In your opinion, what causes most “bounce offs”?

[SomeGuy22]

I agree with the "early jobs too boring/normal content too mindless" opinion.

My friends that tried and dropped the game were all due to either one of those reasons, or a mix of both. The gameplay just takes wayyy too long to start being engaging

[VentVanitas]

locking the majority of the game's content behind MSQ progression for one, was a major mistake, and since every new player's most efficient method of reaching the level cap is to do the MSQ, it's essentially asking them to do some of the worst form of derivative RPG questing in the medium on par with Skyrim/Fallout 4 just to reach anything worthwhile (which is even worse when you consider than each expansion story can be 20+ hours if you're not skipping everything). especially when ARR isn't really engaging as a story.

[Kes13a]

not every game is for everyone.

people "bounce off" for any one of a number of things.
they dont like playing with others
they dont like the interface
they dont like the combat
they dont want to pay for it
they do'nt have the time
their friends played then went to the latest new game and have no one to play with
performance anxiety

the list goes on. bottom line is, not everyone that tries it is going to like it. I dont think there is one main reason, it just is.

[Silverquick]

i think its less that jobs are boring at low levels, and more so that the game has been nerfed to oblivion, nothing at all matters at low level, all the fights have no stakes, no real challenge, i think the first fight in the MSQ that actually has punishing mechanics is the last boss of "Aether Chemical Research Facility" and then late SHB or even current xpac before that comes back.

as a new player you are taught that nothing has stakes and nothing matters for 10 years worth of MSQ slog just to get to endgame and suddenly be told to "get gud" but by that point they are so far from caring and trained to just let some try hard do it instead..

some maybe most people want that challenge to the story to make the narrative pay off, or its just boring.

the games new hand holding "games journalist mode" difficulty is just not fun, go back to tight ilvl syncs, and fights that forced people to try if they wanted to progress.

There might be an element of truth to this,

I decided to go play an alt character from scratch on another server for a bit, and it really just is way too easy now. There's no challenge in anything anymore coming up the levels. I started leveling one class in the MSQ and you literally cannot enjoy any of the side aspects of the game anymore without your character leveling soo fast you easily outpace the MSQ. By the time I hit the 23rd level quest lines my character was at 34th. I couldn't do anything without accidentally leveling. So I went and started a new class and leveled it completely up to 24th to take over the storyline and run two jobs up at once and it STILL overleveled the questline.

I'm on the 24th level of the MSQ quests, one job is at 35th and the other is at 28th and that's with splitting it between 2 classes. none of the content at around the level I'm supposed to be at with at least one of those classes is any challenge or even fun whatsoever.

I can't do fates, I can't do dungeons, I can't do Grand Company Seals to rank up, I can't do jack squat without slingshotting so far past the intended level that the content is no longer fun. Literally I can't do any of the fun side things or I make the MSQ completely unfun and then can no longer do any of the other side stuff either.

There is no point at which you can absorb yourself into the game anymore and just enjoy it for what it is. No wonder no one sticks around, that gets boring as hell.

[ReynTime]

Speaking only from comments of friends of mine, it's usually one or a combination of the following: Missing FF combat staples they're used to like elements/haste/protect/etc, not liking having to complete MSQ to unlock multiplayer content, not caring for the endgame daily treadmill design and specially getting bored of the rotation of the jobs they picked.

[Jeeqbit]

The main reasons people will drop the game are:

• No patience for story/cutscenes. They are action-oriented, not story-oriented.
• Not used to the concept of an MMORPG and can't deal with it.
• The map is confusing at first (they improved this, but it still is. When I was new, I couldn't easily work out the exits in Ul'dah, so the red arrows got added but... is that really enough?).
• Tedious quests, such as one of the first ones in Thanalan where you deliver food on foot while mounts are unavailable.
• A friend wanting them to raid with them at endgame, but there is this giant MSQ in the way of them doing so, so they don't get through the hurdle.
• They simply don't like the aesthetic. For example, I didn't really like the idea of lalafells or even a lot of other things in the game, but I was alright with it personally because I can just not play those races. But some people don't get over it like I did.
• Bosses presented as being challenging, not being that. I don't think most people mind this because they usually run into some MSQ bosses that they had a hard time with on their first try, so it balances out for them. But veteran players know the truth about the MSQ bosses and if a new player interested in challenges notices these bosses aren't actually hard and that it's just because it's their first time, it can occasionally turn them off.
• Not understanding cast bar snapshotting, so they get hit by mechanics they thought they did right and then they start to believe there is some sort of lag issue.
• Not being able to find social circles and feeling too lonely. If they don't get into the Novice Network, a Free Company nor any linkshells or discords, they can end up feeling the game has no social interaction. I come across this argument among newer players sometimes and even people who have beat the MSQ, even though it is just that they don't know how to find it like I do.
• They are a solo player or too anxious to interact with others (which Duty Support it helping with). The prevalence of anxiety is massive even among those who do get through the game, but just trying to queue into Sastasha for the first time can be nerve-racking if you've never done anything like that before and fear they will chew you out for not knowing the game.
• Not gaining much experience from patch quests. I've seen this brought up sometimes by new players. They don't understand that they were once patch quests, so they are confused why they no longer feel like they are progressing their level at all.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

Coming from the words of my FT friend who had maxed out everything on his FT account and quitted before it was expanded to StB: "So much for being an MMO but actively discouraging MMO interactions."

[AnnaUK]

ARR kills it for them every time. It is still too long, and the amount of running back and forth is just too much. They fact you get 40 tickets to get back easier to the Scions is just a lazy way to try & fix the issue. It's not exiting, it's very dull. First impressions last.

[Supersnow845]

I feel like this game doesn’t actually appeal to anyone when you first start it

If you came to play an MMO you are getting a boring visual novel for 300 hours where you press 1-4 buttons for 60 levels

If you come to play a FF game you get a barely voiced cliche MMO fetch quest simulator for 100 hours

Who is ARR actually designed for

[Nicola_Kunu]

Coming from the words of my FT friend who had maxed out everything on his FT account and quitted before it was expanded to StB: "So much for being an MMO but actively discouraging MMO interactions."

The fact that you have to disband your party *constantly* when doing the MSQ is a constant example of this. I felt a bit disjointed from my friends because you can never stay in a party together.

I did have a (WoW) friend who started playing and he wanted to play DRK as that class appealed to him. He stopped playing at ARR content, mainly due to the fact it was all just a long long story - he never got to any of the raids he also wanted to try.