Please Allow 50's to Enter Ishgard w/o having completed MSQ

[Aeyis]

. Name me another MMO that forces you to go through 18 levels before you can sell something on the auction house.

This is only an issue for alts. And this game isnt alt friendly anyway. Which in my opinion is a good thing.


As a new player you do not want access to the auction house early on, it will only cost you tons of gil. Even more so for someone that is new to mmos.

What's the big deal? I finished the main scenario from ultima to stairs in a day and half skipping every line of dialogue and cutscene on my alts

If I didnt absolutely love my alt and its new job, plus im interested in seeing the story again; I'd be quite horrified at having to go through all that mandatory content again, despite playing a mainly crafter. So I can understand where people are coming from.
As said tho, I'm quite aware this game is intentionally alt-unfriendly and I agree with that decision.


Incidentally on the topic of ''wanting to play with friends''
The lala actually does have a pretty good point.


See the roulettes are all locked behind many hours of play, and the only one that you can use right from the start (low level) cannot be done in a premade group.


It would be a lot less of an issue if they'd allow premade groups to enter the low-level queue, I think.

[Kauthryn]

Good morning!

The issue with this philosophy of, "It's Square-Enix so the story matters!" is that by the same token we also have to consider that it is an MMORPG. Yes, the story is fantastic in this game -- and you know, I think it's wonderful that they loaded patches full of content for the players, but there are two groups of people that aren't going to want to be held back by it: those that have alternative characters (have beaten the story once) and those that are friends of people doing endgame events.

The first group is a pretty understandable thing. As was stated previously, this story for however good it is is inherently Japanese. There's a very linear progression model which allows for a more impactful narrative but also means that the replay value becomes relatively moot. Considering that you can even see cut scenes again in the inn room, even the appeal of hearing Gaius introduce the battle between Agrius and Midgardsormr or what have you isn't necessary.

The solution to this is fairly simple and MANY MMOs have shown the ability to have account bound achievements at this point. If the argument is that "you need to know the story," then it's a bit irrelevant when people have done it once. I've completed the game entirely on my DRG, but I have a NIN at 44. Am I going to have forgotten the story by then? To clarify, I came back for Heavensward and when I learned I had to do the MSQ I buckled down and nailed it in 2 days. I'm positive I didn't enjoy the story as much (even though it was great!), because I was being forced to play through it to get to the content that I pre-ordered. Monetarily, there is nothing more devastating for a franchise than to make people work to spend their money on you. The MSQ is 5 and a half patches and you feel it. To have to blaze through it to get to the new stuff is a bit painful -- very tedious if you have alts.

So definitely something that should happen, and I'm sorry but there isn't a relevant counterpoint, is that people need to have the MSQ unlocked for them once they finish it. That way alts can level however they want. If your argument is "well the game isn't alt friendly anyway," then what is the point of even mentioning it? Actively harming alts doesn't protect the integrity of the game. People like making characters -- you have 8 spaces for it. Why is it against the spirit of the game to take advantage of that, pray tell?

The second group mentioned, friends of veterans, will be able to get a small boost in terms of gearing/dungeons by the new duty finder option. Yay. But they still have piles of content to get through and that's just so they can be where their friends are. It seems spiteful and a bit small to say they need to wait the same way you did, when we should all want people to enjoy the game. Does gating them unnecessarily make it more fun? I don't think so. But they'll certainly not understand all of the story points. Nevertheless, I think that it's pretty easily -- if SE wished it -- to simply have you finish Ultimate Weapon and then give a summary of what happened after 2.0. I say this because going forth, consider the expansion AFTER Heavensward. Do you expect people to play through 2 full expansions to get to the new one? That's like telling someone to play World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (and god, why would you do that?) but then also wanting them to play through WOW Classic and all of its dungeons, The Burning Crusade and all of its dungeons, Wrath of the Lich King and all of its dungeons, and then finally they can play with their friends.

We've already seen the pains that an MMO goes through as the path becomes longer, because people are forced to slosh through old content and it makes it all the more daunting to enter the game. A dwindling playerbase is a harrowing thing to consider for an MMO, especially one like ARR which did such a bang-up job not only rebooting but then addressing the past complaints in such a meaningful and successful way. The 2.55 experience fixed everything 2.0 had, sure.

But there must be a value beyond that, no?

