New Player Experience Sucks! - Impending Expansion Problems

[RicaRuin]

Oh yeah, I'm sure I'm just making this up. Get real.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. So you would be paying like as much for the game for one level skip/story skip.

It would be more than an evening. If a new player would even know to do that.

Also because we can only level alt classes so fast because of the armory bonus (sp?) we get for having another class on a higher level already.

[SturmChurro]

Also because we can only level alt classes so fast because of the armory bonus (sp?) we get for having another class on a higher level already.

Exactly.

Anyone trying to say I am cheap, implying I am talking for myself, or some other bull. I have 1800 hours in this game, have completed the majority of the content, and have manually leveled every single one of my classes. I am speaking broadly, and this passive-aggressiveness is unwarranted.

[RicaRuin]

Is it really that important for your friend to be caught up on Shadowbringers launch, or could he just chip away at the content until he's reached it? Eventually, you could play together.

Or maybe roll an Alt and relive the journey with him? Not many more ideas beside that (or a skip). Can't wait until I have a friend of mine join the game later this month for the same problem...

[DBriggs304]

As said earlier, they are pretty much fixing this in Shadowbringers to experience the MSQ after jumps.

[Bonbori]

Does a new player receive a free skip potion or do they also have to pay 25 dollars to get to it?

No and they shouldn't. I'm not a big fan of AAR myself, I feel it's padded out, poorly paced and kinda weak in terms of dungeon design, but it does at least serve as a tutorial to new players, introducing them to all types of content, core basics of their jobs and various mechanics reused throughout harder and better thought-out content in later expansions. A player who comes into the game and immediately pops a skip potion is doing themselves and everyone around them a disservice. By missing out on that tutorial and getting thrown into content they're completely unprepared for, they inconvenience other players they get matched with.

I believe I run into enough of such players as is. If I have to explain what a stack mechanic is in the final raid of the current expansion despite the fact that the mechanic has existed and been reused in one form of another since at least Syrcus Tower... a part of me feels like skip potions shouldn't be available to brand new accounts in the first place. Those tools by themselves do have a purpose and are entirely justifiable if one is trying to make an alt, but a new player who has no pre-existing experience with the game doing it kinda rubs me the wrong way.

That said, yes early content does have issues. However, no problem is ever solved by pretending it doesn't exist and skipping past it. What could be done is some parts of AAR being streamlined the way that Crystal Tower's introductory questline was in a recent patch, adding shortcuts and alternative paths that allow players the option to skip all the no longer necessary padding without missing out on the necessary learning experience and major plot points.

[Kalise]

To actually reach relevant content he has to go through a backlog of slog

Since when is ARR-SB story irrelevant?

I personally found it very relevant. As it was fun to go through and get the story.

Since, part of what FFXIV does well is that unlike other MMO's, it makes the JOURNEY important not just the destination.

I have a feeling he never will actually reach the content that he has paid for

Did your friend not pay for ARR? For HW? For SB?

Also, while the end of ARR story certainly feels like it takes forever to get through (God damn it Minfilia!) it will not take two years to actually get through to current content (Which is how long Shadowbringers will last for).

Heck, it's entirely possible that your friend can get through all of the MSQ from level 1 to the end of Stormblood before Shadowbringers actually arrives in 3 months time... Especially if he has a friend to help him get through MSQ required duties without obscene DPS queues...

I have a feeling a lot of new players have the same point of view, and will also never likely reach content in time (without paying for a skip) to actually play the new expansion.

If Stormblood is anything to go by...

Trust me, it's favourable if new players don't get to experience Eureka grinds because they're too busy playing through the pretty great MSQ content instead.

As that's the only real thing that you could "Miss out" on if you took your time to level. Maybe some Raids would be harder to complete, but if you have a decent FC and some friends it shouldn't be impossible to run through them during end of expansion lulls when everyone is overgeared to make them easier to do.

I do not think a skip is a good thing, not only for the intimidating price, but because these players cannot go back and do the story any longer, I would assume (I have never actually used one).

With Shadowbringers, they're introducing the New Game+ system, which will allow people to play through the MSQ again from the very beginning. Thus alleviating this concern.

They feel like they are just wasting time.

Perhaps they should reconsider why they're playing the game then.

If their only concern is reaching end-game and spamming Raids... Well... There's plenty of MMO's that cater to that type of gameplay. If they only want to farm Eureka... Well... They need to go see a psychologist because they're not right in the head xD

Maybe it's just me, but I play this game to have fun. I found the MSQ fun to do. I never felt that my time was being wasted, even though I took a break from mid-HW to mid-SB and slowly did the MSQ alongside other side activities. I wasn't doing cutting edge raids or progressing at the same rate as everyone else, but that didn't matter because I was having fun along the way.

I think there needs to be something in place, to alleviate this feeling. In WoW a new player has a boost, but can reach the relevant (expansion) content, and can go back and do older content at their own leisure.

