What most turns new players off from FFXIV?

[Kosmos992k]

This forum.
**snip**
Probably the forced story content. People are so used to being able to do what they like, and do quests via optionals instead of forced content to get anywhere.

Then they(these 'people'you refer to) should go find a sandbox MMORPG and stop complaining about FFXIV not being sandbox and complaining about the story in general.

[WinterLuna]

Thinking back to when I started playing, the biggest turn-off for me was the lack of direction and information regarding how to play the game.

The quests felt very clunky and I lost them a lot. I also had no idea how to play my class (Hall of the Novice exists now) but at the time this was a big issue for me. I felt like I had to figure out a lot of things by myself or Google it.

Sorry if this doesn't really help much - I started playing a long time ago so I can't comment on what would turn me off in the games current state. I guess the same thing can apply now but to a lesser extent.

[Canadane]

I can't exactly relate as I was new in 1.0, a very different game.
But from what I gather in the Novice Network and some friends I've brought in is the lack of party content. It's a solo player game with some forced party instances. Lots of people wanted am MMO not a psuedo-offlibe FF game.

Sure this doesn't apply to everyone, I don't think any complaint dues, but this is what comes to mind when asked.

[Kosmos992k]

I can't exactly relate as I was new in 1.0, a very different game.
But from what I gather in the Novice Network and some friends I've brought in is the lack of party content. It's a solo player game with some forced party instances. Lots of people wanted am MMO not a psuedo-offlibe FF game.

Sure this doesn't apply to everyone, I don't think any complaint dues, but this is what comes to mind when asked.

But you can do FATE, levequests and dungeons in a party, along with treasure maps, and guild hests. The non dungeon/trial MSQ events are solo, but you can still run them along side others. There are relatively few pieces of content that force solo play. GC quests should allow (IMHO) up to a light party from the same GC to run the quests together, unfortunately they are one piece of content that does force solo play. Crafting and gathering are set up for player cooperation, not exactly party play, but still group oriented.

[Platinumstorm]

The things I have heard from my friends who won't play.

1. Combat is slow and unexciting.
2. Fetch and deliver quests everywhere.
3. Artistic differences

[Kosmos992k]

The things I have heard from my friends who won't play.

1. Combat is slow and unexciting.
2. Fetch and deliver quests everywhere.
3. Artistic differences

Then it's entirely possible this is not their kind of game. Halo is not my kind of game, but you won't find me posting (on it's official forums) proposals to fundamentzlly change it because I am free to do something else. By the same token if this is not someone's kind of game then they are free to do something else.

[Shurrikhan]

3. Artistic differences

If I may ask, are we talking terrain and character/mob model aesthetics, zone layout, UI, or some less visual form of art?

For instance, the fact that at least on my lower end computer, ground terrain and brush seem to flicker constantly during movement and at-distance drawn portions of terrain can include some really huge features to be adding in at some 100 yards away (chunks of mountains, etc.), whereas I won't find those issues or certain not as much in MMOs with a more cartoony or watercolor-ish style. If I were to correlate those issues with the art style, would my dislike be due to artistic difference (preferring one style and what all it includes or what compromise comes with it, over another)?

Boring forgetful text reading story. Compared to other MMO's that have a talking NPC at every corner.

I may be blowing anecdotal evidence out of proportion, but I do at least know that I'm not the only one who will turn off NPC voices because they prefer their imagination over the (typically mediocre at best) voiceactor.

If you came late to the party, of course you want to whiz through this to get to the 'good stuff'. Perhaps SE will accommodate you, perhaps they can't without radically revising the story line: Cataclysm anyone?

I apologize for how tangential this will be, but just some food for thought:

Let's say there's a MMO that added playable races as the game progressed, but had them locked behind certain bits of quest and particular levels. Similarly, that race would then start at the acquisition level, and, because they had a completely different MSQ from character creation up to a point some eight to fifth of the way to level cap beyond when you could acquire said race, they were automatically progressed in story as well. The idea is that you now get to see the 'other perspective', wherein the actions of your previous character can even have an effect on the side-MSQ of the new one, while simultaneously limiting the playerbase's "rarer" races and allowing races that are supposed to be naturally more powerful to feel more powerful at creation (in this case, because their entry level is some third or half way to level cap for another race) and allowing their MSQ to feel entirely their own so much of that development time being missed by, or outside the interest of, those players who will only play the traditional or humanoid races (hook em' with plots they already know and hopefully enjoyed, and make them enjoy it even more through just the right amount of variance to be new yet connected — ominous and provocative).

Okay, long intro, but here's the reiteratable part: you can release side-content, visible to both the original and redacted MSQ lines, that can replace or be substituted for the MSQ without having to cut out any of its prior development time, thereby wasting it, nor only attracting the interest of new players (not that they'd know there had even been a change, if the redaction had been made directly to the original line). In many cases, it can even have a much greater sense of identity, or can even build up fellow hero archetypes that might be used later, by the original or any other redacted line, as well.

[Dalvy]

I have heard many complaints from the experienced MMO crowd that combat mechanics are extremely dull

And that damn 1.5 GCD is a huge problem

[Reinha]

I have heard many complaints from the experienced MMO crowd that combat mechanics are extremely dull

And that damn 1.5 GCD is a huge problem

Might have been a typo on your part but it's actually 2.5 seconds.

I used to dislike classes with a 1.5 second GCD in WoW and preferred the ones with a 1 second GCD. By the Twelve, the things I would give to have even one class with a 1.5 second GCD and with less or none of the stiff animation locks in this game. It only takes me 0.5 seconds to swap targets and queue an ability and the rest is just... waiting. General movement, melee positioning and dodging happens independently from combat rotation with a proper setup for controls.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Going by forums I frequent and reddit, the story is seen as a huge hindrance for even people who otherwise enjoy the game. Many do not actually dislike the story itself, but the myriad of fetch quests and content restrictions imposed on their progression. I've read plenty of posts where people finished 2.0 yet ultimately quit once they realized they still had another 100 odd quests left to slog through. Sadly, the only solution that wouldn't otherwise affect financial costs in relation to creating more content is a jump potion.

Another semi-common complaint is how slow the GCD iis whilst leveling. You unlock skills at suck a gradual pace, some people just cannot keep interest, especially given the aforementioned MSQ further slowing them down.

I'd say those two are the biggest hurdle for new players. More so those coming from other MMOs.