The Leveling Problem explained.

[Arohk]

[Actually, the title is Here's why FFXIV Players are Bad. A wonderful start to a thoughtful essay on ... bah.

Because the game never once through the entire playthrough of the MSQ requires you to properly play your job, There never is a dps check or anything where you actually need to think for a bit or practice(excluding certain sequences where you are forced to play different character, so you don't really know what you are doing, and even then you can lower the difficulty in case you fail.)
You can beat all teh trials even if you instantly die because the other teammates just kill it for you.

[DPZ2]

Because the game never once through the entire playthrough of the MSQ requires you to properly play your job, There never is a dps check or anything where you actually need to think for a bit or practice(excluding certain sequences where you are forced to play different character, so you don't really know what you are doing, and even then you can lower the difficulty in case you fail.)
You can beat all teh trials even if you instantly die because the other teammates just kill it for you.

To some extent, after the changes made to gameplay over the years, this is quite true. Both power levels of attacks and the experience of players make a lot of the instances much easier.

However, with 20+ classes and jobs, creating high-end in-game tutorials for each would require a nightmare in resources, and one that would have to change extensively for each expansion.

I can guarantee that making such a tutorial mandatory for end-game gameplay after each expansion releases would tick off quite a number of high-end players. It would, however, remove the need for the so-called Mentoring System, so that might be a plus.

I'm not exactly sure why the Japanese servers do so well at end-game gameplay, with consistently higher percentages engaging in and completing the content. Are they just that much better at the game, despite the fact that the MSQ does not require you to properly play your job?

Or, perhaps, are they more dedicated to finding and learning from resources outside of the game?

For all of the complaining Rinon does in the two videos mentioned by the OP, I haven't found a single "learn to do better during the MSQ" video. Lots of end-game commentary on healing, yes, but nothing that walks a new player through the best habits to develop for healers while leveling. It's a common fault throughout the youtube ecosystem. Lots of "How to Raid" without any consideration of "how to prepare to raid while leveling". At least most of the jobs mentioned on the icy-veins website (example: https://www.icy-veins.com/ffxiv/white-mage-leveling) provide level-appropriate rotations for the job that will make sense as end-game approaches. Alas, Youtube creators do not yet feel the need to help develop the necessary skills while leveling.

[Eastwall]

To some extent, after the changes made to gameplay over the years, this is quite true. Both power levels of attacks and the experience of players make a lot of the instances much easier.

However, with 20+ classes and jobs, creating high-end in-game tutorials for each would require a nightmare in resources, and one that would have to change extensively for each expansion.

I can guarantee that making such a tutorial mandatory for end-game gameplay after each expansion releases would tick off quite a number of high-end players. It would, however, remove the need for the so-called Mentoring System, so that might be a plus.

I'm not exactly sure why the Japanese servers do so well at end-game gameplay, with consistently higher percentages engaging in and completing the content. Are they just that much better at the game, despite the fact that the MSQ does not require you to properly play your job?

Or, perhaps, are they more dedicated to finding and learning from resources outside of the game?

For all of the complaining Rinon does in the two videos mentioned by the OP, I haven't found a single "learn to do better during the MSQ" video. Lots of end-game commentary on healing, yes, but nothing that walks a new player through the best habits to develop for healers while leveling. It's a common fault throughout the youtube ecosystem. Lots of "How to Raid" without any consideration of "how to prepare to raid while leveling". At least most of the jobs mentioned on the icy-veins website (example: https://www.icy-veins.com/ffxiv/white-mage-leveling) provide level-appropriate rotations for the job that will make sense as end-game approaches. Alas, Youtube creators do not yet feel the need to help develop the necessary skills while leveling.

Because l know people that are even afraid to do story mode content... I have a pvp friend that can't do her relic because she has not done any pve for a long time and is afraid for that story mode trial.... I will help her later tonight.

[Mayhemmer]

It's a common fault throughout the youtube ecosystem. Lots of "How to Raid" without any consideration of "how to prepare to raid while leveling".

That's a thing I noticed when I was trying to pick BLM back up a few months ago. Most "How to [Insert Job]" videos I came across came in one of two flavors: meme videos, which generally aren't very helpful and are mostly unimportant fluff; and "guides" that just recite the tooltip of every job before launching into end-game rotations, just assuming the viewer is already aware of all the nuances of the job's mechanics and how they effect each other, but never explaining them.

