ARR needs two simple fixes until an actual revamp

[Derio]

It already got revamped and Yoshi P already stated they dont plan on making further adjustments.

[TheMightyMollusk]

I get what you are going for but by the definition of sandwich it would not be one without the bread.

Point is while it could be said for any expansion I do feel more so for ARR every major beat could be addressed in a short exposition dump and the game itself would not be drastically altered that it could no longer be considered a game. Especially with NG+.

From a gameplay perspective it is dull. Classes generally feel for the most part shallow at 50, the dungeon design is dated. Overall ARR did not age well imo.

If you're replacing game play with exposition dumps, then it's not much of a game anymore. And saying "but NG+" isn't really relevant, because what's the point of abridging the game if you have to go back and play it all anyway?

I'm not gonna pretend ARR is a masterpiece (a lot of jobs really do need more to do at lower levels, for one thing, and a lot of the English voice work is.....questionable, at best), but to say you could just turn it all into a couple of cut scenes is terribly reductive.

I would also argue that most of the old dungeons are fine, the later ones are overly streamlined. The problem most of them run into is the overly generous item level sync.

[Awha]

If you're replacing game play with exposition dumps, then it's not much of a game anymore. And saying "but NG+" isn't really relevant, because what's the point of abridging the game if you have to go back and play it all anyway?

I'm not gonna pretend ARR is a masterpiece (a lot of jobs really do need more to do at lower levels, for one thing, and a lot of the English voice work is.....questionable, at best), but to say you could just turn it all into a couple of cut scenes is terribly reductive.

I would also argue that most of the old dungeons are fine, the later ones are overly streamlined. The problem most of them run into is the overly generous item level sync.

Thing with an MMO as time goes on parts become obsolete and serve no real purpose in terms of raw gameplay that would alter the core experience if they just did an large exposition dump. While a sandwich would not be much a sandwich without the bread.

Sure it is reductive but personally I think it would be better use or dev time to have the lore writters to make a quick abridged scroll and if people want to go back they can use NG+ though I do not think they should try to keep fixing it.

Just the nature of MMO's. I get this will never be done.

[van_arn]

If you're replacing game play with exposition dumps, then it's not much of a game anymore. And saying "but NG+" isn't really relevant, because what's the point of abridging the game if you have to go back and play it all anyway?

I'm not gonna pretend ARR is a masterpiece (a lot of jobs really do need more to do at lower levels, for one thing, and a lot of the English voice work is.....questionable, at best), but to say you could just turn it all into a couple of cut scenes is terribly reductive.

I would also argue that most of the old dungeons are fine, the later ones are overly streamlined. The problem most of them run into is the overly generous item level sync.

That's exactly the problem with ARR right now. It's an exposition dump with very little gameplay. It's a cutscene gallery, just like we see in the Praetorium.

Just make it optional. Having it available through NG+ is a way to make it optional. And I don't need to keep telling people "ARR doesn't represent the game, just tough it out until Heavensward."

[elioaiko]

ARR is boring in every sense of the word. Past HW is miles ahead in terms of quality writing and focused narrative.

They should delete all of the fetch quest IMO and streamline the story so newcomers aren't off put by the lengthy downtime between quests. Even with the trim, it's still pretty long. The gameplay is lacking and the overall feel is rather dated.

Saying that it's fine is okay if you already gotten past it, but can you honestly do it all again vs the other expansions? SE wants more players and the game needs more to help the game not fall into irrelevance.

While Yoshi-P has said that they don't plan on changing it further, the more expansions we get, the harder it is for new players to stick around. I've had sprout FC members quit because of how long it was taking and the daunting amount quests he ha to do.

I do love the of story of FFXIV, plenty of WoW players coming over are not used to endgame being locked behind MSQ.

[DontReadThis]

ARR needs a rework. It's a slog. There is a lot of traveling back and forth, and the waking sand tickets are just a poor band-aid fix.

