Naoki Yoshida's Comment in Regard to Jump Potions/Boost Potions

[VTXShiva]

Considering the events of 3.4 I highly doubt that (spoilers below):

The griffin has nidhoggs eyes, we now have Yda and Papalymo back, and events have moved on drastically from HW

I did have a source if you really want it, but I'll have to go digging for it

That's not the same as "gating". From your statement that sounded like they confirmed that the only way you can do HW story is by doing everything up to this point and maybe then some.
Last i checked we don't know for sure if 4.x first quest will require 3.5.5 quest or if it's going to be an un-hooked quest.

[Cedane]

Fair enough, I will take you at your word. I wasn't disputing what you said at all as I have taken a couple of breaks (and one was during LV fanfest) so it's just one of those things I missed.

It's cool! I mean, I figure I'd point it out anyway. I do remember that was one of the biggest points though.

The "finale" patch before Stormblood is split in two parts, I believe.

That's not the same as "gating". From your statement that sounded like they confirmed that the only way you can do HW story is by doing everything up to this point and maybe then some.
Last i checked we don't know for sure if 4.x first quest will require 3.5.5 quest or if it's going to be an un-hooked quest.

To be fair, it IS still gating. If you have to complete certain quests to open up something, it is a kind of "gate" that is locked until you complete a certain objective.

You can word it differently but is gating content in its own way.

[Lambdafish]

That's not the same as "gating". From your statement that sounded like they confirmed that the only way you can do HW story is by doing everything up to this point and maybe then some.
Last i checked we don't know for sure if 4.x first quest will require 3.5.5 quest or if it's going to be an un-hooked quest.

read the rest of the post. The first bit was simply contextual clues while I went to find the actual source.

[DrStiles]

Because in HW you needed to beat 2.0-2.55, and in SB you need to beat 2.0-2.55 AND 3.0-3.55? Do I really need to source that?

No, you don't. There are plenty of old posts both here and on reddit complaining about having to do the 2.0-2.55 MSQ just to step foot in Ishgard. We already know that 3.5 and 3.55 will tie in directly to the Stormblood story. The next set of expert dungeons are explicit proof of this. No one knows if 5.0 will continue in the same fashion, but it very well may, and if that is the case then a jump potion becomes more and more necessary over time. Eventually, it will become unreasonable for even the most hardened and resilient players to join the game if the list of quests they must complete before reaching current content numbers in the hundreds.

Personally, I'm a bit torn on how I feel about this issue, because the continuity of the story is one of my favorite aspects of this game. Each expansion feels more like the next season of my favorite HBO series instead of a separate short story. However, it also presents an enormous hurdle to anyone wanting to start playing. If they make expansions self-contained going forward, the story will suffer. But if they continue to connect them, then attracting new players to the game will become a daunting prospect indeed. It is for this reason and for this reason only, and I am willing to entertain the idea of jump potions. As I've said in previous posts, I would rather the game continue to have a healthy population of players than fall into steady decline. So if jump potions are the only means by which SE plans to address the issue, I'll have to swallow my pride and live with it. But that doesn't mean that the community shouldn't speak up about it and voice their opinions on their implementation.

Imo, if we're going to be getting jump potions, they ought to be included with the expansion like in other MMOs, if their purpose really is to help new players integrate into the game like SE claims.

[ArchangelSavior]

Bad Idea about that.....

[ReplicaX]

Imo, if we're going to be getting jump potions, they ought to be included with the expansion like in other MMOs, if their purpose really is to help new players integrate into the game like SE claims.

It has been stated many times in this thread and the more it is repeated the better if these potions are coming. Otherwise, I see it as a turn off for potential new players having to shell out possibly over $100+ USD for the software + potions. They still have the option not to use it and go through the story and/or level traditionally.

[bass9020]

It has been stated many times in this thread and the more it is repeated the better if these potions are coming. Otherwise, I see it as a turn off for potential new players having to shell out possibly over $100+ USD for the software + potions. They still have the option not to use it and go through the story and/or level traditionally.

No reason for it to be free. If you want to skip things shell out the cash otherwise do it the normal way and intended way.

[Imoen]

Posts like this out on clear display how short sighted some people are. People do not want jump potions due to entitlement or laziness, it's due to time and accessibility.

Eh, if FFXIV wasn't such a breeze to plow through things to begin with (MSQ problems aside), I would agree with this. If people want to skip or w/e that is fine that is up to them and I acknowledge that if they keep building things the way they have... it will eventually become pretty much mandatory. It is a tad confusing to me that things have shifted so drastically with this type of practice though. Like not so long ago, if people found out someone "bought" a character from a 3rd party site that was leveled.. people would go nuts. 10 levels short or not, that is still how I view this and while I'm personally against the potions, I'm more against the selling of them, especially to new players that just dumped money on the game.

This in my mind, from a "new player" point of view, is still a "wait" to catch up with needing to finish the trial first... in that time (obviously relative to the personal situations of the individual) they could have "caught up" already (Ignoring HW MSQ for right now) People generally play the crap out of something during their trial period, unless something in real life directly stops them from doing so, or they just hate it. (obviously I can't speak for every person on the planet)

The hook for this idea is to get players to to buy into "Play with your friends faster!" but in reality, for new players especially, there is still a wait, and for returning players you have to double dip potions... I don't really know how to explain this, basically if you were able to use the potion right away, instead of hitting the brick wall in ARR MSQ and then using it, there is a value difference there. So in hindsight it gives off the impression like they made the story like that on purpose, to encourage people buy this... like it was part of the plan all along. Obviously I don't know if that is true, and I would certainly hope not, but it seems like it.

I have some things to attend to so this thought process is getting cut short and un-edited, so I apologize for it being extra hard to follow, but hopefully you can kind of glimpse into where I am coming from with this, but as a premature conclusion...

-1 potion free for new players.
-split the story potions, don't make it one.
-try to address some of the problems you are creating, either by easing old MSQ stuff, and/or from this point forward.

Edit: not feeling well, so just think of this as a series of thoughts... I don't feel well enough right now to stitch it into a coherent piece, on top of the other things I need to get done.

[ReplicaX]

No reason for it to be free. If you want to skip things shell out the cash otherwise do it the normal way and intended way.

It's not free, its bundled with the software.

[AlphaFox]

I am all for new players being given one (they can also just not use it if they don't want to) if they were to buy a bundle of FF14+HW+SB for a new account. Seems like an enticing way for players who are interested to jump right in. Honestly if you have played any mmo like this before (like WoW) you already know a fair amount about what your role in a dungeon is and what some basic skills are. I mean yeah also sell em in shop but if it comes bundled with the entire game people may not see such an outstanding price tag.