A serious discussion about abridging the story quest 1-50 (discouraging new players)

[Rannie]

So I'm not going to knock the idea of cutting down the bs portion quests for the main story line, however, I would like to point something out (if I'm wrong feel free to correct me) with the fetch quests for the main story line once you hit the 50 mark you get exp from them and sorta kills having to do a lot of the side quests in heavensward to help you level to 60. That's what I'm thinking about.

It may take a bit to get there, but you may gain a few levels ahead of the people who went straight into the expansion with all those quests already completed.

[Luvbunny]

No point in arguing with Luvbunny. If you do not see it her way you are automatically wrong. For now everything should stay the way it is suppose to be. You should not try to conclude the reasoning to remove half of the original ARR content because you want to get to end game now. In all honesty fully strengthening one job to its BIS should take 2-3 months with alt toons being under your main in gear. That is the pace the game seems to have gone and people being 180 i level and 60 in 4 days lets me know something is badly wrong.

Grr at hunts also being only source for upgrade components.

I don't make the game. It is what it is. If you don't like it, you don't have to play it. That's how the game is made, to deter "I want BIS in 3 days OK!! so I can be done with it". This is not race to the finish, maybe you should learn to enjoy the game as is intended, warts and all. I mean in all honesty, they can just remove half the storyline in 3.0 which essentially the same exercise in fetch quest made worse by hide and seek factor. Then you have another thread complaining the bare bones content that can be completed in under 20 hours.... You should be glad you get your money's worth considering the amount of contents that new players have to chew before they get to 60.

I rather get rid of those who not really interested in playing Final Fantasy game - and help others who want to play the game so they don't get the server error message. Probably make a better gameplay when you get to play with someone who truly can enjoy the game as intended by the creator instead a bunch of crybabies, "are we there yet? are we there yet? my god, 50 more main quests to go through?? seriously???!!! - rage quit cancel account, see you again!!

[Mihana]

Personally I believe more than half the content going from 2.0 to 2.55 needs to be cut out. There's too many "walk here, talk to X NPC, do Y action, return to Z NPC, collect reward" type quests. They really deter me from leveling a second character because I hate having to roam all across the realm doing menial tasks that are designed to do nothing more than try your patience and waste your time. Leave the dungeons, instanced fights, primals, all that in. But why does the savior or Eorzea need to wander off in the middle of a big important Primal preparation to go pick flowers in some obscure place for some random lady because she needs a new bouquet for her vase? It's just filler, and need to be phased out to streamline the story and progression to the expansion.

EDIT: This is just an example but it's pretty much like that, do some completely unrelated tasks, grunt work, just so you can progress to the next big part of the story. Some of it can stay, but get rid of the back and forth work and rewarding the player just from going from point a-to-b to talk to an NPC to start the NEXT quest in that same chain.

[Madjames]

So I'm not going to knock the idea of cutting down the bs portion quests for the main story line, however, I would like to point something out (if I'm wrong feel free to correct me) with the fetch quests for the main story line once you hit the 50 mark you get exp from them and sorta kills having to do a lot of the side quests in heavensward to help you level to 60. That's what I'm thinking about.

It may take a bit to get there, but you may gain a few levels ahead of the people who went straight into the expansion with all those quests already completed.

From the quest fireworks and fish don't mix to Coming to Ishgard (Not starting it just having the quest)

I got a total of 491787 experience TOTAL. Each MSQ gives 4,800 EXP with the bonuses! That amount of experience will NOT cover a fraction of the side quests! Nor is that lackluster crap exp worth the 20+ hours I spent doing it when I could have been in Ishgard with my friends getting 48k exp per quest!

[Madjames]

I have also downscaled my subscription as well as my wifes due to us NEVER wanting to go through the MSQ again on a second character. I like the cat people as well as the Lalafell. However, it sucks I wont be able to have both because the MSQ is so time consuming and pointless but oh well, SE's loss even if it is $4 a month. I wonder how many others who had the idea to have more then one character downgraded their subs due to this very issue as well. It feels like a loss in money for SE and could be considered a huge loss if more and more people make this decision as the wife and I have.

Lastly, Luvbunny what you fail to realize is that there is no Wrong way to play the game. There is not only ONE way that the game was intended to play weather you like to think there is or not. There is no right and wrong way for this game to be played because it is a form of entertainment that is designed for many different players out there, not just the story huggers.

I listed my reasons to play an MMORPG and this game has them all. The game was designed for players such as myself in mind. Just like it was designed for the hardcore raiders, the crafters and yes, the story huggers. This game is much more then just another Final Fantasy game. It is an MMORPG and as such, should not be gated the way it is.

