Possible level/story jumps....really?

[Chadness]

Really dislike this idea. This is a FINAL FANTASY game, it’s going to have story, and if you don’t like that, an MMO with “FINAL FANTASY” in the title is probably not right for you. I think the idea of this is a huge overreaction in response to a huge overreaction. I think certain players (apparently more so players outside of Japan) greatly overreacted to having to complete the ARR story to get into Ishgard in the first place.

I don’t see the issue being having to play through the story, but I do think SE messed up in the implementation of some highly-advertised features of the expansion. Most notably that is the addition of the three new jobs, and that is probably the single most annoying thing for either new or returning players. Another, of course, is those who predominately craft or gather, and couldn’t get to Heavensward zones without doing battle content and pushing through the ARR story, as well.

Both these issues could have been alleviated very obviously by not locking the zones themselves, or the new jobs, behind the story content wall. I think SE could have easily done this while still having the story unlock other content, such as dungeons, trials, and mostly battle-related content.

If they are smart about 4.0, then any new jobs, the new zones, and possibly other as-yet-unannounced major additions to the game will be available right out of the gate simply by registering the expansion to your account – no need for story progression. However, I really don’t think they should in any way simply allow players to skip the story or the leveling process of any part of the game.