Main Scenario Restriction Bloodstorm - Very Very Bad idea.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Again, we're talking about far more than skipping cutscenes or quests here. There are actually dungeons, and fights that are linked to the main story, and the player is required to pass these to proceed. Primals, The Chrysalis, Steps of Faith, various dungeons (including Sastasha mentioned by OP). There is a ton of content that the player would be skipping to get through the MSQ. How else could the MSQ be registered as completed? It is a linear system.

So my scenario of pay-to-win is pretty accurate. You wouldn't need to learn anything to skip all of that content, other than where to enter your CC number. It's a very slippery slope. If they skip all the way to Stormblood, why would they not want to skip that too? It also effects game balance as far as unlocking gated gathering nodes, and crafting materials along the way. (Again, think RMT.)

Very dangerous and bad idea we're talking about here.

You mean content I could literally solo them all through? Is it pay to win if I run them through Stone Vigil unsynced and murder everything with one button while they follow after me? It's old content. Who cares? If they want to skip the many stages of Ifrit, go right ahead. You can already obtain gear that vastly overgears you for all those fights.

None of that is pay to win. You aren't allotting them an unfair advantage other players do not have. An example of pay to win is what Black Desert does, wherein you lose EXP if you die and are transported back to the closest city. As loot drops on world bosses are based on DPS uptime, all this can really set you back. But! If you buy an item from their cash shop, you'll be revived instantly exactly in the spot you died with no EXP loss.

Wanting to skip old content and Stormblood are not the same thing. The former simply aren't interested in having to slog through hundreds of hours of content that lost its relevancy years ago. Maybe they find the class system fundamentally boring (I don't blame them. I leveled Lancer after all ). Or they want to play with their friends. Whatever their reason is, it's old content. It doesn't matter anymore. Letting them skip hard mode primals isn't pay to win. You can and will be carried through them even if you have no idea what you're doing. I've done it. And no it doesn't. A level potion would be battle jobs, seeing those gate content. Regardless, even if you could jump craft/gather classes. It wouldn't change anything except maybe some markets will have a larger supply. Once again, leveling is easy, albeit boring. It's the MSQ people want to skip because they want to experience the expansion when it launches not a month(s) later because they're stuck all the way back on 2.3.

There's nothing dangerous about it because it does nothing. What will happen longterm is new players simply won't pick up FFXIV because of the sheer grind it entails to reach the current expansion. How many people do you think would have picked up Legion if they had to go through fifteen years through of content? Even just five? I guarantee it wouldn't be nearly to the extent they currently sold.

wait wait.... role player that don't give a damn of the story? you don't feel like you are kinda saying something.... kinda.... weird.
it's them choice to not like this, but it's the main focus of this game, when they come here, they know it. and honestly... i did help friend do them dungeon in unsync, it take almost no time to do it in solo. and like said, doing the msq allows to get tons of exp for the first jobs...

anyway, i did see a lot of this sort of player ingame, they don't give a damn to the story and are often the first to complain about the content given by the patch.... because well they don't care about the msq or the secondary quest. then do i care for them? no... why they will have the right to pass stuff when other will do it? a free pass? no way! no pain no gain.

Roleplayers typically create their own story around the game's lore and their character simply lives in Eorzea. Essentially, you're an everyday person, an adventurer or whatever. Your character isn't the WoL nor do they know the scions. So the main story doesn't impact them. Some love it, others don't pay attention and do their own thing.

Some will probably do precisely that. But making them go through the story isn't going to abruptly have them care about something they weren't interested in to begin with. They'll still say they have nothing to do since they're likely skipping cutscenes anyway. As for why they have the right? I, frankly, don't care how other people choose to play the game, provided it doesn't impact me. I wanted to level normally and experience the story. If they don't. I am not going to feel sour over them wanting to skip ahead. I wouldn't buy a jump potion even to level an alt now. So... it just doesn't matter to me.

[TarynH]

You mean content I could literally solo them all through? Is it pay to win if I run them through Stone Vigil unsynced and murder everything with one button while they follow after me? It's old content. Who cares? If they want to skip the many stages of Ifrit, go right ahead. You can already obtain gear that vastly overgears you for all those fights.

