(10-30-2013, 08:05 PM)Olofantur Wrote: Yes but outside the story line there is no in-game reason for the Dungeons to exist. As well, I was addressing the line that the story was "being shoved down your throat" in such a way that you don't actually have to read the story, you can just kill X, skip the cut scene and then kill Y, of course you still have to do the quests to unlock it. Just as you have to do the quests to unlock jobs...
How would you address opening content in a logical order without using quests as a gating system? I just think SE had a firm idea in mind and unabashedly made this game with a strong and central story element.
On the topic of "must cater to a wider  audience" i'm unsure as to the validity of that statement. XI, GW1, and Eve are all arguably niche games that have done fine for themselves. Or rather did fine, its been a while since GW1 so I can't speak to the stability of it these days.
There shouldn't have to be a main storyline-tied reason for a dungeon to exist in an MMO. It can and should have a story, yes. But does it have to be part of the main story? No.
MMOs are about content and demonstration of mechanics more than presentation of story, even in MMORPGs. It's supposed to be an MMO with RPG elements, not an RPG with MMO elements. Skipping quest dialogue doesn't change the issue. Just the fact that I'm forced to fight a strictly story-related boss fight and cannot move on at all through the content until I do so, is (in my opinion) unnecessary. And, frankly, kind of silly.
I never said that quests should not be in place at all as a 'gating system' for reaching new areas and whatnot. Although, to answer your question, one possible thought is that you could simply make it so that all dungeons have a level requirement for entry and that's it. But that's too simple. No one wants anything just handed to them, right? Perhaps there is a quest line one must go on specifically for unlocking that dungeon. Or perhaps you must find a certain item that drops off a mob and use it as an entry token. These are far from the best ideas ever, but at least it would not block a level 50 player from doing Copperbell Mines for example just because they didn't finish their story quests.
As niche as the games you mentioned may or may not be, FFXIV doesn't fit that mold. FFXIV does not have a marketing campaign of a hardcore, ball-buster game. Why? Because it's not one. They want to cater to everyone from the diehard MMO vet to the fresh-off-the-boat MMO newbie. XIV is not aimed at some teeny-tiny niche group of players who have never seen the light of day and want a game that will break their soul. SE knew that kind of harshness is exactly the reason why FFXI turned some people (myself included) off. XIV, in its current form, is a much more accessible game than XI ever was.
