When are we as player going to demand from SE a better MSQ experience

[Valkret]

First off, I am not referring to the story. I am talking about the gameplay. We are now on the 5th expansion and the MSQ formula remains the same; talk to a couple of npcs, do some fetch quest, talk to more npcs, kill one or two mobs every couple of hours, rinse and repeat. It's feels extremely outdated. I think in the span of an expansions MSQ (excluding trails and dungeons) we probably don't get to kill more than 30 mobs.

We were able to overlook this in the past two expansions because the story being told was so good. In my opinion no matter how hard SE tried, they were never going to be able to to capture the magic in storytelling that we've had for the past several years with one single expansion. Just because these type of stories take time to build and it takes time to create an in depth world and complex characters. And I am ok with that, I went into dawntrail fully expecting the story to be average. But I did not expect to be so bored playing through it.

Part of me is actually happy that a lot of people are not liking the story, so we can finally realize that outside of the story, how boring and monotonous the MSQ content actually is. The other part of me is a little upset that SE actually thinks that 6+ hours of boring fetch quest is acceptable content.

When it comes to the MSQ, SE has been riding on the back of their brilliant writers and amazing storytelling. I am hoping that this less well received start to a new story serves as a wake up call for them to finally modernize the gameplay aspects of the MSQ.

[angienessyo]

I personally like the Dawntrail story, but I agree the actual MSQ gameplay experience could be a lot better. I sadly don't think it's going to change any time soon though, as the issue was also very present in FF16. At least the dungeons/trials are bangers so far.

[Kes13a]

I dont have any big complaints about it. seemed pretty standard FFXIV fare personally.

[Jaelommiss]

They're not going to change anything unless they start losing money. If people keep buying expansions and stay subbed there's no reason for them to change. They're fine with angry players on the forums as long as they're still paying.

I cancelled my sub a couple days ago and am just hanging around to watch the drama until it finally expires. My sub never lapsed since I started in early Stormblood, but I can't tolerate what the game has become any longer. If they want me back they either need to make the story engaging, make the story optional, or make healer gameplay involve more than spamming one button for 90% of every fight. Any one of those three changes would be enough for me to come back. I'm not optimistic.

[Roda]

I'm of the same mind. I like the characters, I like the worldbuilding, the zones are fantastic, but the gameplay is barely there, quarantined off into dungeon bosses and trials and it feels BAD.
Not to mention the story writing itself commits sins like telling before showing (and showing before asking us to do), and treating us like idiots who can't intuit a character's intentions or remember something that happened last cutscene...

While Picto's design was perfectly nailed, and the encounters team is in a really good groove, it feels like the rest of the game resents its medium and genre....

The game is 10 years now, its golden path design needs to mature past its torrent of fedex quest designs and cutscene vomit.

like if SE could pivot their design philosophy to treating cutscenes and dialog as rewards for gameplay rather than a replacement for it, that would be a good start...

[Loggos]

I completely agree. Their actual MSQ design was never good. The story just motivated us to put up with it but the fact that we have to put up with it in the first place is a problem that is now made abundantly clear by DT thanks to the story not being able to carry the quest design anymore.

I know that fetch quests are a game design staple and I know they can't (and shouldn't) be removed completely.
But there needs to be a better balance in their pacing.
Having to play through approx. five to six hours of fetch quests until you even reach the first piece of battle content in a battle-centric game (and then having to wait several more hours for the next dungeon/trial) is atrocious game design.
If the story doesn't deliver then you are stuck with 5-6h of chores before you are allowed to have fun.

I know dungeons and trials are hard to design so they don't necessarily need to create more of those (though of course I'd always appreciate it). But you could give us more small challenges in-between. Give us FATE-styled enemies that take some time to take down (and that you can fight as a team in the open world too), more small instances, incorporate some fun mini games, treasure-hunt-like quests (not treasure hunts as in the already existing ingame content). I'd even take jumping puzzles.
This would also make the world significantly livelier and allow us to explore and interact with the zones a lot more. DT has beautiful zones that are basically just window dressings or backdrops. It's such a waste of truly great environmental design that could be full of immersive experiences.

[Gullis]

I wish there was a bit more actual gameplay inloved, since this is a game, not a visual novel.We get new stuff for our jobs, only to have to watch hours of cutscenes, before we can use them. I don't hate the formula that hard, but a bit more to do would be nice

[Roda]

Me: a lvl 100 entering a [COUNCIL APPROVED BUTTON PRESSING ZONE] to spawn a monster for a quest: it does nothing but auto attack me and dies in 3 hits.

Content!

[Ahelissa]

I think one of the things they could do is bring in Western localization earlier in the writing process. It seems like something is getting lost in translation, and the dialogue is unbelievably repetitive. I'm annoyed that characters are still talking halfway through nearly every cutscene. 50% of the cutscene dialogue is just restating things in different words like they had to give a 10 minute presentation but only wrote a 4 minute one. I don't speak JP at all, so I don't know if that's a cultural thing with their language or what. But it feels way off in English.

[Malthir]

I think one of the things they could do is bring in Western localization earlier in the writing process. It seems like something is getting lost in translation, and the dialogue is unbelievably repetitive. I'm annoyed that characters are still talking halfway through nearly every cutscene. 50% of the cutscene dialogue is just restating things in different words like they had to give a 10 minute presentation but only wrote a 4 minute one. I don't speak JP at all, so I don't know if that's a cultural thing with their language or what. But it feels way off in English.

To be fair if this post about the Japanese forums https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxivdiscus...dawntrail_msq/ is to be believed, the writing is no better in it's native language.