I know ARR was cut down but it really needs more done with it.

[Jeeqbit]

i tend to enjoy when people mention graphics because that don't make a game. beautiful graphics games can actually suck. some of the best games out have the worst graphics lol

I agree with you. I don't necessarily want games to look like the place I am trying to escape from. 2d graphics are great even.

[Esmoire]

I replayed this recently after the update. Honestly a quarter of it could go with nothing lost.

Minfilia sends you to another ZONE to meld materia into her dagger. This might be an attempt at having a tutorial, but falls flat. First of all, while I love goblins, giving a tutorial in gobby speak is a massive waste of time. Sending people there is a waste of time. Materia is already overly complicated for people coming into the game at that level. It is so much more intelligent to have a pop-up guide at some point closer to lv 50 if there is one at all. You made materia pointless to meld at low level with how fast gear is replaced so it's just not worth hurting the pacing.

Buscarron sends you from SOUTH SHROUD to LA NOSCEA of all things to mix a drink. A massive waste of time. If you wanted to allude to their friendship, just a bit of dialogue would be fine.

Then... a whole lot of little things. Literally a dude in east Shroud who can't remember something so he sends you out to help get something to jog the memory and does nothing to enrich the writing. Again, later on people mistake what you need to gather a corrupted crystal, and then remember after you have completed a pointless step. Lapses in memory and misunderstandings can be written and can add character, but when they lead to chores for the player, it's just an arbitrary waste of time.

[Derio]

Alot of quests and storylines can be pushed to side quests to cut down the bloat. It needs to be done

[Jeeqbit]

Minfilia sends you to another ZONE to meld materia into her dagger.

This is meant to teach you about materia. The crafter and gatherer quests do it as well. They want to make sure you have unlocked materia properly. We can make the same argument about all the quests that unlock game mechanics and how we don't really need lore for every little thing. For example, New Game+, the challenge log, the hunting log, dyes, glamour prisms and party finder didn't really need unlock quests, but we always get them for things like this.

[VeyaAkemi]

Also there is a point to be made that the MSQ actively tries to make you visit the entire world, this is extremely notable on part 2 of Labyrinthos in EW, where the game will give you a number of tasks that make you take a lap around the Central Circuit in a map that is literally a circle, and you end at the exact point you started for that part of the MSQ, a lot about ARR is exactly about this, about making you take that lap around the world, the issue is that ARR is comprised of 17 maps, where expansions stay on a much more concise 6 per, it makes that design decision somewhat more questionable in ARR, but also considering they are still doing it in EW, it doesn't feel like it's something that the devs want to stop doing.

[Esmoire]

This is meant to teach you about materia. The crafter and gatherer quests do it as well. They want to make sure you have unlocked materia properly. We can make the same argument about all the quests that unlock game mechanics and how we don't really need lore for every little thing. For example, New Game+, the challenge log, the hunting log, dyes, glamour prisms and party finder didn't really need unlock quests, but we always get them for things like this.

My post acknowledges that. The quest itself is bad at what it does, and is badly placed, and also in the MSQ. Hell, just have Minfilia teach us about it while we are there.

[Xaruko_Nexume]

Im late to this one but I gotta agree with the OP. Personally, I loved ARR and enjoyed the massive world building and character development. But I can agree it still needs to be trimmed down a lot. Ive literally lost count of how many friends tried this game and quite somewhere in ARR or definitely in post ARR pre-HW. It breaks my heart because some of these friends/gamers Ive known for years and I KNOW they would love whats in store in Shadowbringers and everything after it. But they cant be bothered to get through ARR, and frankly I dont blame them and Im tired of having to tow the line of "it gets better at x point"

ARR needs gutted.

[MistakeNot]

The #1 reason many that quit FF14 are due to ARR. It's important for world building but it also has a lot of padding. Like the Heroes Feast quest line. Nothing is lost if that entire thing is cut out. It didn't progress the story at all and only served to frustrate players with no pay off when you realize that all that work was supposed to be for your celebration feast.

That quest line is actually quite funny, and it gets better when you play it a second time and know what is going on.
Besides, it has already been dumbed down simplified once and made more streamlined without losing any of the story.

No, the ARR part of the game is good, and anyone quitting because of it would probably not have liked the rest of the game much better either - it is not like the game changes substantially later on.

[Deo14]

That quest line is actually quite funny, and it gets better when you play it a second time and know what is going on.

For many players there won't even be first time.

Besides, it has already been dumbed down simplified once and made more streamlined without losing any of the story.

Good, now do it again.

No, the ARR part of the game is good, and anyone quitting because of it would probably not have liked the rest of the game much better either - it is not like the game changes substantially later on.

lol, lmao

[DPZ2]

The issue is that you already beat Ifrit, so you already have experience taking down a primal and don't necessarily need their advice. If it was your first primal fight it would make more sense.

True, if it was advice you needed. You missed the plot entirely there.

None of the Company of Heroes knows about any of this. You might as well call yourself Trachtoum for all of your own name recognition at this point in the story line.

[Hint: use a search engine for trachtoum ffxiv. It appears to have been too long since you ran through the level 30-35 MSQ quests]