If people are coming to this game to purely raid then its not really the mmo for them, what you call filler is what everyone else enjoys.
First and foremost FF XIV is a story and character driven game, raiding isn't the main focus.
Todays gamers make baby jesus cry.
What defines a "Game being for them" is entirely opinion based.I dislike this games story, ive tried to enjoy it but i dont, so now i skim through most of it. By your logic, this game isnt for me.
However, i love this game and play it daily, this game IS for me.
Story might be a selling point here, but it is not the /only/ selling point.
This game is heavily story driven. What I see time and time again, are people who get hyped on the game from coworkers and friends, want to 'rush' to end game when that's not how FFXIV works. Seriously, stop focusing on 'the end' or what's new to veteran players. Focus on what's new to you.
Yeah pretty much, but i also think it depends on the player, most of my friends i play FFXIV with *now* all met and came from FFXI....the ones i mentioned that didn't stick with the game in my post on page 2 of this thread we met in WoW, they didnt really care for WoW's own story and would skip any reading...they just wanted to hit max level and raid, i think they are just used to doing things a certain way than those of us who came from a different MMO experience.
I for one hope there isn't ever some kind of shortcut put into the story.
That's just wrong. CS skipping is one thing but to just ignore all the questing before endgame is not cool.
Ive said this in another thread about relic farming and rushing for that. People will get to endgame WHEN THEY GET THERE. If they miss the current patch is the world going to end? NO! Everyone has to start somewhere and missing out on somethings will happen and if you care that much then maybe you need to rethink why you are playing a heavily story gating game.
I for one love how everything in this game basically has a story to it even if its a small little cutscene its still amazes me. Im glad this game isn't like all the others that sacrifice cutscenes and story and lore for the sake of getting it done quickly.
They have learned though and made some content not too story restrictive. So whats the problem?
For me part of the thign I see with this is while you can argue the story is restrictive, its also the fastest way to get EXP and lvl. Even the patch content, while it doesn't offer much EXP, offers gear that you will need if your going to stand a chance when your stepping into HW. If you go from a fresh 2.0 50 into Coerthas western highlands your probably going to find surviving pretty tough and any of the instanced content near impossible.
In 4.0 they have talked about removing the story requirement so you don't have to grind through the HW patches. However its worth noting that that is still going to leave you needing to upgrade your gear to survive once you get to 4.0 and your still going to need to lvl to 60 in the first place to there.
My final question is are you sure you want to skip through the entire meal just to get to desert? There is a lot of the games content that is still accessable at 50. Is it the cutting edge? No. However CT is at least as good as VA as an experience and many would argue that Coil is more fun than Savage Alexander. The primary thing your missing is the ability to grind for endgame currency.
That is true, but remember that it's still the primary selling point. What this means is that, yes someone may enjoy other aspects of a game, but the minute they make a character, they have to accept that the primary selling point is an aspect they may not particularly like and have to be respectful of this fact.
There is another MMO I play that puts a really heavy emphasis on PvP. I absolutely hate PvP in video games, but I enjoy other aspects of the game, so I respectfully tolerate the PvP because I know that's the primary focus of the game and I'm CHOOSING to play it.