The kind of concept that's interesting to roleplay) I thought it was an excellent compromise and one of the best bits of writing in the game.

 

I mean, being able to say I was the Living Lands' Walter White at the start of the game may be funny and I suppose if I want to write a bunch of fanfic on deviantart about it the game won't step on my toes with its content, but it's way less engaging than, say, realizing that in a past life my character sold their little sister to Thaos because he was too weak to do otherwise and its haunted their soul since and caused all manner of violent backlash.

 

That´s perfectly reasonable and I´m honestly glad the developers´ choices of past lives resonated with you. This is one of those cases where personal preference has too much of an impact I suppose.  I´m personally tired of chosen ones and past connections to the bad guy so that´s already something against it. But what really matters to me is that limiting my created character besides the vague "backgrounds", it feels as if suddenly Durance´s Godhammer background is one of my past lives and there´s no way around it. Or Eder´s, let´s say every created character fought in the Saint´s War against Waidwen and perhaps the bad guy was your commanding officer, you could roleplay your way out of it in a million different ways and despite taking place in your current lifetime you could always argue you were a different persona back then (as it sometimes happens in real life). It´s something that´s certainly been done before and it´s not completely unreasonable but I still wouldn´t like it. 

[The Sharmat]

I don't really think the Watcher is a chosen one by any means. Just a guy carrying around a couple millenia old grudge. Could have happened to anyone that saw what they saw. I mean I guess there's the whole "strong soul" thing but even then the soul was just resisting entropy because it hated Thaos so much.

[Lucaltuve]

No I agree, Chosen One was a poor choice of words. Being a Watcher fits the general archetype of being "special" in fiction but it's certainly not driven by fate or a prophecy or anything of the sort.

[Mikeymoonshine]

I get that more or less this fits the "chosen one" trope in that you are the only one that can truly stop Thaos because only a watcher has the abilities needed and only you have the history with him the lead you to uncovering him. Thing is it's either something like that or it's a "nobody caught up in circumstances" kinda thing or you just go for a plot that isn't as grand and is more personal and small I guess. POE was trying to recreate a specific thing, the developers have said stuff like that the typical western fantasy setting was deliberate. 

 

I just think a past life is better than a video game specifically giving you a history you can't change. After all it's a past life, it wasn't really you. 

[The Sharmat]

I found the protagonist's conflict with Thaos to be primarily personal but I suppose it depends on how you roleplay the character. Certainly though your introduction to Thaos is entirely about the PC's past life's desperation and unanswered questions, which is appropriate given the prologue and first bit of chapter 1 is all about establishing the main theme of the game (What do you do when no one is watching and the universe just doesn't care) and its thesis statement (delivered by, of all people, that random jerk in Gilded Vale. "Often a bad cure is worse than no cure at all"). The PC is only the typical hero that wants to save the Dyrwood if you play them that way.

[Mikeymoonshine]

I found the protagonist's conflict with Thaos to be primarily personal but I suppose it depends on how you roleplay the character. Certainly though your introduction to Thaos is entirely about the PC's past life's desperation and unanswered questions, which is appropriate given the prologue and first bit of chapter 1 is all about establishing the main theme of the game (What do you do when no one is watching and the universe just doesn't care) and its thesis statement (delivered by, of all people, that random jerk in Gilded Vale. "Often a bad cure is worse than no cure at all"). The PC is only the typical hero that wants to save the Dyrwood if you play them that way.

 

I agree like it's not exactly "save the world" there is "save the Dyrwood" maybe but even the curse is not the central motivation of the plot it's not what is driving you to find Theos. So it is kinda of mix between the generic fantasy plot and something more interesting. I'm just unsure how anything else would have worked. 

[The Sharmat]

I mean there are better stories in RPGs, and worse stories better delivered, but that first glimpse of Thaos in Sun in Shadow during the prologue still gives me chills.

[Karkarov]

Reading this is pretty interesting.  Some of you had pretty over the top reactions to Iovara especially. 

