Solution to the Cutscene Skipping Dilemma

[Niwashi]

I really fail to see how missing one person with the way people are geared today will make a fight take "forever".

It won't take forever, but it can slow the fight down as much as waiting for the cutscene to finish would have.

Still say the easiest way to fix this is for SE to *FINALLY* allow people to run roulette in groups.

Unfortunately, that would defeat the purpose of the Roulette, which is to ensure that there are enough players to fill out the remainder of a group for every new player trying to complete the storyline. The Roulette needs to be able to assign you where it needs you, which may be filling out the one last open spot in a group.

And to all those saying new players don't know what PF is: Turn that argument to SE, it's not the player's fault that newcomers don't know about PF, it's SE's fault fro lack of guides and tips throughout the tutorial.

That also has to do with the fact that new players are (by SE's design) supposed to use Duty Finder. That's why the Roulette was added to DF. If new players were supposed to use Party Finder, then SE would have to find a way to redesign the Roulette to finish off PF parties rather than DF ones.

[Niwashi]

Forcing players to skip CS is wrong, and forcing players to sit and watch the walls while you watch your CS (and I read English slowly as it's not my first language) is also wrong. No one is right in this case.

That's one of the reasons I think cutscene skipping needs to be party-wide. It's not just the fact that the dungeon takes a bit longer that annoys people waiting. It's also the fact that they have to stand around waiting. It should be set so that the cutscene is only skipped if everyone in your party chooses to skip it. Then if someone in your group wants to watch the cutscene, you're not stuck standing around watching the walls. You'd be watching the cutscene as well. That would prevent people who watch from being excluded from the following content, allow the people waiting to have a more enjoyable time doing so, and keep everyone aware of the actual story these dungeons are about, as they'd be likely to at least once in a while get to see the whole thing play out.

Along with that, SE should add voice acting to all of the cutscenes that occur within dungeons. I'd generally like more voice acting in cutscenes anyway, but the ones in dungeons should have top priority for that, because it can give the cutscenes a fixed time that isn't as dependent on how fast different people read. Have the dialog voiced, and have the cutscene advance automatically at the speed of the voice acted dialog. If everyone's watching it and it takes the same amount of time for everyone, then everyone finishes it at about the same time and are all ready to continue on at that point.

[kiotsukete]

It's not just the fact that the dungeon takes a bit longer that annoys people waiting.

Cutscene watchers don't make Main Scenario duties take only "a bit" longer, they make it take significantly longer.
A typical SR takes maybe 35 minutes tops. There are 12 minutes of cutscenes in CM, lengthening the run by 33%. There are 35 minutes of cutscenes in Praetorium, lengthening the run by 100%.

So as someone who has already run Main Scenario Roulette dozens and dozens of times before 2.2, a mere 10% bonus (110 myth) isn't enough to get me to endure cutscene watchers. With a 50% bonus (150 myth), I might think about it but even then it's doubtful when there are much faster and/or less aggravating ways to farm myth these days. Especially for Praetorium, it would have to be like a 100% bonus (200 myth) to even begin to make being forced to sit through all cutscenes worthwhile.

I hope those who whine that speed runners should use PF instead are happy, because that's exactly what I and most veteran players will be and have been doing with 2.2's dungeons.
Enjoy your long DF queue times cutscene watchers, you've earned it!

[Rynia]

I hope those who whine that speed runners should use PF instead are happy, because that's exactly what I and most veteran players will be and have been doing with 2.2's dungeons.
Enjoy your long DF queue times cutscene watchers, you've earned it!

Ignoring your rant about how your time is so much more precious than everyone else's (exactly the same thing speedrunners have been complaining about cutscene watchers doing, funny that), I think it's GOOD that speedrunners are making their own parties for the new dungeons.

There's enough people who are willing to help out that the DF will be better for it. I was farming Brayflox NM and pretty much all the dungeons up from there yesterday and the number of capped people I saw come in and immediately quit/quit if the run wasn't "fast" enough/ragequit if a wipe happened was much lower than usual. My runs were better as a result. So yeah, I'll put up with slightly (and I mean very slightly, don't imagine speedrunners making PFs are the norm even at endgame except for Bray HM) slower queue times if it means I don't get in quickly but then spend even longer waiting for a replacement tank, thanks.

[Nicobo]

TBH, I feel very uncomfortable to let others just waiting while I am watching CS,
I skipped my first time, no one asked me to do so.
Many new players don't know they can re-watch the CS in the inn, I think that's a good idea to inform new players about this, so they can enjoy the CS without worrying to let others waiting.

Anyway I think every player has the freedom to watch CS or not, regardless new or old.
When I have new dressing or haircut, I would like to watch the CS again, do I want other waiting for me everytime? In fact I will be more happy if others just go ahead.
In addition, I read subtitle quite slow, so the CS may take longer as I don't press the button before I have finished every detail on the screen ^^;

[Niwashi]

I hope those who whine that speed runners should use PF instead are happy, because that's exactly what I and most veteran players will be and have been doing with 2.2's dungeons.

Yes, thank you. That's how it's supposed to work. There's nothing wrong with speedrunning so long as that's what everyone in your party joined the group to do, but it should never occur with a random group that didn't get together for that purpose.

There's various reasons people join DF dungeon runs:
• To see the dungeon and the story that occurs there (so will want a full run of everything, including cutscenes).
• To get loot (so will want to at least reach all treasure chests, which generally means including optional areas).
• To get XP (so will want a run including optional areas, in order to get all mobs).
• To get Roulette completion bonus (which only relies on finishing).

A typical DF group will include people who are there for different reasons, and a complete run with cutscenes and all optional areas is the only type that accommodates all of their goals at once, so that's the norm that should be expected for all DF runs. With Party Finder, you don't need to accommodate multiple different goals, because you have the opportunity to agree in advance on a single goal and plan the run around that. So speed-running works better there.

[Foo01]

TBH, I feel very uncomfortable to let others just waiting while I am watching CS,
I skipped my first time, no one asked me to do so.

I don't like making other player to wait either. But the first time thru, that is a special moment, it only happen once, and the new player seeing it new for the first time should not have to feel this pressure. So if the system locks out cut scene skipping accross the board when there is player new to it for the firs time, then there would be no issue. The first timers quickly become non-first timers and the vast majority of players after a little bit of time are not going to be first-timers. The odds of runs being impacted by first timers is really low. It is okay for that 1 in 20 run be slowed down by cut scenes for the sake of the first-timers. And getting a 10% boost is only fair because it is really only a like a 5% slow-down in the big picture.