New game plus desperately needs to be reworked

[SolarisF]

So here’s the thing, IMO the only people who are likely interested in new game plus at all are people like myself who are done with msq and leveling alt jobs. New game plus is basically an end game boredom thing. The reality is that one can re-experience the story in new game plus, but in doing so they are just wasting time that could otherwise be spent crafting, leveling or many other endgame activities. I absolutely love that there is a new game plus option, but absolutely hate that it is for no rewards. Why would I waste hours upon hours of my life in a pay to play mmo doing hundreds upon hundreds of quests for nothing. My hopes is that the devs will one day realize that they need to fix new game plus to make it more appealing to their fan base. My suggestion would be to give quests higher than normal Gil rewards only. Turn new game plus into a viable alternative to crafting and selling on market board. This will not kill the market in anyway, as people like me who do craft will still obviously do that as well, but it would be nice to replay the story with some benefits to doing so in the times that I don’t feel like crafting. What say you fellow gamers? Agree? Disagree? Similar but different opinions?

[Jojoya]

Do you complain in this way when you repeat watching a movie or TV show and don't get anything extra for doing it? Because that's essentially what NG+ is - watching the MSQ show a second time.

It's doing what players asked SE for - a way to replay through the MSQ without creating a new character. Others are enjoying it very much even if you don't.

If you find it boring and a waste of your time, don't do it. It's an optional part of the game you're not required to do.

If you want to get rewards for replaying the content, make a new character. That's what I do. I find that more interesting than blasting through NG+ with a max level job. I can always transfer any gil earned to my main if I want by listing a junk item on the MB with one of my main's retainers for the amount of gil on my new character (less the market tax).

Only thing I think SE should have given NG+ would have been the same XP rewards as the original quests for those who want to use it to help level alt jobs but it's really not a big deal when we already have so many other options for getting XP.

[Iscah]

So here’s the thing, IMO the only people who are likely interested in new game plus at all are people like myself who are done with msq and leveling alt jobs. New game plus is basically an end game boredom thing.

New Game Plus is for reviewing the story, whether you are bored or not.

Not everything has to be about making progress 100% of the time. You just need to be enjoying yourself.

And why should MSQ replay be treated primarily as a source of rewards? All that would happen is that the "efficiency at all costs" people would conclude it is a source of good EXP and run it into the ground while complaining about how tedious the quests are and that they need to be shortened again. Plus you'd have bots running it to earn gil. The most efficient bit of MSQ would get calculated and the route would get crowded.

No, it's perfectly fine as something you do because you actively want to re-experience the story.

[ItMe]

I absolutely love that there is a new game plus option, but absolutely hate that it is for no rewards. Why would I waste hours upon hours of my life in a pay to play mmo doing hundreds upon hundreds of quests for nothing. My hopes is that the devs will one day realize that they need to fix new game plus to make it more appealing to their fan base. My suggestion would be to give quests higher than normal Gil rewards only. Turn new game plus into a viable alternative to crafting and selling on market board.

It's not for nothing.
It's for people who enjoyed those quests to do them again.
They don't need a rewards structure tied to them when it's just a way to make that content (the story) something you can experience more than once if you're inclined.
There can't really be an appropriate reward for doing NG+.
The rewards from doing the quests the first time are things to help players get established and settled into the game.
There also can't be a reward that is both substantial enough reward to rerun the quests for the reward itself, and yet unimportant enough that it can be given to players to infinitely farm by just skipping cutscenes.

[SolarisF]

That is exactly what I have done. I have my main character, then I have alts which I replay the story on, this gives me additional retainer space as I can just transfer stuff between characters using my fc chest. The only difference between replaying the game on an alt and new game plus is that on my alts I have to redo the aether currents, so it’s a bit longer than it would be to blast through on new game plus. The fact that replaying the game on an alt is actually beneficial as opposed to running new game plus with no benefit is exactly what renders new game plus obsolete in my opinion. Obviously by the sounds of it my point is valid as even you are saying that you would rather just create a new character than play new game plus. Lastly I’m not complaining, I’m simply stating my opinions on on where the game can be improved, and your comparison to my observations on new game plus and rewatching tv is just plain stupid because a 2 hour movie is certainly not the same thing as replaying a mmo, and if I just want to rewatch cutscenes I can do that in my fc house at anytime.

[DrWho2010]

Opinions on where the game can be "improved" are subjective. You have to think objectively when thinking about making "improvements". Where does the reward structure fit in? Is it open to exploit? Will it take people away from other things where we want to push people to go instead? things like this.

[DBriggs304]

I get it completely.. New Game plus was a complete waste of time & resources. If there's nothing gained from it...even something extra storywise, it's useless.

[RyoXander]

I personally breezed through the story, skipping every cut-scene in order to get to endgame and do content with my friends; So I'm kinda excited about NG+.

[Vahlnir]

Because that's essentially what NG+ is - watching the MSQ show a second time.

Pretty much this. NG+ is not for me, but if someone else enjoys it...that's why it exists.

[Iscah]

The fact that replaying the game on an alt is actually beneficial as opposed to running new game plus with no benefit is exactly what renders new game plus obsolete in my opinion.

It depends on your goals.

If you want to make an alt and you want to replay the whole story from start to finish, then making an alt is the most effective way of achieving both those things.

If you want everything you do to contribute towards your main character, you're going to get more for them out of NG+ than by playing an alt. You won't get quest EXP but you'll be running dungeons and obtaining items that benefit your character one way or another.

The other very big thing about NG+ is that it's chapter-based so you can play specific parts of the game rather than go through everything from the start. Prior to the release of Shadowbringers I really wanted to replay Crystal Tower and, not having the time to take a character through the game from scratch, the only way I could do that was to pay $10 to skip an alt through ARR. Now with NG+ I can do that for free.

I've also used it to replay specific battle instances and to take screenshots in the Deltascape base zone which isn't accessible after completing the Omega storyline.