She was definitely altruistic, and even mentions she is not sure her actions are the right thing, but she can't "live a lie".  Thaos is also altruistic but in the worst way.  They are basically two sides of the same coin, Iovara believes people deserve to know and make their own choice even though she is not sure it is the safest path.  At heart she basically "trusts people to do the right thing", or at the very least believes in people.

 

Thaos doesn't trust people at all, and thinks the gods are needed to keep them in line, and his work is required to prevent them from ever learning things they should not.  He has no problem killing hundreds if it is for the greater good, all to insure the safest path.

 

That's the real crux of the difference between those two characters, and why they are opposites.  One person trusts others and thinks they deserve the right to make mistakes and learn from them.  The other does not trust people, and thinks people should not be allowed to make mistakes for their own good.

[Yosharian]

That may be the philosophical heart of PoE but it's buried under SO much dense dialogue/exposition that it barely matters.

[The Sharmat]

Pillars of Eternity's dialogue is pretty straightforward. Thaos barely even gets any lines. The exposition can be awkward at times, but dense? It's not a complicated plot or world. i think the flaws with the writing are more just how in your face the exposition is. Characters acting like encyclopedia entries at times.

 

I think some of the visceral negative reactions to Iovara come from exposure to the "euphoric atheist" phenomenon to be honest.

Edited April 5, 2018 by The Sharmat

[Karkarov]

Pillars of Eternity's dialogue is pretty straightforward. Thaos barely even gets any lines. The exposition can be awkward at times, but dense? It's not a complicated plot or world. i think the flaws with the writing are more just how in your face the exposition is. Characters acting like encyclopedia entries at times.

 

I think some of the visceral negative reactions to Iovara come from exposure to the "euphoric atheist" phenomenon to be honest.

I think the main issue was like most said, Iovara was used largely as a story dump, and Obisidian did a maybe too good a job of razzle dazzling the player with the gods are not real stuff.  It was very easy to get stuck on that and not actually look at the real difference and cause of conflict between those two characters.

[algroth]

 

Pillars of Eternity's dialogue is pretty straightforward. Thaos barely even gets any lines. The exposition can be awkward at times, but dense? It's not a complicated plot or world. i think the flaws with the writing are more just how in your face the exposition is. Characters acting like encyclopedia entries at times.

 

I think some of the visceral negative reactions to Iovara come from exposure to the "euphoric atheist" phenomenon to be honest.

I think the main issue was like most said, Iovara was used largely as a story dump, and Obisidian did a maybe too good a job of razzle dazzling the player with the gods are not real stuff.  It was very easy to get stuck on that and not actually look at the real difference and cause of conflict between those two characters.

 

 

Where I disagree with is that I don't believe the "gods are not real" reveal to be merely razzle dazzle as you make it out to be, but rather be absolutely critical to the overall discourse and themes explored throughout the game. I mean, this is also the "truth" (in a most general and ambiguous sense) we've been building up from the very start of the game, that caused the Watcher to awaken and has essentially guided him through the rest of the story. The whole game is about the shift from a theocentric society into an anthropocentric one, hence the conflict between animancy and superstition, hence the main antagonistic force being one that is deliberately looking to mislead, hide and act against progress, hence why the main crippling and stagnating element to the setting is a curse that prevents a new generation from being born (hence also prevents innovation and progress and so on, that are always inherently tied with "new blood") which is also largely perceived as divine punishment. The revelation that the gods were created by kith ties into all this as a final statement that inverts the relationship of power between the two, thus allowing kith to forge a path independent of their deities' impositions and so on. And mind, I don't think it's a bad twist either - but ultimately it's just very poorly executed as far as I'm concerned, it is handled in a fashion that is sermonizing instead of suggestive and which railroads the protagonist too much into accepting all this at face value, regardless of character motivations and beliefs, setting, or proof.

