Please Reconsider MSQ Changes

[Reynhart]

Taking away the reason for people who used to run it for the quick XP and Tomes.

People don't want "quick XP and Tomes", they want "good Xp+Tomes/time ratio". And frankly, at 400 poetics and several million Xp, Praetorium is still a very good option.

[Enla]

People don't want "quick XP and Tomes", they want "good Xp+Tomes/time ratio". And frankly, at 400 poetics and several million Xp, Praetorium is still a very good option.

It's only 400 poetics if there's a newbie, otherwise it's a flat 200 which can be gained /much/ quicker by running several other instances that also will provide more XP.

[Krotoan]

People don't want "quick XP and Tomes", they want "good Xp+Tomes/time ratio". And frankly, at 400 poetics and several million Xp, Praetorium is still a very good option.

in my head you just repeated yourself:
People don't want quick xp and tomes.. they want xp and tomes at a fast enough rate that it's worth their time..
... so.. quick xp and tomes.

[Aylis]

I'm 100% sure people have already suggested this, but I'll add to the pile: Make it so that the first MSQ run is soloable. Then, once a new player unlocks the MSQ roulette, have them be added to the pool of veterans. This way we vets will still get that lovely new player bonus, while new players will get to enjoy the story for their first run through.

Give them npcs, or use the Squadron system. All of this is already implemented in the game...why can't these systems be used for the MSQ dungeons as well?

The only issues that arise with npc's is all the interactive elements would need to be disabled. The lore department would have a fit since as I recall some of those interactive elements is what explains why players get that shiny Reaper mount. Squadron doesn't unlock much later in the game too. The lore department would have another fit to retcon a lot of lore to explain why a virtual nobody in terms of story progression is able to command a small battalion.

If its soloable and cleared and they are able to take on the MSQ roulette with vets, technically they cleared it and wouldn't be a new player anymore, they would be a vet too now. So no more new player bonus at all. Unless it was treated as its own thing and in that case it wouldn't be a MSQ thing anymore since that part was already completed.

I do agreeit should be a solo instance, keep the interactive elements at its minimal to keep the lore team happy and still keep story continuity in check. Tone down the dungeon and boss mechanics. Stick Ultima Weapon as an 8 player trial. Drop the places from MSQ roulette totally. New players can still watch all their cut scenes in peace and everyone else can forget these mistakes existed in time.

[Iscah]

I did the roulette last night and got Castrum Meridanum. I queued as a tank, initially got an instant queue but someone pulled out; ended up waiting about five minutes.

I think we had five new players in the group* - at any rate, after the longer 'talking' cutscenes, the same five people were still in it for a few seconds more, so I suspect that first-time players don't get the auto-scroll on text boxes. However, if so, they seem to have timed the autoplay version reasonably well to people's reading speed.

* for what it's worth, Typhon has been a 'preferred' world lately so we may have a particularly high number of new people making their way through the story at the moment.

The final cutscene after defeating Livia can be skipped.

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Interestingly the cutscenes also now auto-play if you rewatch them at the inn. (I'd gone into it trying to get a particular shot of my character that looked good in the scene, but I was too slow to press the screenshot button.)

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Aside of more drastic changes to the gameplay, I think it would make sense to change the party setup to one tank and five DPS, like the alliance raids. (Reading through a guide now, the off-tank's job in Castrum is supposed to be picking up adds, but they seem to die very quickly now, and there's no real role for them in the Praetorium.)

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On getting the story experience vs. just watching cutscenes later - not only does watching the cutscenes 'in place' give you a better understanding of the flow of the story, but there is dialogue and events within the battles (eg. Hydaelyn speaking to you throughout the Ultima fight), and also it's not just about the content within the dungeon itself.

Once a new player exits the dungeon, they can't just go to the inn and catch up on what happened - they're straight into further story cutscenes and the end credits, then more cutscenes, then an in-game (thus unrepeatable) scene as you return to the Waking Sands and everyone greets and congratulates you.

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Also I just finished Heavensward main quest yesterday. It might be more efficient to have an empty dungeon without cutscenes, and then make you queue again for the final boss as a separate trial, but it feels a lot less epic from a story point (and I'm mostly here for the story). The Aetherochemical Facility, other than its boss fight, feels like a non-event. What was it for? Why were we in there? Just a jumble of passages and monsters for the sake of it.

[Squintina]

It's only 400 poetics if there's a newbie, otherwise it's a flat 200 which can be gained /much/ quicker by running several other instances that also will provide more XP.

Incorrect.
Praetorium is 400 without a newbie, 500 with a newbie.

It's 200 for the roulette,

+200 for beating the dungeon (that's given any time you beat it, not just on your first time - it's given every single time it's beaten synced. Before the patch that reward was 20). You can view this in the duty finder in dungeons section by looking at "The Praetorium". This applies even if the dungeon is picked via a roulette.

+ 100 if there's a new person.

[Enla]

Incorrect.
Praetorium is 400 without a newbie, 500 with a newbie.

It's 200 for the roulette,

+200 for beating the dungeon (that's given any time you beat it, not just on your first time - it's given every single time it's beaten synced. Before the patch that reward was 20). You can view this in the duty finder in dungeons section by looking at "The Praetorium". This applies even if the dungeon is picked via a roulette.

+ 100 if there's a new person.

Ah, thanks for the correction! I only checked the roulette and that's entirely my bad.

[Squintina]

Ah, thanks for the correction! I only checked the roulette and that's entirely my bad.

Yeah it wasn't super clear at first, but I just tested that.
Of course a lot of people still won't do them if they don't care about poetics, but it should entice more fresh 50/60's who want to get their augmented gear. Like if someone in my FC reached 60 and wanted to know where to farm poetics, I'd probably tell them to try to get a semi-FC party going into roulette. Castrum is 300 (200+100).

[Kiki-8]

I queued for msq roulette yesterday and got praetorium and had not newbies but instead of the usual 20-30 min run that is common for lvl 50ish dungeons it took us a freaking hour cuz of all the unskippable cutscenes which is totally not worth the current roulette rewards i get that the u want to the solve the cutscene prob for the msq dungeons but making us sit thru all the cutscenes for those dungeons is not the answer all ur gunna do is drive the vets out of the queues for the individual dngs and the msq roulette

[Kiki-8]

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.

but these 3 dng have entirely too many cutscenes its ridiculous its like u cant go 5 feet in the dgn without stumbling over one and what ab parties that dont have a single newbie in them that are just there to farm poetics for ironworks or shire gear its no more fair to them to make them sit through all the cutscenes than it is make the newbies skip all of them