MSQ

[ZedxKayn]

Fortunately, there are other games that may cater to them. They don't have to change this one to be able to enjoy a game more to their liking.

XIV could cater to people who don't care for the MSQ despite it being mandatory.

[linayar]

XIV could cater to people who don't care for the MSQ despite it being mandatory.

Then good for them as well if they can accept the mandatory MSQ. I'm talking about the people Alaray say is turned off by FFXIV. If that makes them not want to play FFXIV, then there are other games.

[Alaray]

Fortunately, there are other games that may cater to them. They don't have to change this one to be able to enjoy a game more to their liking.

This is a pretty terrible non-response.

"Play another game" isn't a response to a critique of the current title, when it can easily offer the solution to players who might be interested in a different aspect of the title since the game isn't just a visual novel. Thanks for trying, I guess.

[DPZ2]

This is a pretty terrible non-response.

"Play another game" isn't a response to a critique of the current title, when it can easily offer the solution to players who might be interested in a different aspect of the title since the game isn't just a visual novel. Thanks for trying, I guess.

"Play another game" is, indeed, a valid response. One that you don't like, to be sure, but certainly more valid than "[SE could] easily offer the solution..."

Would you be willing to pony up the entire amount of direct funding for this easy "solution"?

Why is it that people think massive coding changes are ever "easy", or cheap?

[ZedxKayn]

certainly more valid than "[SE could] easily offer the solution..."

Source: me

If they had the resources to make stuff like fêtes or fellowships for patches, I'm sure they could figure out a way to make MSQ optional for a new expac.

[Alaray]

"Play another game" is, indeed, a valid response. One that you don't like, to be sure, but certainly more valid than "[SE could] easily offer the solution..."

Would you be willing to pony up the entire amount of direct funding for this easy "solution"?

Why is it that people think massive coding changes are ever "easy", or cheap?

It's not a valid response, no. If you think it is, I understand you're not worth talking to about this subject. Or, probably, any subject regarding improvements and critique about the title in question.

As for money, it's a multi billion dollar corporation. Which is sort of just making me read my first sentence, and wonder why I even bothered to reply to that point. Since it's pretty obvious.

[Tommara]

My position's always been that MSQ shouldn't gate the game away in the manner it does, especially when most of it is a drag and, while it's an alright story, it's not going to shatter someone's world to miss it if what they want to do in XIV is located after it.

Like, it's an okay story. It's alright. If someone wants to raid primarily and doesn't care about the narrative, just... let them. Just let people pick an option, or something, that lets them get a massively streamlined story, or just skips it altogether without having to dedicate another chunk of cash for the privilege of not spending 80+ hours clicking on NPCs.

Especially when doing the MSQ is hardly content in and of itself, since it's just a click and point adventure game without anything interesting to do with the games systems and, even when you end up at Thordan with all the build up, the end result is more of a sad joke as your df'd group blows him up in a few minutes and you're back to "click npc, read. Move twenty feet. Click NPC." It's not riveting gameplay, and there's a lot of people who're interested in the gameplay elements that, in XIV, only end up fleshed out at the end game and are miserable to work with before then. I mean, I just go afk on some of the duties on the normal difficulty and somehow win. It's an extremely dull affair.

If the MSQ played like a game and not just the lowest budget movie you could ever ask for, maybe I'd hold a different opinion. But I also don't think the shining feature of a MMO should be the solo player experience, especially when it's more like a solo viewer experience.

Selling a solution to a problem isn't a solution to the problem. At best that's a scam.

And multiple expansions worth of hours to slog through terribly designed quests that promise just about 0 interesting gameplay fun from them is, despite what some people think, a massive turn off to people who do want to play a videogame at the end of the day.

Exactly!

I do want to play video games at the end of the day, and MMO's have been my favorite, although lately I've been leaning toward survival games instead. But I do want MMO's to survive.

Edited Note: I had to add this last part since "Exactly" didn't meet the forum's requirements for being long enough. Although upon further reflection, Alaray nailed it by saying that MSQ shouldn't be gated this way. Reading story should not be used as a gatekeeper before you can play the next expansion. Although absolutely, the story content should remain, just not as a gatekeeper. Gatekeeper requirements should be reserved only for joining public duty finders.

I actually have most fun crafting and gathering, but the latter can't get into zones until my highest level adventurer toon can. A huge step backwards from Everquest2 and other MMO's I've played. And is why I have been spending time in No Man's Sky instead, and Ark before that.

I brought this issue up because I really, really do care about this game. I've been playing Final Fantasy games since it was on the 8-bit Nintendo. Ironically, for their interesting stories.

[Enla]

Except those 'in between' quests are all set up for the expansions to come and every single one of them have story beats the can be called back to at any time. 5.4 for example had a storyline with Merylwyb that started back in 2.2 and that no one thought to resolve till now. Hell the whole 'Warriors of Darkness' schtick was part of the expanded Heavensward questline after the initial expac and we got an entire expansion dedicated to their world and storyline in the form of Shadowbringers. Absolutely none of them are 'optional' storybeats because they're there to continue the story into the next expansion and beyond. The idea that they're 'side quest' worth simply because they happen in between expansions is a pretty bad faith take at best.

Honestly if the story isn't something you want to bother with there is a solution for that. Compared to the hours you'd spend doing the story the monetary value is quite the bargain. SE made it pretty clear that they aren't going to make the MSQ optional any time soon so this is the only option you are going to get if it's affecting your enjoyment that much. "But SE might listen to us!" Unless we get another FF MMO to replace this one as it goes into maintenance mode I very much doubt they will. The MSQ is a selling point for this game. If it was truly such a huge impediment to player enjoyment they'd have the data to show that. Which is the primary reason they reduced the number of quests in ARR but nowhere else in the storyline. Until the data actually reflects that people are abandoning this game due to the MSQ they aren't going to change a single thing.

[MilkieTea]

That would be a good question if there wasn't an option to pay to remove them all.

You said that the root of the problem was to remove most of the post-MSQ quests.

do you know which post-MSQ quests you would NOT remove? in order to maintain the storyline and not leave players confused?

[MilkieTea]

You said that the root of the problem was to remove most of the post-MSQ quests.

do you know which post-MSQ quests you would NOT remove? in order to maintain the storyline and not leave players confused?

I cant edit since Im on mobile right now, but thats supposed to say “removed from the MSQ storyline”