[RichardButte]

So I'm not going to knock the idea of cutting down the bs portion quests for the main story line, however, I would like to point something out (if I'm wrong feel free to correct me) with the fetch quests for the main story line once you hit the 50 mark you get exp from them and sorta kills having to do a lot of the side quests in heavensward to help you level to 60. That's what I'm thinking about.

While this is definitely true and it's better than nothing, the quest give something to the tune of 2,400 exp on each turn in while the quests in HW give at least 10k right off the bat.

Also, if you're slogging through the ARR 50 MSQ because you just want to start leveling one of the new classes, all of that exp will be worthless to you (as it is for my friend who just wanted to get to Machinist, though he did make it last night by staying up until 3AM, heh).

[RichardButte]

I rather get rid of those who not really interested in playing Final Fantasy game - and help others who want to play the game so they don't get the server error message. Probably make a better gameplay when you get to play with someone who truly can enjoy the game as intended by the creator instead a bunch of crybabies, "are we there yet? are we there yet? my god, 50 more main quests to go through?? seriously???!!! - rage quit cancel account, see you again!!

I was actually going to defend you until I saw this...

No, dude, just...no.

The attitude of "UR NOT HARDCOAR ENUF!!!111!" is a cancerous wart on the butt of gaming (MMO or otherwise) and has no place in modern MMOs.

Wildstar adopted this mentality, and just look at how well they're doing now.

And once again, what are you even defending? The idea that people should have to endure mashing the ESC key for 10 straight hours before they get to try out the content they paid for? What a snobby, crappy thing to wish upon people.

Me? I don't care how people want to play FFXIV, because it's not my place to tell them, and their money benefits SE for future development all the same and I appreciate it for that alone.

Really, man, get rid of that attitude. There has been an overwhelming number of people posting in this thread about how they've been unable to play with friends because their friends didn't have a high enough boredom threshold to make it through all of the 50 MSQ and join them in HW. This is something SE NEEDS to address.

This is money SE could be making that they aren't, and for what? To "preserve the integrity of ESC key mashing through 10 hours of boring-as-crap filler with 30 minutes of story hidden somewhere within"?

There are better ways to do this, mainly through abridging the MSQ leading into HW. And when they do that: everyone wins. Players win because they get to play with their friends, SE wins because they make more money.

Really, no one in their right might could take issue with that...

[3Jane]

And if you don't play the story, you wouldn't even know it was there! The raids are not the be-all-end-all to this game. There are plenty of people who don't like it.

As I said. This is a Final Fantasy game, the story is integral. People play this game because they want a month-long ride through the story. Are the side-quests tedious? No not really. They exist entirely for gaining experience so you don't have to grind in one spot just to get to the next level like other boring-as-hell MMORPG's. When I tried Aion and Tera... all I can say is "What storyline? What's a raid?" It seemed like the entire purpose of the game was to pay into the cash shop.

As I've said, and many others have said, you are playing the wrong game..etc

Nicely put

[Madjames]

Nicely put

I would like to know how she knows that every person playing this game does so because they want a month-long ride through the story.

This is a Final Fantasy game. This is also an MMORPG that is, by design meant for plenty of different players with different goals. This game never has nor never will be JUST for the story huggers. There is also no right or wrong way to play as it has been designed for story huggers, hardcore raiders, crafters, and gatherers such as myself.

You can tell me there are plenty of people who do not like raiding. I can counter that by saying that there are also plenty of people such as myself who could give two craps about the story and would rather make their own characters story through RP and do activities with their friends in dungeons, raids, and RP.

If all you want is story, then it is YOU KisaiTenshi who is playing the wrong game in my opinion. I suggest trying FF7 or FF6 if you care about the story and nothing else.

In my view, my characters story, his life, is made through his daily activities and actions that he himself decides, not what SE or anyone else says. What kills this story the most is that everyone is a special snowflake, and that to me ruins immersion more them making your own story as you go along.

[Vlady]

When a new person starts the game you honestly think the first thing going through their head is omg I want to be level 60 and raiding with my best buddies tonight? Cannot start machinist,dark knight, or astrologian off the bat is going to cause you to cancel your sub? Dont make me laugh. Its like saying that omg it took me 30 levels to finally become a scholar but my friends will quit because they cannot be scholars off the bat.

I dont know of anyone in my near 180 friend list over the last 2 years who quit because they could not become the job they wanted for the first 30 levels. This is a rpg MMO and I am damned tired of people who get bored of wow for a few months come over here and try to change things and ruin it for the long term people. The full story line is good for a healthy and developing playerbase. Give people instant gratification and they will be bored quickly because of the theme park constantly gearing up and strengthening up mechanics this game adheres too. If you want things cut for you then go play another game. I and the majority (silent) of the playerbase seems happy right now.

The people who I see quit do so because they think they have to play every day and burn themselves out in the process of trying to max out gear and levels in 2-3 days.