New Player Experience Sucks! - Impending Expansion Problems

[LaylaTsarra]

Why is the new content more relevant than the old content? It was all new once. Is it cause you have friends doing the new stuff?

[Yshnal]

Really, there's no point to rush. Yes, some of the ARR quests are a bit boring, but overall the story is one of the bigger selling points of this game. It's the staple of FF games, and it works for a lot of us. It's okay if you care more about the endgame and all, but keep in mind that you still have plenty of time to catch up before ShB gets here. Just a tip: stop worrying about this and enjoy the ride, because thinking too much like you do is what's making you feel this way.

[LyraKuroneko]

I'm lost on wether you really have a friend or not but if you have one, why not make an alt and play with him?
On the opposite if you have not,do you have any friend that could play with you?

Imo this MMO is all about story. I like the rest obviously. But I never could make people stay with gameplay only.

I know I'm not clear here but dunno how to express it, I hope you get it.

[SerLuke]

I think this is one thing that separates the MMO fans from the Final Fantasy fans. This game is heavily storybased everything that happens in the game happens for a reason, I remember one time I was running Xelphtol with someone and they were all “why is the boss summoning Garuda?” And that's the entire point of why you are going there in the story... skipping the story only does a disservice to the game if someone doesn’t want a game that is deeply connected to its story this isn’t the game for them.

[Noitems]

I think this is one thing that separates the MMO fans from the Final Fantasy fans. This game is heavily storybased everything that happens in the game happens for a reason, I remember one time I was running Xelphtol with someone and they were all “why is the boss summoning Garuda?” And that's the entire point of why you are going there in the story... skipping the story only does a disservice to the game if someone doesn’t want a game that is deeply connected to its story this isn’t the game for them.

I can agree to this to an extent. I didn't care about ARR's story until Praetorium (which at the time found it to be coolest thing) and then dipped out of the story and didn't start paying attention until we were actually inside the Dusk Vigil.

People can play this game without giving a lick of the story, however I've seen more cases where when people do that and ask those questions they actually become far more interested in the story of the game itself.

XIV is the odd one out in terms of MMO's as the story is so insanely fleshed out compared to others, and between the fanservice to other FF games or how it incorporates it's own lore into the world I've seen many people start caring about it and FF as a whole (myself included). HW is def the biggest turning point for most people as when people search up XIV it's regarded as having an insanely good story (which it does).

[Brightmore]

Hmmm... we've got all sort of gamers here. So opinions will be an open fire.
I personally don't like this "jump straight to the end stuff". One of things that made me leave WoW was that "How did I get here? How to follow the story progression without markers/lead?"
I enjoy to savor the journey, going right to the end would make stuff get cold fast.
But, that is my POV.
By the replies, I shall say that you were used to a X content and way of adm it while here the progression values it all. Just a question to adapt, you will get there.

[RareItems]

There should be a optional lvl 50 boost and ARR MSQ Skip for free available to any new player.

[Raelsar]

They feel like they are just wasting time. 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. Granted, FF is very story based, and centered around your character (WoL). 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.

The more expansions and story content, added just make this worse, and worse.

It's a quirk with how the game is structured, in that the game is structured in a way that you HAVE to complete the story first (by yourself or using the skip potion) before progressing further. As many have noted, the "New Game Plus" feature being added for Shadowbringers does address this problem by allowing players to replay through story content... though we've yet to see the actual details of the system.

But quite honestly, the only real issue arises when you feel rush your way through to the endgame. It feels like you have a HUGE amount of stuff to do to reach the "meat" of the game, particularly from an MMORPG perspective (which is generally considered the endgame, with leveling frequently being treated as a formality).

This is why FFXIV is different. First and foremost, it's a Final Fantasy game; for many people, the story IS the "meat" of the game.

FFXIV is also structured so that people can't really "miss out" on content, the roulette system brings both veterans and new players together for the random leveling dungeons. Being able to level all classes/jobs on one character gives older players AMPLE reason to hop into the leveling roulette, and trial roulette contains no shortage of story content. We now have roulettes for Normal Raids and Alliance Raids, opening up that content as well.

There's still a lot to work through, yes... but the path is wide open.

[Vahlnir]

I think that if they remove some of the pointless fetch quests like "Hey, go across the world to talk to this person then come back" then that might help. Those eat up a lot of time when added up. Otherwise it's an FF game...and the focus is largely on the story as a result. Just how it is.

[Deceptus]

A heavy story based gameplay designed to take years to roll out and complete.

People whining that they can't speed through it.

Hmmmm.

Yes there is absolutely some fluff or fat that can be trimmed (Go to this end of the world, then that one, then this one and return to me). But overall, the story is crafted the way it is for a reason.