MSQ

[Tommara]

There are some important story elements in it, but a lot of it is filler that the devs promised between expansions.

For new and returning players, it's a serious drag which has caused me to leave the game several times now, the worst of which is was at the end of ARR (I paid for Shadowbringers before it was released, but have yet to play it). Heavensward was fine, Stormblood not nearly as bad as ARR, but, well...let's just say I spent my day playing No Man's Sky (where building your own custom house is not savage, and actually serves a useful purpose. OK, so gardening is useful in both games. But in No Man's Sky, I didn't have to spend any time clicking on a sign, the cost was trivial, and I got to actually build my own house exactly how I wanted - although the textures aren't so great).

My suggestion: Move what is not important story elements from the MSQ into Side Quests. Don't gate the MSQ behind group dungeons unless necessary but by all means, gate the group dungeons by some other means, just not the MSQ.