New player(s) thoughts

[Catwho]

While some people do skip through, there are just as many of us who replay through the story in its entirety, either on an alt or as a New Game +, because we realize that the writers foreshadowed stuff during the drip feed and we had no idea at the time we initially went through it.

[Avoidy]

I wouldn't be so fast to say that SE doesn't get feedback from trial players. For one thing, SE already can tell how many trial players convert to paid subscriptions, it can go beyond that and tell how long it takes to convert, and I'm sure it has more metrics.

This wouldn't be the only game that doesn't allow trial or free players not to post on OF, and while it can be annoying, it's be the cause of abuse in a number of forums, so I can see the logic there.

Where I can see an enhancement for new players, and where SE has already identified a need, is likely a new entry point. I would make that an optional entry point because some people don't mind taking the time to go through the whole story, even if one day we end up at 8.0.

Hmm, that's fair I suppose. When I talked about feedback, I meant more like... specific, written feedback about things that can't be gleaned from basic metrics. "Here is something that could be done better," sort of feedback. I get that letting free trial accounts post here would open the floodgates for trolls, but at the same time like... look around, lol. We already have hella trolls anyway.
A new entry point would be interesting, although I'm sure it'd get pushback from people who adore the whole story and think others are missing out. But honestly, the whole Zodiark plot is over now, so I'd be interested to see if they made a fresh start at the beginning of 7.0. How they'd reconcile this with levels and such, I have no idea. Genuinely I don't envy whoever would be in charge of making something like this happen in a way that made people happy. I actually don't know how they could make this better. In my ideal world, they'd just edit the story better and cut out so much of the pointless fluff and filler fetch quests, but even then you're still left with this enormous block of walking-simulator questing that's gonna put people off.

I'm certain Square's considered this too, since they've watered the game down in other ways to appeal to a broader audience. They have to be considering a streamlined MSQ process since they've gotta know the ARR filter loses them a lot of potential players. But, who knows. Square is weirdly stubborn in certain areas even when it costs them income, while being super willing to sell out in other spots, so it's hard to gauge whether or not they'll "kill their darling" by cutting out unnecessary msq fluff to welcome loads of new people who would've otherwise quit.

[AnnRam]

If you don't like the story then sorry but that's all this game have to offer.

[caffe_macchiato]

I’d like to illustrate just how dire the situation is with this game’s story.

Refer to this spreadsheet. There are 110 hours of cutscenes in this game. That’s not all dialogue, just cutscenes. No gameplay. If this were a film series, it would be by far the longest film series in history.

And that doesn’t even include the dozens of hours it takes for the rest of the dialogue, or moving from one NPC or the next. The amount of multiplayer gameplay in the MSQ is extraordinarily small compared to text and story. It is, for all intents and purposes, a visual novel with small and isolated gameplay segments. The cutscene-to-gameplay ratio in FFXIV is by far the worst in any Final Fantasy game or RPG ever measured, far exceeding the ratios in games like FF13 and MGS4. And for an MMO!

Fortunately, there are other games out there that are more accommodating to new players. I hope that OP tries those out, and maybe SE will put all this down in book or anime form so we can binge it instead.

[R041]

I’d like to illustrate just how dire the situation is with this game’s story.

Refer to this spreadsheet. There are 110 hours of cutscenes in this game. That’s not all dialogue, just cutscenes. No gameplay. If this were a film series, it would be by far the longest film series in history.

And that doesn’t even include the dozens of hours it takes for the rest of the dialogue, or moving from one NPC or the next. The amount of multiplayer gameplay in the MSQ is extraordinarily small compared to text and story. It is, for all intents and purposes, a visual novel with small and isolated gameplay segments. The cutscene-to-gameplay ratio in FFXIV is by far the worst in any Final Fantasy game or RPG ever measured, far exceeding the ratios in games like FF13 and MGS4. And for an MMO!

This is a really good write-up, and I'm coping that 7.0 will finally do something about the insane barrier to entry into the MMO portion of this game that I love so much. I absolutely detest that we've been praising this 12 year arc as if that's something to be celebrated. It's not for celebration, this is a visual novel with a housing crisis. We're a book club at the end of a 10 book series and venomous at anyone even itching to play current content with their friends without reading it all beforehand.

The WoW exodus brought us an increase of 4x our playerbase and a crazy amount of content creators that are just gushing for all the wrong reasons and twisting truths, only for them to all probably leave in the next few months because they'll realize that they wanted an MMO and not a visual novel. I don't want to doom, but I honestly think we're going to see a playerbase crash pretty soon, just watch the Steam Chart. (At least I'll be able to buy a house then)

[Jojoya]

So, me and some friends decided to start playing this game together after reading good reviews online. But quit after a day of quests, quests, quests, quests. There has got to be a way to streamline these quests to where you can get a good story, but at the same time not grinding endless quests that 99% of people skip the dialog anyway.

Also, the free trial is a joke. it's almost as if SE wants to punish people for playing the free trail and not paying. You can't even invite people to parties. I had to pay a sub just so we could group together. The entire new player experience in this aspect has to be relooked at. (heck if i didn't pay the sub i couldn't even communicate my new player thoughts to SE about this topic on the forums)

Maybe this game just isn't our style of gaming and I'm willing to accept that, just wanted to put in my 2 cents.

What was said in those good reviews that attracted you and your friends to the game? A well-written review wouldn't have skipped mentioning that the game is heavily story quest based.

