Just want to walk around

[Iscah]

There's no reason to subscribe for six months at a time unless you want to have a large number of characters. The reduced price per month is just the same price you pay month-to-month on an entry level sub, which gives you the full experience with a limit of 8 characters instead of 40. Alts don't share quest progress, so if you find a single pass through the MSQ daunting then you're unlikely to be creating that many extras.

If you're enjoying the story and want to continue, do it. There's good stuff ahead, and your friends can join you at your own level to complete dungeons or side content. They may even have their own need to play the content you're on, like collecting glamour or filling out the weekly "duty bingo" card.

If you just want to be at endgame and explore, then buying a skip will let you do that, while abandoning the game completely will not.

It's entirely up to you, but I wouldn't base my opinions on what some internet people think over my own taste and that of friends who like similar games to me. Don't fret about the exact number of quests, just play it and keep going for as long as you enjoy playing it. (Stormblood is a bit of a low point though.)

[george357]

been in this game sence 2.0 and have walked and riden almost everywhere this is a fun game and worth your time.

[Brightamethyst]

According to my spreadsheet, I have 562 quests to go just to catch up.

This perspective is probably your main issue here. You're thinking of it in terms of spreadsheets and checklists rather than as a game. Would you be doing the same if it was an off-line, single player RPG? From the sound of it you're turning the main story into a chore rather than just sitting back and enjoying the ride.

[EtherialOne]

There's no reason to subscribe for six months at a time unless you want to have a large number of characters.

I was going to pay up for the six months because I was super impressed by the game. Of course, at the time I also thought I was pretty much done with MSQ grinding. I didn't know I had months worth to go and how much simple ability to walk around was blocked behind it.

It's entirely up to you, but I wouldn't base my opinions on what some internet people think over my own taste and that of friends who like similar games to me.

This is totally good advice. And it's advice I've been given several times. And . . . it supports the opposite conclusion that people seem to think it does. ARR was atrocious. But people told me the conclusion was worth it so keep going. Treat it as an introduction to how to play the game. So I took their word for it. I spent a month working diligently to get past it to the good part. And it did start getting a little bit interesting around the end of 2.5. But ARR and post-ARR overall taught my own independent judgment that this was far from being worth the slog.

I have people telling me that it's just that my experience was soured by ARR and I'll really like it if I keep going. Of course I won't find out about that unless I hand over more money to the same people who created the lousy start. The 30 days were barely enough to get past the ARR stuff. And I discover that instead of being just about done with the MSQ stuff, I've actually got an enormous mountain to climb before I can even just walk around freely.

Every single person telling me how great it is so far has been playing the game for years. The MSQ was much shorter when they started. What they had to deal with was slowly added additional content. And, if I were dealing with that, I imagine I would be okay with it too.

But I'm getting greeted by this massive thing that the people telling me it's worth it have never experienced. I have not enjoyed it so far. And it's a blockade what I do enjoy--exploring a large world and meeting and interacting with people. In FFXIV, walking around and admiring the decor while talking to people seems to be endgame content.

So I decided I'd buy a story skip. I hate that idea. I actually do like stories in games, provided I can play through them at my own pace or at least they aren't so massive and mandatory. My problem here is not the story--it's the fact that the story is used to block so much basic stuff. But I learned about New World+. I can go back and experience it all again at my own pace. Perfect. The ability to do it at my own pace without the content locks. That's exactly what I want. In fact it's more than I want because it's a lot more than just walking around and saying hi.

(continued)

[EtherialOne]

But then I discover that you don't level up at all by story skipping. And the MSQ is the main way of leveling up. In fact, it looks like I wouldn't even be able to skip all the way to the latest expansion because I'm not at level 80. So it looks like I'm going to have to buy a level skip too. So I decide I'll buy both.

And then, people who know me point out I'm going to regret it because I won't know what's going on. They're right. That's the kind of player that I am. At one time in my distant past, I was the lore master for an ancient game. You don't get that role if you dislike stories and lore. Without it, all the other stuff at the end is likely to feel hollow and unenjoyable. That's why I've never used a skip in any game before.

