I've noticed that a recent big topic here is the fact that all Heavensward content requires completion of the ARR storyline, and how it'll be a huge barrier to entry for new players. It's gone overlooked pretty much everywhere, but Yoshida talked about some changes being made to address this in a recent interview with Playstation Access.
First off, equipment rewards will be added to the Main Scenario quests. He didn't go into too much detail here, but presumably this will help you reach the item level requirements for duties, if not bring you all the way there by itself.
Second, so that you can do the required content without getting stuck in queues for an eternity (especially for dps classes), players new to a given duty will be placed in a priority queue. Basically, you can go straight to the front of the line so you can progress your quests quickly.
Additionally, pre-50 main scenario quests will give double experience so you don't have to do side content, and if you own Heavensward you'll get experience from the 2.1-2.55 quests as well, so you can get a few levels before even entering Ishgard.
And if you have friends or a helpful FC, they're adding the ability to join with a partial group, bypass the duty finder, and not get level synced. (This part is actually from other articles) With this, if you really want to skip ahead even with the inprovements, you can just have a level 60 player rush you through the old content quickly. There are plenty of great FC's out there that would help with this.
So, for all of you who feel that Heavensward's story requirements are too big a barrier to join, do these changes fix your concerns?
All this work when they could have just made access to the new jobs a short quest like it should be.
Putting new content behind a 2 Month content wall is just a bad decision. Even with these changes a casual player will spend at least a month catching up before he can play the new classes. This will certainly not help increasing the already dwindling sub numbers.
The problem here is Yoshi. He has a "vision" and a massive hard on for his way of doing things, like tank swapping, dual healers, repetitive boss phases and endless token grind. Either do it his way or get lost. When people start to do bosses any other way than he wants them to do it, he nerfs the classes or abilities like he did with Titan tanking Ramuh.
This game is going to hit a brick wall soon with this joker on the wheel.
While it's natural to assume decline, there is ample evidence that the game continues to grow. In fact, it is the first in a very long while that has increased numbers substantially after settling on a fanbase after launch. Evidence of this is all over these forums, ranging from past articles, past investor reports vs. the current one and the increase of character activity (when only one character is needed by most people due to how it's set up) going up nearly 200,000 with the a limited sample. Not to mention the subtle additions of new servers, the recent hype of a new expansion and Youtube / Twitch celebrities playing and tweeting about the game enmass. These include Yogscast-Strippen, Dodger, ItmeJP, Towelliee and more recently Jesse Cox who said he will join them. One might also be remiss to mention the burnout of WoW and the promise of content in FFXIV. Though most of these are reasons for the increase, it will be up to the game to retain new players that were influenced by said factors and others.
The truth of the matter is that there is already a very large Niche that the game has, which enjoys working for content. In addition, there is no one way to get gear in the game, and gear is not the end-all-be-all for most people who simply enjoy the vast amounts of side content that is frequently added (with more recently Blitzball and Snowboarding have been hinted).
For one to claim a man that has shown an intese love and dedication for the game since 1.0 -- providing constantly updated with a lot of content and now droughts (simply because the game might be shutting down, as was the case in 1.0... or only have 10,000 subscribers, content was still brought) -- and who consistently admits to mistakes and faults both past in present to be a "joker" seems a bit off, all things considered. So many systems get updates, or new ones added, in favor of players suggestions that it isn't even funny; the most common complaints of 2.0 are being addressed in 3.0 (GDC, world size, storyline-dungeons access, increasing leveling speed with 2.0 content), and new systems are as yet planned.
Granted, there will always be people who cry foul, and there are always problems that could be rectified. It is an unfortunate truth that most of today's gamers -- or new age MMORPGers -- likely will pass if they have to work towards something. If someone in charge does not capitulate (with us seeing the result of WoW over the years when they do so), then certain people will not join. But ultimately, what kind of a loyal customer base is this? What risk of alienating the one you current have, who enjoy an older style of game whereby you have to earn things? Fly by night players likely wouldn't have the patience to read text or the storyline -- which the game is focused on. Not be able to level multiple classes to indulge in the cross class systems. Be unable to unlock the majority of other systems, because lazy (or due to time... though even with a couple hours a day / week, FFXIV is made so that you can accomplish at least one thing when you log in and feel good about it, from my experience).
What is long term health in this matter? Honestly, I'll not even claim one way or the other. Though the Producer Director has shown a passion for the game for the last four years or so. A dedication. Implementation. Final Fantasy footprints. Updates are made as needed; even changing up raids by having only one tank per group was made in later patches.
