Game needs to be more newcomer friendly, but NOT with level-boosts

[HappyHubris]

-Axe the filler. There are many options to reduce the quest load without sacrificing world building or characterization:
*Removal of fetch quests
*Removal of investigation "dead ends"
*Quest-specific fast travel (e.g. "...bla bla now let me teleport you to your next locale!")
*Consolidating quest steps. Instead of "Travel to B, kill 3 guys, return to A, travel to C, kill 5 guys, return to A" we could have more A->B->C->A quests.
-Frontload more skills. Give every DPS class an AoE by 15. Give every tank a threat stance by 15. Give everyone some oGCDs by 30. Etc. Nothing makes you want to drop out more than spamming two DoTs and a weak nuke on every. single. mob.

[HappyHubris]

-(Controversial) Give cross-class skills without leveling up alternate classes. Asking someone to level two side classes to 30 or 40 for their last few skills is quite a lot; you could offer a "sneak peak" of other classes by enabling the cross-class skills by current class level.
-Allow the new classes to be played earlier, even if the class quests don't kick in until 30. Leveling one job to 50 just to start your second job (that itself requires two 30-40 side classes) is a crazy investment for a new player that wants to try MCH/DRK/AST.

[NolLacnala]

insta-Chocoporter in West Thanalan to the Scion's clubhouse

The boat in Limsa next to the ACN guild goes directly to Vesper Bay

-Frontload more skills. Give every DPS class an AoE by 15. Give every tank a threat stance by 15. Give everyone some oGCDs by 30. Etc. Nothing makes you want to drop out more than spamming two DoTs and a weak nuke on every. single. mob.

Impulse Drive spam until level 26 is the highlight of DRG

[Terin]

Real talk? I would be totally fine with them indexing cross-class skills completely, and just making new baseline abilities in the cases they are necessary.

Ultimately, I though, I think by making new Jobs playable at creation, removing the filler Main Scenario quests (just repurpose them as optional quests to flesh the setting out for those who want to), and having a fast-travel for quest turn ins, I think the game would be awesome for new players.

I might actually change the 2.1-2.55 quest chains to either be optional, or hit at an earlier level (ie. the original Main Scenario wrapping up around lvl 45,). Also, all Dungeons should unlock at certain levels, removing that whole barrier of "How do I unlock this next dungeon?".

[Derio]

I think adding in the new jobs starting at lvl 1. And then locking them behind an expansion purchase is the best route.

However if you noticed with HW they were able to cut out alot of slack from lvl 1,5, 10,15,20, and 25 job missions and possibly their idea for the next expansion is to start at lvl 40 instead of 30 seeing the new lvl cap will be 70.

I highly doubt 4 jobs not being available from a player starting the game stopped them from wanting to play the game.

[Terin]

In all honesty? It might.

Let's say one of those jobs is Samurai; pretty unique job there, and a lot of people might consider buying the game JUST to play as a Samurai. Well, if they're unable to play a Samurai until they're 60+ hours into the game? Well, they might opt to just not even try FFXIV.

Like I said, that's exactly what happened to me with the Blue Mage in FFXI. If you're already max level, I think it's awesome to give them a head start on leveling a new job, but newcomers still want to be able to access those jobs. After all, New Jobs are a major selling point to any expansion, and if the buy said expansion, they're going to be eager to play then right away.

[bass9020]

In all honesty? It might.

Let's say one of those jobs is Samurai; pretty unique job there, and a lot of people might consider buying the game JUST to play as a Samurai. Well, if they're unable to play a Samurai until they're 60+ hours into the game? Well, they might opt to just not even try FFXIV.

Like I said, that's exactly what happened to me with the Blue Mage in FFXI. If you're already max level, I think it's awesome to give them a head start on leveling a new job, but newcomers still want to be able to access those jobs. After all, New Jobs are a major selling point to any expansion, and if the buy said expansion, they're going to be eager to play then right away.

I hope they can do it in a way that won't ruin the lore/integrity of the jobs (wish we were getting classes as well but oh well.)

[Terin]

I hope so, as well. Really, there's no reason they couldn't add Classes that are precursors to the Jobs later in the game; they were clearly designs to be played at low level, given how they scale down for guildhests and dungeons. Like on said, just add something like "Squire" as a precursor to Dark Knight, Musketeer as a precursor to Machinist (there's already a guild in Limsa for them), and... Something to precede Astrologian.

They might mechanically be the same, but at least then, you get to play then, without sacrificing that "moment" when you finally get your Job Crystal.

[TankHunter678]

1) Make MSQ scenarios allow parties up to 4 people. This way a high level player can help their friends out with difficult scenarios and not have to break the party up then reform so much.
2) Sync to player level function. This way a high level player can sync down to the level of his friend, not deny the friend OW exp, and not cause the friend to wind up getting extra mobs with every pull because they are partied with a high level player.
3) Quest share function. This will allow a person to come help their friends on a quest and see what the quest requires/hidden NPCs. Will also aid mentors in helping sprouts.

By virtue of making it easier for people to help others on their quests you in turn improve the leveling experience. It always feels better to play with your friends, the current experience is very unfriendly to playing with your friends until they hit the same level as you. The MSQ is less daunting when tackled with a friend you can talk with.

Also, all Dungeons should unlock at certain levels, removing that whole barrier of "How do I unlock this next dungeon?".

Do. Not. Remove. The quest barrier for dungeons.

Otherwise this game will wind up just like WoW where people level to 15 and then sit in a capital city or FC house spamming dungeons all day till level cap and ignore the entire story, the entire world, and make every zone in the game world feel even more empty. The Open World would become almost pointless, the FATE system would become almost pointless, the Hunt system would become almost pointless and SE would have to figure out ways to force people out of the capital cities/FC house.

And the only way Blizzard with WoW could figure out how to do that was to make it so in legion their "world quests" have a chance to roll a +55 ilvl boost so you could skip the first raid tier by running around the limited section of OW with world quests.

[Savagelf]

your suggest make so players can help lvl syn the mainline quest to be more challange up to 4 players or so it can help each other out

i think mainline story mentor add to games. so that friend help each other out

it get ML symbol this be a way combat the desire for lvl potion. the lvl syn work well for the mainline story mentor

plus if players get mentor they friends who they help through mainline story would get exp boost for doing it with them