Length MSQ from all the expansions - it is getting insane

[Fyrebrand]

FXIV is a Final Fantasy game and a story-based JRPG first, and an MMO second. Always has been, and it's not a secret. The MSQ is not a "problem" that needs to be solved, it's THE GAME. I get that people like different aspects, like hardcore endgame raids or crafting or whatever, but those are niche activities and not the main focus. You're never going to be able to JUST raid, or JUST craft, or JUST do PvP, by default. You have to do the story, that's what the game's about. That's what gives context and narrative meaning to anything your character does. I'm not saying those other things aren't important, but they aren't primary.

Maybe you're only interested in a certain 5-10 percent of the game, and don't care about the rest. Okay..? Maybe you don't like FFVIII and only want to play Triple Triad. Maybe you don't like FFX and only want to play Blitzball. Should you get to click a button to skip the entire game and create an endgame save file, just so you can do those specific things? Or should you maybe, I dunno, find some other CCG or sports title and give that a try rather than expecting a fantasy RPG to cater to your specific demands?

At the end of the day it's old and irrelevant content.

The MSQ will never be "irrelevant," just like previous books in a fantasy novel series don't become "irrelevant" when a new entry is published. It's all just content you've done, or content you haven't yet done. It doesn't matter how old it is or how many people have done it before you, if it's new to you. My whole experience playing FFXIV, I wasn't thinking "Oh man, all this stuff I'm seeing is so irrelevant, it's not what's happening right now." No, it IS happening right now. It's happening TO ME. I'M THE ONE PLAYING IT. If everybody else has already done it, WHOOP DEE DOO. Who cares?

There needs to be an option to skip MSQ for new players, just straight to the level grind where everything just automatically unlocks at the appropriate level.

Now this comment just doesn't make any sense. So you want to delete the MSQ, but you still want people to level grind through all the old zones? Nobody would enjoy that at all, and it solves nothing. Not to mention, you lose out on all the MSQ xp, which is basically all you need to level anyway. Just skip the cutscenes and be happy with the free xp, dude. If you want to manually grind quests and FATEs in the overworld, you have alt jobs you can do that with.

I don't mind the story, what I do mind though is side content being locked behind the MSQ. Eureka, Bozja, Zadnor, Eureka Orthos, etc. all locked behind a massive MSQ wall.

This is a fair point. As I said, FFXIV is an MMO second, but second place is still important. A lot of people pick up an MMO expecting to be able to play with their friends. I like that everything in the game has story behind it and is woven into the plot, but at the same time it does present a barrier to entry for some types of content. It might be neat if there were a Bozja-like zone that anyone at any level could pop into. Not sure how they would handle level-scaling, I guess make everyone max level as long as they're in there? Might be pretty disorienting for new players to suddenly have access to their job's entire endgame kit, but on the other hand it gives them a preview of what's ahead. Although, having something like that would probably make Eureka and Bozja almost completely irrelevant.

As for Eureka Orthos, I actually haven't been in there yet, but isn't that just Deep Dungeon? Low level people can do Deep Dungeon, it would just need to be Palace of the Dead or Heaven on High. I don't see why some ARR newbie needs to be let into Eureka Orthos, specifically.