Originally posted by mentoplus
Originally posted by MrSnuffles
Originally posted by Eldryth
All this work when they could have just made access to the new jobs a short quest like it should be.
Putting new content behind a 2 Month content wall is just a bad decision. Even with these changes a casual player will spend at least a month catching up before he can play the new classes. This will certainly not help increasing the already dwindling sub numbers.
The problem here is Yoshi. He has a "vision" and a massive hard on for his way of doing things, like tank swapping, dual healers, repetitive boss phases and endless token grind. Either do it his way or get lost. When people start to do bosses any other way than he wants them to do it, he nerfs the classes or abilities like he did with Titan tanking Ramuh.
This game is going to hit a brick wall soon with this joker on the wheel.
What do you mean by a "2 month content wall" ?
A normal person who skip cutscenes can go from 0 to 2.5 on 2 weeks, and a hardcore player on a single week maybe less. And if you like to watch cutscenes and read dialog then dunno why are you crying about the content wall. There is not a 2 month content wall, there is just people who don't want to play the game to reach the endgame
The only bad thing about the expansion (from a new player perspective) is the way to unlock the new classes, but it actually makes sense because of how classes work (you need somebody to teach you and train you and there is not even a single master of those classes outside of ishgard)
Essentially this. They could've probably found a way to do this, but they aren't always willing to stretch lore for gameplay. Sometimes this is a problem, but overall this adds to my immersion to the world. Granted, though, Warcraft took a dump on its own lore for The Burning Crusade with regards to races, and got more people from out of it. Though that's moreso a matter of time and word of mouth; people were entering the MMO space for the first time. Also, WoW was actually difficult and still had content gating, which is what FFXIV capitalizes on at the moment (and people are trying to change).
Due to frequent travel in my youth, English isn't something I consider my primary language (and thus I obtained quirky ways of writing). German and French were always easier for me despite my family being U.S. citizens for over a century. Spanish I learned as a requirement in school, Japanese and Korean I acquired for my youthful desire of anime and gaming (and also work now). I only debate in English to help me work with it (and limit things). In addition, I'm not smart enough to remain fluent in everything and typically need exposure to get in the groove of things again if I haven't heard it in a while. If you understand Mandarin, I know a little, but it has actually been a challenge and could use some help.
Also, I thoroughly enjoy debates and have accounts on over a dozen sites for this. If you wish to engage in such, please put effort in a post and provide sources -- I will then do the same with what I already wrote (if I didn't) as well as with my responses to your own. Expanding my information on a subject makes my stance either change or strengthen the next time I speak of it or write a thesis. Allow me to thank you sincerely for your time.
I've noticed that a recent big topic here is the fact that all Heavensward content requires completion of the ARR storyline, and how it'll be a huge barrier to entry for new players. It's gone overlooked pretty much everywhere, but Yoshida talked about some changes being made to address this in a recent interview with Playstation Access.
First off, equipment rewards will be added to the Main Scenario quests. He didn't go into too much detail here, but presumably this will help you reach the item level requirements for duties, if not bring you all the way there by itself.
Second, so that you can do the required content without getting stuck in queues for an eternity (especially for dps classes), players new to a given duty will be placed in a priority queue. Basically, you can go straight to the front of the line so you can progress your quests quickly.
Additionally, pre-50 main scenario quests will give double experience so you don't have to do side content, and if you own Heavensward you'll get experience from the 2.1-2.55 quests as well, so you can get a few levels before even entering Ishgard.
And if you have friends or a helpful FC, they're adding the ability to join with a partial group, bypass the duty finder, and not get level synced. (This part is actually from other articles) With this, if you really want to skip ahead even with the inprovements, you can just have a level 60 player rush you through the old content quickly. There are plenty of great FC's out there that would help with this.
So, for all of you who feel that Heavensward's story requirements are too big a barrier to join, do these changes fix your concerns?
All this work when they could have just made access to the new jobs a short quest like it should be.
Putting new content behind a 2 Month content wall is just a bad decision. Even with these changes a casual player will spend at least a month catching up before he can play the new classes. This will certainly not help increasing the already dwindling sub numbers.
The problem here is Yoshi. He has a "vision" and a massive hard on for his way of doing things, like tank swapping, dual healers, repetitive boss phases and endless token grind. Either do it his way or get lost. When people start to do bosses any other way than he wants them to do it, he nerfs the classes or abilities like he did with Titan tanking Ramuh.
This game is going to hit a brick wall soon with this joker on the wheel.
