Cutscenes for Castrum Meridianum and Praetorium: A Suggestion

[Shurrikhan]

How about just having more concise cutscenes?

What voice lines can play off well *during* the actual combat, include therein. What can be done via a NieR style camera, do via camerawork. What can be skipped or trimmed down with no loss, skip or trim.

It feels less like something that needs a gimmick or enforced circumvention and more a need for simply doing the job right, just as it deserved in the first place.

[Blanchimont]

How about just having more concise cutscenes?

What voice lines can play off well *during* the actual combat, include therein. What can be done via a NieR style camera, do via camerawork. What can be skipped or trimmed down with no loss, skip or trim.

It feels less like something that needs a gimmick or enforced circumvention and more a need for simply doing the job right, just as it deserved in the first place.

The problem is SE doesn't seem to want to have to rework old content

[Frizze]

How about just having more concise cutscenes?

What voice lines can play off well *during* the actual combat, include therein. What can be done via a NieR style camera, do via camerawork. What can be skipped or trimmed down with no loss, skip or trim.

It feels less like something that needs a gimmick or enforced circumvention and more a need for simply doing the job right, just as it deserved in the first place.

If theyre going to put that much work into it, then just make it a single player instance with NPCs. This was the obvious(though more work) solution from the start. That would solve all the problems people used to have with it, and it would eliminate the need for the roulette and finding a way to balance said roulettes rewards vs time issue.

[Shurrikhan]

If theyre going to put that much work into it, then just make it a single player instance with NPCs. This was the obvious(though more work) solution from the start. That would solve all the problems people used to have with it, and it would eliminate the need for the roulette and finding a way to balance said roulettes rewards vs time issue.

Why would you want the culminating moment of a main story, which has already several times required other players, in an MMO of all things, to be a single-player instance?

[Blanchimont]

Why would you want the culminating moment of a main story, which has already several times required other players, in an MMO of all things, to be a single-player instance?

It's because of the cutscenes. The problem is with people rushing and skipping cutscenes, but if you make it solo, then it doesn't matter.

However, you could make the same argument for a lot of the job quests in Stormblood or even two of the fights against Zenos as they are solo duties as well. The Monk quest where you fight a massive group with mecha with the other Monks is a good example of this.

[Shurrikhan]

It's because of the cutscenes. The problem is with people rushing and skipping cutscenes, but if you make it solo, then it doesn't matter.

However, you could make the same argument for a lot of the job quests in Stormblood or even two of the fights against Zenos as they are solo duties as well. The Monk quest where you fight a massive group with mecha with the other Monks is a good example of this.

And every 4-man story dungeon, nearly every leveling dungeon at this point, is an example to the contrary.

[geekgirl101]

I'm so fed up of the same cutscenes over and over and over and over. If I wanted to watch them every time I'd stream them on youtube.

[Frizze]

Why would you want the culminating moment of a main story, which has already several times required other players, in an MMO of all things, to be a single-player instance?

I wouldnt want the climax of the 2.0 story to be a solo instance. I also wouldnt want it to be a group instance with 30ish mins of cutscenes sprinkled in that kill the pacing and lead to 5 years of people complaining about it. You make the cutscene heavy dungeon a solo instance, and seperate the final boss into an appropriately epic 8 man trial. Each expansion so far has ended with a dungeon followed by a trial(thankfully, with the cutscenes set before the group ques and after the fights end rather then interupting said dungeons endlessly). Seems to work ok for that content.

[Blanchimont]

And every 4-man story dungeon, nearly every leveling dungeon at this point, is an example to the contrary.

The difference is that the 4 man dungeons have the story in beginning and end of the dungeons, not in the middle of it. That is the big difference between leveling dungeons and the Main Scenario dungeons.

This is why in Heavensward, they divided the dungeon up into two parts: Aetherochemical Research Facility and The Singularity Reactor, to prevent the same cutscene problem that exists in The Praetorium. One could argue that Aethero could have separated its final boss fight into two as well before the final boss battle. The Praetorium itself could be split into Praetorium and Ultima Weapon trial, but that would still not address the cutscenes that appear between the major fights. The Praetorium itself would need to be divided into four parts: Colossus, Nero, Gaius, and Ultima Weapon in order for it to be the same as your typical four man dungeon where cutscenes are at the end of a dungeon or beginning of a dungeon and not in the middle of it.

[Gondola]

I don't mind the mandatory cutscenes if SE would have eliminated some of the frivolous ones such as turning off the searchlights in Castrum or blowing up the wall in Praetorium. That's where I have an issue with them myself.

Or perhaps do something about being able to disconnect to skip them. My game sessions like to be spiny and d/c me during the cutscene right before Lahabrea and throw me right into Lahabrea while still watching the cutscene and forcing me to fight him solo until everyone's out. The mobs in Castrum also tend to behave weirdly when players exit certain cutscenes and reload into the area at different times