I just finished ARR and the astral quests. My thoughts and suggestions to players

[arejang]

I'll start off with the TLDR: The 100 quests have a solid story from beginning to end, but the quests are the worst I've ever played. If you're not interested in slogging through 100 really poorly designed quests, and you can afford to pay for it, skip it like you'd skip having to eat manure. Don't let anyone shame you for doing so.

I personally am pretty skeptical at this point that the development team has the capacity of imagination to produce anything better quality than this horse dung of what they call a game. But I'll persevere and work my way through HW later today to see if they can prove me wrong or if everyone is truly stricken with Stockholm Syndrome.

For anyone who either can't afford the skip or just don't want to invest money into it, read on.

Some tips for getting through these quests with your sanity intact. Number 1 is your mindset. You absolutely cannot go through this hating the entire experience 100% of the way through. Try to find something enjoyable about the experience and curse the developers to bloody hell when they think playing hide-and-seek or playing clicking-simulator for the umpteenth time was ever a good idea. Curse them, and move on. If you find you cannot find anything redemptive about your playtime, just stop. Cancel your subscription and don't look back. It's not worth the trouble wasting your time doing things where none of the experience you find enjoyable. There are plenty of good games to explore and missing out on the supposed better experience of future expansion is a negligible loss in my opinion.

For me, I enjoyed the boss fights, the dungeons, and the story. That's what got me through this slog. But the rest of the quests I hated. But it was important to me to not dwell on these things though.

Secondly, for those who put a lot of value on the story, but also put expediency just a tad underneath it, skip all dialogues and read the journal entries instead. I have to credit the writers of this game for doing an excellent job of summarizing each interaction with not only succinctness, but also with humor and wit. If you want to watch the cutscenes, know that a few of them have rather long runtimes. In particular is the second to last quest before HW. If you read fast you might be able to get through it in under an hour, but I instead recommend looking up the quest name on Youtube and play through all of them at 2x speed. You'll literally miss nothing by doing so since most of it is fully voiced.

Thirdly, kind of in line with maintaining of your sanity idea, if you have a second monitor or a phone, pull up the list of missions from the FF14 wiki so you can monitor your progress. https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Main_Scenario_Quests
I find few things are as discouraging or crippling to the play experience as disappointment. And it helps to at least not be disappointed by your lack of progress, and it is strongly motivating to see when you've covered more ground than you expected.

Something that I want to reiterate from my TLDR is that the story was fine. It was not filler from start to finish, but I was made to believe it was. The narrative strength doesn't really change from the end of ARR through the Astral Era quests. Actual "filler narrative" as it were would be a story where the protagonist's character and situation would be unchanged when comparing their status before the story began and after the story concluded. But here, each arc transitioned nicely one into the next and there is a definite strong narrative thread that stretches from the beginning to the end. The story doesn't suddenly pick up around the 5th and 6th arcs where you left of at the end of ARR, which is what would have happened with truly filler narrative. So for anyone uneasy about the quality of the story taking a hit for no other reason than to stall for time until HW, rest assured that it does not. But do know that actual "filler narrative" does exist peppered throughout the 100 quests. Thankfully, they are shortlived and serve as little more than a brief distraction, but the biggest takeaway is that the main storyline of the 7th Astral Era quests can stand on its own as a pseudo-expansion of sorts. It wants to tell its own story that isn't merely a stand-in for an HW wannabe.

Unfortunately, the quests don't always support the narrative all that well, and it is by far my biggest complaint with this entire section of the game. Anyone tracking their progress through their journey like I have will notice most of the story arcs are 19 quests long. I definitely got the impression that developers were beholden to this 19-count for some stupid reason so in order to meet the quest quota, they took as many mundane tasks as possible and shoved them in there for absolutely no other reason. Click to move boxes, click to make the chocobo smell better, or find 8 individuals scattered throughout an entire city. I really want to slap any fan of this game that thinks this was good game design. It's completely indefensible and really sours the experience overall.

