Is there anything meaningful/gratifying to do in this game that's not MSQ?

[RareItems]

Roleplaying in Uldah xD.

[einschwartz]

Since you seem to prefer engaging in combat, try PotD? Look up PF to see if you can help others with their dungeon clears? Host a naked Aurum Vale run for fun or something?

Another that haven't been mentioned in other posts is Beast Tribe. Sure, the rewards aren't that much except dance emotes. But at least for me seeing that reputation bar is maxed up is enough to have a sense of progression. Heck, I didn't even pay attention to the quests I just did it for the sake of changing my in-game routine.

As much as I enjoy doing quests, immerse with the story, (especially Heavenward) after doing MSQ continuously for several days I too could get tired of it and start skipping cutscenes/dialogues. This continues on with Stormblood so I could understand what you're feeling right now. Honestly the best way to get rid of that slog is to do anything OTHER THAN MSQ.

Perhaps, another advice I could give is to take a break from the game for a few days. Sometimes it works even better.

[Usho]

In terms of content, and I'll be blunt....not really. Majority of content we get is just repackaged old sh*t (aka old content disguised as new content). Most content is just for mediocre equipment that will end up being outdated come the next major patch cycle, so basically, every 3-4 months. The only meaningful/gratifying things to do, imo, is crafting, gathering, playing "The Sims" with housing/glamour and maybe the seasonal events for the rewards (some of which isn't all that great).



As I mentioned before in other threads like this, Yoshi-Pees likes the current formula, the status quo, even though to the vast majority of the playerbase, outside of a vocal minority who, for some reason likes repackaged repetitiveness, is sick of the repetitive and stale formula of content, etc.



Yoshi-Pese is to afriad to take risks and push the game further, hence why we have lackluster content, like Eureka for example. Sadly, we won't be getting any kind of real menaingful/gratifying content and anything worthwhile while Yoshi-Pees is in charge.



Unless he changes the formula to make it less stale, then prepare for 5 or so more years of old content with new coats of paint.




/2 cents

[Razard]

As I mentioned before in other threads like this, Yoshi-Pees likes the current formula, the status quo, even though to the vast majority of the playerbase, outside of a vocal minority who, for some reason likes repackaged repetitiveness, is sick of the repetitive and stale formula of content, etc.

Citation needed.

[Gemina]

No one can tell you if there is more gratifying things to do in the game. Everyone playing this game finds what they enjoy, set goals based on that and pursues them. Some people are all about EX/Savage clears, some spend all their time crafting/gathering/housing; some (like me) are glamour chasers and will do anything to get what they want; some enjoy getting all jobs to max level; some are big game fishers and aim to close out all the fishing holes, and some are trying to clear all floors of PoTD and now HoH as well.

The one thing that is common for all of these players doing different things is ALL of us have to go through the MSQ. Nearly everything is gated behind it in one way or the other, and if you don't enjoy progressing the main story and seeing your character develop with the others you are going to have a really tough time achieving your other goals in this game.

So what's your niche? What are you here to do? Without a sense of direction, frustration sets in easily. Whatever it is, there is no getting around the MSQ.

[Claviusnex]

This game is driven by the MSQ and pretty much everything is locked behind it. The only way I know to skip is to buy a tails of adventure from the mog station for $25. If you don't want to spend extra then grinding the MSQ is your only alternative.

Edit:
Here's a link to the description page.
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/tales...ture#mainquest

[Clover_Blake]

Yoshi-Pees likes the current formula, the status quo, even though to the vast majority of the playerbase, outside of a vocal minority who, for some reason likes repackaged repetitiveness, is sick of the repetitive and stale formula of content, etc.

Wow, you seem well informed about what the "vast majority of the playerbase" does and doesn't do. Where did that meaningful data come from?

Yoshi-Pese is to afriad to take risks and push the game further, hence why we have lackluster content, like Eureka for example.

Unless he changes the formula to make it less stale, then prepare for 5 or so more years of old content with new coats of paint.

