Info about the Chinese Cash Shop "Level Jumping Potions"

[Bourne_Endeavor]

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Funny enough. This summary basically echos the majority opinion on MMORPG. Except many lost interest during the 2.1-2.55 grind. Whenever people ask for opinions, the grind to 60 is among the primary complaints too.

SE needs to realize that the majority of its player base are new players still crawling through the TONS of content below max level while those that have reached max level leave the game quicker than it takes to say the word "goodbye".
FFXIV's retainment rate of players sucks, it's only doing well because of the new players joining in all the time. Letting new players skip all that content so they can then proceed to afk for the next 3-6 months in [insert name of new endgame hub here] and realize it's a waste of money to sub for this game since there is nothing to do is one thing only - shooting themselves in the foot.

And that's not even adressing the issue that at least I do NOT want to play in an ignorant community that has no idea what it is doing, no idea what the story is, and so on.
But who am I kidding, that last interview said they are in overwhelming favor of adding it in the dev team, so of course we'll get it, despite other MMOs already showing how negatively it impacts the community - and those are MMOs that actually have something to do for those ahead-skippers, which is not the case in FFXIV, sorry.

The longer quest requirements become, the less likely those same new players will even bother trying XIV to begin with. Expecting the majority of your audience to spend several weeks-- months even -- to play the game they actually want is an exercise in futility. Whether it's laziness, lack of interest or any other reason, people today want to consume content quickly. Those who do prefer the slow trek can still opt out of a skip option or level an alt once they have exhausted everything else. Player retention suffers just as much from people simply losing interest before they even reach Heavensward. As noted above, it's usually cited as one of XIV's primary complaints-- only emphasised further by early game being a complete bore for many. There is a reason most of us claim how much better the game gets once you reach at least 50. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. And yes, you could burn through the story-- skipping every cut scene along the way -- at a somewhat rapid pace. Most people won't, however. They'll pick up another MMO or game in general with a newer shine and less of an early game grind.

People with no vested interest to get better won't, no matter the obstacles you place ahead of them. Hence why we already see horrendous players despite them having competed the story. Conversely, those who do actually want to improve will do so at their own volition. A skip potion isn't going to change that. Eventually, the former will quit for the next "big thing" and duty finder will sort itself out. As for not knowing the lore. Who cares? It won't effect you or your enjoyment of said lore. Does it bother you now that plenty of people skip literally every cut scene? A skip's not any different except Square makes money off those players instead of them spamming esc/numpad for hours on end.

Making access to Ishgard a level 50 quest, and access to Ala Mhigo a level 60 quest, would solve the "I didn't really get an MMO to play by myself" problem.

If they get bored with single player progression and decide they'd rather skip it then you or anyone else can come along and run them through dungeons, take them through palace, run FATEs with them, buy or craft them gear to wear, grind out the xp to take them past the story together basically.

As for replaying it later, "A Minstrels Ballad: A Realm Reborn" (and 'Minstrels Ballad: Heavensward'), same cutscenes, same dialogue, same objectives, different (if any) rewards, and crucially, technically different quests. No resetting anything required.

The devs have already said their quest system wouldn't allow for this. However they managed the code, it's entirely linear, and would thus require a complete overhaul. Hence why can't replay old quests again. Reverting back would delete everything that came before it. Regardless, if they ever do introduce a skip, it will come at a cost. Square would be idiotic not to profit off it. Not to mention, your suggestion would allow RMTs into Heavensward or Stormblood. Since the only gate way to a free all access pass is leveling to 50 or 60.

I don't think they would have to reprogram the whole game.
1-50 is fine, cut all of 2.1 to 2.55 out and make a cut scene for it, and do the same for 3.1 to 3.xx, cut it all out and another cut scene. This would restore it back to a decent progression again for all new players entering the game.

For one, coding isn't quite that simple. Ripping out a massive chunk will likely disrupt something else; potentially breaking the whole system. The devs have expressly cited this being one of the main issues with redoing old quests; the code they use won't allow for it. Even putting all that aside, they would still need to rewrite and reanimate everything from those patches, then frankenstein it all back together again just to have a somewhat cohesive story for those who do want to experience it. And in this case, anyone wanting the full story has only Youtube since parts of it are now gone. Regardless, none of this comes cheap. All the extensive tweaking they did on ARR and Heavensward would be subtracted from Stormblood's budget. So we all lose new content for adjustments we will never even see. That's reason enough for me to be okay with a skip potion. This way, they don't have to dedicate any funds to tweaks nor rush the story because it's getting too long.