So Long, Thanks for all the Fish

[Gemina]

Even though I don't agree with most of the stuff the OP said, I have no issues with it save for one little tidbit:

TL;DR

FFXIV is crap for new players, dont buy it.

This is where my sympathy goes away. This is something you say when someone is directly asking you if the game is worth the purchase, and nobody asked the OP jack. As a newer player myself, FFXIV has been nothing short of amazing. Money well spent. Lord knows it can go towards worse things.

[Mugiawara]

Didn't the Dark Knight questline say something about this?
Basically them saying they are sick and tired of helping every John and Jane?

Also, people totally skipping the fact he is talking about the fetch runs.
Not the 'main' storyline per say.
I just skipped over because I wanted to get to the meat of it all.
He ain't wrong about that, it's unnecessary.
Half the stuff needs to literally be a SIDE quest AND not shoved in
the MSQ.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

The Dark Knight quests level 30 to 50 wasn't just about being everyone's errand boy; it was also about not getting respect when they actually do the tasks or how they're still treated like garbage even after everything they did.

[kupokage]

I agree with OP. Friends complain about the quests first and foremost the first 2 hours into the game. I try to convince them it'll only get better and that the game really only opens up after you get to endgame. But then i realize all endgame consists of is standing around and quing for duty, waiting in que, running said duty and then repeat as needed/wanted. Then i realized i was only trying to convince myself THAT part was fun.

I stuck around after finishing 2.0 thinking it'll get better. Did not. Held on even longer for 3.0 thinking it'll get better. Not at all. Not making the same mistake waiting around for 4.0.

The only Titans I'm killing now are the humanoid nekkids that eat people. That'll entertain me into XV comes out.

[Derio]

Which is why I loved the dark Knight story. It complained about being the errand boy. But also explains the true value of being a hero

[StormDisciple]

It would help a tremendous lot if all non-essential quests would simply be reduced to optional sidequests. That way, if you need the XP, you can do them, if you don\\\\'t, you can leave them and if at some point your interest sparks, you can do them later.

I agree, side quests are the best answer. It would and could fill the gaps between those level jumps for the MQ and be done in parallel with the MQ rather than impeding your progress.

Its a good overall situation. One I think hits a nice little middleground between those that want to skip the MQ for whatever reason, and those that dont really want to skip the MQ but are fed up with nonsense.

Is it perfect? Nope nothing is. But I honestly dunno any other way to make it work without compromising something other than stubbornness... and maybe their wallets?

[Claymore65]

I'll admit, the 2.0-2.55 MSQ could use some pruning. There are a few points that are bit too much of a slog. The big one for me was the Company of Heroes Banquet...which came right after they mock how NPCs waste your time with Trachtotum (the fake Company of Hero guy). It could have simply been "I'd be happy to help, but first could you aid one of our members? Her home is under attack". You do Brayflox's Longstop, feel like a hero for helping her out, and then move on to Titan. He could then introduce you to the other members, and then have side quests if you want to interact with them more.

I'm all for quests that establish lore of the world, or establish character personalities, but "fix F'lhaminn's earrings and gather tea" didn't really add much. There are times where it was executed well (escorting a random jerk professor got...interesting in 2.5), but much of the time it felt wasteful. While I don't know how easy to it would be from a programming standpoint, it would be best to move a lot of those portions to side quests.

I know that SE is capable of improving this. Heavensward did a much better job of it. They gave far more convincing reasons to travel to the various zones, with the plot naturally progressing between areas. Most of the fetch quests were either moved into side quests, or had clear narrative reasons for doing so, such as establishing the Fortemps brother's personalities, or introducing new beast tribes like the Vath. Even then, side quests actually improved drastically, with many of them following little plotlines, such as the Partner-seeking chocobo hunter in Tailfeather, the Convictory plotlines, or the tragic story of a young thief girl in the brume. These not only established the world better than most of ARRs side quests, they were also completely optional and didn't bog down the main story. I'm fairly confident that the 4.0 plotline will be more like the Heavensward in pace, though that still leaves 2.0-2.55 without much improvement. I think with some pruning here and there we could get it at a better pace...and maybe with a aetheryte teleport directly to the Waking Sands.

[Gemina]

It's been said a thousand times already that if you can't deal with the MSQ and just want to rush to endgame, you're playing the wrong game. FF, single player or mmo has ALWAYS been about the story, and not being able to progress until certain requisites are fulfilled.

All of these little errands we are put on serve more purpose than a tedious grind to advance the msq. They are there to familiarize yourself with Eorzea, the lasting effects of the calamity, what's going on in the particular town/region you're in and it's surrounding mobs. We are all Miyagi'd with these quests, becoming true Eorzeans in the process.

I get that not many like to grind, but two FF mmos have shown that's what these games are about. The devs have already made things easier such as being able to run content synced with higher level players and giving these players significant bonuses for doing so. I think it is only fair that when it comes to the story and related quests, new players remain required to do them just like everyone else before them. Too much? Too bad.

[Kosmos992k]

Removing those 'filler quests' removes so much of the lore and character background from the game. As several posters have said, if you want to play a game without a major story requirement, you're playing the wrong game. With HW the MSQ is more clearly defined and lore/character is more relegated to side quests, which I think is a shame since so many people will never glance at the lore or background. Then again, those same people already skip through these things without reading them, so perhaps the impact will be limited.