Please Reconsider MSQ Changes

[Jijifli]

So, they've made it so people who want to do the MSQ and watch the cutscenes won't get forced into "wtfrudoin noob, watch on your own time" parties. People who don't care can partyfinder it and get it out of the way, possibly (in fact very likely) unsynched for extra rushy goodness.

I've done a ton of MSQ roulette that I'm legit sick of Castrum and prae.

The discussion of cutscenes have been brought up twice, neither time being the new person, but a really irritated vet that thought us running ahead of the newbie was on the same levels of harassment as threatening their life.

So I mean, people get different experiences, but... based on mine, letting people watch cutscenes isn't an issue. Moreso people defending what doesn't need to be defended is.

[Krotoan]

I've done a ton of MSQ roulette that I'm legit sick of Castrum and prae.

The discussion of cutscenes have been brought up twice, neither time being the new person, but a really irritated vet that thought us running ahead of the newbie was on the same levels of harassment as threatening their life.

So I mean, people get different experiences, but... based on mine, letting people watch cutscenes isn't an issue. Moreso people defending what doesn't need to be defended is.

Unarguable point now then right? You're in the queue, you watch the cutscene. You don't want that? PF.

I'm.. not...entirely sure what you're speaking to me about here though. are you talking about this thread? cause.. I'm really sorry if this is rude but I'm NOT reading all of that. I skimmed but it looked like a trash fire.

[Usho]

Continued... >_>

When I do roulettes, I want to queue in with a drink and snack at my side while doing my job. Get in, get s**t done, get my reward and gtfo as quick as possible. I do this for all the roulettes and I get them all done in about a hour or so. That's the point of the roulettes. It's meant to be speedrunned.

Honestly, prior to 4.2 msq roulette wasn't bad (rewards could've been a little better) but it was quick and easy with the skippable cutscenes. And yes, I was one of those newbies who got pissed because ppl didn't wait for me to get the cutscenes done and i ended up missing all the major fights in the last arr story dungeons but 2 years later I realize and understand why they did that. I don't want to hold up 7 other ppl when I can just view the scenes in a inn or youtube. I blame se for this more so than them because of se's bad decision to put long cutscenes in dungeons.

[XiXiQ]

I really don't mind about this change... the irony is there is probably a butt-load of us (including me) who has done those dungeons 100's of times and NEVER really seen all the cutscenes together. I have waited patiently for others to do it (just have repeat cutscenes off now so don't see them anyway as they had to be skipped originally). This "problem" really is self-inflicted, though. If people weren't demanding others skip cutscenes KNOWING these people are finishing the main story, or kicking them for watching them, that's a bed they made all by themselves.

I suspect after the patch, the MSQ is going to be stuffed with people, old and new, who actually WANT to see the cutscenes in context. And the people that don't, will have to accept what they have been told for many years now - if you don't want to watch the cutscenes (or wait while others do), don't queue for the duty.

[Zhamkyong]

I really don't mind about this change... the irony is there is probably a butt-load of us (including me) who has done those dungeons 100's of times and NEVER really seen all the cutscenes together. I have waited patiently for others to do it (just have repeat cutscenes off now so don't see them anyway as they had to be skipped originally).

And that is what happened to a friend and me. We were so excited to do those dungeons from a story standpoint, everything got ruined because You can see it in the inn anyway and nearly lost all of the fights because of speedrunning. i am one of those who is going to join up in the roulette to experience the full story mode for the first time since the game launched, so... Yeah. The worst thing is, once in the inn you already lost what was happening in there and just don't understand half of the things.

This "problem" really is self-inflicted, though. If people weren't demanding others skip cutscenes KNOWING these people are finishing the main story, or kicking them for watching them, that's a bed they made all by themselves.

I suspect after the patch, the MSQ is going to be stuffed with people, old and new, who actually WANT to see the cutscenes in context. And the people that don't, will have to accept what they have been told for many years now - if you don't want to watch the cutscenes (or wait while others do), don't queue for the duty.

It's not the best solution, but i guess no one is gonna admit they brought it up on themselves because of reasons.

[Enla]

It's not the best solution, but i guess no one is gonna admit they brought it up on themselves because of reasons.

