I find it completely sad. (Questing)

[Nektulos-Tuor]

That I know little to nothing about anything about the areas, the cities, how people live and are, or anything about the very race I play.

However, I can get a quest with a mediocre story I will forget in 5 minutes after doing it.

I would love to know more about how the world works, about the races, about the dungeons, about what is happening in it.

[StrejdaTom]

I have exactly the opposite problem.
I have so much lore information about every thing in the game that I constantly fear that I will forget something.

[Vespar]

I kinda have to side with Strejda on this one. I have done several play thrus on multiple characters and I still forget whats going on because there is sometimes a lot to keep track of

I've made the mistake of rushing through quests my first go around and not reading. Everyone else was raving about the story. So I made a second (and now third and fourth) character to re-experience the story making certain to READ all of it. Even now I rewatch the cutscenes because some of the story in this game is just too damn amazing

[StrejdaTom]

I kinda have to side with Strejda on this one. I have done several play thrus on multiple characters and I still forget whats going on because there is sometimes a lot to keep track of

I've made the mistake of rushing through quests my first go around and not reading. Everyone else was raving about the story. So I made a second (and now third and fourth) character to re-experience the story making certain to READ all of it. Even now I rewatch the cutscenes because some of the story in this game is just too damn amazing

Fortunately there is a huge summary of FFXIV story on Gamer Escape called Lore Train, they also do some more Lore tracking even about random stuff, so it isn't that hard to keep yourself updated on the main story.
http://gamerescape.com/2013/08/21/th...e-white-raven/
http://gamerescape.com/2015/01/19/th...reborn-part-1/
http://gamerescape.com/2015/05/12/th...reborn-part-2/
http://gamerescape.com/2015/11/10/th...nsward-part-1/

But what is actually killing me, is the fact, that every tree, bridge or ruin in this game (now I am obviously exaggerating a bit) has its name and story, which is sometimes part of side-quest, NPC chat bubble or only a name of that place (and the reason for such name is sometimes revealed years later by lore team and you find out how deeply they sometimes think about completely trivial stuff).

BTW: 80 sins of Sasamo, Sil'dih etc. only prove my point, mihihi.

EDIT:

So, your pretty much saying. The "best" way to learn about the game, is not playing the game?

I don't think that this has to be a bad thing. You can find loads of lore in the game, but if you are really into that, you can get more on forums, artbooks etc.
Not that I play WoW, but people who read Warcraft books have much larger knowledge of the lore too, same goes for Guild Wars books and so on..

[Vespar]

Fortunately there is a huge summary of FFXIV story on Gamer Escape called Lore Train, they also do some more Lore tracking even about random stuff, so it isn't that hard to keep yourself updated on the main story.

Oh cool! Thanks for this! I might actually go back and read that. I forgot a good chunk of 1.0's story. I was thinking of re-reading about it I hope the new lore book they intend to make recaps the 1.0 story ^^
But nothing compares to playing through it. Which is why Ive played thru the game on so many alts too.

[Defias]

As a fellow Lore buff, and someone who spent weeks & months learning the Lore of EQ, EQoA, and EQ II. I can say this...

You are full of it.

This game is FULL of Lore. Brimming with it.
However this game is not Voiced like EQ 2 so it is easier to "miss" the Lore.

Quest Journal dialogue, FATE dialogue, FATE flavour text, cutscene dialogue, Sidequests, MSQ, and the NPCs in town, they all have little tidbits of lore.
Talking to NPCs between Quest stages, talking to merchants, standing by NPCs who speak as you walk/pass by.

The Lore for this game is RICH. It's one reason why I play this game so much. Perhaps because I play Solo, I spend more time indulging in the world vs rushing to the cap & endgame content.

But as a result I have a deep understanding of each City-State's political system, the cycle of Life & Death & the lifestream, how to communicate with Elementals & how difficult it is, how Summoning Primals works, the importance of Aether to the world, as well as the cycle of Umbral & Astral eras along with the key differences between an Astral Era and an Umbral era and their effects on the world, the behavior and breeding habits of Chocobos, the mindset & beliefs of Dragons, an insight into the cultures of Beastmen, as well as a history of each Class and the backstory/history of the Jobs.

That said, you have 1 valid point.
As of right now the only Races to truly get fleshed out has been the Wildwood Elezen. While Miqo'te lore has been touched upon and somewhat exposed.
Sea Wolf Roegadyn have been touched upon too.
However we have not had any true lore on Hellsguard Roegadyn, Duskwight Elezen, Hyur (both tribes), Aura (We know they hail from Doma), and Lalafell (both tribes).

I admit it is disappointing but honestly as this is a persistent RPG, as we get patches and expansions I expect more Lore to be revealed and added.

Everquest didn't start right off the bat filled to the brim with Lore. A lot of it developed and was revealed as time went on and the game grew.
We only had rough backgrounds to the Elves, Dwarves, and etc. It wasn't until I'd say around the time Shadows of Luclin hit that all the Races had a deep backstory.
EQ2 took place 500 years later so that game had a lot of pre-established Lore.

[Nektulos-Tuor]

As a fellow Lore buff, and someone who spent weeks & months learning the Lore of EQ, EQoA, and EQ II. I can say this...

You are full of it.

This game is FULL of Lore. Brimming with it.
However this game is not Voiced like EQ 2 so it is easier to "miss" the Lore.

Quest Journal dialogue, FATE dialogue, FATE flavour text, cutscene dialogue, Sidequests, MSQ, and the NPCs in town, they all have little tidbits of lore.
Talking to NPCs between Quest stages, talking to merchants, standing by NPCs who speak as you walk/pass by.

