Quote Originally Posted by GeminiReed View Post
Like new players?

Deep leveling grinds are a significant barrier to entry especially when a game does not offer a reasonable catch-up mechanic. XIV has the double whammy of layering a mandatory story grind on top of a leveling grind that's getting too close to triple digits. Just the story requirement alone garners a "lol, nope" when trying to convince friends to join, having to tell them they'll need to burn through 80+ levels is a deal killer.

And in before the inevitable "journey" whine: If we wanted a that we'd play single-player games.

Unless Square is planning an XI style maintenance mode for XIV and a follow-on MMO up their sleeve they'll need a far more comprehensive story compression than the recent effort along with any level squish. Or at the very least make story optional.
Way to cherry pick. But if a new player finds 99 levels intimidating they are not really interested in an RPG. You start at level 1, you advance to higher levels, that is the entire point. As I said "lateral expansion". They could start a different storyline that would be a choice at the beginning that would take players from 1 to 99 but maybe in a different location or world with new zones. Current players could pick it up in a slightly altered version. Maybe it would all be from the perspective of someone in the Empire.

There would be a whole new series of dungeons, raids, quests, beast tribes, etc., at 50, 60, 70 etc. This would give people multiple storyline to level multiple jobs through and lead to a bigger more expansive world.