So Long, Thanks for all the Fish

[Yeol]

I think they were thrown there for extra EXP.

[MicahZerrshia]

It greatly saddens me that the whole point for the so-called 'fetch quests' in the game is completely lost on most players in this thread - it's part of your job description as an adventurer! Back when you first started the game and signed up at the Adventurer's Guild, the guild proprietor actually tells you right then and there what you are in for - helping people with mundane tasks! And that "rarely will the work be of realm-shaking importance"

That's great and all but how often do you see your mailman taking down terrorist organizations in his spare time.

Also that "helping people out thing" most likely refers to the game as an mmo and is just another way SE is telling us to work together on trivial tasks as well as the big stuff. Sorta like in Answers when the line states "look to those who walked before to lead those who walk after", it's about being an mmo not a fedex carrier for every Roe, Lala and Hyur walking down Ruby Road Exchange.

You can white knight the dev teams decisions all you want but in the end it is a major turn off for a lot of people and has caused a lot of people I know personally to walk away. Other games, mmos included, do it way better because they are more creative about it. Even fetch quests don't always have to feel like a fetch quest, mundane or no. So they could technically keep them in, but by the twelve they do not need to make them so monotonous, broing and unimaginative. A few here and there like that fine, but there are just soooooo many and they are mind numbingly tedious.

[MikeWW]

The story is so bad in this game that I cheered every time an npc that has given me quests dies or becomes injured.

[Joe_Schmoe]

FedEx quests. Hundreds of them.

God help you if you ever play WoW. You think they're bad in this game, try about 12 years worth of them. FF XIV is practically a mini-game by comparison.

[Rhyku]

Why? Because you're the Warrior of Light!
When you ain't saving the world, you're pest control and god knows what else.
But mostly an errand boy/girl :3

[FunkYeahDragons]

It's also a matter of storytelling. What you think people should think about your game, your novel, your movie, whatever, is not necessarily what they are going to think. If they think differently than you intended, it's not your audience's fault for not appreciating it... it's yours for not presenting it to them correctly.

Titan questline does serve a narrative/gameplay purpose but not one that players have been prepped to notice or care about. It may be intended to immerse them in grand companies or level them up, but story-wise what it actually does is dangle what people are really excited about (the big boss battle they've been hearing about) just out of reach. Although not as bad as the ARR-HW dip. The Titan one is short enough that I don't think many reach the threshold where anticipation turns into frustration and then disinterest.

Regardless of how anyone would like players to feel about sniffing chocobos for 7+ hours and getting barely noticeable EXP and outdated gear, people are instead going to be excited to see the latest content with all the rest of the players. This should be predictable...

[Taika]

Regardless of how anyone would like players to feel about sniffing chocobos for 7+ hours and getting barely noticeable EXP and outdated gear, people are instead going to be excited to see the latest content with all the rest of the players. This should be predictable...

Why though? Why is only the newest content worth seeing and experiencing while you haven't seen or experienced any of the old one? You don't start a single player game from the last battle either just because your friend started before you and is already there.

[Laerune]

I do not agree with alot of the OP's points, but I do have to agree that he has a valid point when he talks about the non related fetch quests. There are alot of fetch quests, but I have not noticed them in Heavensward content. While I agree that as a adventurer you need to complete these mundane tasks, the WoL becomes a hero after the Titan fight.

Maybe they should have kept the WoL a normal adventurer and made him a known hero after all the mundane fetch quests?

[Mature]

I enjoyed fishing

[ColorOfSakura]

Stuff

Like, I'm gonna start off and say I totally get this and I'm on your side that the fetch quests in the MSQ were pointless and mind numbing. In the 2.0 stuff (between Levels 1-50) it made sense because it was about gaining an "adventurer" reputation and being made to do menial tasks, plus they worked as ways to get bonus EXP.

The fetch quests from 2.1 - 2.5 (ARR Patch Content) were by and large useless. Some of them are fine - and they're just immersion setting. But the vast majority of them were completely unnecessary and I absolutely agree with you.

That being said - this isn't an example of content gating. It was just poor story design because they wanted to pad out the length of the Main Scenario to meet some arbitrary "Hours of Story Content" thing.

They've acknowledged it was poor form and from Heavensward moving forward, content patches have been much more streamlined and focused on the story. That doesn't mean that there isn't SOME there, but it's rarely if ever obnoxious or intrusive. Most filler-y fetch quests were relegated to sidequests in Heavensward, although there are some in the 50-60 part of the MSQ in 3.0, but they mostly exist as EXP filler and aren't nearly as hair-tearing as their 2.X counterparts. The problem is the fact that it'd be very hard for them to go in now and tear out some 50+ quests from the Main Scenario and make it still fully make sense. It's a poor design decision, but ultimately one I think we have to just deal with now. Thankfully with teleporting and chocobo porters, most of that stuff is basically just "Point, Click, Wait".

I think everyone finds the requirement for the Hard Mode primals to be rather boggling for access to Heavensward, I honestly think it was just for the sake of making players get those unlocked in Trial Roulette.