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[chrono01]

Next expansion Square-Enix [without explanation] should just place all players in a bubble underwater where we battle Cthulhu-styled creatures, attempting to earn enough gas to fuel our rocket ship so we can escape our prisoned confines of the ocean, only to propel ourselves into outer-space in our primary goal to overthrow the "Cyber Gaius Mach VII" who threatens dominion over all.

Why? 'cause why not?

 

[Jarate]

Because the story is bad.
I can't believe we have to collect the crystals twice to gain back our blessing.
Are they going to repeat this non-sense in 4.0?

I DIDNT ENJOY THING, THAT MEANS IT'S BAD

 

[Stuart444]

I'm honestly shocked when people don't play it like this. I remember leveling with a guy in WoW once and me being like why..aren't you moving? His response "I'm reading the quest." I actually had to pick my mouth up off the floor, hadn't heard that in years.

And I'm honestly shocked that you would be shocked that someone actually cares about the story/lore. Just because you don't, doesn't mean others don't.

 

[fedexpeon]

I DIDNT ENJOY THING, THAT MEANS IT'S BAD

Okay brah.
Tell me what you did before 3.0.
Oh yeah, you gained your blessing by doing the same thing you are doing in 3.0
Hmm, so refreshing.
I keep hearing the term that FF14 is the greatest FF/MMO story even written...yeah, okay.

 

[Stuart444]

Okay brah.
Tell me what you did before 3.0.
Oh yeah, you gained your blessing by doing the same thing you are doing in 3.0
Hmm, so refreshing.

Yeah because that's the only fucking thing you did in both 2.0 and 3.0. That's very shallow and overlooking almost every story point that is actually in the story.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Because the story is bad.
I can't believe we have to collect the crystals twice to gain back our blessing.
Are they going to repeat this non-sense in 4.0?

hate on it if you like, but the story is not bad lol

 

[Uthred]

I get what you're saying, but people don't care about the story, most people play mmo's for the mechanics and the community. A story is just an added bonus if it's good.

If SE keeps doing this, their numbers won't be so good.

If story doesnt matter, what factors do you feel have contributed to the games success, given that its focus on story is one of they key ways it differentiates itself from its competitors? Or how your theory about the effects of story locks on subscriber growth would seem contradicted by the fact that subscriber numbers have grown consistently despite every major content patch having story gated content?

So what you're saying is you don't really have a good reason for not putting a optional story skip feature in the game?

Yes that's clearly what I'm saying, your ability to summarise is matched only by your reading comprehension. I don't recall ever saying there shouldnt be an optional skip feature. My initial response had to do with your seeming surprise as to why SE had done it. I was putting forward possible reasons for why they did, not that they should do it. Which is probably why a few posts later I agreed with another poster that including such a feature in the next expansion would make sense. I'll endeavour to be clearer in the future.

 

[Rose of Eternity]

And I'm honestly shocked that you would be shocked that someone actually cares about the story/lore. Just because you don't, doesn't mean others don't.

Those people exist. I have no issue with that. What I'm saying (and others in this thread) is that those people were always the minority in this genre. Balmung is their server in this game. If your argument is that this game specifically invites that minority and they are in fact the majority in this game, I might believe you. Might. But for every person in fc chat that has given me the "!?" when I say I skip cutscenes, there's another that goes "yeah me too" and restores my faith that it is the exact same in this mmo as others. Most people do not care. So if we're back to the gated xpac part of the convo, then gating the xpac behind terrible quests (please tell me you remember the ridiculous bullshit of having to prepare to fight Titan in the story) is really counter-intuitive. Like I said before, I don't mind it as a design philosophy, assuming SE is sure that the majority of their subscribers do indeed want to experience that type of content.

I guess they will know after a month or two with how retention is with new players.

 

[Valor]

You aren't going to win an argument about whether or not a story is good or not. People find value in different things. That's just the way it is.

 

[fedexpeon]

Yeah because that's the only fucking thing you did in both 2.0 and 3.0. That's very shallow and overlooking almost every story point that is actually in the story.

Hey, it is a good summary that they can use for their next expansion.
It would work for ARR and Heavensward contents.
Alright, maybe add in a few lines like you fought primal and villains who look more badass than you.

