MSQ Needs Further Condensing

[remiff]

I agree with some points, there are too many quests in the game,
I help a lot of new players, or watch streams a lot and I can see that in general the transitions between expansions are generally unappreciated,
a lot of the quests are scenario hole filling, and even despite the nerf of ARR,
I agree that they should find an alternative for players who don't want to spend weeks on transitional phases that don't always have a lot of interest in history.

Each expansions add a lot of quests, and I could see some players discouraged, because they simply have little time to invest in the game and even less in countless quests,
yes there is the jump potion, but not everyone has the desire or the means to pay for it, especially after purchasing the full game.

I'm not saying they should delete quests,
but they could at least leave the choice to the players to pass the transition phases between the extensions,
knowing that in the worst case there is the new game +.

[HyperiusUltima]

I don't like how "I" feel about the story.

Honestly if we're going to start trying to bash 5.0 Story, you obviously didn't read into it. If you weren't clicking through boxes too fast for so long you'd know that Tankred was saved by the others after he fought off Ran'jit(Think about who was in the cart at the time when the Talos was moving). And about Rak'tika with Ysh'tola pulling off what she did in Before the Fall(AGAIN): If you bothered to listen to Matoya as little as she shows up, she told Ysh'tola not to do that again for a reason. If anything, asking Emet to help us get her back at least shows his empathic nature, and is honestly something that you don't see in your normal Final Fantasy or MMORPG Villain nowadays. As for the Exarch, remember that guy's connected to the Crystal Tower. In 5.3, we see him becoming more crystallized. Why? Because he's bloodletting himself to try and find a solution to getting the Scions home using the Allagan Royal Blood he carries.

We can assume properly that he survived thanks to that connection in Amaurot after he had been shot(outside trying to Deus Ex Machina Hades in our moment so to speak). As for Elidibus, if you actually paid attention to the man in the white robe in previous expansions, you'd understand better what kind of guy he is. He's a manipulator that only serves one purpose - The Rejoining. He has a savior complex that shows itself in 5.3 if you've been reading the story side that has turned into an obsession(hence his turning into the First Warrior of Light as depicted in the storybook in the Cabinet of Curiosity). Ardbert is also not tacked on, because if you remember Soul Surrender, that story ties into 5.0 in particular. The First is Ardbert's home world - and he cares about it A LOT. Even going through his story about his companions in the Role Quests helps show a lot more about his allies and how he's grown himself; in addition, he also is another perspective taken in a few scenes, especially the scene in one of the Duties in Lakeland.

But, given how you want to continue to leverage your opinion in opposition to what is a well-written story with FAR, FAR LESS continuity issues than the likes of WoW and the praise the story has received from a mass majority of the playerbase, just writing it off as "But this is boring because story exposition and bland characters and blah blah blah" is derogatory; but you do you, Boo Boo.

Next time you try to make a critical statement about a story, read through the entire damn thing and try to point out flaws(not character flaws, but usually established personalities of characters that contradict their action lest their reason be stated, continuity problems. I can criticize Stormblood for some of its storyboarding from 4.0-4.3, but it was a more political expansion than most in regards to story content outside of 4.0's short-fallings).

[Reyketi]

If you don’t wanna play the game buy a skip, don’t wanna spend money play somthing else don’t have the whole game bend at your whim

Again, that's easy to say, as a player, on a forum.

But, the chances are that you won't be able to convince executives at SE, who've already made the decision to lower the burier to entry, that raising it, again, is a good idea.

Personal preferences, again, are not always marketable.

Best Wishes

-Reyketi

[Iscah]

Again, that's easy to say, as a player, on a forum.

But, the chances are that you won't be able to convince executives at SE, who've already made the decision to lower the burier to entry, that raising it, again, is a good idea.

I don't know what you're trying to argue. Executives wouldn't want people to be able to pay for a skip? And how does recommending a skip equate to re-raising a barrier to entry that has already been lowered?

If players use skips, that's good for the corporate side of the company because they get more money upfront.

Also you don't need to sign off in every single post. Stick it in the signature field.

[SturmChurro]

I wonder how many players they lose who don't want to pay for a skip?

Also you don't need to sign off in every single post. Stick it in the signature field.

Finally! Someone says it! I've always wondered why people even do it in the first place!

[StriderShinryu]

I wonder how many players they lose who don't want to pay for a skip?

