New Jobs Gated Behind Completion of 2.0 Story?

[Natashio]

Let's be realistic here.... A new player picking up the game on the expansion isn't going to drop the game because the job they wanted to play is gated behind the main story line. They'll drop it most likely when they will realize that already 2/3rds of the current available content is pointless and obsolete. The main story line can be completed in what... a weeks worth of game play. Then they'll jump on the new jobs and play the new expansion stuff instead of wasting time on old 2.0. The rest of the 2.0 stuff can be skipped, heck even the the none story dungeon can be skipped. You can thank the lazy vertical progression design that SE decided to use.

[Lexia]

Rogue not a starting class, you can only play it closer to starting if you start in Limsa otherwise you locked from it until you complete certain amount of the story when you get the airship pass.

[Nestama]

There's a difference between having ONLY something and being DRIVEN by something. Final Fantasy does have both elements, however, it is DRIVEN by story while GAMEPLAY takes a side seat. XIV is no different in this matter. Even Yoshi has mentioned they have opted for XIV to be driven by lore and story.

And they can do that, just so long as they balance it out with gameplay in between. I myself disliked the last stretch of cutscenes in 2.55 as it was just cutscenes. There wasn't an instance where I got to enjoy the events, all I could do was sit back and watch my character be a completely numpty.

2.55 spoilers

I get that we couldn't fight due to our lack of a weapon, however using the ROG/NIN quests as an example, fighting back isn't always the only way. We could have escaped by running, hiding in certain spots so we're not seen, etc. They could even have explained why none of us could teleport during the unfortunate event, too.

[LineageRazor]

People keep assuming that all new players think this way. Yes, the new jobs look cool and all. We get this, but who's to say that they won't enjoy some of the original jobs offered? Heck, they can be placeholders until they reach what they really want to do. Is there a chance that they will be turned off from this? Yes. But the chance also applies to the other side of the spectrum. Consider both sides and not just one.

Even assuming that new players don't care about the new jobs, the question remains: What reason does a newbie have for buying the expansion? It's clear that SE WANTS newbies to buy the expansion. The existence of the ARR/Heavensward combo pack is a clear indicator of that. This is not an expansion being marketed solely toward existing players.

As it stands, though, a newbie would be a fool to do so; they have no idea if they're going to enjoy the game enough to play until they finish all of the ARR Main Scenario. And, from what we know of it so far, the expansion offers very little to anyone that has not done so. The opportunity to play as Au Ra is pretty much the only "newbie-appealing" thing that has not yet been stated to be locked behind Main Scenario.

As has been stated, an expansion should have plenty of content gated behind progress - but it should also have plenty of content to encourage new folks to pick it up, as well. Right now, there are three kinds of newbies who would bother with the ARR/Heavensward combo pack:
- Uninformed newbies who assume that they'll be able to play around with the cool features advertised on the box. These folks may well be justifiably pissed when they find out the truth, and will hopefully make smarter purchasing decisions in the future.
- Final Fantasy fanatics who love everything Final Fantasy and are confident that they'll be playing the game for as long as it takes to squeeze every drop out of both ARR and its expansion. Most of these, though, are probably already playing.
- Wealthier folks who honestly don't care about the extra 20$; even if they play for a week and then quit they don't even think about the extra expenditure.

Spoiler

Well, if it helps,

Players can't teleport while aggroed, and if we consider the situation in Ul'dah to be akin to a dungeon instance, teleportation would be disabled altogether.

[Zplinter]

Rogue not a starting class, you can only play it closer to starting if you start in Limsa otherwise you locked from it until you complete certain amount of the story when you get the airship pass.

So level 15 versus level 50 and a gear check.

[Velhart]

Rogue not a starting class, you can only play it closer to starting if you start in Limsa otherwise you locked from it until you complete certain amount of the story when you get the airship pass.

This here was pretty dumb and lazy on SE's end. Not willing to take time to make Rogue a select starter class just because you don't want to take time to make sure quest that guides you to the Rogue's Guild instead of the others.

[Zfz]

So level 15 versus level 50 and a gear check.

The gear check is an assumption which we can reasonably doubt. I think it would be more constructive to use this thread to ask Square Enix how they are going to do about the 2.1-2.55 main story content that is all compressed into level 50, in terms of progression for a absolute new character.

Maybe they've already solved that problem. In which case the whole argument against gating new jobs becomes moot.

[LineageRazor]

The gear check is an assumption which we can reasonably doubt. I think it would be more constructive to use this thread to ask Square Enix how they are going to do about the 2.1-2.55 main story content that is all compressed into level 50, in terms of progression for a absolute new character.

Maybe they've already solved that problem. In which case the whole argument against gating new jobs becomes moot.

Right now, we are operating under the assumption that Yoshi P's statement that you will need to complete the Main Scenario before you can unlock the new jobs means that, yes, new players will need to complete all of the dungeons and trials that are a part of the Main Scenario. As this includes Steps of Faith, which has an average ilvl requirement of 90, we can conclude that in addition to completing the Main Scenario, new players will need to gear up their characters to this ilvl.

All kinds of things may become moot if SE has some Master Plan that we don't know about - but we can only discuss the things we DO know. Right now, from what we know, it's looking pretty darned newbie-unfriendly, and that's what all this concern is all about.

[Felis]

hmm...

Dunno if this was mentioned before but, at the Marauder's guild, isnt there a flag with 2 guns crossed? There are even NPC downstairs practicing with some muzzles... that could pretty much be the Machinist spot... and would be in Limsa...

2 guns crossed is already the logo for the Musketeers (even if not ingame yet). The Machinists get another logo.

[Nektulos-Tuor]

People keep assuming that all new players think this way. Yes, the new jobs look cool and all. We get this, but who's to say that they won't enjoy some of the original jobs offered? Heck, they can be placeholders until they reach what they really want to do. Is there a chance that they will be turned off from this? Yes. But the chance also applies to the other side of the spectrum. Consider both sides and not just one.

New people DO think that way.