So in summary, the story was fine. It's nothing so great that would come up in dinner conversations, but it definitely wasn't entirely a series of filler arcs, and I question people's understanding of what "filler" is if that's what they think it was. But the quests sucked balls. If you're skipping this content, I don't blame you. I can summarize what happened in each arc in 2 lines or less, so it's nothing that significant in my opinion. But for those who are slogging through it like I have, try to keep a positive mindset and find ways to make the experience less dreary. Optimizing the playthrough to the bare essentials helped me through it and I finished all of ARR and the Astral quests in just under 90 hours. This playtime included frequent breaks, some where I simply leave my seat and let the game log me off, as well as time waiting for dungeons. I slowed down to read a portion of the non-voiced cutscenes, but I did skip a lot as well per my recommendation above. For all the skipped dialogue, I did still read the journal entries right after, and doing so has saved much time going through cliche'd dialogue and it was nice to see the writers inject their humor into some of these entries to keep things interesting.

I hope my thoughts here will serve to help someone's experience through this game.

[Deckire]

I will say, it was a test of ages with the 2.0 to 2.55. I don't think it wasn't going to be that long and while the story isn't completely amazing. I think it builds up the world just enough to hint at what is to come later on in the story. They didn't know how much they can push or how much is too much. You have to think, that is 6 year old Content and 6 years is a long time.

I mean we are talking about a JP MMO company that had Final Fantasy 11 where it took days to get a character from level 10 to level 11. Then made a similar game to 11 but with limits, obscure things and making the game so graphically heavy that you can barely hit 8 fps or load 4 people on the screen with a High End Computer, which we now call Final Fantasy 14: 1.0 era.

By how it was this was 100 times better then what was originally given and was decent enough to keep in mind. Though we gone through 2 Expansions and now 3rd expansions has been recently released, which now causes overall 2.0, became even more of a tedious that can't really snip that 100 Quests from 2.X series to snip because almost everything in it even though mundane some are is brought back info that reads even up to Shadowbringers.

It was easier to handle for me who joined at 2.4 where this "Old Content" was the "New Content" at the time. But I can see at a new player's point of view that this is a rough mess now.
=============================

That said Heavensward was made to push into the right direction as well. It gives a bit more into characters better then ARR and they made sure that it gets it's quests a bit more streamlined, that it would be bearable. I can't say how it holds up now as 4 years ago it was the most hyped story. and is given the 2nd best story line of the 4 stories given. I don't if that is good or bad though as again this is 4 year old content, and people have nostalgia glasses.

The one thing I will ask to look up if you are a Tank player do the Dark Knight Story. The Dark Knight Job Quest Story from 30 to 50 and 60 to 70 are known as the one of the strongest story pieces in the game I still remember them in Fond memories, and the same writer of them are the story writer of Shadowbringer and it shows a lot. If you think that job quest is a good story try to bear to shadowbringers. If not I understand.

[arejang]

Originally posted by heroguanlet:

I will say, it was a test of ages with the 2.0 to 2.55. I don't think it wasn't going to be that long and while the story isn't completely amazing. I think it builds up the world just enough to hint at what is to come later on in the story. They didn't know how much they can push or how much is too much. You have to think, that is 6 year old Content and 6 years is a long time.

I mean we are talking about a JP MMO company that had Final Fantasy 11 where it took days to get a character from level 10 to level 11. Then made a similar game to 11 but with limits, obscure things and making the game so graphically heavy that you can barely hit 8 fps or load 4 people on the screen with a High End Computer, which we now call Final Fantasy 14: 1.0 era.

By how it was this was 100 times better then what was originally given and was decent enough to keep in mind. Though we gone through 2 Expansions and now 3rd expansions has been recently released, which now causes overall 2.0, became even more of a tedious that can't really snip that 100 Quests from 2.X series to snip because almost everything in it even though mundane some are is brought back info that reads even up to Shadowbringers.

It was easier to handle for me who joined at 2.4 where this "Old Content" was the "New Content" at the time. But I can see at a new player's point of view that this is a rough mess now.
=============================

That said Heavensward was made to push into the right direction as well. It gives a bit more into characters better then ARR and they made sure that it gets it's quests a bit more streamlined, that it would be bearable. I can't say how it holds up now as 4 years ago it was the most hyped story. and is given the 2nd best story line of the 4 stories given. I don't if that is good or bad though as again this is 4 year old content, and people have nostalgia glasses.

