Option to unlock content without mandatory MSQ

[Darkpaw]

Would the availability of this option (that isn't toggled on default) drive you away from this game? If yes, I wonder why?

Because it seems to me that your gameplay experience wouldn't really change in any way. You, as well as me would still be doing MSQ to unlock content. I want to emphasize again that I would never use this option myself because I like MSQ and the fact that its a story driven game a lot. I love having the backstory and context for the instances. It's just that I wouldn't mind if others were able to skip all that with an option (which again, isn't toggled on default).

The issue of a toggle version also means one thing, there will be a push from a more hardcore mmo standpoint to skip story just to unlock content to keep up. Thats not fair to those of us who want to experience the story for what it is.

In a sense it’s an open invitation for toxic behavior (which yes is prevalent even in this game, but not nearly as bad as others.) MSQ gating keeps everyone on an equal footing or there abouts.

Also aside from the story skip books, you can also skip cutscenes there are difficulty settings for solo instances, there are plenty of options for people to cruise through story at a quickened pace while not making the gap too crazy for those who take their time with story.

[SamRF]

Which company in their right mind will do such thing, cutting their profit?

Good point, but they could perhaps make even more profit by broadening their market.

They could become a true WoW competitor for example. There are right now a lot of dissatisfied WoW players who have nowhere to go because MMO market is very underwhelming right now when it comes to non niche (WoW like) MMOs. They could create some new Final Fantasy fans by welcoming those players, who will perhaps after having a good time and having experienced the combat and beautiful instances become interested to do the MSQ and see what's the backstory and context for everything. The average WoW player will not have the patience to go through the whole MSQ while being stuck with very slow combat (because combat only gets interesting and faster at higher levels).

Now that we're talking about WoW, there's probably a good reason why WoW offers free level boost with purchase of an expansion. They want to keep the newest content populated and make the game more appealing to players who get interested in the game after seeing an ad for their newest expansion for example. All that would lead to more profit in the long term because they decided to offer free level boost instead of charging players. They comply to the demand so they can get more expansion sales and thus make more profit.

[Halivel]

They could become a true WoW competitor for example. There are right now a lot of dissatisfied WoW players who have nowhere to go because MMO market is very underwhelming right now when it comes to non niche (WoW like) MMOs. They could create some new Final Fantasy fans by welcoming those players, who will perhaps after having a good time and having experienced the combat and beautiful instances become interested to do the MSQ and see what's the backstory and context for everything. The average WoW player will not have the patience to go through the whole MSQ while being stuck with very slow combat (because combat only gets interesting and faster at higher levels).

They can do this, though. Buy the skip book for MSQ, buy the skip book for level, sink into the content, play MSQ with New Game+ mode (ARR coming soon, so they will get an opportunity to replay it from the very scratch).

Now that we're talking about WoW, there's probably a good reason why WoW offers free level boost with purchase of an expansion. They want to keep the newest content populated and make the game more appealing to players who get interested in the game after seeing an ad for their newest expansion for example. All that would lead to more profit in the long term because they decided to offer free level boost instead of charging players. They comply to the demand so they can get more expansion sales and thus make more profit.

It's all good, but there is also 1000 and 1 reason of why people are so unhappy with WoW and Blizzard. And there is a chance, that isn't even nearly zero, that there are people among veteran players who are unhappy with this free level boost system for a variety of reasons - and I personally knew some. Some of those reasons were brought up here already.

Also, we aren't in WoW. And if anything, can we stay FF14, please? If people come from WoW to FF14 to only say things like "In WoW it was better..." - they are honestly free to come back to WoW. Criticism and suggestions are a good thing. Making game A a clone of game B, while actually coming to A because you didn't like the way B was developing is not a good thing. Because mistakes and results will be the same.

Edit. To clarify: I have nothing against WoW. But I came to FF14 to play FF14, not WoW. Keep WoW at WoW, please.

[Darkpaw]

Good point, but they could perhaps make even more profit by broadening their market.

They could become a true WoW competitor for example. There are right now a lot of dissatisfied WoW players who have nowhere to go because MMO market is very underwhelming right now when it comes to non niche (WoW like) MMOs. They could create some new Final Fantasy fans by welcoming those players, who will perhaps after having a good time and having experienced the combat and beautiful instances become interested to do the MSQ and see what's the backstory and context for everything. The average WoW player will not have the patience to go through the whole MSQ while being stuck with very slow combat (because combat only gets interesting and faster at higher levels).

Now that we're talking about WoW, there's probably a good reason why WoW offers free level boost with purchase of an expansion. They want to keep the newest content populated and make the game more appealing to players who get interested in the game after seeing an ad for their newest expansion for example. All that would lead to more profit in the long term because they decided to offer free level boost instead of charging players. They comply to the demand so they can get more expansion sales and thus make more profit.

A true WoW competitor? There’s a bad faith argument if I ever heard one. This game is a WoW competitor and one of the three top games in the mmo market. With ever growing numbers since Shadowbringers released.

And how did it get to be a WoW competitor? By being yet another WoW clone? No. It got to where it is because it decided to do something different. To show that MMOs could be more than just a rush to end game content and constant grind.

To put a story and a fantastic story in the spotlight, to give fans of JRPGs for generations a dream come true. The ability to play a real JRPG game with your friends and with fans from all over the world together without sharing a controller. A game that is first and foremost a true Final Fantasy experience and a MMO second. By challenging the status quo and doing things differently from other MMOs on the market.

You know I believed you when you said you weren’t trolling up until that last post. I thought you wanted actual discussion, but to outright ignore evidence that this game is a top tier mmo by all metrics and a direct competitor with WoW is asinine.

