Possible level/story jumps....really?

[AzraelX]

only thing I feel that needs to be done is to NOT have ANY jobs gated through story so if new players or any players buy 3.0 or 4.0 they can be the job they want to be as soon as they have the appropriate level requirement. I also feel 2.1-2.5 and 3.1-3.5 should be skippable. I have a summary of what happened in those events. but doing MSQ should be required. People will just power through content even though it may have short term gains, it will have long term loses such as difficulty of content, rewards, player quality and retention.

[Rita1989]

The 1-50 content is fine as it is you can level up your primary job basically just doing the MSQ, it is the level 50 and eventually the level 60 quests that can feel like a bit of wall for newer players but there are ways they can adjust this by removing all the fluff content in these patches so you just get the main story.

I think as long as the new jobs are available at level 30 for all players in 4.0 most people will be okay with having to do the MSQ to get to level 60, this level jump crap may get you some new players but if they are not willing to do the story in a story driven game, I don't see them playing much after 4.0 and in the process you risk pissing off your dedicated player base.

If SE ever implements this I will definitely be thinking of cancelling my subscription.

[RiceisNice]

I'll post what I had on reddit.

The problem with introducing WoW's jumping to FFXIV is that the two are built on entirely different premises; FFXIV is entirely story driven with it's progression. If they were to put you straight into 50 without 2.x , the entire story is compromised (not just the MSQ but job quests as well, specifically DRK 30-50).

Of course there is the option of just slamming you to level 50 under the assumption that your character has already experienced the story behind-the-scene (and catching up on the lore itself is entirely on the player through supplemental material), but I honestly don't feel that FFXIV is at that point where it justifies a level jump to be able to get to current content. A better option right now to be to abridge and trim out a lot of the unnecessary fetch quests in 2.x's pre and post praetarium quests.

The interconnecting story between expansion shouldn't disappear to accommodate. If the players are content with skipping out on the story with the jump and catching it up on their own time, that's fine. Trimming out a lot of hte fluff for fetching/feeding soldiers would also be nice, it literally adds nothing to the plot.

You can skip every cutscene in the game by pressing a button. It remains the fastest way to level as it gives the most experience and unlocks the majority of the dungeons in the game. It is completely possible to level without those quests.

Even with the ability to skip cutscenes, there is an incredibly large amount of fluff inbetween each that really doesn't add much to the story in the longrun. Things like going around the world to fetch stuff for a dinner party (while we're under the pressing constraint of time no less) and delivering soup to three different soldiers scattered in the camp.

I don't see them playing much after 4.0 and in the process you risk pissing off your dedicated player base.

These players would have to ahve a really loose trigger to get pissed off about someone being able to jump levels. It does not directly affect your perspective of the game, unless the developers have mentioned on record that they have specifically taken away from the main content to make changes to accommodate the jump (and they really need to work on retaining current players as much as they are trying to get new ones in)

[Vivi_Bushido]

This will be used more by Balmung RPers so they can power level their alts and have access to all glamours and zones!

[MistyMew]

Don't mind the possibility at all tbh.

Would never quit if they do nor quit if they don't, just carry on enjoy the aspects of the game I do like.

basing ones subscription continuation on this imo is really silly.

[Theodric]

basing ones subscription continuation on this imo is really silly.

It's not - because I'll happily wager that a lot of people worried about this change have seen exactly how a similar affair played out in WoW. It was one of the main factors as to why I lost interest in WoW - because along with many other design decisions it paved the way for the developers to gut content by making it increasingly optional and irrelevant. I do not want to see a similar situation play out with FFXIV - especially so early on in the game's life.

[Judah_Brandt]

Because catering to literally the smallest amount of players for an obscure reason is a terrible business strategy. Take an economics course.

[Miste]

Level skipping? I vote NO.

There are already too many players only doing 25%-30% of their potential. Like 'DPS that I could out DPS just hitting random buttons' bad; or a DRG in full i230 gear getting outdps'd by two tanks in i220 gear in A8 normal even though one of them is in tank stance for 90% of the fight. Level skip is just going to teach players they don't have to work for anything and they don't need to work to get better. The problem already exists but I feel it is going to make it worse.

I am pretty tolerant and I don't kick or attack players that I consider to be playing poorly, but it's not fun going into A8 and the DPS fail to kill the adds and they blow up because too many of the DPS in there are doing poorly and we wipe (or getting to enrage and wiping, which Ive seen multiple times even with all the 230 gear people have now). The game has DPS checks in a lot of fights so fostering poor play by letting people skip part of the learning aspect of their job is just gonna end up with a lot of DPS check wipes in max level content.

I mean I guess if there were no DPS checks or time restraints it wouldn't matter and you'd just take two or three times longer to clear but...that's not how SE designed it so far.

Why would anyone think that it is a good idea? I get that there are players who would skip to max level and learn well and do great but I feel its not worth the other side effects. I've leveled two alts and I really don't think it takes that long to level in this game. Not to mention going through the story if you've already seen it or don't care you can skip almost all cutscenes and this makes it go pretty fast in my opinion.

An option to skip the story I am just neutral on as it doesn't affect anyone else but the player who wants to skip so if they wanna skip its their choice but I definitely feel people need to level up on their own since how they learn to play their job does affect others in DF and DF is integral to actually playing the game.

[Whocareswhatmynameis]

I don't see the point in casuals skipping levels, the endgame has already been gutted by casuals... news flash, there isn't that much to do at endgame anymore cuz story mode raids are a thing now. So all the casuals that wanted to see the story so bad now want to skip a bunch of it? I really don't understand people these days...

[Parodine]

It's pretty obvious that from previous cutscenes Yda and Papalymo are involved with the Ala Mhigan resistance in some capacity, and that is likely where the next expansion will be. This seems to imply the continuity that 3.0's end of story will be directly tied with the beginning of 4.0's just like 2.55 was with Heavensward making progression integral to understanding what is going on.

I think instead of the jump potions, SE really needs to decide how continuous they want to make this story. In many other MMO's, new expansions were generally completely seperate stories that, while often still bringing in previous characters, required none of the previous plot to understand. After 4.0 maybe SE should revist this route. Maybe get us away from the scions for a while, I dunno. But like others have said, I definitely share a distaste for this potential item.