Does the story quests in after 2.0 improve?

[M0rty]

Because I feel like they're mostly busywork like I'm at the part where I need to get help from the Company of Heroes and I'm going on a HUGE tangent to prepare a feast for the owner of Costa Del Sol.
It's like I'm living a filler arc in a shonen anime but does the patches stories and expansions move at a better pace?

[Squintina]

The story in ARR is very dull..it gets good around MSQ level 47-50 (until beating ARR), then it has a big filler arc of 101 level 50 quests (ARR part 2) that are also quite boring at first but halfway through it starts picking and then it goes HOLY MOLY!

Then Heavensward starts and the story picks right up from there and stays good throughout Stormblood. Sure there are still a few sections here and there that get boring, but nothing that lasts too long.

[Hasrat]

Basically, you started the game coming into town as some no name scrub that accidentally falls in with the Scions and just happens to have the Special Power. For most of ARR, you're still just some punk adventurer trying to prove yourself. You're going to have to sling some shit before anyone starts taking you seriously.

[Animatonic]

What they said above. It's tedious in the beginning, but gets better as you go.

[Enkidoh]

As mentioned above, for a good deal of the initial story things are rather mundane - and the reason for this was given way back at the start when you first started: the proprietor of the Adventurer's Guild outright stated to you that the work you will be doing will rarely be of major "realm changing" importance, but it is trivial work that helps build a rapport with the people of Eorzea who are very mistrustful of foreigners, having just experienced an apocalyptic event that was caused by a foreign power (the Garlean Empire).

Unfortunately also, the part you are currently on is probably the most dullest part of the game as it really does drag, but again, there is a story reason for that (as you've probably read already) - the Company of Heroes paid an enormous price in human life to take down Titan originally before the Calamity and so really do not want to have your blood on their hands again (even though you've already taken down a Primal once before, actions speak louder than words), and so want to be sure beyond all doubt that you really do have it in you to face the Lord of Crags, hence all the busywork to establish a feast (spoiler ahead but

the feast is actually for you! You are the guest of honour for it - when they realize you were the special adventurer they were expecting for the banquet they're rather embarrassed they made you do all running around to get the food and drink for your own meal, but even then, if you failed to take down Titan, look on it as a nice last meal! )

There is also a gameplay reason for this - the EXP gained from main scenario quests was designed originally as FFXIV's main source of EXP for your first class/Job so hence the story needed to be padded with filler quests in order to stretch it out enough to keep EXP gain consistent. Unfortunately that meant lots of simple fetch quests.As others have mentioned, the story greatly picks up after Titan, but there will always be fetch quests and running about doing chains of deals, it's your job description as an adventurer first and foremost.

And besides, all this altruistic busywork comes back to help you when you need it most story wise at the end of the entire ARR storyline which leads into HW (

the Syndicate's hatchet job of blaming the player for Nanamo's assassination ultimately helps you out - no one in Eorzea believes Lolorito's lies simply because no one accepts that the one who is willing to stick their neck out for the smallfolk regardless of how trivial or petty their task is could be guilty of regicide, no it's clearly the Monetarists behind this! - and allows you to continue to walk around Ul'dah with impunity.

So it is all worth it ultimately.

So stick at it, things do get better!

[M0rty]

snip

Thanks for everyone for the explanation and especially yours,Enkidoh. I'm rather impressed by this community(I heard it was quite toxic but I've been proven wrong). Another thing I'd like to ask about questing(it may tie to Dungeon and Raids): Do I unlock DG and Raids only through main quests or I can visit the location and unlock them?
And is the Palace of the Dead a more traditional "enter, explore, collect fat loot" type of DG or does it has it's own thing outside of being proceduraly generated?

[Shurrikhan]

It gradually builds from poor to mediocre back to tedious to promising to mediocre to really tedious to possibly promising to momentarily impressive to steady to solidly impressive to necessarily lull to progressive to... and so on.

Long story short, it's rarely great, but it does definitely get better -- arguably more so than the majority of MMOs as far as a sustained driving story goes.

[MistakeNot]

Thanks for everyone for the explanation and especially yours,Enkidoh. I'm rather impressed by this community(I heard it was quite toxic but I've been proven wrong). Another thing I'd like to ask about questing(it may tie to Dungeon and Raids): Do I unlock DG and Raids only through main quests or I can visit the location and unlock them?
And is the Palace of the Dead a more traditional "enter, explore, collect fat loot" type of DG or does it has it's own thing outside of being proceduraly generated?

Nearly everything in FFXIV is gated by the MSQ one way or the other. Not everything is unlocked directly by the MSQ, but the quests to open them generally does not become available until you have passed a certain point in the MSQ.

Palace of the Dead is largely its own thing. It is mainly a source for easy Exp. While you can get some interesting loot there, little of it will be useful for gearing up.

[Frizze]

Thanks for everyone for the explanation and especially yours,Enkidoh. I'm rather impressed by this community(I heard it was quite toxic but I've been proven wrong). Another thing I'd like to ask about questing(it may tie to Dungeon and Raids): Do I unlock DG and Raids only through main quests or I can visit the location and unlock them?
And is the Palace of the Dead a more traditional "enter, explore, collect fat loot" type of DG or does it has it's own thing outside of being proceduraly generated?

The dungeons and trials you need to clear to continue the story will always be unlocked via the MSQ. When its time to face Titan, the storyline will unlock the fight. When you need to go into dungeon X to get thingy Y to continue on, the story will set the unlock. There are lots of optional dungeons, trials, and raids however. Most of them will come at the cap levels(50 60 and 70), however at your level you already theoretically have access to two of them - Halitali and Cutters Cry. If you havent opened them up yet, check around Ul Dah(or maybe horizon) and look for an unlock quest you can do.

As for PotD, its basically its own thing. Your level inside isnt the same as your level outside, and it has a proprietary gear leveling system that doesnt interact with your gear outside. Basically you get stronger inside, but it doesnt directly impact your strength outside. And as for the loot, 99% of it is cosmetic and/or useless. Basically it has a little bit of a story to it, but its primary reason for existing is as a gear-agnostic leveling alternative.

[LynMars]

Some of ARR's problems come from being rebuilt on the bones of 1.0, and it shows in some places for filler quests and early dungeon designs. But it does improve once they were able to get through everything they had meant to intro in the original version of the game (certain primals in the patch content, etc) and set up for Heavensward forward.

Look for quest markers that are blue and have plus signs on them, those are side content that unlocks dungeons, trials, and other game features not done through the MSQ. And what Frizze said about PotD; it's good for exp gain, especially for alt jobs, and glamour items, some minions, some music.