 

I also agree that trust in the will or "nature" of kith is a central point to the conflict between Iovara and Thaos, but I would still refrain from calling Thaos altrustic. I think the people who could have been argued as altrustic could have been the Engwithans instead, who made the sacrifice to create the gods and saw the need of doing so in order to prevent the chaos and hopelessness that they thought would otherwise arise. But Thaos has been enjoying way too many benefits of this deal to be called altruistic, he's hardly the one throwing himself at the Engwithan machines to power up his goddess nor is he really looking to spread this power across the pantheon but specifically make his patron a power amidst even the gods themselves. He might excuse his actions by saying they are all for the "greater good" but this greater good is one that is deeply and suspiciously convenient for him and his goddess.

Edited April 7, 2018 by algroth

[The Sharmat]

Thaos didn't seem like a very happy guy to me. He's been stuck doing this for two millenia. I don't think he gets out much.

The problem with the main quest can be put simply as "50% of the plot is in the last 10% of the game" I think.

[algroth]

Thaos didn't seem like a very happy guy to me. He's been stuck doing this for two millenia. I don't think he gets out much.

The problem with the main quest can be put simply as "50% of the plot is in the last 10% of the game" I think.

 

Dunno, he seems pretty happy to me...

 

 

In all seriousness I'd feel the same argument could be used with regards to the likes of Pinochet, Videla, Papa Doc and so on, who would also defend their cause as a form of prevention (in their case against communism and so on), and whom I feel no one would defend as altruistic. I can agree with the second point.

Edited April 7, 2018 by algroth

[Karkarov]

Where I disagree with is that I don't believe the "gods are not real" reveal to be merely razzle dazzle as you make it out to be, but rather be absolutely critical to the overall discourse and themes explored throughout the game. I mean, this is also the "truth" (in a most general and ambiguous sense) we've been building up from the very start of the game, that caused the Watcher to awaken and has essentially guided him through the rest of the story.

 

The whole game is about the shift from a theocentric society into an anthropocentric one, hence the conflict between animancy and superstition, hence the main antagonistic force being one that is deliberately looking to mislead, hide and act against progress, hence why the main crippling and stagnating element to the setting is a curse that prevents a new generation from being born (hence also prevents innovation and progress and so on, that are always inherently tied with "new blood") which is also largely perceived as divine punishment.

 

The revelation that the gods were created by kith ties into all this as a final statement that inverts the relationship of power between the two, thus allowing kith to forge a path independent of their deities' impositions and so on. And mind, I don't think it's a bad twist either - but ultimately it's just very poorly executed as far as I'm concerned, it is handled in a fashion that is sermonizing instead of suggestive and which railroads the protagonist too much into accepting all this at face value, regardless of character motivations and beliefs, setting, or proof.

I would argue you are completely mistaken.The plot of eternity is about the mystery behind your past life, trying to find out what your past self wanted to know, and discovering how to deal with the personal trauma of that past.  The "main plot" is actually a very personal story about self discovery and what you believe.

 

The animancy issues are a back drop. Your character could revile animancy, respect it, or not care about it one way or the other.  It is a focal point of the sub story surrounding the factions of Defiance Bay, and the dyrwood on the whole, it is not a focal point of your personal story.  Most of this subplot really just boils down to learning about your "enemy" and his motivations.

 

The climax about the gods being man made is nothing but a foil to serve as your pasts life question, and the answer is that in reality, it wasn't relevant.  As I recall the games own writing implies that once you discover what you do, you can't even remember why it troubled your past life so much.  And that is because the truth is, the revelation of the gods isn't what troubled your past life, it was your role in the conflict between Iovara and Thaos that caused your troubles.  Your past life could not come to terms with whether he made the right choice or not.

 

Basically if Thaos and Iovara were two sides of the same coin, your character represented the person who called heads or tails.

[algroth]

 

Where I disagree with is that I don't believe the "gods are not real" reveal to be merely razzle dazzle as you make it out to be, but rather be absolutely critical to the overall discourse and themes explored throughout the game. I mean, this is also the "truth" (in a most general and ambiguous sense) we've been building up from the very start of the game, that caused the Watcher to awaken and has essentially guided him through the rest of the story.

