MSQ

[SturmChurro]

Many games tend to tell us any text in game is the reality (of the story), while FFXIV takes it better: people have misunderstandings, can lie, and ancient tech was unknown.
So, at times our friends just really have no idea where to go and that's how life is.

ARR MSQs may be boring and repetitive, but trust me HW is much much better.

I don't know about that, really. I see a lot of people state that HW is so much better, but it's still more of the same. Especially so, if a player is not too interested in the story. In regards to this thread, the mandatory dungeons are (mostly) a joke, and have been nerfed. Neither do players have their full kit. If a player didn't like ARR, I seriously doubt HW is the place that will hook them.

[kiagenwa]

I don't know about that, really. I see a lot of people state that HW is so much better, but it's still more of the same. Especially so, if a player is not too interested in the story. In regards to this thread, the mandatory dungeons are (mostly) a joke, and have been nerfed. Neither do players have their full kit. If a player didn't like ARR, I seriously doubt HW is the place that will hook them.

That depends on what you look for in the game.
As you said, if the player skip all, then all content are more or less repetitive.

SE already offers us to skip MSQ to current expansion with a price.
I don't see any reason not to pay it if MSQ is pointless. You'd be wasting your game time otherwise.
It's not pay to win. It's just small convenience.

If SE offer unparalleled weapon to use in PvP, then that's another story.

[Tommara]

That depends on what you look for in the game.
As you said, if the player skip all, then all content are more or less repetitive.

SE already offers us to skip MSQ to current expansion with a price.
I don't see any reason not to pay it if MSQ is pointless. You'd be wasting your game time otherwise.
It's not pay to win. It's just small convenience.

If SE offer unparalleled weapon to use in PvP, then that's another story.

That logic only works for new MMO players who don't know any better.

Edited Note: There is a lot of free MMO content that is more fun than paying to avoid content that is not fun in an MMO. The Secret World/Legends comes to mind, for its story, although the end game is boring, after the story ends.

[Arkevorkhat]

SE already offers us to skip MSQ to current expansion with a price.
I don't see any reason not to pay it if MSQ is pointless. You'd be wasting your game time otherwise.

This is the real answer here, and the reason that most of the suggestions in this thread will never be implemented.

Square-enix has a financial incentive to make story skip books as appealing as possible, and so every change to the MSQ that makes it faster or easier is a potential skip book that they've potentially shot themselves in the foot on.

I'd bet money that the reason behind the ARR changes in 5.3 was that SE's management decided that the potential lost revenue from not having as many people skip ARR would be balanced out by an increase in people moving from free trial to paid accounts. There's little reason to devote development time to trimming ARR while simultaneously expanding the trial, outside of calculated financial incentive.

[wereotter]

I have to admit, the MSQ does seem to have a lot of "filler" in it. I'm still plugging away at ARR part two.


What is a filler quest?


Talk to this character in one city who tells you to meet up with him in another city. Travel to that city and he tells you to now go to a third place to meet up with who they intend to rendezvous with.


How about just cut out Point B and just go from A to C?


I know it's favour, but it gets really repetitive.

Filler quests do include needing that intermediate step, but they include other things too. I mentioned earlier, but a good example was a cut series of quests that occur shortly after completing the two 8-man dungeons. You're sent off to locate Minfilia's mother and bring her back to the Waking Sands to convince her that it's okay to relocate the Scions to Revenant's Toll. But before her mother agrees to come with you to speak to Minfilia, she insisted that you first help her create a bottle of the perfume she wears. This questline involved going and tracking down flowers, getting fresh spring water, and a seemingly endless number of pointless tasks before she finally agrees to come with you to speak to her daughter.

Now, as soon as you find her mother, she tells you that she was in the area trying to locate another bottle of her favorite perfume, but then tells you not to worry about it and that she'll purchase a new bottle of it and meet you in Vesper Bay, cutting out a large number of irrelevant quests that were only there to pad out the play time.

[KageTokage]

They have gotten better about simply teleporting you to your next destination in some quests, though I still wish they did that more often.

[linayar]

They have gotten better about simply teleporting you to your next destination in some quests, though I still wish they did that more often.

I feel the same way, but I guess they have to save some things to do for people who want to "play" and not feel like they're just watching the story.

[SturmChurro]

I don't really like cuts personally, I'd rather see quests made optional. Probably would take a real overhaul though. The MSQ is becoming (and is already) too bloated. That or provided free skips, but I don't know how good their new game+ is, and I'd like players to have the option to go back and do story.

[Theodric]

A lot of the 'filler' is important world building. If you speak to nearby NPC's in between quest steps there's usually fresh dialogue that adds a lot of important context. Sure, some people will skip through it or ignore it entirely...but it does wonders at making the in-game world feel 'deep'.

I'd be in favour of a new point of entry for players to enter the game, maybe after 6.0 is done with. The Echo could be used as a method of allowing players who take the new route to experience the original route if they so pleased.

[linayar]

I'd be in favour of a new point of entry for players to enter the game, maybe after 6.0 is done with. The Echo could be used as a method of allowing players who take the new route to experience the original route if they so pleased.

I want a new starting experience that starts with 6.1's story, but Yoshida's comment about comparing it to a TV season, and the fact they're using ARR and HW (and maybe more in the future) as a free trial feature makes me think they'll keep it as is.