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

[Lambdafish]

Apologies. I missed this.

I think they should move towards that direction. There really isn't a reason to continuously gate current content. I don't even like how they lock one dungeon into the story since they seem utterly terrified of making them "too hard." Unfortunately, it may still be an issue with how their questing system works. I suppose we'll find out when Stormblood does release as they did mention looking at making it not require Heavensward. For whatever's worth, I do think if they only release this jump potion on the cash shop and not provide us a free one. It'll not only defeat the entire purpose, but definitely look more like a money grab.

Alright, I'm glad you agree. Now I'm curious as to how would you react if this gating is real? because it is very likely that this will be the case. On top of that, I want you to imagine that this gating will be the case in 5.0 and 6.0 etc. How would you feel about that? And moreover, what do you think that will mean for jump potions?

Note: The only time they said they would look into making SB not require HW was before or very soon after HW was released, during the backlash of HW requiring 2.55.

Edit: Scrap all the speculation, this has been staring me in the face in OP for this thread:

It has been over three years since we launched FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. Once Stormblood is released, in order for the new players to catch up to existing players, they would have to complete the main quests for both A Realm Reborn and Heavensward, level up their job to 60, and then collect the appropriate gear.

[Velhart]

This is what worries me, the devs didn't listen to the feedback 2 years ago, and it will only make things worse that they didn't, the same is true of the jump potion

Have you not played 3.1-3.4? It takes no time to jump through all that content. To say feedback isn't being taken in for MSQ structure would be ridiculous. Also I meant the length of the MSQ is not the overall deciding factor of the jump potion.

So the way I see it, is that if someone was not planning to buy a jump potion, and did not do their research beforehand, the point at which they would feel obligated to buy one would be around half way through 2.1 (which after 5.0 is quite early in the experience). Remember all the threads before HW saying "what the hell square? I just beat 2.0 and I need to do all this just to unlock the expansion?" yeah... imagine that, but a lot worse, and the obligation being "suck it up or buy a jump potion."

Obligated where? You can just enjoy the game till you hit end game. Not everyone who picks this game up is not aiming to hit end game as fast as they can. Some want to enjoy the story and world. They want to see everything we have been through up to that point. Again, a person by person basis and if someone truly does not want to deal with it all then they can pay to jump. Also I am very sure SE will continue to adjust content in previous expansions so you can cleanly go through them without any excess grinding through side quests or FATE's just like ARR's EXP rate in MSQ's were adjusted. MMO's will always grow and in some shape or form you will be leveling in those areas to get to where you need to go. Even WoW today is like this. Going through their expansion areas to reach to the current expansion areas. SE may have the story portion, but if you are just skipping cut scenes then I would argue the road to the current expansion areas is just about as long.

This is not an easy problem to fix, jump potion isn't a fix, it only gives the illusion of a fix. I really hope that ReplicaX is right, because that would be a very positive move from the devs. However my pessimism stems with distrust in the devs practices, too many times have we seen broken promises, thinking that has no foresight whatsoever, and the implication of "oops, that was a bad idea in hindsight, and we can't change it now, only bandaid fix it." I don't have faith that the devs will handle this situation correctly.

Have you considered jump potions are not a fix to an issue more than just an option for people who just want to jump to a certain point? Only reason it is under consideration by them is likely due to the feature being a trend in other MMO's and they just want to keep up with the times. Or SE higher ups pressuring them. Yoshi-P has openly been against it since he wants people to enjoy the content and not skip it. Or simply answering to a high demand from players.

Could I ask that you address my question to you, and also potentially give your view on what ReplicaX has said? I'm interested to see your stance considering what you have previously said.

What question? Also no, my argument is with you and your view points alone.

[Lambdafish]

What question? Also no, my argument is with you and your view points alone.

That was for Bourne, not you

[Fawkes]

The devs have expressly stated their questing system doesn't allow for you to skip small bits of content. It's an all or nothing dichotomy. The example they even gave is job quests. If you wanted to re-experience the Pugilist storyline, you'd have to redo all of the Monk chain due to how their flagging system works. The jump potion differs because it flags everything as completed in the proper order. What you're asking is they essentially break apart say, 2.1-2.55 and jump straight ahead to Ishgard the moment you finish The Praetorium. Others have suggested adding a new quest wholesale that lets you skip to certain parts. Coding doesn't work like that. By adding new elements, you risk breaking the entire system because it wasn't originally designed to operate that way. None of this even factors is any story condensing requires new animations and scripts to retain narrative coherency.

[Lambdafish]

snip[/IMG]

My proposed solution turns out to be viable!

While I think it's silly, I'm more or less indifferent to it. They have said the jump potion will be upgraded each expansion. So it seems this is their solution.

I'm editing here due to post limit:

While you are indifferent to it, it does have an impact. Now that we have actual confirmation that gating will continue, it makes it pretty certain that the problem will continue to get worse, forcing the jump potion on people. Jump potions will be upgraded each expansion, and the necessity to use it will rise.

