Making the case for a new starting point in 7.0

[JudgeRAW]

Although I know one of the main attractions for Final Fantasy XIV is its story I think we all have to come to the realization that many, many players just are not interested in the story and want to enjoy the game all the same. Many players have friends they'd like to recommend the game to but can't because of the hundreds of hours of content new players would have to get through in order to join them in current content. I think with 7.0 (really 6.x) being the start of a new story in game it might be time to allow players to start there. How to do this?

Well there are a number of solutions. One would be to introduce a new experience for new players in order to introduce them to the mechanics of the game while quickly leveling them to the current level cap. Take something like Palace of the Dead where you have a leveling system separate from the main games and you can level from 1 to 60 in about an hour. While I don't think it needs to be quite that quick it could be something like 10-20 hours, which is much more of a reasonable ask than 100s. THis could even be a more condensed way to get players caught up with the world of FFXIV, though they wouldn't need to do that. During this 10-20 hour new player experience you'd get introduced to basic mechanics of the game, a dungeon or two and a trial before being put into the main game.

An alternative idea (though less interesting IMO) would be to give 1 free story skip and job skip to all new subscribers (not Free Trial players.)

So what do you think?

[Raoabolic]

An alternative idea (though less interesting IMO) would be to give 1 free story skip and job skip to all new subscribers (not Free Trial players.)

Now THIS is a hot take!

[Conundrum]

This is not an endgame focused MMO and they have given no indication they plan to turn it into one. But encouraging End game focused MMO players to come to a game not made for them is inviting trouble.

[Iscah]

My bet is on the "one free skip" approach. Players can choose to use it at the beginning or save it for an alt, and there's no need to make story allowances for an alternate start to the narrative. You're still skipping the "first season" and have to go into the second season realising you'll miss some finer details of what happened before even if the plot is mostly self-explanatory.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Some interesting ideas, but unfortunately probably not very feasible due to how this game is designed. For one, having new players start at 7.0 will depend on how much of "soft reboot" it would be with the game's narrative for it to warrant new players to skip everything before it. Quests, Stories and NPCs will have to be entirely reworked to cater to 2 different branching paths to make 7.0's story have cohesion, which is just not a feasible thing to do honestly. The other thing that I believe I see people getting confused with 7.0 is that they believe it'll be like what I said a "soft reboot" which I dont think thats the case at all. The devs stated that everything right now is just one giant arc for the narrative, not the overall end with a new beginning (I mean sorta but stuff that happened before will probably still apply to the narrative going forward).

Also, somebody already stated that yeah FFXIV isnt like WoW or Lost Ark where the focus is on the Endgame but on the journey itself. Its not designed to have retention systems that "force" players to constantly log on to the game, which I find it amusing due to some of the recent threads made here about FFXIV's endgame being not enough when they keep forgetting that's intentional. If people are looking into having all sorts of different endgame content thats current then they'll be disappointed because this MMO doesnt go for that, which is were ultimately new players will wind up leaving due to not getting as invested as they should be.

Still, this game's narrative content is indeed very lengthy but the game strives itself in it as you can tell how almost every piece of it is tied to a story of sorts because FFXIV isnt an MMORPG, its an RPGMMO.

[Asari5]

i mean... you can do lvl 50 content synched with your friends. 'current' content doesnt really matter that much its just in your head.

[JudgeRAW]

This is not an endgame focused MMO and they have given no indication they plan to turn it into one. But encouraging End game focused MMO players to come to a game not made for them is inviting trouble.

You say its not endgame focused but we have 2 years between expansions which means there is two years of endgame. Maybe it isn't "endgame" focused but it certainly should be a priority

[JudgeRAW]

Still, this game's narrative content is indeed very lengthy but the game strives itself in it as you can tell how almost every piece of it is tied to a story of sorts because FFXIV isnt an MMORPG, its an RPGMMO.

People are kinda making up their own narratives with this sort of thing, the distinction between FFXIV and other MMOs. The endgame of FFXIV is 2-2.5 years (In the case of Shadowbringers.) That's a long time. People say the design of the game is intentional and that players are allowed to come and go as they please, but the game forces players with houses to log in at least every 45 days just to keep their house. So you at least have to retain a sub 5-6 months out of a year. And here's the final thing. Maybe the game currently isn't focused on keeping players subbed and coming back, but unless the devs see a demand for more content that keeps players engaged over longer periods of time that won't change so IMO its perfect ok for players to want AND ask for more of a priority placed on this.

I know the game seems very focused on casual players, but casual content is also low investment from both a player perspective and a development perspective. If the game is really as successful as it seems to be and SE is pumping the money in the game it needs than I'd definitely like to see some of that money being used to addressed the early game issues and in making the late game more robust and diverse, especially when it comes to the most engaging content in the game which is raids and other types of battle content. FFXIV IS an MMORPG. The devs call it that, YoshiP calls it, thats what it is.

[Eraden]

Can someone tell me exactly what the heck a "story skip" is? If it is bypassing one of the expansions, that is already possible through the Mog Station.

[Shurrikhan]

Can someone tell me exactly what the heck a "story skip" is? If it is bypassing one of the expansions, that is already possible through the Mog Station.

It's the same. The OP is just suggesting that players get a single <up to 7.0> story skip for free, starting instead at the new, post-Hydaelyn/Zodiark arc of the story while improving leveling access through means outside the main story. Allowing the 7.x story to be accessed earlier than level 90 would probably also be fitting and helpful for that endeavor.