Quote Originally Posted by Jojoya View Post
The required GC rank actually would make a difference. GC rank isn't earned by doing MSQ outside of the rank you get when you first join. It's earned through side content the new character is ignoring as they work their way through MSQ. That (not to mention the general distaste for doing Dzemael Darkhold and Aurum Vale) slows down how fast they get to the higher ranks.

A veteran player being aware of content that requires 2nd Lt might focus on getting that rank faster. New players generally don't because the game doesn't give them that information. They only learn when hear other players mention the locked content they've never seen and start asking questions.
I guess it’s somewhat based on personal experience. I learned of the GC rank requirement at the same time I learned about apartments and houses, from 3rd party article, and I started working toward it starting probably around level 30 or 40. So in my memory the last requirement to be fulfilled was actually reaching level 50 on a battle class.

FWIW “The heart of darkness” quest made zero impact. Embarrassingly I did not get the point of the quest. I actually never finished it until I started looking into housing. (I got stuck on the ward selection UI. LOL)

For a player already with the required level and gils, I guess the GC rank requirement could feel annoying. But if they are looking into housing that late, they probably already decided that they ultimately want/need a house, and the 500k would likely be a bigger deterrent than GC rank.