Let's talk about the free trial

[Jetstream_Fox]

I feel the free trial needs to be reworked in some areas, I don't feel it gives people a good idea on how the game works, it's more like, a very limited summary, almost like the cliff notes version. The main purpose of it is to grab players attention and obtain a sub within 90 days, now I been running around on a trial character on my new system for about 3 days, and I have the feeling of immense loneliness as this alt.

I can't talk to really anyone, tells, yell and shouts are disabled because RMT. I can't create FCs or join one, I can't create a LS only join, parties can't be started only invited, and I can't use mog mail. So looking at this as a new trial player, my main way of talking with players is through say or a player sends me a LS or party invite. This seems more harmful to new players, you can't really make friends, the subbed players really have to be the ones looking for new people and initiate all formalities. Which makes me wonder if people are developing bad habits and antisocial feelings early in the game because it almost takes away all form of community and conversation.

Another issue I've noticed and I'm pretty sure this is because of RMT, is I can't even use the MB or a retainer. So as a potential player, not being able to see what the server looks like in terms of market prices and whether or not they're stable, would leave a rather empty feeling in my experience.

So then we have the level cap at 35, well that's a good place to cap, but remember a new player can't talk really to anyone, so you as new player can't really reach out and ask for any advice if you're struggling. Given that 35 leaves you off at Brayflox, that can be a tough dungeon to run through if you are not at a decent understanding of your class. Now all this zero player interactions so far could be in part of the fact I'm on Jenova and I'm not even in the mentor channel, which is something I don't even know a demo players can access.

Lastly is the size of the demo, it's a 22 gig give or take download, I went through steam and it downloaded 8.5 gigs off steam and then the game launcher had to patch 15 gigs of content into it. Now I don't know why 15 gigs of patches is need up to level 35, but it was downloading patches from late 2015 and early this year. That part just seemed a bit odd and bit obsessive given I think those were just QoL adjustments, but I'm not sure on that.

But if I had to say would I sub to this game based off my run in with the demo? I'd say no, maybe if I was put in a demo world with other players, then yes. But as it is now, it doesn't even feel like the game I play, it almost feels like a game that has been abandoned. Which isn't the idea behind a demo, it's supposed to sink me into the games world and let me experience a little bit of everything, instead I'm wondering how new players can even deal with the barebones they get.

[Lambdafish]

You are experiencing this as an alt, not a new player. The game has a lot to see and do for a solo player in the early levels, and the game is pretty much single player up until lvl 15. You can talk to people in early dungeons who can give advice on rotation and gameplay, and for most of us haukke and brayflox were a learning hurdle regardless of free trial or not.

[synesthetic]

I would think that for someone playing a demo, creating LSes and joining FCs wouldn't be that big of a concern. But the world is pretty silent outside of those channels, or shouts in endgame hubs (e.g. Idyllshire), so for someone interested in getting a feel for the social aspect of the game, I think better access to the ingame community would be a large improvement.

Maybe sprouts and trial players should be given a global option to request access to the Novice Network?
Since access is manually given, it could just as easily be immediately taken away if it turns out the person is an RMT spammer.

[LaylaTsarra]

You can join linkshells on Free Trial, just not a FC.

[Dzian]

It does seem rather restricted. I've recently recruited a few friends to try the game and it's nearly impossible for them to talk to me in game or ask for help . Or get anything done. Tried to help one out and craft a few bits for him to get started only to find can't trade or mail them.

It's seems almost counter intuitive. The community is anmportant part of the game and for many the main reason they continue to play is because there friends do. In my case my free company and friends are the main reason I log on. If they weren't there I'd not bother once I got caught up with the latest story.

So on that basis at least, isolating new players from that seems counter productive. Of the 4 that picked up the trial only one has subbed and that's largely because he was with us in a few free company psn parties and found our antics amusing. So essentially it was the people in my fc that were the deciding factor on whether he bought the game.

[Tolmos]

While all that does sound quite restrictive, I do have to say that I have been very pleasantly surprised with the lack of RMT sellers shouting / RMT in general in this game. Short forays into other MMOs have reminded me how annoying it is to have the primary channels flooded with "cleverly worded" spam messages that try to slip past the blocks in place to stop them.

[aesteval]

Lastly is the size of the demo, it's a 22 gig give or take download, I went through steam and it downloaded 8.5 gigs off steam and then the game launcher had to patch 15 gigs of content into it. Now I don't know why 15 gigs of patches is need up to level 35, but it was downloading patches from late 2015 and early this year...

The demo is essentially the full game with a few roadblocks enabled. It's not worth maintaining an entirely additional release of the game just for the sake of having a demo with a smaller update footprint. Much more efficient to keep assets and etc synced and add a little code disabling some features. And I'm saying this from the perspective of someone who would really like to see the initial game install build to periodically be updated and include all patch content instead of having to download all of the updates separately. It sucks, but it seems to be what we're stuck with.