Dev team, please do not remove the importance of the MSQ

[Awha]

it was an expl "the worst"



FF14 is based on MSQ. When the V1 end in 2012 it was MSQ and whan ff14ARR come it was MSQ. If SE changed that that mean the foundation of the game change. This is why ppl are so afraid of something that's gonna never happen. I think.

The foundation would not change the MSQ would still be present and the focus but would be optional. Think of it as a QoL change for example I already mash the eascape buttan when cut screen pop and click frantically when dialog boxes pop up. Making it optional out the gate just makes it less tedious, the aspect of contacting the story with the world will remain.

The story still works even though people skip cutscene and dialogue.

[linay]

The foundation would not change the MSQ would still be present and the focus but would be optional.

If it's optional, then it's not the focus. Savage raiding is optional, therefore it's not the focus. It's important, but not the focus. MSQ is not optional, therefore it is the focus.

[Awha]

If it's optional, then it's not the focus. Savage raiding is optional, therefore it's not the focus. It's important, but not the focus. MSQ is not optional, therefore it is the focus.

By optional I mean not obligatory, the story can be optional while still being the focus. SE can still market and use the story as an element the wish to promote and keep as the focus, but keeping something as the focus does not inherently means it has to be forced or a requirement to engage in other content of the game.

Maybe I am just dense but I just do not see how making something optional automatically makes something less important. The importantance is determined by the resources going into it, and no one is asking them to limit said resources, just nice QoL change for those that honestly do not care about the story and already skip it.

FC mate pointed out an example SWTOR the focus is on story or so they say but in theory if you really wanted to you could never touch the story content and still take part in pvp and pve content.

[linay]

By optional I mean not obligatory, the story can be optional while still being the focus. SE can still market and use the story as an element the wish to promote and keep as the focus, but keeping something as the focus does not inherently means it has to be forced or a requirement to engage in other content of the game.

Maybe I am just dense but I just do not see how making something optional automatically makes something less important. The importantance is determined by the resources going into it, and no one is asking them to limit said resources, just nice QoL change for those that honestly do not care about the story and already skip it.

FC mate pointed out an example SWTOR the focus is on story or so they say but in theory if you really wanted to you could never touch the story content and still take part in pvp and pve content.

It's not about importance, but about structure. See my earlier post about my experience with WoW and its optional and disconnected stories/questlines, especially for someone who did not experience them when they were current content.

I was able to caught up with FFXIV without having to look up outside resources because most of everything is centered around one simple continuous questline called the MSQ, which is a focal point of the game, whereas I had to look up outside resources to make sense of WoW's more convoluted questlines, which is exacerbated by other design choices, but those are not the point of this thread.

[Awha]

It's not about importance, but about structure. See my earlier post about my experience with WoW and its optional and disconnected stories/questlines, especially for someone who did not experience them when they were current content.

I was able to caught up with FFXIV without having having to look up outside resources because most of everything is centered around one simple continuous questline called the MSQ, which is a focal point of the game, whereas I had to look up outside resources to make sense of WoW's more convoluted questlines, which is exacerbated by other design choices, but those are not the point of this thread.

What I am saying is everything within FFXIV story can remain as it is but maybe just make the content a level gate instead of story. No one is asking them to remove the MSQ tracker, with that tracker it would be impossible to really lose track of the msq like it is in WoW.

[linay]

What I am saying is everything within FFXIV story can remain as it is but maybe just make the content a level gate instead of story. No one is asking them to remove the MSQ tracker, with that tracker it would be impossible to really lose track of the msq like it is in WoW.

And as I mentioned above, that's a slippery slope to where the developer may put less emphasis on the story if it's just going to be optional content, which would be missing the point of the story. The story is the story because content is structured around it. Once you decouple game content from the story, then it's no longer a story of the game, just a story tacked into the game.

Right now, people who don't care about story can pay a one-time $25 fee per character.

People who care about story won't have any way of resolving their problem if dev starts to deemphasize the story because it's optional content. At that point, it's no longer MSQ, just a long side quest.

[Awha]

And as I mentioned above, that's a slippery slope to where the developer may put less emphasis on the story if it's just going to be optional content, which would be missing the point of the story. The story is the story because content is structured around it. Once you decouple game content from the story, then it's no longer a story of the game, just a story tacked into the game.

Right now, people who don't care about story can pay a one-time $25 fee per character.

People who care about story won't have any way of resolving their problem if dev starts to deemphasize the story because it's optional content. At that point, it's no longer MSQ, just a long side quest.

So the fear so to speak is if the story is not mandatory then the developers will no longer give it the same attention as they are now if it is optional. I understand the fear, but it does not necessarily have to be the case, sure the possibility remains but I personally do not see SE falling into that situation.

Granted I also do not see SE to make it optional either, but it is interesting none the less to talk about. I guess main reason for the disagreement is you feel such a change would lead to less emphasis on the story from SE, and I feel that everything could remain the same if the content was locked behind level only. Though I guess for some if it was not mandatory or instead of a in invisible hand guiding players along the story they prefer a strict path, without the path it seems as if it has no meaning to some.