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

[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.

[linay]

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.

Yes, I think you get it.

The story is the story because you have to go through it. If you can skip it, then its relevance as a story about the game and your character in an RPG is gone except for knowing lore. Even with a boost, you technically didn't skip the story because FFXIV's boost completes the quests for you so your character still canonically and actually did go through the story quests even if you, the player, don't.