Possible level/story jumps....really?

[Fancy_Corndog]

There are two valid responses to this approach:
1. Progression should be meaningful and no content should be missed or left behind.
2. It is good for new players to be able to enjoy the latest content, and it is good for new players to be able to access relevant content with friends if they were invited to the game by someone else.

Personally, I think that both of these feelings are very important to address. On the one hand, I feel like retaining the importance of existing content and the significance of progression probably outweighs ease of access for new players for the game's longevity. On the other hand, I understand that such a model is unsustainable with the current nature of the game. What happens in a couple of years when we're playing 5.0 or 6.0? Should a new player be expected to play for a year or more to catch up to the latest content? Obviously that is unrealistic. Enter, a solution to both problems:
Branching, optional (but very relevant) content.


Currently, I believe the expectation is that updates and expansions build on top of the main story arc, wherein we (each of us, the Hero of the World) progress through a world-changing story while linearly increasing our power either directly through class level or -slightly- indirectly through item level. Each of us is on the same path, and in order to get there, your friend who you invited to play the game must progress through everything that you have progressed through. The only difference is optional side quests, which are almost entirely inconsequential in terms of character progression, and alternate jobs.
Is this the best model?


What if, after the release of 4.0 and the supposed Ala Mhigo story arc instead of continuing past that the next series of updates (and perhaps even the next expansion) neither implicated the main character as Hero of the World-Changing Event nor made his/her actions necessary for the next addition to the "Hero of the World" story arc? Could we not have a -main- story arc, which every character must experience in order to proceed and which accompanies things like level cap and substantial item level increases, alongside any number of branching story paths that are largely inconsequential to the -main- or "canon" story arc but are nevertheless intriguing and worthwhile?

In terms of story and lore, I think the answer is an obvious yes. Of course we can place a marker at any point of the main scenario and implicate the main character in some important, interesting, and world-building series of missions that can aim to entirely avoid what may happen in the main scenario. Please be aware that I am not advocating a large dump of side quests as we know them in FFXIV when I explicitly mention the main scenario as a separate entity. What I am suggesting is something of the exact same quality - it could introduce new areas, jobs, dungeons, and materials - but that is not required by the next step of the "main scenario" by lore or by character progression.

The problem of character progression is what makes this a more interesting and difficult endeavor. If there were to be a branching, optional full expansion of the game - how could it be made interesting if my main job, say DRG, does not gain levels or a substantial increase in iLvl? I think there are solutions to this, but for some their introduction would be a notable departure from the current model. One of the easier and cleanest steps towards making the content progression-relevant would be to introduce BiS (or close to it) gear at the end of the story arc.
A branching story arc could act as a stepping stone towards end game content for players who have an interest in being well-geared, but would prefer story content to grinding or to farming difficult content. Maybe the best weapon for your job is obtained by grinding out a relic, the best legs, hands, and jewelry are obtained by farming some difficult content, and the best body is acquired at the end of an optional arc of the story. Maybe your more classical job-looking gear comes from story arcs and a piece or two happens to be BiS. In addition to using lateral gear upgrades to make branching progression worthwhile, optional traits (character upgrades of some sort) may be introduced.

This would be the greatest departure from the current system, but I think it could work. First, obviously you would gain some sort of token to exchange for rewards instead of EXP. That alone is definitely not worthwhile enough, though. Perhaps progression through a story arc grants your DRG a slightly better critical hit chance on jumps, or maybe it even grants your character a choice between slightly higher critical hit chance or slightly higher parry rate. This would reflect the Merit system of FFXI, but it wouldn't need to be as permanent a decision. Maybe each time you defeat the final boss of the Gelmorra expansion you get to choose your application of the bonus. Maybe that same expansion has a more optional primal fight that allows you to choose another bonus trait or stat upon clearing.

These are just my ideas, and I know that the immediate problem would be balancing the progression from optional content so that it would not lock out players who choose not to purchase the "branch" expansion before the next expansion to the "main scenario" or "main trunk" of progression. Honestly, I don't think that would be very difficult though. The goal would be that new players could join the game, progress through 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 while veteran players are delving into the branched arc of 5.0...and then everyone meets up at 6.0. The point is to retain a fundamental, required story arc that is never left behind or missed by any player while continuing to provide full-fledged content that is as interesting and relevant to players who are caught up.

In conclusion, I feel that the only options are to do the above, or to introduce a leveling potion that will likely make a lot of existing content irrelevant and may weaken the relevance of all future content by its implication. These are my thoughts on the matter, provided since feedback was requested.

Thanks for reading.