Thread: Making the case for a new starting point in 7.0

Originally Posted by kaynide

People have always had the option to buy a story skip. This game is designed as a mmo single player game. That is the core game is designed to be enjoyed at your pace solo, with the option of doing it with friends (eventually this will also include dungeon content that currently forces groups).

Its fair to allow for skipping straight to 7.0, and it’s fair to ask for it, but the thing is, this option already exists if people want it.

I’m not against further story pruning to shorten/cut the less important parts of the MSQ (turn into sidequests?), but just because 5 years have past doesn’t make Heavansward any better or worse than it was at launch. A player coming in in 2022 can still enjoy 3.0 in all its glory.

Dont know if people watched that recent JoCat video of some advice he gave for new players wanting to get into FFXIV. One of the options he made was indeed go ahead and by that story skip if you seriously care for the "endgame" content, because you will still have the option to go back and either New Game+ the MSQ or watch only the cutscenes via the Inn journal and he happened to have done that himself. Although he did mentioned that while he was able to see and appreciate the narrative content he skipped, it came at a cost where he missed how this narrative slowly immersed you into its story if you went through its quests and pace normally. That honestly only happens BECAUSE of how much effort the devs put into the story.

So yeah, while I dont necessarily agree that new players should just skip the story when pretty much thats 70% of the game itself because Im a firm believer that FFXIV's story is still content, they already have that option via the story skip purchase (which is at a reasonable price).

Originally Posted by kaynide

People have always had the option to buy a story skip. This game is designed as a mmo single player game. That is the core game is designed to be enjoyed at your pace solo, with the option of doing it with friends (eventually this will also include dungeon content that currently forces groups).

Its fair to allow for skipping straight to 7.0, and it’s fair to ask for it, but the thing is, this option already exists if people want it.

I’m not against further story pruning to shorten/cut the less important parts of the MSQ (turn into sidequests?), but just because 5 years have past doesn’t make Heavansward any better or worse than it was at launch. A player coming in in 2022 can still enjoy 3.0 in all its glory.

I want to preface this by saying I am not a cutscene skipper. I've watched the story in its entirety on 5 different alts. I firmly believe that not watching the story lessens your FFXIV experience. I read every single bit of side quest dialogue. I still believe that eventually they will have to open up a new starting point free of charge to new players.

The answer to a glaring issue that is actively discouraging people from playing is not "lol go to the cash shop".

Originally Posted by Tsumdere

I am not sure what the correct path to take is, but eventually they will have to make an alternate starting point. It is unfeasible now to expect new players to want to wade through 300+ hours of story to get to endgame.

What endgame?

Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

Given that we will begin an "adventure" in 6.1 as an "adventurer", there is a chance that by 7.0 only the "new" MSQ will be required to unlock the 7.0 raids. We'll find out soon. It would require the 6.1 quests to not have any requirements and to be low level quests. If that happens it could change the text depending on if you have completed the prior MSQ.

I don't understand what you mean. The "new MSQ" of an expansion is and always has been the requirement for getting to the raids or that same expansion. Old MSQ is the requirement for getting into the new MSQ, whether you do it manually or by paying for a skip to have it marked complete automatically.

6.1 is still going to be a continuation of the level 90 storyline, same as ever, probably wrapping up loose ends in preparation for 7.0 to be a good recommended "skip to here" point.

Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

And you know it will be a continuation how? Considering how it wrapped up in 6.0.

From a recent interview, there is this.

I think it's going to be more of an interim chapter. Some short-form stories to tie off loose ends and get new pieces into place, ready for a larger story arc starting in 7.0.

Story skips always drop you at the start of a main expansion, so it makes no sense to put the first chapter of a new major story arc in the patch quests of the previous story.

I see 3 scenarios:
1) the new player is in for the story, in which case, a skip is of course not recommended, and they should be in for the journey. Maybe we should all stop saying it's a 300h story, and advertise it more as 6*50h games. Many people have been discovering franchises like Kingdom Hearts on the late, and had to go through all of them sequentially as well.
2) the new player is in for the endgame : buy a skip. It exists for a reason. The MSQ is and has always been something the dev team has been proud of, and they will always want people to at least try to experience it.
3) the new player is interested by both the story and the end-game: end-game doesn't start at level 90. It starts at 50. If anything, I think the solution should not be to encourage story skips, but to incentivize veteran players to run synced old end-game content. That's part of what the Mentor roulette is trying (but failing) to do.

Also, bonus 4) PvP starts at level 30 and is not depending on your level/MSQ progression. Make PvP better.
And, bonus 5) We don't know if the Criterion dungeons are lv90 content or if they have a syncing system similar to Bozja/PoTD etc. Maybe it could be a good way to give a taste of end-game content to new players.

I agree that they should make end-game content more accessible to new players. But I don't think it should be done by skipping any part of the MSQ.
I just think some of the optional content should not be completely locked behind the MSQ.