 

[BadRNG]

I'm not "acting" like anything, I'm simply saying that the narrative is one of the primary focuses of the game, one of its selling points and one of the ways it differentiates itself from its competitors. That's it. I neither require, nor care, if other people like the story, I just think its disingenuous to pretend like its central place and importance is some kind of surprise. Or to make provably false statements that the majority of content in the game is un-related to story. Whether the crafting stories are important to the experience or not (and their importance is subjective, I quite enjoyed the WVR and ALC ones and didnt care about the rewards) is irrelevant, they are still related to story. I certainly dont think that anyone who likes the game has to like or make time for the story, or that they should play something else if they find other elements of the game engaging. I do think they should acknowledge the central role of story in the game though.

I think we have a very different idea of what it means to be story driven. The stuff you are talking about adds flavor and context but it is pretty lacking in the story department. If you want to go by your definition the mindless fetch x10 boar hides in other games are also important story driven content because they always have text that links them to an overall plot. Even the Ubisoft open world design where they just pile collectables all over the place are usually linked to the story, at least superficially, which is about how much I'd say the majority of content in this game is.

Most of the stuff I'd consider story driven is the MSQ, and it usually lasts a few hours per patch until you spend the rest of the time grinding stuff like any other MMO. You don't spend a ton of time actually playing a story or immersing yourself in the world, you spend it endlessly grinding gear, tomes, mats, and what have you.

The unique part of this game is not it's narrative "focus", plenty of other games, including WoW - have had large narrative campaigns. The truly unique part is in it's gameplay systems, the biggest of which is being able to play every job and essentially do all content on a single character.

 

[Cheezeman3000]

This thread is quickly going south.

Some people like MMO's for the role playing and the lore/story. Some people like them for the mechanics and difficult battles. The FFXIV team has catered to both audiences by allowing people to skip cut scenes.

I personally am huge into story but also love the difficult bosses. So that's why this is one of my favorite games atm.

 

[Stuart444]

Those people exist. I have no issue with that. What I'm saying (and others in this thread) is that those people were always the minority in this genre. Balmung is their server in this game.

You mean the RP server? yeah just cause you don't like RP does not mean you don't like the story. I'd argue that the minority of people in this game are the people who don't like the story?

We can't prove one way or the other and no, googling and using anecdotal evidence from your friends or discussion forums like reddit isn't proof because the majority of people don't use places like that (or even the OF) to discuss the game.

 

[Teknoman]

Just saying again, the next expansion will most likely be more or less like Chains of Promathia and expansions forward in XI. You are going to have to have some main vanilla story completion of some sort, but maybe not all the way through Heavensward, since it'll be a self contained story.

 

[Azzurri]

If story doesnt matter, what factors do you feel have contributed to the games success, given that its focus on story is one of they key ways it differentiates itself from its competitors? Or how your theory about the effects of story locks on subscriber growth would seem contradicted by the fact that subscriber numbers have grown consistently despite every major content patch having story gated content?

Community, Well polished mechanics, job system, crafting, housing, vertical progression system, dungeons, raids, chocobo's, a lot of content with every big patch that isn't story based, Gold Saucer, triple Triad. It's a Theme Park MMO like WoW which a lot of people love.
There are ton of reason people would pick the game up that has nothing to do with the story. If the game has other values and it;s story is meh to ok, I guarantee people wouldn't care as long as it was fun to play.

Oh yea look at Star Wars MMO, it is probably toted as the most story driven mmo in the genre and it's actually good from what I played, look how that turned out for them. The game could have the best damn story, but for an MMO, it;s about gameplay and how to retain their player base.

You paying 15 a month, and the story is what 50 or so hours. So after it's done, then what? oh yea, all the other things that have nothing to do with the story.

 

[iammeiam]

Guys Galen might be the actual voice of reason here. This is how low this discussion has sunk.

 

[Vincent Grayson]

I'm totally fine with the story gating, but next expansion needs to either start the new jobs at the base level for the expansion (so MCH, DRK and AST would start at 50), or they need to give you a way to access those jobs at an appropriate time in the story that you'd be that level.

