Possible level/story jumps....really?

[Welsper59]

I merely advocate for a "skip to the new and shiny expansion you just paid for" potion. Surely you dont expect newcomers to shelf out 60+ dollars for Stormblood and be happy with the amount of work required to reach the part of the game that appealed to them.

Assuming they were to follow WoW's footsteps on the matter, that's exactly what they'll do. For the majority of the expansions life, it'd be a up to the entry point of said content (e.g. Heavensward would be lv50 and MSQ up to the end of ARR). Near the end, they'd likely at least bump it up to lv60 but keep MSQ how it was (or maybe even skip to the end, since it'd be in prep for SB).

This whole thing really isn't a big deal these days. The mentality of players universally has changed from what it was in the past, including the folks vehemently against the idea. While the concept could have spelled destruction in the early 2000's, when players and expectations were different, but now we're so accustomed to the idea of convenience that a level boost just won't do any significant harm in the long term. It just won't, be it through the perspective of statistics and simple logic.

Initially there will be a wave of stupid washing over the DF, but when you think about it, isn't that already what most people complain about now? It being "worse" is merely temporary.

[Moonlite]

Why does it need to be a potion though? Surely removing all the requirements for the first quest of Heavensward bar being level 50, the requirements for Stormblood except level 60, and adding a warning before you accept those quests that you'll skip everything before would work just as well?

Removes all the MSQ gating, just grind levels and skip ahead.

Because half the complainers on the forums think the MSQ/lore is something sacred. If you aren't embracing it you are missing out on Hamlet or some other timeless classic.

The simple fact is SE needs to make a decision and stop gating everything the way they have. One solution like you suggested take the locks off dungeons increase xp. Other choice skip the xp and dungeons. The poorly thought out gating of content needs to stop.

[Naunet]

Whether the result is a potion that skips story progress or levels i could not care less about. I am just concerned that Stormblood will fail to draw in as many new players as it potentially could. Seen from a market perspective, the casual player is the most profitable one.

My perspective is one who enjoys the leveling process. I have no desire to purchase a potion that skips 50 or 60 levels. What I want is a way to access things like the HW jobs without having to level an alt 50 levels (really more like 54, which is what you end up being by the time you're done with the ARR MSQ) on a class I did not want to play first. So I'm annoyed that the level jump potion is likely going to be used by both players and by SE as their excuse for why they won't fix the ARR block.

Anyway, I think we agree in theory. I'm just frustrated.

Why does it need to be a potion though? Surely removing all the requirements for the first quest of Heavensward bar being level 50, the requirements for Stormblood except level 60, and adding a warning before you accept those quests that you'll skip everything before would work just as well?

Removes all the MSQ gating, just grind levels and skip ahead.

This, please!

[Daeriion_Aeradiir]

Why does it need to be a potion though? Surely removing all the requirements for the first quest of Heavensward bar being level 50, the requirements for Stormblood except level 60, and adding a warning before you accept those quests that you'll skip everything before would work just as well?

Removes all the MSQ gating, just grind levels and skip ahead.

While I do think this is an interesting idea, I'm going to play devil's advocate and point out the biggest problem it doesn't solve which is a big convenience the potion brings:

Unless Square MASSIVELY boosts exp gained from 1-50 and 50-60 stuff, people will still have to go through a greater portion of the MSQ just to reach the per-requisite levels for your idea. Or they can zerg the Palace of the dead, which they may not even be interested in, or could very well be dead in Stormblood as all the current players move onto the expansion content.

and subjecting new players to massive fate grinds isn't a great way to entrance players into staying either.

Because in reality, dungeons are heavily gated by the MSQ, that by the time they reach 50/60, the most benefit they'll receive is skipping the patch content. Then what if their favorite job they want to play happens to be DRK/AST/MCH? Bam, they now have to spend even more time getting it back to 50 and up to 60 to reach Stormblood's entry level in your idea. I think for your idea to work as well as conveniently a a jump potion would solve, 1-60 would need to take very little time to achieve. Because lets face it. People who buy the jump potion are interested in one major thing: The newest expansion where the massive majority of players are currently doing. and the longer it takes for them to reach it, the less likely they will be to stick around and provide their monthly sub to Square.

For as much as people like to hate on it, WoW is king when it comes to this accessibility. I could go out and purchase a copy of Legion and be at the same expansion as everyone else, whether I choose to level normally or use the skip, doing the same content the massive majority of the playerbase is also doing with very minimal effort. If Square wants new player retention to be high, it'll either have to make compromises in how it designs its MSQ, or they create a jump potion.

[Naunet]

While I do think this is an interesting idea, I'm going to play devil's advocate and point out the biggest problem it doesn't solve which is a big convenience the potion brings:

The obvious thing if you remove the ARR MSQ gate is to also remove the gate from dungeons. As for having to level drk/ast/mch in such a way... that's exactly our complaint.