The one thing I will ask to look up if you are a Tank player do the Dark Knight Story. The Dark Knight Job Quest Story from 30 to 50 and 60 to 70 are known as the one of the strongest story pieces in the game I still remember them in Fond memories, and the same writer of them are the story writer of Shadowbringer and it shows a lot. If you think that job quest is a good story try to bear to shadowbringers. If not I understand.

No offense to you, but there are large chunks of what you wrote that does not read very well. I literally cannot understand what you are trying to say at some points.

Anyway, whether you agree or not, I'll just reiterate that there is no excuse for poor quest design and the Astral Era quests have some of the poorest I've ever seen. Being an old game is no acceptable excuse for providing a really crappy play experience. Having an even worse predecessor is also no excuse. Just because version 1.0 was crap does not mean it's completely okay that version 2.0 quests are similarly crap just as long as they're nominally better than what it replaced.

The story, again, was fine. I can totally see the groundwork that Astral laid out affecting the story deeply into Shadowbringers. I don't know if it actually did, but the narrative had intention to have long-stretching ramifications from the very beginning. It was not filler and at no point did the main narrative feel like filler to me. Neither did it feel like it was wasting time trying to get into Heavensward. Astral Era had its own story to tell outside the shadow of HW and I don't think most people see it that way.

[Drakon]

I found the quests after ARR's ending tedious, but when I started the Dreams of Ice patch, I was genuinely enjoying the content. I'd say the pay off is very worth it, as HW has made a huge impact on my decision to stick to FFXIV.

Some of my friends have followed the 10 MSQ quests a day for 2.1+ and then went at their normal pace from HW onwards. Some of them were not even aware of the amount of quests they had to do and just went on through the content without really giving a crap about how many more quests are there till HW.

My main goal was to unlock Dark Knight and see Ishgard, which got me through the whole of the Astral Era quests. Also, I did look forward to all the trials unlocked through the Astral storyline.

[arejang]

Originally posted by Drakon Knight:

I found the quests after ARR's ending tedious, but when I started the Dreams of Ice patch, I was genuinely enjoying the content. I'd say the pay off is very worth it, as HW has made a huge impact on my decision to stick to FFXIV.

Some of my friends have followed the 10 MSQ quests a day for 2.1+ and then went at their normal pace from HW onwards. Some of them were not even aware of the amount of quests they had to do and just went on through the content without really giving a crap about how many more quests are there till HW.

My main goal was to unlock Dark Knight and see Ishgard, which got me through the whole of the Astral Era quests. Also, I did look forward to all the trials unlocked through the Astral storyline.

Like I said, the mindset is very important getting through this section. Having a normal rhythm like completing 10 quests a day is a good idea. Really anything to keep your mind off what you hate about the experience is effective I think.

I don't think the quality of quests ever really got much better to the very end of the Astral Era. And that's due to my absolute loathing of hide-and-seek quests that stretch even into the very final arc of this series. Don't put 4 NPCs in a city and give me a huge circle of red as the only hint. They could literally be anywhere and it is not my definition of enjoyment to scour every nook and cranny inside and outside every building to finish this stupid quest. Some may consider that fun, but I don't understand such people, neither do I care to keep doing it all the way into Shadowbringers. I sincerely hope Astra Era is the last time I ever come across this kind of quest again.

[Drakon]

Originally posted by arejang:

Originally posted by Drakon Knight:

I found the quests after ARR's ending tedious, but when I started the Dreams of Ice patch, I was genuinely enjoying the content. I'd say the pay off is very worth it, as HW has made a huge impact on my decision to stick to FFXIV.

Some of my friends have followed the 10 MSQ quests a day for 2.1+ and then went at their normal pace from HW onwards. Some of them were not even aware of the amount of quests they had to do and just went on through the content without really giving a crap about how many more quests are there till HW.

My main goal was to unlock Dark Knight and see Ishgard, which got me through the whole of the Astral Era quests. Also, I did look forward to all the trials unlocked through the Astral storyline.

Like I said, the mindset is very important getting through this section. Having a normal rhythm like completing 10 quests a day is a good idea. Really anything to keep your mind off what you hate about the experience is effective I think.

