2.0 and 2.x quest line feedback/suggestions

Hello,

EDIT:
I am updating/editing the post to reflect more clearly defined and condensed issues and solutions.

Introduction:
I understand posting here is mostly a waste of time due to:

1.) The English forums are rarely if ever visited to be read to any real length, leading this particular post at an extremely low chance of being heard.

2.) There is a group of individuals who very frequently visit the forums who's seemingly sole purpose is to undermine any feedback than can even remotely be seen as "negative."

With that out of the way, allow me to address the issue with the 2.0 and 2.x quest line.


Body:


2.0 Issues:

The main issue overall, is content is locked when it should not be, and not locked when it should be.

Details:

1.) Unlocking a job at level 30, should be required to enter Brayflox Longstop (and subsequent party content.)


2.) The player cannot unlock a job at level 30, unless they have finished the level 20 main scenario quest "Sylph Management."

Solution:

1.) Lock players from duty finder without job stones starting with Brayflox Longstop.
2.) Unlock players from unlocking jobs without completion of Main Scenario quest progression.

2.x Issues:

1.) Progressing through 2.x feels meaningless, and unnatural.

Details:

The EXP from 2.x MSQ should not exist.
Specifically, it should not push you above level 51 until you finish all of the 2.x series, as this makes the content absolutely trivial. (Extremely easy, to the point it is no longer fun.)

2.) The 2.x content is unsatisfying.
Specifically 4 of the 8 unlocked trials offer no rewards beyond 15 poetics.


Details:

The required content you unlock are namely:
3 Raids (Crystal Tower)
8 Trials.
2 Dungeons.

Of the listed content 4 of the trials, reward the player with literally absolutely nothing beyond the measly 15 poetics.

The other listed content rewards the player with extremely low level equipment, that the content is near meaningless, considering the quests rewards will progress the player beyond the rewards from said content.

3.) If the player by any chance does not particularly enjoy the story, this section of the game, can become quite demotivating.

Details:

According to the internet, this section of the game, is quite often described by people as "boring" or "a slog" and even "bad."

While I do not agree with this, the pacing of the content, and the rewards, would very easily magnify any issues a player might find with the content, because of the fact the shear quantity of the quests, and the severe lack of impact of the quests outside of the story itself.

Suggestions:

1.) Provide the player with supplemental rewards relative to progression.

Details:

1.) Inform the player they must complete Garuda, Ifrit, and Titan hard modes prior to locking them out of the main scenario, as done similarly with the Crystal Tower raids.

2.) Allow the player to pick up the quests for Garuda, Ifrit, and Titan all at the same time while in the Waking Sands.

3.) Instead of gil, reward the player with Grand Company seals. Namely 5,000 minimum for completion of each expansion final quest. "A Realm Awoken, Through the Maelstrom, etc.
(This will progress the player through the gap within the Grand Company progression line, as well as a more sensible flow and access to meaningful rewards.)


4.) Delete the EXP from the 2.x Main Scenarion Questline. This ensures the player will not reach level 52, even with the road to 60/70/80/90 etc buffs that will be added in the further or currently on preferred servers.

5.) Consider adding a reward for completing all of the listed trials in the final quest for not only Titan Hard mode, but also Shiva hard mode, as further incentive, and completion's sake of such low rewarding content.

Examples of actual meaningful and help rewards for 2.x quests:

Grand Company Seals
110 or 130 Accessories (Which can also be turned into the Grand Company for more seals.)
Glamour Prisms

Any items that will help the player progress through the Grand Company progression, or unlocking housing (informing them of Apartments) or other more enjoyable and useful rewards.


Conclusion:

I believe introducing some balance in rewards versus time investment in a RPG is paramount to player enjoyment, satisfaction, and motivation to continue.

Currently the quest count is extremely high, and the rewards, beyond just the story, are very low, especially considering the content is mostly trivial, unsatisfying, and demotivating if the player happens to not specifically love the section of the story.

Not to mention, every time I take a break from the game, I come back to find all my quests, skills, spells, and equipment deleted.

I returned to the game to find on one character, all my spells were deleted, or unusable, my belts were gone, and the quest I was on, was also deleted. This is quite glaring for a returning player, especially when they are not aware of w

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1.) Unlocking a job at level 30, should be required to enter Brayflox Longstop (and subsequent party content.)

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This seems reasonable. I'm not sure I've ever encountered someone without an advanced job stone in post-30 content in the years I've played FFXIV, so I really can't see this as "common", but it makes sense as a way of helping new players progress their character.

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The EXP really should not exist, in so much that it should not push you above level 51 until you finish all of the 2.x series, as this makes the content absolutely trivial. (Extremely easy, to the point it is no longer fun.)

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This is a thing in every .x series, though, once the next xpac has been released. I could reasonably see people arguing it would make things seem worse if they still had to do all of those quests and didn't even get xp from it. Personally, I always co-level one Tank, one Healer, and one DPS class, so those quests just become a convenient way to balance out my classes.

