Suggestion [remove Aether Currents as a catch up mechanic]

[Jin-]

Compared to how it is in WoW, FFXIVs actually feels humane process

[Wilford111]

have YOU ever played anything else? how is 200hrs+ of cutscenes to reach endgame NOT a massive grind?

You could see 200+ hours of story content as a good thing or a bad thing tbh, depending on your point of view.

[DBriggs304]

have YOU ever played anything else? how is 200hrs+ of cutscenes to reach endgame NOT a massive grind?

Then don't watch them all?
The majority can be skipped...and no, cutscenes are not a grind.

[SeverianLyonesse]

Just gonna throw my two cents in here but I do agree that aether currents should probably be removed. They weren't/aren't fun, and not every player has the foresight to do them in tandem with MSQ progression. More importantly, unlike other major barriers like MSQ and leveling, they will always be a barrier to new players because they aren't covered by story skips on the mogstation.

[Kes13a]

Just gonna throw my two cents in here but I do agree that aether currents should probably be removed. They weren't/aren't fun, and not every player has the foresight to do them in tandem with MSQ progression. More importantly, unlike other major barriers like MSQ and leveling, they will always be a barrier to new players because they aren't covered by story skips on the mogstation.

perhaps you prefer the system in WoW?

[SeverianLyonesse]

perhaps you prefer the system in WoW?

Seems like a false equivalence. I've never played WoW. But from what little I know about it, yeah they open up flight to everyone after a certain period of time and don't require weird search-and-find questing or limit new player mobility through swathes of content as much as FF (again, I could be wrong, never played it).

Not sure why you would presume I play or prefer WoW, though. Some of us come from having played no MMOs at all and are just trying to make the game more accessible for our other non-MMO playing friends who shouldn't need to wade through nine years of content to play with us.

[Kes13a]

Seems like a false equivalence. I've never played WoW. But from what little I know about it, yeah they open up flight to everyone after a certain period of time and don't require weird search-and-find questing or limit new player mobility through swathes of content as much as FF (again, I could be wrong, never played it).

Not sure why you would presume I play or prefer WoW, though. Some of us come from having played no MMOs at all and are just trying to make the game more accessible for our other non-MMO playing friends who shouldn't need to wade through nine years of content to play with us.

my apologies, I assumed you had some mmo experience, and WoW is a common one for many to have tried

they open up flight to everyone, sure... at max level.. after a huge grind. and thats for everyone... new.. old.. returned... everyone.

I only suggested WoW as well because it is a comparable mmo where you have to do something to gain flight. there however, its a LOT different than here. here is a breeze.


however, I doubt my words will have any effect since you and your friends would just prefer to be max level and not go through 9 years of content to get there. completely understandable in a way I guess.

[SeverianLyonesse]

however, I doubt my words will have any effect since you and your friends would just prefer to be max level and not go through 9 years of content to get there. completely understandable in a way I guess.

Lol. I *did* wade through nine years of content. It was mostly enjoyable--for me. But I also recognize that several of my friends simply do not have the patience to push past as much mandatory content as FF XIV has just to enjoy playing the game with me.

I don't think it is controversial at all to observe that, unlike other MMOs, FF is unusual in how much it requires players to grind through story just to unlock content. And I don't think it's unreasonable that some players don't want to have to play for 200-300 hours just to be able to participate at the current tier.

[Jojoya]

As title suggests, the aether currents where added with heavensward as a way to slow down the player to force them to quest at slower pace to allow SE to make more content. This is fine while the content is new, but the moment the expansion ends it is simply a barrier to entry.

Say what? This is crazed conspiracy theory nonsense. They aren't there to slow you down. They're there as part of world building.

As long as you're picking up aether currents as you do the MSQ, it's not adding significant amounts of time (The Lochs would be an exception - the aether current placement is terrible compared to what little MSQ takes place there). It adds maybe 2 hours to the amount of time needed to complete an expansion's main MSQ. Let's say I pad that to 10 hours for all expansions combined - that's still only a 5 % increase to the amount of time it takes to complete the MSQ to 5.55.

As a new payer to FF14, with nearly 45K hours in video games [50% of that is in MMOs], I have rarely seen a game that implements such a mechanic as to purposefully CRIPPLE the player. ARR is already a long and boring slog. Few players already survive the horrible ARR, Even I, a player of WoW who is used to rep grinding found ARR and currents tedious to where I almost quit.

- You are at a moment where many WoW players are moving to your game, you should Capitalize on this momentum by increasing accessibility not decreasing it.

How ironic you bring up WoW when Pathfinder was far more intrusive and crippling to players than the Aether Current system is. Pathfinder was one of the bigger reasons I quit WoW.

I've got zero problem with the Aether Current system here because for the most part it's well planned out to flow with MSQ progression (again, The Lochs is a big exception).

There is no Aether Current system in ARR. Why are you implying it's part of what made ARR so tedious to you?

Sorry, I just can't agree with you that it is a problem. But if it makes you feel better, YoshiP already announced they're going to review the Aether Current system after Endwalker launches to see if improvements can be made to it in some of the older zones (again, hopefully The Lochs).

[Eien713]

I actually had fun exploring and looking for the currents on the map. I didn't mind the sidequests either. I remember feeling excited when I checked a quest and saw it had a current to offer me.