WoW also has pretty trash actual story. With its entire focus being on "Get max level, spam Dungeons/Raids until the next expansion, rinse and repeat"

I think a way to go back and do the old story content (expansions) to catch up and do later, would be a good way to get players to relevant content, and keep them playing the game, while being able to go back and do the story content when they want to, so they don't miss out, and can get the full context of the latest story arch.

Personally, I feel that the opposite would be true.

I feel it would worsen the experience if players were easily able to get spoilers in the form of jumping to the latest content and seeing all the story it tells, before ever experiencing the lead up to this point from prior MSQ.

That's why I feel that people who actually care about the games story shouldn't use Story Skip potions, even if they are implementing NG+ to allow them to replay the story.

Since it would cheapen the entire story from previous expansions when you already know all the stuff that happened because of what's mentioned in the latest content.

[Hasrat]

I disagree with the premise, based on the idea that I bought the game to play the entire game, not just the newest parts of it.

I think many players are familiar with the proposition that FF14 is as much a solo game as anything. It's an MMO, but it doesn't truly require a great deal of grouping or socializing. Indeed, I spent most of Stormblood on my own, progressing the story, with the only breaks from that being dungeons/trials needed, and those largely only once, after which I continued progressing the story on my own.

In light of this, I find the experience acceptable. I get to play at my own pace, and take in as much or as little as I desire. There's always something more to do. Quite honestly, starting to feel like there's too much too do (I've still scarcely touched PotD, and can't even unlock HoH until I get through some of that).

In this context, I think new players simply need to understand what this game truly is, before claiming the experience is terrible. As an example, I've never played any FPS style games; as such, I would never pick one up and complain about features that FPS players intuitively understand while I struggle to learn. I don't pick up a Rogue-like and expect the new player experience to be as satisfying as late-game, with better knowledge/understanding of mechanics.

FF14 is story/character driven. I should think players that find the early experience distasteful will just as likely be put off by later experiences as well.

If you don't enjoy the journey, how can you expect the destination to be any more satisfying?

Have you considered the possibility that this is simply a game your friend will not enjoy, regardless of their progression?

[SturmChurro]

For one, people play games for different reasons, and one of the main draws of an mmorpg is to do actual endgame content, rather than running back and forth for 50 hours, and doing downgraded dungeons and trials. You may like doing that, but not everyone will, and having the option to skip this for players who want to play the mmo side of the mmorpg should be allowed, especially when the expansions keep stacking up. New game+ is nice , however.

No and they shouldn't. I'm not a big fan of AAR myself, I feel it's padded out, poorly paced and kinda weak in terms of dungeon design, but it does at least serve as a tutorial to new players, introducing them to all types of content, core basics of their jobs and various mechanics reused throughout harder and better thought-out content in later expansions. A player who comes into the game and immediately pops a skip potion is doing themselves and everyone around them a disservice. By missing out on that tutorial and getting thrown into content they're completely unprepared for, they inconvenience other players they get matched with.

I believe I run into enough of such players as is. If I have to explain what a stack mechanic is in the final raid of the current expansion despite the fact that the mechanic has existed and been reused in one form of another since at least Syrcus Tower... a part of me feels like skip potions shouldn't be available to brand new accounts in the first place. Those tools by themselves do have a purpose and are entirely justifiable if one is trying to make an alt, but a new player who has no pre-existing experience with the game doing it kinda rubs me the wrong way.

That said, yes early content does have issues. However, no problem is ever solved by pretending it doesn't exist and skipping past it. What could be done is some part of AAR being streamlined the way that Crystal Tower's introductory questline was in a recent patch, adding shortcuts and alternative paths that allow players the option to skip all the no longer necessary padding without missing out on the necessary learning experience and major plot points.

Not necessarily.

[Aristotle]

You are missing the entire point. The problem with a skip potion, particularly for a new, or returning player is that you literally 'skip' all of that previous content without being able to go back and do it. Not only that it is completely unsustainable, and yes, the price. You are asking a new player to spend 30-50 dollars on an expansion then another 25 to skip content that they JUST paid for, just to be able to play relevant content with their friend, and if they don't they have to spend probably a hundred hours (if they actually want to do the content) getting to the latest expansion. I am not even thinking about a new player being power leveled through, I am thinking broadly, and to discount an opinion based on you passive-aggressively saying that I'm cheap, that is another problem.

If you had read the second paragraph I was already brain storming ideas to alleviate the issue.

I just wanted clarification. You even stated earlier in your reply that paying for the potion is a part of the issue you have with it, so where are you getting that I'm implying you are cheap? Never mind it. As others have said, what you described is already being implemented in the new story+ mode. Your friend can experience old content he skipped over as he pleases. You can help him clear old content quicker by unsyncing it with him as well. Good luck.

[Nighthawky2010]

As said earlier, they are pretty much fixing this in Shadowbringers to experience the MSQ after jumps.

Exactly.

Especially with Shadowbringers 2 months away, If jump potions are used just use NEW GAME +

You use either both jump potions or one of them, either their way NEW GAME + will be the logically solution to re-doing old content that was skipped.