2.55 Main Scenario Requirement.

[Stjevne]

You're playing a story-centric MMO. If all you want to do is punch dragons then I'm sorry but you came to the wrong place. It doesn't bother me in the slightest that you don't enjoy the story, but it does bother me that you want to hack the story up to play the game your way rather than the way the game was designed.

So you're telling me that I shouldn't be playing a game that I greatly enjoy the aesthetics, combat mechanics, and boss encounter designs of (which are, by the way, the reason I play MMOs) because I don't enjoy its storyline? That's a really, really bad business model. Please point me in the direction of this game's exact clone which doesn't include the story.

That's like saying Ferrari shouldn't make cars that aren't red because "Ferrari's are red".

Sounds like you're playing the wrong game OP.
Final Fantasy games have always been story driven. I don't see why that would change now.
The fact that this game is story driven is what separates it from other MMOs on the market. It's also what keeps me and others, subbed.
Personally, I think they did a great job of making the MSQ take the character through the world and to their first level 50. By and large the side quests can be ignored easily since they are optional content.
I don't see what the problem is.

That's awesome that you can enjoy the story of the game. I personally can't. It's too verbose and generic for my tastes. Nobody is trying to stop you from enjoying your fun, why are you trying to stop ours?

I've played every Final Fantasy game in the main series, and multitudes of off-series titles. I won't need more than 2 fingers to count the number of times I've found their stories the slightest bit compelling. I enjoy numbers and mechanics. You enjoy the storyline and characters. That's fine, and it's wonderful that Square is talented enough to make one game that can appeal to people of different tastes.

I play games like DotA, Counter Strike, and Hearthstone. They have no story, but have interesting and depth-filled gameplay and are a good place for social interaction. This is the reason I play Final Fantasy XIV, not because of its story. I've played through the story, and I honestly couldn't even tell you why we're going to Ishgard, because I don't care. There's dragons that need punching, and I'm a dragon-puncher.

The only thing that square would need to do to fix the issue is upon Heavensward launch, simply include a warning box at the entrance to Ishgard for players who haven't finished the 2.55 MSQ solely stating that they will be skipping major plot elements if they proceed. That's all we're asking. It's exactly the same as playing a sequel before playing the previous game. (I played X-2 before X, did that make you cringe?)

I'll ask again, why does this offend you people who enjoy the story? Why can you not accept that other people have different preferences in their entertainment?

[Anapingofness]

... Nobody is trying to stop you from enjoying your fun, why are you trying to stop ours?... I'll ask again, why does this offend you people who enjoy the story? Why can you not accept that other people have different preferences in their entertainment?

My experience in gaming has taught me one thing. A company that tries to appeal to both people who like story and people who like to punch dragons (to borrow your phrase) will inevitably turn out a half baked product. This is because both narratives and dragon punching (mechanics) are very time consuming things to create and polish.

However, you have stated that "Square is talented enough to make one game that can appeal to people of different tastes" and I tend to agree. I think that the dungeons and boss fight mechanics in FFXIV are really well done and interesting. And for what it's worth I think SE has found a good middle ground in regards to the narrative vs mechanics bit. They still focus on the storyline but they also allow players to skip through dialogue (manually) and to skip cut scenes (either manually or by checking a box in the config menu) which means that players who want to focus only on mechanics can do that- granted, they still have to do the storyline fights and dungeons but we are talking about a compromise here.

Let me put it to you this way.
You have stated that games like DotA, CS, and Hearthstone have no story. Instead, what they have is their gameplay and ability for social interaction. That is what draws you to them. And you know what- you're right. Those games are as you say they are. However, since I know what those games are like and to whom those types of games are directed at, let me ask you this. Just how unreasonable would it be for me to go into those games and ask for their core concepts to be changed so that they suit my needs?
If I did that it would be more than a little unreasonable on my end. Actually it would be outright unreasonable.
At the very least I should understand the types of games they are and who their target audience is and then I should adjust my expectations accordingly.
Likewise, you can't go into an FF game and expect the storyline to be pushed to the side- because whether you realize it or not that is what you're asking for when you say you want to bypass the 2.x storyline in favor of starting in the 3.0 areas.

(Actually, yes that did make me cringe but not because they were played out of order. Prior to XIII's launch I absolutely hated X and X-2. I felt that they were the weakest games in the franchise T_T)