More Content, Less Narrative

[EorzeaWanderer]

epic narratives and dozens of hours of cutscenes are bread and butter in single player Final Fantasy games

People say this quite a bit on these boards but this isn't really true...the single-player FF games have cutscenes, no doubt, but the majority of your time with them is gameplay (battles, mini-games, exploring areas for treasure, etc.).

I love the story overall but I sympathize with OP. There is too much time with the controller down watching people talk. And simple cutscenes with people talking is how they choose to craft most of the cutscenes in MSQ. The ratio of watching to doing is a bit off. And saying this doesn't mean I hate the story, far from it. As an alternative, I take the "Four Lords" questline as an example. 2 dungeons, 3 trials, some story/cutscenes, and the ratio of "watching" to "doing" felt good. With the MSQ we get dozens of hours of cutscenes and dialog, and 4-5 hours or so of combat duties (the actual gameplay), if you count the solo instances. So, it's not unnatural to say that something feels off.

Although OP, another way of looking at it, I suppose, is that the story is mostly front-loaded for an expansion. It's mostly done for the next two years when you get right down to it. I was happy to see a variety of content announced in the live letter last night and that's the content we get to enjoy over the next two years or so.

[Jeeqbit]

We spend literally 1 day doing MSQ when a patch comes out. We spend the next 4 months playing.

We spend between 4 days and 2 weeks doing the MSQ when an expansion releases and the next 2 years playing.

[Caurcas]

We spend literally 1 day doing MSQ when a patch comes out. We spend the next 4 months playing.

We spend between 4 days and 2 weeks doing the MSQ when an expansion releases and the next 2 years playing.

That creates a population of players that play for 1 week then stop. That is what they are catering to, which seems at odds with being an mmo.

[aveyond-dreams]

I will say this-a lot of the character interactions with the cast of Endwalker were too full of fluff for my liking compared to the more meaningful dialogue of Heavensward/Shadowbringers. This however is an issue with the writing itself, I only hope 7.0 moves on from uwu G'raha Tia loves and supports you!! and Alphinaud's rambling.

Heavensward and Shadowbringers felt a lot better because there were clear dangers present and targets to reach-none of that ridiculous slice of life nonsense that was randomly thrust into various points of Endwalker's msq.

That creates a population of players that play for 1 week then stop. That is what they are catering to, which seems at odds with being an mmo.

You are welcome to play the endgame for as long as you like-so long as they don't make the mistake of frontloading with crafter and gatherer content there's likely to be plenty of options to try out. It's also ok to be done with the game and take breaks as long as you don't have a house. They do not want this to be the only game you play, in stark contrast to the design philosophy of other mmos.

[Kisik]

here's the thing, narrative is the content, and it happens once, new dungeons and raids are not content, they are playgrounds to kill time in. You gain no new content by running them over and over again.

Once every few months there is a content patch, with a small amount of quests and story, and every two years you get an expansion. We're all here, waiting for the story to continue, if we get a dozen hours of cutscenes once every couple years, I'd say it's worth it.

Also, keep pvp where it belongs, as an odd "sport" that has no relevance to the game. PVP has destroyed more MMOs than it has ever benefitted.

[Shironeko_Narunyan]

It's a Final Fantasy game.

If you want to play a mindless grinder, I heard Lost Ark does that. Can even swipe your VISA when you get bored, and skip months of grinding.

[Caurcas]

I mean I already swipe my VISA to play this game....well watch I suppose.

[Darthgummibear]

pvp should be the center piece going forward

[Bad_Luck]

You don't have enough to do? /doubt

[Raoabolic]

As the title suggest, going forward I would like for SE to focus more on content rather than narrative. Not saying don't have a narrative, but to put content front and center. Open world content, more raids and 24 mans, pvp should be the center piece going forward. Not a narrative driven experience with dozens of hours of cutscenes, but rather something content driven with lore and world taking more of a spot than story.

I wouldn't agree with you if you said this during HW but after EW I actually agree. The story really went off the rails post Zenos so let's let the content side of the devs shine for a patch or two.

It's a Final Fantasy game.

If you want to play a mindless grinder, I heard Lost Ark does that. Can even swipe your VISA when you get bored, and skip months of grinding.

Are you sure you want to throw that stone. Better mind the mogstation when you toss that rock, lol.