The Content Cycle needs to break.

[Bonoki]

Complaining about a new quest design, when it's the first time in a while that there's been an attempt at innovation, wasn't very wise indeed.

In From the Cold was the peak solo duty design, but because people complained, we now have "Very Easy" mode, and some players use it to skip the challenge in all solo duties entirely. It’s the same with Role-Play quests where you control NPCs—they're a great way to make the story more immersive, but they’re not popular. Even little things like NPC escort missions or interactive zoom-ins get brushed off as tedious.

The broader issue seems to be that quest design in FFXIV is underappreciated. Whenever SE attempts to innovate or break the mold of traditional questing, the feedback tends to lean negative. This resistance stifles creativity and risks making the game a bland, formulaic experience. If we want the game to continue growing and evolving, players must embrace these attempts to make the journey more engaging and immersive rather than dismissing them for convenience.

Edit: I think quest design is underappreciated, largely because it can feel tedious when playing multiple alts. What’s exciting the first time often becomes a chore on subsequent playthroughs.

[Merrigan]

In From the Cold was the peak solo duty design, but because people complained, we now have "Very Easy" mode, and some players use it to skip the challenge in all solo duties entirely. It’s the same with Role-Play quests where you control NPCs—they're a great way to make the story more immersive, but they’re not popular. Even little things like NPC escort missions or interactive zoom-ins get brushed off as tedious.

The broader issue seems to be that quest design in FFXIV is underappreciated. Whenever SE attempts to innovate or break the mold of traditional questing, the feedback tends to lean negative. This resistance stifles creativity and risks making the game a bland, formulaic experience. If we want the game to continue growing and evolving, players must embrace these attempts to make the journey more engaging and immersive rather than dismissing them for convenience.

You've captured my thoughts very well. Well, satisfied people like you and me have some responsibility: I don't see many of us creating posts saying ‘oooh, that was a great quest!" But in practical terms, complaining about a lack of innovation when the slightest attempt is met with pitchforks, stones and jeers... Well.

Another thing that made me roll my eyes about the criticisms levelled at ‘From the Cold’ was that people on this forum often ask for difficulty. ‘From the Cold’ explores an old difficulty mod : removing clear quest objectives. To say that it was not appreciated would be an understatement. It's paradoxical to demand difficulty but only expect difficulty that is comfortable for us.

[Rueby]

In from the Cold actually was my favorite solo instance in the game, I remember feeling actually lost and danger was around the corner, I didn't have my skills. I was a weak and fragile NPC, not only did it immerse me, but it also put me in Zenos' shoes who actually went through a similar experience in Stormblood and was able to overcome the limitations of a nerf (I guess?). It also made me realize the power gap between us and the NPCs we have been killing. I remember struggling to help the civilians who were fighting desperately to survive and I felt it too, I wanted to survive and in a way try to save them.

I was caught offguard by the QTE and failed that duty before but it didn't feel awful to me. I liked how the game doesn't hold your hand and lets you explore this foreign and dangerous area....

I think I'm grateful to have experienced it prior to its adjustments? I remember doing the MSQ on an alt and it just didn't feel the same because the quest objectives (iirc) are there to handhold you.
On that 2nd playthrough, the final solo duty in base 6.0...I was so excited for it, but my second run I wanted to prolong it, to see what happens if I die, if there's extra dialogue etc...

And to my shock, I discovered how excessively difficult it was to actually die even if you get hit by everything, everything is disappointingly slowly telegraphed and your HP regen essentially guarantees a win. When I discovered this, I was really disappointed. There's no threat or urgency in solo duties once you discover that....If people think things are hard and want it easy, then give us a hard mode of solo duties or something that we can select.

Sorry for the rant.

[ovIm]

When I discovered this, I was really disappointed. There's no threat or urgency in solo duties once you discover that....If people think things are hard and want it easy, then give us a hard mode of solo duties or something that we can select.

Same. Without a sense of urgency, or danger, there is no sense of victory over the odds. You simply feel like a tourist at Disney Land. "Be sure to check out Space Mountain In from the Cold!"
An optional hard mode you can enable where you can very much fail if you play shit... would be very welcome, at least to me.

To use a certain someone elses words... "He [Yoshi-P] goes on to compare Final Fantasy 14 to a platformer without pits to fall into—maybe a little harsh, but a good way to phrase it. Stress, he implies, can be a cause of frustration. But it's also required for excitement"

(Will I ever get tired of posting Yoshi-P interviews that show the discrepancy between his PR words and the game they make? No, no I don't think so.)

[Amarande]

In From the Cold was the peak solo duty design, but because people complained, we now have "Very Easy" mode, and some players use it to skip the challenge in all solo duties entirely.

Difficulty levels actually used to be a common, even almost a normative thing in video games ... then for some reason they became "oh no, no no no, GIT GUD!" demonized.

It's like the older generation of gamers doesn't count for anything anymore and we're supposed to go on, git, move aside and accept Generation Fromsoft as the standard.

(Also Very Easy is a very valid escape hatch in case of tuning issues; especially in the past, there were story duties that were far too disproportionately hard on certain Jobs, and then you have times where major class features got yeeted but the class duties still clearly expected you to have them e.g. Gladiator 30 or some of the Arcanist/Summoner duties ...)

Edit: I think quest design is underappreciated, largely because it can feel tedious when playing multiple alts. What’s exciting the first time often becomes a chore on subsequent playthroughs.

This as well. Replayability is a vital thing in MMOs and I've noticed it's an issue in FFXIV in particular.

