Main Scenario Restriction Bloodstorm - Very Very Bad idea.

[LineageRazor]

I definitely think that players should take the time to enjoy the story properly. That said, though, I fully understand the frustration that comes from locking all the content for each expansion behind the MSQs from the base game and previous expansions. It's just not a sustainable system. It may have been doable in Heavensward, and it may be dubiously tolerable in Stormblood, but what about the next expansion? And the one after that?

An MMO NEEDS an influx of new players. How many expansions will it take, before the majority of potential new players - even ones who actually DO love the storytelling - see how much the have to wade through before they can participate in meaningful raids and other endgame activities, and just shake their heads and look for a different MMO to play?

One thing I appreciated about FFXI is that many - possibly even most - endgame activities were separated from Main Scenario, or required only minimal progress. HNMs, you could do right off the bat. Dynamis required completion of the base game's MSQ, which was pretty short. You could do the Alexander stuff (Salvage, Nyzul Isle) as soon as you could access the Undersea Ruins. Skirmish, and Delves I think you could access as soon as you got the expansion - and Delves I'm pretty sure still provide among the best obtainable gear in the game.

So, why do MSQs at all? Aside from the storyline (which, imo, is its own reward) the MSQs provided unique equipment drops or other benefits that stood the test of time. The Adoulin MSQs awarded extremely powerful rings, along with a situationally useful neckpiece (one of which provided permanent auto-reraise when participating in Reives, one Adoulin activity). Promathia awarded rings, equipable at level 30, with stats that grew stronger and stronger as you leveled, making them viable leveling gear from levels 30 to 75. The important thing, though, was that players could pursue these rewards at their leisure while still participating with their friends in the toughest content the game had to offer.

Sadly, the itemization used in this game makes it difficult to provide lasting equipment rewards, but surely there could be some other benefit provided by MSQs that would make them desirable WITHOUT making them a requirement to participate in endgame (at least, not in all of endgame).

[Reynhart]

Here's a what-if

It could be...if the latest 3.4 didn't already tease something about the Mhigan resistance.

They could, however make a later expansion with its own starting zones and jobs, without any connection to the Ascian or Garlemald.
For example, in XI, City ranks, ZM and CoP were direct sequels to each other, whereas ToAU made something totally unrelated (But without low level zones).

But since so much central points are developped in ARR and HW storylines, I don't know how it could fit in the lore...

An MMO NEEDS an influx of new players. How many expansions will it take, before the majority of potential new players - even ones who actually DO love the storytelling - see how much the have to wade through before they can participate in meaningful raids and other endgame activities, and just shake their heads and look for a different MMO to play?

And what these new players really don't need is having only one expansion to do while ignoring everything else. That would make them quit.
What SE needs to do is keep reviving old content, unless they design a way for new players to do instances solo.

Endgame is where the grind and the infuriating repetition come...the later it is, the better.

[Alleo]

I can understand that if you see something cool that you want to go there as soon as possible and if you dont enjoy the story that you dont want to go through it. They could take some of the ARR quest out of the main story because they were kinda boring but I dont agree that there should be something to skip all content so that you can start with the new expansion right away..

Sometimes we get quite the questions from new people that they could have found out on their own if they had at least paid some attention to the text messages...how much worse will this become if you are able to jump over all the old content and start at the new expansion?

We already have a lot of bad people in duty finder...how much worse will it be to have people in stormblood dungeons that have no single glue about their job? How can they even start to raid and do savage if they have no equipment?

I had some new people in our FC that wanted to reach end game really fast..(and they managed to be there after not even one month..really thats not long in terms of MMO) Well a lot of them are not playing the game anymore since they kinda found out that endgame is not that great..they were not good enough for savage and running dungeons all the time to get the next equipment was not that funny for them. I can already see a lot of new people that bought all the games and a jump potion only to see how bare bone the endgame is..and since they dont care about the story, every new patch might not entertain them long enough.

