So Long, Thanks for all the Fish

[Atoli]

The point is not to experience story content alone for the vast, vast majority of MMO players. Most interaction with others is done at endgame, and you'll have 100+ filler quests between ARR and HW alone before you can even get into the most recent expansion pack of content.

No, that explanation doesn't work. Because from lvl 10 onwards, you get all kinds of group content that you need to do. Especially at 50, even.
And people actually complain about that. Yes. They get to play with others and complain about that. So saying "Oh they want to reach HW fast to play with others" is bullsh*t because they CAN play with others before that and want to skip it as well.
So Taika totally has a point. Instead of enjoying the experience (be it story, questing OR group content), they just want to rush to endgame because they sooomehow think it's..better? Great? Special? Whatever.

Also, thanks to level sync being a thing, even their max level friends can join them in any and all content, no matter which level the new player is. So no reason to "rush" for the end either as it is perfectly possible to play together before that.

[Centershock]

Also, thanks to level sync being a thing, even their max level friends can join them in any and all content, no matter which level the new player is. So no reason to "rush" for the end either as it is perfectly possible to play together before that.

Yes, level sync is a thing but I'm certain that most of us won't do it sync'd if we don't have to. If we could find a maxed out lv 60 or two or three to do a lv 23 dungeon (I'm looking at you, Toto-Rak) and do that unsynch to steamroll through it, we will. I know I did when I leveled alts.

I believe it boils down to feeling left behind. A lot of us are already at end-game and I'm sure there are new players who will want to get there as fast as possible. And believe me, the MSQ between 2.1 and 2.55 is ridiculous.

[Laerune]

I do not agree with alot of the OP's points, but I do have to agree that he has a valid point when he talks about the non related fetch quests. There are alot of fetch quests, but I have not noticed them in Heavensward content. While I agree that as a adventurer you need to complete these mundane tasks, the WoL becomes a hero after the Titan fight.

Maybe they should have kept the WoL a normal adventurer and made him a known hero after all the mundane fetch quests?

[synesthetic]

We're heroes, not gofers!



disclaimer: I agree with several arguments being presented on both sides.

[Mature]

I enjoyed fishing

[ColorOfSakura]

Stuff

Like, I'm gonna start off and say I totally get this and I'm on your side that the fetch quests in the MSQ were pointless and mind numbing. In the 2.0 stuff (between Levels 1-50) it made sense because it was about gaining an "adventurer" reputation and being made to do menial tasks, plus they worked as ways to get bonus EXP.

The fetch quests from 2.1 - 2.5 (ARR Patch Content) were by and large useless. Some of them are fine - and they're just immersion setting. But the vast majority of them were completely unnecessary and I absolutely agree with you.

That being said - this isn't an example of content gating. It was just poor story design because they wanted to pad out the length of the Main Scenario to meet some arbitrary "Hours of Story Content" thing.

They've acknowledged it was poor form and from Heavensward moving forward, content patches have been much more streamlined and focused on the story. That doesn't mean that there isn't SOME there, but it's rarely if ever obnoxious or intrusive. Most filler-y fetch quests were relegated to sidequests in Heavensward, although there are some in the 50-60 part of the MSQ in 3.0, but they mostly exist as EXP filler and aren't nearly as hair-tearing as their 2.X counterparts. The problem is the fact that it'd be very hard for them to go in now and tear out some 50+ quests from the Main Scenario and make it still fully make sense. It's a poor design decision, but ultimately one I think we have to just deal with now. Thankfully with teleporting and chocobo porters, most of that stuff is basically just "Point, Click, Wait".

I think everyone finds the requirement for the Hard Mode primals to be rather boggling for access to Heavensward, I honestly think it was just for the sake of making players get those unlocked in Trial Roulette.

[StormDisciple]

also stuff.

I\\'ve noticed others have said the same thing since I started this thread, that Heavensward is better about the needless and excessive filler.

But even still, it does NOT fix the problem for people jumping in brand new. I am not asking for some ability to skip the main story. I am not complaining about having to do the main story to start the next bit of story. None of that is the problem.

The problem is having my experience bogged down with fetch quests and padding that rightfully belong as side quests, the very same that you say appear in Heavensward. It kills momentum, it kills wonder, it kills excitement. Those fetch quests and padding would be flipping PERFECT for those dead spots during leveling when there are a lack of quests.

Apparently they are all in the MQ.

If its better, really and truly, maybe I can finish it out, I\\'ll give it some time and think about it. Cause as of right now, FFXIV can burn.

[Imoen]

I didn't read the rest of the posts. I agree however, that the 50ish era quests, they wear out their welcome, especially as fresh character / returning character. You pretty much hit a long brick wall to HW, for like way too long. Some of the MSQ (specifically later patches) could stand to get some of their fat trimmed, without wrecking the story, in my opinion anyway. I don't feel like some of the primal stuff is that bad though, maybe just feels like it because of the other stuff too. lol

I only noticed this recently when my buddy came back to the game after taking break. I never noticed before really, since I did all the patches as they came for the most part.

[StormDisciple]

Bleh character limit.

In the end you cant please everyone. The trick as it always is, will be balance. Enough lore and tidbits, character growth moments, drama and comedy, action and romance, all of it is important, but too much of ANY of it, and not enough of others is bad.

Gotta present it well, that means no long strings nor complete disregard.

[Risvertasashi]

yeah, getting an alt started is a huge time investment. Wouldn't mind a way to cut through the filler if you've already got a character at max...

Like hundreds of hours investment :/