Request: I don't want to solo the main scenario

[Onidemon]

How is the main scenario a major aspect of the game? It doesn't unlock anything and it doesn't give you anything.
The main scenario is just quests, battles for fun, and knowledge of what happens. Its this huge optional thing.
As it stands you can pretty much do all of endgame without even playing it.

In 2.0 we will get content finder which forms groups cross servers, so finding people to do the missions won't be an issue.

If you don't want to play with people why even play an mmorpg? o_____________o

AF quests are much more important to have cleared than the main scenario and they are a lot harder and require some decent gameplay.

I don't mind playing with people at all. It's just that finding a group in this game is just as painful as it was in XI. You know i keep hearing people say how XI was so good because it forced you to group and thus enabled you to build relationships and that is why some think is so superior. But having played both XI and WOW for years, WOW which a lot of people here claim it is too solo centric, it was always MUCH MUCH easier to find people to play with in WOW then it ever was in XI.

and i'm not even talking about the Dungeon finder tool here. In WOW if you are doing a quest and require some help, it never took me more then 5 -10 min to find someone. There is always people around your area, people who may also be on the same quests and i found people to be a lot friendlier when asked to group then in XI. I find that in XI, people are way too much into their own LS and only care about that. Even before the dungeon finder tool i had less problems making a group then i did in XI.

So unless they make grouping easier in 2.0, please don't try to force any group content down my throat unless its Dungeons and Raids.

[Majidah]

I don't mind playing with people at all. It's just that finding a group in this game is just as painful as it was in XI. You know i keep hearing people say how XI was so good because it forced you to group and thus enabled you to build relationships and that is why some think is so superior. But having played both XI and WOW for years, WOW which a lot of people here claim it is too solo centric, it was always MUCH MUCH easier to find people to play with in WOW then it ever was in XI.

and i'm not even talking about the Dungeon finder tool here. In WOW if you are doing a quest and require some help, it never took me more then 5 -10 min to find someone. There is always people around your area, people who may also be on the same quests and i found people to be a lot friendlier when asked to group then in XI. I find that in XI, people are way too much into their own LS and only care about that. Even before the dungeon finder tool i had less problems making a group then i did in XI.

So unless they make grouping easier in 2.0, please don't try to force any group content down my throat unless its Dungeons and Raids.

This thread is based on 2.0. Yoshi has stated the plot is frozen until 2.0 release.

Anyhow, I never have trouble finding people to party with. And people don't even use the search system...

now picture how it'll be with the new search and content finder! I really doubt getting people will be an issue anymore. And if that's the only problem, then I'll label this as a non issue.

[Onidemon]

This thread is based on 2.0. Yoshi has stated the plot is frozen until 2.0 release.

Anyhow, I never have trouble finding people to party with. And people don't even use the search system...

now picture how it'll be with the new search and content finder! I really doubt getting people will be an issue anymore. And if that's the only problem, then I'll label this as a non issue.

Yeah that's really my only problem. I hate spending 1h looking for people. I can understand that for those with a really good and big LS or that play for a lot of hours, it's not a problem. But for people like me who got 1 or 2 hours to play, if i gotta waste more then half that time just finding people, then i just rather play solo.

[Biggs]

I don't mind playing with people at all. It's just that finding a group in this game is just as painful as it was in XI. You know i keep hearing people say how XI was so good because it forced you to group and thus enabled you to build relationships and that is why some think is so superior. But having played both XI and WOW for years, WOW which a lot of people here claim it is too solo centric, it was always MUCH MUCH easier to find people to play with in WOW then it ever was in XI.

and i'm not even talking about the Dungeon finder tool here. In WOW if you are doing a quest and require some help, it never took me more then 5 -10 min to find someone. There is always people around your area, people who may also be on the same quests and i found people to be a lot friendlier when asked to group then in XI. I find that in XI, people are way too much into their own LS and only care about that. Even before the dungeon finder tool i had less problems making a group then i did in XI.

So unless they make grouping easier in 2.0, please don't try to force any group content down my throat unless its Dungeons and Raids.

Not to take away from your problems, because they sound legit, I think some of your problem might be your server then. Having been on Masamune now coming from Kashaun (which was a freakin ghost town) I have been pleasantly suprised by how easy it has been to make a group via shouting in Ul'dah. As of yet, of the 15 or 16 times I have shouted for a group for xp or artifact missions, I haven't had to wait longer than 15 mins for a full party. No one ever wants to reroll, and I totally get that but, if you ever find yourself on Masamune, look up Behemoth King, we will get you what you need

[Jinko]

In 2.0 we will get content finder which forms groups cross servers, so finding people to do the missions won't be an issue..

That's making a big assumption that the objectives are instances based content.

As I said hopefully its something like the job quests, fight a couple open world NM's (which can be soloed or duo'd) and then get in a dungeon party and get your AF etc.

The only thing I didn't like about the job quests is that the AF should have dropped from a mini boss inside the dungeon it's self and not from a box.

