MSQ Needs Further Condensing

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

We used to have a quest drought at (I think it was) 47 and couldn't continue MSQ. Had to turn to FATEs back in the day. But then they streamlined how they were doing leveling in ARR. This made the fetch quest padding that we relied on for exp no longer needed, so they could toss it out. They really didn't remove much story stuff. The design of this game is around telling a story. That's why everyone has a main storyline they must follow and even have some optional content locked behind doing it. They want people to experience that.

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A necessary component of a well-told story is solid editing.

I hope they continue to edit the msq to tell the story as concisely as possible. Delete all filler.

I think bridging the gap between how often you need to stop to play level catch up to the story is sufficient enough to 'condense', perhaps they can involve other measures like allow flying from the getgo for the more dated expansions so people have an easier time getting around, and aren't needing to get aether currents later on.

ARR story condensing only worked due to how much actual useless filler it had which ultimately had no bearing on the storytelling later on, but as this goes forward, doing this in HW/SB, and most especially Shadowbringers can easily result in the overall narrative feeling very fragmented which is not good, especially for an MMO which already has a heavy focus on storytelling in the first place.

This is a themepark MMO, and a Final Final Fantasy game on the top of that. Buy a skip if you think that the end game is the only thing that "matters". Personally, i like how the game already is

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Originally Posted by van_arn

A necessary component of a well-told story is solid editing.

I hope they continue to edit the msq to tell the story as concisely as possible. Delete all filler.

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Along with this, would it kill them to give the Scions more personality before Heavensward?
Replaying ARR so much of their dialogue is interchangable.
When condensing ARR they even took out the quest where an Imp has disguised itself as one of the Scions and you've gotta throw bombs at them to uncover the imposter. It was a cute scene that gave us some insight into some of the Scions, and now those quests have been culled.
I had friends waiting for the ARR changes to pick up 14, and none of them made it through despite how much shorter it is just because so many of the characters don't have personality yet. Even when replaying it I only enjoy my interactions with those characters because I'm fond of who they ultimately become.
If they're gonna edit, I think they should consider not just what they can remove, but what they can add to ARR to make it a smoother experience.

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Originally Posted by Vickii

I think comes down to spoilers

SHB making a big deal about the identity of the exarch for it only to be a minor character that the majority of players didn’t meet. By making those mandatory just before his reveal he’s fresh in everyone’s mind and no one is going to complain they didn’t get the full benefit of the plot because they didn’t do some old level 50 quests.

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It's not even just so people get that story significance (although that was probably a good enough reason on its own), but because certain events in 5.3 can't chronologically happen without CT happening first. Before that point, it helped your story comprehension but it wasn't actually necessary.

Also you don't do it "just before the reveal" unless you were one of the people who had previously reached 5.3 without playing CT. For new players, CT is now required at its intended point in the story in post-ARR.

I don't think they need to condense the MSQ further, but give an option for a more condensed version of the MSQ anyone can watch. Would be useful for people who did skip the story using the books or just people who want a refresher on what happened before.

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Originally Posted by van_arn

A necessary component of a well-told story is solid editing.

I hope they continue to edit the msq to tell the story as concisely as possible. Delete all filler.

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Cutting filler is fine but asking to shorten leveling by putting in still frame pictures instead of cutscenes like the OP suggested is not in a story-focused game.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

For new players, CT is now required at its intended point in the story in post-ARR.

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And the requirement couldn't have been placed more poorly in my opinion.
At the point where new players notice they need to complete the full CT series, they are a few quests away from Ishgard. Although they condensed the post-ARR story quite a bit, the players clicked their way through over 70 quests only to be stopped last second by a mandatory three part alliance raid.
I would bet my last shirt that most of them will happily skip through all the cut scenes because they just want to start with the HW story. The CT series doesn't start with anything that makes it seem particulary important in the grand scheme of things either. By the time they reach ShB, most will have already forgotten what happened, if they even watched the cutscenes and paid attention to what this is about.

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Originally Posted by Rilifane

I would bet my last shirt that most of them will happily skip through all the cut scenes because they just want to start with the HW story. The CT series doesn't start with anything that makes it seem particulary important in the grand scheme of things either. By the time they reach ShB, most will have already forgotten what happened, if they even watched the cutscenes and paid attention to what this is about.

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And I would bet that the people who skip through all of CT because the first cutscene seemed boring will also skip through a lot of other cutscenes. And they'd probably skip through it no matter where you put it in the narrative.

The sheer fact that you're required to do it should be enough to make people realise it's probably important to pay attention - and even if they skip the first few bits, they well may have had their interest piqued by the point we're opening up voidgates and fighting the Cloud of Darkness. If they haven't, they probably don't care by the time they hit Shadowbringers either.

CT happens at Lv50. That is just how the story is supposed to go. It also first gets called back to much earlier than Shadowbringers, specifically with Nero's reappearance in post-Heavensward. While the scene is written to work whether the player encountered him in CT or last saw him at the Praetorium, the intent is that you have been through CT already and it better explains why we're willing to trust him at that point.


Edit to add: If it's a concern that "even if they paid attention they will have forgotten by Shadowbringers", that would cause problems in numerous other situations as well - and probably with media in general. Characters and plot points do get brought back later, and while it's understandable that someone who played ARR five years ago might have forgotten a side story, I think I would be concerned for the memory of someone who played the whole game through in a couple of months while paying attention to the story, yet couldn't remember the events of CT at least well enough for things to become clear at the reveal.

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Originally Posted by Reyketi

The game suffers greatly from trying to be both an MMORPG, and single player story focused RPG.

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I could not disagree more—this is exactly one of the great strengths of the game over other MMOs.

WoW is great, but try playing it for the story.