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The amount of required content you unlock while completing the staggering 80 quests, is little to none, which again, is also not rewarding content.

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Pure curiosity - is the 80 quests after the re-vamp they did to this part of the story, or before? And remember, as an RPG, you'll find a considerable number of people out there finding the story itself to be "rewarding content."

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1.) Inform the player they must complete Garuda, Ifrit, and Titan hard modes prior to locking them out of the main scenario, as done similarly with the Crystal Tower raids.

2.) Allow the player to pick up the quests for Garuda, Ifrit, and Titan all at the same time while in the Waking Sands.

3.) Increase the Gil reward for each expansion completion to 25,000 gil. (This would encourage the players and is a very just amount.)

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I love all of these ideas, especially #1 and #2. #2 in particular would also help speed things up because people could queue for multiple trials at the same time, decreasing the overall time spent compared to having to queue for each one individually.

Random last comment:

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2.) There is a group of individuals who very frequently visit the forums who's seemingly sole purpose is to undermine any feedback than can even remotely be seen as "negative."

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My own experience on here suggests the opposite. This forum itself is usually one giant echo chamber of negativity. And it seems to be the one place on the internet with a regular group of people who are so bitter, they can't accept anyone posting something positive about the game, and have to try dragging it down. Case in point - look at the IS threads. Most are negative in tone and play out on their own. One is positive, and on the first page alone are several of that particular crew either straight-up bashing IS or passive-aggressively doing so.

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Originally Posted by Striker44

Pure curiosity - is the 80 quests after the re-vamp they did to this part of the story, or before?

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This would be post revamp. When i went through it was an even 100 quests - they had aimed for 20 quests per patch back then so the content felt weighty. More recent expansions have aimed for more like 8-10 quests per patch, but with longer and more involved quests.

As for OP, i dont have a strong opinion about any of this. I will only point out that there is a ton of optional content that the OP could also be unlocking and completing to have "more to do" during the patchline. Youve got 2 optional trials, 7 extreme trials, the 8-person raid series(the hardest content at the time) which has 13 floors over 3 wings, a relic line which unlocks 2 optional trials, the Hildy questline which unlocks 3 optional trials(this is the comedy sidequest line), and 15 optional dungeons(dont let the hard moniker on some of them fool you - think of them as remixes instead as each dungeon has a new story and path for you to follow). The problem with unlocking all this side content? It slows you down from getting to the expansion content, which is largely considered to be better overall.

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Originally Posted by Siba_Lynxphur

The EXP really should not exist, in so much that it should not push you above level 51 until you finish all of the 2.x series, as this makes the content absolutely trivial. (Extremely easy, to the point it is no longer fun.)

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Yeah, I agree. I've been doing all of ARR's 2.x optional stuff, so Big Fishing, EX (minil, no echo), every dungeon in order of unlock, the relic weapon (lol, grind!) and beast tribes.

It's pushed me all the way to, I think level 67? Every encounter in ARR zones is trivial, and I have a glut of new skills but no actual chance to use any of them properly, because I'm getting them for content that I can't use them on (everything syncs down to 50) and ARR mobs die so fast that I can't use the new crap in a rotation anyway. By extension, now when I get to Heavensward and grab level 51 gear, I'll find the overworld questing entirely trivial there too I assume.

This might not be an issue for those who multi-class, but I just kept myself as Dragoon this time around and it just all adds up. It's a bit silly really. Oh, and because I own the expansions, but haven't unlocked them yet, my gathering/provisioning demands I get items from HW zones, even though I'm in ARR. =/

I think they need to cut out more of the useless quests of 2.0 and 2.X, They did take out twenty but I’ve since ran them after the change to which I noticed we still have quests that could be taken out to no negative effect on the story.

Example:
- I dont think having to walk back and forth from a guy three feet away is needed.
- Fetching things like flowers,animal horns etc for unreasonable reasons
- having to dance like a monkey for cabbage people

I have updated the original post to indicate more clearly defined issues and solutions.

Namely:

Overall problem:
The 2.x series not offering meaningful rewards.

Solution:
I suggest they offer Grand Company Seals, useable equipment which can be turned in to the grand company for more seals, and glamor prisms.

The above rewards will help the player through the Grand Company tasks for ranking up, and feel much more harmonious with the rest of the game the player is doing at that time.

First off thanks for making your OP a nightmare to quote

"Specifically, it should not push you above level 51 until you finish all of the 2.x series, as this makes the content absolutely trivial."

This does nothing for instances which still level sync you anyway

"The 2.x content is unsatisfying.
Specifically 4 of the 8 unlocked trials offer no rewards beyond 15 poetics."

And? Also first time bonus

"I returned to the game to find on one character, all my spells were deleted, or unusable, my belts were gone, and the quest I was on, was also deleted. This is quite glaring for a returning player, especially when they are not aware of w"

Oh noes, someone might have to look up what changed on Google!!! THE HORROR