I FINALLY did it

[Katchii]

I've done the ARR MSQ into HW three times now, no skip potions, and not skipping all the cut scenes, though I'm more selective on which ones I watched.

I actually like all the Doma stuff in ARR, though.

I've done it three times now as well. The issue for me was just how many of the quests were clicky fetch quests, and many of those tasks are happening right next to or within spitting distance of the NPC asking for you to do it, with VERY little combat to spice it up. The story is what makes it tolerable, but if you have very little or no interest at all, it's just a super boring slog.

Imagine wanting to play a game to get some action in (you just want to beat stuff up), and instead before you get to any action (because to get to the action you need to do the story), you have to do 30 minutes to an hour of nothing but dialogue boxes, fetch quests and cut scenes?

[Wrecktangle]

I've done it three times now as well. The issue for me was just how many of the quests were clicky fetch quests, and many of those tasks are happening right next to or within spitting distance of the NPC asking for you to do it, with VERY little combat to spice it up. The story is what makes it tolerable, but if you have very little or no interest at all, it's just a super boring slog.

Imagine wanting to play a game to get some action in (you just want to beat stuff up), and instead before you get to any action (because to get to the action you need to do the story), you have to do 30 minutes to an hour of nothing but dialogue boxes, fetch quests and cut scenes?

Do you still have to click stuff to hand it in (I know you can click the spot and it auto grabs the item), but either way, it's fucking 2019, there's never a reason NOT to do it, so why isn't it automated.

[Katchii]

Do you still have to click stuff to hand it in (I know you can click the spot and it auto grabs the item), but either way, it's fucking 2019, there's never a reason NOT to do it, so why isn't it automated.

The turn-in quest process is the same as it's been since launch. No change there. I've just gotten used to it. It's pretty awful though, just another relic of FFXIV programming I guess...I have no idea otherwise, because it's a terrible idea.

[kaintk]

It's something that they're looking at, but it's not just a simple as cutting out quests, they have to do it in a way that keeps the story coherent.

all they have to is do like in wow, you already did it once ? good, you can pass skip it, so they could do like this, having the options to skip a lot of those boring quest chain if you already did them (but i dont remember if each class has the same quest to do ? its been at least 1 year i did'nt touch the game)

[Onikaroshi]

all they have to is do like in wow, you already did it once ? good, you can pass skip it, so they could do like this, having the options to skip a lot of those boring quest chain if you already did them (but i dont remember if each class has the same quest to do ? its been at least 1 year i did'nt touch the game)

I mean.... each character is treated as a separate entity, it's not really a game for "alts". Once you've done it once on one character you don't ever have to do it again on that character either.

Its more for new players that they need to trim it down.

[Martymark]

I'm lvl 51 now, and doing only the MSQs pretty much. I'm on quests in the lvl 35 range. Talk Teleport Talk Teleport endlessly. I'm enjoying the game as an alternative to BFA...but jeez.

[Faroth]

I'm lvl 51 now, and doing only the MSQs pretty much. I'm on quests in the lvl 35 range. Talk Teleport Talk Teleport endlessly. I'm enjoying the game as an alternative to BFA...but jeez.

There's no way to follow only the MSQ and hit level 51 when you're in the 35 range of the MSQ. If you just do the MSQ, you'll still hit MSQ level locks and have to grind a level or two here and there. If you're doing just the MSQ and daily roulette stuff, then I can see you getting further ahead.

[Deleted]

There's no way to follow only the MSQ and hit level 51 when you're in the 35 range of the MSQ. If you just do the MSQ, you'll still hit MSQ level locks and have to grind a level or two here and there. If you're doing just the MSQ and daily roulette stuff, then I can see you getting further ahead.

I'm in a similar situation and it's definitely possible if you roll on a.. I guess it's called a preferred server, use the Stormblood ring and don't play any other jobs. I eventually realised how quickly I was leveling and picked up another job that I didn't necessarily want to play, just so the exp wouldn't go to waste.

[VanishingAct]

lol I couldn't do it, I had to stop plaing. But I would like to go blue mage but from the sounds its severely gimped and intentionally useless for end game.

[Nasuuna]

I quit at 51 on my bard.

the story quests are so freaking bad and they are required to progress

[Martymark]

There's no way to follow only the MSQ and hit level 51 when you're in the 35 range of the MSQ. If you just do the MSQ, you'll still hit MSQ level locks and have to grind a level or two here and there. If you're doing just the MSQ and daily roulette stuff, then I can see you getting further ahead.

Since I started I've had a permanent "100% more xp from everything until you hit 60" buff. Looking into it I guess it's a new realm bonus. I wasn't aware as this is my first time playing and I just picked the realm my friends are on.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...325.1544121907

[StrawberryZebra]

The story is what makes it tolerable, but if you have very little or no interest at all, it's just a super boring slog.

Honestly, it's not terrible doing the story content when it's new. Dealing with it in small, bite sized chunks is much less hassle. As someone who really doesn't care about the story, I can manage to click my way through a couple of quests every now and then to open up new content.