New Quests should be something like:-
Investigate the main scenario- solo
Kill mini boss - solo/duo
Investigate dungeon - Light Party
Kill dungeon boss - Full Party

I will say that I think there needs to be an extensive questline allowing access to the Crystal Tower, I don't believe you should be allowed to just walk straight in to something like that.

[Malakhim]

I'm just gonna paste a response I left in a similar thread.

I want to play with anyone, but I don't want to play with everyone. Once you create content that requires groups, you've essentially forced my back against the wall. This is doubly true when said content is one of the major pillars of your game.

Story content should be soloable or accessible with a partner NPC, but should be fairly challenging. The biggest reason that this wasn't the case originally is because DoH and DoL classes were allowed access to the main storyline, which watered down the difficulty curve immensely. Crafters and Gatherers should have their own "story tree" that plays to their strengths.

Naturally there should be some clear benefits to grouping for storyline quests(battle time rankings/leaderboards, access to better bonuses, better loot, etc.), but content where grouping should be required(or at least encouraged) should be peripheral things like mass PvE, PvP, player-run events like partying, NM hunting, etc.

[Majidah]

I'm just gonna paste a response I left in a similar thread.

I want to play with anyone, but I don't want to play with everyone. Once you create content that requires groups, you've essentially forced my back against the wall. This is doubly true when said content is one of the major pillars of your game.

Story content should be soloable or accessible with a partner NPC, but should be fairly challenging. The biggest reason that this wasn't the case originally is because DoH and DoL classes were allowed access to the main storyline, which watered down the difficulty curve immensely. Crafters and Gatherers should have their own "story tree" that plays to their strengths.

Naturally there should be some clear benefits to grouping for storyline quests(battle time rankings/leaderboards, access to better bonuses, better loot, etc.), but content where grouping should be required(or at least encouraged) should be peripheral things like mass PvE, PvP, player-run events like partying, NM hunting, etc.

Says who?
I say it should be the other way around. Benefits for soloing it, since it should be harder than doing it in a group.
Clearing CoP in a group was one of the most rewarding things I've done in a video game.

We had the party's girl actually cry after the last mission.

[Pandastirfry]

Blarg... The forced grouping of the main story was one of the things that finally drove me away from XI.

Took me a month of begging, pleading, and shouting just to clear Rank 3, and once I had to take a break from the game shortly after CoP came out... getting Dynamis done (which I never did) was like pulling teeth because everyone else had already done it. and getting past rank 5... yeah never did that either due to very few people doing rank missions and if they did it was usually with their LS. I wound up getting locked out of the story because I wasn't hitting the new missions at the height of their popularity.

Making the central plot line dependent on other people being willing to help was just annoying. Same with the AF being as tied to grouping (good luck getting anyone to help with BRD gloves and Justacorps with out serious bribing, stupid ghost mob, past mobs with true sight/sound, and the dang coffer being at the BOTTOM of castle Zhval). I like being able to just log onto XIV and say "I think I'm going to do story missions today" and I can, without waiting pointlessly, and begging for help.

I'm not saying I don't want "Challenging" content, I would just rather they reserve that for other things and not lock people out of the main story because they came to the game to late and it's no longer the hot thing to do thus finding a group to do it nearly impossible.

[Majidah]

Blarg... The forced grouping of the main story was one of the things that finally drove me away from XI.

Took me a month of begging, pleading, and shouting just to clear Rank 3, and once I had to take a break from the game shortly after CoP came out... getting Dynamis done (which I never did) was like pulling teeth because everyone else had already done it. and getting past rank 5... yeah never did that either due to very few people doing rank missions and if they did it was usually with their LS. I wound up getting locked out of the story because I wasn't hitting the new missions at the height of their popularity.

Making the central plot line dependent on other people being willing to help was just annoying. Same with the AF being as tied to grouping (good luck getting anyone to help with BRD gloves and Justacorps with out serious bribing, stupid ghost mob, past mobs with true sight/sound, and the dang coffer being at the BOTTOM of castle Zhval). I like being able to just log onto XIV and say "I think I'm going to do story missions today" and I can, without waiting pointlessly, and begging for help.

I'm not saying I don't want "Challenging" content, I would just rather they reserve that for other things and not lock people out of the main story because they came to the game to late and it's no longer the hot thing to do thus finding a group to do it nearly impossible.

<insert everything I said in the post above this one>

Plus: There are... 4, 5 ,6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10-2, 13, 13-4 that many final fantasy titles that don't require for you to play with other people and that let you get on and just do what you please on your own.

First of all, the main scenario isn't FFXIV. I'd say its the least important thing about FFXIV. You can do everything in this game without even touching it. Its just something else that's there.
You don't go around complaining you need to find people to do end game content. Why would you complain about the main scenario requiring the same? Why would you cheapen it in such way?
Second of all, this is a MMORPG. The main elements of this game SHOULD require PEOPLE to be beaten. They SHOULDN'T allow players to solo through things. What are other players in an MMORPG? Just more intelligent NPCs to occupy the background?

It seems to me the only issue people are bringing up is "its hard to find people to do the missions"; that's not a good reason for a MMORPG to half ass itself.
In any case I'd be asking: could they implement something to find people who to play with more easily?

Yes they can, content finder. Come 2.0.