Quality of Life Improvements and MSQ Gating for New Players

[TwistedTea]

You know people don't seem to understand hypothetical examples. I'm not a 'casual' in terms of time playing daily or wanting to hang out in Kugane with vet friends.I enjoy reading/watching cutscenes.

But I do have casual friends and can see from their perspective. You've quests in MSQ, especially ARR that go:
Speak with NPC X
Speak with NPC again
Now speak with him again
And again
...
10/10 story right there

Areas/maps,NPC should not be gated behind MSQ. Ungated only breaks story immersion for the individual.I've already acknowledged a free skip potion is the 'best' solution. However, that skip potion currently costs 2 months of entry level subscription.

With the cost of the base game, expansions included, that access to the newest content/areas is not appealing.

An MMORPG which cannot draw/retain in new subs at a sufficient rate has to increase costs for existing players, not just through subs.

[Iscah]

But I do have casual friends and can see from their perspective. You've quests in MSQ, especially ARR that go:
Speak with NPC X
Speak with NPC again
Now speak with him again
And again
...
10/10 story right there.

That depends entirely on what those NPCs are saying! (and how far they make you walk back and forth between them each time.) Some of my favourite things in the game have been 'talking to people' quests. Or deliberately seeking out NPCs between quests - or each objective within a quest - if they're giving different dialogue each time.

(Highlights for random NPC dialogue between objectives, if anyone is going back through MSQ: talking with the Scions in the Sylphlands when there are imposters about; talking with your companions at Moghome, especially Ysayle and Estinien.)

Areas/maps,NPC should not be gated behind MSQ.

What NPCs are you thinking of, exactly? Anything sold by the gear vendors can be purchased on the marketboard that you can access right from the start of the game. Some of it can be HQ and quite cheap because the MSQ inevitably throws more gear at you than you actually need, especially early in the expansions if the player has Ironworks/Shire gear and the MSQ-reward gear is not an upgrade, so everyone just takes it and tries to sell it.

[Hasrat]

That depends entirely on what those NPCs are saying! (and how far they make you walk back and forth between them each time.)

Tbf, this is one point I think they could actually work on to streamline quests. Instead of having us traipse all over the realm to talk to the same NPCs, just continue cutscenes with a teleport. (or at least teleport to the NPC that we just finished talking to)

Doesn't have to happen with everything. But it is incredibly frustrating when someone says "meet me back at [place]." Or when NPC A that you're talking to is also present when you get to NPC B.

It doesn't have to cut out any story or dialogue, it just cuts down on all the travel time to talk to interact with NPCs we just finished interacting with.

[TwistedTea]

...What NPCs are you thinking of, exactly?...

eg:

Idyllshire and by extension Shire gear. At the start of HW, main class was already past 60,so any fear of steamrolling HW content was not valid : blocked by MSQ

Ishgard: Can be reached from ARR cities by airship: blocked by MSQ.

Kugane: Can be reached from Limsa via docks: blocked by MSQ

Really, these areas/maps and more,blocked purely for 'story' reasons. Hypothetically, being able to go to those areas, would only break "story immersion" for the individual player.

Interestingly, Shirogane is not blocked by MSQ. As long as you have either a friend or FC with housing over there(estate teleportation). In some ways, I consider that to be breaking "story immersion" even if housing areas are not part of the 'main story'.