Should I just buy a skip/boost?

[Rogalicus]

I love levelling, I will never understand people who want boosts, why the fuck are you even playing then?

I like leveling, but not in FFXIV. Questing is either teleport and watch cutscenes ad nauseam, kill 4 mobs or use 3 items (sometimes all of those). Classes are boring until 50+. Open world gameplay is mindnumbing, dungeons get better only starting from HW (which makes low level roulettes even worse).

I understand that grinding second jobs must suck, but this guy is on his first job and is already bored out of his mind. RPGs are definitely not for him.

RPGs are both good story and good gameplay, FFXIV leveling has only one of those and even it takes a while to get to good parts.

[Nasuuna]

I love levelling, I will never understand people who want boosts, why the fuck are you even playing then?

I've leveled so many characters in so many games. (easily 40 capped wow characters over the years, 6 Rift, 6 pre f2p Tera)

FF14 is by far the worst leveling experience I have ever had.

I honestly wish I got the boost

[Katchii]

I understand that grinding second jobs must suck, but this guy is on his first job and is already bored out of his mind. RPGs are definitely not for him.

Fair enough. I used to argue the same thing, but there are more aspects to this game than leveling and story (though I personally find that "other" content to be secondary) and some people just can't stomach the story of this game. And honestly, after leveling other characters on other servers through the story up to Heavensward, I can totally understand their aversion to it. Just playing through the story is pretty boring when you're looking for some action sequences. I remember going hours at some points in the story doing nothing but fetch quests, or running back and forth around the world to talk to people and drawing my weapon maybe once or twice in that time frame.

Even if you're interested in the story, having nothing BUT story with no action is terrible. Luckily the expansions improved on this a bit, but there still are sequences in Heavensward and Stormblood that drag on. If what you're really trying to get to is a point where you can hunt for gear and do dungeons and raids and stuff because THAT's what you care about, slogging through the entire story is a pretty giant hurdle.

[Halicia]

I understand that grinding second jobs must suck, but this guy is on his first job and is already bored out of his mind. RPGs are definitely not for him.

The G in RPG stands for Game, not Grind.

The Grind comes from the MMO, not the RPG, and had you cautioned against THAT genre, your comment might have held a little bit of weight.

[Appelgren]

I love levelling, I will never understand people who want boosts, why the fuck are you even playing then?

Lol! Didnt think this one through did you?

[CptEgo]

The G in RPG stands for Game, not Grind.

The Grind comes from the MMO, not the RPG, and had you cautioned against THAT genre, your comment might have held a little bit of weight.

I was thinking about the insane amounts of dialogue and cutscenes in this game, the RPG element of it. It's not for everyone.

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Lol! Didnt think this one through did you?

I understand that some people are only interested in endgame content..

[bloodwulf]

I am in the same boat as OP. I am 35, and really keep hoping the quests would turn to something other than Talk to npc, teleport to location, talk to npc, teleport back. It also doesn't help that the MSQ objectives are located in areas with level 15-17 mobs and fates, so i can't even occasionally do one of those. I am contemplating buying a skip but also considering just canceling the game again. It seems asinine that what should be the intro to a game is just so historically bad, it feels like SE just figured that selling boosts will fix the situation.
I like the aesthetics of the game. I like final fantasy's in general, but the story in ARR is basically nonsense even by FF standards. I am at a point where i can't decide if i buy the expansion and boosts to get out of ARR to give the game a shot at a point that everyone says it gets better, or just to save the cash and finally admit FF is not a game for me. I already know that the intro will prevent my wife and a few friends from playing, as they wont slog through it, nor will they buy the boosts.

[Katchii]

I am in the same boat as OP. I am 35, and really keep hoping the quests would turn to something other than Talk to npc, teleport to location, talk to npc, teleport back. It also doesn't help that the MSQ objectives are located in areas with level 15-17 mobs and fates, so i can't even occasionally do one of those. I am contemplating buying a skip but also considering just canceling the game again. It seems asinine that what should be the intro to a game is just so historically bad, it feels like SE just figured that selling boosts will fix the situation.
I like the aesthetics of the game. I like final fantasy's in general, but the story in ARR is basically nonsense even by FF standards. I am at a point where i can't decide if i buy the expansion and boosts to get out of ARR to give the game a shot at a point that everyone says it gets better, or just to save the cash and finally admit FF is not a game for me. I already know that the intro will prevent my wife and a few friends from playing, as they wont slog through it, nor will they buy the boosts.