Having new jobs is awesome and exciting, but discovering that not only can you not play them until you get a character to the old level cap and push through all the old story content, but also that you'll get them at a level that means if you (like myself) are really interested in playing a new job, you have to then turn around and go back to the old content for 20 levels of grinding before getting to actually play the new expansion content.

I'm really enjoying this game (just a bit past the end of the base ARR MSQ right now), but I'm still pretty annoyed that I wasn't allowed to play the MSQ as a DRK, and that when I do get to that point, I'll have to go back and grind out 20 levels.

 

[Haly]

The most "story driven" MMO currently on the market, by most reasonable metrics, is TOR. It is usually described as MMO KOTOR not merely because it's Star Wars, or that the acronym is TOR, but because each of the classes gets a carefully crafted storyline with branching paths, romances, multiple endings... basically all the usual stuff you'd expect from a single player Bioware game, which is also their main selling point. In fact, one of its chief faults was, supposedly, neglecting the MMO portion of "MMORPG".

TOR had to go F2P because it was just not sustainable with a subscription model.

Surely there is no shortage of Star Wars fans or Bioware fans or KOTOR fans to draw on as a userbase, but the numbers TOR puts up still pale in comparison to the reception of FFXIV 2.0. Why is that? It seems very obvious to me that the FF aesthetic is the largest part of why people are playing this game, because if MMO players cared as much about story and roleplaying as some of you seem to believe, TOR would've been much more successful than it was.

This is why all the hand wringing and justifications over "lore" and "roleplaying" ring hollow to me. You're essentially arguing that this game would see the same amount of success if it was made by any other developer as long as the story elements remained intact, even if all the FF references were replaced with an original IP.

That just sounds absurd. Doesn't that sound absurd? I'm sure none of you are arguing this, but this is what I'm reading, on the most basic level. That FFXIV 2.0 acquired millions of its fans through its focus on narrative, and thus it shouldn't be skippable, because it's the "selling point".

 

[Valor]

Also chalk me up in the camp that really appreciates and enjoys the story but doesn't see any sense whatsoever about gating new expansions behind old content.

What someone said a few pages back about samurai is what I was saying about dark knight coming into heavensward. People want to play the new stuff. They want to fly. That's how this game was sold to them. Gating them behind HOURS of story quests that aren't about dark knights and flying is NOT what they are paying for. You can agree or disagree but in this end this is a business to generate revenue in the way of subs, and I wouldn't be shocked if newbies quit because they don't want to deal with 2.x when they want to play 3.x.

Imagine a new player who wants to play DRK and they need to pick a class that is NOT drk and level that shit to 50 from 1 before they have the option to now level a Dark Knight from 30 to 50 and now they can play the expac as a dark knight -> the reason they initially put down their money.

Lore and other shit out of the way, this is not a good business practice for player retention.

Guys Galen might be the actual voice of reason here. This is how low this discussion has sunk.

<3 I mean say what you will about my goofy character I portray, but I like to think I can be 4srs about stuff once in a while. Maybe.

 

[Rose of Eternity]

You mean the RP server? yeah just cause you don't like RP does not mean you don't like the story. I'd argue that the minority of people in this game are the people who don't like the story?

We can't prove one way or the other and no, googling and using anecdotal evidence from your friends or discussion forums like reddit isn't proof because the majority of people don't use places like that (or even the OF) to discuss the game.

I mean, there's a general feel for every mmo. This game doesn't give me that different of a vibe in terms of community when it comes to this particular topic. SE will know in a few weeks whether or not it's smart to gate expansion content. I wouldn't be surprised if they un-gate HW in a few months.

 

[Jarate]

I'm totally fine with the story gating, but next expansion needs to either start the new jobs at the base level for the expansion (so MCH, DRK and AST would start at 50), or they need to give you a way to access those jobs at an appropriate time in the story that you'd be that level.

Having new jobs is awesome and exciting, but discovering that not only can you not play them until you get a character to the old level cap and push through all the old story content, but also that you'll get them at a level that means if you (like myself) are really interested in playing a new job, you have to then turn around and go back to the old content for 20 levels of grinding before getting to actually play the new expansion content.

I'm really enjoying this game (just a bit past the end of the base ARR MSQ right now), but I'm still pretty annoyed that I wasn't allowed to play the MSQ as a DRK, and that when I do get to that point, I'll have to go back and grind out 20 levels.

