Icons for "Side quests" that are now MSQ-compulsory

Certain side quests that were once optional are now compulsory for continuation of the MSQ, such as

• The quest series for Ifrit (Hard), Garuda (Hard), and Titan (Hard)
• The Crystal Tower quest series
• The quest to unlock the Sunken Temple of Qarn

However, these quests still use the sidequest Q+ icon, which some players do not view as a priority. Inevitably, some people reach an MSQ lock and are told they need to complete some side quest to continue the MSQ, and they may have no idea where to go besides to ask someone.

To avoid this, I submit that it's important we change the icons for supposed "side quests" that are actually required by MSQ to be more conspicuous:

• They should be marked with a blue Meteor+ icon that distinguishes them from true, avoidable sidequests (blue Q+ icon), so that players can see they will eventually be forced to do them.
• In the event a questgiver can offer multiple sidequests, the MSQ-required sidequest should have display priority on the map and over the NPC model.
• As early as when a required sidequest becomes available, or at the latest when the MSQ becomes blocked by it, the quest name and NPC location should become a clickable map link below the Scenario Guide HUD element.

By making these changes, we can save new players a lot of confusion and frustration when they focus exclusively on Meteor quest icons only to find that they cannot continue the MSQ beyond a certain point.

This has been especially bad lately with the huge influx of new players. We in Novice Network have to tell people four or five times a day how to find Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan hard; and another four or five per day need to be told the reason they can't progress their 2.5 main quests is that they need to do the Cyrstal Tower series, and players are split between not having started Legacy of Allag and having already done it, so we also have to direct some of them to Rammbroes in St Coinach's Find. Please, have the UI team change these quest icons to meteors and include them in the Scenario Guide HUD element so new players stop getting frustrated and lost in 2.5.

The only thing I can say to this is that I completely agree.

This is still a problem in Endwalker.

This poor sprout in NN has spent the last half hour looking for "In a Titan Spot" to unlock The Navel (Hard) because their MSQ is locked until they do it, and they're not the first person who's had trouble with this in the last week.

Please at least give us map links under the Scenario Guide to the quests mentioned above so that people don't waste time lost looking for side quests when all they want to do is continue the MSQ.

An additional issue is that (as I understand it) the MSQ block message only tells you to complete the final quest in a chain of quests, so people won't easily find it without outside help.

The message should say "the quest chain beginning with [Quest Name] from [NPC] at [starting location]" so people can either go there or possibly connect to a memory of having done that already.

This would also let them identify whether any of the quests are in their active or completed list already, and if they do need to turn to the internet for help, they can look up the first quest and work forwards rather than backwards through the list of objectives.