First of all, hello. How are you?

Secondly, I must say that Final Fantasy XIV is, without a doubt, one of the most creative MMORPGs, narratively speaking, ever made. The MSQ is the heart of the game, responsible for some of the most memorable moments in the genre. Still, after more than a decade of continuous story, it's natural that difficult—and necessary—questions arise about how this narrative is presented, who it's accessible to, and how far it can evolve.

This topic is not a critique, but an exercise of imagination and design: What if the MSQ took it a step further?

What if the player stopped being just the executor of others' decisions and started actively influencing small moments of their own journey?

What if new players didn't have to climb a mountain of mandatory content before finally playing alongside the current community?

What if the world of Eorzea finally advanced in time in a visible and consequential way?

Below are some proposals organized into four major pillars. They are not intended to be perfect solutions, but rather starting points for discussion — ideas that already exist, on a smaller scale, within FFXIV itself (such as Variant Dungeons and New Game+), taken a little further.

1. Make Player Decisions Matter

Let's say I'm at a point in the MSQ where a large-scale invasion is occurring in the kingdom where my WoL is. I must rush to the throne room and protect the king's life from the invaders who come to capture him. After an exciting MSQ, I'm taken to point B: which is to reunite with the Scions and invade the enemy's fortress, thus defeating evil at its root.

But let's say that from point A to point B, I'm not simply guided by the story, but I have 3 choices of what to do?

1. Leave the invading general to Thancred to deal with, while I go to the throne room to protect the king with Alisaie and Alphinaud.

2. Suggest that Thancred reinforce the defense in the throne room, and I take care of the invading general myself.

3. Suggest that Thancred take care of the invading general, while I get my mount and join Y’shtola and the other sorcerers of the kingdom to help conjure a powerful fireball from the sky.

There are three options of what to do that change a single cutscene + combat duty (3 options), exactly as it happens with Variant Dungeons, but in MSQ.

One thing that frustrates many players is this feeling of being a supporting character in their own story. Nothing is decided by the player. Absolutely nothing. And that completely breaks the idea of ​​RPG.

You don't need to change the story, just one cutscene or another, punctually and that's it. And if this happens about five times throughout MSQ + once per MSQ patch, it would be truly amazing.