I don't think the quality of quests ever really got much better to the very end of the Astral Era. And that's due to my absolute loathing of hide-and-seek quests that stretch even into the very final arc of this series. Don't put 4 NPCs in a city and give me a huge circle of red as the only hint. They could literally be anywhere and it is not my definition of enjoyment to scour every nook and cranny inside and outside every building to finish this stupid quest. Some may consider that fun, but I don't understand such people, neither do I care to keep doing it all the way into Shadowbringers. I sincerely hope Astra Era is the last time I ever come across this kind of quest again.

Those types of quests are still there, but not to the degree the ones in Astral are. You won't see them as often.

[Deckire]

Originally posted by arejang:

No offense to you, but there are large chunks of what you wrote that does not read very well. I literally cannot understand what you are trying to say at some points.

Anyway, whether you agree or not, I'll just reiterate that there is no excuse for poor quest design and the Astral Era quests have some of the poorest I've ever seen. Being an old game is no acceptable excuse for providing a really crappy play experience. Having an even worse predecessor is also no excuse. Just because version 1.0 was crap does not mean it's completely okay that version 2.0 quests are similarly crap just as long as they're nominally better than what it replaced.

The story, again, was fine. I can totally see the groundwork that Astral laid out affecting the story deeply into Shadowbringers. I don't know if it actually did, but the narrative had intention to have long-stretching ramifications from the very beginning. It was not filler and at no point did the main narrative feel like filler to me. Neither did it feel like it was wasting time trying to get into Heavensward. Astral Era had its own story to tell outside the shadow of HW and I don't think most people see it that way.

I can say that with yours as well, but Sorry if I was very unclear or hard to read.

First one I was just making clear, that this was their main attempt for content outside of the main story. They did not know how far they can push with the quests, and being it's first run cycle, having 3 months in between each patch, These 100 Quests that were spreed across a year, it was not as Tedious or rough you you think it is now you are now.

But, since I started playing on Patch 2.4, Astral was still new Content, having 4 to 5 months to complete it compared to new players trying to go through it in a week or a month this can alter my perception on it.

After that you were on about how you were Skeptical with the Developers, saying they were unimaginative, and sorta having low hope for them. So i was trying to reassure you that this was their first main attempt, being 6 year old content, and they have learned from it to make it more manageable for player experiences in that time frame. Trying to use 1.0 as a example how they learned from mistakes going to 2.0 and make things better (yes I know that paragraph was jumbled so I apologize on that).

I got scrambled with the rants and your story, and being some kind of Homestock kind of deal and should just give up on the game. So I was also telling you that Heavensward is known to be the 2nd best story in the game, though that could not say for certain since it was 4 years ago when I ran through it, but if not as good as before, try at least the Dark Knight story, and if you really like it, you can reassure you would like Shadowbringers a lot.

[Vega]

I skimmed through your post because I'm personally too lazy to read through it all, no offense or anything.

I do agree, though. The quests aren't particularly all that great, I'm pretty sure there are several quests where you gotta fetch ingredients for food or drink. Hey, guess you gotta drink that tea so it advances the story.

I'm almost to HW. It was initially lame but I have persevered! I've pretty much tolerated them. I mean, I actually like how I made my character, kinda fits within cutscenes. I also like some of the NPCs.

Yeah, I can't really afford any skip or boosts. I have 27 dollars in my Steam Wallet, which will be used for one more month and retainer services. They are too much, but wouldn't want to use one anyway. I hate the concept of skipping because one may not like it or have the time. I personally have the time AND the patience.

Currently a level 49 Dragoon, trying to get through the quests so I can try out Dark Knight, had to stop for a bit and grind because I was level 48 and the msq was 49. I can feel the HW storyline coming. I have over 200 hours but it's actually 180 when I exclude times I have the game running afk. Side jobs are 25+, and I have one DoW at 49. I think I'm doing pretty good.

[arejang]

Originally posted by heroguanlet:

I can say that with yours as well, but Sorry if I was very unclear or hard to read.

First one I was just making clear, that this was their main attempt for content outside of the main story. They did not know how far they can push with the quests, and being it's first run cycle, having 3 months in between each patch, These 100 Quests that were spreed across a year, it was not as Tedious or rough you you think it is now you are now.