I wouldve rather had the new classes start at level 1 tbh, if they start at 50, then even less players will know how to play them properly

Starting them at a later level is a death sentence for people doing content at around that level. The level 30 dungeons are luckily easy enough to power through with a shit player, but the 50 dungeons do require some thought to take them down.

 

[XenoRaven]

Also chalk me up in the camp that really appreciates and enjoys the story but doesn't see any sense whatsoever about gating new expansions behind old content.

What someone said a few pages back about samurai is what I was saying about dark knight coming into heavensward. People want to play the new stuff. They want to fly. That's how this game was sold to them. Gating them behind HOURS of story quests that aren't about dark knights and flying is NOT what they are paying for. You can agree or disagree but in this end this is a business to generate revenue in the way of subs, and I wouldn't be shocked if newbies quit because they don't want to deal with 2.x when they want to play 3.x.

Imagine a new player who wants to play DRK and they need to pick a class that is NOT drk and level that shit to 50 from 1 before they have the option to now level a Dark Knight from 30 to 50 and now they can play the expac as a dark knight -> the reason they initially put down their money.

Lore and other shit out of the way, this is not a good business practice for player retention.


<3 I mean say what you will about my goofy character I portray, but I like to think I can be 4srs about stuff once in a while. Maybe.

I think they backed themselves into a corner with the story this time around, and I bet they'll learn from this.

I mean, it's explicitly stated in various cutscenes that no one can go to Ishgard. And then there are cutscenes that specifically show the MC being accepted into Ishgard. And so on.

While I don't know if they'll ever give people a shortcut to get through the 2.0-2.5 stuff, I imagine they will do their best not to back themselves into the same corner in the future.

 

[scosher]

If there wasn't so much padding and filler to the MSQ, especially pre-Heavensward, I don't think this would've been much of an issue. I did them in between patches, so it wasn't too tedious, but there was certainly a lot of pointless running around from Rising Stones to major cities, back to Waking Sands, etc. It's a slap in the face when Minfilia gives you a Linkpearl but it's used solely to tell you get back to Waking Sands so she can tell you whatever she needs to say in person, rather than over her makeshift walkie-talkie.

All the new primals were tied to the MSQ as well right? Maybe they should've gone back and trimmed those out and made them into side quests that opened up during the MSQ, so the player wouldn't have to go through the tedium of unlocking Leviathan, Ramuh, etc. Shiva's the only one that was really relevant to the MSQ anyway.

They also should've just opened the gates to Ishgard for all players that bought the expansion, allowing immediate access to the new classes as soon as you are able to trek to Coerthas. Lore-wise it wouldn't really make sense. But this is the first time I've seen a new MMO expansion gate new classes from being played until you cleared the original content. If immersion is an issue, just have all the NPC's respond to the player abrasively or negatively, until you reach that point in the MSQ. It's not like a new player can do much outside of Ishgard besides unlock the new classes (all the new zones are locked behind the MSQ as well).

 

[Teknoman]

Also chalk me up in the camp that really appreciates and enjoys the story but doesn't see any sense whatsoever about gating new expansions behind old content.

What someone said a few pages back about samurai is what I was saying about dark knight coming into heavensward. People want to play the new stuff. They want to fly. That's how this game was sold to them. Gating them behind HOURS of story quests that aren't about dark knights and flying is NOT what they are paying for. You can agree or disagree but in this end this is a business to generate revenue in the way of subs, and I wouldn't be shocked if newbies quit because they don't want to deal with 2.x when they want to play 3.x.

Imagine a new player who wants to play DRK and they need to pick a class that is NOT drk and level that shit to 50 from 1 before they have the option to now level a Dark Knight from 30 to 50 and now they can play the expac as a dark knight -> the reason they initially put down their money.

Lore and other shit out of the way, this is not a good business practice for player retention.


<3 I mean say what you will about my goofy character I portray, but I like to think I can be 4srs about stuff once in a while. Maybe.

I can see an expansion that wasn't directly tied to the events of 2.0, but with something like this...the way they've driven things...it just doesn't seem feasible. Say something that just has players exploring whatever is left of Ala Migho. That would probably be accessible right off the bat.