While it's natural to assume decline, there is ample evidence that the game continues to grow. In fact, it is the first in a very long while that has increased numbers substantially after settling on a fanbase after launch. Evidence of this is all over these forums, ranging from past articles, past investor reports vs. the current one and the increase of character activity (when only one character is needed by most people due to how it's set up) going up nearly 200,000 with the a limited sample. Not to mention the subtle additions of new servers, the recent hype of a new expansion and Youtube / Twitch celebrities playing and tweeting about the game enmass. These include Yogscast-Strippen, Dodger, ItmeJP, Towelliee and more recently Jesse Cox who said he will join them. One might also be remiss to mention the burnout of WoW and the promise of content in FFXIV. Though most of these are reasons for the increase, it will be up to the game to retain new players that were influenced by said factors and others.
The truth of the matter is that there is already a very large Niche that the game has, which enjoys working for content. In addition, there is no one way to get gear in the game, and gear is not the end-all-be-all for most people who simply enjoy the vast amounts of side content that is frequently added (with more recently Blitzball and Snowboarding have been hinted).
For one to claim a man that has shown an intese love and dedication for the game since 1.0 -- providing constantly updated with a lot of content and now droughts (simply because the game might be shutting down, as was the case in 1.0... or only have 10,000 subscribers, content was still brought) -- and who consistently admits to mistakes and faults both past in present to be a "joker" seems a bit off, all things considered. So many systems get updates, or new ones added, in favor of players suggestions that it isn't even funny; the most common complaints of 2.0 are being addressed in 3.0 (GDC, world size, storyline-dungeons access, increasing leveling speed with 2.0 content), and new systems are as yet planned.
Granted, there will always be people who cry foul, and there are always problems that could be rectified. It is an unfortunate truth that most of today's gamers -- or new age MMORPGers -- likely will pass if they have to work towards something. If someone in charge does not capitulate (with us seeing the result of WoW over the years when they do so), then certain people will not join. But ultimately, what kind of a loyal customer base is this? What risk of alienating the one you current have, who enjoy an older style of game whereby you have to earn things? Fly by night players likely wouldn't have the patience to read text or the storyline -- which the game is focused on. Not be able to level multiple classes to indulge in the cross class systems. Be unable to unlock the majority of other systems, because lazy (or due to time... though even with a couple hours a day / week, FFXIV is made so that you can accomplish at least one thing when you log in and feel good about it, from my experience).
What is long term health in this matter? Honestly, I'll not even claim one way or the other. Though the Producer Director has shown a passion for the game for the last four years or so. A dedication. Implementation. Final Fantasy footprints. Updates are made as needed; even changing up raids by having only one tank per group was made in later patches.
You are an incredibly patient and kind individual, if not a bit naive. A poster who calls Yoshi P, probably the best developer to have ever set foot in this industry, a "joker" and that the game will basically tank with him in charge, is clearly clueless and an obvious troll of the nth degree, and certainly not worthy of such a reasoned response. Yet you were able to do so with considerable kindness and patience. Kudos to you, my friend. .
I've noticed that a recent big topic here is the fact that all Heavensward content requires completion of the ARR storyline, and how it'll be a huge barrier to entry for new players. It's gone overlooked pretty much everywhere, but Yoshida talked about some changes being made to address this in a recent interview with Playstation Access.
First off, equipment rewards will be added to the Main Scenario quests. He didn't go into too much detail here, but presumably this will help you reach the item level requirements for duties, if not bring you all the way there by itself.
Second, so that you can do the required content without getting stuck in queues for an eternity (especially for dps classes), players new to a given duty will be placed in a priority queue. Basically, you can go straight to the front of the line so you can progress your quests quickly.
Additionally, pre-50 main scenario quests will give double experience so you don't have to do side content, and if you own Heavensward you'll get experience from the 2.1-2.55 quests as well, so you can get a few levels before even entering Ishgard.
And if you have friends or a helpful FC, they're adding the ability to join with a partial group, bypass the duty finder, and not get level synced. (This part is actually from other articles) With this, if you really want to skip ahead even with the inprovements, you can just have a level 60 player rush you through the old content quickly. There are plenty of great FC's out there that would help with this.
So, for all of you who feel that Heavensward's story requirements are too big a barrier to join, do these changes fix your concerns?
All this work when they could have just made access to the new jobs a short quest like it should be.
Putting new content behind a 2 Month content wall is just a bad decision. Even with these changes a casual player will spend at least a month catching up before he can play the new classes. This will certainly not help increasing the already dwindling sub numbers.
