Please Reconsider MSQ Changes

[Louvain]

We all know that newbies who want to watch story cutscenes in the castrums have been struggling a long time, usually being answered with "just rewatch it at the inn/ on youtube." I myself have experienced this, and a majority of current players also probably have. But...

Making the cut scenes unskippable, and then locking what will be more than likely a sizable reward behind it is not the answer. Additionally, even though they may no longer be skippable, the bosses will still be burned down in a matter of moments because of the high ilevel sync, leaving the new player with a feeling of lack of accomplishment and defeating the point of this change.

My suggestion is to just remove it from duty roulette entirely and change it into a personal instance, allowing the player better interaction with the duty. Or, you know, just revert it back.

I'm sure people also have plenty of other solutions and ideas which should be posted, but I think we can all agree that changing the cut scenes to be unskippable is not the answer. All this will do is drastically increase the queue times for those dungeons and make it harder for new players to get in and progress to other parts of the game(and the queue times for those dungeons can already be quite long).

Edit: I want to point out this suggestion I've been seen being made in a few places; It might be possible to implement a "skip cutscene" vote, based on a majority victory, which will allow players to skip cutscenes.; Those who want to watch still can, but for those that don't can charge ahead.

Second Edit

Ultimately, the core of the issue that bothers me most if the choice of the matter. There are a lot of people who are interested in watching the cutscenes, but there are just as many who are indifferent or simply just want to get past it. Whereas before you had the option to ask for people to run with you to watch the cs or simply speed run it by queuing normally, currently there is no way to skip past it (without buying a story skip potion). Regardless if the people in it want to watch or if everyone has already cleared, you are forced to endure the cutscenes at a set speed, which, after the 3rd time starts to get pretty old for most people. And I think that being able to make that choice is what it really boils down to in the end.

[Rockette]

All I see in that part of the patch notes is "never queue for MSQ roulette again".

Got it.

[KaivaC]

I was literally just about to type up something similar. Those two have been a known pain for years, and now devs took the absolute worst option and made it unskippable. Nobody is going to want to run this now and its ridiculous. Did the devs think about what would happen if, say, a player went afk during the cutscenes? This is a very short-sighted patch, and its just going to gate new players horribly. Hell, tie THESE duties in with squadrons! Make it so that you and your 7 squad members can run it. And if new players don't even do squadrons, give them 7 NPCs, tone down the mobs, and break each section up into instanced quests.

Honestly, I hope the backlash on this is as fierce as the housing issue because honestly, the devs definitely deserve criticism on this decision. These two duties already have made some, not a whole lot, but some players quit over these cutscenes and impatience - now, very few players outside of helping their FC mates and good Samaritans every once in a while will run this.

Good job.

[Fhaerron]

Snip

It's actually a clever move.

This will make more players to buy the skip story potion, more money for SE.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Like I said in the patch notes thread. Unless they EXP bonus becomes utterly absurd. They have basically killed MSQ Roulette. Not to mention, if I'm leveling an alt, why do I have to now spam click through cut scenes I've already seen? Just a silly, extremely short-sighted change.

[Louvain]

"My suggestion is to just remove it from duty roulette entirely"

They can't.
Castrum is the first lvl 50 duty. No player that already did it will queue again for it. That's why they implemented the roulette. So that the queue time is shorter for new players.

Please reread the line and take note of the last part. The idea is to turn it into a solo instance. People have hated running these two dungeons over and over again for years anyways, skippable cutscenes or not.

[Laerune]

MSQ daily should have been removed and turned into a dungeon where the player can take his/her grand company npc group with them.

[KDSilver]

Sorry, I read it a bit fast and skipped that part.

Well, it could be indeed a solution considering the absolute mess this duty is since the beginning.
The sad part is that it's supposed to be one of the first 8-man content you do.

Or, they could make it a solo instaned but have the possibility to play it with friends if you want to.

[Solarra]

I support this 100%. Our FC always tries to get a group together for these dungeons but I really feel for people using the roulette.

My first run of Castrum was via DF and made memorable by a blazing row between another new player who told everyone they had to wait while they watched the cutscenes and a player who resented being spoken to like that and having their time wasted. The two were hurling abuse at each other for the entire run. The party did wait (thanks guys) but I couldn't enjoy the cutscenes with all that drama going on in chat. I have never been so glad to get out of an instance.

Solo with npc helpers would be so much better for everyone. Now, alt characters and new players who aren't interested in the story are going to have to sit through the cutscenes, too. And what about those times when nobody in the roulette is new?
80 extra poetics doesn't seem enough of an incentive. I really can't see many experienced players queuing for this regularly when the rewards are so paltry.

[Ceallach]

Frankly, I love these new changes. It serves people right for just speeding through the dungeons and ruining the experience for the new players. Just the other day, my free company and I queued up with a total of seven people, and our eighth was a new player. We granted him the full experience instead of just speeding through, and he was having the time of his life.

Maybe people should learn to be more selfless instead of griping about changes that their own actions basically forced.