Quote Originally Posted by Gyson View Post
But you know the formula - the introduction of new (especially leveling dungeons) are usually woven into the story, which provides players with the option of running them with NPCs who are part of the story (and a reason for those NPCs to be there). What you're essentially asking for is to have that content separated from the story, which in turn will make the experience worse for those players who do enjoy the story. Or you're asking the developers to create twice as many dungeons so players can level and gear up via the story route or a non-story route, and I doubt that is feasible under their current development schedule given that they already seem to be struggling with their pace.
There are already side quests with their own stories that are separated enough from the MSQ to be completely optional. Non MSQ dungeons could function in a way that is similar where they have a story but it's not tied to the main narrative. As optional content there would be less need to design them around NPC's but if that was still deemed necessary, pick someone besides the scions (until the player reaches a point in the MSQ where their appearance makes sense).

This would require more dungeons to be made like you point out, though it's not clear to me if this is asking too much of SE. It's not unreasonable to request improvements and I wouldn't mind if they had to divert some resources to build some new ideas that break away from their very predictable formula.

A story-skip option is available for those who want to catch up to the current expansion, and while I would never use one it seems like the entire effort to wrap a bow on the previous 10-year story was at least in part to provide potential players with a new starting point to jump to. And if they do and discover they actually like the current story they can always tackle the previous expansions at their leisure through the New Game Plus feature. It's not the perfect way to digest an MMO, but it's a pretty decent option, and one that is available *right now* without shaking up the formula in unwanted ways for long-time players who have actually enjoyed the design from the last ten years.
Having to pay more just to make the game more accessible sounds backwards to me. I also wouldn't consider making MSQ optional to be shaking things up any more than a story-skip would. The MSQ is will still be there, and it could even benefit because it would no longer need to accommodate players that want to participate and those that want to get to other content - yes there is a story skip but not everyone is going to take it, the skip wasn't enough to keep parts of the MSQ from being trimmed or adjusted in the past. The optional non MSQ dungeons would exist for everyone and could even be used to create alternative methods for completing the MSQ. What if at some point you need drop X and you can choose to search for it in MSQ dungeon Y or optional dungeon Z?

Between Endwalker closing off the last ten years, Dawntrail starting a new adventure, the New Game Plus feature and the story skip option all being available now, there has never been a better time to bring new friends into the game who have been holding back because they didn't want to progress through multiple expansions to reach the end-game. Can we at least agree on that?
It's a mixed bag. NG+ was a glaring omission for what is supposed to a story focused game. The story-skip is one way to get around having to go through the story before doing other content, but why pay to solve a problem that the devs created and also encourage them to keep on the same path? Not everyone is going to want to do that and I feel like that is very understandable. A more open ended way to play the game isn't just a new player issue anyway, it's something that can improve the experience for all players. I can only speak for myself, but SE's very tight control over MSQ progression doesn't enhance the story or the gameplay for me.

Quote Originally Posted by Altina_Orion View Post
Why no create an accelerated path that perhaps catches you up to DT or whatever the current expansion is but gives the option to take the slow-msq route?
Some kind of catch up path would make a lot of sense and help prevent players from being lost by skipping the story entirely. It would also be a good alternative for alt characters.