Does it bother anyone else that SE assumes we're going to buy heavensward?

I'm talking about the main scenario, I don't like that as a standalone game ffxiv has no conclusion. The ending of ffxiv's main scenario is the beginning of heavensward so if you don't plan on buying the expansion SE has essentially sold you a game with no ending, there have been a few games that have raised outrage about selling their ending as DLC, just because ffxiv is an MMO why does it get a free pass for this?

I don't mind if they want heavensward to branch off of the main story, but it should not be necessary to finish the story.

To use ffxi as an example, the main story, if you buy just ffxi, ends with you defeating the shadowlord and that's that, satisfying conclusion. If you then buy the rise of the zilart expansion, the story continues, it turns out there's more to it, but if you didn't buy rise of the zilart then the ffxi ending remains in tact. Then the other expansions are completely separate standalone stories that have little or nothing to do with the main story.

tl;dr: ffxiv, ending sold separately.

Yes you are the only one and no, they are not the first to do this.

To be fair, if you don't put a product out there and you aren't assuming it to be bought, then whats the point?

Technically there was an ending. Everyone except for you and a few others die in the end.

...and technically if the ending doesn't make you WANT to get Heavensward then it doesn't matter what they show you.

FFXI probably wasn't the best example to use considering that the original story and RotZ both left major plot threads hanging to be concluded in Chains of Promathia. Hell the opening of Chains of Promathia makes ZERO sense if you haven't already completed the other two previous storylines.

MMOs are a unique beast anyway. Patches and expansions are not DLC in the bastardized form that consoles have created. MMOs are supposed to be living, evolving worlds and it's typical of the genre to have the story progress with every patch and expansion. WoW does it, LotRO does it, I could reel off a long list of MMOs that do this...

I'm not bothered by the way they did it, but I can see your point. I never played ffxi but I've spent 8 years on WoW and every expansion there had an ending, and then usually right before the next expansion they added a little patch to transition.

While it doesn't really matter to me, the OP is right. The end of the main story in 2.0 is just a cliff hanger into "season two".

Also, if you purchased 2.0 and continued to PAY for your subscription, after the release of 3.0, you really are not getting any new content without having HW installed. In other words, you paid for a game and a subscription to keep it fresh, and SE require that you purchase yet another game (3.0) in order to get the content you expect from the subscription you are paying for.

Its not as if HW would add 2 hours more of storyquests and that was it - think of it as "part two" rather than selling you a seperate ending. HW adds about 40-60 hours of new mainquest-content. Its like... like... finish watching The Fellowship of the ring and telling Peter Jackson "Do you really expect me to go to the cinema again to see what happens?!" (sorry, was the first thing I could think about... not a game, I know...)
FFXIV doesnt has a real ending yet - and tbh: I prefer that ARR didnt had a clear ending but sort of a cliffhanger that wanted sou to continue the story. I would have been upset if HW would have started with some sort of "artificial" story.

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Originally Posted by Waeksyn

While it doesn't really matter to me, the OP is right. The end of the main story in 2.0 is just a cliff hanger into "season two".

Also, if you purchased 2.0 and continued to PAY for your subscription, after the release of 3.0, you really are not getting any new content without having HW installed. In other words, you paid for a game and a subscription to keep it fresh, and SE require that you purchase yet another game (3.0) in order to get the content you expect from the subscription you are paying for.

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This isn't true. A player without access to the expansion is still getting access to any new content that isn't specific to the expansion. In 3.1 there was a lot of stuff released available to ALL players, not just HW players, and the same is true of 3.2. True, you're not getting quite the same value as you were prior to the expansion but then that's due to your choice not to buy it at that point.