 

The whole game is about the shift from a theocentric society into an anthropocentric one, hence the conflict between animancy and superstition, hence the main antagonistic force being one that is deliberately looking to mislead, hide and act against progress, hence why the main crippling and stagnating element to the setting is a curse that prevents a new generation from being born (hence also prevents innovation and progress and so on, that are always inherently tied with "new blood") which is also largely perceived as divine punishment.

 

The revelation that the gods were created by kith ties into all this as a final statement that inverts the relationship of power between the two, thus allowing kith to forge a path independent of their deities' impositions and so on. And mind, I don't think it's a bad twist either - but ultimately it's just very poorly executed as far as I'm concerned, it is handled in a fashion that is sermonizing instead of suggestive and which railroads the protagonist too much into accepting all this at face value, regardless of character motivations and beliefs, setting, or proof.

I would argue you are completely mistaken.The plot of eternity is about the mystery behind your past life, trying to find out what your past self wanted to know, and discovering how to deal with the personal trauma of that past.  The "main plot" is actually a very personal story about self discovery and what you believe.

 

The animancy issues are a back drop. Your character could revile animancy, respect it, or not care about it one way or the other.  It is a focal point of the sub story surrounding the factions of Defiance Bay, and the dyrwood on the whole, it is not a focal point of your personal story.  Most of this subplot really just boils down to learning about your "enemy" and his motivations.

 

The climax about the gods being man made is nothing but a foil to serve as your pasts life question, and the answer is that in reality, it wasn't relevant.  As I recall the games own writing implies that once you discover what you do, you can't even remember why it troubled your past life so much.  And that is because the truth is, the revelation of the gods isn't what troubled your past life, it was your role in the conflict between Iovara and Thaos that caused your troubles.  Your past life could not come to terms with whether he made the right choice or not.

 

Basically if Thaos and Iovara were two sides of the same coin, your character represented the person who called heads or tails.

 

 

I agree that's what the plot (or part of it) is, but the plot acts as a vehicle to explore themes and the theme of the game, right down to its choice of setting as a Renaissant world, is to do with this historical transition.  The plot acts as a way to bridge this widespread cultural change with a more personal journey and transformation and so on, but the themes I think are still clearly related to a much greater scale than the protagonist's inner conflict. Obviously there is no absolute right or wrong when speaking of themes so it could just be that we have different readings of the game, but I feel every aspect to the story, the setting and so on corroborates the above. Shamelessly plugging my review again, in it I go into a fair bit of depth about my interpretation of the game and the thematic exploration and so on, check it out if it interests you and you haven't yet, Karkarov!

[The Sharmat]

 

Where I disagree with is that I don't believe the "gods are not real" reveal to be merely razzle dazzle as you make it out to be, but rather be absolutely critical to the overall discourse and themes explored throughout the game. I mean, this is also the "truth" (in a most general and ambiguous sense) we've been building up from the very start of the game, that caused the Watcher to awaken and has essentially guided him through the rest of the story.

 

The whole game is about the shift from a theocentric society into an anthropocentric one, hence the conflict between animancy and superstition, hence the main antagonistic force being one that is deliberately looking to mislead, hide and act against progress, hence why the main crippling and stagnating element to the setting is a curse that prevents a new generation from being born (hence also prevents innovation and progress and so on, that are always inherently tied with "new blood") which is also largely perceived as divine punishment.

 

The revelation that the gods were created by kith ties into all this as a final statement that inverts the relationship of power between the two, thus allowing kith to forge a path independent of their deities' impositions and so on. And mind, I don't think it's a bad twist either - but ultimately it's just very poorly executed as far as I'm concerned, it is handled in a fashion that is sermonizing instead of suggestive and which railroads the protagonist too much into accepting all this at face value, regardless of character motivations and beliefs, setting, or proof.

I would argue you are completely mistaken.The plot of eternity is about the mystery behind your past life, trying to find out what your past self wanted to know, and discovering how to deal with the personal trauma of that past.  The "main plot" is actually a very personal story about self discovery and what you believe.

