Maybe a Side Content Warning...?

[Tsiron]

A lot of people deliberately don't unlock that content because they want to keep their roulettes fast and simple, so having some indicator beyond the "feature unlock" quest markers would barely move the needle.

Irrelevant, the point is to give the devs the freedom to incorporate elements of said content into the stories they tell going forward

[ItsKylos]

That's what I've been talking to a friend about just yesterday and now this thread appeared LMAO. I really want to see further expansion of characters like Gaia, perhaps some more Ivallice/Bozja, but of course making all of that mandatory seems out of the question. My idea was just as you said, they should introduce a pop-up that tells people they should do X content before continuing, but can continue nonetheless. Other games already do it

No, thank you.

I'd like it to remain if I don't choose to do them, it didn't happen. Like the awful EW raids.

I feel we lose a lot more by not including side content than gaining. I don't like the EW raids, but there are so many things locked behind side content that should be explored further in other side content (without forcefully requiring it) or MSQ.

[ItsKylos]

I think they should just add active time lore or whatever it was called from FFXVI. It's basically an ingame wiki so you could easily see a brief backstory on each character you come across. If you hadn't done the content yet, the active time lore could have spoiler tags indicating what content you would need to do to remove the spoiler tag, but you could also choose to reveal the backstory anyway.

That would help people who have poor memories, probably serve as a great resource to the devs themselves, and it would help people who don't have the time or inclination to do all the side content.

We can't go on like this with characters locked behind side content. It's going to make the side content irrelevant to the main story, which just doesn't work.

Technically we have the unending codex, which I feel was to aid in that? Unsure, someone would need to collaborate that information. Only thing I know is if they wanted the active lore, they can just make the unending codex entries viewable during cutscenes.

[TBerry]

People would be clueless and absolutely confused throughout ShB if they didn't do the Crytsal Tower raids. Thankfully most did, so making Crystal Tower mandatory was just a small adjustment.

[Tsiron]

It becomes much more unreasonable the further into the expansions the content is, though. Eden is one thing (and even Eden scares some people), but characters like Cylva (and/or Unukalhai) would require completing the Warring Triad and all of the ShB Role Quests, or if they ever wanted to use anything from Bozja (unlikely though it is) people would have to do the Ivalice raids to even unlock in the first place, to say nothing of the grind that follows... so, yeah, i think they really should just go ahead and assume everything's been completed, continuity be damned

[Infindox]

They should just use the characters in the MSQ and assume that the WoL already met them at that time, with a message saying that "You've met this character before, play (this content) to find out more" if the player hasn't. If someone wants to they can look into it, if they don't ah well.

[Infindox]

No, thank you.

I'd like it to remain if I don't choose to do them, it didn't happen. Like the awful EW raids.

They happened whether you did them or not. I also didn't like how the EW raid story turned out, but it's also okay to have something happen behind the scenes.

[RagAndBoneLady]

But I didn't play any part. So my character knows absolutely nothing, just like any job I haven't touched. 8D

Feel free to let your character carry any burdens you choose to, by all means.

[FuturePastNow]

They could just include a pop-up (akin to the several cutscenes one) that says something like, idk, "The following quest assumes the events of [insert side content here] have already occurred, if you'd like to experience that storyline for yourself this is your chance to back out"... not that i think many would choose to do that, but it would be... courteous. An attempt.

i don't know, i just think they need to do something, it's a huge shame to let interesting characters and story beats languish in side content jail forever...

They should do this. It's bizarre that they didn't during the 6.x Void story. Isn't this what they added the Unending Codex to the game for?

[Daralii]

They should do this. It's bizarre that they didn't during the 6.x Void story. Isn't this what they added the Unending Codex to the game for?

It should be, but the Codex being buried behind multiple submenus and easy to forget might make them hesitant to lean on it.