About needing to do The Light of Hope for A Time to Every Purpose

[Tranquilmelody7]

It's a Final Fantasy MMO. One does not exists without the other on the final product.
Like it or not, this is how it is. And the strong emphasis on the story is one aspect of the FF series.

Besides, at best it only takes 1h to complete the whole raid.
It's absolutely nothing.

Time spent whining on forums is time you could spend on just doing it.
You do it once and you can forget it.
Any story related content will look awful to play to someone who doesn't care to the story.
Doesn't mean it shouldn't exist cause, that's one of the most enjoyed part of this game.

I don't need to clear it, I'm apparently exempt from the requirement due to already finishing ARR.

I'm merely advocating for those who don't wish to be forced into completing an alliance raid series, such as OP.

I am also certainly not saying the Crystal Tower series should exist, I know SE employed real people to write the story and it would be a shame for no one to experience their work.

I just firmly believe SE should have gone down the route of strongly suggesting players(In-game naturally) to complete the raid series as opposed to shoving it down their throats.

In any case, I digress.
If it's a large enough issue for new players, SE may cull the requirement.

If not, that's fine.
I don't want to shame people for enjoying the story.

[Iscah]

I don't need to clear it, I'm apparently exempt from the requirement due to already finishing ARR.

You're only exempt until you hit the second layer of gating at the start of patch 5.3, specifically intended to catch anyone who missed the first gate.

The first gate in 2.5 is the ideal place to have played the CT story since that's when it's supposed to happen in the overall plot. It ensures that people have seen the events of CT before characters and/or concepts from that story are reintroduced to the MSQ first at Lv60 then Lv70. For a player who does want to experience the entire story, this will ensure that they don't miss what seems to be an unimportant side story at the time but makes a big difference to your understanding of events later on.

However, it is not critical at those story points if the player hasn't yet played CT, because despite adding valuable context it doesn't actually need to have happened for continuity's sake. The story will make sense either way so long as certain things are written with script that is ambiguous or changes according to your personal progression. Thus it remained optional initially.

5.3 is where that ambiguous approach runs out. Certain events there cannot take place without the events of CT having happened first to create a particular situation. Therefore, by the approach the game takes to any content that builds on earlier events, this is where you must do CT to ensure the story's pieces are in the right place before the MSQ builds on them.

[Jirah]

Once again, this game has millions of active players.
I'd bet my service account that plenty can find enjoyment without focusing on the story.
I know I sure do!

Sarcasm aside, if people wanted a good story, I'd suggest for them to read a book.
Video games are primarily meant to be played first and foremost.

Even for those that are Gung-ho about Final Fantasy plotlines, forcing clears of an entire raid questline is not the way to go.

millions meaning pleasing everyone is impossible and your aware of it, the alternative is *spoilers* the exarch talking about events that never happened

[rachcouture]

It's an MMORPG with a extra emphasis on story.

... what's the issue, then?

[Iscah]

millions meaning pleasing everyone is impossible and your aware of it, the alternative is *spoilers* the exarch talking about events that never happened

Well, they got away with that in 5.0 because... (5.3 spoilers also under cut)

...Shadowbringers' plot ultimately works the same even if you haven't played CT - at least if you don't look at it too closely - because of the time travel aspect. The script adjusts to the scenario that you haven't yet been to the tower or met G'raha Tia but you (other-timeline you) will/would have at some point in the future shortly before the Calamity hit. The events of CT definitely happened in the Exarch's past, whether or not you have yet experienced them in the present. Thus the script can be altered to fit either scenario, even though the canon version has CT happening first.

It can't work the same way in 5.3 because the events here and now require CT to be completed first. You can't plan to open up the present-day Source's tower and awaken G'raha if he's not in there yet.

[Hasrat]

What exactly is the problem here? Everything in the game is already MSQ gated. Anyone playing that "doesn't care for story" still has to progress MSQ. Progressing MSQ already requires running dungeons and trials. As faceroll as the CT raids are, this doesn't seem significantly different from any other requirements.

[Krotoan]

I don't need to clear it, I'm apparently exempt from the requirement due to already finishing ARR.

I'm merely advocating for those who don't wish to be forced into completing an alliance raid series, such as OP.

The "raid" content you speak of is on par of length, wait, and difficulty wise with same level smaller instance content. This isn't some ramp up in participation or skill reqs. Other than "I don't like how many people are on the screen"... what is the problem?

I am also certainly not saying the Crystal Tower series should exist, I know SE employed real people to write the story and it would be a shame for no one to experience their work.

I just firmly believe SE should have gone down the route of strongly suggesting players(In-game naturally) to complete the raid series as opposed to shoving it down their throats.

When something becomes canon, most storytelling artists will not want giant plotholes in their stories. FFXIV is proud of it's story and wants a comprehensive experience for those who pay attention and enjoy the flow.

In any case, I digress.
If it's a large enough issue for new players, SE may cull the requirement.

If not, that's fine.
I don't want to shame people for enjoying the story.

I have never seen them REMOVE a quest req for a major plot point. And the characters involved are now MAJOR plot points.

[Pomelo]

I don't think this is going to change, and if anything I think situations like this will happen MORE.
A lot of the sidequest content/characters are interesting enough that they could extend the story of them into something bigger, i.e a patch or an expansion.

[Gula]

Is this one of them bait threads?

I heard the reddit version was deleted after OP got flamed so hard they ran away.

[Skivvy]

Sorry but, having to do the ENTIRE Crystal Tower quest chain before I continue story through 2.55 is idiotic.

I just wanted to get my MCH and level it as soon as possible. I want to do a raid because I want, not because I HAVE TO.

I don't know if it's relevant to Shadowbringers or not, but before this requirement didn't exist. C'mon...

Honestly, it doesn't take too long. I was bored last week and figured I'd do the NG+ for the Crystal Tower story to finally read the story after all these years. Took me a couple of days, but that could easily be squeezed into one if you just hammer through it. It will also be better now that you can fly in Mor Dhona (will cut-back the time on all that back and forth running).


And hey, I get the other complaints. I am not a fan of 100% of the MSQ being forced on you, but that's a rant for another thread. In this case, it's really a minimal amount of effort required. Some chatting with NPCs, bit of back and forth running and a few 20 minute raids and you're set.