Unlocking Content

[Ashkendor]

I wasn't saying the quests be removed they should simply be optional instead of mandatory to unlock everything in the game.

Sorry, but people that aren't interested in the lore simply need to accept that in a story-centric game, encounters and dungeons are gated behind the main story quest and/or side quests and that's probably not going to change anytime soon. Just because you're uninterested in the lore doesn't suddenly give you an easy button to bypass all of the quests and other miscellany that everyone has to do. It'd be like letting you do T13 before you've even unlocked the first Coil. It makes no sense whatsoever for you to be able to just waltz into Bahamut's heart and die horribly to the first Megaflare fight his "final form" without having even known about the existence of the first fragment in Castrum Occidens.

Are fetch quests boring? Sure. But we all have to do them so get over yourself. :3

[Dicejss]

so get over yourself. :3

Pat yourself on the back for being as snobby as you're trying to make me out to be.

Yes quests are part of the mmorpg experience I understand that but what do you think is gonna happen when all these quests pile up that are required to unlock all that content? Let's just say idk 5 years from now you have someone new pick up the game and now they have to find and complete these quests. Ok so now they have maybe 50-100 quests they'll end up having to do which involve clearing dungeons/trials in the DF with what playerbase? Everyone who is actively playing the game then is well past all that old content and you can't say DF is the answer because throwing all the dungeons/trials into the same queue is really not gonna fix the problem. Yes this is all hypothetical and maybe even blown out example but you get the idea.

[GenJoe]

Yes this is all hypothetical and maybe even blown out example but you get the idea.

It's really not too far fetched come 4.0..
How is SE going to get any new subs when people have to play catch up for 6 months? Once 3.0 is out, maybe we can see the numbers and project that to other comparable MMOs to see what the new player numbers look like.

[Ashkendor]

Pat yourself on the back for being as snobby as you're trying to make me out to be.

I should know better than to try and inject humor, I suppose. I thought the smiley face would at least help. :/

Yes quests are part of the mmorpg experience I understand that but what do you think is gonna happen when all these quests pile up that are required to unlock all that content? Let's just say idk 5 years from now you have someone new pick up the game and now they have to find and complete these quests. Ok so now they have maybe 50-100 quests they'll end up having to do which involve clearing dungeons/trials in the DF with what playerbase? Everyone who is actively playing the game then is well past all that old content and you can't say DF is the answer because throwing all the dungeons/trials into the same queue is really not gonna fix the problem. Yes this is all hypothetical and maybe even blown out example but you get the idea.

I'm sure the storyline will get streamlined with time, just like they've already said the Zodiac saga will. Lots of games either knock out portions of the main story quest that aren't "vital" (I'm looking at you, nigh-unrelated fetch quests) or give you ways to bypass sections of them. As of Heavensward, ARR dungeon content will be accessible in smaller parties instead of requiring four, so that's already a step forward in that regard. You're not asking for streamlining, though. You're asking for a big fat "Easy Button" to let you bypass everything in one fell swoop. There's a huge difference between going back over the content a couple of expansions in and saying "Okay, we need to make it easier for the newbies to catch up" and just letting people completely bypass all of the main quest content because they don't play the game for the story.

If you don't like the lore, by all means skip all of the dialogue and cutscenes. It's about as close as you're going to get to your easy button. Like it or lump it, the game is story-centric and always will be.

[kyuven]

snip.

By removing dungeon entry restrictions and EVENTUALLY making it faster to progress to 50 (all games do this, and since they'll likely be adding more new jobs in 4.0 it'd behoove them to do it this way) they've already taken the steps to streamlining it.
You're still going to have to DO the MSQs up through 4.0 at the least, as they mentioned WAY back in the early days of 2.0 that that's how far ahead they have planned, but as it stands right now you're playing through the content.
Story driven MMOs strongly encourage you to, y'know, actually finish the story before moving on to the next.

If FFXI, Vindictus, Neverwinter, Star Trek Online, The Secret World, and SWTOR are any sort of example, you're not going to be able to SKIP the main story, but you will be able to move through it at a faster rate, i.e. be able to go from 1-50+ JUST on MSQs without having to pick up other quests on the way.
But the idea of just unlocking everything from the get go is absurd for this game's structure. Even games as ancient as EQ1 and FFXI have access restrictions on certain pieces of content even to this day. Hell to do almost anything worthwhile in XI, you NEED to be nation rank 6 at a minimum (that game's equivalent of killing Ultima Weapon in this game). It's simply their design philosophy, and personally as a general rule if it's a philosophy that crossed over from XI to XIV and made it through all the way to 3.0, I kinda doubt they'll be dropping it.

The next expansion could be like, you know, A realm rebirth or something. After blah blah blah before all the dragons are extinct, they lay a havoc upon the world blah blah blah, the world went into chaos.

Hence we start anew in 4.0 just like when 2.0 started from 1.0. All the previous story line will be lost along with the Illuminati Cheese.

Somehow I doubt they'd pull a "cataclysm" for the SECOND expansion, especially since they already did one.