I mean there needs to be a certain level limit to access expansion stuff. Like at least level 30.

Lore-wise it wouldn't really make sense, but this is the first time I've seen a new MMO expansion gate even new classes from being used. If it's immersion that's an issue, just have all the NPC's respond to you abrasively or negatively until you reach that point in the MSQ. It's not like a new player can do much outside of Ishgard besides unlock the new classes (all the new zones are locked behind the MSQ as well)

FFXI did this back in the day. I think you needed to beat the "last boss" of vanilla FFXI and then you could access Zilart stuff. While with Chains of Promathia onward, I think you just had to at least be level 30 or some such, reach the large city of the game where all airships and whatnot met, then you had access to all other things / quests to intro new jobs, etc.

At any rate, this will probably be the one thing it follows FFXI with.

Vanilla to first exp. = direct connect

Vanilla to a certain mid range point to all over expansions = each expansion is its own contained story.

Also lets not tie story and roleplaying into the same thing. Two different situations.

 

[Valor]

I think they backed themselves into a corner with the story this time around, and I bet they'll learn from this.

I mean, it's explicitly stated in various cutscenes that no one can go to Ishgard. And then there are cutscenes that specifically show the MC being accepted into Ishgard. And so on.

I can see an expansion that wasn't directly tied to the events of 2.0, but with something like this...the way they've driven things...it just doesn't seem feasible. Say something that just has players exploring whatever is left of Ala Migho. That would probably be accessible right off the bat.

Again, I am one of those who enjoys the story and totally gets where you're both coming from. My rebuttal is simple: Who cares?

You need to continue to grow the player base, and gating content that you are actively trying to sell people (flying mounts, new jobs, new looking gear, Alexander raid) behind literally hours of content that is not flying mounts, new jobs, new gear, and Alexander, is just a bad business practice.

Lore matters, but it should be opt in. Not opt out. Not mandatory. It can't be. You can't roll out 5.0 and say OH WELL to play anything in 5.0 you need to play 2.x, 3.x, 4.x and now you can play the content you deemed was worth your money, new player.

Yeah. I don't see that player playing very long.

 

[TheMink]

Is it reccomended to wear a secondary ring thats not ideal just to raise ilvl? My first ring is a 110 dex ring, and my second ring is a 90 dex ring. But i do have 110 str ring, ahould i wear that instead? Or is it not worth it?

 

[Teknoman]

Again, I am one of those who enjoys the story and totally gets where you're both coming from. My rebuttal is simple: Who cares?

You need to continue to grow the player base, and gating content that you are actively trying to sell people (flying mounts, new jobs, new looking gear, Alexander raid) behind literally hours of content that is not flying mounts, new jobs, new gear, and Alexander, is just a bad business practice.

Lore matters, but it should be opt in. Not opt out. Not mandatory. It can't be. You can't roll out 5.0 and say OH WELL to play anything in 5.0 you need to play 2.x, 3.x, 4.x and now you can play the content you deemed was worth your money, new player.

Yeah. I don't see that player playing very long.

Exactly. Thats why i'm saying once 4.0 hits, you'll probably not have to do any heavensward stuff, unless you want to play as HW introduced jobs. It'll be its own contained story, where you probably have to progress 2.0 to a certain point at least.

 

[Valor]

Is it reccomended to wear a secondary ring thats not ideal just to raise ilvl? My first ring is a 110 dex ring, and my second ring is a 90 dex ring. But i do have 110 str ring, ahould i wear that instead? Or is it not worth it?

If you need the ilevel to access content, yes. If you are using it to simply have a higher ilevel then no.

 

[TheMink]

Got it.

 

[Uthred]

I think we have a very different idea of what it means to be story driven. The stuff you are talking about adds flavor and context but it is pretty lacking in the story department. If you want to go by your definition the mindless fetch x10 boar hides in other games are also important story driven content because they always have text that links them to an overall plot. Even the Ubisoft open world design where they just pile collectables all over the place are usually linked to the story, at least superficially, which is about how much I'd say the majority of content in this game is.

But I never said those quests were story driven, I said they were story related, which they are. Its largely semantics I'll admit.

