Deliver bag of crap, delouse sheep, break rocks. Erm.

[Ecosmith]

Please someone tell me the quests get a bit more...heroic, at some stage soon?

I'm feeling like a hobo desperately doing anything that pays at the momemt rather than an adventurer.

And when does the main story of the game start? At what level can I expect to see something cool?

Eco

[Firefly]

Check back with Mother Miounne. The early quests are just to give you an idea of how things work, targeting, turning in items, etc.

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...uide/db/quest/

[Niwashi]

If you started in Gridania, the level 5 "Chasing Shadows" quest is probably the first one that starts to feel like there's a real story (though actually, I prefer the "Under the Sultantree" quest at the same level for characters who started in Ul'dah). Throughout the main scenario, however, you sort of keep alternating between major realm-changing events and running trivial errands.

[Enkidoh]

The quests do improve to more than just trivial item fetching, although there will be a point in the storyline later where this style of quest is dragged out for a long time and you'll start to wonder why you're doing this, although it eventually improves considerably. Be assured that there is a method to this madness, particularly at the start.

The player is a foreign adventurer recently arrived in Eorzea which is a realm still recovering from an apocalyptic event that nearly wiped the whole land out, which had been caused by foreign meddling - hence trust towards outsiders, especially foreigners, is hard won. Eorzeans are suspicious of outsiders and even though adventurers are appreciated for what they do, there is still mistrust towards them by some people, who regard them as little more than sellswords or mercenaries who would slit their own mother's throat for a gil. Accordingly, you're made to start at the logical place to earn the people's trust - the bottom, and have to work your way up gradually by helping people with trivial problems. By willingly being altruistic you're showing not just the person in the street, but also those in power that you can be trusted with more important affairs of state, and especially that foreign adventurers are the key to Eorzea's survival.

After all, right at the start Miounne actually lampshades this by telling you outright that "rarely will the work be of realm-shattering importance" but to keep at it and that eventually people will start to warm up to you.

Also, remember, this is an RPG - fetch quests and speaking to people ad nasum is traditional RPG gameplay (at least here you don't have to blunder around randomly talking to people to find a quest or where you have to go to complete one).

[Gnova]

Sometimes I wish we could go back in time where players didn't need to be lead around a map following quest markers.

I like the main story quest.
I like the concept of Leve's and Fates.
I hate petty side quests that are there because the word "grind" has become some diabolical concept.

I would much rather have an expanded hunting log than be sent on petty errands by NPCs.

The lack of any type of xp for discovery (other than the standard map reveal xp) and the absence of named rare mobs hurts the game because there is nearly zero incentive to explore and discover.

There are also way way too many quest/NPC hubs. The world feels tiny because you are never more than 45 seconds away from a town. All of the travel the players are required to do between countries try's to make it feel larger but it doesn't.

[Niwashi]

Sometimes I wish we could go back in time where players didn't need to be lead around a map following quest markers.
...... than be sent on petty errands by NPCs.

It's not the quests or "petty errands" that have changed. It's the map markers and other instrumentation that have overly simplified questing in recent games as opposed to older ones. Quests have always been the focus of RPGs, but it used to be that the NPC giving you the quest explained what they wanted (usually a pretty detailed description, sometimes not), and you had to figure out from that how to find what they need and how to go about providing it or doing it. Now our quest journal will bring up a map that points out exactly where to go at each step, and the tracker keeps the current objectives listed onscreen at all times. It's all those pointers along the way that trivialize these quests, not the fact that we keep running errands.

[Ecosmith]

It's not the quests or "petty errands" that have changed. It's the map markers and other instrumentation that have overly simplified questing in recent games as opposed to older ones. Quests have always been the focus of RPGs, but it used to be that the NPC giving you the quest explained what they wanted (usually a pretty detailed description, sometimes not), and you had to figure out from that how to find what they need and how to go about providing it or doing it. Now our quest journal will bring up a map that points out exactly where to go at each step, and the tracker keeps the current objectives listed onscreen at all times. It's all those pointers along the way that trivialize these quests, not the fact that we keep running errands.

I'm not so much bothered about map markers and suchlike, I like to explore anyway. I'm into QoL so I'd actually be happy with waypoit markers onscreen in the world too. They could be shown or hidden by options. Choice is good.

However, I do bemoan another effect of the simplification of MMOs: the actual text containing the narrative, and by this I mean beiefings and debriefings and any dislogue delivered on the way, has become so brief that ot's inpossible to deliver any good writing bar very short simplistic tales. Games used to have more mechanisms to deliver text to the player - mobs would have some sort of description field for example. Nowadays, it's awful cutscenes (Ff14s intro cinematics are horrifically dull) and the briefings are generally things one could think up in a gew seconds.

I generally get a bot of 'thats how MMOs roll, they're all like it!' when I conplain about the sparseness of narrative in these games, but I wish there was more to them than:
'Go there. Kill X of them. Come back' or
'Go there. [press 'interact' with] X things. Come back' or
'Go there. Give this to X. Come back'

Ironically, a lot of MMOs are even doing away with the 'Come back' bit these days, which may remove 'boring' step-retracing, but removes one more opportunity to deliver some story to the players.

Eco

[Logo]

They do not, you will be getting food ingredients well into 50.

It's kind of lame. What is odd too is, one out of hundred, have a really cool mechanic.
(e.g. rock breaking contest in main story). But so many others are...

Speak to...
Speak to...
Speak to...
Fetch...
Speak to...
Speak to...
We actually didnt need that...
Speak to...
Speak to...
Kill these 2 things on your map
Speak to...
Speak to...
Done.



Really though, wait until you have to unlock Titan...
'yay'

[Ecosmith]

I think it's a shame, but devs can be lazy because players have such low standards these days. Witness all the 'i ppay games to play, if i want a story I'll read a book' comments that you can see.

Eco

[TomTom1968]

Sometimes it is funny. One moment you are called the Hero and Saviour of Worlds, the next moment you receive a quest where you have to pick up 5 items that are within reach of the quest NPC. Main story quests sometimes are the same as side quests sadly.