Maybe there's stuff out there that goes into that and I just didn't come across it, but it really feels like there's a general lack of tutorial content floating around that actually explains the workings of a job from the ground up. It's very strange considering how popular the game is.

[Arohk]

It's very strange considering how popular the game is.

No , you are correct, the Black Mage job is very unintuitive and badly explained in the game. Also the gameplay style changes completly while leveling.

first you must switch from fire to ice via Transpose, then you get Fire 3 but cant actually use it unless you get a freecast, but the freecast proccs at the very end of a fire cast so you have 0.5 seconds to react and use it, then you get Ice 3 to switch from fire to ice and don't use transpose anymore at all. Also you dont use Fire3 freecasts anymore, you only use it to refrech henochian at the end of the fire rotation.
And very much later you get Umbral Soul which seems useless at first glance but before you get Umbral Soul BLM feels extremly clunky in any fight with downtimes.
The job is fine on high levels but feels totaly trash on low levels.

[DPZ2]

No , you are correct, the Black Mage job is very unintuitive and badly explained in the game. Also the gameplay style changes completly while leveling.

first you must switch from fire to ice via Transpose, then you get Fire 3 but cant actually use it unless you get a freecast, but the freecast proccs at the very end of a fire cast so you have 0.5 seconds to react and use it

To be clear here, the freecast for Fire 3 because of the Firestarter trait gained at level 42 has a 30 second countdown, not 0.5 seconds. One can also anticipate it a bit, since the tiny icon appears before the action icon lights up.

I totally agree that Black Mage feels pretty decent at higher levels, and it does require readjustment once you hit level 50, and again when you hit level 60. Moving from ARR into HW was definitely a relearning experience.

I'd have been quite happy if icy-veins had started FFXIV leveling information back in 2015, but ... at least it's much better now. No thanks to youtube videos, unfortunately.

[Arohk]

To be clear here, the freecast for Fire 3 because of the Firestarter trait gained at level 42 has a 30 second countdown, not 0.5 seconds.

No, you misunderstood, you can get the freecast when Fire is >0.5seconds from finishing the cast, and you now WANT to use Fire 3 and not cast another fire to not waste any proccs because the freecast does not stack like fleeting Raiju from ninja which you can stack 3 charges.

so when youa re lucky with proccs you do Fire > Fire 3 > Fire > Fire 3 > Fire....

[Jojoya]

Because the game never once through the entire playthrough of the MSQ requires you to properly play your job, There never is a dps check or anything where you actually need to think for a bit or practice(excluding certain sequences where you are forced to play different character, so you don't really know what you are doing, and even then you can lower the difficulty in case you fail.)
You can beat all teh trials even if you instantly die because the other teammates just kill it for you.

What MMORPGs do in leveling content? Challenge requiring knowledge of how to play a job tends to only exist in the end game side content.

There's the other issue of "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink". It doesn't matter what tutorials a game has. If someone doesn't want to learn, they won't. Those interested in learning how to play better will. Some players might even learn and still play incorrectly just because they can.

It's an old argument that goes nowhere because it's useless in an online game. Don't like how well the random players you get matched with play the game? Create a circle of friends that you trust and play with them instead.

Having just gone through EW myself, I can attest, this isn't 100% true. With intention to only ever take MSQ (and MSQ duties) exp on my main job, there were a couple gaps that required a few FATEs be cleared to bridge the levels.

Part of it depends on how you play the game. If you're playing several hours a day each day, you're going to miss out on most of the rested XP bonus that bridges those gaps. If you're playing 6-8 hours total a week, it shouldn't be a problem.

If you don't own the next expansion and reach level cap for the expansion you do have, that's also going to contribute. Even if the amount of XP earned from patch content is small, it does add up and you lose it if you're doing the patch content while level capped.

I can guarantee that making such a tutorial mandatory for end-game gameplay after each expansion releases would tick off quite a number of high-end players. It would, however, remove the need for the so-called Mentoring System, so that might be a plus.