Eureka is a kind of content that heavily strays from the rest of the game. It takes a huge turn towards oldschool systems with its grind and penalties, things I've seen people ask for (no idea why, but then again I'm not into this kind of grinding myself). Making something like Eureka was already a risk, quite noticeable by the ruckus it has caused.

No, Eureka isn't the tomestones or the weekly raid systems with "new coats of paint", and neither are the Deep Dungeon or PVP games. It's a different story if you personally don't enjoy any of these, but that's just your personal circumstances.



As for OP's question about what there's to do in this game other than the MSQ: many things o.o

[Aylis]

So should I just bite the bullet and play through at least another dozen hours of this grind before I encounter a zone where there are other people and rewards are useful and progression feels meaningful or is there some obscure system that I've overlooked that offers some sort of reprieve from this endless tedium?

There are a few things yes. Granted yes the MSQ quest is a slog and yes there are no really meaningful things going on in terms of character progression while going through it aside from what dungeons you unlocked to keep a feeling of progression in the currant. FFXIV doesn't function as a normal MMO and makes you think outside the box and more or less think ahead in terms of progression and does have things on the side to help that. Even if they don't seem meaningful in the present they do offer small breaks or just for the sake of something else to do to prevent MSQ slog burnout.

Old dungeon farming: While yes the drops from the dungeons themselves are basically junk gear (unless you're really into glamor, then that's another story) they do give tokens at the end that can be saved forever. When you do finish the MSQ you'll have a good amount of them to whale out at the token vendors for some nice things.

B and C rank Hunts: C rank daily quest hunts are unlocked fairly early and while most hunts need flying to really take advantage of. In the early stages C and B rank hunts fall into the same bracket as dungeons. Meaning "do what you can do because it adds up" If you're at a point where you can only do say 3-5 of them a day? That's still an extra 3000-5000'ish gold per day and more importantly Hunt Mark collection which can also be used at the hunt vendors and rather early on to buy some nice things. Using what I did as an example, I had a full set of item level 310 hunt gear ready to go before I was even halfway through the SB MSQ and long before I could actually wear it. All just from doing daily C ranks and weekly B ranks. Then I took the money earned and started building an item level 350 set.

Red and Blue Scripts: Since you mentioned crafting and gathering and while this is unlocked later in the MSQ it's basically the hunt equivalent for crafters and gatherers. As with PVE hunts, some nice things to get if you're interested in pursuing crafting and or gathering.

Timeworn Maps: While were on the subject of gathering, these also exist in the world and as far as I know have zero ties to the MSQ (minus the one exception of needing to get to other zones) However if you do get one. Its one per day rng chance at any gathering node. If the map happens to be in a zone you do have access too. Is a chance at some rare crafting goodies that sell for a good chunk of change on AH. Later on come the Timeworn Dragonskin and its SB version. Full party maps that have a chance to open up a portal to Aquapolis for more rare drops and this really is a lot of fun to do with friends.

3.0 and 4.0 follow the same identical formula in these systems and share pretty much everything between the two. So SB is a bit more bearable in a sense. Using hunts again as an example once you do get to SB its easy to go back to HS to double up on the farming and use what you get there to further yourself in SB. No doubt 5.0 will be exactly the same too when its time. So then we can triple up on our farming to help make 5.0 progression more bearable.

This is a think ahead, plan ahead game after all.

[Zsolen]

You can do pvp. If you want it to be more challenging, you can do ranked pvp.

[Magic-Mal]

Outside of MSQ, there is...

Exploring Eorzea
Housing (decorating can be the true end game)
Glamour (also the true end game)
Collecting minions/mounts
Achieving world first (this is EXTREMELY difficult to do if you have no enthusiasm for the gameplay)
Mastering your main job...or all the jobs
Job quests
Side quests (you won't care about either of these if you're furiously skipping cutscenes thinking it's all the same - This game is 100% about the story)
FATEs
Creating novelty characters
Mastering Perform and busking like a boss in Limsa
Creating mini-games for fun
Collecting all the dances
Roleplaying
etc

That's kinda bad I think... if that's all..