Game difficulty, syncing, minimum ilvl and new players

[van_arn]

The game is an FF MMO, so it's possible for it to fail as a FF or as an MMO.

The game has the FF bit in spades right now, but the MMO gameplay is lacking until you sink hundred(s) of hours into unlocking content. Not everyone is willing to suffer through bad gameplay to get to good gameplay. In fact, the hundred hour ask is an unreasonable ask. This is a difficult game to recommend to someone wanting to just jump in due to the amount of time it takes to just unlock the game.

This really is an issue that needs to be addressed, and simply skipping to the current expansion isn't enough to fix things. Combat needs to be engaging no matter what level a player is at, and the low-level experience of FFXIV is abysmal. Worse, due to sync and roulettes that abysmal low-level experience never truly leaves a player for good -- you're one unlucky roulette from sastasha or copperbell or praetorium no matter what.

Skip potions are only a partial solution; I'd rather have someone that enjoys the current expansion playing the current expansion than quitting halfway through Stormblood because they got sick of fedexing. They're still going to suffer through the awful that is Sastasha, though.

The story is nice, but it's only half of the game. Don't overstate its importance.