Suggestion [remove Aether Currents as a catch up mechanic]

[Wilford111]

have YOU ever played anything else? how is 200hrs+ of cutscenes to reach endgame NOT a massive grind?

You could see 200+ hours of story content as a good thing or a bad thing tbh, depending on your point of view.

[Illmaeran]

have YOU ever played anything else? how is 200hrs+ of cutscenes to reach endgame NOT a massive grind?

I have: WoW, LOTRO, and ESO, all for years. Compared to those when each expansion was current content, ie TBC's original release, very little in FFXIV is an actual grind. I remember doing the dailies in TBC to get the drake mount and unlock flying; it was a nightmare. Getting Aether Currents in this game is MUUUUUCH easier. A similar thing can be said about the soul crystals/shards/whatever they are that require exploration in ESO; there are more of them per zone, many of which aren't anywhere near a quest path. You've got to go way out of your way to get them all and there's no device like an Aether Compass to help you find them.

Yes, the cutscenes in FFXIV are daunting when returning after years of being gone or just starting out now. I've been there, experienced that. If someone is primarily interested in getting to end game ASAP, there's the option to skip most, if not all, of them. Sitting through all 200 hours is personal choice, just like grinding anything else with significant requirements in an MMO.

All in all, while Aether Currents are an inconvenience, they're minor compared to many other things in different MMOs out there these days. The above posters are right, if you snag AC while doing the MSQ chain, you should get most of them by the time you're out of the zone. If not, a quick internet search and a few short side quests should net the rest.

[DBriggs304]

have YOU ever played anything else? how is 200hrs+ of cutscenes to reach endgame NOT a massive grind?

Then don't watch them all?
The majority can be skipped...and no, cutscenes are not a grind.

[Kes13a]

have YOU ever played anything else? how is 200hrs+ of cutscenes to reach endgame NOT a massive grind?

I have actually, quite a few other things to be honest. This is a, and this may be a shock to you, a heavily story based mmo. so, they tell a story, while its recommended you watch, you are not forced to in anything except MSQ castrum and Praetorium. thats it, no where else are you forced to watch them.

so, if you find those grindy, thats kind of your own personal choice there friend....

[Chawan]

have YOU ever played anything else? how is 200hrs+ of cutscenes to reach endgame NOT a massive grind?

I don’t mean this in any negative tone in my post i am simply saying is all..

Grinding in mmos is where you kill monsters simply for the sake of obtaining exp from them. Back in the old days of mmos (did it a couple times) sometimes you would run in to a situation where you can not at all progress and get more quests or any more content until you reached a certain level. The only way you could obtain thoes levels were to just kill mobs, and keep killing till you leveled up enough to get your next quest... it was called grinding cause you had to “put your nose to the grindstone” and “work” killing sometimes hours and hours on end. I think i recall talking to someone who claimed to have done nothing but kill random packs of mobs for a couple days.. THAT is grinding lol.

I hardly watch all cut scenes some are unnecessary and relatively predictable so skimming text quickly and jumping out is something i do often.. should look in to how to skim read effective.. it helps kick up the pace..

That said i am not for or against the idea of removing the currents , if it happens it happens if not.. well it doesn’t. I already explore all over the place (sometimes getting myself in trouble lol) so it does not bother me too much.

[SeverianLyonesse]

Just gonna throw my two cents in here but I do agree that aether currents should probably be removed. They weren't/aren't fun, and not every player has the foresight to do them in tandem with MSQ progression. More importantly, unlike other major barriers like MSQ and leveling, they will always be a barrier to new players because they aren't covered by story skips on the mogstation.

[Jojoya]

As title suggests, the aether currents where added with heavensward as a way to slow down the player to force them to quest at slower pace to allow SE to make more content. This is fine while the content is new, but the moment the expansion ends it is simply a barrier to entry.

Say what? This is crazed conspiracy theory nonsense. They aren't there to slow you down. They're there as part of world building.

As long as you're picking up aether currents as you do the MSQ, it's not adding significant amounts of time (The Lochs would be an exception - the aether current placement is terrible compared to what little MSQ takes place there). It adds maybe 2 hours to the amount of time needed to complete an expansion's main MSQ. Let's say I pad that to 10 hours for all expansions combined - that's still only a 5 % increase to the amount of time it takes to complete the MSQ to 5.55.

As a new payer to FF14, with nearly 45K hours in video games [50% of that is in MMOs], I have rarely seen a game that implements such a mechanic as to purposefully CRIPPLE the player. ARR is already a long and boring slog. Few players already survive the horrible ARR, Even I, a player of WoW who is used to rep grinding found ARR and currents tedious to where I almost quit.

- You are at a moment where many WoW players are moving to your game, you should Capitalize on this momentum by increasing accessibility not decreasing it.

How ironic you bring up WoW when Pathfinder was far more intrusive and crippling to players than the Aether Current system is. Pathfinder was one of the bigger reasons I quit WoW.

I've got zero problem with the Aether Current system here because for the most part it's well planned out to flow with MSQ progression (again, The Lochs is a big exception).

There is no Aether Current system in ARR. Why are you implying it's part of what made ARR so tedious to you?

Sorry, I just can't agree with you that it is a problem. But if it makes you feel better, YoshiP already announced they're going to review the Aether Current system after Endwalker launches to see if improvements can be made to it in some of the older zones (again, hopefully The Lochs).

[Eien713]

I actually had fun exploring and looking for the currents on the map. I didn't mind the sidequests either. I remember feeling excited when I checked a quest and saw it had a current to offer me.

[Kes13a]

Just gonna throw my two cents in here but I do agree that aether currents should probably be removed. They weren't/aren't fun, and not every player has the foresight to do them in tandem with MSQ progression. More importantly, unlike other major barriers like MSQ and leveling, they will always be a barrier to new players because they aren't covered by story skips on the mogstation.

perhaps you prefer the system in WoW?

[Elladie]

have YOU ever played anything else? how is 200hrs+ of cutscenes to reach endgame NOT a massive grind?

Ummm... 200 hours + of cutscenes is what most of us play this game for. And most of us reach this 'endgame' you mention when we hit level 15, or thereabouts, and unlock the glamour system.

If you don't care for cutscenes, this game is always going to be a disappointment. The story is the point of FFXIV