The unique part of this game is not it's narrative "focus", plenty of other games, including WoW - have had large narrative campaigns. The truly unique part is in it's gameplay systems, the biggest of which is being able to play every job and essentially do all content on a single character.

I've already covered upthread how I feel that other MMO's and certainly WoW dont have anywhere near the same focus on narrative, nor do they make it as central to the game experience, as FFXIV. I find it amusing, and not in a bitchy way I genuinely think its funny how differing our views are here, that you think the gameplay systems are in any way unique. In terms of mechanics its just another tab targeting MMO with a slower GCD, there is very very little that distinguishes it mechanically. The job system is nice, and was one of the things that drew me to the game initially, but mechanically it isnt particularly different from having alts or from MMO's where you can experience all content on a single character anyway.

TOR had to go F2P because it was just not sustainable with a subscription model.

Surely there is no shortage of Star Wars fans or Bioware fans or KOTOR fans to draw on as a userbase, but the numbers TOR puts up still pale in comparison to the reception of FFXIV 2.0. Why is that?

Considering the game had to go F2P as you said yourself then there apparently was a shortage of fans

It seems very obvious to me that the FF aesthetic is the largest part of why people are playing this game, because if MMO players cared as much about story and roleplaying as some of you seem to believe, TOR would've been much more successful than it was.

So what you're saying is that the Final Fantasy part of the game is the main draw while ignoring the fact that the story is a major part of the draw of Final Fantasy? This also seems to make the, unsupportable, implication that the majority of FFXIV's userbase are MMO players first, not FF players first. I do agree that roleplaying probably isnt important to most people, in the sense its understood on RP servers. But you're conflating that with story, which I think (unsupportably as well of course) is important to the majority of the userbase.

That just sounds absurd. Doesn't that sound absurd? I'm sure none of you are arguing this, but this is what I'm reading, on the most basic level. That FFXIV 2.0 acquired millions of its fans through its focus on narrative, and thus it shouldn't be skippable, because it's the "selling point".

It probably sounds absurd because its an absurd summation of the argument you're objecting to. I havent really seen a lot of people actually saying it shouldnt be skippable, just explaining to people shocked that it isnt why SE may have decided to make it unskippable.

 

[Stuart444]

Anyway, this thread is a bit heated now sooo...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d81qFaoe010

^_^ how about we get a minion like this that tries to whistle the Chocobo theme to us. That'd be my favourite minion of all time.

 

[Vincent Grayson]

I wouldve rather had the new classes start at level 1 tbh, if they start at 50, then even less players will know how to play them properly

Starting them at a later level is a death sentence for people doing content at around that level. The level 30 dungeons are luckily easy enough to power through with a shit player, but the 50 dungeons do require some thought to take them down.

Well yes, in a perfect world, I agree, the new jobs would just start at level 1. Hell, the entire job/class distinction basically makes no sense now, and part of me wonders if at some point they'll just remove it entirely. It wouldn't be hard, since there's no reason (so far as I know) to ever go back to playing say, MAR after you unlock WAR.

 

[fedexpeon]

When will SE add in instant level up potion to lvl 60?
I would pay $40 a pop.
Seriously, SE is leaving a lot of money on the table from whales with a lot of money.

 

[Azzurri]

Again, I am one of those who enjoys the story and totally gets where you're both coming from. My rebuttal is simple: Who cares?

You need to continue to grow the player base, and gating content that you are actively trying to sell people (flying mounts, new jobs, new looking gear, Alexander raid) behind literally hours of content that is not flying mounts, new jobs, new gear, and Alexander, is just a bad business practice.

Lore matters, but it should be opt in. Not opt out. Not mandatory. It can't be. You can't roll out 5.0 and say OH WELL to play anything in 5.0 you need to play 2.x, 3.x, 4.x and now you can play the content you deemed was worth your money, new player.

Yeah. I don't see that player playing very long.

This is how I feel, and I actually watch and read the cut scenes, but if they want to optimize their subs and continue to grow they have to make it opitonal in my opinion

When will SE add in instant level up potion to lvl 60?
I would pay $40 a pop.
Seriously, SE is leaving a lot of money on the table from whales with a lot of money.

Wouldn't surprise me if they do this later on. Actually a boost 10 level below max would be better.