The problem here is Yoshi. He has a "vision" and a massive hard on for his way of doing things, like tank swapping, dual healers, repetitive boss phases and endless token grind. Either do it his way or get lost. When people start to do bosses any other way than he wants them to do it, he nerfs the classes or abilities like he did with Titan tanking Ramuh.
This game is going to hit a brick wall soon with this joker on the wheel.
While it's natural to assume decline, there is ample evidence that the game continues to grow. In fact, it is the first in a very long while that has increased numbers substantially after settling on a fanbase after launch. Evidence of this is all over these forums, ranging from past articles, past investor reports vs. the current one and the increase of character activity (when only one character is needed by most people due to how it's set up) going up nearly 200,000 with the a limited sample. Not to mention the subtle additions of new servers, the recent hype of a new expansion and Youtube / Twitch celebrities playing and tweeting about the game enmass. These include Yogscast-Strippen, Dodger, ItmeJP, Towelliee and more recently Jesse Cox who said he will join them. One might also be remiss to mention the burnout of WoW and the promise of content in FFXIV. Though most of these are reasons for the increase, it will be up to the game to retain new players that were influenced by said factors and others.
The truth of the matter is that there is already a very large Niche that the game has, which enjoys working for content. In addition, there is no one way to get gear in the game, and gear is not the end-all-be-all for most people who simply enjoy the vast amounts of side content that is frequently added (with more recently Blitzball and Snowboarding have been hinted).
For one to claim a man that has shown an intese love and dedication for the game since 1.0 -- providing constantly updated with a lot of content and now droughts (simply because the game might be shutting down, as was the case in 1.0... or only have 10,000 subscribers, content was still brought) -- and who consistently admits to mistakes and faults both past in present to be a "joker" seems a bit off, all things considered. So many systems get updates, or new ones added, in favor of players suggestions that it isn't even funny; the most common complaints of 2.0 are being addressed in 3.0 (GDC, world size, storyline-dungeons access, increasing leveling speed with 2.0 content), and new systems are as yet planned.
Granted, there will always be people who cry foul, and there are always problems that could be rectified. It is an unfortunate truth that most of today's gamers -- or new age MMORPGers -- likely will pass if they have to work towards something. If someone in charge does not capitulate (with us seeing the result of WoW over the years when they do so), then certain people will not join. But ultimately, what kind of a loyal customer base is this? What risk of alienating the one you current have, who enjoy an older style of game whereby you have to earn things? Fly by night players likely wouldn't have the patience to read text or the storyline -- which the game is focused on. Not be able to level multiple classes to indulge in the cross class systems. Be unable to unlock the majority of other systems, because lazy (or due to time... though even with a couple hours a day / week, FFXIV is made so that you can accomplish at least one thing when you log in and feel good about it, from my experience).
What is long term health in this matter? Honestly, I'll not even claim one way or the other. Though the Producer Director has shown a passion for the game for the last four years or so. A dedication. Implementation. Final Fantasy footprints. Updates are made as needed; even changing up raids by having only one tank per group was made in later patches.
You are an incredibly patient and kind individual, if not a bit naive. A poster who calls Yoshi P, probably the best developer to have ever set foot in this industry, a "joker" and that the game will basically tank with him in charge, is clearly clueless and an obvious troll of the nth degree, and certainly not worthy of such a reasoned response. Yet you were able to do so with considerable kindness and patience. Kudos to you, my friend. .
I'll be the second here today to say I'm naive. In truth, I like to think of it was giving people the benefit of the doubt. I'm also incredibly ignorant -- though we all are, if you think about it. There is rarely anything we know for certain, or the intricacies thereof.
Due to frequent travel in my youth, English isn't something I consider my primary language (and thus I obtained quirky ways of writing). German and French were always easier for me despite my family being U.S. citizens for over a century. Spanish I learned as a requirement in school, Japanese and Korean I acquired for my youthful desire of anime and gaming (and also work now). I only debate in English to help me work with it (and limit things). In addition, I'm not smart enough to remain fluent in everything and typically need exposure to get in the groove of things again if I haven't heard it in a while. If you understand Mandarin, I know a little, but it has actually been a challenge and could use some help.
Also, I thoroughly enjoy debates and have accounts on over a dozen sites for this. If you wish to engage in such, please put effort in a post and provide sources -- I will then do the same with what I already wrote (if I didn't) as well as with my responses to your own. Expanding my information on a subject makes my stance either change or strengthen the next time I speak of it or write a thesis. Allow me to thank you sincerely for your time.
