Suggestion - An Alternate Start [Light, Vague 6.1 Spoilers Included]

[M1SF0RTUNE]

I think it's far more likely that they would give one free story skip with game purchases than to go to all the effort of writing a second starting point and constantly having to keep a second version of events in mind for every scene they ever write.

It's already messy enough when they try to adapt the script according to whether or not you've done side content.

And yeah, this is what I mean with a free story skip, and they don't technically need to change the script too much. A lot of the dialogue is addressing current issues and revealing stuff for side characters' backstories. You can go back through 6.1 and see that it doesn't necessarily require old information that can't be learned in a few minutes (such as certain characters or their motivations). They pulled it off before with ARR and an alternative introduction could get a lot of the setup out of the way for New Adventurers so that when characters talk about certain events, the New Adventurer will have gotten some idea what they mean even if they weren't there (unlike the WoL).

Not to mention 6.1 recaps information anyway to fill out the Unending Codex.

[MoofiaBossVal]

The game needs Guild Wars 1 style campaign separation. New campaign takes place in a completely new land with an almost entirely brand new cast of characters. Story has almost nothing to do with the story of the first campaign. You can either play an existing character from campaign 1 and take a boat to the new land and start that story, or create a new character and start in that campaign.

[Iscah]

And yeah, this is what I mean with a free story skip, and they don't technically need to change the script too much.

No, they don't need to change the script at all. If you want to start from Season 2, you just have to accept that you're going to be unfamiliar with what happened to the protagonist in Season 1. You do not need a special alternate version of the story made for you.

[hagare]

good idea for new entries to the game.
And for those worried that those who start from S2 won't be WoL.
That was what the new players who started in ARR was like.

[Broken_Wind]

The game needs Guild Wars 1 style campaign separation. New campaign takes place in a completely new land with an almost entirely brand new cast of characters. Story has almost nothing to do with the story of the first campaign. You can either play an existing character from campaign 1 and take a boat to the new land and start that story, or create a new character and start in that campaign.

I suspect this may actually be the plan with 7.0

Hence the focus on making sure 2.0-6.0 work as a single player experience

[redheadturk]

I get that concern though, it's a lot of investment to take away from a player becoming the WoL, but if I might propose a counter-argument, isn't it possible a new player progressing through this new storyline could become a new WoL in their own right while hearing legends about the old one and the great feats they've accomplished?

After all, this is the in-lore setup for how the 1.0 players were written and established. Why can't we have something similar at this new point in the story?

good idea for new entries to the game.
And for those worried that those who start from S2 won't be WoL.
That was what the new players who started in ARR was like.

That isn't even fully true for 1.0 anymore. If you run the Coils of Bahamut even if you started in 2.0 you were acknowledged as one of the heroes of Cartenau, it's just only Legacy players got the MSQ cutscenes.

[TaleraRistain]

My guess is the Codex is their answer for people who use skips. I can't see SE making two completely different stories if you already were the WoL and there are connections like to Azem that wouldn't make sense anymore.

[Alaray]

Yes, I think it'd be healthy for a new start point to be established to make the onboarding process for new players smoother and less daunting/massively time consuming. Considering, after all, this game does like to push that it's an accessible game you never have to excessively play and all that.

- I think "Play the whole game, why skip it?" falls flat when you can buy a skip, anyway.
- I think "Learn how to play the game via the leveling process from 1" also falls flat when you can buy a boost, anyway.
- "But I want any character I have to be The WoL" okay then don't skip ahead with the Newfound Adventure/or w/e option and start from 1 like you want.
- Do I think the presented way is 100% the best way, not necessarily, though I do think there's no better point for such an idea than when one story concluded and a new one began.

[M1SF0RTUNE]

No, they don't need to change the script at all. If you want to start from Season 2, you just have to accept that you're going to be unfamiliar with what happened to the protagonist in Season 1. You do not need a special alternate version of the story made for you.

Oh no, when I say "intro" I mean like a single hour of the game meant to introduce you to the state of the world (and some major dungeon mechanics) by the end of EW (kinda like how we're given at the start of ARR) and some basic information to get us right into 6.1's escapades. My suggestion merges right into the main story 6.1 starts setting up and continues on like normal as if you were an existing character.

[M1SF0RTUNE]

My guess is the Codex is their answer for people who use skips. I can't see SE making two completely different stories if you already were the WoL and there are connections like to Azem that wouldn't make sense anymore.

On that coin, if we went my suggestion, sure, the WoL has connections to Azem but is *not* Azem themselves. You could give a new adventurer Azem's crystal (whether it was given to you or found in this proposed 1-hour-intro) but they won't know the true nature about it unless they read into it or focus on it, they'd just know it was important and maybe some minor dialogue would explain what it was used for and who it used to belong to. It on its' own does not identify the WoL's character, just a sundered past life of theirs.