The Lore for this game is RICH. It's one reason why I play this game so much. Perhaps because I play Solo, I spend more time indulging in the world vs rushing to the cap & endgame content.

But as a result I have a deep understanding of each City-State's political system, the cycle of Life & Death & the lifestream, how to communicate with Elementals & how difficult it is, how Summoning Primals works, the importance of Aether to the world, as well as the cycle of Umbral & Astral eras along with the key differences between an Astral Era and an Umbral era and their effects on the world, the behavior and breeding habits of Chocobos, the mindset & beliefs of Dragons, an insight into the cultures of Beastmen, as well as a history of each Class and the backstory/history of the Jobs.

That said, you have 1 valid point.
As of right now the only Races to truly get fleshed out has been the Wildwood Elezen. While Miqo'te lore has been touched upon and somewhat exposed.
Sea Wolf Roegadyn have been touched upon too.
However we have not had any true lore on Hellsguard Roegadyn, Duskwight Elezen, Hyur (both tribes), Aura (We know they hail from Doma), and Lalafell (both tribes).

I admit it is disappointing but honestly as this is a persistent RPG, as we get patches and expansions I expect more Lore to be revealed and added.

Everquest didn't start right off the bat filled to the brim with Lore. A lot of it developed and was revealed as time went on and the game grew.
We only had rough backgrounds to the Elves, Dwarves, and etc. It wasn't until I'd say around the time Shadows of Luclin hit that all the Races had a deep backstory.
EQ2 took place 500 years later so that game had a lot of pre-established Lore.

It has almost none of the little things that EQ had, and its side quests are filled to the brim with nothing special. For example, let me go to a random town in Gridania.

Sidequest 1:
Find 10 apples, no other information.

Sidequest 2:
Kill 6 poachers, why? Nobody knows, no other information.

Sidequest 3:
Kill 10 flowery things. Why? Because its a sidequest.

Talking to people:
Tells me about the most obvious thing of the town, but not why or when, or how.

Yeah, the game does have a tiny tidbit of lore hidden, but it isn't obvious or INTERESTING. Most of the INTERESTING lore is actually not in the game at all. In fact, I think some of the best lore for the game was scrapped when they remade it.

They, the OP, have openly stated in previous threads that they think the story is "dumb" and that they don't bother reading quest text and other such things and just click through it. So it goes beyond even not paying attention to intentionally and actively ignoring and avoiding it. They then turn around and make a thread like this maligning that there isn't any lore or story to the world. It's hypocrisy at it's best.

A lot of quests actually have no lore at all in them in this game. Sure some do, but I would say the majority do not.

Maybe in the Japanese version of the game, but not the English one. I heard they got rid of a bunch of interesting stories and romance options from the Japanese version.

[AskaRay]

lolsy

Well when you shorten and describe ANY sidequest in any game, it's like that. Good job.
For example, some of the quests in Shin Megami Tensei IV, using your logic they look like this:
Kill a demon.
Kill a demon.
Kill a demon.
Kill a crazy cultist.

Get the point?

[TouchandFeel]

A lot of quests actually have no lore at all in them in this game. Sure some do, but I would say the majority do not.

Maybe in the Japanese version of the game, but not the English one. I heard they got rid of a bunch of interesting stories and romance options from the Japanese version.

Every MMORPG and pretty much every CRPG has filler quests such as "kill 10 boar", even *gasp* EQ, hell in a way they sort of made it the norm for other MMO's to follow suit.
Also, while every side-quest may not be brimming with grandious world lore, most tell a small story, such as a Woodwailer shirking their duties because they joined the order for power and glory but realized that they are a bit of a coward, or that bandits are becoming more bold recently and have been raiding supply caravans in the area so they need food supplies which you can help get by hunting boar. Some of these mini stories are good, some are bad and cliché, but they are still little tidbits that give you information on the world and its people and often add up to paint a bigger picture.

Also, I've " heard" a lot of things, it doesn't make them true. From what I have seen with comparisons of the two versions, the only really changes that were made were some slight tonal changes due to cultural differences such as the toning down of Haurchefant's obsession with the WoL and differences due to trying to translate complex ideas between pretty different languages where sometimes direct translation is virtually impossible.

[Arrius]

It has almost none of the little things that EQ had, and its side quests are filled to the brim with nothing special. For example, let me go to a random town in Gridania.

Given by the quests you are showing, this seems to be Quarrymill you are referring to. Lets disassemble the quests.

Sidequest 1:
Find 10 apples, no other information.

You are tasked by Fawkes for getting 6 apples from the orchard. In the follow-up quest you get to know that he wanted them as an offering to the forest guardian, as this harvest was the best in years for him. This shows that the gridanian people rever their guardians for many things.

Sidequest 2:
Kill 6 poachers, why? Nobody knows, no other information.

You're being told that a band called Redbelly Wasps are taking hold of a abandoned village east of Quarrymill, and you're tasked to thin them out a bit to keep them in check. Faucertaux hopes that they perhaps decide to leave the place one day so the village can be used again for Hyur and Elezen to peacefully coexist, hinting at possible strained relations between them.

Sidequest 3:
Kill 10 flowery things. Why? Because its a sidequest.

Here, you are on the whim of a kid (sorry, I meant - Ser Kerrich, Dark Rider of the Shroud) , playing along with her commands. Just something on the side which probably shouldn't be taken too seriously.


There you are, there is a LOT to find in the quest text and in their conversations. You just seem to be too lazy to bother yourself with this.
C'mon, try harder next time.