The Mentor system isn't about teaching others how to play their jobs (though that can be part of it if a Mentor wants to share what they know). The Mentor system is to help new players with general game basics. Where is such and such located, how do I unlock this content, what do I do to get this item, this queue is too long can someone help me get this done for MSQ, etc.

What SE needs to do to fix the Mentor system is remove the rewards.

[Hasrat]

Part of it depends on how you play the game. If you're playing several hours a day each day, you're going to miss out on most of the rested XP bonus that bridges those gaps. If you're playing 6-8 hours total a week, it shouldn't be a problem.

Rested only applies to combat exp. There's truly very little actual combat through MSQ. The occasional "kill a few of these enemies" or "stand here and kill what spawns," and duties that are spread out. The vast majority of MSQ leveling exp is purely quest exp, which rested will not apply to and won't be used up for. At no point did I ever manage to catch up to rested bonus through EW.

What does help bridge those MSQ gaps is things like exploration bonus exp (I swapped to a different job to explore new maps) and sightseeing exp (again, swapped jobs for those bonuses). Sightseeing is definitely good to have unlocked and up to date just for those little boosts.

Point is, if you take a job starting at 80 at the first EW quest, taking only what exp you will get from MSQ quests, role quests, and one trip through each duty along the way, you'll find 2-3 points where MSQ ticks up a level before you've dinged, and will have to supplement with the activity of your choice. I didn't feel like running extra duties/roulettes mid-story, so I stuck with FATEs. And, to be clear, these are still small gaps, bridged with only a few FATEs at most.

[Jojoya]

Rested only applies to combat exp. There's truly very little actual combat through MSQ. The occasional "kill a few of these enemies" or "stand here and kill what spawns," and duties that are spread out. The vast majority of MSQ leveling exp is purely quest exp, which rested will not apply to and won't be used up for. At no point did I ever manage to catch up to rested bonus through EW.

What does help bridge those MSQ gaps is things like exploration bonus exp (I swapped to a different job to explore new maps) and sightseeing exp (again, swapped jobs for those bonuses). Sightseeing is definitely good to have unlocked and up to date just for those little boosts.

Point is, if you take a job starting at 80 at the first EW quest, taking only what exp you will get from MSQ quests, role quests, and one trip through each duty along the way, you'll find 2-3 points where MSQ ticks up a level before you've dinged, and will have to supplement with the activity of your choice. I didn't feel like running extra duties/roulettes mid-story, so I stuck with FATEs. And, to be clear, these are still small gaps, bridged with only a few FATEs at most.

You're forgetting the dungeons that are part of MSQ. The bonus does apply to the dungeon bosses and it does add up. I've seen the difference each expansion release as I first level this character almost without a break in MSQ followed by my alts that do it at a slower pace.

Either way, as you say the gap is fairly small and a few FATEs (or a roulette if that's the player's preference) to fill the gap isn't a big deal.

They suggest people should have a full rotation by 50 and because of us having so many levels now, we're getting abilities at a rate that makes it hard for new players to learn their jobs.

As someone who has leveled up every job, the fact Dragoon doesn't get their first AoE until 40 is a crime. I was straight up mad leveling up Dragoon. Why are people doing wall to wall pulls in these lowbie dungeons and don't nobody got an AoE?!

The tank will always have their first AoE by the time they do Sastasha.

Archer has Quick Nock at 18, Thaumaturge has Blizzard II at 12, Machinist has Spread Shot at 18, Red Mage has Scatter at 15, Dancer has Windmill and Standard Finish at 15.

Most of the remaining DPS get their first AoE at 25 or 26, which means they're only missing an AoE for the first 3 MSQ dungeons plus Halatali since Toto-Rak level syncs to 27. Rogue, Lancer and the healers are the ones that don't have an AoE by the time they reach 30.

If every job got every action type at the same level, it would just add more to the cries of too much homogenization. It might feel awkward but it does help add to a unique job identity.

As for getting the complete kit by 50, no thanks. There's no point in continuing to have levels in a RPG if your character won't be learning anything new and potency increases through traits aren't learning something new. They're just a different form of power creep that already gets out of hand with end game gear upgrades.

I understand that you feel differently but this is going to be one of those areas where players are going to end up split on which is a more satisfying experience.