The questing doesn't get better throughout the 1-50 experience. It does get better in the expansions though, but not by THAT much. The game is still very story/narrative heavy, so there's still a lot of dialogue and talking and running around (as is the case in most RPGs) but the expansions do a much better job breaking it up with action sequences. If you're hating the questing now, I don't think the improvements made in the expansions will be enough to really change your mind.

The first time I played, I loved the story, I wasn't really even paying attention to how little action there was. The second time I went 1-50, to re-experience the story though really opened my eyes. I still enjoyed the story, but the sheer amount of running around and talking to people with no action whatsoever is hard to swallow and made me really understand how some people were just not a fan of the game because the game play was super boring. Really difficult to gauge how much you like a class if you rarely get to use it in battle.

[Super Kami Dende]

You could always skip to Heavensward and just read a synopsis of 1-50+Patches. HW and Stormblood are where it picks up anyway.

[bloodwulf]

So the decision was made for me. I was 50/50 on the edge of quitting and my wife came home with the Stormblood code...so i am going to give it a go. I will likely boost a class and skip the MSQ just to get what the majority of people is the funner part of the game. I was having more fun with the dragoon in 50+ POTD, so i think skills definitely help, though im not quite feeling the jump ability as much. Considering my dragoon is 37 now, i might boost something completely different and come back to the dragoon later if i want.

[Katchii]

So the decision was made for me. I was 50/50 on the edge of quitting and my wife came home with the Stormblood code...so i am going to give it a go. I will likely boost a class and skip the MSQ just to get what the majority of people is the funner part of the game. I was having more fun with the dragoon in 50+ POTD, so i think skills definitely help, though im not quite feeling the jump ability as much. Considering my dragoon is 37 now, i might boost something completely different and come back to the dragoon later if i want.

Hope you enjoy it! Already posted on your question regarding class choice in the other thread. Let us know if you have any other questions =)

[Qnubi]

I disagree with most of what you guys tell. I think the leveling in FF14 feels purposeful and meaningful, a lot of the MSQ have deep impact and unlock key systems of the game and every 10 quests or so something new opens up to explore. WoW on the other hand is just braindead grinding with no story and no purpose. FF14 leveling is the best I have experienced in MMORPGs so far. Once I had my chocobo to ride around it was really chill to do the MSQs.

[Katchii]

I disagree with most of what you guys tell. I think the leveling in FF14 feels purposeful and meaningful, a lot of the MSQ have deep impact and unlock key systems of the game and every 10 quests or so something new opens up to explore. WoW on the other hand is just braindead grinding with no story and no purpose. FF14 leveling is the best I have experienced in MMORPGs so far. Once I had my chocobo to ride around it was really chill to do the MSQs.

I thought the exact same thing through my first time. Then I did it a couple other times to re-experience it since it had been a while and I also wanted to see the 1~15 experience in each of the city states. There are very large swaths of the leveling experience where ALL you're doing is talking to people, traveling/teleporting back and forth, clicking on an object and just reading quest text. Which isn't BAD, per se, but it's pretty boring. If you're invested in the story, it's totally fine, but not everyone cares that much about it. Having to spend 30+ minutes (or up to an hour or more if you read and watch everything in some areas) to get to an action sequence where you actually get to draw your weapon...and then only having it last 30 seconds is pretty lack luster. Dungeons are a little different, but after a certain point those are more spread out.

I bolded your last part for emphasis. "Chill" is a good word to describe the story telling experience of FFXIV since you do more reading text, watching cut scenes, and traveling than you do actively participating.

I agree that the leveling, questing and story experience are stellar in FFXIV...for people who CARE about story, when they care about it (as I care too...just not all the time, typically on subsequent play throughs). I personally think SWTOR integrated story telling and leveling a little better as far as game play is concerned, as it's just better balanced. FFXIV is very narrative centric, where the story typically is told to you through dialogue or cutscene. SWTOR is more experience centric, where you interact and take an active role in the story telling pieces rather than just have it narrated to you.

[Qnubi]

I thought the exact same thing through my first time. Then I did it a couple other times to re-experience it since it had been a while and I also wanted to see the 1~15 experience in each of the city states. There are very large swaths of the leveling experience where ALL you're doing is talking to people, traveling/teleporting back and forth, clicking on an object and just reading quest text. Which isn't BAD, per se, but it's pretty boring. If you're invested in the story, it's totally fine, but not everyone cares that much about it. Having to spend 30+ minutes (or up to an hour or more if you read and watch everything in some areas) to get to an action sequence where you actually get to draw your weapon...and then only having it last 30 seconds is pretty lack luster. Dungeons are a little different, but after a certain point those are more spread out.

