Quote Originally Posted by Krotoan View Post
Because all you care about is the most recent content and only consider that worth playing. If the only content you WANT to engage in in FFXIV is the end you're going to have a sparse experience and a hell of a runup.

I recently (within the past year) introduced someone to the game, walked beside them and quested the MSQ WITH them as much as I could while also keeping them outfitted in relevant gear and talking them through MSQ parts they found too boring to engage in with summaries while also running daily roulettes and random DFs with them to keep their progression quick. Yes it took nearly a month for them to get to "endgame" and be able to run roulettes for tomes and the raids for other items.. but it was far from a "hey play this... lemme know when you get to what I like to do" experience. We also sidetracked sometimes with fishing, or deep dungeons, or mount/minion farming.

Many people in that thread you referenced are wondering why you'd invite someone to play something and NOT play the game with them when you were able to.
Story is alright. The first time you go through it. After initial experience I personally derive no joy from any story. The issue is compounded in XIV due to SE presenting story pretty much exclusively through a series of cutscenes linked by fetch quests with little to no gameplay value.

I also consider any story-focused media a very solitary experience. I wouldn't want to be distracted by someone when I'm immersed in a book or a film. And the same goes for stories in games. I don't see how I could play through XIV's story with a friend. Standing next to them in an empty open world just twiddling my thumbs while they read their cutscene? And then running to the next sparkly spot to do it again? For literal hours?

Sitting in a discord call together and occasionally going "mhm" and "oh yeah, that was cool" really isn't a social experience me or my friends are looking for in an MMO.