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]

Well, I do have to say that after spending the last few days in No Man's Sky, it also reached a point where I needed a break from it.

So I came back to FF14, which is pretty typical for me. Kind of a detox/attitude adjustment/reset period.

And waited in the queue for the level 70 Castrum Fluminis for well over an hour. The story that followed was well worth the wait.

I still don't think the 80 level 50 quests you have to do in ARR is worth it though, although admittedly, I barely remember them. My memory is very selective. I remember stuff that is interesting. I forget stuff that isn't. All I remember is the Scion/reincarnation of Scion drama.

But yeah, once you get past those 80 MSQs in ARR after you reach level 50, the story does become more interesting.

But as a practical matter, I know for a fact that the game loses level 50 players who get bored with having to do 80 more MSQs before they can progress to Heavensward. It's happened to me several times before once my friends reach level 50, and I'm currently playing with another friend who I fear won't make it to Heavensward, not because they are incompetent, but because he's also been playing MMO's for well over two decades, and so knows to stop playing an MMO when it's no longer fun.

[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.

[linayar]

There is a lot of free MMO content that is more fun than paying to avoid content that is not fun in an MMO.

Then there is no problem. People are free to play those other contents if they think it's more fun than FFXIV's MSQ.

[Tommara]

Then there is no problem. People are free to play those other contents if they think it's more fun than FFXIV's MSQ.

Yep!

I got to add stuff because my reply was too short, lol.

[Penthea]

I know for a fact that the game loses level 50 players who get bored with having to do 80 more MSQs before they can progress to Heavensward.

I know players who were not bothered by it at all, many actually enjoyed it. Personally I LOVED that there was so much story content to do. It's one of the major things that made me keep playing. Even on alts I have never found the msq to be a slog.

And games lose players all the time. That is normal. You can't please everyone, it's impossible to. Almost everyone has picked up a game and found they didn't like it. For most people it's several games.

The msq isn't going anywhere. You might not like its place in FFXIV but the increasing popularity of this game means many disagree with you. SE are not going to drop a formula that works. It would be stupid to.

There is a lot of free MMO content that is more fun than paying to avoid content that is not fun in an MMO.

Then why not play that instead? Why spend your time trying to advocate for a change when what you want is already elsewhere?

I didn't enjoy Persona 5 due to a primary mechanic it has and I didn't go to forums and essentially say "hey these other games don't have this mechanic I hate, why can't this game be like them instead?" I just went to play those other games. It's a waste of time to complain that a strawberry milkshake doesn't taste like chocolate when you can just have a chocolate milkshake instead.

[Saefinn]

Then why not play that instead? Why spend your time trying to advocate for a change when what you want is already elsewhere?

I didn't enjoy Persona 5 due to a primary mechanic it has and I didn't go to forums and essentially say "hey these other games don't have this mechanic I hate, why can't this game be like them instead?" I just went to play those other games. It's a waste of time to complain that a strawberry milkshake doesn't taste like chocolate when you can just have a chocolate milkshake instead.

Very much this.

I just don't get the mentality of:
"there's this thing I've started doing that I don't enjoy but others do, but I've got something else I could do instead"
"so do something else?"
"No, I will continue to do the thing and expect them to make it so I enjoy it, even though those who enjoy it like it that way"

It boils down to what works for people and what people are willing to accept.

That is not to say to be a yesman who accepts everything the way it is without criticism. Because there are definitely things to criticise. But there is a limit, because there is a difference between a game that has areas in need of improvement and the game not being for you.

Ultimately it's a heavily story focused game encompassed as an MMORPG. The two elements are interlinked and are at the game's core and it's working for them. Plus I like that group content is locked behind story content, because it just doesn't make narrative sense to be able to go to a certain dungeon or fight without first having reached there. If anything this was one of my complaints about WoW, none of their dungeons had context for me and no story really led me into them and I felt nothing for any of the dungeons I went through. But as you'll probably see, I'm playing FFXIV not WoW, if that's what WoW players prefer, I'd say let them have it that way.

[ItMe]

I didn't enjoy Persona 5 due to a primary mechanic it has

Out of curiosity (I hope this doesn't sidetrack us) which mechanic was this?

[ReynTime]

Having done MSQ at least three times, twice pre and once post patch changes, i found the ARR setup well paced and enjoyable. What you dismiss as "filler" has important elements that cant and should not be skipped as unimportant sidequests

The leadup to Heavensward, the missions prior to Stormblood are essential for the integrity of the entire experience, the msq prior to Shadowbringers should not be missed under any circumstances as it is essential for the storyline

Curious: What do you see as "filler'?

The "banquet" questline leading to unlocking Titan and the Garuda fetch quest could most definitely be trimmed down without compromising the storyline.