That's actually an interesting question that I'm sure they have at least partial analytics for. Clearly, they saw/heard enough in regards to people being pushed away from the game by the ARR grind to spend the resources on not only cleaning up the MSQ but also extending the trial to last to the end of Heavensward. Most developers do have access to statistics on how many players even finish the first couple of levels of a game never mind actually complete it (heck, just check the tropy completion rates on your Playstation) and that's just for standard games never mind something that takes the level of time/commitment as an MMO.

[Tuska]

All they have to do is make the MSQ not mandatory like pretty much every other mmo.

People that want to read the story will. People that want to grind to end game are going to ignore the story anyway.

I have absolutely zero clue what's going on lore wise and don't care to know. So what good did forcing the story on me and players like me do?

[glitteringcosmos]

All they have to do is make the MSQ not mandatory like pretty much every other mmo.

People that want to read the story will. People that want to grind to end game are going to ignore the story anyway.

I have absolutely zero clue what's going on lore wise and don't care to know. So what good did forcing the story on me and players like me do?

Because it's a Final Fantasy game. Its main selling point is MSQ. If you aren't here for story go play one of those other mmos, simple as that LOL. The developers don't WANT to be like other mmos in this regard, and for good reason. Even if you're not into it, that's the whole selling point of the franchise. They offer the option of the skip for players like you if you REALLY don't want to play the story, but MSQ is their bread and butter.

[Tuska]

Because it's a Final Fantasy game. Its main selling point is MSQ.

Says who? Nothing on the box cover or anything official says "The main selling point is the MSQ" it only states that it's an MMO and MMOs by nature have a TON of main selling points depending on the player. Some people only play for raids, crafting, the social aspect etc.

However even if it's officially stated "the msq is the selling point" what does that have to do with making it required? It's not a single player it's a mmo and every mmo (with the exception of bdo) has lore, story, a reason for why you're killing x boss and why you're in x location, yet it's not forced.

The story can still be there but it can be optional for the people that want the mmo part since it is after all....a mmo.

The developers don't WANT to be like other mmos in this regard, and for good reason.

So then why do they have everything else other mmos have? They aren't even doing anything different remove the forced story and this is a more casual WoW clone. It operates no differently than any other themepark mmo.

If you aren't here for story go play one of those other mmos, simple as that LOL.

If you aren't here for the crafting go play another mmo.
If you aren't here for the raiding go play another mmo.
If you aren't here for the glamour go play another mmo.
If you aren't here for the erp go play another mmo.


Imagine playing a mmo and then boiling it down to ONE aspect of it...and the weakest aspect at that, the story, which is a one and done deal. You spend more time doing other things that aren't the story....

[Garnix]

Imagine playing a mmo and then boiling it down to ONE aspect of it...and the weakest aspect at that, the story, which is a one and done deal. You spend more time doing other things that aren't the story....

I agree with all the things you said except that one line. Because it is a one and done deal doesn't mean it is the weakest aspect...Some people would say that any form of grinding/repeatable content is the weakest aspect of the game. As you mentioned yourself, everybody plays differently, and a lot of players are enjoying the game mostly for its story.
Actually, being an MMO makes it possible for the story to be constantly evolving, which is not something you'd get from a traditional single player JRPG. This is also probably what makes XIV's story so good for many players : being with the same characters and seeing them evolve for many years creates some sort of "attachment". Getting some backstory for our own created character we spent hundreds and hundreds of hours playing as probably adds to that as well.


Anyways, options are always good to have.
I personally am enjoying every tiny little bits of story I can get, but I still think the game should be more 'welcoming' in the way it gates content behind the MSQ, and I'd also say that the story needs to be trimmed down every couple months/years.
I can appreciate having a few hours of story to go through every few months, but when I saw how lengthy 5.4 was...I personally appreciated it a lot, but I also thought about the new players who would have to go through this in a few years, after playing through the first 200h-ish of MSQ and knowing that there are still dozens of hours ahead...that's a massive time investment that a lot of players are not willing to go through.
New players can really easily get tired of the game before even reaching end game. That's what happened/happens with 2.X, and that could also easily happen with 5.X IMO.

I don't know....instead of making the whole story optional, they could just make it easier to go through : trim it down regularly, and maybe add a 'skip quest' option on top of 'skip cutscene'?...You'd still have to go to each quest NPC, but the amount of back and forth you'd have to do would be reduced by a lot if you plan to skip it all anyways, so it would be a lot more bearable for those who want to reach endgame...
MSQ is the best way to reach the level cap in this game anyways. Going through it is just free exp. So, keeping it mandatory and making it easier to go through sounds like a good deal to me.....