The problem really comes into focus when you're trying to catch back up - You've got years worth of story to get through before you can move on, we're potentially looking at the base game and 3 expansions worth of story content to complete for new comers. What makes it even worse is that story slog is broken up not by combat or gameplay, but usually by queueing in the Duty Finder. The entire experience feels like you're not doing much and not achiving much. As though it's designed to do nothing more than test your patience.

As for solutions, the best compromise I can come up with is to have a completely optional abridged version of the story for the player. Either in a series of cutscenes that go over the events, or story slides or something along those lines. It's one that keeps the folks who do like the story happy, while also streamlining the process for new players. The original questlines would still be there if you choose, but you can skip the busy work without skipping the story or the content unlocks if you choose too.

The turn-in quest process is the same as it's been since launch. No change there. I've just gotten used to it. It's pretty awful though, just another relic of FFXIV programming I guess...I have no idea otherwise, because it's a terrible idea.

I've always assumed the intent was that your hands would mimic picking up the item and handing it to the NPC. It seems like a very intentional design choice to me rather than any kind of technical limitation.

[Katchii]

Honestly, it's not terrible doing the story content when it's new. Dealing with it in small, bite sized chunks is much less hassle. As someone who really doesn't care about the story, I can manage to click my way through a couple of quests every now and then to open up new content.

The problem really comes into focus when you're trying to catch back up - You've got years worth of story to get through before you can move on, we're potentially looking at the base game and 3 expansions worth of story content to complete for new comers. What makes it even worse is that story slog is broken up not by combat or gameplay, but usually by queueing in the Duty Finder. The entire experience feels like you're not doing much and not achiving much. As though it's designed to do nothing more than test your patience.

As for solutions, the best compromise I can come up with is to have a completely optional abridged version of the story for the player. Either in a series of cutscenes that go over the events, or story slides or something along those lines. It's one that keeps the folks who do like the story happy, while also streamlining the process for new players. The original questlines would still be there if you choose, but you can skip the busy work without skipping the story or the content unlocks if you choose too.

I think current story shouldn't be skippable, old story should, or at least significantly streamlined. They could easily cut out a LOT of the back and forth fetch garbage and move the story forward significantly faster without affecting it at all.

Another option would be to offer pretty nice cosmetic rewards (or even power level ones) for those that actually do the story but have an option to skip the story and miss out on the reward.

I've always assumed the intent was that your hands would mimic picking up the item and handing it to the NPC. It seems like a very intentional design choice to me rather than any kind of technical limitation.

Oh yeah, it was intentional for sure, I just meant it may have been something left over from the original FFXIV launch. There is quite a bit of stuff leftover from FFXIV 1.0 that they didn't change for various reasons.

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I quit at 51 on my bard.

the story quests are so freaking bad and they are required to progress

Unless you want to pay to skip the story. But you can't skip the story in the current expansion.

[-aiko-]

Reason #1 why I find it hard to come back to this game. It's astronomically stupid to force returning players to play through every fucking story quest from every single expansion to be able to play the current content.

I get it, you want players to get into the story. So reward them for doing it, don't force it down their throats. Awful design philosophy.
I don't even know if shiny new Blue Mage and bunny girls can bring me back. Going through all the crap to play Heavensward ruined me. I don't know if I can do it again, especially now that I'm going to be 2 expansions behind.

[StrawberryZebra]

I think current story shouldn't be skippable, old story should, or at least significantly streamlined. They could easily cut out a LOT of the back and forth fetch garbage and move the story forward significantly faster without affecting it at all.

Another option would be to offer pretty nice cosmetic rewards (or even power level ones) for those that actually do the story but have an option to skip the story and miss out on the reward.

Not everyone is interested in Cosmetic rewards either. My character looks like he collided with a River Island store while traveling at Mach 4, a horrible mix of bright colours, jagged angles and tassles for some unknown reason. I really couldn't care less.

I do think an abridged version of between expansion story content is probably the best compromise we're going to get. It's one where everyone can win, no content is cut and leaves the quest chains intact if you decide to revisit them at a later date. It also gives new players a means by which they can quickly catch up to their friends and a refresher should returning players need it. Everyone comes out ahead.

[Faroth]

Since I started I've had a permanent "100% more xp from everything until you hit 60" buff. Looking into it I guess it's a new realm bonus. I wasn't aware as this is my first time playing and I just picked the realm my friends are on.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...325.1544121907

Hot...damn.... o.o

[Katchii]

Not everyone is interested in Cosmetic rewards either. My character looks like he collided with a River Island store while traveling at Mach 4, a horrible mix of bright colours, jagged angles and tassles for some unknown reason. I really couldn't care less.

I do think an abridged version of between expansion story content is probably the best compromise we're going to get. It's one where everyone can win, no content is cut and leaves the quest chains intact if you decide to revisit them at a later date. It also gives new players a means by which they can quickly catch up to their friends and a refresher should returning players need it. Everyone comes out ahead.