 

The animancy issues are a back drop. Your character could revile animancy, respect it, or not care about it one way or the other.  It is a focal point of the sub story surrounding the factions of Defiance Bay, and the dyrwood on the whole, it is not a focal point of your personal story.  Most of this subplot really just boils down to learning about your "enemy" and his motivations.

 

The climax about the gods being man made is nothing but a foil to serve as your pasts life question, and the answer is that in reality, it wasn't relevant.  As I recall the games own writing implies that once you discover what you do, you can't even remember why it troubled your past life so much.  And that is because the truth is, the revelation of the gods isn't what troubled your past life, it was your role in the conflict between Iovara and Thaos that caused your troubles.  Your past life could not come to terms with whether he made the right choice or not.

 

Basically if Thaos and Iovara were two sides of the same coin, your character represented the person who called heads or tails.

 

This. The main theme isn't "Oh **** gods aren't real religion is a lie. In this moment I am euphoric." it's the question of what to do when there are no answers.

[algroth]

 

 

Where I disagree with is that I don't believe the "gods are not real" reveal to be merely razzle dazzle as you make it out to be, but rather be absolutely critical to the overall discourse and themes explored throughout the game. I mean, this is also the "truth" (in a most general and ambiguous sense) we've been building up from the very start of the game, that caused the Watcher to awaken and has essentially guided him through the rest of the story.

 

The whole game is about the shift from a theocentric society into an anthropocentric one, hence the conflict between animancy and superstition, hence the main antagonistic force being one that is deliberately looking to mislead, hide and act against progress, hence why the main crippling and stagnating element to the setting is a curse that prevents a new generation from being born (hence also prevents innovation and progress and so on, that are always inherently tied with "new blood") which is also largely perceived as divine punishment.

 

The revelation that the gods were created by kith ties into all this as a final statement that inverts the relationship of power between the two, thus allowing kith to forge a path independent of their deities' impositions and so on. And mind, I don't think it's a bad twist either - but ultimately it's just very poorly executed as far as I'm concerned, it is handled in a fashion that is sermonizing instead of suggestive and which railroads the protagonist too much into accepting all this at face value, regardless of character motivations and beliefs, setting, or proof.

I would argue you are completely mistaken.The plot of eternity is about the mystery behind your past life, trying to find out what your past self wanted to know, and discovering how to deal with the personal trauma of that past.  The "main plot" is actually a very personal story about self discovery and what you believe.

 

The animancy issues are a back drop. Your character could revile animancy, respect it, or not care about it one way or the other.  It is a focal point of the sub story surrounding the factions of Defiance Bay, and the dyrwood on the whole, it is not a focal point of your personal story.  Most of this subplot really just boils down to learning about your "enemy" and his motivations.

 

The climax about the gods being man made is nothing but a foil to serve as your pasts life question, and the answer is that in reality, it wasn't relevant.  As I recall the games own writing implies that once you discover what you do, you can't even remember why it troubled your past life so much.  And that is because the truth is, the revelation of the gods isn't what troubled your past life, it was your role in the conflict between Iovara and Thaos that caused your troubles.  Your past life could not come to terms with whether he made the right choice or not.

 

Basically if Thaos and Iovara were two sides of the same coin, your character represented the person who called heads or tails.

 

This. The main theme isn't "Oh **** gods aren't real religion is a lie. In this moment I am euphoric." it's the question of what to do when there are no answers.

 

The issue is that we've been given an answer.

[The Sharmat]

No we haven't. The gods being worshiped in Eora at the moment are man-made....and? Now what? That doesn't really tell you anything about how you should live from a moral or practical standpoint. All it does is put the onus of all those questions back on the individual, since the Gods (at least the ones we know about) don't have an unassailable privileged position outside of creation.

[Karkarov]

No we haven't. The gods being worshiped in Eora at the moment are man-made....and? Now what? That doesn't really tell you anything about how you should live from a moral or practical standpoint. All it does is put the onus of all those questions back on the individual, since the Gods (at least the ones we know about) don't have an unassailable privileged position outside of creation.

