MSQ Needs Further Condensing

[Garnix]

5.4 was filler? Finding the cure for tempering and trying solving Eorzea's major problem by coming together with the beast tribes was filler?

Are we playing the same game?

I wanted to say the same thing, but thinking about it further, a major part of the 5.4 Limsa quest is about pirates and how they are impacted by the current situation with Garlemald.
It also provided a bit of character development for Merlwyb, which I am not sure was really needed for the main scenario yet, as much as I liked getting it...
I think this is what made it feel like 'filler' to some people, not the cure for tempering itself.

[Ammokkx]

I wanted to say the same thing, but thinking about it further, a major part of the 5.4 Limsa quest is about pirates and how they are impacted by the current situation with Garlemald.
It also provided a bit of character development for Merlwyb, which I am not sure was really needed for the main scenario yet, as much as I liked getting it...
I think this is what made it feel like 'filler' to some people, not the cure for tempering itself.

I'm not sure it's really a "major" part at all.

It uses that small substory to bridge "We have a cure" and "We apply the cure on Kobolds" to make way for the peace between beast tribes and Eorzea. That, and Limsa has always been the aggressor in their particular feuds. It needed to get over that hurdle first. The conflict between how pirates used to live and live now is all of two cutscenes, the rest is spent on how the one pirate crew raided kobolds and how we can use this to our advantage to lure them into a trap.

[Malia_Chan]

The condensing of the MSQ by Square Enix is greatly appreciated, but it is not enough.

With ARR, HW, SB, and ShB, it is getting quite lengthy, even with the reduction.

The game suffers greatly from trying to be both an MMORPG, and single player story focused RPG.

The fact is this game is an MMORPG, with a large focus on end-game content, that being trials, raids, gearing, ect.

The game should not be putting new players in a state of perpetual catch-up, having to choose between skipping all of the cutscenes, and missing all of the story, just to play with their friends, and not be dead-weight, or taking their time, and spending an eternity going through the now-slog of a narrative.

To Square Enix, I ask: What is the length at which you will consider the content gap 'too large'?

If, Square Enix, you intend to preserve the JRPG style narrative, will you set a standard of time for a fresh character to go from 1-80 or 1-90?


Possible Solution Proposal


Introduce a new metric: Time-To-Cap (TTC) (Level 1 to max level)

Standardize the time is takes to reach level cap.

Apply this to every expansion that increases the level cap.

Shape the presentation of the MSQ around this time with questing, and cutscenes (perhaps still frames, with narration) bridging the gaps.

Of course, this should be OPTIONAL, thus allowing players to level in the manner of which they choose.

Unabridged, and abridged.

The Unabridged MSQ condensing nothing. The Abridged MSQ always conforming to the standardized TTC.


Best Wishes

-Reyketi

The MSQ doesn't anymore condensing. Seriously, its fine as is.

[Reyketi]

The MSQ doesn't anymore condensing. Seriously, its fine as is.

I don't think so.

Best Wishes

-Reyketi

[Reyketi]

I was a person who spent 65 days of playtime

99.9% of gamers are not going to want to do that.

Best Wishes

-Reyketi

[Ammokkx]

99.9% of gamers are not going to want to do that.

Best Wishes

-Reyketi

And 84% of statistics are pulled out of thin air.

Also please tell me at which point I generalize and extrapolate my experience as being emblematic of everyone who plays. I'd love to get that quote.

It's like you're *trying* to ignore the point that everyone plays games differently and that one idea won't be representative of the playerbase at large *because* of those differences.

[Shanst]

As someone brand new to the game going through all of this right now, I can tell you the game feels like a slog. The story eventually gets good, but the constant run here, talk to someone, run here, talk to another person and repeat that until end game isn't very enjoyable. It doesn't even feel like a Final Fantasy game. At least in other Final Fantasy games, there was game play between story. Besides the random duty, you really are in cut scene mode for 250 hours.

Now I enjoy the game and don't plan on quitting. My only problem is I've met people on other Data Centers, and would like to roll another character on their center, but seriously can't stomach going through these MSQ's and this story again. Once is enough for a life time. I also don't believe the solution should be give them more money than simply them providing a system that if you have any characters on any data center that has completed the MSQ's, you should be able to automatically have completed the MSQ on that account on any new character. Don't care about starting at level 1. I don't need to do another 250+ hours of content I've already done, just to play on another center.

[DPZ2]

I also don't believe the solution should be give them more money than simply them providing a system that if you have any characters on any data center that has completed the MSQ's, you should be able to automatically have completed the MSQ on that account on any new character. Don't care about starting at level 1. I don't need to do another 250+ hours of content I've already done, just to play on another center.

I don't know of any MMO that allows you to create a new character on a different data center/realm/world and 'skip' the leveling experience automatically.

[If you pay an extra $20-$40USD for the new WoW expansion it includes one level boost you can use it for a new character. But you spent extra for it, so ...]

You want to play with new friends on another data center, but not start at level 1? Get a world transfer.

You want to start another character but don't want to start from level 1? Get a story+job skip to current expansion starting level.

The alternative to spending the money (which is not even possible in many other games), is to spend the time.

[Reyketi]

It doesn't even feel like a Final Fantasy game.

The Devs, and community should take opinions like yours into consideration, imo.

The people who are against the MSQ being condensed further will commonly retort with "this is a FF game!" but I don't remember a FF game taking 250 boring hours to complete.

I'm not sure what you're into, as it relates to MMORPGs, but I really love the endgame of FF14. I'd give it a chance.

Best Wishes

-Reyketi

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

The Devs, and community should take opinions like yours into consideration, imo.

The people who are against the MSQ being condensed further will commonly retort with "this is a FF game!" but I don't remember a FF game taking 250 boring hours to complete.

I'm not sure what you're into, as it relates to MMORPGs, but I really love the endgame of FF14. I'd give it a chance.

Best Wishes

-Reyketi

Yeah, this is more like 4 final fantasy games each taking 60 hours to complete.

And boring is subjective. I enjoyed every minute of the story.