Could you please solo The Chrysalis, or Steps of Faith for them? Also, could you solo every single HW dungeon, and primal fight for them? Also, while you're at it, could you solo all of Alexander so they can do Savage mode with their friends?

You're trying to make leveling from 1-60 proportionate with skipping MSQ/content. These are two separate issues. One is grinding a job to 60. The other is playing through hours of content. What the OP is asking for, and you are apparently agreeing with, is putting the two together, and just skipping everything. So "new" players can walk into Ala Mhigo and pick up the new story, alongside people who have painstakingly gone through said "old content." Who are you to determine "who cares" about that?

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Could you please solo The Chrysalis, or Steps of Faith for them? Also, could you solo every single HW dungeon, and primal fight for them? Also, while you're at it, could you solo all of Alexander so they can do Savage mode with their friends?

You're trying to make leveling from 1-60 proportionate with skipping MSQ/content. These are two separate issues. One is grinding a job to 60. The other is playing through hours of content. What the OP is asking for, and you are apparently agreeing with, is putting the two together, and just skipping everything. So "new" players can walk into Ala Mhigo and pick up the new story, alongside people who have painstakingly gone through said "old content." Who are you to determine "who cares" about that?

Unsynced, might actually be able to solo Chrysalis nowadays. At most, you'd need 2-3 people. Steps may still need 5-6 people. Early HW dungeons? Warrior would solo them. Primals have been solo'd already. At least those that don't have instant death mechanics if only one player is in the instanced. Regardless, even with a party, all of the content you listed is utterly laughable now.

No, they aren't. Leveling is irrelevant. It's gated content people take umbrage with. Who are you to determine it still does? You're essentially saying "you have to do all this content because I think you should." Why does your opinion matter more than theirs? Because you feel the spirit of the game is ruined if someone else doesn't play through it exactly as you believe it should be played. I'll ask you the same I did Bass. If someone skips literally every cutscene and has friends speed them through all the dungeons so they could be ready for Stormblood. How is that any different than if they just paid for a jump potion? They didn't experience any of it. They skipped everything. It only took them two weeks instead of two minutes. Likewise, if they leveled through fates. They didn't learn their job. They grinded it out in a couple days pressing a few buttons.

I want to skip the whole crafting/gathering part of the game, because I only enjoy end-game crafting. Could I just have my BiS crafting gear done for me when I log in tomorrow? After all, it is the content I want, and tomorrow is when I want it.

Now you're being willfully obtuse. Skipping directly to endgame content and being awarded the best gear isn't synonymous with wanting to skip over 300 quests so they can play the expansion.

[TarynH]

Now you're being willfully obtuse. Skipping directly to endgame content and being awarded the best gear isn't synonymous with wanting to skip over 300 quests so they can play the expansion.

In context, he did say "people would be able to access the content they want WHEN they want." Not everyone wants the same things. It's just a matter of where you're willing to draw the line with this "jumping potion."

Also, you have a strange concept of "solo." :P

Leveling might very well be irrelevant. But it is not the same as content. You can level to 60 without doing any quests or story. What you're asking for is a skip button on 90% of the game. Just try to picture the abuse that could cause on the game. RMT, day 1, farming Stormblood areas. Trolls, day 1, monopolizing content. You'll have an entirely new breed of people that will not care about the integrity or balance of the game, let alone the "spirit of the game," which I never mentioned. And why should they? It's not like they played the game to get there.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

In context, he did say "people would be able to access the content they want WHEN they want." Not everyone wants the same things. It's just a matter of where you're willing to draw the line with this "jumping potion."

Also, you have a strange concept of "solo." :P

Leveling might very well be irrelevant. But it is not the same as content. You can level to 60 without doing any quests or story. What you're asking for is a skip button on 90% of the game. Just try to picture the abuse that could cause on the game. RMT, day 1, farming Stormblood areas. Trolls, day 1, monopolizing content. You'll have an entirely new breed of people that will not care about the integrity or balance of the game, let alone the "spirit of the game," which I never mentioned. And why should they? It's not like they played the game to get there.

