Option to unlock content without mandatory MSQ

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I think this game is missing out on a lot of new players because of the MSQ barrier.

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Which is fine. Not everyone has to like this game, or any other game. There's a number of critically acclaimed games that I happen to dislike.

It's a story driven MMO and it's something they ought to learn before they get too invested.

With the power of money, you can do what you want. People don't gudge if it's real money skip.
Also, there's not much PVE content you can do anyway in this expansion.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

The devs have a vested interest in keeping you jumping through as many hoops as the average player is willing to endure. You either pay your subscription (and time) for however long it takes you to get through the MSQ, or pay for a story skip to "fast forward" that process.

Giving immediate access would essentially cost them money in time that you're not spending on their game.

Obviously people may just quit if it's too long, but they seem to be trying to balance that with things like the ARR re-edit to shorten it. And it's more about the large-scale average than keeping every single player.

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I see. They perhaps believe endgame to not be interesting enough to get all those new people invested for long, and thus want to make sure there's mandatory MSQ that will keep players subscribed for many months.

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Originally Posted by SamRF

I see. They perhaps believe endgame to not be interesting enough to get all those new people invested for long, and thus want to make sure there's mandatory MSQ that will keep players subscribed for many months.

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That seems a little disingenuous. The devs are surely proud of the end game content they produce. They work hard on every aspect of this game.

You are looking at this from a weird perspective. Only seemingly looking through the lens of “MMO” and what has made MMOs successful over the years. But no game genre ever gets anywhere by just being a copy of anothers.

Final Fantasy XIV works and succeeds as an MMO because it is first and foremost. A Final Fantasy game. This series is a legendary series in gaming. It has a storied history and is by many considered one of the principal pillars of the JRPG genre.

To cast out all that history and everything it means to be a Final Fantasy game while yes will open the game to some other types of players. You will drive away more than you acquire and this game will fail.

I was not an MMO player before this game and I likely will not be one again after this game, because the biggest selling point to me was the story, and I know several other people who feel the exact same way. If this game gave an alternative to unlocking content that didn’t come from the msq it loses a key feature of this game and more importantly a key piece of it’s identity.

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Originally Posted by Krotoan

While you or I might not flinch at the cost of say a couple meals at mcdonalds it's a deterrent for some and the MSQ forces you to at least experience the dungeons with the mechanics introductions. Hard to prove either way, but I'm of the opinion just opening those those gates straight to late content is asking for a poorer overall experience for the deeper consumers of FFXIV's content.

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I think I may have misread so sorry if I did
When I talk cost I don't mean the paid story skip
I mean the cost of actually going through the msq to get to endgame is a cost of time and patience, and you don't really need to have much of an idea what you're doing to get through most of it anyway. You can just die til you get the echo, flip on very easy, look up a guide for that specific duty, or like... Idk pester fc mates to tell you how to do it lmao
Point being that the msq is a real low bar to begin with and moving it out of the way of dungeons probably wouldn't make any kind of drastic difference

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Originally Posted by SamRF

I've learnt my lesson from those threads to be less impulsive and more considerate in my wording.

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If that's the case i do apologies.

back to topic then
if they would want to implement option to do end content without doing the msq they had to rewrite a lot of things. take Shadowbringer as an exemple everything is unlocked through the msq, dungeons and relics ( plus the role quest that is also unlocked through msq) and ofc the endgame content.

I dont think this will ever be an option though.

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Originally Posted by Darkpaw

That seems a little disingenuous. The devs are surely proud of the end game content they produce. They work hard on every aspect of this game.

You are looking at this from a weird perspective. Only seemingly looking through the lens of “MMO” and what has made MMOs successful over the years. But no game genre ever gets anywhere by just being a copy of anothers.

Final Fantasy XIV works and succeeds as an MMO because it is first and foremost. A Final Fantasy game. This series is a legendary series in gaming. It has a storied history and is by many considered one of the principal pillars of the JRPG genre.

To cast out all that history and everything it means to be a Final Fantasy game while yes will open the game to some other types of players. You will drive away more than you acquire and this game will fail.

I was not an MMO player before this game and I likely will not be one again after this game, because the biggest selling point to me was the story, and I know several other people who feel the exact same way. If this game gave an alternative to unlocking content that didn’t come from the msq it loses a key feature of this game and more importantly a key piece of it’s identity.

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Would the availability of this option (that isn't toggled on default) drive you away from this game? If yes, I wonder why?

Because it seems to me that your gameplay experience wouldn't really change in any way. You, as well as me would still be doing MSQ to unlock content. I want to emphasize again that I would never use this option myself because I like MSQ and the fact that its a story driven game a lot. I love having the backstory and context for the instances. It's just that I wouldn't mind if others were able to skip all that with an option (which again, isn't toggled on default).

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Originally Posted by SamRF

Would the availability of this option (that isn't toggled on default) drive you away from this game? If yes, I wonder why?

Because it seems to me that your gameplay experience wouldn't really change in any way. You, as well as me would still be doing MSQ to unlock content. I want to emphasize again that I would never use this option myself because I like MSQ and the fact that its a story driven game a lot. I love having the backstory and context for the instances. It's just that I wouldn't mind if others were able to skip all that with an option (which again, isn't toggled on default).

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Yes, for my part, I think this would eventually drive me away, and I know at least a few other people personally who would likely feel the same.
What would the incentive be for SE to do this?
There are already ways for people to skip most of the MSQ via a paid option.
Why would they give away this option?
In order to appeal to a playerbase that has demonstrated that they do not actually value much of what the developers are doing?

There is one important thing: money. As soon as Skip Books became a thing, the chance of implementation your idea (you're not the first one proposing this, believe me) went to almost zero.

Right now a lot of people buy MSQ skip books for the sake of sinking into end-game with their friends, especially those who doesn't care about it because they think that it's another "typical mmo without story". Making MSQ optional will allow all new people and all those who level their alts for end game (yes, there are people like this) just to completely ignore MSQ and go straight into the content. When there already is an option for this, but with money.

Which company in their right mind will do such thing, cutting their profit?

FF14 is the very first MMO I've been emotionally attached too. And it's because if its story. The characters, the music and the aesthetic behind the MSQ is a masterpiece. It IS the heart of FF14. Imagine a new player getting into Amaurot dungeon for the first time without having to do the MSQ before? Hades? Nidhogg?
What's the point?
Playing another soulless MMO? There are legion already.