A solution for fixing speed runners in CM and Prae that tell everyone to skip CS.

[Amayasu]

Removing the tomes is bad - groups stop forming.
Splitting the story people into separate DF is bad - groups stop forming.

Take GW2 as an example - I wonder how many people never completed the story because of Arah? Progression and story are the same thing in an RPG.

Idea: Award more tomes when the group or a member of it watches all cutscenes.

If uber fast CM takes 30 mins with skipping and awards 100, and full-on story cutscene bonanza takes 60 mins, award 200 tomes. The farmers still get rewarded proportionally to their time, story dudes still get their story, and new 50s get some extra tomes which would help them gear for AK, etc etc.

[ShadowHunterrX]

Removing the tomes is bad - groups stop forming.
Splitting the story people into separate DF is bad - groups stop forming.

Take GW2 as an example - I wonder how many people never completed the story because of Arah? Progression and story are the same thing in an RPG.\
Idea: Award more tomes when the group or a member of it watches all cutscenes.

If uber fast CM takes 30 mins with skipping and awards 100, and full-on story cutscene bonanza takes 60 mins, award 200 tomes. The farmers still get rewarded proportionally to their time, story dudes still get their story, and new 50s get some extra tomes which would help them gear for AK, etc etc.

This sounds much better. Nobody wins or loses.

@Engineer
Running CM now with many people that have some good gear is easy -> Easy mode. The next thing people will want is that Cid teleports or runs 2-3 times fasters.

[Tsukino]

Idea: Award more tomes when the group or a member of it watches all cutscenes.

If uber fast CM takes 30 mins with skipping and awards 100, and full-on story cutscene bonanza takes 60 mins, award 200 tomes. The farmers still get rewarded proportionally to their time, story dudes still get their story, and new 50s get some extra tomes which would help them gear for AK, etc etc.

This would still be really boring for people to have to watch all the cutscenes when they've seen them before. It's nice being able to skip and sit around and chat or take a WC break or something while waiting for people to finish the scene.

I say they should just roll tomestones into the "first time clear" bonus. Every dungeon boss gives more EXP for everyone when a person new to that dungeon is present, so why not make them give more tomestones as a reward for those at the cap who don't get EXP anyway? Then you get rewarded for helping new players through who still need to view all the cutscenes, instead of feeling punished by waiting for them.

Edit: Actually didn't notice you said "or a member of it" for some reason. So I basically posted the same thing for no reason.

[Amayasu]

Edit: Actually didn't notice you said "or a member of it" for some reason. So I basically posted the same thing for no reason.

Yeah, we're basically in agreement. That's what I meant; if someone is on their first run and watches the cutscenes, then scale the reward for the group.

It feels like a nice solution - pacing is casual, people who hate cutscenes can still skip, newbies get cutscenes, and farmers get time-appropriate rewards. If everyone skips the cutscenes you get half rewards but also half the duration.