Level Syncing isn't the best solution

[Darrcyphfeid]

People must understand that this game is FINAL FANTASY and Story is first unlike any other MMO.

Story first is this game's Achilles heel. And XIV is neither the first nor the best Final Fantasy MMO with its approach to storytelling, expansions and gameplay feel.

Plus, there IS a setting that can help you get what you want, Unssynced Reviosinst Trivial Mode, or URTM.

Recommending that people just unsync the older content if they're unhappy with sub-cap rotational feel will kill this game. Because "story comes first," and story demands that new players do dungeons and trials. Which will have reduced population as more and more people refuse to do synced instances. That's exactly why we have duty roulettes and the rewards they give to begin with.

In any event, designing the jobs so they feel good at all levels bypasses this and also provides a better experience for new players that would otherwise still have to slog through this crap for dozens of hours before getting to the "real stuff." Which, you know, seems to be a good business decision as well as a good design decision.

[Spiroth]

Story first is this game's Achilles heel. And XIV is neither the first nor the best Final Fantasy MMO with its approach to storytelling, expansions and gameplay feel.


Recommending that people just unsync the older content if they're unhappy with sub-cap rotational feel will kill this game. Because "story comes first," and story demands that new players do dungeons and trials. Which will have reduced population as more and more people refuse to do synced instances. That's exactly why we have duty roulettes and the rewards they give to begin with.

In any event, designing the jobs so they feel good at all levels bypasses this and also provides a better experience for new players that would otherwise still have to slog through this crap for dozens of hours before getting to the "real stuff." Which, you know, seems to be a good business decision as well as a good design decision.

It IS the best FINAL FANTASY MMO with its approach to storytelling, that is undisputable.
And of course "Story first" it is NOT this game's Achilles heel, as evidenced by the reception of it and the marginally bigger total player count than any other FINAL FANTASY MMO at the same point of its lifecycle.


As for the "Real Stuff", LOL. This mentality that "Real Stuff" is only current end-game content is the Achilles Heel of "Players" that think likr you.
If you don't enjoy the game, offer valid solutions.
Lore-breaking Nastrond User Lancer at Sastasha, is not acceptable.

[Darrcyphfeid]

As for the "Real Stuff", LOL. This mentality that "Real Stuff" is only current end-game content is the Achilles Heel of "Players" that think likr you.

You jumped right to the end and missed the entire point.

The "real stuff" isn't the endgame, because this game barely has an endgame. The "real stuff" is having a toolkit/rotation - the basic gameplay loop for XIV and the subject of this thread - that doesn't put you to sleep or otherwise feel like garbage. Unless you think jobs feel fine synced down in the ARR leveling dungeons, but then you should argue that instead of what you currently are.

If you don't enjoy the game, offer valid solutions.

I did. Look at the first page.

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It IS the best FINAL FANTASY MMO with its approach to storytelling, that is undisputable.

No, sorry, it's not. The contents of the story being better or worse between the two is subjective, but one of these games forces players to slog through something like 150 hours of fetch quests and cutscenes to access basic game features/modes.

The other drops you into the world and lets you do whatever you want, when you want to do it. You gained access to all jobs (quests) once you hit lv30, and going to expansion areas was simply a matter of 1) figuring out where they were and 2) getting there without having your face ripped off. Very few content types were locked behind the story missions, and the ones that were didn't require the full completion of its story to unlock.

Oh, and the stories still managed to reference one another and feel connected.

And of course "Story first" it is NOT this game's Achilles heel, as evidenced by the reception of it and the marginally bigger total player count than any other FINAL FANTASY MMO at the same point of its lifecycle.

Take a look at how many threads crop up (on Reddit, to be fair, but still) about people quitting the game around Titan's arc (30~34), towards the end of ARR or during the 2.1~2.55 stretch. Consider how many basic and obvious design choices, like Frontlines Freelancers, weren't implemented in a timely manner (or at all) because "lore reasons."

Overall player count is irrelevant; XI came out in an entirely different era. When they start giving away story and level skip potions with purchases of the game because they see a decline in player adoption and retention, will it still be story first?

[Spiroth]

You jumped right to the end and missed the entire point.

The "real stuff" isn't the endgame, because this game barely has an endgame. The "real stuff" is having a toolkit/rotation - the basic gameplay loop for XIV and the subject of this thread - that doesn't put you to sleep or otherwise feel like garbage. Unless you think jobs feel fine synced down in the ARR leveling dungeons, but then you should argue that instead of what you currently are.


I did. Look at the first page.

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No, sorry, it's not. The contents of the story being better or worse between the two is subjective, but one of these games forces players to slog through something like 150 hours of fetch quests and cutscenes to access basic game features/modes.

The other drops you into the world and lets you do whatever you want, when you want to do it. You gained access to all jobs (quests) once you hit lv30, and going to expansion areas was simply a matter of 1) figuring out where they were and 2) getting there without having your face ripped off. Very few content types were locked behind the story missions, and the ones that were didn't require the full completion of its story to unlock.

Oh, and the stories still managed to reference one another and feel connected.


Take a look at how many threads crop up (on Reddit, to be fair, but still) about people quitting the game around Titan's arc (30~34), towards the end of ARR or during the 2.1~2.55 stretch. Consider how many basic and obvious design choices, like Frontlines Freelancers, weren't implemented in a timely manner (or at all) because "lore reasons."

Overall player count is irrelevant; XI came out in an entirely different era. When they start giving away story and level skip potions with purchases of the game because they see a decline in player adoption and retention, will it still be story first?

You did not. That post has zero valid solutions.
Nastrond using Lancer in Sastasha is not acceptable, and everything you "offered" mandates that. So no.


And no, "real stuff" are not what you choose to include.
REAL STUFF is everything, not only endgame stuff.

[JunseiKei]

That quote referencing "Titan's arc" makes me wonder if they actually meant story Titan or Titan Extreme. Back then, you could not access The Binding Coil of Bahamut without having cleared all of the primals. Ifrit EX was locked behind downing Titan EX. If you couldn't kill him, the only things to do in the game then were dungeons and Garuda EX and relic (and the 24-man in the later parts of 2.x). Clearing Titan EX back in those days was almost as impressive as downing Twintania.