Well yes, in a perfect world, I agree, the new jobs would just start at level 1. Hell, the entire job/class distinction basically makes no sense now, and part of me wonders if at some point they'll just remove it entirely. It wouldn't be hard, since there's no reason (so far as I know) to ever go back to playing say, MAR after you unlock WAR.

Yea, I think they'll just remove classes and just keep the jobs.

 

[Stuart444]

MAR after you unlock WAR.

Except for funsies ^_^

Like an all class Coil run or something. NO job crystals allowed.

 

[Uthred]

Next expansion Square-Enix [without explanation] should just place all players in a bubble underwater where we battle Cthulhu-styled creatures, attempting to earn enough gas to fuel our rocket ship so we can escape our prisoned confines of the ocean, only to propel ourselves into outer-space in our primary goal to overthrow the "Cyber Gaius Mach VII" who threatens dominion over all.

Why? 'cause why not?

Well now that we know

Spoiler

dragons are aliens and ascians faked the moon landing

, we simply have to go to space

This is how I feel, and I actually watch and read the cut scenes, but if they want to optimize their subs and continue to grow they have to make it opitonal in my opinion

Yeah I think regardless of how one feels about the story lock on HW content, most of us can agree that doing the same on the next major expansion could be risky to the health of the game.

When will SE add in instant level up potion to lvl 60?
I would pay $40 a pop.
Seriously, SE is leaving a lot of money on the table from whales with a lot of money.

Im actually surprised by how relatively tame the cash shop has been so far. I was expecting them to push it much harder.

 

[Azzurri]

It's funny because if this was FFXI it would have been you like what we give you. But with the changing landscape of MMO's and how many choices we have now, they have to change with the times sooner or later.

You can already see it with FFXIV.

 

[Teknoman]

It's funny because if this was FFXI it would have been you like what we give you. But with the changing landscape of MMO's and how many choices we have now, they have to change with the times sooner or later.

You can already see it with FFXIV.

Well im a broken record at this point, but to be fair, you didnt have to complete Rise of the Zilart content to access anything Chains of Promathia forward. There should be some expectation of finishing vanilla content to a point, to access expansion stuff for new players. At least to teach people whats up / general outline of things. 4.0 will most likely be this way.

 

[Azzurri]

Well im a broken record at this point, but to be fair, you didnt have to complete Rise of the Zilart content to access anything Chains of Promathia forward. There should be some expectation of finishing vanilla content to a point, to access expansion stuff for new players. At least to teach people whats up / general outline of things. 4.0 will most likely be this way.

I'd expect it to be the same for 4.0, and maybe they'll drop the PS3

 

[Teknoman]

I'd expect it to be the same for 4.0, and maybe they'll drop the PS3

I cant see it being like that for 4.0, especially with this much disagreement between players (PS3 is gonna get the boot of course lol).

 

[Azzurri]

I cant see it being like that for 4.0, especially with this much disagreement between players (PS3 is gonna get the boot of course lol).

I wonder what they can do now that PS3 isn't in their rotaion so to speak.

It would be awesome if the new zones didn't have zone lines, just a little something that's always bugged me in MMO's.

 

[Frumix]

WoW isn't story driven to the extent of FFXIV. FFXIV MSQ is comparable to an ongoing TV show in which you are billed as the main character. The comparison doesn't even remotely come close. This... probably doesn't warrant the gating as with a TV show, you'll usually be able to pick it up at a random point and you'll be offered recaps and catchups.

However

When will SE add in instant level up potion to lvl 60?
I would pay $40 a pop.
Seriously, SE is leaving a lot of money on the table from whales with a lot of money.

This should never exist. Last thing I want to see is a brand new player queuing into Neverreap or Thok ast Thok and being completely clueless. People do not demand to be taken to the final level in Call of Duty or God of War, nor is there an option to just skip to Kefka's Tower in Final Fantasy VI. If MSQ thread becomes too overwhelming, the leveling flow then should be majorly redesigned as to still being able to provide progression, not just putting players into the highest tier of content available because, and this is the one instance I agree with the sentiment, this is the gamers' entitlement at its worst. It will be impossible to have challenging and exhilarating encounters if you're able to play at the cap from the word go. From what I hear, this was a major pain in the ass for WoW players. You might argue that some people go hundreds of hours without ever getting adequate at the game, and that is partially true, but at the end of the day very rarely do you encounter completely dysfunctional pickups.