WoW is a legendary game and always will be but it is not some infallible thing. And to discount that there are legitimate competitors for the top mmo spot is not only a disservice to those competitors but also. To WoW and all it has accomplished since it’s inception.

[SamRF]

They can do this, though. Buy the skip book for MSQ, buy the skip book for level, sink into the content, play MSQ with New Game+ mode (ARR coming soon, so they will get an opportunity to replay it from the very scratch).

Newgame+ does indeed kind of make this possible for them. However, buying story + level skip is kind of a dedication and costs quite a lot of money (too much if you ask me). It also seems kind of awkward to play through the MSQ of latest expansion without having experienced former story. The story of previous content will also get spoiled (same when you unlock the instances without MSQ I guess, but likely to lesser extend).

[SamRF]

A true WoW competitor? There’s a bad faith argument if I ever heard one. This game is a WoW competitor and one of the three top games in the mmo market. With ever growing numbers since Shadowbringers released.

And how did it get to be a WoW competitor? By being yet another WoW clone? No. It got to where it is because it decided to do something different. To show that MMOs could be more than just a rush to end game content and constant grind.

To put a story and a fantastic story in the spotlight, to give fans of JRPGs for generations a dream come true. The ability to play a real JRPG game with your friends and with fans from all over the world together without sharing a controller. A game that is first and foremost a true Final Fantasy experience and a MMO second. By challenging the status quo and doing things differently from other MMOs on the market.

You know I believed you when you said you weren’t trolling up until that last post. I thought you wanted actual discussion, but to outright ignore evidence that this game is a top tier mmo by all metrics and a direct competitor with WoW is asinine.

WoW is a legendary game and always will be but it is not some infallible thing. And to discount that there are legitimate competitors for the top mmo spot is not only a disservice to those competitors but also. To WoW and all it has accomplished since it’s inception.

Well you misunderstood what I meant with "true WoW competitor" and I also didn't clarify enough what I meant with it so my bad on that one. Elder Scrolls Online is also considered top 3 but it's not really a WoW competitor how I see it because it attracts a different playerbase than WoW. Players who like WoW won't be attracted to ESO combat and class system I think.

FFXIV seems to me almost a "true WoW competitor" because it's pretty similar in terms of combat. Still quite different but I'm sure players from each game will recognize enough and enjoy combat in both games. The only big difference that doesn't allow FFXIV being an easy and welcome alternative for WoW players is the fact that content is locked behind MSQ barrier.

For that reason I doubt FFXIV will ever surpass WoW in amount of players. Having such dedication towards MSQ however does probably provide much more stable community for FFXIV because of the Final Fantasy fans, so it's for sure a good thing for the game, but I wondered if there could be a compromise that would please both the Final Fantasy fans as well as players like WoW refugees.

Edit: also you should allow me to acknowledge your point and clarify myself before calling me a troll, a matter of respect.

[Jojoya]

Good point, but they could perhaps make even more profit by broadening their market.

They could become a true WoW competitor for example. There are right now a lot of dissatisfied WoW players who have nowhere to go because MMO market is very underwhelming right now when it comes to non niche (WoW like) MMOs. They could create some new Final Fantasy fans by welcoming those players, who will perhaps after having a good time and having experienced the combat and beautiful instances become interested to do the MSQ and see what's the backstory and context for everything. The average WoW player will not have the patience to go through the whole MSQ while being stuck with very slow combat (because combat only gets interesting and faster at higher levels).

Now that we're talking about WoW, there's probably a good reason why WoW offers free level boost with purchase of an expansion. They want to keep the newest content populated and make the game more appealing to players who get interested in the game after seeing an ad for their newest expansion for example. All that would lead to more profit in the long term because they decided to offer free level boost instead of charging players. They comply to the demand so they can get more expansion sales and thus make more profit.

As someone who originally came from WoW, I don't think it's a good idea. People who skip available content are usually the most vocal about how the game lacks content because development time is being spent on content outside of their personal narrow focus. It's already a problem here even with MSQ being mandatory (unless a player buys the skip potion for their character). It would be even worse under your idea.

As much as the development team admires WoW's original success, they've also stated they don't want this game to be WoW. They've got their own design vision. If there are gamers who don't like story-driven content, they should be seeking out other games to play instead of expecting this game to be changed to suit them.

Or they could give this game a fair chance and experience it as intended. They might surprise themselves.

[dangadget]

There is a compromise, and it has been pointed out multiple times.
If a prospective player doesn't really care about the story and just wants to get to endgame, there are methods to do that.
The fact that they are not free is by design

[Latarma]

Let me get the popcorn. Who wants butter?

butter please also on topic you can story skip as people have said hence unlocking stuff with out MSQ

[AngelCheese77]

The only thing I would like to see is not being stuck behind the MSQ in order to go from a starter class to a job (Arcanist to Summoner for example). If you did the necessary starter class quests and are the right level, the choice to change should be available. Everything else, hm ... side content when it comes to opening extra dungeons or raids could be just connected with your level and not the MSQ, such as with Halatali. I don't see the issue with that.

My biggest issue is how fast you can level your new character. If you follow the MSQ and it takes you to an area, I feel there are some players who would stop and do the side quests around the place before moving on with the MSQ. This is good in one sense as it gives more story and context to what is happening around, as well as some gear (like accessories) and other items. The bad thing is, more than likely that player will continously be overleveled for the MSQ and feel stifled that they can't go with a friend to a side dungeon or raid even if they are the right level.