As was also stated, there are people that play to craft, and it seems a little harsh to make them level to 50, do combat quests, then level again so they can continue to play the game as they wish to -- which, to be frank, is a valuable and admirable commodity that I certainly lack the patience for.

So yeah, the MSQ definitely needs to be adjusted someone or in the long run we'll all suffer for it.

[Reynhart]

These game doesn't require the use of the auction house at all. BUT they give access to it at level 1 because options are better than no options

People tend to make a really big deal about Auction Houses. Apparently it was a very negative point for v1.0, even though it wasn't necessary.
You have options, you can buy things from vendor up until lvl50. Why would you buy the same gear at a ridiculous price just because try to make profit of your ignorance ?

[Kelzack]

This is only an issue for alts. And this game isnt alt friendly anyway. Which in my opinion is a good thing.


As a new player you do not want access to the auction house early on, it will only cost you tons of gil. Even more so for someone that is new to mmos.

So, you're saying even if someone knows how to study the market but new to the game, they can't play the market right away because it might cost them too much gil? What someone do with their gil is their own business. What the game forces you to do is something entirely different. Forcing a basic feature like that to not unlock for an MMO is very outlandish.

[Kelzack]

People tend to make a really big deal about Auction Houses. Apparently it was a very negative point for v1.0, even though it wasn't necessary.
You have options, you can buy things from vendor up until lvl50. Why would you buy the same gear at a ridiculous price just because try to make profit of your ignorance ?

Some people play the auction house from day one in many MMOs. It's not a new idea. People don't just buy the things they need from the auction house. It's there to make people gil

Before you say how do you make gil at low levels like level 1? Buy from vendor sell on auction house for profit. It's a very old trick that players have been doing since launch.

Before you say "Well that's why we can't access it at low level" You're wrong, you can buy but not sell at low levels. My issue is with the "Not selling part"

[Nevaldus]

Somehow Botanist of Light and Carpenter of Light don't have quite the same ring to them ... Why would the Ishgardians be prepared to forsake their isolationist policies because someone is a really REALLY good gardener?!

Joking aside, it's been made pretty clear that our characters only get to go to Ishgard because of the events in 2.5s MSQ, and that's not open to negotiation it seems. Personally I'm happy with that; I've very much enjoyed the story, and I don't really get why other people don't enjoy it. But, hey, different strokes etc. I guess if someone really can't bring themselves to grit their teeth, get some help from their FC mates, and soldier on through - skipping all the cutscenes naturally - then buying the expansion probably isn't worth it

Completely agree with this.

[AnaviAnael]

Well that's the issue with this kind of story and MMOs. "We" have access? No you don't, the WoL has access and in my version of the game, I'm the WoL, the rest of you guys are nameless schmucks, I don't recall all those people rooting out the Inquisitor with me, heck it was only me and Alphinaud meeting with Aymeric or Haurchefant at the end of 2.55 too.. Only about 3 others stopped those Heretics in Snowcloak.. And Only about 7 others with Shiva and Vishap. What's SE going to do when they introduce the next 24 man raid and at a minimum only one person (The WoL) has access to Ishgard from the outside and at most either people do (The WoL and their nameless buddies)?

You know what? You're absolutely right. You should be the only one allowed to enter Ishgard. We nameless schmucks will wait outside.

[Kauthryn]

Completely agree with this.

I honestly hope that the company's modus operandi is not, "new players need to grit their teeth and deal with it." A shrinking population is not a healthy one for an MMO.

[Aeyis]

So, you're saying even if someone knows how to study the market but new to the game, they can't play the market right away because it might cost them too much gil? What someone do with their gil is their own business. What the game forces you to do is something entirely different. Forcing a basic feature like that to not unlock for an MMO is very outlandish.

My apologies if you took that as some kind of personal insult. That was merely my advice from having made several dozens of characters and a large time of mmo experience in many games. Noone starts with a good knowledge of a games market off the bat. Having access to the auction house at level 1 wont help you.

You act as tho it takes huge effort to unlock when all it requires is to level to 18, why the huge hyperbole?

[Tuathaa]

Your comment makes no sense. Have you even read any of this thread and what it's about?

I have a better grasp than you apparently. You can level a doh or dol 1-50 get geared and aquire a relic weapon with out doing any of the msq past level 10. They incorporated that system now they are telling players to level a Dom or dow or bugger off.