I bolded your last part for emphasis. "Chill" is a good word to describe the story telling experience of FFXIV since you do more reading text, watching cut scenes, and traveling than you do actively participating.

I agree that the leveling, questing and story experience are stellar in FFXIV...for people who CARE about story, when they care about it (as I care too...just not all the time, typically on subsequent play throughs). I personally think SWTOR integrated story telling and leveling a little better as far as game play is concerned, as it's just better balanced. FFXIV is very narrative centric, where the story typically is told to you through dialogue or cutscene. SWTOR is more experience centric, where you interact and take an active role in the story telling pieces rather than just have it narrated to you.

On the way to the MSQs I usually end up doing some FATEs or Hunter log entries to keep the fighting going. Didn't realize people just teleport and chase the MSQ so focused. I also always did the leve quest unlocks whenever I had to go to a new region/town which also always was some fighting. I can't really relate to the "boring" part that much, I felt the world is brimming with fighting if you CHOOSE to do so. If all you do is just chase the MSQ, I guess you have a point there. But for me I never felt lack of fighting because I can just choose to fight, also queue for a dungeon etc. I didn't do any side quests, tho.

[bloodwulf]

On the way to the MSQs I usually end up doing some FATEs or Hunter log entries to keep the fighting going. Didn't realize people just teleport and chase the MSQ so focused. I also always did the leve quest unlocks whenever I had to go to a new region/town which also always was some fighting. I can't really relate to the "boring" part that much, I felt the world is brimming with fighting if you CHOOSE to do so. If all you do is just chase the MSQ, I guess you have a point there. But for me I never felt lack of fighting because I can just choose to fight, also queue for a dungeon etc. I didn't do any side quests, tho.

I skipped the ARR MSQ because as a new player coming into the game, that is seriously some of the most boring stuff I have encountered in a game. I think my problem for it was a lot of the MSQ took place in zones half their level. For instance, in the mid 30s you are in a zone helping Cid, doing level 35-37 stuff, and all the mobs in the area are 16-18, so there is literally no point to fight them. Also i had a run of MSQ that i went 30 minutes teleporting and talking to npc before i attacked, which would be fine, except i was not invested in the story at all because of the frequent slow points in it.

I have now played through most of the Heavensward MSQ (i have killed done the mission that kills frankendragon), and i enjoyed that content a lot better. They balanced combat and duties\primals way better than ARR. I also cared about most of the characters (except the Emo Dragoon) so that helped.

[Lynarii]

Part of the problem is just the number of levels. In ARR, you have to go from 1-50 in the story, but especially in the lower levels, they don't HAVE that many interesting things for you to do. I think it really picked up in ARR around level 40-ish, when you went to Coerthas, slowed down again from 2.1-2.4, then has picked up and stayed better pretty much ever since.

A lot of it really comes down to the fact that a low level character isn't a power player yet in a story that is about powers clashing. Once you're at the point where the leaders of the city-states know you by name and recognize your actions as meaningful, it gets a lot more enjoyable.


Also, pacing of release schedule matters. If you look at the 2.1-2.4 gap, and compare it to the post-HW or post-SB MSQ areas, I actually liked the scope of each quest block in the 2.x series when it came out, and the 3.x/4.x blocks sometimes leave me feeling 'is that all?'. But that's because there are months of other stuff in between. Look at the same exact block of quests when you're looking at them all in a single go, and the 3.x/4.x pacing feels good and the 2.x is 'when will this end?'. The 1-50 experience wasn't bad when I first played it and had no real impetus to hit 50 quickly. If I were doing it now, and just wanted to get through it and get caught up, it would be much more frustrating.

[Katchii]

On the way to the MSQs I usually end up doing some FATEs or Hunter log entries to keep the fighting going. Didn't realize people just teleport and chase the MSQ so focused. I also always did the leve quest unlocks whenever I had to go to a new region/town which also always was some fighting. I can't really relate to the "boring" part that much, I felt the world is brimming with fighting if you CHOOSE to do so. If all you do is just chase the MSQ, I guess you have a point there. But for me I never felt lack of fighting because I can just choose to fight, also queue for a dungeon etc. I didn't do any side quests, tho.

