Final Fantasy XIV (Guide in first post)

Kay said:

Late response but that place reminds me of the underwater bit in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Something something along, at the bottom of the beautiful briiiiny sea... (Cheesy old movie that I swear everyone else dodged in childhood.) It is really out of place for the rest of the game, but meh, sorta fits where it came from I guess.

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Loved that movie when I was a kid.

Janx said:

Oh you poor poor soul. You TP to Lim Limosa, go to atherite and jump to arcanist guild and take the ferry to Vesper Bay and you end up right next to waking sands.

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To be fair I have like 59 days played and had no idea this was a thing so....

I done the whole MSQ thing about 3 times over the years coming back each expansion start new charecter get bored rince repeat every few years and I havd no clue that was the fastest way. Always just went Horizon and choco it

Real talk the arr msq is bad, at least half of heavensward is bad, most of stormblood is bad, and even shadowbringers has boring filler bits. I like the world a lot and I enjoy the surrounding lore, but outside shb and some bits like the drk quests and the beast tribes square have been pretty bad at telling stories in the game. So people skipping msq seems fine to me.

Shadowbringers is sweet though, I finished msq, and leveled/geared gnb and all the DoH/DoL jobs, just prepping crafting materials for savage now. Titania and Innocence were some of the most fun primals in a while and I loved e1n and e2n - but unexcited about Leviathan X Shinryu and Titan again.

I knew about the ferry route but never bothered. The meme is hilarious but really, it wasnt that bad playing throught that part of the MSQ.

It's subjective so it feels longer for folks who can't stand long quest chains, but playing through the MSQ is not objectively that long in terms of hours spent relative to comparable MMO playtime. I only started playing in early February and by early April I was max level banging through Omega and starting Eureka.

If it's true for lower-pop servers to then that may be the case. Prolly more like a cap on simultaneous logins that's getting hung up by people reconnecting on purpose after getting dropped.

*** Edited.. add number 7 and 8 ***

Having just completed the ARR stuff and 90% of the post ARR MSQ content (pre-HW) for the first time ever, here is my perspective on the whole experience which could be applicable to other new FFXIV players picking up the game for the first time ever.

1. First and foremost, the story is fantastic, and it is well worth the price of admission even if you JUST buy the starter package (includes nothing but ARR)
2. It takes a while to realize that FFXIV is not like the other MMORPGs on the market. It is something very different in that it is story first, game play second. That being said, the game play is actually very good.
3. The biggest shock to the system is understanding that "the game starts at the end" does not apply to FFXIV, and I can see where that can be very off putting for a lot of people that are used to games like EverQuest and WoW. You're either going to like it or not.
4. Leveling can easily become bogged down in the 30 to 50 range because it is HIGHLY tempting to try other classes/jobs. It is extremely easy to get stuck in the 30-50 rut if you don't choose a single class/job to push through to Heavensward at least the first time. I can see this as probably one of the biggest factors for new players burning out on the game. Getting your first class/job through to Heavensward is akin to getting your first class to max level in EverQuest back in the day when hell levels existed. Some people will burn out and simply give up, but if they stick with it, the pay off is worth it.
5. Post-ARR pre-HW MSQ content is a grind. There is no doubt about it. It is a 100% grind. The story elements sprinkled through out patch 2.0 and 2.55 are good with some being amazing, but the sheer number of quests (over 100) to make it through that content is a major hurdle. I can see a lot of people giving up on the game at this point in their experience because the game goes from being a fun experience to being a job you are doing with the intent of making it to the end goal of HW. I will get to how I would fix this problem later on below.
6. The transition between patch 2.4 and 2.5 is confusing. Minifilia refuses to give you the next quest in the MSQ line until you have completed The Bowl of Embers (hard), The Howling Eye (hard), and The Navel (hard), but nothing tells you that you need to gain access to these 2 party raids or anything. After being hand held through the MSQ up to this point, you are suddenly left with figuring it out on your own which we all know means going to the internet and doing a search. Come to find out, there are a series of quests you have to do to open each of the 3 hard mode dungeons, and it's up to you to go find the NPCs that offer the quests. Keep in mind that at this point in the game, you are level 50 and about a gazillion blue quest icons have popped up ALL OVER THE WORLD for you to take. There is no indication that this one dude over here has the blue quest you NEED to continue your MSQ story. In fact, the 3 hard mode dungeons require you to complete the access quests in order as you complete the dungeons, so to get the second one, you have to find that npc, do that mini-quest, do the dungeon, and then look around the world for another blue quest person that gives you the continuation of that quest line because it does not send you on to the next as part of that quest. This was HIGHLY disorienting and a pain in the ass. I foresee a butt load of people saying fuck it at this point in their experience.
7. There needs to be an aethrite crystal in Waking Sands. They address this somewhere along the lines in the 2.0-2.55 content, so I realize the fact there is no crystal is part of the story, but seriously that shit needs to change. One of the biggest fatigues of this content IS the going back and forth to Waking Sands with no crystal to port there.
8. The fact that your ability to go between the three capital cities is gated behind completing a specific MSQ quest is a major problem for new players. If you choose to make a gladiator (for example), and then at level 9 want to try out an archer class, you can't do it UNLESS you delete your character and create again. The reason you can't do it is because you haven't unlocked the ability to go between the cities yet which means you can't get to the archer guild to join them. Then if you decide to delete your character JUST SO you can try out a class in a different starting city, you run the risk of hitting create character only to find that the server your last character was on (1 minute ago) is locked for new character creation. This very scenario happened to my brother, and it lead to him saying fuck it.

There are some good dungeons in this content and some really cool moments I would hate for anyone to miss out on. I would fix the post-ARR pre-HW MSQ content, I would make the full 2.0 to 2.55 experience an achievement that gives the player some unique outfit, weapon graphic, and/or mount, and make it OPTIONAL to complete.

For those that choose to skip 2.0 through 2.55, make it so they can come back at a later date and work on that achievement, but give them the option of skipping that particular content. Instead give them a cut scene that gives the general idea of what happened in that content. If they want to know the specifics, they will need to go back and play through that optional MSQ content.

That way, if you want to push through the 2.0-2.55 MSQ content, you can do so, and you will be rewarded for doing so. If you want to get on with starting the Heavensward content, you can do so with out being completely out of the loop on the story thus far.

Regarding your point about classes, a few are gated behind HW unlocking and they start at level 30: dark knight, machinist, astrologan. Post HW they just put all the class unlocks in the old cities.

a_skeleton_02 said:

I'm starting to think these queues are fake, It's always 17-30 people here even if I log in at 7am on a tuesday working from home.

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I've been saying this for a while. I'm on goblin which is super low pop and always get a 1 minute queue.

Just can't wait for Pharone's HW to 3.55 review now.

Needless said:

Man anybody that thinks the MSQ gating isn't THAT bad should start a fresh character and see how grueling it really is lol

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The only downside to skipping is there's TONs of systems in place that I have no fuckin clue what they are. Or that THEY EVEN EXIST

The only “end game” grind you’re missing out on is fates, which is mostly rewarding crafting and cosmetic stuff. Just enjoy the ride vs. getting to the end ASAP and realizing you gutted a ton of content for yourselves.