So now I've got no way forward. Both the skip and playing through are bad options. So I come here hoping somebody will have an idea to let me move forward. They don't.

I've already uninstalled the game, unregistered my payment info, and dropped all of the few FFXIV Discord servers I had joined. I guess I should probably just quit reading, go feel disappointed, and stop reading my topic. But I keep hoping some surprise solution will appear or someone will post saying that something is in the works. Or maybe even somebody sending me a DM with a ton of spoilers. Even if they spoiled every story and subplot in the game, at least I'd know if there is a payoff coming.

One thing I will say though is that the people who say that the problem is my seeing the MSQ as a job or a slog or a chore are absolutely right. If I had come for the story or because I was a hard core FFXIV fan, I'd probably still be as happy as I was a week ago. If I had experienced some incredible story that was artfully told and kept me at the edge of my seat, I'd probably like that too. But none of that has happened.

So what I'm left with is that I came over here most of all to play with old friends from another game. I came to meet other people and play with them. Asking my friends to bore themselves by syncing down to my level all the time is no solution to that. It only affects their gameplay for the negative. And asking me to not go where people are actually at because I have to slog through the (mostly) single player MSQ defeats the point of being in MMORPG at all.

I'm happy that other folks enjoy it. A lot of people must enjoy it or there wouldn't be the constant queues. But I don't. I just feel like the whole thing is a shame because FFXIV seemed so incredible. And I feel like I've gone from that to my hopes getting crushed. The stuff I came here to do is largely blocked behind Mount MSQ and I'm not up for mountain climbing.

[EtherialOne]

This perspective is probably your main issue here. You're thinking of it in terms of spreadsheets and checklists rather than as a game. Would you be doing the same if it was an off-line, single player RPG? From the sound of it you're turning the main story into a chore rather than just sitting back and enjoying the ride.

You are absolutely right. I would not feel remotely the same if it were an off-line, single player RPG. Problem is, it's not an off-line, single player RPG.

[Breakbeat]

Hey, sometimes people just don't like things everyone else likes. For their own personal reasons.

I thought the entire Matrix series of movies sucked, because I personally cannot take "Ted Theodore Logan" seriously in a lead role, and the CG didn't save the series, IMHO. Ditto "John Wick". I also think superhero movies (most any superhero movie except the Nolan Batmans) are kinda silly. I don't know or care when the next MCU blockbuster is coming out.

I don't like BTS or any K-pop at all. And I have tried. I try any music I am unfamiliar with.

I don't have any want or need at all for things like Tik-Tok, or any social media to be honest. I use social media as a tool to retrieve information, but as for posting all the banal details of my life online, nah, that's for the birds.

When it comes to games, I don't play anything popular, really, except FFXIV. Can't really stand WoW anymore, don't like first-person-shooters, and I don't care for any of the existing "trend" games like Among Us or PUBG or whatever people play these days.

Some people don't like chocolate cake or cake at all. Go figure.

My point is that you don't need to explain yourself or feel some sort of guilt because you don't like this game. Subjectivity is a thing and reasonably intelligent people grasp that concept; virtually no one will hold it against you if you don't like FFXIV. I've never had someone hold it against me that I don't like Spiderman XII: The Revenge of Alternate Woke Spiderman or Star Wars XVIII: The Mandalorian Obi Wan Luke Origin Story Whatever -- even though it seems virtually everyone else does.

I'll just note in closing that you really shouldn't naturally feel guilt for not liking something "everyone else" does. If you are feeling genuinely "crushed" then you need to really examine what's going on here. Possibly if you are having a properly difficult time accepting that you just don't like this game, a friend or family member could help you with the pain. You come off as genuinely upset and feeling tangible loss because you don't care (or think you will care) for this game.

Good luck in the future.

[Seera1024]

You said you're an RP'er.

