being new and @ level 50 is killing my interest

[Seryl199]

But new players can't? You not seeing the double standard and thinking you somehow deserve more than a new player is part of why you don't comprehend what this thread is about.

What content is there for new players to enjoy? Pretty much everything is tied to the 3.0 MSQ, from flight to dungeons and raids, job quests (at least for AST) draw upon Ishgardian lore and locales, and if you're looking to grind to level up, Northern Thanalan is the place to be, not Ishgard. They'd just be wasting their time standing in Ishgard instead of completing the 2.0 MSQ, which they would still need even if they could get into Ishgard, because the 3.0 MSQ gates Heavensward's content, exactly like how 2.X dungeons and primals were gated behind the MSQ. It's not a new precedent for this game, in fact it follows the same formula that has been implemented since 2.0.

[Hydrium]

Being able to press escape and skip the storu nullifies the whole story reason. I have no clue what happened in the 2.0 to 2.5 msq yet here I am in Ishgard having fun with the HW content.

[Tyla_Esmeraude]

There are so much gated content in XI, what are you talking about...? Sea, Aht Urgan, any of the basic 75 content outside of maybe Dynamis and HNMs, ZNMs, Salvage, Odin. You guys seriously remember FFXI in a totally different way than I do.

Maybe we had different experiences.

Yes, there was all that gated content, but I always had friends to do it with. Linkshells were really helpful back then, too. I never had a problem finding a static for CoP, Sea, etc. I never felt in a rush to complete them because I knew we would eventually. Maybe also because it was super hard back then so it's not like the whole server was gonna complete it from the get go. lol Maybe that helped lessen the pressure? That and the static's commitment and passion to beat it. XD

[AkashiXI]

Maybe we had different experiences.

Yes, there was all that gated content, but I always had friends to do it with. Linkshells were really helpful back then, too. I never had a problem finding a static for CoP, Sea, etc. I never felt in a rush to complete them because I knew we would eventually. Maybe also because it was super hard back then so it's not like the whole server was gonna complete it from the get go. lol Maybe that helped lessen the pressure? That and the static's commitment and passion to beat it. XD

You can say the same about 14 though. You can under size any of the old content (we 3 manned all the necessary dungeons for High Level Roulette for a fresh 50 in under 2 hours), and considerate Free Companies will help you get current with the newest content. Also, there's no rush to do anything in 14, even if you think there is with weekly resets. I run a casual Free Company, and the majority of them are casuals. They're just now getting to Bismarck Extreme, collecting their 170s, and asking about Alexander. They're having fun too, so just like in XI... play at your own pace.

[Niwashi]

People don't play MMO's to run old content. Ever. This isn't a single player game. This is a genre where people like to progress in the latest content along with all the other players and face new challenges that the developers create.

I certainly agree with your last sentence above, but your first sentence above indicates you draw the exact opposite conclusion from it than I do.

This is a genre where people want to progress, and the more to progress through the better. It's a genre where people want to do so together with others, which can be (and in the case of this game needs to be) done all the way through that progression. And they want to keep facing new challenges, which only happens while progressing and stops once you reach the end. On every point there, the more content there is to progress through the better.

If progression were all that made it fun no one would play MMOs because you can get that same experience playing any single player game out there.

Except for the social part about playing through it with friends (or making friends by playing through it with strangers). And for the fact that in time, after a couple expansions a whole host of content patches, MMOs generally grow to be a lot larger than most single player games. So an MMORPG is like a super long single-player RPG that you get to play together with thousands of other players.

But certainly if someone doesn't like the RPG genre in the first place, extending it into a massively multiplayer format isn't likely to change that. The whole RPG genre, spanning both its single and multiplayer sub-genres, is highly focused on progression. You're always trying to advance something, whether that's story, level, gear, or whatever.

Also, progressing in 3 year old content is not the same as progressing in something just released

Huh??? Of course it is. Content is content. Progression is progression. The content released a year ago is as good as it was a year ago. It's only "old" content to those who have already done it a zillion times and gotten tired of it, but that doesn't apply to new players. (Now there are certainly some portions of content that either of us might regard as better or worse than other portions of the content, but the timing of when they were released has no bearing on that.)

[LunaHoshino]

But new players can't? You not seeing the double standard and thinking you somehow deserve more than a new player is part of why you don't comprehend what this thread is about.

So I guess my friend who just started 2.0 the other day and is enjoying making her way through that is just a figment of my imagination, then.

She hasn't even bought HW yet. She's in no rush to get there right away because she knows she will eventually. Right now, she's just playing the game at her own pace and having fun with it.

[416to305]

How exactly is it not sustainable? It's called an expansion for a reason, it's like a sequel. When you've done all you can in one game, something new comes out to provide new content. Crying that you want that content right away without finishing the main stuff first makes no sense. I've said it like 3 times already on here, what exactly do you expect on doing in Ishgard before completing the main story quests?? The whole ARR story Ishgard has their gates closed off with no access allowed, so how would that make sense to let you just go wandering in now? What do you expect to find there other than enemies that will wipe you in 2 hits since they are significantly higher level that you are? If you just want to see what it looks like then watch a video on YouTube or something. An expansion is to add new and more content to keep players happy. If you're a new player then sorry but there's no way you're bored or out of content with ARR already.

Everyone else knew HW was coming out for months and completed all the quests to be ready for it. So whining about it being unfair that you now have to do the same is basically just too bad. If you're actually a new player, as in you started in the past few weeks after HW came out, then I'm sorry but there's absolutely no reason or need for you to do anything in the expansion. Unless you are playing hours every day, it takes months to fully learn the game and how it all works. If anyone should be annoyed it's the existing players. The ones like myself that have run WoD and other dungeons a million times collecting tomes and hoping for drops on our gear to get better equipment, only to have one of the first few quests in Heavensward give us gear that's significantly better. At least you get to actually skip a ton of stuff and won't be running raids over and over and over and will just be moving on. I'm not bitter about that, it's just reality. Plus I've bought a lot of MNK level 50 gear in Ishgard and given it to my level 50 friend who still has a ton of quests to do for the main story before getting to Ishgard. So you can buy or get people to buy gear and so on for you which is ilvl 115 helping you get through the trials.

You have tons of classes to pick from, sorry if you want MCH or DRK from day one, but you have to work for it. Don't act like you only get 2 classes to choose from and have to settle for one, there's tons of DPS classes to keep you busy up until HW.

[Teleste]

Be patient my friend. There's no race to the end. Enjoy the story and read the plot, and with one step at a time you'll make it to Ishgard.

[SevenHeavens]

Why do I have to play the game to unlock stuff?

WHY!?!?

[ckc22]

I'll never get the hurry for someone to rush to the end of everything so they can talk about how bored they are of the endgame raid - especially in XIV where there isn't exactly a ton of new extreme lvl 60 content all the time.