Square you need to streamline the main story

[Aldora]

But they've already done some streamlining in the pre-15 quests when HW released. They DO go back and do this stuff. They just need to do more of it.

They have changed a few requirements, so that you didn't need to get iLvl5 gear across the board in order to get the next quest. They also lowered the iLvl you needed to queue for the first few dungeons, so that players would be able to queue up for those without having to upgrade their gear They didn't change the actual contents of the quests. The dialogs and cutscenes are still the same as well as the amount of quests you needed to do.

[MomomiMomi]

They have changed a few requirements, so that you didn't need to get iLvl5 gear across the board in order to get the next quest. They also lowered the iLvl you needed to queue for the first few dungeons, so that players would be able to queue up for those without having to upgrade their gear They didn't change the actual contents of the quests. The dialogs and cutscenes are still the same as well as the amount of quests you needed to do.

They changed the position of NPCs as well, and some of the going out of your way.

[Keridwyn]

As said I knew a pure crafter/gather that quit due to the gating 3.0 did.

The person I was responding to was talking about people that skipped everything except the MSQ because it was unskippabale. My point was that if they skipped everything else the only thing they'd get out of FFXIV was the MSQ. That's not a bad thing.

[Naunet]

No you don't unless different account.

1 character account vs 7 character account.

Not sure why you're arguing with me though. I agree with you. Content should never be locked behind MSQ.

I beg to differ. In my honest opinion, the gates Blizzard placed on their latest Expansion (Legion) are worse, since you can't progress the main story, unless you reach a certain reputation with factions from the Legion area's. If you don't play WoW every day, you will be left behind because you can't simply pick up the next quest they've released, unless you work on the faction reputation.

Is that story required to run dungeons, raids, pvp, etc?

In WoW, you can level however you wish and then go back and do quests whenever you please. FFXIV is more restrictive than any MMO I've ever played when it comes to gating content.

[Moonlite]

The person I was responding to was talking about people that skipped everything except the MSQ because it was unskippabale. My point was that if they skipped everything else the only thing they'd get out of FFXIV was the MSQ. That's not a bad thing.

See it is futile. A certain group preaches the word of lore. We shall all bow to the lore. Non lore believers will be punished.

But incoming puppy pic so all hope is not lost



Or is it

[Ama_Hamada]

1 character account vs 7 character account.

Not sure why you're arguing with me though. I agree with you. Content should never be locked behind MSQ.



Is that story required to run dungeons, raids, pvp, etc?

In WoW, you can level however you wish and then go back and do quests whenever you please. FFXIV is more restrictive than any MMO I've ever played when it comes to gating content.

I know you do, but making new characters does not cost anything. Btw I got 8 chrs on this one ;p 4 of them (me and 3 others, have retainer access) Well.. maybe 9,10, I have level 1 alts on different servers to poke at ping tests.

See it is futile. A certain group preaches the word of lore. We shall all bow to the lore. Non lore believers will be punished.

But incoming puppy pic so all hope is not lost



Or is it

This is true, and it scares me tbh.

The person I was responding to was talking about people that skipped everything except the MSQ because it was unskippabale. My point was that if they skipped everything else the only thing they'd get out of FFXIV was the MSQ. That's not a bad thing.

The person I was talking about "skipped" (did not do it) the msq as well, all they did was craft and gather, 3.0 made them quit due to gating.

Forcing people to do something is not a good thing. Good way to lose subs, but you want to argue that so mission accomplished I guess.

In WoW, you can level however you wish and then go back and do quests whenever you please. FFXIV is more restrictive than any MMO I've ever played when it comes to gating content.

[Naunet]

I know you do, but making new characters does not cost anything. Btw I got 8 chrs on this one ;p 4 of them (me and 3 others, have retainer access) Well.. maybe 9,10, I have level 1 alts on different servers to poke at ping tests.

There is a sub option to only pay for one character slot. It is cheaper than paying for all available character slots. So yes, when you pay the full-character sub, you are paying more for alts.

[Felis]

1 character account vs 7 character account.

Isn't the entry sub 8 characters max on the account?
1 on each server, 8 in total

[Enkidoh]

Isn't the entry sub 8 characters max on the account?
1 on each server, 8 in total

It is, 8 characters maximum on the account with one character per server.

As for the OP complaints, although it's fair enough to want to get to 'where the cool kids are' in current endgame, you have to remember that this game is designed to guide new players into the 'meat and potatoes' of gameplay gradually, hence why content is unlocked gradually through story completion. Also, and this is the most important thing to remember, this is a Final Fantasy game first and foremost, which are story-centric RPGs, not open world sandboxes which are just battle simulators with some flavour text tacked on to give an excuse for fighting. Always to get anywhere in the game you will have to undertake the main story to unlock the world as you go along (in previous FF games this was often opening up more access to the world map, and eventually the airship).

The main story is the important aspect of the game, always there are reasons for everything you do in this world, whether it's trudging into that endgame raid, fighting a group of monsters, or even something as mundane as fulfilling a woman in the street's request for orange juice or crafting something or mining rocks.

Although it's perfectly fine to prefer more leisurely pursuits like crafting, you have to understand and remember that the story does take priority and that crafting is a secondary activity (the main scenario was actually designed to be the main way of gaining exp in the game, what Yoshi called 'content-based exp' back during development. Of course with alternative means of gaining exp being added since launch like Palace of the Dead, that is no longer quite as relevant, but it is still the main directive that the development team use when developing the game, and is why there is so much 'filler' quests in the game, they're to pad the exp gain out so that players level at a generally orderly rate).

And even then, the 'filler' quests still serve a story role - for instance, the much maligned quests leading up to Titan all had an ulterior motive - you were trying to gain trust with the Company of Heroes, a mercenary group who were the only ones to take down Titan previously, but they achieved it with a terrible cost in human life, and so they did not want to send you off to your doom without first being sure you really were capable of the feats that they were informed you had. And even if you didn't, at least all that food gathering would have made for a very nice last meal!

This is just an example of so-called 'fetch quests'/filler quests actually playing a more major role in the story than it may at first seemed.

[Amelia_Pond_Behemoth]

Where and what do you really think can be trimmed? I see this a lot "Much/most/large percentage of the MSQ can be trimmed or cut without much work."

Outside of obvious suggestions, like the Tataru bit where you help her check out other professions (it exists for pacing as a calm before the storm moment, but it is technically filler as you essentially end up where you started)

I disagree. This sets up an early scene in Heavensward where Alphinaud and Tataru are put on trial. To prove their innocence, they opt for a trial by combat. Alphinaud chooses to represent himself. Tataru, however, is incapable of combat, so asks for a champion to fight in her stead. But who's gonna step up? No one volunteers, but then in bursts the Warrior of Light. Tataru and Alphinaud both knowingly smile because they know what the Warrior of Light is capable of.