Thoughts on Isgard Lockout.

[Ryel]

snip

Actually the gating of new jobs / etc behind Ishgard access is a pretty smart move from a business perspective and one that is fairly common as far as MMO's go. For players new to the game it actually gives them a goal to play for, something that they will have to spend time (a few days to a few weeks depending on playstyle) on achieving, which in turn prolongs the life of the content.

By now most people interested in buying the game will have seen the promo shots and videos of Dark Knight, Machinist, and Astrologian, and for some that may have been the push they needed to buy the game + the expansion. When those players log in and actually SEE other players running around on those jobs it will keep the hype going and act as an added incentive to level up and make their way towards the expansion content, also last i checked there isn't any gate to starting the game fresh as an Au Ra so they get to play through the entirety of the MSQ as the new race if they wish to.

This isn't the old days of MMO's where leveling your first class took months on end of constant play, one can easily and realistically get to 50 and complete the main scenario in a week or so at a casual pace, and with the number of people catching up / leveling new jobs the queues are likely to be decent with all the returning / new players.

This approach also prevents an over-saturation of the newly released jobs, as its fairly obvious we are going to see a large (possibly temporary) shift of older players trying them out, but with brand NEW players still playing the first set of jobs it ensures that we still see some job diversity as they make their way towards Ishgard so in a sense it makes sure that every job is still being played.

And lastly from a server perspective this ALSO ensures that every single player isn't spamming the new zones / instances at the same time, it creates a sort of staircase of access as players make their way up through the content, you wont have EVERY single player trying to enter Ishgard at the exact same time when servers go up. Sure you'll have a large number of players exploring the new areas etc but this ensures that areas like Thanalan and La Noscea are still filled with people actively doing quests and FATEs.

I can understand the feelings of someone new who very much has the "That looks cool! GIMMIE GIMMIE NAO!" perspective, but for many, many reasons gating the content they way they are is the best (and smartest) decision they could make.

If the concept of actually PLAYING through the game to reach new content is such a turn off for new players, then perhaps MMO's are not the types of games they will like in the long run.

[Muin]

In response only to the OP, I'd like to reply in favor of unlocking select parts of Ishgard content on the basis of accessibility. Ishgard (the dungeon content behind the gates, unlocking flight and pursuing the main story quest) could all remain locked behind Ishgard's gates as exclusive content worth striving for.

But to keep the post-50 quests for every type of job including gathering and crafting behind the gates seems excessive for a new ex-pac that people paid for. I could understand locking everything if this was a patch that was free, but not behind an ex-pac that was to be purchased. You don't pay for something that you then have to go earn another way. That's what the money was for.

The new jobs that began at level 30 could have been unlocked in the Coerthas Central Highlands (MCH, DRK, AST). New battle class, crafting and gathering quests post-50 could have been given in the Central Highlands even though specific treasures such as those found through collectibles could have remained gated behind Ishgard content.

There were plenty of excellent examples of gated content in FFXI that did not deny players a basic platform of accessibility. I feel that anyone should be allowed to level any class/job to 60 if the world expands. In addition to this, several of us paid for the expansion but play on alts as well. Unlocking story once should be enough for people with alts; there can be challenging side-quests to help with further access much like when a player farmed for items to get into Aht Urhgan, or had to run the Maw Maze for Wings of the Goddess in FFXI. There are many ways to gate exclusive content while still providing basic accessibility of the core functions of the game.

A strong MMO is a generous MMO and could never appear weak for providing some basic accessibility to everyone. Please consider this.

[Windklinge]

i smell necro. this thread is nearly 4 months old mate lol^^