New Player Experience Sucks! - Impending Expansion Problems

[SerLuke]

Ah, I see, you caught me before the edit. I did switch it up a bit.

Ah sorry I really don’t think to wait for edits I’m on mobile and no edit button and I forget the full desktop view has it lol

[SilverObi]

XI didn't force you to do the full MSQ. As others pointed out, those story lines didn't overlap much, but there are a lot of clever people working at SE. I'm sure they could strike a good balance with not forcing 100% completion while also keeping the story congruent.

XI indeed didn't force you to do each storyline sequentially and could stand on their own as individually strong narratives, but they overlapped constantly. They gave context and meaning to each other with the possible exception of ToAU but even that tied into the overarching world with WotG and later RoV. But it also was a different style of story for the player since they were mostly observers or constantly falling into these massive events where the star NPC was the actual hero (this of course changed in RoV). XIV is going for a continuous narrative and that's not a bad thing, it's just different expectations people have for the mmorpg genre.

[SerLuke]

To respond to the balance point though I kinda feel like that’s already there. There are a lot of optional side quests that flesh out parts of the MSQ that it only briefly touches on.

[Ramesses]

XI didn't force you to do the full MSQ. As others pointed out, those story lines didn't overlap much, but there are a lot of clever people working at SE. I'm sure they could strike a good balance with not forcing 100% completion while also keeping the story congruent.

*(Begins making some comparisons and makes some findings)*

Interesting...

[Mavrias]

Anti MSQ people: the story in this game SUCKS I skip all the cut scenes
Final Fantasy fans: how do you know it sucks if you skip the cut scenes?
Anti MSQ people: it makes it too hard for newbies to get into the game!
Final Fantasy fans: how does that make the MSQ suck?
Anti MSQ people: these guys are so unreasonable I give up!

the arr story up until the prelude to heavensward stuff sucks. particularly 2.1 to about 2.4. a lot of running around doing unnecessary delivery quests to the point where even NPCs crack jokes about it. i got my fiance into the game recently and all through 2.x i had to tell them that everything gets better in heavensward simply because that bit of the story is just so... tedious. it absolutely turns new players off.

its a bit disingenuous to dismiss everyones issues with the msq as unreasonable

[Skivvy]

Ah sorry I really don’t think to wait for edits I’m on mobile and no edit button and I forget the full desktop view has it lol

lol, all good. The original wording didn't sound very.... complete.....and you were just super fast

[SerLuke]

the arr story up until the prelude to heavensward stuff sucks. particularly 2.1 to about 2.4. a lot of running around doing unnecessary delivery quests to the point where even NPCs crack jokes about it. i got my fiance into the game recently and all through 2.x i had to tell them that everything gets better in heavensward simply because that bit of the story is just so... tedious. it absolutely turns new players off.

its a bit disingenuous to dismiss everyones issues with the msq as unreasonable

The thing is though, I’ve been a new player too, I didn’t play till after Havensward came out and here is the thing, I enjoyed the ARR MSQ, even the 2.1-2.4 stuff, I approached it not as an MMO but as a Final Fantasy game. It’s not a game for everyone, and that’s totally fine but I love it for what it is. Maybe some of the post ARR MSQ could be streamlined but I still freaking loved it esp the parts with Ramhu. If anything I wish post HW and SB MSQs were longer I love the characters I love the love and I love the dialog and I love how the duties tie into all of that and it’s a bit upsetting when someone wants one of my favorite parts of the game changes just because it doesn’t fit them. Not everything is for everyone, some people like things you don’t and enjoy things you found tedious.

[Mavrias]

The thing is though, I’ve been a new player too, I didn’t play till after Havensward came out and here is the thing, I enjoyed the ARR MSQ, even the 2.1-2.4 stuff, I approached it not as an MMO but as a Final Fantasy game. It’s not a game for everyone, and that’s totally fine but I love it for what it is. Maybe some of the post ARR MSQ could be streamlined but I still freaking loved it esp the parts with Ramhu. If anything I wish post HW and SB MSQs were longer I love the characters I love the love and I love the dialog and I love how the duties tie into all of that and it’s a bit upsetting when someone wants one of my favorite parts of the game changes just because it doesn’t fit them. Not everything is for everyone, some people like things you don’t and enjoy things you found tedious.

i get that not everything is for everyone, but if you find just the notion that someone wants the way MSQ is done to change, think about how upset it must make the otherside to hear "just stop playing this game and go play WoW."

[SerLuke]

i get that not everything is for everyone, but if you find just the notion that someone wants the way MSQ is done to change, think about how upset it must make the otherside to hear "just stop playing this game and go play WoW."

To be honest I think that’s a somewhat reasonable response, I tried WOW years ago, I didn’t like it, just didn’t appeal to me. I didn’t go on their forums and ask them to change the game to better suit me, why would I? Tons of people loved it and enjoyed it for what it was, who am I to tell someone they are wrong for enjoying WOW the way it was and they should change WOW to be a game for me?
I moved on with my life and played other games and was happier for it. At the end of the day can’t Final Fantasy be Final Fantasy and WOW be WOW and other MMOs be other MMOs?

[BiffWellington]

I was able to level my second job from 50 to 70 ridiculously quickly by just doing Main Scenario Roulette and 50/60 Roulette, with some sidequests and FATEs in between. It's a lot of experience for those two roulettes, and plenty of poetics tomestones to have a full set of Augmented Shire gear just waiting for you to hit 60. And you'll never be undergeared during that 60-70 push; that Augmented Shire gear will always be great for every dungeon you're doing in those roulettes.

This strategy could probably be easily adapted for a first job by doing MSQ instead of sidequests. This will also give you better gear from 51 up for free. It might not be quite as quick without the Armoury Bonus, but I didn't notice much of a dropoff in experience gained at all after 60 when that Armoury Bonus went from +100% to +50%.