A thought on solving the content gating issue. Long read, pls bare with me.

[TinyMonster]

I'm just disappointed they locked the new classes behind Ishgard. It would be nice to get to level 30, grab one of the new classes, and go through the MSQ with it.

This is the only thing that I think shouldn't have been gated behind MSQ. People at lvl 30 should have been able to get the tree new classes and level it up as they do the MSQ.. Right now they need to get to lvl 50 do the MSQ THEN level another class to 30-60 all over again, I can understand the frustration but the rest should stay totally gated behind it.

[Atrayl]

[citation needed]

If you think we're all in denial, why don't you share with us the source you base those claims on? :^)

There are no credible sources for either of us to cite. Not every topic has a foundation of research on hand to be used in debate, and yet we can still discuss these things. Hiding behind the tired XKCD "[citation needed]" non-argument in unquantifiable matters is such an intellectual dishonesty that I'm surprised it's not considered a fallacy yet.

It's absurd to doubt that people have quit the game over the gated content. I really hope you're not going to lower yourself to that. There have been numerous posts on these forums and others who have cited the gated content as either the reason why quit or the reason they will not start playing. Many people have similalry posted that they have friends who have either quit or haven chosen not to start playing when they are told about how the content is gated.

My second statement is projection, and really can't be cited by definition. It must be supported logically. With this, I again turn to the question from the previous threads that no one has still been able to answer: "if the story content is made optional, how does it affect you?". The answer is "it doesn't," unless someone can finally provide a better one.

People wouldn't quit if the story is made optional because it wouldn't affect them. The game wouldn't change for them. They could still do the story themselves. It would contain all the same content. You don't remove something you truly enjoy from your life when it changes in a way that you'll never see or be affected by.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

I don't think the number of people quitting is as large as you think it is.

[SirDiscoFrog]

There are no credible sources for either of us to cite.

However its very apparent the game is doing fine with the story in place.
If SE lost so many subs due to story gating it would have been noticeable. So many of these forum posts are people speaking for a friend or hopping on the bandwagon of 'but what about new players?' or 'I did it and I have no problem doing it.....but id rather not' and they usually happen in a surge because 1 is posted and stays on page #1 for long enough and then boom all of a sudden there are 5 posts about MSQ when last week not a soul cared. And yes some have quit due to the story gate, but most of them left in the first place for a different reason. I could agree with the fact that people wont quit if story was made optional but that would still annoy those of us who HAD to do it(and honestly just that could cause people to quit). And in a game that is mostly story driven, it would make no sense to make the story optional. I mean the MSQ gives a TON of exp for your first 1-60.

I will say through if they trim the fat in the MSQ that would be okay, but even then sometimes its a nice break from all the actiony action drama drama. Part of making a good story for anything is allowing the player to rest and absorb what they've seen/read/played.

I do NOT want to see XIV take WoWs route where the game is so jumbled around with broken timelines that it no longer makes sense, even for the people that were there from the beginning.

I'd also rather this not be the case. I enjoy seeing the conversations in Mor Dhona with theories about the MSQ and just people in general discussing it in the game/outside the game even. The moment the MSQ becomes lost in the void, XIV just turns into another MMO and less of a Final Fantasy game.

[Atrayl]

I don't think the number of people quitting is as large as you think it is.

Considering I never once attempted to define a number, I find it hard to see how you even have an opinion on the matter in the first place.

I don't care how many there are. There are some, and the fix hurts no one.

[Whiteroom]

Considering I never once attempted to define a number, I find it hard to see how you even have an opinion on the matter in the first place.

I don't care how many there are. There are some, and the fix hurts no one.

lol except you aren't taking into account that it does hurt. It takes resources and time to adjust or cut out the story in a story based game, or any game for that matter. These are resources that could be spent anywhere else in the game. Maybe one less dungeon, maybe less new gear sets, maybe something else. Also, as stated before, final fantasy is a story bases series, this is not a hard concept. They are not selling you a story-less game, if you bought it for that, you did in fact buy the wrong product.

They are telling a story, and they have made it obvious that they want it to be heard. This is what they are selling. They aren't trying to sell the game to every gamer in the world if it means cutting out the core of what they want the game to be. Cutting out the the core of your products, just so you can sell to a few more people is how you end up with a cheap, crap product.

[odie]

even if they have the resources to "fix" it, it still poisons the duty finder with people who have no idea what they are doing after being handed a level 50 for free. It would hurt a lot of people more than the ones hurt by being gated.

[TinyMonster]

Considering I never once attempted to define a number, I find it hard to see how you even have an opinion on the matter in the first place.

I don't care how many there are. There are some, and the fix hurts no one.

It does hurt.. Like Yoshi-P stated, the 3.0 is like watching a tv series that continues is season right off when the last finished therefore it will hurt the story and it's not like they haven't told us that it will be gated, they told us MONTHS in advance. Also my Boyfriend is a new player and loves the fact that its gated behind story since it is a FINAL FANTASY game!

[Tiqa]

even if they have the resources to "fix" it, it still poisons the duty finder with people who have no idea what they are doing after being handed a level 50 for free. It would hurt a lot of people more than the ones hurt by being gated.

Pretty sure of that, too.
The gating issue... isn't a issue (well, maybe making new class available at lv 30..).

[Teslo]

Considering I never once attempted to define a number, I find it hard to see how you even have an opinion on the matter in the first place.

I don't care how many there are. There are some, and the fix hurts no one.

The "Fix" as you call it, hurts those who don't have a problem with the gating. I have many friends who have now started playing after they heard about and seen video from the expansion. They thought it looks cool so they're playing now. I would wager that for every player who left because "OMG I have to play the GAME to play more of the game!? ABSURD!" that there's someone else who's picked it up. To these new players, there's just a game to play. They have all that content to look forward to.


My roommate started playing shortly before the expansion. Well, he started when the game came out, made it to level 25, and then logged in once a month and stood around doing nothing, intending to play but never getting around to it. But shortly after 2.55 was released, he picked it back up again with a force. He was done with the MSQ in under a week. He loved it. It doesn't take long to get through "All that crap" (My quote, not anyone here) to get to the "Juicy bits" of the expansion. The argument to get rid of everything pre-expansion (Or more appropriately, to allow people to bypass it somehow) is a non argument supported by non facts such as "Mass exodus. SE ruining game. Etc." I don't have any numbers in front of me to quote facts, so I'm not going to. But it appears to me, based on how many people I know who have started up or returned to game since the expansion launched vs. how many people I know who have quit or decided against playing due to the horrors of gated content, that the gated content isn't driving people away, and that more people are starting to see FFXIV as a stable game that'll be around for a long time. This, more than anything, will draw people in to playing.