One Primal fight is very different from the entire MSQ. Granted, I'll concede it's an example to the contrary. Everything I've read from the devs has them saying this wouldn't work for quest chains. They even specified the job questline because people have asked repeatedly about replaying old story content. Hence why I referenced it. So either they just don't want to do it or it's more complicated to unchain the MSQ and open up areas like Ishgard.

Its not just one primal fight, there are also MSQ quests that have been changed and rearranged, or as you put it, had their flags manipulated and changed (which you said was impossible). What this means is that my thought process, of each quest being a boolean variable that is triggered on and off, and quest requirements being a check that feeds off of this variable, this can viably be used to fix ARR.

We already know that the jump potion manipulates all of the booleans from 2.0-3.55 (from any point in between, to the end), so this code (in an edited form) can be used to isolate certain quests and set their status to complete (for example: if you talk to the guard outside steps of faith, he might allow you to skip 2.1-2.55 and access ishgarde immediately, and doing so would trigger an additional cutscene upon entering ishgarde. The prerequisite to this trigger would be to complete the 2.0 MSQ. This is neither unobtainable, nor is it particularly expensive with the technology that they have)

[Imoen]

While I completely agree with the ARR MSQ thing, Bourne_Endeavor was simply pointing out that development time has to come from some where. aka: one person can't be in two places at once , manpower and budget are real things. They are concerned if the focus is split between fixing old content and working on new content, that there could potentially be delays. Which is a perfectly valid concern.

With that said, as far as Stormblood is concerned, unless they are releasing the expansion late in the year though (can't say because no release date), they are probably reaching or close to, the end of development. Which would consist of locked check-ins and bug fixes only. Keep in mind that the studio creating the game is not the last spot in the line, it still needs to be localized, put disc , packaged, and distributed which takes time as well. Anyway, people without bug fixes would get rolled off into working on different things, other than what would be on disc. Obviously I can't say exactly how everything they have is set up, since it can vary between studios, and I don't have their production documents lol - I'm simply putting on the development goggles here.

[Nyghtmarerobu]

I always thought a much better solution would be to make the actual MSQ story take place in the present. What I suggest is that for example, stormblood is released, and new person starts a fresh new game/character. They get a small cutscene letting them know a little bit of what previously happened, which in this case would be the end of the dragonsong war, and would at this point pretty much let them go anywhere they wanted. Make the old ARR/HW MSQ take a backseat and not have to be done, and change how the dungeouns/trials are unlocked in those respective contents. Once they hit stormblood, they have to follow the stormblood story, as its the front running content at the moment, but this would allow people to go back and do the old content if they wished, at their own pace, while not being locked out of certain areas/jobs/content. With this sort of a fix, a MSQ skip potion wouldn't be needed at all.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Alright, I'm glad you agree. Now I'm curious as to how would you react if this gating is real? because it is very likely that this will be the case. On top of that, I want you to imagine that this gating will be the case in 5.0 and 6.0 etc. How would you feel about that? And moreover, what do you think that will mean for jump potions?

Note: The only time they said they would look into making SB not require HW was before or very soon after HW was released, during the backlash of HW requiring 2.55.

Edit: Scrap all the speculation, this has been staring me in the face in OP for this thread:

While I think it's silly, I'm more or less indifferent to it. They have said the jump potion will be upgraded each expansion. So it seems this is their solution.

snip

One Primal fight is very different from the entire MSQ. Granted, I'll concede it's an example to the contrary. Everything I've read from the devs has them saying this wouldn't work for quest chains. They even specified the job questline because people have asked repeatedly about replaying old story content. Hence why I referenced it. So either they just don't want to do it or it's more complicated to unchain the MSQ and open up areas like Ishgard.

While I completely agree with the ARR MSQ thing, Bourne_Endeavor was simply pointing out that development time has to come from some where. aka: one person can't be in two places at once , manpower and budget are real things. They are concerned if the focus is split between fixing old content and working on new content, that there could potentially be delays. Which is a perfectly valid concern.

More or less sums up my opinion.

[Stanelis]

How would someone using a jump potion ruin the game for you? Details would be good.

And to answer the question of how would them unconnecting things ruin the game for me: It would become considerably less of a story-driven MMO to me, which is a large part of why I play, so I would have to strongly consider if it would continue to be worth the sub fee.

edit: If it is because of the potential associated cost, does that mean if it is as others predict (myself included) that it could be included with the purchase of Stormblood, would your objections cease?

How would making the MSQ of each expansion optionnal/implementing a free option to level faster for new players ruin the game for you?

No my objections wouldn't cease if it was included with stormblood, because SE has a duty to make sure the game is balanced for everyone.

[Aramina]

How would making the MSQ of each expansion optionnal/implementing a free option to level faster for new players ruin the game for you?

You can not have a story-driven game with the story not mattering. It is not what other/new people have that affects me, it is changing the entire makeup of the game that affects me.

No my objections wouldn't cease if it was included with stormblood, because SE has a duty to make sure the game is balanced for everyone.

So potentially giving it to everyone would be somehow not balanced? Ok then.