It would be the best to get a compact ARR story with no filler quests and maybe dont barricade the new jobs behind the expansion..I mean the HW jobs mostly played in the ARR zones anyway..other than that the new players could always just ask someone from their FC to do the content unsynch with them or help them out but I am against a jump potion for new players..(maybe an option for someone that has one character at lvl70) In the end a MMO is a longtime investment, especially if you pay a sub.

[loreleidiangelo]

What SE needs to do is keep reviving old content

Please god, no.

Ignoring how little "filler" there is in the 2.x series and how there's zero of it in the 3.x series (stuff not directly related to the MSQ events were moved into their own side stories)...how about we don't remove content from the game, yeah?

Advocate for a way for it to be skippable for those that just don't want to deal with story in a story heavy MMO, but don't ever advocate for removal of content.

What kills me is that this method, which is an expenditure of development time, money, and resources, is somehow considered the go-to solution rather than an OPTIONAL 60-dollar skip potion that takes minimal development process at all AND makes the company a hefty chunk of change, to boot.

[Berethos]

- Remove the filler BS from MSQ (2.x and to a lesser extent 3.x)

Ignoring how little "filler" there is in the 2.x series and how there's zero of it in the 3.x series (stuff not directly related to the MSQ events were moved into their own side stories)...how about we don't remove content from the game, yeah?

Advocate for a way for it to be skippable for those that just don't want to deal with story in a story heavy MMO, but don't ever advocate for removal of content.

[Reynhart]

Please god, no.

If you don't want to run old content, just don't. Plenty of people will still do it to help new players.

Ignoring how little "filler" there is in the 2.x

There are a lot of fillers in 2.x...quest that makes you back and forth between 2 NPC...or worse, quests where Minfilia contacts you by linkshell because she wants to see you, only to send you somewhere..."You couldn't tell me that directly, you idiot ?!"

[Berethos]

There are a lot of fillers in 2.x...quest that makes you back and forth between 2 NPC...or worse, quests where Minfilia contacts you by linkshell because she wants to see you, only to send you somewhere.

Filler quests are those that send you off to do something and when you return you're right back where you started without having progressed any other element of the plot or story. The only one that actually truly fits that criteria are the quests you do with Tataru (where she tries the different jobs/professions), and even those have some character development for her going forward, and also serve to create a sense of pacing and a calm moment before the storm at the end of 2.5 (so technically filler, but still useful as a story-telling element).

Fetch quests, talk-to quests, etc., are NOT filler IF they move the plot forward...and most of 2.x does exactly that. What keeps getting called filler is based on a misconception created by impatient players who want little more than to get to the next exciting action set piece and skip anything they find boring (what they find boring usually being labeled as filler).

[loreleidiangelo]

If you don't want to run old content, just don't. Plenty of people will still do it to help new players.

No, they won't, which is why the development team is constantly coming up with carrots-on-sticks to shove us back into that tired old content. This is precisely what I'm advocating against with my support of things like optional skip potions. Why do you think the relic questline shifted from a cool series of unique trial battles to the leveling-content-revival it is now? Sure, some of it was because people complained about the HM primal difficulties, but I guarantee a lot of it was a sneaky way to bolster activity in low-level areas while helping the devs cut corners on development costs. This is the game direction I don't want to see.

[Reynhart]

Filler quests are those that send you off to do something and when you return you're right back where you started without having progressed any other element of the plot or story.

Ok, let's not call them "filler" then. But it's still quests where you spent 90% of the time going back and forth between locations. This could easily be compressed without losing any plot point and skipping no real "content".

This is the game direction I don't want to see.

Saddly, this is the best way to be new player friendly. Giving a new player a jump or potion will just make them totally ignorant on how to play.
And the higher they are, the less forgiving other players will be.

The problem with the relic is not the usage of old content, it's that people thought it would be an elite weapon, worthy of the name "Relic", judging by the difficulty of the first step.
And by offering other idea like Wondrous Tails, they can have many different ways to revive old content.

[Rizon]

curios question. HW will not be required for entry into storm blood. Does anyone know how SE will bridge the gap between level 50 ARR and level 60 (I presume) Stormblood for those who do not do HW?