How would you suggest a game deliver the actual story other than through quests? A dungeon can't really tell a story though it can give depth to one through the combat experience. Most players would agree that the ARR quests could use some additional trimming though SE already cut out about 30% of the original quest. There are spots where some more could be removed. But they need to be careful about what they cut because some details that appear to be unimportant actually become very important later.

The free trial is not a joke. It's far more generous than the free trials offered by other games. But it is just a trial. It's to let you experience the basic game, not give you a full experience. There are also ways around some of the restrictions if you get a subscribed player to help you, as you found out. I've helped trial players create parties and linkshells with each other then left but they're still in those parties and linkshells.

It may or may not be the right game for you and your friends. That's true of everyone and every game. You need to decide what it is that you want to be playing then seek that.

[Espon]

This is a really good write-up, and I'm coping that 7.0 will finally do something about the insane barrier to entry into the MMO portion of this game that I love so much. I absolutely detest that we've been praising this 12 year arc as if that's something to be celebrated. It's not for celebration, this is a visual novel with a housing crisis. We're a book club at the end of a 10 book series and venomous at anyone even itching to play current content with their friends without reading it all beforehand.

The story is one of the biggest things that pulls me to this game. WoW completely shat all over its story and lore after building it up in the RTS games and first few expansions. I used to be quite invested into it and was excited whenever we got to learn more about the Titans and Old Gods, but instead they rather ignore everything so they can kill off your favorite characters or turn them into villains. They have absolutely no idea how to handle time travel plots properly and will suddenly retcon over 20 years of story to introduce one of the worst characters ever and justify the horrific actions of another.

110 hours of cutscenes really isn't much when you consider this is a heavily story-driven game that's now on its fifth expansion and each expansion being a full game story-wise on its own.

The WoW exodus brought us an increase of 4x our playerbase and a crazy amount of content creators that are just gushing for all the wrong reasons and twisting truths, only for them to all probably leave in the next few months because they'll realize that they wanted an MMO and not a visual novel. I don't want to doom, but I honestly think we're going to see a playerbase crash pretty soon, just watch the Steam Chart. (At least I'll be able to buy a house then)

Too bad auto-demolition remains off. The whole player-base could quit and you still won't be able to get a house.

[R041]

The story is one of the biggest things that pulls me to this game. WoW completely shat all over its story and lore after building it up in the RTS games and first few expansions. I used to be quite invested into it and was excited whenever we got to learn more about the Titans and Old Gods, but instead they rather ignore everything so they can kill off your favorite characters or turn them into villains. They have absolutely no idea how to handle time travel plots properly and will suddenly retcon over 20 years of story to introduce one of the worst characters ever and justify the horrific actions of another.

110 hours of cutscenes really isn't much when you consider this is a heavily story-driven game that's now on its fifth expansion and each expansion being a full game story-wise on its own.

The core problem is that it's a requirement. I don't think anyone wants to get rid of the story itself, but the format of the MSQ just needs to change and we need better entry points with more in-between MSQ coop engagement. Wanting to keep a good story and also engaging multiplayer components aren't mutually exclusive.

[SassyAssassin]

Its not your type of game and that’s ok, it wasn’t made to please everybody as nothing ever is in life.

[Buki_jo]

I wasn't going to post again in this thread but after reading so many responses I'd like to flush out my thoughts more.

I used to joke about this with my friends, but its true: "You don't play together, you just play at the same time".
If you think that's dumb... well it's because it is.

You can group up for dungeons and roulettes and for other activities once you unlock them. But going through the Main Scenario Quests alone is not optional.
I can totally get if that just doesn't work for your group tbh.

This says it BEST!!! For my group of friends, we spent more time playing at the same time than playing together. To be honest, it was quite grindy to be able to get to a point to where we can group up and do some group content. However, it was short-lived because after the dungeons we were back to grinding the storyline questing and not playing together in an MMORPG. Then we decided to get on the wiki and see how many quests we'd have to do until we could just enjoy the game together, and that list was just too daunting for a game we wanted to play together in our free time to drink beers and kill baddies.

I saw that @R041 said there is a log of the MMO aspect of this game at the end, and it gets better at the end. Sad to hear that having a multiplayer experience is more focused on the endgame and not throughout the game. Then I saw that someone said they actually SOLD story skips. I would think that if you have to sell story skips in your own game, you have a problem.

In my opinion, The story has its place and I can respect it's importance, though it should be completely separate from the main unlocking aspects of the game. Dungeons, most boss areas, even areas hidden behind the storyline unlocks. I think it would be cool to have my own adventure with friends. Walking into a cave we were absolutely not prepared for, getting the ever living crap kicked out of us, and having some laughs about it, instead of the story unlocking it when it thinks we're ready. Maybe the story could bring us back through later.

Reaching endgame on my own terms then figuring out the story of the game when I want to in my free time at my leisure.

But climbing that insurmountable list of quests and story isn't for everyone and like many said it will turn off a lot of people, i.e. me and my friends.

Nothing against who likes it, it's just not my cup of tea.


Final note about the free trial, I can see I ruffled some jimmies when I complained about it. Let me clarify the free trial is amazing for what's included, I just think that in an MMO making groups should be as essential as being able to talk in basic chat. The rest of the restrictions were fine.

Final final note: nice to see how caring the community is about this game, if things change I'll def come back around!