So Long, Thanks for all the Fish

[Masekase_Hurricane]

Look I'm all for the Story, it's a huge selling point for me, I wish there wasn't a character limit so I could explain and be explained to.

Just edit your post and put edit incoming in the original post, this way you can bypass the character limit.

[Mimilu]

I think I get what the OP is saying: They're saying they don't like all the fluff in the MSQ. Like Minfilia asking you to inlay her dagger with materia or carrying dead bodies, individually, to their unmarked grave. It seems like they added this stuff for a mixture of length and RPing.

I do think that if SE is going to continue gating their expansions, they need to cut some of this fluff out.

[StormDisciple]

OP was complaining about the mass of pointless fetch quests in the main story.

This! Exactly this! I liked the Trials! The Dungeons! The duty finder is freaking amazing way to keep that content alive, and to have vets drop little nuggets of wisdom for newbies like me.

What is utterly asinine, are the 100 quests of filler fetch, go here and talk to this dude type of quests. The straw that broke the back as it were for me, was the requirement of doing some hard mode trials for Ifrit, Titan and Garuda, to continue on the story of the new astral era.

Things pile up and make a meh situation worse.

That kinda set up utterly kills momentum for new people JUST getting started. It's a literal fatal flaw, a chink in the armor that is the MQ.

[SpookyGhost]

What is utterly asinine, are the 100 quests of filler fetch, go here and talk to this dude type of quests. The straw that broke the back as it were for me, was the requirement of doing some hard mode trials for Ifrit, Titan and Garuda, to continue on the story of the new astral era.

Confused by this bit. You don't like the fetch quests which I can totally understand, hated them myself, but I dunno how that relates to having to do actual content like the HM trials to progress the story. Don't get me wrong, the requirement to do those outdated primals to progress the story is a problem in and of itself, but surely unrelated to your initial qualm with the MSQ.

Anyway, I've found that in order to enjoy the story in XIV you have to essentially play it only for the story. The dungeons are boring early on, any monsters you have to go fight die in a few hits and do 1 AOE, you have very few skills until 30~40+, etc. etc. You basically just have to suffer through the MSQ to get to end game where... well, to be honest, not much going on there either but at least it's more fun than the MSQ. Not that the story isn't a great experience in and of itself, at least up to HW, but the actual questing is super boring.

[KarstenS]

Didn't ever noticed the side note of the 2.5 starting quest.

[Zojha]

These 3 trials are not part of the main scenario or required to continue the main scenario.

Well, they at least used to be, though.

MSQ quest good intentions (2.5):"Players must first complete the main scenario quest "Let Us Cling Together," and have completed The Bowl of Embers (Hard), The Navel (Hard), and The Howling Eye (Hard)."
Not sure if it still is required - on my alts I pick up the primal quests just in case these days since I don't like hitting a block and backtracking >_>

[Bdyer]

I have to agree with the OP. It was the "first" thing that broke the immersion for me. Because after Titan you are this great warrior so saved the realm from a possible primal rampage! Why do I have to go an get this "item" from another city when the scions are already employing all these helpers?

[Berethos]

I have to agree with the OP. It was the "first" thing that broke the immersion for me. Because after Titan you are this great warrior so saved the realm from a possible primal rampage! Why do I have to go an get this "item" from another city when the scions are already employing all these helpers?

You're not being employed to do a task, you're helping out a friend. It's the Eorzean equivalent of if you're buddy asked you to run out to McDonald's and grab him a burger and fries while he's stuck at work and you're not.

[Seig345]

Personally, I find the tidbits of character interaction a fun way of keeping in mind that Eorzea isn't a world of nothing but one daring-do adventure after another. The NPCs aren't just signposts to the next beat-em-up, they're the inhabitants of a world that goes on with what an adventurer might consider to be "the mundane", their daily lives, needs, etc. Every once in awhile I like to stop and read the little chat bubbles the NPCs have from time to time, or enjoy the graphic design of the environments in the game.

But, I can understand that this game was literally designed with the "Theme Park" approach in mind, that some people play this game specifically for that theme park, and what might be stopping to smell the flowers to me could be someone else's insufferably long line for that awesome new roller coaster.

[StormDisciple]

Confused by this bit. You don\\'t like the fetch quests which I can totally understand, hated them myself, but I dunno how that relates to having to do actual content like the HM trials to progress the story. Don\\'t get me wrong, the requirement to do those outdated primals to progress the story is a problem in and of itself, but surely unrelated to your initial qualm with the MSQ.

It's not doing the hard mode Trials that was the problem. It was the "Oh by the by, go do this quest that ISN'T a MQ to unlock this stuff to DO the MQ" nature of it. They sent me off the already winding g course to take a random detour. It was the perverbial cheery on top of an already overburdened Sundae.

Some people like nuts, fudge, chocolate, sprinkles and whipped cream on their sundae, I however would have liked not having to slog through all the toppings for my ice cream.