Except most people who are pointing out how flawed this 'fix' is have nothing more to gain from running that dungeon than a bit of poetics and experience. Implying they brought this choice upon themselves hints that it's a punishment for the speedrunners in your view and frankly it's anything but. They just won't run the instance anymore. It's one less daily in a swath of boring old content and more time to do other instances that can be seen as more productive. I find it odd that so many people crowing with praise for this choice seem to see it as a 'take that' to speedrunners or the average player population, when really most of us weren't happy with how things were to begin with. All this change does is ensure that there will be a lot /less/ people queuing for this instance this time around which is going to cause /ANOTHER/ set of problems.

Likewise I have to quirk a brow at people ignoring the fact that SE had several years to fix these instances and has been gone on public record disavowing their design and promising never to implement anything similar again. Yet instead of actually doing the smart thing and solo gating these instances they keep offering the solutions that take the least amount of time to implement, but always cause more problems in the long run. Back when I joined these instances weren't part of a roulette so I was forced to sit through fifty minutes or more of hell per dungeon queue before finally begging people to take me through me. Then to fix those terrible queue times they implemented the roulette, which caused more people to run it but only doubled down on the underlining issues inherent with the instances. Because let's face it if the developers honestly didn't intend those instances to be run fast then they failed in their basic design because that's precisely how it feels they were intended to be. Now we're getting the cutscenes made unskippable and we're right back to a point where the queues are likely going to be hell again. It's asinine that SE keeps taking time to make the cheapest fixes possible when they would solve this entire situation by making Prae and Castrum solo instances instead.

But no that 'takes time' and 'costs money', with the developers having 'better things to do'. If these problems with the instance are so wide spread as this fix is supposed to make me believe then SE /needs/ to actually bite the bullet and do what they should have done years ago. Actually overhaul those dungeons. Because while I empathize with those few who were harassed all SE's actions amount to is a used bandaid that's been given a fancy new varnish to hide all the dead skin cells and puss. It does /nothing/ to solve the problem and only makes me think they're throwing down said bandaid to shut a vocal minority up instead. What are they going to do when people start complaining about the queue times /again/? Add more incentives? It's not going to fix the issue at the rotting heart of these instances that is anything but player driven.

[SourDragonfly]

I haven't gotten to watch those cutscenes at all so I'm defo going to be one of those people jumping in MSQ roulette to check them out. Finding out whether did they buff the exp bonus along the way too.

[Ayer2015]

I still think they should have made them solo instances. Hopefully the queues don't get too bad for people who need the runs.

[Belhi]

This might not be a good fix but short of using the Squadron system to create a 'default' group of adventures for a new player to run the dungeons with, I don't see a fix that won't cost endgame content a couple of dungeons. They would have to do pretty substancial reworks to the dungeons, both story and structure wise, to fit the story in a way where it didn't involve mid dungeon cutscenes.

[Tlamila]

I see most people defending the changes never actually did the roulette themselves, they're more like "once 2 years ago I helped someone through it and we didn't skip cutscenes"- Ah, good job, now do it every day on DF so it can actually help everybody and we see how you like the change.

I was doing MSQ roulette every day or almost and on two characters, was decent xp, easy run, and I'd get to help newbies queue times. Now there's absolutely no way I'm ever touching this roulette again. And so most people who ran it regularly. A lot of newbies will be so discouraged by waiting times now that they'll probably quit the game entirely. DPS was getting half an hour queue now, what will they get after patch, 3h queue and then 1h run? Who has that kind of time and patience?
I also personally don't see the problem with watching cutscenes at the inn, you even get a better experience because there's only your character in them and not a bunch of weirdly dressed strangers, so it really feels like being the WoL. Many, even, even if first timers don't like watching cutscenes at all. I understand a lot want the full experience of the dungeon, but either you get that or people to run it with, both are not realistically possible. Even back at launch, when everybody was still running that, those instances had long queues!
I personally saw a lot of newbies watching cutscenes and being told nothing, if anything it was bad for them watching them as they'd miss the fights (which imho in Prae are quite nice, and that's the dungeon where if you watch cutscenes you miss ALL the fights). The problem I was seeing being big is people rushing ahead of trash without tanks actually getting aggro, so anyone left behind (mostly newbies, or those who stay behind to try and keep newbies alive) ends up dying and/or getting lost. Which I'm sure not only this change won't fix but will make even worse, since people will try even more to rush to make up for the time spent in cutscenes. So not only sprouts will have impossible queues, they'll also likely get an even worse experience. Pretty much SE couldn't have done worse even if it tried.