Terrible experience.

[Thonos]

So I have finally hit level 50 and got the quest to go to Castrum Meridianum. I understand this is old content and people can fly through it, but there is absolutely zero time to watch any cut scenes.

The Praetorium was a nightmare. For a new player, I didnt know to skip mobs via the teleporter. Didn't see the console to authorize the key, and missed an elevator trying to catch up. I literally played catchup the entire time and missed everything because the group runs straight through while I'm trying to figure out what is going on and dying because I don't know to click the teleporter.

I GOT VOTE KICKED. No one said a word in party asking me if I was lost or needed help or anything.

Is there a way to force these people to wait until cutscenes are over with and maybe not allow people to use the teleporter until mobs are dead? Just bought the expansion an hour before this and if this is a taste of whats to come, I have no desire to continue.

[Tempest222]

Those two dungeons are the only ones that have that problem, so don't worry, you won't have to experience that again in subsequent dungeons. And that was really rude of people to vote kick you for being new. That's ridiculous. Like, even if no one wanted to take two seconds to help you out, that content is so easy that it really doesn't matter if one or two people aren't present for the fights.

But yeah, try not to let it ruin the game for you. Things should be smoother going forward.

[Enkidoh]

I fully sympathize with you Thonos, sadly the way CM and the Praetorium were designed meant players quickly realized they could farm them quickly for tomes, thus starting the whole 'skip everything and leave newbies behind in the dust' mentality. Unfortunately, there is no way to combat this other than trying to run that with friends who will not rush ahead and will wait for you while you watch the cutscenes (both dungeons can be run by a single level 70 player unsynced easily now, so if you know someone high level who is willing to take you through it and let you watch the cutscenes, that is probably a better option than dealing with DF speedrunners.).

SE learned from this mistake though and luckily later dungeons/fights are not like that. But alas CM/Prae were left as is.

[Sakuraluna]

I probably would have reported the vote kick. I don't know what good it would have done if you don't know who kicked you, but there is literally no reason to kick a new player out of Praetorium even given differences of playstyle. I'd take that as outright harassment and I'm sorry it happened to you, but those are the only two dungeons designed around the msq in this way, so the only in-dungeon cutscenes you'll have from now on are the standard introduction and watching-the-boss-die ones that are only a couple seconds long and can be easily skipped without losing anything. No need to worry.

[Rongway]

If you create a party finder listing (do /partyfinder or Party menu > Party Finder), you can select the duty and include a comment saying something like, "looking to watch cutscenes and participate in battle", you can collect people for a proper run.

[Astrus]

I'm sorry to hear you're yet another player new to those two dungeons thrown under the bus for the sake of people getting their speedfarm.
Alas the speedrun mentality is what 90% of random DF groups will go with in those instances, they're not usually prone to kick you from the run but they will steamroll through it leaving you no chance to get the whole picture of what is going on story-wise.

Forcing the whole group to sit through the cutscenes is not a solution, all that would accomplish is the group disbanding or queues for the Main Scenario Duty Roulette to die.

Instead the sad truth is that your best chances of getting the "full" experience are asking friends to run with you or putting up a PF request for a cinematic run. There's generally enough of us out there willing to take it slow and letting you experience the story if we know beforehand that's what the run is about, getting a random group that just wants their daily tomes to slow down is a futile effort.
You're not on my datacenter so I'm afraid I can't help you out personally.

[Rongway]

Forcing the whole group to sit through the cutscenes is not a solution, all that would accomplish is the group disbanding or queues for the Main Scenario Duty Roulette to die.

This, sadly. The dungeon action takes about fifteen minutes. The cutscenes all together can take forty-five minutes or longer on top of that, and nobody would run the roulette if they had to commit an hour instead of fifteen minutes.

Instead the sad truth is that your best chances of getting the "full" experience are asking friends to run with you or putting up a PF request for a cinematic run. There's generally enough of us out there willing to take it slow and letting you experience the story if we know beforehand that's what the run is about, getting a random group that just wants their daily tomes to slow down is a futile effort.

This, though. If you put up a party finder listing, chances are you'll find some people who are more than happy to help you experience the dungeon as it was intended.

[Rinuko]

Sorry to hear that. Unfortnately this "problem" has been around since ARR relaunch and is not going anywhere.
Hopefully you got your clear.

Note that you can watch these cut scenes at an Inn.

[Hasrat]

It's effectively a rite of passage for players at this point. We've all been through the same hell. The best you can do is learn it enough to help others not suffer quite as much. Or you can move on and never look back now that you're through.

[rxnin]

Welcome to FFXIV! Along with some great experiences, just be aware that this will be just one of many terrible experiences to come. Wait til you unlock Leveling Roulette. Enjoy!