I've noticed that a recent big topic here is the fact that all Heavensward content requires completion of the ARR storyline, and how it'll be a huge barrier to entry for new players. It's gone overlooked pretty much everywhere, but Yoshida talked about some changes being made to address this in a recent interview with Playstation Access.
First off, equipment rewards will be added to the Main Scenario quests. He didn't go into too much detail here, but presumably this will help you reach the item level requirements for duties, if not bring you all the way there by itself.
Second, so that you can do the required content without getting stuck in queues for an eternity (especially for dps classes), players new to a given duty will be placed in a priority queue. Basically, you can go straight to the front of the line so you can progress your quests quickly.
Additionally, pre-50 main scenario quests will give double experience so you don't have to do side content, and if you own Heavensward you'll get experience from the 2.1-2.55 quests as well, so you can get a few levels before even entering Ishgard.
And if you have friends or a helpful FC, they're adding the ability to join with a partial group, bypass the duty finder, and not get level synced. (This part is actually from other articles) With this, if you really want to skip ahead even with the inprovements, you can just have a level 60 player rush you through the old content quickly. There are plenty of great FC's out there that would help with this.
So, for all of you who feel that Heavensward's story requirements are too big a barrier to join, do these changes fix your concerns?
All this work when they could have just made access to the new jobs a short quest like it should be.
Putting new content behind a 2 Month content wall is just a bad decision. Even with these changes a casual player will spend at least a month catching up before he can play the new classes. This will certainly not help increasing the already dwindling sub numbers.
The problem here is Yoshi. He has a "vision" and a massive hard on for his way of doing things, like tank swapping, dual healers, repetitive boss phases and endless token grind. Either do it his way or get lost. When people start to do bosses any other way than he wants them to do it, he nerfs the classes or abilities like he did with Titan tanking Ramuh.
This game is going to hit a brick wall soon with this joker on the wheel.
While it's natural to assume decline, there is ample evidence that the game continues to grow. In fact, it is the first in a very long while that has increased numbers substantially after settling on a fanbase after launch. Evidence of this is all over these forums, ranging from past articles, past investor reports vs. the current one and the increase of character activity (when only one character is needed by most people due to how it's set up) going up nearly 200,000 with the a limited sample. Not to mention the subtle additions of new servers, the recent hype of a new expansion and Youtube / Twitch celebrities playing and tweeting about the game enmass. These include Yogscast-Strippen, Dodger, ItmeJP, Towelliee and more recently Jesse Cox who said he will join them. One might also be remiss to mention the burnout of WoW and the promise of content in FFXIV. Though most of these are reasons for the increase, it will be up to the game to retain new players that were influenced by said factors and others.
The truth of the matter is that there is already a very large Niche that the game has, which enjoys working for content. In addition, there is no one way to get gear in the game, and gear is not the end-all-be-all for most people who simply enjoy the vast amounts of side content that is frequently added (with more recently Blitzball and Snowboarding have been hinted).
For one to claim a man that has shown an intese love and dedication for the game since 1.0 -- providing constantly updated with a lot of content and now droughts (simply because the game might be shutting down, as was the case in 1.0... or only have 10,000 subscribers, content was still brought) -- and who consistently admits to mistakes and faults both past in present to be a "joker" seems a bit off, all things considered. So many systems get updates, or new ones added, in favor of players suggestions that it isn't even funny; the most common complaints of 2.0 are being addressed in 3.0 (GDC, world size, storyline-dungeons access, increasing leveling speed with 2.0 content), and new systems are as yet planned.
Granted, there will always be people who cry foul, and there are always problems that could be rectified. It is an unfortunate truth that most of today's gamers -- or new age MMORPGers -- likely will pass if they have to work towards something. If someone in charge does not capitulate (with us seeing the result of WoW over the years when they do so), then certain people will not join. But ultimately, what kind of a loyal customer base is this? What risk of alienating the one you current have, who enjoy an older style of game whereby you have to earn things? Fly by night players likely wouldn't have the patience to read text or the storyline -- which the game is focused on. Not be able to level multiple classes to indulge in the cross class systems. Be unable to unlock the majority of other systems, because lazy (or due to time... though even with a couple hours a day / week, FFXIV is made so that you can accomplish at least one thing when you log in and feel good about it, from my experience).
What is long term health in this matter? Honestly, I'll not even claim one way or the other. Though the Producer Director has shown a passion for the game for the last four years or so. A dedication. Implementation. Final Fantasy footprints. Updates are made as needed; even changing up raids by having only one tank per group was made in later patches.
