What most turns new players off from FFXIV?

[Aylis]

I... don't recall this one. Which probably says a lot about the quest itself, xD.

Yeah...lol. I only remembered it cos I did it maybe a day or two ago before that post. Had it been over a week I probably would have forgotten about it too, xD.

[Saseal]

Also every city besides Gridania is a confusing mess to navigate through.

Yassss.... played since beta test and I still get lost in Ul Dah (ala alts trying to attune/quests) :|
Mainly in the GLAD guild area...


The turn off when I started was some of the fetch quests that seemed more like side quests rather than MSQ...
Id did serve the purpose to lengthen things, but it also felt semi-pointless and tiring. That feeling you get when you're in a very slow elevator, playing elevator music, and waiting forever for the doors to open while you're late for a meeting. *Incessantly checks watch*
It could be said that it's to build 'relationship' of your character and the people of the area, but the early MSQs like that just didn't really seem to do it well. If that was the intention, it needed to be more than a typical fetch.

'I wanna make tea, go get me these things by killing deez dings.'
*runs halfway across the map, kills stuff, returns*
'Gimme thingies I shoulda told you about the first time you went out, but I'll just waste your time, instead'
*Runs to the other side of the map again to kill things*
'Great, now go fetch me the water over there'
*Throws bucket in water. Fills bucket. Takes bucket.*
'Cool, now go hand it out to the lazy bums nearby'
Me: "WHO THE HEL DO I GOTTA PUNCH TO MAKE PEOPLE GET OFF THEIR ASSES!?"

Worst offender was Y'shtola and one of the lalafel Immortal Flames in Horizon.
'Tell this person this stuff'
*Walks 5 feet*
'Awesome. Go tell that first person this thing.'
*Walks back 5 feet...*

[Dzian]

The story definitely. Had a few friends and work colleagues who have picked up the game and put it down because of the story.

It's not even that the story is bad either. It's more that it was designed as the primary way to level and as a result there's so much tedium between major plot points. There's like 100 quests between ifrit and titan story mode battles 95 of which are totally unrelated to the story main plot points and irrelevant but you MUST do them.

There's so much junk in the story that many of the core points are lost. They could easily remove 90% of the msq quests with no real impact on the story as a whole. Make them optional side quests that way people can do them for exp if they desire. Or they can can just jump straight to the next real plot point.

If they did that I'd be more inclined to create a second character as well. As it'does be that much faster to get them caught up in the game skip all the chaff focus on the main plot points and get through. And I'd probably enjoy it a lot more as a result.

But yeah friends and colleagues various people I know have all said the same. The story has some cool points and moments but there's so much trash between them. It just detaches you from the plot

[Windi]

Having 3-4 hotbars packed with skills and macros is probably overwhelming for a lot of people too. But all those other buttons aren't there for alternative playstyles like in other games. They're there because you're somehow largely expected to know how/when to use everything. But since you can realistically be carried all the way to endgame, maybe there's not enough time or incentive to really learn combat. Alternatively, combat is maybe too complex or poorly taught.

Wait, are you actually supposed to be switching between hotbars during combat? The fast pace of it all makes this cumbersome as all hell. I pretty much try to cram all of my skills (at least the ones I deem useful) into first two visible bars. I even changed the hotkeys for switching bars to make accessing these skills easier.

[enthauptet]

Wait, are you actually supposed to be switching between hotbars during combat? The fast pace of it all makes this cumbersome as all hell. I pretty much try to cram all of my skills (at least the ones I deem useful) into first two visible bars. I even changed the hotkeys for switching bars to make accessing these skills easier.

The hotkeys shift-# for switching hotbars is very unintuitive for sure. I've turned it off on mine just because of how annoying it is to do accidentally.

[MaeIsMean]

My husband (who's much newer than me) feels the pace is VERY slow, he feels like it will take forever to accomplish anything. Too much is locked behind the MSQ, and while he enjoys quests and actually takes the time to read them (which I don't), he hates that his leveling is so intricately tied to the MSQ that grinding isn't even an option. He resubbed for POTD, but doesn't like they way it's implemented. He's currently back to Diablo 3 for the new season, so who knows when/if he'll come back to FF. He put in alot of hours and feels like he hasn't accomplished much in all that time.

[LalafellDown]

Boring forgetful text reading story. Compared to other MMO's that have a talking NPC at every corner.

[synesthetic]

Wait, are you actually supposed to be switching between hotbars during combat? The fast pace of it all makes this cumbersome as all hell. I pretty much try to cram all of my skills (at least the ones I deem useful) into first two visible bars. I even changed the hotkeys for switching bars to make accessing these skills easier.

I don't switch between bars, but the people I play with all seem to have their UIs set up to have at least three [combat] bars visible at all times, and they're packed.
Like I have one bar for just hitting plain #'s, one for Ctrl-#'s, and the last for Alt-#'s. I still mouseclick for a lot though. A couple of people I know have a fourth bar set up using Shift-#'s. And then if they're using a summoning class, the pet bar makes a fifth one.

Looking at my WHM, a class which I've seen people admit to playing when they "don't want to push buttons", I have 25 out of 36 buttons that I use frequently, then a handful more which I have to keep on ready access for emergencies. The rest filling in the last spaces are for those times I end up in low-level content.
It's about the same for my BRD. About 27 buttons that I frequently use.

It wasn't quite as bad before 3.0. But even in 2.0, I could not comfortably fit everything onto two bars, for any of the classes I played.

In contrast, other games I've played nowadays try to limit gameplay to requiring only about four buttons, give or take.

[bass9020]

In contrast, other games I've played nowadays try to limit gameplay to requiring only about four buttons, give or take.

How is limiting gameplay and content to 4 buttons ANY fun? Thats beyond stupid. FF is built around using a bunch of abilities and spells in fights, having the GCD at all hinders this system terribly. F*** the GCD system seriously.

[myahele]

I have an alt that I am using to re-experience the story, but I have to say that the "filler" quests in the MSQ is sapping my enthusiasm to continue further.

Here's an example:
The Ladle in the Darkness

Sergeant Cracked Fist needs a hero to make a stew.

Desperate to raise the garrison's floundering morale, Sergeant Cracked Fist has taken a lesson from Gridanian history,and humbly requests that you make a stew and distribute it among the troops. First, obtain the three required chunks of basilisk meat.

You have obtained enough basilisk meat. Take it to the cookfire just outside Camp Bluefog's northern gate, and ad it to the bubbling cauldron.

It will take a little while for the meat to be cooked through. Watch the cauldron until the stew is ready.

Your keen instincts tell you that the basilisk stew is now ready. Scoop it from the bubbling cauldron.

You have three steaming bowls of basilisk stew expertly balanced in your hans. Make your way around Camp Bluefog and give them to the neediest soldiers.

You have doled out all the basilisk stew, which seems to have had the desired effect. Report your success to Sergeant Cracked Fist.

A jubilant Sergeant Cracked Fist thanks you for inspiriting his troops. They now remember their purpose, and stand ready to do their part in the impending phase of the operation.