Many of the quests could be cut out by having them rewritten so the characters use their linkpearls more often. Like instead of having someone send us back to the waking sands to pick up the next quest, just have that NPC talk on the linkpearl so they could give us the next quest immediately. They also need to cut down on some of the pointless fetch quest chains.

One of the most memorable offenders was the Garuda quest chain where you're sent to collect a crystal, so you do some chores for someone who informs you once you're done that they have the wrong element of crystal, so they send you to the next person to repeat the same tasks only be told after you do the tasks that they also have the wrong element, so they send you to someone else, and so on. It was memorable for all the wrong reasons!

[Lanadra]

Thing with an MMO as time goes on parts become obsolete and serve no real purpose in terms of raw gameplay that would alter the core experience if they just did an large exposition dump. While a sandwich would not be much a sandwich without the bread.

Sure it is reductive but personally I think it would be better use or dev time to have the lore writters to make a quick abridged scroll and if people want to go back they can use NG+ though I do not think they should try to keep fixing it.

Just the nature of MMO's. I get this will never be done.

People hate exposition dumps. I would rather take ARR as it is now over some half hour long exposition dump of which I won't remember half by the end. Removing content is never, ever a good idea.

Saying that it's fine is okay if you already gotten past it, but can you honestly do it all again vs the other expansions? SE wants more players and the game needs more to help the game not fall into irrelevance.

Yes, actually. I did it just now in the last two weeks with a new character on Lamia. It really isn't as horrendous as people make it out to be. It didn't age well, but I would never recommend people buy a skip or just skip cutscenes in ARR on their first character.

[Awha]

People hate exposition dumps. I would rather take ARR as it is now over some half hour long exposition dump of which I won't remember half by the end. Removing content is never, ever a good idea.



Yes, actually. I did it just now in the last two weeks with a new character on Lamia. It really isn't as horrendous as people make it out to be. It didn't age well, but I would never recommend people buy a skip or just skip cutscenes in ARR on their first character.

ARR at the core is just an exposition dump though. Also with NG+ the content is not being removed the option to go back will always exist. They could also just toss in a free ARR story skip for first time buyers.

Granted this will also never be done due to profits.

In the end I will always tell my friends and new players buy a story skip for ARR and just lo ok up lore videos if they want the nitty gritty. ARR is a poor representation of FFXIV in its current state. Everything about ARR is dated would take far too much effort to make it tolerable.

[Aelin_Ashryver]

So something I am noticing is not only WoW players who come here but long time veteran salty FF14 telling LITERALLY everyone to boost passed ARR. I find this to be incredibly stupid as you skip some of the most important story aspect in the game and the actual introduction to the MMO but it has happened. As we know they trimmed roughly 30% of the ARR grind but we need further changes until we can get an actual full revamp of it.

1. Voice acting. It is seriously lacking. Some of your FF14 players are actual voice actors and will probably do this for free. Just add it already.

2. Reduce the amount of teleporting. Do this by deleting quest that are effectively fetch quest. This makes the world seem small and it is pretty obvious to notice.

These two fixes would help a lot.

Have you done ARR since they trimmed it down? I am currently on level 46ish MSQ on my alt and I can say it is MILES better than it was, much less fetching pointlessly it feels like. Overall the pace feels much nicer so far and I am really enjoying it. The reason people suggest to Asmon to boost is because the guy doesn't care about story, he has said as much in his streams. If you are a player that doesn't like story and only cares for the raiding aspect. Then boosting past level 50 where the combat is slower is not such a bad idea for that individual.

[GeminiReed]

Have you done ARR since they trimmed it down? I am currently on level 46ish MSQ on my alt and I can say it is MILES better than it was, much less fetching pointlessly it feels like.

Sure they trimmed some irrelevant quests and tightened things up a bit but it's still a huge slog.

Paid skips are not the answer. That screams louder than any words that this is irritating by design to make people pay additional money. This is not acceptable.