MSQ

[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.

[WhiteArchmage]

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.

Do they WANT to? Over 4 expansions now and going into the fifth and it's clear how the dev team wants to make the game. And that involves an MSQ as the "tree trunk" for all the other branches: Omega was introduced in MSQ, CT was made part of MSQ, Ivalice gets nods in MSQ, Eureka was tied to MSQ, Coil, Eden, PotD, HoH, Four Lords, friggin BEAST TRIBE QUESTS, almost all side content branches out from there.

That's why "You don't like having to do the MSQ? This game might not be for you" IS a valid response. It's asking the game to fundamentally change its most fundamental aspect just because you don't like it. And even then the devs gave you an out: just pay for a skip and run right into current expansion. If you don't want to invest in what the dev team obviously cares the most about making, you can do so, at a cost.

[Enla]

Do they WANT to? Over 4 expansions now and going into the fifth and it's clear how the dev team wants to make the game. And that involves an MSQ as the "tree trunk" for all the other branches: Omega was introduced in MSQ, CT was made part of MSQ, Ivalice gets nods in MSQ, Eureka was tied to MSQ, Coil, Eden, PotD, HoH, Four Lords, friggin BEAST TRIBE QUESTS, almost all side content branches out from there.

That's why "You don't like having to do the MSQ? This game might not be for you" IS a valid response. It's asking the game to fundamentally change its most fundamental aspect just because you don't like it. And even then the devs gave you an out: just pay for a skip and run right into current expansion. If you don't want to invest in what the dev team obviously cares the most about making, you can do so, at a cost.

Also SE is absolutely not going to offer a free solution to this when the skips are readily available. You're not going to convince a business to change what's working, especially when it seems like the current business model is only continuing to grow their brand.

Now with that said if the day comes where SE feels that the skips aren't making them enough money and the MSQ is truly an impediment to player satisfaction then they might offer an MSQ reduction or a 'free' one time skip to some middling expansion. But that day is pretty far off. The only reason ARR was cut down was because it was impeding the new player experience and because it had enough fat to trim that cutting down on the length didn't hurt the story in any way. A couple people on the forum saying they want the story to be reduced and that multiple people in their friend group feel the same isn't going to convince SE to do much to change the entire focus of their brand at this point. And if that sounds harsh, I am by no means stating you can't come here and ask for these changes. But you also need to be realistic and understand SE is a business. If there is no profit to these changes - and they do have the data to track these things because not keeping an eye on player retention is a potentially suicidal move for a developer - they simply are not going to implement them.

[Vahlnir]

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.

I think what it boils down to is that they have things set up a certain way that would be difficult and time consuming to undo. With games like WoW, each expansion has its own story, more or less, though doing the story quests does help people understand what is going on a little bit better. But Blizzard set the game up in a way that skipping entire expansions is possible without taking away from the stories they are trying to tell. SE would probably have to do something similar in order to make things feel optional. I just don't see them ever wanting to put in the effort. The MSQ is quite a slog though, so I'm sure they are losing potential players who don't want to go through so many hoops to play with their friends, much less pay for a skip to make it happen. Personally, I like having the MSQ as a means of progression, but...I think it's a bit of an issue design wise, but whether it's a big enough issue or not for SE is only known to them. They've got the hard data. All we can do is speculate.