Hot Take: The MSQ grind is too long and its harmful to expanding friend groups.

[PartyBarn]

Probably triggered people with the title, but the struggle is super real to slog through the literally 200-400 hours of story content to get to max level if you aren't unemployed or a streamer. As a fairly long time player who has had a bunch of friends hop over from other games recently, I've noticed that most of them are washing out and quitting before getting to 80 to join me and my other established friends.

Mostly its the post-2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 patch content MSQ that is the culprit here as those storylines are as long if not longer than each expansion's respective leveling MSQ and you generally don't gain a ton of levels from them, making it feel like you are running around doing menial quests without any significant progression.

As someone who recommended people play the story legit initially, I'm now recommending that my firends buy the skip and watch the cutscenes later, because for my (quite large) friend group, we are batting close to 0 on people making it all the way to shadowbringers.

Suggestion: Add some sort of mode or way for players who hit max level for a specific expansion the ability to "fast track" their way through only the patch content portions of storyline. I.e. its basically the unending journey in that you basically watch all the cutscenes back to back without having to do the fetch quests, dungeons, etc that all take the bulk of the time. Then, when you hit the .zero content for the next expansion, you go back to leveling through it as normal as that still feels pretty good.

Just a bummer to entice my friends over with hopes to raid and do other activities with each other, and have to wait weeks or months for them to slog through the story, if they make it at all.

[Sotaris]

There is a storyskip if you want to skip to current expansion. /endthread

[SpanishInkwehsitor]

There is a storyskip if you want to skip to current expansion. /endthread

“Thanks for playing out game to level 80, but please spend $50 more to skip the required reading.”

Just pay 50$ to storyskip and level boost. Simple as that. Just dont complain about the lack of content when the main content of FFXIV is the MSQ

The only content behind MSQ is expansion access and a few dungeons. Expansion Classes, post-praetorium raids, Eureka/Bozja, Collectables, Wondrous Tails, PoD/HoH etc. are all sidequest content the MSQ never leads you to.

I dare say if you cut out MSQ you got PLENTY of content.

[Kyrj]

There is a storyskip if you want to skip to current expansion. /endthread

And I highly recommend it. Buy the skip, set aside a Saturday and watch the entire story in one go. Then you can go about doing stuff with your friends and FC. Nothing is worse than seeing
"Doing doggo farms, who wants in"
"Ooh me"
"Oh sorry you're in Stormblood but not far enough to actually join us, see you in a few weeks or whenever we feel like doing dog farms again"

[Seera1024]

And I highly recommend it. Buy the skip, set aside a Saturday and watch the entire story in one go. Then you can go about doing stuff with your friends and FC. Nothing is worse than seeing
"Doing doggo farms, who wants in"
"Ooh me"
"Oh sorry you're in Stormblood but not far enough to actually join us, see you in a few weeks or whenever we feel like doing dog farms again"

I don't think that that's bad, though.

That means, when I get through the story, I've got new goals to work toward until the next bit of story comes out.

So what if I can't participate in dog farms today. I'll be able to do that later. Because a good FC or a group of good friends would be able to coordinate some time to help me get the dogs I want when I'm at the appropriate level and story progression to do so. It may not be the first day I'm ready to do it, but I know it will happen.

And a good FC and a good set of friends will make sure they do a wide variety of content to ensure that there's something for everyone to do as a group.

But that's just my take on what a good FC and a good set of friends should be.


But I'm not against those who do skip - as long as they've put in the research to know what it means and be pretty sure that they'll still enjoy the game after doing the skip(s). It is the right decision for some people. It's just not something that you can fully take back once you've done it for the story skip.

[GeminiReed]

So what if I can't participate in dog farms today. I'll be able to do that later. Because a good FC or a group of good friends would be able to coordinate some time to help me get the dogs I want when I'm at the appropriate level and story progression to do so. It may not be the first day I'm ready to do it, but I know it will happen.

Finding a good FC is like dating. You're more likely to find somebody abusive or neglectful than your soul-mate. The guild I was part of in a different game that I could suggest dog-farm equivalent activities was abusive. Others guilds I've been in were there just to raid or RP. I've had similar luck with XIV FC's.

Maybe you're the type of person that can charm people at will but that's something I struggle with. The few people I'm close with are very whim oriented. Consequently if there's an opportunity now I'd better be able to take advantage of it because who know when the next chance will come around.

[NYCLouisGamer]

There is a storyskip if you want to skip to current expansion. /endthread

/openthread Please find me instances where somebody would feel comfortable buying a story skip & boost for a game that they have never played before!

Skips and boosts are specifically designed for people who already play the game and don't feel like repeating content.

@PartyBarn brought up a genuine issue that needs a solution.

[Bun_Vivant]

/openthread Please find me instances where somebody would feel comfortable buying a story skip & boost for a game that they have never played before!

A veteran of another MMO who had a friend helping them transition of FFXIV.
Like me for example: I was a hard-mode raider in SWTOR before transitioning with my also-a-raider spouse to FFXIV with the help of a friend.
It was easy to spin-up on FFXIV classes, especially given the more relaxed pace (2.5s GCD vs. 1.5s in SWTOR) of FFXIV combat.

Skips and boosts are specifically designed for people who already play the game and don't feel like repeating content.

Not according to the marketing text SE attaches to them. "New players looking to jump straight into Endwalker or enjoy adventures with friends already playing the game can now catch up in the blink of an eye!" -- https://store.finalfantasyxiv.com/ff...us/product/804 (emphasis added)

[Jojoya]

/openthread Please find me instances where somebody would feel comfortable buying a story skip & boost for a game that they have never played before!

Skips and boosts are specifically designed for people who already play the game and don't feel like repeating content.

@PartyBarn brought up a genuine issue that needs a solution.

People only interested in end game content and care nothing about story, especially if they have experience with similar MMORPGs.

People pushed by friends to get to level cap as fast as possible so they can raid together.

People with more money than sense who figure they can always level a character normally later if they decide they like the game enough.

Those people most definitely exist. It doesn't matter than the boosts and skips are designed with the veteran player in mind. They're sold to everyone.

[Tsumdere]

This is what boosts are for.