Just let us choose what content to do when.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

My perspective is one who enjoys the leveling process. I have no desire to purchase a potion that skips 50 or 60 levels. What I want is a way to access things like the HW jobs without having to level an alt 50 levels (really more like 54, which is what you end up being by the time you're done with the ARR MSQ) on a class I did not want to play first. So I'm annoyed that the level jump potion is likely going to be used by both players and by SE as their excuse for why they won't fix the ARR block.

Anyway, I think we agree in theory. I'm just frustrated.

Unfortunately, that potential fix comes with a cost. Whatever changes they make to ARR means less money for new content in Stormblood. Given the choice, would you really prefer less stuff for us current players because they had to tweak stuff we'll never even see again unless we level an alt? Excuse or not, a skip potion is the best solution for everyone.

Why does it need to be a potion though? Surely removing all the requirements for the first quest of Heavensward bar being level 50, the requirements for Stormblood except level 60, and adding a warning before you accept those quests that you'll skip everything before would work just as well?

Removes all the MSQ gating, just grind levels and skip ahead.

Because the developers have outright said it isn't possible. The current code follows a strictly linear path, where each quest flags unlocks another. Such has been the reason they haven't allowed us to repeat old story quests. Doing so would delete all the progress thereafter. Abruptly changing this formula would require a complete overhaul of their infrastructure, none of which comes cheap.

From a business perspective. It makes no sense whatsoever to change everything when they could make a massive profit on people who want to skip the story. Likewise, having a quest essentially skip you allows RMTs and bots a fast track into expansion content, whereas the mogstation comes at a hefty price tag they aren't going to pay.

[CorvinusV]

I like the idea of an alternate 1-60 MSQ for players specifically new to to FFXIV when SB is released. One that is expedited and unique for new players trying to get to endgame and it wouldn't be an overload for casuals. It would eventually have to merge somehow into the same SB MSQ that veteran players would have access to immediately. I think that would add an interesting/fun dynamic.
Unfortunately the devs definitely would've had to plan ahead for something sophisticated like that.

For me, a jump potion is just too empty. Other games have used this and for me it creates fun for like 15 minutes and then it tapers off. In FFXIV I appreciate the sense of reward and feel invested in my character, which I fear may diminish with a jump potion.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

I like the idea of an alternate 1-60 MSQ for players specifically new to to FFXIV when SB is released. One that is expedited and unique for new players trying to get to endgame and it wouldn't be an overload for casuals. It would eventually have to merge somehow into the same SB MSQ that veteran players would have access to immediately. I think that would add an interesting/fun dynamic.
Unfortunately the devs definitely would've had to plan ahead for something sophisticated like that.

For me, a jump potion is just too empty. Other games have used this and for me it creates fun for like 15 minutes and then it tapers off. In FFXIV I appreciate the sense of reward and feel invested in my character, which I fear may diminish with a jump potion.

As stated above, are you willing to give up new dungeons, extreme primals or even less story in the expansion itself? Any time and resources spent on ARR and Heavensward will eat away at Stormblood's budget. Say they originally planned to expand raids to six bosses and hoped to make it less instanced based. Well, scrap those idea because they had to spend several million writing new scripts, doing new animations and potential voice work for content none of us will even see. Square has allotted 36 million-ish for Stormblood. This covers everything, including adjustments to old content. The more they change, the less time and money they have for new content.

[CorvinusV]

As stated above, are you willing to give up new dungeons, extreme primals or even less story in the expansion itself? Any time and resources spent on ARR and Heavensward will eat away at Stormblood's budget. Say they originally planned to expand raids to six bosses and hoped to make it less instanced based. Well, scrap those idea because they had to spend several million writing new scripts, doing new animations and potential voice work for content none of us will even see. Square has allotted 36 million-ish for Stormblood. This covers everything, including adjustments to old content. The more they change, the less time and money they have for new content.

I think most people realize that, hence "...Unfortunately the devs definitely would've had to plan ahead for something sophisticated like that...", in which case it shouldn't be touched at all. Don't waste any resources and have everyone play through the same as pre-SB.

[Naunet]

Unfortunately, that potential fix comes with a cost. Whatever changes they make to ARR means less money for new content in Stormblood. Given the choice, would you really prefer less stuff for us current players because they had to tweak stuff we'll never even see again unless we level an alt? Excuse or not, a skip potion is the best solution for everyone.

I'm fine with that. It would be a massive QoL improvement.

And I don't want to skip 1-60, so a jump potion is not the "best solution for everyone". I just don't want the dang game forcing me through the same bazillion fetch quests and 54 levels worth of xp before I can get to the job I want.