Should I insist in the game?

[TyrTry]

So, after dropping the game a couple years back, I decided to give it another go.

I enjoyed the combat (it starts slows but gets better as you get more powers), the aestethics... but, around the time of my tenth "run half way across the world to talk to some guy just so he can tell you do go back all the way and talk to the other guy" kind of quest, I pretty much gave up on the story. I decided to just watch a video or something and try to rush it to reach with my friend who have more time to play and finished arr quest to unlock jobs.

I am currently lvl 42, doing the lvl 28 msq, and I am pretty much burnt. I can't handle the fetch quests, I missed most of the story, and find myself in the same spot I was the first time I dropped the game (coincidently I checked and my character was 37 at that time, so probably around the same place in msq).

Long story short is: if I get a story skip potion, will I be able to enjoy the game? Do the quests after ARR change from the unbearable fetch quests? Or is this game just not for me?

From reddit it seens even though most people thing arr msq can be quite dragged, a lot of them also say that this is a story game and If I am not enjoying it so far it might not be for me. And I don't want to dish even more money on the game if I am past the point of enjoying it.

It seems you already have your mind made up. I can't tell you if you will or won't enjoy the game simply by buying a skip potion. The primary elements will stay regardless of whatever expansion you end up playing just with tweaked mechanics and aesthetic changes.

TLDR; you get a quest, you complete that quest, and you get exp or money. Do the fetch quest get significantly less in later expansions? Absolutely, but they're still present. Does the story "get better" in later expansions? Depends on who you ask.

If the story is not for you, then there is plenty the game has to offer other than the story elements; you just have to slog through the story to get many of those offers available to you.

[LalafellDown]

The story gets better with HW, drags on in SB and gets to the point in SHB. A lot of fetch quests in between though.

[LaylaTsarra]

ARR is getting significant trimming in 5.3 so the long fetch quests will be a thing of the past most likely. They are also adjusting the xp earned so you don't run into story blocks which are pretty common in ARR questing. For those coming back prior to the update you have to still slog though a lot of the quests that simply won't be there very soon.

Flying is coming in 5.3 to ARR so getting around the zones will be a lot quicker although I do believe you need to finish the initial story through Praetorium.

[NessaWyvern]

If you want to do the /insist emote in this game, nobody is going to stop you :P Go ahead and do it
sorry, was making a bad joke based on the title

[Refth]

This is relatable, since I only started as a new player a couple of weeks ago (although I did play 1.0 and a little bit of ARR at launch)

Practically everyone forwarns that 2.0 - xx.4 can feel like a slog, but I've still been managing to enjoy myself. I'm actually surprised by the consistency of the writing, which by and large, is very good. (including fetch quests and flavour text)

It will be interesting to see how much is trimmed in 5.3, though.

[Dawn_FF14]

So, after dropping the game a couple years back, I decided to give it another go.

I enjoyed the combat (it starts slows but gets better as you get more powers), the aestethics...

...

Long story short is: if I get a story skip potion, will I be able to enjoy the game? Do the quests after ARR change from the unbearable fetch quests? Or is this game just not for me?

If money isn't an issue, just whether or not worth spending, I think you should consider the job+story skip to Shadowbringers. The current state of AAR doesn't do justice of this game. As a long time MMORPG player and a fan of the Final Fantasy console games, ShB is on the top of my list, if not the best one.

Here are the reasons why I recommend the skips.

I started in January and it was my 4th time to start in this game since AAR was released. I had my own little annoyances with AAR, but I decided to stick out this time, for the story. However, even I'm in for the story, I felt burned out from questing a few times, and switched to crafting and exploration in between. It took me 4 months, 600+ in game hours, to reach ShB content. If it wasn't for the stories that I don't want to miss, I could have spent that subscription money on the skips and saved the time. I know others probably power-leveled to 70+ much faster, but then, if you don't enjoy the story that can't be skipped, why bother. Time is money.

On the other hand, in ShB, there is a lot less fetch quests in MSQ. And, with all the cut scenes and voice acting added, the MSQ feels like watching a movie that keeps me wanting to know what happens next. I don't think one should miss out on this experience. This could be that "once in lifetime" thing, considering the trend in current MMORPGs.

Another benefit of skipping to level 70 is that you can try every job in the game. Since you mentioned that you like the combat, here are more options to play with without creating a new character (a major plus for this game).

There are in-game features to revisit cut scenes and skipped MSQ quests, so you can always go back and check them out later.

[Theodric]

ARR can be tedious due to the filler quests, though the experience is much more streamlined as of HW and beyond. It's worth pushing through it if you enjoy the meatier and more meaningful parts of the story since if you skip too much stuff then you'll miss out on the payoff that comes later. Understanding the context involved in later content is dependent on having a decent grasp of ARR.