You are an incredibly patient and kind individual, if not a bit naive. A poster who calls Yoshi P, probably the best developer to have ever set foot in this industry, a "joker" and that the game will basically tank with him in charge, is clearly clueless and an obvious troll of the nth degree, and certainly not worthy of such a reasoned response. Yet you were able to do so with considerable kindness and patience. Kudos to you, my friend. .
I'll be the second here today to say I'm naive. In truth, I like to think of it was giving people the benefit of the doubt. I'm also incredibly ignorant -- though we all are, if you think about it. There is rarely anything we know for certain, or the intricacies thereof.
It's cool. I actually appreciate you. After your lengthy explanations, these "immediate gratification" types are still insistent that new players should be given a free trip to advanced content, not understanding that the desire to play that advanced content is the hook that keeps people paying through earlier content. Keep schooling them though, they need these lessons.
I just want to know why people are hell bent on getting to max level and apparently the needed ilvl come the expansion by other means than doing the story when it is the easiest way to reach it, and unlocks the dungeons and raid. You would have barely anything to do if you ground out FATEs, and it takes a lot longer than doing the main scenario.
Seriously, just treat the story as your levelling process.
Just gonna put this out there because I know I forgot to mention it when I really should have during my rants. If there is one MAJOR thing that this game does right it is your FIRST playthrough on your FIRST job. At 2.0 launch I left my 1.0 character (Level 50 WAR /w several lvl 30-40 DoW classes) due to wanting to play on a non legacy server + my 1.0 character had no mages leveled and I wanted to take SCH /SMN up as my first 50. When I came back in 2.3-2.4 I remembered 1.0 characters had a visible tattoo on the back of their neck and yes I am a FFXIV 1.0 hipster, I wanted people to know I played the game before it became WoW ARR lite. That and it's something that has more value than any number of kirin/fenrir/ and relic zeta weapons combined because my character was a "survivor" and damn that has a nice ring to it. Going back on the silly storyline being the content/feature gated central core of the game it was, I had to complete the story DESPITE already having a level 50 because lolstorylineisgamefeaturebarrier. I then decided on leveling SMN again, so while I didn't play 15 characters (holy shit what is wrong with you?) I did get the DF storyline experience twice.
Despite playing a proposed healer class at launch, i got to experience similar que times to DPS because everyone had the same idea as me/wanted to play the new 2.0 class. Oh I enjoyed twiddling my thumbs while in DF because the storyline had to give me some retarded excuse to do almost every damn dungeon in 2.0-2.1 yes it was truly a treat as you think. There were other things to do, but sadly I had taken a liking to FATES, but doing FATES at launch was like doing Hunts when the added 130 upgrade materials; if you weren't within 50 meters of a FATE when it spawned, there was no way to get gold due to the zerging. And yes Yaevin you are correct, when I rerolled it was around the time NIN came out which would explain the same stupidity twice with DF. I will say I am glad that NOW just recently players have a priority que for the content, but who in the he## really does trial roulette's. I would of had those roulette's unlocked but when they added the gilga fight (which mind you after knowing gilga in the FF series and FFXI) and I got to see one of the first great pieces of FF history made a complete mockery of. Not only that I refused to do the hildebrand storyline because I have never In all the shows/anime/stories/tv series in my life recall someone trying so hard at being funny and failing so damn hard at it (and it forever creates a burning rage in my very being because whenever I think "what could they have cut to do some more worthwhile content?" I get to recall "Oh that's right, they thought more hildebrand story and mog delivery quests, yeah that was more important").I recall being very frustrated because I wanted to get the expert roulette's unlocked before tombstones capped that week, but the last few DF parts of the main storyline starting with Cape Westwind formed a most formidable cock block of legendary proportions.
Despite all of this I will say it was STILL one of the best paced, hearty, and rich FIRST playthrough to level cap MMO's I have played since FFXI. This being mostly because there are quests/main storyline to supplment your alternate activity while waiting for DF pops needs until 50 due to the great exp you get from doing them. My complaints about the story are misguided, the core story (the actual cutscenes where things are actually happening) are slow, but as Yaevein made me realize they still held a purpose. A very guilty pleasure of mine is that only I and a small number of players who actively played 1.0 to the events of that led to the fall of Dalamud will get the pure and raw emotion that was the end of era cinematic. While the free companies battled to the last breath to fight a war against the Garleans; a war that I feel the back of everyone's mind they knew was already lost. The fall of Dalamud was what made that concrete despite whether or not it was in fact the case. Watching the 12 sages try to imprison Bahamut only to see him break free from the timeless prison, and watching the leading cinematic character's (warrior) face suddenly fall to anguish as he watches Bahamut spare no time to cast Mega-Flare.
