2.55 Main Scenario Requirement.

[SDaemon]

Tell that to the new player who has 6 to 10+ hours of level 50 content before they can get behind those gates. Doubt they won't be a "new player" for long, but rather an "x-player".

6 to 10 hours isn't asking for much of anything in an MMO....

[Hiruke]

I can see why some people might prefer the more modular method of, say, FFXI, where each xpac's storyline is self-contained so you can explore it all on its own, without doing previous content first, and jobs aren't gated behind MSQ, etc.

However, I don't think gating things behind the MSQ is as awful as the OP would like to suggest. Everything in the game follows a very linear, vertical path. There is a big focus on the story. You can expect everything in 3.0 to be gated behind MSQ just like it was in 2.0, so if new players find the MSQ in 2.0 tedious, they are STILL going to find it tedious in 3.0, even if they are allowed to magically skip past 2.0. So, it's hard to say you just want the ability to enter Ishgard eliminated. You're asking for a complete overhaul of how the game works. There's just not enough support for that, it would be a huge effort to change all that stuff, goes against current design philosophy, etc. etc. etc.

More to the point, OP talks about some friend of his who FATE-grinded 3 50s, and what, basically hasn't touched the MSQ? WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS GUY DOING WITH HIS TIME!? Because most all content is completely gated out if you refuse to advance the MSQ. I also don't see how someone could like FATE grinding, but then call quests tedious. They don't even do dungeons? I mean... What? The majority of people who play these kinds of games actually like quests/want more of them/wish they could level only with quests, so catering to people who think FATE grinding is like the only content in the game is certainly the 1% of the 1%. Nothing personal, but I don't see a game being designed around that, at least not by a non-Korean studio. There are, however, plenty of Korean grinder MMOs one might check out...

[Lemuria]

You really don't get it. This is not about the game being easier. This is about a smooth leveling transition from level 50 to 51 for new players. Right now there are to many level 50 quests in the main Scenario and it won't be a smooth leveling experience for new players. New players are going to feel held back when they are hitting levels 53 to 54 and still on level 50 content. That is the problem.

Wait... that's a "problem"? Since when was completing a quest lower level than yourself ever considered a problem? Don't think for a second that they won't revamp the story quests to give XP bonuses on completion once the level cap rises either. It would be foolish to believe otherwise.

So, doing low level content earning both gil AND experience to level your class to 60 in a far less tedious way than Fate grinding. And this is a problem?
#firstworldproblems

[zx10r]

I will give my perspective and I do agree with the OP. This is not a QQ post but I will be leaving the game since I do not have the time to go through the questlines and the entire story just to try out the new jobs in expansion.

I have majority of characters in their 40s and wanted to come back, level one to 50 and then try out the new classes but because they are gated behind the story it's not going to happen. I don't even really know how long it takes to achieve everything required to try the new classes but i don't really care. My playstyle is different and very very casual.

An expansion should be targeted to bring in new players and please the existing players whether those existing are in the endgame or very casual ones that like leveling and jumping from class to class. This expansion will not bring new players since we all know majority come back for the new classes and seeing as how they are gated Square is making a mistake.

Again, this is how I feel and my opinion.

[LunaHoshino]

Except to someone completely new to the game it will simply feel as if they're continuing their progression as normal (assuming those quests will give exp when 3.0 hits) most people complaining about this are coming at this from the perspective of players looking BACKWARDS, but to someone brand new and fresh they wouldn't have ANY of these concerns because it wont FEEL like a problem for them, it's not a gate/chore it's just leveling and questing as usual until they unlock something shiny and new.

This. My FC has several players who just hit 50 and are progressing through the 2.1-2.55 content right now. To them, it's fun and new and exciting because it's stuff they haven't done before. We've been doing a lot of HM Primals and First Coil runs for people lately, and while it may seem like old hat to those of us who have run them a million times, the friends we're taking for the first time are having a blast.

[VargasVermillion]

Until we are at least 2 expansions down the line I don't see this as a problem. Also as already mentioned it only looks bad to us because we've done that content, to an actual new player it's exciting and there are plenty of new zones and dungeons for those players.

[Omegakiyohime]

My opinion.
Do I hate/dislike the requirement? Nope, I actually like the continuity of the story.
Do I think the filler quests could use some reshuffling? Yes, while it wasn't as bad for 2.5 and 2.5 part 2, 2.3 went a bit insane with the pointless filler. And it's not that the story should be shortened, it's just that a lot of the filler quests could be served by 1-2 well written quests instead of 5-6 long convoluted ones.
As to what new players will think, I'm not sure they're going to complain as much as people like to say they will. 2.1-2.5 may seem like an unbearable jog to us, but to someone just starting the game, it's a whole lot of content that they get to enjoy before going on to even more content. I think lack of access to jobs/areas may sting at first, but it's an achievable reward that they are guaranteed to get with time. I remember the feeling when I first hit 50 on City of Heroes (41-50 was an experience slog) and felt the satisfaction of unlocking Kheldians, an epic archtype. I think a lot of people will view unlocking Ishgard and the new jobs as a goal.

[Teuciont]

I will give my perspective and I do agree with the OP. This is not a QQ post but I will be leaving the game since I do not have the time to go through the questlines and the entire story just to try out the new jobs in expansion.

I have majority of characters in their 40s and wanted to come back, level one to 50 and then try out the new classes but because they are gated behind the story it's not going to happen. I don't even really know how long it takes to achieve everything required to try the new classes but i don't really care. My playstyle is different and very very casual.

An expansion should be targeted to bring in new players and please the existing players whether those existing are in the endgame or very casual ones that like leveling and jumping from class to class. This expansion will not bring new players since we all know majority come back for the new classes and seeing as how they are gated Square is making a mistake.

Again, this is how I feel and my opinion.

Pleasing the existing players would entail providing monsters that won't be run through in two or three hits. You can't do this if you expect new players to be immediately thrust into the new areas with i50 gear. Forcing the MSQ on new players ensures that people will be AT LEAST i90 going into Heavensward areas.

[TheEnygma]

Well I can't speak to how the fresh lvl50 up to 2.55 is since I'm almost level 40 but I will say that so far, main story quests have become kind of a chore as there's a lot of "hey, go talk to this npc in gridania - so you teleport - "hm, sorry don't know what you mean, go talk to that npc in camp drybone" - so you teleport there - "maybe go talk to a dude in costa del sol? maybe he knows?". It's unnecessary busywork.

Also where I'm at is that it takes you at best 300 k xp to level but you get what, 4-5 main story quests per level? I'd like to see something like Old Republic - huge XP boost for story quests only. We'd still have to do FATE's/hunting logs on secondary jobs anyway but least the initial playthrough is sped up a bit.

[morruin]

As a recent returnee I think the 6-10 hours mentioned is this thread is rather optimistic.

I have just taken 6 days (not full time obviously) just to clear The Chrysalis - and I benefitted from being a healer and having other (higher iLvL) people in the DF roulette.

A fresh 50/returnee player need to follow the MSQ - and gear up himself by running other content. A dps doing the MSQ after the expansion has launched will have a lot of queue time and less players in the DF (they'll be off flying around Ishgard)

I liked the solution from LoTRO. The MSQ there was split into chapters and you could start a new chapter (tied to expansions in the beginning) without having finished the last one. So your questlog could read something like
Chapter 1.12.5
Chapter 2.9.6
Chapter 3.6.8
and you could go back and finish them when you wanted, without having your progress blocked.