MSQ

[Alaray]

Ok, when I think of MSQ being optional, I'm thinking MSQ does not need to be completed in order to do other things. For example, you can go to Crystarium without doing MSQ. You can run Final Steps of Faith without doing MSQ. You can then choose to go back to do the MSQ if you want.

Paying to complete the MSQ does not make it optional in my mind. If you want a free MSQ boost with your game purchase, I have no disagreement on that. That's up to SE's business decision.

My position is:

When you hit start, and make a new character, you should receive a prompt which could be either: Experience an overview of the story so far (I believe Kingdom Hearts had something like this in one of the remixes), or "Skip" which would function, essentially, as a MSQ Skip from the Mogstation. With, still, the option to play through the game normally (as in, full MSQ). It'd just be up to the preference of the player starting to choose what they would want. And this comes, predominantly, from a place where: not everyone picks up XIV for the story content and, IMO, if you do not care about the story you'll only resent it as you're forced to crawl through it anyway.

I went through the MSQ since the story intrigued me enough since ARR, and I still do it once, and I'll usually suggest doing it at least one time if someone asks about it; but there's still value in providing the option. Especially when there's people who might not care now, but might do content they wanted to do and see the bosses/etc... and become curious and go back and do it of their own volition, where they'd appreciate it more.