Wanna play an alt? Get ready to do all the quests you really hated all over again. Also get ready to reclear all your content with PFs with two left feet because as far as they know you're just another hopeful holding back groups by estimating personal progress too optimistically. No account-wide achievement to link to leaders like WoW (heck, we still can't link achievements in chat at all afaik).

And speaking of PF, it feels like an awful lot of mainline endgame content lately feels ok to bash your head through the first time but becomes an awful chore to farm for rewards unless you shelve it till unsync or you get particularly well-oiled parties (typically only available early on which further fuels the destructive "content rush" and hyper-selective grouping mindsets). Again, replayability issue.

Maybe SE kinda doesn't really want us playing alts anymore even if we buy the full sub? (Several issues go away with one character per player, e.g., the fact that it took so long to get account-wide blacklisting, the fact that alts still aren't very well visibly linked which still allows people to get around social consequences fairly easily, the fact that anti-alt design means people with loads of houses come under at least some pressure to decide if they still want to hang onto that many, the jank of trying to move inventory to alts, the "this premium item is only available on a single character even though often you can only register it once per account" mess, etc. Oh and it would sell more Fantasia, which is honestly MTX lightning in a bottle since it's such an attractive buy for many players while not giving any advantage)

Another thing that made me roll my eyes about the criticisms levelled at ‘From the Cold’ was that people on this forum often ask for difficulty. ‘From the Cold’ explores an old difficulty mod : removing clear quest objectives. To say that it was not appreciated would be an understatement. It's paradoxical to demand difficulty but only expect difficulty that is comfortable for us.

There is certain gameplay people seek out in a game and certain gameplay they avoid. I expect a lot of the issue is that instead of being able to play a definite type of game, MMOs have had an increasing trend towards "you need to be good at almost every kind of video game or you can get off the bus now" and that is what people dislike.

I was caught offguard by the QTE and failed that duty before but it didn't feel awful to me. I liked how the game doesn't hold your hand and lets you explore this foreign and dangerous area....

I think I'm grateful to have experienced it prior to its adjustments? I remember doing the MSQ on an alt and it just didn't feel the same because the quest objectives (iirc) are there to handhold you.

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen anyone praise QTEs before ...

Anyway the rub with IFTC is that the whole challenge lay in having to figure out where things were and what order they had to be done under a time limit with little margin for error. Once you have the knowledge, it is as easy as everything else.

Unfortunately, knowledge as a challenge doesn't really work well in today's media world (which also tends to negatively impact a lot of gaming in general as it seems to be the cause of the trend towards everything becoming a mouse-on-Monster sensory overload fest as when you have Google at your fingertips the only possible skill challenges are physical: I expect this informs a lot of older gamer burnout in particular)

On that 2nd playthrough, the final solo duty in base 6.0...I was so excited for it, but my second run I wanted to prolong it, to see what happens if I die, if there's extra dialogue etc...

And to my shock, I discovered how excessively difficult it was to actually die even if you get hit by everything, everything is disappointingly slowly telegraphed and your HP regen essentially guarantees a win. When I discovered this, I was really disappointed.

This is likely necessary because of class balance - else there would be a return to the ARR situation where tanks and healers basically get a free ride while DPS (especially ones like Dragoon and Bard) find things particularly cursed. Moreover, that was a duty that particularly screamed out "you really should do this with your main" for story reasons as well ...

[ovIm]

In From the Cold was the peak solo duty design, but because people complained, we now have "Very Easy" mode, and some players use it to skip the challenge in all solo duties entirely. It’s the same with Role-Play quests where you control NPCs—they're a great way to make the story more immersive, but they’re not popular. Even little things like NPC escort missions or interactive zoom-ins get brushed off as tedious.

Honestly, as much as "Very Easy" does have a reason to be in there - its barely needed. That one instance in 7.0 MSQ where you are storming Solution 9 during the attack? You can easily brew yourself a cup of tea or coffee, your presence is not needed, the NPC do all the work for you.
Or earlier, back in Shadowbringers. Remember that one instance where the 3 Viera and Y'shtola get turned into cards? I very much actively tried to fail that (I wanted to see what would happen) and it turns out you literally can not.

People complained a lot when they have to actually had to play this game during MSQ, and proof of a tiny bit of competence was required. And Square Enix is quick to appease those people, fearing them quitting the game forever.
I still remember when Steps of Faith was nerfed. The biggest issue Pre-Nerf SoF had was that there was no easy reset when it was clear that the fight could not be cleared. Instead, it was fully nerfed to the ground.
So really, good luck getting through to those that ask for this bland experience, cause Square Enix has shown that they very much like pandering to those people.

Really, I wish for more duties like "In from the Cold".

[ReynTime]

In From the Cold was the peak solo duty design, but because people complained, we now have "Very Easy" mode, and some players use it to skip the challenge in all solo duties entirely. It’s the same with Role-Play quests where you control NPCs—they're a great way to make the story more immersive, but they’re not popular. Even little things like NPC escort missions or interactive zoom-ins get brushed off as tedious.

The broader issue seems to be that quest design in FFXIV is underappreciated. Whenever SE attempts to innovate or break the mold of traditional questing, the feedback tends to lean negative. This resistance stifles creativity and risks making the game a bland, formulaic experience. If we want the game to continue growing and evolving, players must embrace these attempts to make the journey more engaging and immersive rather than dismissing them for convenience.

Edit: I think quest design is underappreciated, largely because it can feel tedious when playing multiple alts. What’s exciting the first time often becomes a chore on subsequent playthroughs.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with adding an optional easy and very easy mode for MSQ solo duties. It only affects the one player running them. Video games had easy modes since the 1980s.

You want to know what really is a problem? Some of the solo duties where you have NPCs helping you seem designed to not let the player lose even if they go "Normal" and let go of their controller.