Again, going through the game fresh and wanting to see it all, there will always be a sense of wonder. The issue is that the vast majority of content is locked behind the MSQ, so if people are just trying to work on getting to the parts of the game they really care about, or in many cases now that the game has been out a while, people are just trying to catch up to their friends they focus on the MSQ to get there. As you said, tunneling on the MSQ can make it pretty boring, but that's what a lot of people are doing because cruising through the MSQ gets you where you need to go. With xp flowing so easily now, you don't really even have to do any FATE's, side quests or dungeons along the way. They do break up the monotony a bit, but aren't necessary.

Unless you're truly in love with and enjoy the story, ARR is a slog. I don't blame people who complain about the 1-50 and ARR level 50+ 2.0-2.55 quests.

Heavensward and Stormblood do a much better job.

[Qnubi]

Part of the problem is just the number of levels. In ARR, you have to go from 1-50 in the story, but especially in the lower levels, they don't HAVE that many interesting things for you to do. I think it really picked up in ARR around level 40-ish, when you went to Coerthas, slowed down again from 2.1-2.4, then has picked up and stayed better pretty much ever since.

A lot of it really comes down to the fact that a low level character isn't a power player yet in a story that is about powers clashing. Once you're at the point where the leaders of the city-states know you by name and recognize your actions as meaningful, it gets a lot more enjoyable.


Also, pacing of release schedule matters. If you look at the 2.1-2.4 gap, and compare it to the post-HW or post-SB MSQ areas, I actually liked the scope of each quest block in the 2.x series when it came out, and the 3.x/4.x blocks sometimes leave me feeling 'is that all?'. But that's because there are months of other stuff in between. Look at the same exact block of quests when you're looking at them all in a single go, and the 3.x/4.x pacing feels good and the 2.x is 'when will this end?'. The 1-50 experience wasn't bad when I first played it and had no real impetus to hit 50 quickly. If I were doing it now, and just wanted to get through it and get caught up, it would be much more frustrating.

But you only do it once, though? I mean there is little point to re-roll characters unless you want to play on a different server. Or am I missing something? I have my main character and all the jobs can be learned there so you literally only do it once? So when I read that people are annoyed to do it again I am a little confused.

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Again, going through the game fresh and wanting to see it all, there will always be a sense of wonder. The issue is that the vast majority of content is locked behind the MSQ, so if people are just trying to work on getting to the parts of the game they really care about, or in many cases now that the game has been out a while, people are just trying to catch up to their friends they focus on the MSQ to get there. As you said, tunneling on the MSQ can make it pretty boring, but that's what a lot of people are doing because cruising through the MSQ gets you where you need to go. With xp flowing so easily now, you don't really even have to do any FATE's, side quests or dungeons along the way. They do break up the monotony a bit, but aren't necessary.

Unless you're truly in love with and enjoy the story, ARR is a slog. I don't blame people who complain about the 1-50 and ARR level 50+ 2.0-2.55 quests.

Heavensward and Stormblood do a much better job.

Well I started FF14 solo without any friends, so I could fully immerse myself into the world and story with nobody constantly reminding me what I am doing is bad or wrong, the rush to endgame right before the next expansion seems pointless anyway, I still have 3 months or so to do the MSQ. (I am currently around level 30 MSQ) I also want to level up some more crafting jobs before I continue the MSQ. The difference in FF14 is that I feel no pressure at all to play efficient or fast, it feels the opposite actually. The game seemed to remind you about this in the MSQ by being actually slow paced. I welcome that, too many games constantly bombard you with action and the rush to endgame, FF14 doesn't and I hope it stays that way simply because I can pick dozen of other MMOs that are all just rush to endgame games. I could probably play level 50 content (currently only have starter edition from twitch) for a year without feeling bored or worthless because there is so much to do.

[Felshatner]

I'm trying to get into this game but the leveling is the worst. Is it worth buying a boost?

Everyone I've seen that used a skip ended up not enjoying the game and quitting because they didn't care about the story. If you are short time and certain that you will enjoy the story, you can skip the ARR Main Story Quest because it is extremely long and not as good as HW/SB.

[Lynarii]

But you only do it once, though? I mean there is little point to re-roll characters unless you want to play on a different server. Or am I missing something? I have my main character and all the jobs can be learned there so you literally only do it once? So when I read that people are annoyed to do it again I am a little confused.

You only really have to do it once, yes. There are various reasons to do it a second time, including playing on a different server or wanting to help out a friend's raid team while your main char is locked to your own team, but I think the vast majority of players just have their single character and that's all they'll ever need.