Everything that led to the end of Era felt like there was a lot of emotion, turmoil and events that led up to it. I seem to recall 1.0 storyline being fewer in number, but they shared no real fillers though in 2.0 i felt this changed. Each mission furthered the story and each cutscene was an actually cutscene, not several character models with poor camera angles bobbing their heads in very un-humanlike manner like most of the current quests. I got through all of this for the most part at launch because it provided me with enough buffer exp to keep giving me something to do while waiting for DF. This however took a dramatic change once it no longer provides you with nothing worthwhile, other than a pathetic pile of gill and a crappy materia at the end of each major patch chapter. The moments where the scenes had the quality to immerse me, voice actors or not I truly enjoyed those scenes. When I'm mentioning crap story, I'm actually talking about the fillers and stupid fedex tasks and filler scenes I have no care what so ever about. As the gap of filler quickly out paced the actually quality scenes and storytelling, I found my enjoyment of thing all together drying up. In closing the story line really started to pick up fuel at the end of 2.4 and the conclusion of 2.55 was actually quite marvelous, truly loving the direction the game went in.
Apologizing for the wall of text once again, but all in all I despite all of this I don't feel the story should be hinder a player from experiencing the other parts of the game. While people try to express this in a way that doesn't sound ignorant, they seem to fail it it more often than not. So in this regard Laced, for me I find it funny that you and so many others instantly mark statements of frustration with "immediate gratification". Some enjoy the story and some do not, we are allowed to have opinions. So if players quit at 2.0 for whatever reason and if one of those reasons were dislike of the story and it being chained and force fed to you to do anything in the game, you shouldn't have to do it to play the expansion. Let me go ahead and dispell another point that gets thrown around in this regard; doing the story from 2.0-2.55 is not hard, simply stupidly time consuming because screw DF. I'm sorry if I'm not the only person that doesn't find traveling across boring places I've already seen to click on glittery puddles to get one of several poorly executed Cutscenes and a occasional fun fight before I'm forced to yet again do another dungeon I've more than likely already did and have no desire to do again.
If the story took you to new places, maybe a series of awesome themed solo dungeons that let you discover and be immersed in its lore and proceed with the story like areas in FFXI story Id be on that stuff like a fat boy on chocolate cake. This is all assuming you as a player primarily like only the battle content of the game. Like Foomerang mentioned in another thread about his concern with the gating in the expansion. He does not like battle content, yet he enjoys the game just as much as you or Yaevin because of the RP elements events that share the Worldyness feeling of the game world. He enjoys doing things like crafting and gathering and making gill to save up for that next big thing. Maybe Foom doesn't care about the new battle classes so he should be fine right? WRONG, because he wants the new crafting gear/the new recipes, the new gathering points and he should be punished for not caring about the story then? Lacedopium, as far as you mentioning "Schooling" these "instant gratification" players of today's MMO world; you may want to watch the path that you tread. I supported such a thing in FFXI and look where the game is now. This has little to do with the fact the game is 13 years old, the game was in the crapheap for many years since SoA because SE listened to the "hardcore" such as ourselves. This wasn't because of us being write or wrong, its because the hardcores whined longer, harder, and louder than the larger part of the playerbase and now its too late. Let me fill you in on one small detail, SE revealed themselves they have close to at least 600k active players of which LESS than a QUARTER (150k) have completed steps of fate. Mull over that for a while and think about how many players actually care about the story. Foom only recently heard of this gating and what makes you think a good several 100 thousand of those active players that also don't know this.
Remember that less than 10% of this games player base have completed final coil, a large fraction of this game is made of of casuals that enjoy the other aspects of it. Before you give them a lesson in schooling, know not to bite the hand that feeds you. Because defending the game as it is that you love for what it is, wont be worth reconciling to when its too late. I understand this feeling more than you know, and that's why my first MMO love is going on life support after this November. Not because its 13 years old Laced, but because of ignorance of people like us who deny change. Don't make the same mistake I did, because it really stings man. Remember my words when Heavensward launches, because the reckoning of a storm of casuals will come and if Yoshi doesn't make the right decision come launch there wont be enough people standing AFK in Ishgard showing off their gear to make the difference.