So here's a lore reason for the blocks (with as little spoilers as possible as I don't know where exactly you are in the MSQ):

All of the places you can't go to have a reason for you to not be able to just go there. Some are isolationist. Some are enemy territories. Some are just too expensive for us to go to on our own dime. Some have no ability to walk to them.

You can walk pretty much anywhere within the three starting areas and nearby lands. May be dangerous as you have navigate through enemies much higher level than you (another game reason for the blocks).

I do agree with the others that part of the problem is you're turning a game into a checklist of things to do. Now, for some all of that is the fun in games. Doing everything there is to do and needing a spreadsheet so you can keep up with what you've done. But conversely, in a 10 year old game that's getting pretty regular content updates, that's a lot of items on a checklist to complete. And the sheer amount may make completing it seem like a chore.

I do think a bulk of your problem is something that I can easily understand: you thought you were almost caught up and then found out that you're not. That's always disheartening.

So I do feel that the not subbing more is the right decision in the moment. You can always come back in a few months and play some more and see if the time away has helped.

[SannaR]

Here's the thing though the zones we have in the current expansion isn't where most of the population hang out in. Most just afk around the Aethrite plaza in Limsa or the Quicksands in Ul'dah. Rare are those who hang out in the housing wards or the two zones in Endwalker that again has mostly afk people in it.

The story does generally get better once you reach Ishgard. As in you get to go inside it. Stormblood is a toss up. A lot love Shadowbringers. Part of what makes the story good us the journey you have along the way. You get to know a lot of npcs and go through a lot things with many of them. You can edit your post to get around the character limit btw. I will never understand people who don't enjoy helping a friend get through dungeons as for me it's fun and exciting to see how they react. Also a lot of the zones starting even in Heavensward you can't walk or swim from one end to the other and need to unlock flying in those zones. This isn't a game that is meant to be rushed to the end. That's part of what separates it from other MMOs. Along with what a lot of people coming from other MMOs have trouble wrapping their head around.

I don't know what else to say except maybe go watch Jocat's video on why it took him over 300hrs to finally enjoy this game. Maybe unlock the sight seeing logs and try and do all of ARR which can be done without flight if you want to do something and enjoy the scenery. Or take up fishing as again trying for that fish you can see some stunning vistas.

[Jeeqbit]

Every single person telling me how great it is so far has been playing the game for years. The MSQ was much shorter when they started. What they had to deal with was slowly added additional content. And, if I were dealing with that, I imagine I would be okay with it too.

You're right. Personally, I tell any new players that the story is great but there is a lot of it now compared to when I started it. I tell them that it blocks content and that sidequests will be a bit much to handle now for most people going through the MSQ.

Everyone who plays the game knows this is a problem (and expresses it to the developers), but there isn't an easy solution because each expansion's story strongly benefits from building on the characters in the previous ones. But we expect something will have to happen eventually.

As I explained as well, being in the story areas could spoil future story events by giving you an impression of why they might exist.

But then I discover that you don't level up at all by story skipping. And the MSQ is the main way of leveling up. In fact, it looks like I wouldn't even be able to skip all the way to the latest expansion because I'm not at level 80. So it looks like I'm going to have to buy a level skip too. So I decide I'll buy both.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that. It is annoying, but because there are multiple classes they probably don't want to decide which one to level for you. Although you can level up quite well farming dungeons and roulettes. You can skip cutscenes instead of buying a story skip, but it gets boring without the cutscenes to make it fun.

One thing I will say though is that the people who say that the problem is my seeing the MSQ as a job or a slog or a chore are absolutely right.

That is a common problem. If you see the story as an obstacle to get to the "real game" then it's difficult to enjoy the story. If you skip dialogue that isn't voiced then it reduces your immersion and your connection to the characters and the story. The story has become very long and that is a problem, but it doesn't change that seeing it as an obstacle makes it difficult to soak it in and enjoy it at a normal pace instead of rushing.