My /searches were in response to this:

Quote Originally Posted by Kincard View Post
it's just that players that don't accomplish very much in the game like to make themselves feel better by saying they're better at enjoying the setting of the game more than said players.
Kincaid decided to try to make a personal attack while also implying that the number of players who only care about endgame swag and ignore cutscenes was really insignificant. To me, the most obvious sign of "just don't give a damn" is being at 99 but not progressing in rank past Dynamis access.

It was the easiest number to throw back at a flippant comment. I could have spent all day trying to craft /searches for proper statistical research. I could have gone through the Vana'diel Censuses for other obvious signs of "just don't give a damn" (e.g. getting past Divine Might but never having seen the inside of the Celestial Nexus). And I can even point to the going prices of things like Yagudo Necklaces, consumed in large numbers by people who'd rather do the same quest multiple times than multiple quests once. But I think that the results of "/sea all 99 rank 6" alone is compelling enough to argue that about 1 in 6 players see dialog and cutscenes as something to fast-forward through on the way to A-list gear.

Meanwhile, "the players that don't accomplish very much" (as Kincard describes them) by definition have no hope of getting such A-list gear. In that scenario, dialog and cutscenes are about the only compelling reason I can think of for such players to continue paying $12.95/mo.

So back to my original point, having JSE start at 99 sounds like S-E combining the worst of both worlds, namely keeping storyline out-of-reach to those more likely to be interested in it, while accessible to those more likely to skip through it, i.e. the relic/mythic way of doing things. I'd thought S-E finally figured out who wanted what by making empyrean owners suffer through nothing more than being bonked on the head a dozen or so times, but it looks like they're regressing.