But, since I started playing on Patch 2.4, Astral was still new Content, having 4 to 5 months to complete it compared to new players trying to go through it in a week or a month this can alter my perception on it.

After that you were on about how you were Skeptical with the Developers, saying they were unimaginative, and sorta having low hope for them. So i was trying to reassure you that this was their first main attempt, being 6 year old content, and they have learned from it to make it more manageable for player experiences in that time frame. Trying to use 1.0 as a example how they learned from mistakes going to 2.0 and make things better (yes I know that paragraph was jumbled so I apologize on that).

I got scrambled with the rants and your story, and being some kind of Homestock kind of deal and should just give up on the game. So I was also telling you that Heavensward is known to be the 2nd best story in the game, though that could not say for certain since it was 4 years ago when I ran through it, but if not as good as before, try at least the Dark Knight story, and if you really like it, you can reassure you would like Shadowbringers a lot.

It looks like I was also very unclear in all my rambling. I have no problems with the story. The story for the Astral Era was fine. Mostly uninspiring, but nothing so bad that I needed to complain about it. Trying to convince me the story gets better shows that you completely missed what I was trying to say. I have no issues with the story up to this point. AT ALL.

The problem with the quests weren't really that they were 100 quests long. I originally thought the staggering numbers would be a significant negative. In the grand scheme of things, I got them done in a week. Not a problem.

The problem is the design of the quests themselves were absolutely ♥♥♥♥♥♥. Regardless of what you think, placing them sporadically across a year or doing them all at once like I did, it doesn't matter. Terribly designed quests are terrible no matter the time frame. Clicking to move boxes doesn't suddenly become a fun engaging experience just because it was the only excuse you had for content in the span of 4 months.

It absolutely boggles the mind that people will defend this ♥♥♥♥. Please, just admit it that the quests were really badly designed. Nothing excuses that. I totally understand why anyone would prefer to skip all of that and just watch a youtube video summarizing the story instead. Quests need to support the narrative, not detract from it in order to fill some arbitrary quota.

Look, if you don't understand why I hated this particular aspect of the game so much, that's fine. My message is really towards newcomers of the game anyway. Fans will staunchly defend every aspect of the game including the absolute worst parts as well. That's what Stockholm Syndrome basically implies. I disagree with this approach and I think defending the worst parts of the game ironically hurts both your credibility and the game's future prospects as well. I wish people who feel some sort of deep emotional attachment to certain games realized that nuance. But whatever, I see you loved all of it. I did not. And I can assure you that even if it were the only set of quests released after 4 months of waiting, my perspective would not have changed for the better.

[arejang]

Originally posted by Vega:

I skimmed through your post because I'm personally too lazy to read through it all, no offense or anything.

I do agree, though. The quests aren't particularly all that great, I'm pretty sure there are several quests where you gotta fetch ingredients for food or drink. Hey, guess you gotta drink that tea so it advances the story.

I'm almost to HW. It was initially lame but I have persevered! I've pretty much tolerated them. I mean, I actually like how I made my character, kinda fits within cutscenes. I also like some of the NPCs.

Yeah, I can't really afford any skip or boosts. I have 27 dollars in my Steam Wallet, which will be used for one more month and retainer services. They are too much, but wouldn't want to use one anyway. I hate the concept of skipping because one may not like it or have the time. I personally have the time AND the patience.

Currently a level 49 Dragoon, trying to get through the quests so I can try out Dark Knight, had to stop for a bit and grind because I was level 48 and the msq was 49. I can feel the HW storyline coming. I have over 200 hours but it's actually 180 when I exclude times I have the game running afk. Side jobs are 25+, and I have one DoW at 49. I think I'm doing pretty good.

I totally understand you skipping most of what I said. I said too much and it was very long-winded. That's why I included the TLDR at the very beginning. I personally can afford the skip, but chose not to anyway because I wanted to have the authority to speak on the subject.

Anyway, I hope you do find enjoyment through it all because it's the best way to get to the end. I'm currently taking a short detour and also leveling up some crafting and gathering jobs for a little while before continuing to HW. I'm personally looking to try out the Samurai, so I want to get the crafting jobs up to 50 before I hit level 80 on my warrior. I'm definitely slowing down now that I'm here and will try to enjoy the rest of the game more.

