Main Scenario Restriction Bloodstorm - Very Very Bad idea.

[Kosmos992k]

Just making sure it's not 666 posts but 667 lol

'Forum Guardian' achievement obtained!

[CosmicKirby]

- snip - )

I think you're reading into my post quite a bit.
I very intentionally said "most" of 2.5 biggest events amounted to little.
Out of ALL the things that happened In Ul'dah, here's everything that mattered.

- The Scions were seperated. (Via very groan-inducing arbitrary means)
- Illberd and his two best buddies betray 'you'. (Although they really just want money and Illberd wants to focus on Ala Mhigo. Maybe some petty revenge would help.)
- The WoL is 'forced' to go to Ishgard. (Although they were wanting to go there anyway.)
ANY of the other events. Nanamo 'dying', the Syndicate's involvement, how the other nations might view Ul'dah after this shitshow took place and they were supposedly forced to watch, WHY no-one else really wanted to help the WoL or the Scions during these events, all entirely brushed under the rug. Not a single time has any of these things been brought up again since the very brief wrap up halfway through 3.0's leveling arc.
(This is made all the more insulting, when the LoreBook mentions that at a prior point in Ul'dah's history, an honorable man was put in a compromising courtly position, and when he challenged the powers that be he was called a traitor, yet no-one acted against him because they KNEW he was honorable, heck, he even gets elected as the new reagent Sultan for his troubles after the fact. Man, if only the WoL was just as honorable...)

Huge digression, as my main point remains the same. There's little that's so sacrosanct to the plot or story that it couldn't be glossed over or not mentioned to newcomers who don't particularly care to know. Things that threatened to make it so have been decided dropped heavily. FF14 is hardly a plot of incredible nuance. I'd go so far as to say their attempts at making it thicker were decisively aborted with Teledji. Anything after him has followed a much more familiar and easy to process arc.

[AzuraWinters]

What is a "Very Very Bad idea" is to jump on people immediately to the expansion.

What's the point of doing this when there are systems in place that will allow anyone to at least complete the main quest in a reasonable amount of time.

Everyone should just enjoy the trip, is not like all the fun is at max level. There is plenty of stuff that unlocks on different levels, and the story itself is something great to look forward.

Also, if you are new to the game, and buy all the expansion, it's not like they will go away soon. Think of it like just finding a great game, and there is 3 of them. Would you buy the 3 games only to skip on the first 2 because you want to immediately play the latest and just released part of the trilogy?

[ADVSS]

they could send their characters out on 18 hour ventures and come back with some more main scenario completed the next day?

[Ramath]

If people weren't even happy playing the first two parts, what makes you think they are going to magically love Stormblood? It's still the same damn game... If they can't even stomach the first two parts, they have no place in the third.

Also, this time around, we have a farther warning on how this will play out. If you have friends who might be interested in the expansion, they have PLENTY of time to log in, spend a couple hours skipping the CS's before Stormblood launches. They have no excuse aside from being whiny self-entitled gits.

[Sandpark]

What is a "Very Very Bad idea" is to jump on people immediately to the expansion.

Also, if you are new to the game, and buy all the expansion, it's not like they will go away soon. Think of it like just finding a great game, and there is 3 of them. Would you buy the 3 games only to skip on the first 2 because you want to immediately play the latest and just released part of the trilogy?

So the solution is to tell people they have to play XIII to play XIII-2 to play XIII-3? Or Dragon Age 1 to to access 2 to access 3? Why not just make people play FF1-14 to access 15?

The crux of the matter is if something doesn't give we are looking at expansion 6 requiring progressing through 5 expansions. With ilvls and the reality here that SE doesn't want people playing and not stopping to play other games. Locking one expansion behind another flies in the face of that.

I will play through each expansion they way they were originally intended. If someone doesn't have or want to invest all the time I did 2 years later. Should SE tell them deal with it or don't play this game?

[Velhart]

This game is different from other MMO's. In WoW, events are taking place rather if your character is around or not. It is growing on it's own without your contribution. This game continues through your own narration through the story. The world in FFXIV does not grow till you progress. It is harder(not impossible) for you to just skip the story of the first two games and drop straight to Stormblood. Have to think of stuff you have to do out of the MSQ. Is SE going to give you all lv.60 jobs? Are they going to finish those quests for you also? Will they give you the levels needed to be a specific job? There are a ton of things you have to take in regard if you pay to skip a heavy portion of content.

[Istaru]

So the solution is to tell people they have to play XIII to play XIII-2 to play XIII-3? Or Dragon Age 1 to to access 2 to access 3? Why not just make people play FF1-14 to access 15?

XIII-2, Lightning returns, Dragon Age 2 and 3 were standalone sequels. They were not expansions.

[Sandpark]

This game continues through your own narration through the story. The world in FFXIV does not grow till you progress. It is harder(not impossible) for you to just skip the story of the first two games and drop straight to Stormblood. Have to think of stuff you have to do out of the MSQ. Is SE going to give you all lv.60 jobs? Are they going to finish those quests for you also? Will they give you the levels needed to be a specific job? There are a ton of things you have to take in regard if you pay to skip a heavy portion of content.

Yes it's static. I am against the overall skip because it would go against the concept of an rpg. I am totally for excessive trimming of filler, mainly things that don't unlock things usually found in the questing/sidequesting area.

You still have to do job quest, unlock dungeons, explore zones, etc, just leveling will not take 1/2 as long in the first two expansions at the release of SB.

XIII-2, Lightning returns, Dragon Age 2 and 3 were standalone sequels. They were not expansions.

Stormblood will be a full standalone game's worth of content

Sure. However I am not arguing whether these expansions count as sequels or expansions. The premise is the same. The new content is being introduced in Stormblood. The DAI new content was introduced in that game.

Is this something you want to communicate to your new player who is starting fresh at StormBlood?

Hey, we got all this exciting content you saw in the SB trailer. Unfortunately, you can't play the thing you payed money for until you play the other 2 expansions 100s of hours,

New player: But I paid money for this expansion, why can't I play it?

SE: Because this isn't a sequel, it's an expansion. Deal with it or go play WoW.

[Istaru]

They could add the ability to jump straight to SB right off the bat and not kill the lore completely, but there should be a trade off. The trade off? All MSQ are counted as complete and cannot be viewed in the inn book since you never did them.

The reasoning behind this would be that you are a new WoL that was not part of the events prior to SB, as such, you go train on your own until strong enough to enter the resistance movement and help with Ala Mihgo.