Maybe it's too eary but it doesn't seem like this decision hurt the expansion.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Is it reccomended to wear a secondary ring thats not ideal just to raise ilvl? My first ring is a 110 dex ring, and my second ring is a 90 dex ring. But i do have 110 str ring, ahould i wear that instead? Or is it not worth it?

better to stick with the relevant ring. Don't boost just to get in...

 

[Azzurri]

Anyone play in 21:9?

 

[Trojita]

Anyone play in 21:9?

From what I heard it looks good. Wanted to get one of those curved 34" ones.

 

[Azzurri]

From what I heard it looks good. Wanted to get one of those curved 34" ones.

Same here, waiting on the gsync version.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Just found out about that recruit a friend thing. I would love to get that Twintania mount but I don't think I'll find anyone with recruit codes and none of my friends are interested in playing this.

Is there a possibility we can get Twintania another way?

 

[WolvenOne]

I will admit a few things, flight, and new jobs, are indeed features players should have been able to experience before completing the 2.55 story quest.

I will also admit that as a minimum they're going to need to put things on fast forward for 4.0. I don't think outright skipping previous content would be necessary at that point. Much of the time taken up before expansion content was taken up with grinding, or with filler fetch quests, and I think people would be astounded how little time it'd take to go through those MSQS with a little trimming and with the grind largely eliminated.

Making it easy to skip to sixty or whatnot, would also present another problem. If it's optional, then your suddenly splitting the incoming player base. Players not skipping to sixty suddenly have far worse queue times, possibly crippling thier ability to level up the old fashioned way. This is not to say that there is no way around such a problem, but it's a concern.

Condensing without eliminating the main story quests, seems like a better short term solution to me, at least for 4.0. Later there probably will need to be a skip function, seeing as there is an upper limit to how much you can condense things.

 

[fedexpeon]

WoW isn't story driven to the extent of FFXIV. FFXIV MSQ is comparable to an ongoing TV show in which you are billed as the main character. The comparison doesn't even remotely come close. This... probably doesn't warrant the gating as with a TV show, you'll usually be able to pick it up at a random point and you'll be offered recaps and catchups.

However

This should never exist. Last thing I want to see is a brand new player queuing into Neverreap or Thok ast Thok and being completely clueless. People do not demand to be taken to the final level in Call of Duty or God of War, nor is there an option to just skip to Kefka's Tower in Final Fantasy VI. If MSQ thread becomes too overwhelming, the leveling flow then should be majorly redesigned as to still being able to provide progression, not just putting players into the highest tier of content available because, and this is the one instance I agree with the sentiment, this is the gamers' entitlement at its worst. It will be impossible to have challenging and exhilarating encounters if you're able to play at the cap from the word go. From what I hear, this was a major pain in the ass for WoW players. You might argue that some people go hundreds of hours without ever getting adequate at the game, and that is partially true, but at the end of the day very rarely do you encounter completely dysfunctional pickups.

Maybe it's too eary but it doesn't seem like this decision hurt the expansion.

Eh, I speedrun those instances with zero experience on my mint 60, and I am also might be considered a brand new/returned FF14 player. Did it within 20mins or less and only asked for important tip such as OHKO mechanic.
Nothing should surprise an average MMO players. If you have done a dungeon at level 20, it will be the same at a lvl 60.
I mean really, dodging isn't even a mechanic or a skill. It is just pressing WASD.

But yeah, I would love to drink those potions if it exists.
SE would make so much money with people who want to be a crafter/gather/FoTM character.

 

[Frumix]

Eh, I speedrun those instances with zero experience on my mint 60, and I am also might be considered a brand new/returned FF14 player. Did it within 20mins or less and only asked for important tip such as OHKO mechanic.
Nothing should surprise an average MMO players. If you have done a dungeon at level 20, it will be the same at a lvl 60.
I mean really, dodging isn't even a mechanic or a skill. It is just pressing WASD.

But yeah, I would love to drink those potions if it exists.
SE would make so much money with people who want to be a crafter/gather/FoTM character.