I don't think the full journey was unredeemable . I enjoyed the story, the dungeons and the bosses. If I didn't find a single thing I liked about Astral Era, I probably would have stopped way way earlier. But that's not the case. The quest design was really piss poor though.

[00yiggdrasill00]

i get where you are coming from, but the key point to remember is that those 100 quests were released over a year, and when played over a year they were fine. its trying to do them all in one slog from arr to hw that its an issue. im glad you see that the story was solid, it plays an important part throughout the games story as a whole. i would maybe wonder if they should cut it down a bit now and roll some of it into cutscenes given the amount of complaints im seeing in forums but i assure you it was fun at the time.

[arejang]

Originally posted by 00yiggdrasill00:

i get where you are coming from, but the key point to remember is that those 100 quests were released over a year, and when played over a year they were fine. its trying to do them all in one slog from arr to hw that its an issue. im glad you see that the story was solid, it plays an important part throughout the games story as a whole. i would maybe wonder if they should cut it down a bit now and roll some of it into cutscenes given the amount of complaints im seeing in forums but i assure you it was fun at the time.

I won't argue what should or should not be fun for someone. That varies tremendously from person to person, and it's the crux of how we have such a diverse market for gaming that ranges from cookie-cutter triple A, down to the comically weird niche indie titles.

I'm trying to put the framework around why these particular quests were bad, and I need you to understand it has nothing to do with the fact that I played through them back-to-back. I even began my recommendations to other players who haven't yet attempted this that it is important to have the correct mindset before tackling this seemingly huge endeavor. To not focus on what was bad, but to try to focus on what was good and enjoyable. And I insisted that if anyone found the entire experience unenjoyable, they should in fact just stop while they were ahead and go to a different game instead.

The mindset isn't the problem with these quests. They were just awful regardless of time frame. Think about what makes good quests good. They support the narrative, the objectives are engaging, the narrative behind the quests themselves are relevant to your unique position as an adventurer that simply cannot be solved by a nearby peasant for example. Dousing a chocobo with perfume isn't so strenuous a task that it requires the player's expert hands to accomplish. It is objectively a filler task that has minimal relevance to the story at hand. It does little to support the overall narrative of the refugees and you in fact never hear from the old man who complained about the smell of chocobo ever again. You cannot argue that just because this particular quest was something you waited months for that it suddenly stopped being filler. It has been and always will be a filler task that has almost nothing to do with the overarching narrative, but is really actually there to waste time and fill up an arbitrary quest quota. That's not good game design. It doesn't suddenly become acceptably good game design because of the time frame. I just cannot spell this out more simply. Whether this set of quests were released piecemeal or all at once, you should never include irrelevant quests like these into your game.

What you experienced, as the person who waited months for this small piece of content compared to me who blazed through all of it in a week was not a better or even more appropriate quest given your unique situation. What you experienced was a positive bias that naturally happens for anyone who really loves something. They tend to overlook flaws and even will go to lengths to defend said flaws as actual strengths. I'm tiring of these people who keep telling me these quests were somehow not so bad because it was digested in small chunks over the course of a year instead of altogether over the course of a week. I'm not as much talking about a feel-bad moment, but objectively observable qualities that detract from the narrative. I cannot for the life of me explain this in any easier terms. It has absolutely nothing to do with the time frame. They are objectively tangential to the story and have no place in the game. They're bad. Please stop defending it. You're doing your beloved game a disservice.

[Gearhart]

I think my biggest issue is how many times "hero of light" has to play gopher for ♥♥♥♥ minfilia i mean seriously walk the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ box to the next room yourself you useless bink!

Also why does interacting with a quest objective on the ground sometimes take almost a minute? I mean jesus what point does that serve?

[arejang]

Originally posted by Gearhart:

I think my biggest issue is how many times "hero of light" has to play gopher for ♥♥♥♥ minfilia i mean seriously walk the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ box to the next room yourself you useless bink!

