Length MSQ from all the expansions - it is getting insane

[Chloe_Saunders]

Honestly it doesn't seem that bad going through it I've been doing as many side quest as I can along the way, I believe it said my playtime is about 7 days and 6 hours and I'm at the azrem steps. The only thing that kind of annoys me is some quest read to you, but others don't I do really wish they would go back in and make all the msq read to you. I mean I love reading but I have proplems with reading basic black on white backgrounds. My eyes tend to wonder and all that, or at the very least let us change the quest text color and background bubbles

[Atelier-Bagur]

I feel like people are focusing too much on the story skip and alt character part of OPs thread instead of the main issue/topic at hand which is the length of the MSQ which I have to agree is slowly getting out of hand. It already takes the average player more than a hundred hours just to reach endgame and participate in the new content that gets all the attention from the devs and players. With increasing number of expansions that problem is only going to get worse. The other day I joked about how "soon you'll have to reach the 11th expansion and have 1000 hours of playtime to graduate from sprout status".

Other MMOs (which I'm not going to name as some people here seem to seethe at just their mention) also had that issue and came up with solutions to their story bloat. Sooner or later FFXIV will have to address their ever increasing MSQ size as well (which currently is required to complete in order to participate in the newest content).

But thats the whole point of it. If you check twitch or YT a lot of the popular videos and what the general audience tune in for the game is for its narrative. There's actually been a small resurgence of youtubers experience the msq for the first time and thats what garners attention to the game because its honestly the only part that does extremely well compared to its competitors.

I also think the veterans themselves are doing a disservice by garnering attention away from that initial investment to new players by doing the usual "it gets good in endgame" when thats obviously not true. The game has short bursts of current content that can be completed in weeks and lacks that retention many MMO vets seek in endgame.

[Kyrj]

I would like to see more gameplay alongside the story. As of right now the game feels more like an interactive movie than it does a game. At most I'm lucky if I get 5-8 seconds of combat before my quest mob dies then it's back to the NPC for another 10 minutes of cutscenes and dialogue.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Forgot to mention that the devs have stated that theyre trying to figure out a way for addressing the msq length coming 7.0 and beyond so theres that

[caffe_macchiato]

Forgot to mention that the devs have stated that theyre trying to figure out a way for addressing the msq length coming 7.0 and beyond so theres that

That seems to be quite concerning then. What about all the people who like the story as-is and say that its length is the best part about FFXIV? I'm surprised that the overly-excited defenders haven't assailed the devs for threatening to tamper with the MSQ. Doesn't FFXIV have a masterpiece of a story? What happens if devs reduce the length or, god forbid, make it skip like WoW does? But, of course, we know exactly what'll happen: the same exact people will rush to defend Square Enix. It's all so tiresome.

[Kuroka]

What happens if devs reduce the length or, god forbid, make it skip like WoW does? But, of course, we know exactly what'll happen: the same exact people will rush to defend Square Enix. It's all so tiresome.

Thats the neat part, the first story was done on 6.0, or will be once or void adventure is done, so they could figure out a skip for those who dont care, as we basically are on a new start.... not that im happy about that but right now is the time for it.

[AmiableApkallu]

Forgot to mention that the devs have stated that theyre trying to figure out a way for addressing the msq length coming 7.0 and beyond so theres that

There's already the Unending Codex, which I've been figuring is how they'll let people jump straight to 7.0 without having to play through every moment of 2.0-6.x. I mean, they had to let people jump into 2.0 without having played 1.0, so this is not the first time they've had to deal with letting people skip past chunks of the overarching story.

[Hurlstone]

Since I am a veteran MMO player, played them since 2001.
I hate this hand-holding that this game has.
Also, the number of hours you have to spend to play through the ALL msq is just insane.
I am the type of player who likes to have tons of alts and does not like the idea of having all classes on one character.
I like playing every class on different characters like in all other games out there.
It feels like SE is forcing me to pay story skip since it takes me more than 30 days to complete msq on single character. Mostly because I hate it, and I hate it because it is not voiced and there are too many fetch quests. The old republic has all quests voiced, maybe because the number of them is so much smaller than FFXIV.

As a fellow MMO veteran I have to say I… agree and disagree on some points?

I do not really see the MSQ as being too hand-holding. Could it be more challenging? Sure, and some of the quests have not aged well gameplay wise but FFXIV is largely a story experience, and I think it does that better then any other MMO I have played. As for voice acting, I think someone a while back worked out that with each expansion we are getting more and more voice acting so thats nice. It would be nice if the full MSQ/Raids could be voiced, but its not a big deal for me personally. I am fine with text-based quests, some of the best and most emotional moments of the games lore has come from such voiceless texts. Its kinda nice hearkening back to pre-FFX days haha. Plus the lack of worrying about voice acting means we can get more lore content, especially with the amount of side quests and stuff in the game.

I do think that MSQ mission length is gonna be a bit of an issue for new players going forward. It will become increasingly daunting to play and get to the latest expansion. I think they should take a page out of ESO’s book. Like perhaps from 7.0 have a choice when you create a character to play ARR+ or jump straight into the new expansion. I doubt that will happen, as it will mean the expansion story either needs to have little ties to the previous story, and it would probably mean reconfiguring how leveling works to allow both level 1 and level 90+ players to engage. I mean, it would not be bad if MSQ and zones became level synced but I doubt it would be worth it in SE’s eyes.

I am currently playing the MSQ again on a new alt and whilst its fun, they really like to punish you for doing it. The lack of account wide stuff is a shame, but there is not even a built-in way to transfer items from one character to another! Its great we can do everything on one character and all, but some of us like to have different characters without using Fantasia Mr Yoshi P.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Literally noone cares about story in mmos except FF14 players. WoW story was never good, but nobody ever cared cause who the fuck plays a MMO for the story except, once again, FF14 players. WoW story was always roughly a "why are we doing this?" justifications for raids and stuff

Thank you so much for proving my point. What other thing does FFXIV do good besides the story? Dungeon and Raid content is laughable compared to other MMOs, housing is more accessible in ESO, Lost Ark has better in-depth side activities than this game.

Literally the narrative is carrying this game. Time to wake up people.

[GTK0HLK]

Only going to reply to the Original post..,

Alts are fine.., SE isn't forcing you to read all the MSQ.

But this RPGMMO/MMORPG Has a emphasis in its story. and it's why the largest part of the players enjoy/feel connected to the game.

If you were to go about how the game doesn't have sufficient Alt Friendly systems.
If agree.
But Having all jobs on one character is not the fail/issue of it.

Having all on one and all characters is the best option.

Those Relics of Cash grab past where you pay for extra character slots for characters that only have one job, should stay there. in the eastern past.

This is a overarching topic.
The game is fine as is rn when it comes to story.
But it definitely can be better for Alts.
<And many, if not all, improvements push towards not only a beneficial future for single character players, but those of us with alts, or long time players who played for many years, and decided to play more on an alt -than to take a break->