New player(s) thoughts

[R041]

This is false. We do understand that it is a 400 hour minimum visual novel. This is a problem we all acknowledge, but it's not easy to solve because the expansion stories are intertwined and you can't just split them up suddenly.

Until that problem is solved somehow, all we can tell new players is that it's a story-driven game and that if they don't like that then the game might not be for them.

The people that do acknowledge the story being a large gatekeeper still may not have the empathy for the amount of actual effort it takes and how lonely the experience is.

Something that finally upset me was that my gf broke down and said she can never have fun with our FC, or play with us because she's been stuck in MSQ for roughly 2 years now. She's in Shadowbringers but the game has barely taught her how to even play, it's just conditioned her read a visual novel. This is not a good experience.

Yoshi messed up in trying to pull the over-arching story to the end of each MSQ and dragging it on, making this whole thing a massive mess and 2 whole expansions being almost completely filler. Other MMOs have done a decent job of branching their new areas into their own story without requiring everyone know everything about the previous.

I can't sit idly by telling people to just play a subscription MMO for 400 hours by themselves, it's completely unreasonable and it's asking people to sub for roughly 6 months just to stick with the story. And I'm sorry, but getting to know Alphinaud over 400 hours is not worth not getting to play with your actual friends.

We're going to start to lose players to WoW with the changes they've made.

You act like the game doesn't allow you to be more than just an observer. Or if they don't mind you doing other things while they're going through the MSQ then there are things you can do while out in the open world or doesn't take much time if it does need you to que into something. Like GATEs or chocobo racing are quick things to do but do ask you to que up for things either solo or to make sure your party is also there. Do you have all jobs to 90? Does your FC need easy to get materials for their buffs? Go play some Tripple Triad. Sight Seeing log. But to act as there is nothing to do or enjoy with someone who is going through the MSQ isn't 100% the game's fault.

This is the lack of empathy for the new player and coop experience. I don't really care about my own experience, I've played this game to death. I want other players to experience it and do MMO/Open World things, but that's a hard and nearly impossible task. For the new players that are only leveling 1 class, they have 0 reason to do anything else other than crafting/gathering in their spare time. Which only delays the inevitable and expands that MSQ time.