Also why does interacting with a quest objective on the ground sometimes take almost a minute? I mean jesus what point does that serve?

lol thank you for saying what i've wanted to say for so long. So many instances of

Minfilia: Hero! Alphinaud urgently needs to tell you something. Please go talk to him!
Me, staring blankly at Alphinaud who is bloody standing right next to her: ...well? Are you incapable of delivering a message to me without a third party?

[Gearhart]

Originally posted by arejang:

Originally posted by Gearhart:

I think my biggest issue is how many times "hero of light" has to play gopher for ♥♥♥♥ minfilia i mean seriously walk the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ box to the next room yourself you useless bink!

Also why does interacting with a quest objective on the ground sometimes take almost a minute? I mean jesus what point does that serve?

lol thank you for saying what i've wanted to say for so long. So many instances of

Minfilia: Hero! Alphinaud urgently needs to tell you something. Please go talk to him!
Me, staring blankly at Alphinaud who is bloody standing right next to her: ...well? Are you incapable of delivering a message to me without a third party?

The story of 7th astral era quests is fine its much better then most of the story for ARR, its just when they add in so many extra ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ steps that serve no point that it gets aggrivating.

Like calling you back to the scion base just to immediately send you back to where you came from i mean come on use the link pearl that you used to tell me i had to come back as coming back did zero except make me pay gil to teleport and take a boat.

[00yiggdrasill00]

Originally posted by arejang:

Originally posted by 00yiggdrasill00:

i get where you are coming from, but the key point to remember is that those 100 quests were released over a year, and when played over a year they were fine. its trying to do them all in one slog from arr to hw that its an issue. im glad you see that the story was solid, it plays an important part throughout the games story as a whole. i would maybe wonder if they should cut it down a bit now and roll some of it into cutscenes given the amount of complaints im seeing in forums but i assure you it was fun at the time.

I won't argue what should or should not be fun for someone. That varies tremendously from person to person, and it's the crux of how we have such a diverse market for gaming that ranges from cookie-cutter triple A, down to the comically weird niche indie titles.

I'm trying to put the framework around why these particular quests were bad, and I need you to understand it has nothing to do with the fact that I played through them back-to-back. I even began my recommendations to other players who haven't yet attempted this that it is important to have the correct mindset before tackling this seemingly huge endeavor. To not focus on what was bad, but to try to focus on what was good and enjoyable. And I insisted that if anyone found the entire experience unenjoyable, they should in fact just stop while they were ahead and go to a different game instead.

The mindset isn't the problem with these quests. They were just awful regardless of time frame. Think about what makes good quests good. They support the narrative, the objectives are engaging, the narrative behind the quests themselves are relevant to your unique position as an adventurer that simply cannot be solved by a nearby peasant for example. Dousing a chocobo with perfume isn't so strenuous a task that it requires the player's expert hands to accomplish. It is objectively a filler task that has minimal relevance to the story at hand. It does little to support the overall narrative of the refugees and you in fact never hear from the old man who complained about the smell of chocobo ever again. You cannot argue that just because this particular quest was something you waited months for that it suddenly stopped being filler. It has been and always will be a filler task that has almost nothing to do with the overarching narrative, but is really actually there to waste time and fill up an arbitrary quest quota. That's not good game design. It doesn't suddenly become acceptably good game design because of the time frame. I just cannot spell this out more simply. Whether this set of quests were released piecemeal or all at once, you should never include irrelevant quests like these into your game.

What you experienced, as the person who waited months for this small piece of content compared to me who blazed through all of it in a week was not a better or even more appropriate quest given your unique situation. What you experienced was a positive bias that naturally happens for anyone who really loves something. They tend to overlook flaws and even will go to lengths to defend said flaws as actual strengths. I'm tiring of these people who keep telling me these quests were somehow not so bad because it was digested in small chunks over the course of a year instead of altogether over the course of a week. I'm not as much talking about a feel-bad moment, but objectively observable qualities that detract from the narrative. I cannot for the life of me explain this in any easier terms. It has absolutely nothing to do with the time frame. They are objectively tangential to the story and have no place in the game. They're bad. Please stop defending it. You're doing your beloved game a disservice.

i suppose we will have to agree to disagree, but by all means continue if you think it will improve the game.