You're pretty much the target player for the whole incentive part I was referring to. You don't really care about the story OR the reward and so likely wouldn't follow the story you'd do whatever was required to just get to the content. The folks who do care about the story would do it, the folks who care little about it but want the reward would do it and people who dont' care about either wouldn't do the story at all and would just focus on the content.

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Reason #1 why I find it hard to come back to this game. It's astronomically stupid to force returning players to play through every fucking story quest from every single expansion to be able to play the current content.

I get it, you want players to get into the story. So reward them for doing it, don't force it down their throats. Awful design philosophy.
I don't even know if shiny new Blue Mage and bunny girls can bring me back. Going through all the crap to play Heavensward ruined me. I don't know if I can do it again, especially now that I'm going to be 2 expansions behind.

I know it's not a spectacular answer, but there are story skip potions that will get you directly into Stormblood right now, you obviously need to pay for them, but they are an option.

That said, the fact is, at this time (and likely forever based on developer commentary) the game is a story driven game so if story is just flat out not your thing, this is a pretty difficult game to get into (remain interested in, really) because all of the relevant end game content is locked behind finishing at least the initial MSQ arc the expansion launched with and most dungeons that are part of the Expert Roulette are locked behind the subsequent MSQ that releases in the patches.

When done 1-2 day spurts, the story isn't daunting, but I 100% agree with you on how much of a barrier it can be when you have an entire expansion or more's worth of story to get through and you have little if any interest in the story.

[-aiko-]

It's not really about being a player that dislikes story, the MMO genre just isn't one that supports story to the extent FFXIV is trying to make it. Especially when the main story content contains group content. No matter what they do, the core playerbase will move on and leave the returning players behind. Have you ever tried to find a Duty for old required group dungeons/scenarios? Maybe they've made improvements to this, I don't know, but it was hell when I tried to catch up to play Heavensward. It just isn't friendly for people trying to return to the game.

Edit: Another problem is that the main scenario quests are also balanced for leveling characters up during the period they come out. So you'll have things like fetch quests that don't actually involve anything story-wise, but were necessary to pace experience gains and leveling. So when a returning player comes back to do MSQs, these fetch quests just feel out of place and are frustrating to have to deal with.

[Faroth]

It's not really about being a player that dislikes story, the MMO genre just isn't one that supports story to the extent FFXIV is trying to make it. Especially when the main story content contains group content. No matter what they do, the core playerbase will move on and leave the returning players behind. Have you ever tried to find a Duty for old required group dungeons/scenarios? Maybe they've made improvements to this, I don't know, but it was hell when I tried to catch up to play Heavensward. It just isn't friendly for people trying to return to the game.

You'll be able to run dungeons solo with an NPC party in the next expansion. They did something similar with XI and the Squadron dungeon runs were likely the test work to fine tune it, so that'll help in that regard.

[dope_danny]

It's not really about being a player that dislikes story, the MMO genre just isn't one that supports story to the extent FFXIV is trying to make it.

Thats the thing thats always funny about this situation to be honest. FFXIV is a mainlined numbered final fantasy but it feels like a lot of the people that complain about the story want another WoW clone like Rift or Lotro or the like to just play for a time before going back to wow when the vacations over and when it deviates from what World of Warcraft does it is somehow breaking the rules of the mmo genre. Meanwhile series long Final Fantasy fans are glad for XIV's heavy story content because its bookended by FFXIII and FFXV respectively which have the worst stories in the franchise. So you have one crowd pulling a gordon ramsey going "finally, some delicious fucking food" and the other going "a mainline final fantasy shouldn't have unskippable story because its an mmo" and boy thats two groups who are never going to agree.

Personally i just like that roulettes keep people doing older stuff. One of the lamest parts of World of Warcraft by comparison is everything pre current expansion that isn't for levelling is just there as transmog farms. You don't do the 3 Icecrown dungeons and ICC before moving onto cataclysm. You don't do them at all. They are no longer relevant. Meanwhile every FFXIV player will have done just about every pve thing except coil and maybe for a very fresh beginner alexander at this point. A big chunk of xp for levelling alt jobs is the daily roullette for the alliance raids so people are still running things like crystal tower in 4.X like they did in 2.X and part of that is because the content to max level isn't a begrudging hold over to spite you. Its the story and unlike other games it doesn't cease to exist once the expansion ends and i much prefer that.

To use a personal example i have a friend that plays mmos but far more casually. They have gotten to stuff like wrath content and gotten a 'yeah this stuff was great at the time, shame nobody does it anymore and it offers you nothing but transmog' but in XIV its closer to 'yeah that costa del sol stuff was a bitch but we all did it so welcome to the club and now get ready for this primal fight that people still do for xp all the time'. Mostly because the story is a constant chain of linked events rather than each expansion existing in a vaccum of gear treadmill power tiers that act like the previous expansions barely exist.

But of course its all down to the player. I would say if someone really hates the story then clearly they don't want FFXIV they want World of Warcraft or Elder Scrolls Online instead. Ain't nothing wrong with that its just different games appealing to different tastes.