Quote Originally Posted by Enkidoh View Post
Because it's a Final Fantasy game first and foremost and a MMORPG second (in other words, it's a FF game played online with thousands, even millions, of other players, rather than just a 'MMORPG with the FF name tacked on', and FF games (especially the SNES and beyond titles) are renowned for in depth narratives. And yes, that extends to the MMO titles, which broke the mould as far as MMORPGs went in showing that deep and immersive storytelling can work in online games. The mentality of "as it's a MMORPG it's all about endlessly grinding raids for shinez and street cred" is really not all that correct here.

Certainly there is endgame and raiding, but it's only part of the story, and I think those who take the above view of the game being all about the endgame are usually the ones who end up most disappointed.
Just because its a Final Fantasy game doesnt mean people have to care about lore and story. While I agree with you that thats a huge part and selling point (and certainly the reason I started playing the game and stuck with it), I dont see why this has to be the case for everyone. I've met enough people over the years who didnt care much for the story, lore and characters, but still enjoyed the game for its gameplay - which to me is totally legit aswell.

I love that all that lore is there and I'm going out of my way to learn abut it - but that doesnt mean that everyone has to. The game is perfectly enjoyable without having to learn every bit of lore. New players are also already presented a good deal of lore and stories. And on top of all that I personally always felt that it was a lot more rewarding to figure out stuff "by myself" (for example by going out of the way to discover a FATE descirption, some NPC dialouge or a sight seeing spot) than being pushed at it by the game.

I'm not saying that new people shouldnt explore all that lore - but I dare say that they should do it on their own terms, at their own pace and according to their intrests. Specially during ARR they'll be busy with figuring so much basic stuff out that I cant imagine that pushing them towards MORE lore would lead to them enjoying any of it.
And as I said: FATEs can be solo'd with your chocobo, so there is no need to make veterans go back into old areas for the 2 weeks it takes them to get the rewards only to leave FATEs to the lonely new guy again.