The story is great, but it blatantly gets in the way of the rest of the game

[Iscah]

The majority of people who don't want changes are those who played the game cycle by cycle, so they haven't had to do it from start to finish. So, here's a challenge for you all, Go back to ARR with a level 1 character, NEVER touch any of the other side-stuff that doesn't get unlocked by the MSQ, do the REQUIRED dungeons/trials and see how long it takes before you give up and go back to the end-game.

I've played through the MSQ multiple times. Lore and creating multiple characters are both things I like. It's certainly a bit of a trudge to get through parts of it, but other parts I really enjoy replaying, and it certainly doesn't send me running back to endgame – there simply isn't much there for me. I'd rather build up another character and play with glamours.

Not only that, when a new player decides to voice their problems with the fact that the MSQ gates pretty much everything in the game, only to be met with so many people telling them to "play something else" and "final fantasy games are not for you". It's sad, and it's toxic.

I continue to be puzzled by the argument that "it's toxic to tell people to play something else". I've tried and disliked and abandoned dozens of games over time. It's how I find the things that I do like. No game can cater to every player, so if you have deep-seated issues with one then there is probably something else out there that you'd enjoy more.

Then to top it all off, the other thing people throw at you is "buy a skip potion" Why? Why should I pay FULL PRICE for a game that has a SUBSCRIPTION to then have to pay to get to the point of the game I want to play?

Like it or not (I'm not particularly keen on it myself) we have signed up for a game that we accept requires a monthly fee. If you play through the MSQ, that's maybe two months of paid subscription that you pay for. Money + time in = progress out.

A skip fast-forwards you to the result of that two months' progress, giving you the progress without needing to spend the time. From that perspective, it makes some degree of sense that SE wants you to pay them the money you would have had to spend on subscription fees to get to where you want to go.

On that logic, you haven't lost money by skipping (assuming you would have persevered to the end) and you're still well ahead on time spent, which makes it seem like not such a poor deal if you're willing to pay at all.

I won't deny it – a free skip option would be nice. But I can't see SE introducing the option for players to infinitely do it for free when right now they make money off it.