I seem to recall a MMO in recent memory that its tag phrase was "Hardcore", what was its name; OH it was Wildstar. What happened to Wildstar? Oh that's right, a 10+ year old 2D game is making 600%+ its revenue and now its FTP.
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While it's natural to assume decline, there is ample evidence that the game continues to grow. In fact, it is the first in a very long while that has increased numbers substantially after settling on a fanbase after launch. Evidence of this is all over these forums, ranging from past articles, past investor reports vs. the current one and the increase of character activity (when only one character is needed by most people due to how it's set up) going up nearly 200,000 with the a limited sample. Not to mention the subtle additions of new servers, the recent hype of a new expansion and Youtube / Twitch celebrities playing and tweeting about the game enmass. These include Yogscast-Strippen, Dodger, ItmeJP, Towelliee and more recently Jesse Cox who said he will join them. One might also be remiss to mention the burnout of WoW and the promise of content in FFXIV. Though most of these are reasons for the increase, it will be up to the game to retain new players that were influenced by said factors and others.
The truth of the matter is that there is already a very large Niche that the game has, which enjoys working for content. In addition, there is no one way to get gear in the game, and gear is not the end-all-be-all for most people who simply enjoy the vast amounts of side content that is frequently added (with more recently Blitzball and Snowboarding have been hinted).
For one to claim a man that has shown an intese love and dedication for the game since 1.0 -- providing constantly updated with a lot of content and now droughts (simply because the game might be shutting down, as was the case in 1.0... or only have 10,000 subscribers, content was still brought) -- and who consistently admits to mistakes and faults both past in present to be a "joker" seems a bit off, all things considered. So many systems get updates, or new ones added, in favor of players suggestions that it isn't even funny; the most common complaints of 2.0 are being addressed in 3.0 (GDC, world size, storyline-dungeons access, increasing leveling speed with 2.0 content), and new systems are as yet planned.
Granted, there will always be people who cry foul, and there are always problems that could be rectified. It is an unfortunate truth that most of today's gamers -- or new age MMORPGers -- likely will pass if they have to work towards something. If someone in charge does not capitulate (with us seeing the result of WoW over the years when they do so), then certain people will not join. But ultimately, what kind of a loyal customer base is this? What risk of alienating the one you current have, who enjoy an older style of game whereby you have to earn things? Fly by night players likely wouldn't have the patience to read text or the storyline -- which the game is focused on. Not be able to level multiple classes to indulge in the cross class systems. Be unable to unlock the majority of other systems, because lazy (or due to time... though even with a couple hours a day / week, FFXIV is made so that you can accomplish at least one thing when you log in and feel good about it, from my experience).
What is long term health in this matter? Honestly, I'll not even claim one way or the other. Though the Producer Director has shown a passion for the game for the last four years or so. A dedication. Implementation. Final Fantasy footprints. Updates are made as needed; even changing up raids by having only one tank per group was made in later patches.
Essentially this. They could've probably found a way to do this, but they aren't always willing to stretch lore for gameplay. Sometimes this is a problem, but overall this adds to my immersion to the world. Granted, though, Warcraft took a dump on its own lore for The Burning Crusade with regards to races, and got more people from out of it. Though that's moreso a matter of time and word of mouth; people were entering the MMO space for the first time. Also, WoW was actually difficult and still had content gating, which is what FFXIV capitalizes on at the moment (and people are trying to change).
You are an incredibly patient and kind individual, if not a bit naive. A poster who calls Yoshi P, probably the best developer to have ever set foot in this industry, a "joker" and that the game will basically tank with him in charge, is clearly clueless and an obvious troll of the nth degree, and certainly not worthy of such a reasoned response. Yet you were able to do so with considerable kindness and patience. Kudos to you, my friend. .
I'll be the second here today to say I'm naive. In truth, I like to think of it was giving people the benefit of the doubt. I'm also incredibly ignorant -- though we all are, if you think about it. There is rarely anything we know for certain, or the intricacies thereof.
It's cool. I actually appreciate you. After your lengthy explanations, these "immediate gratification" types are still insistent that new players should be given a free trip to advanced content, not understanding that the desire to play that advanced content is the hook that keeps people paying through earlier content. Keep schooling them though, they need these lessons.
I just want to know why people are hell bent on getting to max level and apparently the needed ilvl come the expansion by other means than doing the story when it is the easiest way to reach it, and unlocks the dungeons and raid. You would have barely anything to do if you ground out FATEs, and it takes a lot longer than doing the main scenario.
Seriously, just treat the story as your levelling process.