Why does everyone complain about STORY based MMO's?

[Ransu]

I disagree. I also get the impression that certain posters would - based on their post history alone - declare that any criticism of their favourite product is invalid and irrelevant.

You can try and dismiss it all you like but there's enough players voicing feedback towards the game along the same lines to deduce that once people are caught up with the current batch of content then there really isn't a whole lot to do outside of lengthy, repetitive grinds and ten minute time gated tasks. Even then, the game has been delaying things like the Beast Tribe quests which used to go live immediately with a new patch but now come a month or so later than the previous established pattern.

All I'm saying is, maybe the development team could throw more of a bone to those of us who actually want the game to be a game. We'll certainly see what 6.2 brings on that front, though it doesn't help to express one's thoughts on the subject. The relationship between a poster and the development team is not an intimate one. It's a customer and service provider.

I criticize things about the game all the time, but some criticism is just not really criticism and more just complaining. If you run out of things to do then its time to move out, especially if you simply refuse to do certain content. The game tries to have a variety of content and if you burn through that content and find yourself demanding they do more because they can't keep up with your 8 hour a day gaming sessions then that becomes a you problem.

Everyone doesn't do any such thing.

This forum is quite negative about the game, but posters on this forum are a relatively small, self-selecting group of players and do not in any way represent the player base as a whole.

The best advice that I can give for enjoying FF14 is to not take this forum particularly seriously

Ya, the daily post limit is horrid and restricts real conversations leading people to limit themselves to specific threads and leading to specific conversations. There's zero room on these forums to have normal conversations in so its turned into a "feedback only" type forums so the majority of the conversations really just end up being negative. Literally every FFXIV community outside of the forums is overwhelmingly positive and don't even come close to the complaints that exist here.

[Theodric]

I criticize things about the game all the time, but some criticism is just not really criticism and more just complaining. If you run out of things to do then its time to move out, especially if you simply refuse to do certain content. The game tries to have a variety of content and if you burn through that content and find yourself demanding they do more because they can't keep up with your 8 hour a day gaming sessions then that becomes a you problem.

That doesn't make much sense to me. I think what's more likely is that those seeking to police feedback towards the game are being very hypocritical about what they decide to consider valid feedback and what they're happy to support. You realise that the game is meant to appeal to a broad variety of tastes, right? That we're not obligated to just lap up whatever is thrown our way? Or sit through lengthy, tedious grinds for the sake of completing them.

It's interesting, I think, because I notice that is never seems to go both ways. Whenever the people saying this sort of thing desire something they certainly don't try and gatekeep requests. It's not like the people who wanted gpose to be added and expanded were ever told to literally do every bit of content in the game before speaking up.

That aside, I'm currently taking a break from the game precisely because of the lack of relevant content that intrigues and interests me. Even when I did play actively, though, I only played one or two hours a day at most and yet...somehow managed to not only get through all of the MSQ's but pursue a number of goals over time. Asking for more things to do at end game that aren't time gated ten minute daily tasks or bite sized quest chains wrapped up in less than an hour is not equal to demanding that the game entertains someone 24/7.

[Y2K21]

Asking for more things to do at end game that aren't time gated ten minute daily tasks or bite sized quest chains wrapped up in less than an hour is not equal to demanding that the game entertains someone 24/7.

But that requires creative effort, Theodoric. And the last time this happened, we got filler that resulted in escort quests to make 1/2 hour quest chains turn into 1 hour quest chains.

[DixieBellOCE]

One of the issues i notice is that western players seem to think that the story is too long, where as JP players adore the story.

Final fantasy will always be a JRPG, that will never change.
The story is the game, everything else is optional.

[Hurlstone]

To me, I play games mostly for story, which is why I do really appreciate how the game actually puts its narrative, world building and characters more upfront and central then most MMOs. To the extent that I would rank Shadowbringers is either the best Final Fantasy game or close to it, which I feel is saying something for a series that is highly know for their storytelling. Heck, I would put all of the expansions up in the higher echelons of the franchise (Even you, poor underrated Stormblood) and even rank the game as one of my all-time favorite due to its story alone. I do like how they actual give you reasons to play older story content too outside of vanity farming or achievements, such as Relic quests requiring things like the Return to Ivalice raids/soon the Manderville quests to be done.

I do think something can be said about perhaps streamlining aspects of ARR in particular. I also do wonder if in time they will add an in-game way to perhaps jump to the newest expansion/story arc. Really 7.0 would be the perfect and only time to do that, if it truly is the fresh start they say it is. Perhaps a bit like with ESO and how every new Chapter can be played by a level 1 new character… although the issue I have most with ESO and its storytelling, which I do love most of the time, is that such accessibility comes at the price of having the play experience a disjointed timeline… would not like to see that happen. Perhaps in the end sticking with a linear story progression is for the best haha.

[Neoyoshi]

By everyone do you mean a select handful on these forums?

[Midareyukki]

It honestly depends, given what you guys are saying. By "everyone\a select handful complain", do you mean "point out less successful\weaker moments in the story" or "seek to actively deride every single aspect of the plot just because a few aspects were weaker"?

Because you'll find people of both camps here. Some people love the story but will still say "I didn't like this, didn't like that, kind of ruined the moment for me", while others will say "the story is absolute trash because these weak aspects permeated and influenced the rest of the plot thereon".

Example:
I personally think Endwalker's story does suffer from some particularly poor choices, but it's overall a really good story to wrap things up. It was fairly enjoyable overall and I'd give it a passing grade.
Bozja's story, however, hinges on tropes like "Cutscene Incompetence" and "You Cannot Thwart Stage 1" so much that they define the rest of the story and the fate of important characters for the worst. I couldn't enjoy it. No pass.

So yeah, you will find both. People who will say "this had bad notes" and people who will say "this was a bad note all around". Issue I often see is people conflating the two sentiments, exacerbated by trolls with stuff like "this expansion's story absolutely sucked, therefore the whole expansion sucked, therefore the game is going to die".

And then you have threads like this one where people freak out about "negativity", just because some people either took it too far or because we have threads where people admit that the game isn't perfect that get lumped with the guys who took it too far.

[Larirawiel]

One of the issues i notice is that western players seem to think that the story is too long, where as JP players adore the story.

Final fantasy will always be a JRPG, that will never change.
The story is the game, everything else is optional.

I have never seen, that "western players" complain about the story length. They complain about the representation aka too many and too long cut scenes. They want play a game and not watch a movie.


Cheers

[TaleraRistain]

Because we don't have the option not to. Generally speaking a lot of MMO's will let you jump into level cap content as soon as you hit the level cap. You're not tired to the story if you're not enjoying it. Maybe the portion of the story you're working on is dragging on and boring. A lot of MMO's have the ability to simply move on to the next zone and start a new story.

Or forego the story all together and level in any way you want.

In FFXIV you're forced to play the leveling game the way the developed want you to, not the way you want to.

Yes. Other MMOs do that. This one never has. It's unique. Why can't one MMO be allowed to be unique? Why does it have to just be like everything else?

[Supersnow845]

Yes. Other MMOs do that. This one never has. It's unique. Why can't one MMO be allowed to be unique? Why does it have to just be like everything else?

“We have more restrictive options” isn’t really a mark of being unique