Doesn't matter. That isn't what is being discussed. You are attempting to equate the two when they aren't the same thing nor have I supported that aspect.

I was being facetious. You didn't answer my question though. Even if I do occasionally bring someone else. If we duo/trio a friend or two through all the content, how does that differ from them just buying a jump potion? They haven't experienced anything. They're clicking through the story and having level 60-70s murder everything for them.

RMTs will always spam regardless of what barriers faced. Have you ever looked up their sites? A jump potion is more likely to hurt them. Some charge upwards of nearly $200 just to level you from 1 to 60. If Square sells a jump potion for $35. Who's going to pay RMTs to do all that leveling and/or content for them, especially since going through Square doesn't risk their account? Trolls like cheap laughs. Having to buy a full expansion plus the base game and previous expansion, then a likely expensive level skip potion just to potentially harass someone isn't exactly cheap. This doom and gloom scenario you keep insisting just wouldn't happen.

Might as well be. People have different tastes. Some want to skip the game and do raids. Some want to ignore the story and roleplay. I want to be a super crafter, but why should any of us have to work for it? :P

Except a jump potion doesn't make you a "super" raider either. You get crappy gear and less gil than you likely would have gotten playing through the game normally. It just skips you ahead to current content. So a more apt comparison with crafting would be jumping you to level 50 and gifting you the ilvl 55 set.

[TarynH]

Doesn't matter. That isn't what is being discussed. You are attempting to equate the two when they aren't the same thing nor have I supported that aspect.

But isn't it? You're asking for a potion that would skip not just old content, but also any relevant content to date. Sure, they would have to gear up, but that's the content they want, right? They want to skip to those end-game gearing-up raids? Well, what if I only wanted to craft end-game gear? I shouldn't have to craft my own gear to do that. That's a lot of effort. And if someone skipping to 50 gets ironworks, I would like to skip to 60 and have ironworks crafting gear. Also, any gil I "would've made" having crafted other lower recipes. *wink wink*

Also, what happens when they skip to 60? Do they get enough gil to buy new gear in Stormblood areas? Do they get awarded scripture gear? What special "reward" do they get for buying that potion from the shop? I mean, after all, they are entitled to it right?

[Bourne_Endeavor]

But isn't it? You're asking for a potion that would skip not just old content, but also any relevant content to date. Sure, they would have to gear up, but that's the content they want, right? They want to skip to those end-game gearing-up raids? Well, what if I only wanted to craft end-game gear? I shouldn't have to craft my own gear to do that. That's a lot of effort. And if someone skipping to 50 gets ironworks, I would like to skip to 60 and have ironworks crafting gear. Also, any gil I "would've made" having crafted other lower recipes. *wink wink*

Also, what happens when they skip to 60? Do they get enough gil to buy new gear in Stormblood areas? Do they get awarded scripture gear? What special "reward" do they get for buying that potion from the shop? I mean, after all, they are entitled to it right?

Sigh. For the last time, no. They skip to Stormblood not endgame content. The potion implemented in the Chinese/Korean version puts you nowhere near ready for Alexander. You also still have to do Heavensward. It merely skips you through A Realm Reborn because none of that content is relevant anymore. You can attempt to spin this will false equivalents all you fancy. That doesn't make it so. The intent of the potion is so you aren't gated by the MSQ, hence only gifting you the bare minimum at level 50. What you're saying is it'll gift you actual relevant gear with your crafter example. That doesn't happen even in the Chinese version.

Whatever the near equivalent to Ironworks (battle) gear is. In essence, it'll be junk gear you replace almost immediately. And this has nothing to do with entitlement. It's simply business. The larger the content bloat you put in front of new players, the less likely they are to keep playing or start to begin with. This will inevitably lead to a sub decline as less new players means no one will replace veterans who unsub. That lack of revenue isn't something Square Enix will just eat. They'll pass it back onto us by adding more cash shop exclusive content. A jump potion will happen. It's simply a matter of when.