Exactly.  All that answer comes down to is.... okay... well they still exist, and they still have power, and they still answer prayers (hell you have talked to most of them at this point), so does this knowledge even matter to you?  Does it actually make them "less godly", did gods come before them, and if so, where are they?

 

That revelation doesn't actually change anything for your character, but it forces your character to decide what it all means to them.  As I said, the story is about personal discovery, coming to terms with your past, and deciding your actual place in the world.  Not the gods, not Thaos, not Iovara, and certainly not all the Animancy subplots.

[algroth]

 

No we haven't. The gods being worshiped in Eora at the moment are man-made....and? Now what? That doesn't really tell you anything about how you should live from a moral or practical standpoint. All it does is put the onus of all those questions back on the individual, since the Gods (at least the ones we know about) don't have an unassailable privileged position outside of creation.

Exactly.  All that answer comes down to is.... okay... well they still exist, and they still have power, and they still answer prayers (hell you have talked to most of them at this point), so does this knowledge even matter to you?  Does it actually make them "less godly", did gods come before them, and if so, where are they?

 

That revelation doesn't actually change anything for your character, but it forces your character to decide what it all means to them.  As I said, the story is about personal discovery, coming to terms with your past, and deciding your actual place in the world.  Not the gods, not Thaos, not Iovara, and certainly not all the Animancy subplots.

 

 

On the contrary, it changes everything for your character. He's finally able to find out about his past, he's finally able to settle the matters that have been worrying him and close the issue that had caused his Awakening. Even by the sheer structure of the story this revelation represents a pretty definite conclusion. All this time we needed to find out what occured back then and what was disturbing us so, and we do actually reach to that revelation in rather stark and unambiguous fashion (all delivered in pretty clunky and expositional fashion, I will add) and ultimately recover our peace of mind.

 

I don't disagree that this answer opens up plenty of questions, however, but I think it's impossible not to see how what we've learned thoroughly tints the aformentioned questions, or settles much for our character and several of the thematic threads throughout the game. The questions of how to live our lives from a moral or practical standpoint aren't answered of course but they are nevertheless radically reformulated as the knowledge of the gods' origins cement the independence of kith's progress and morality from what is dictated by divine laws and worship. The culture in the setting at the time of the first game's ending may not yet know of it, but this and what we do with the gods is an ongoing affair, since the saga isn't yet over. But we are definitely not acting on a story where we've been given no answers at this point, and I just don't think the answers that we've been given are mere dressing or as trivial and throwaway as you guys are making it out to be. There is way too much evidence elsewhere throughout the entire game, even down to the choice of setting itself and distinct parallels it has with Western history, and to the sheer importance that is given to this revelation through the narrative structure and so on, to assume this is little more than some extremely elaborate red herring.

Edited April 8, 2018 by algroth

[The Sharmat]

 

No we haven't. The gods being worshiped in Eora at the moment are man-made....and? Now what? That doesn't really tell you anything about how you should live from a moral or practical standpoint. All it does is put the onus of all those questions back on the individual, since the Gods (at least the ones we know about) don't have an unassailable privileged position outside of creation.

Exactly.  All that answer comes down to is.... okay... well they still exist, and they still have power, and they still answer prayers (hell you have talked to most of them at this point), so does this knowledge even matter to you?  Does it actually make them "less godly", did gods come before them, and if so, where are they?

 

That revelation doesn't actually change anything for your character, but it forces your character to decide what it all means to them.  As I said, the story is about personal discovery, coming to terms with your past, and deciding your actual place in the world.  Not the gods, not Thaos, not Iovara, and certainly not all the Animancy subplots.

 

Well, presumably anyone that had faith in the Gods would be changed by it since that faith seems to hinge on them being fundamentally different from the rest of creation rather than products of animancers. There are important philosophical and moral questions that people tend to come to religion to answer and this will require most of them to seek new ones, either from alternative religions or philosophies or to just say **** it and make it up as they go along. It's not purely a personal thing.