(10-31-2013, 09:22 AM)K Wrote: "F**K ISHGARD AND I HOPE BAHAMUT COMES BACK AND LEVELS THIS WHOLE MOUNTAIN".This is a sentiment I can wholeheartedly get behind.
Personally, I've been enjoying the story, and the content gating hasn't really hit me too bad since I've generally tended to only be a level to three levels beyond required, so while (especially) the first dungeons found me getting a bunch of gear that would have been great several levels prior, as a whole story/gameplay dealie has been fine for me.
Note the bold, please.
On the other hand, I finally persuaded my friend to try the game. I'd had an extra copy (since I'd had 1.0 and played it like, twice, and hated it, but thought I had to rebuy the game for 2.0- which I hadn't, leaving me holding a second copy). So I got him to install it and give it a go, thankfully well after the main slew of 1017 and 90k and all that rot was done with for the most part. He's playing, he's having a good time- mainly grinding through mobs and fates even from the start. He's an old-school EQ1 player and that's his preferred playstyle. Finally, he asks me, 'when do I get to a dungeon?' I told him 15, and he was excited because he was already getting close. So I had to burst his bubble... "Well, you know all those quests you didn't feel like doing? You have to do them."
I haven't seen him in game since, and every time I ask if he wants to play, he says 'yeah, maybe later, but first let's <insert something not FFXIV here>'. I'm pretty sure he's not coming back. I... truly don't see why a lot of this stuff has to be gated, especially the 'MMO' bits. I don't see why the game can't have an option for you (for instance) to hit 15 and grab a quest similar to the other optional unlocks, where you get to run out and talk to a guy by the dungeon and hey, you can do the dungeon. Or why (as is the case with many/most MMOs) you can't hit the right level, and join a grand company to work for your mount (yes, I know that's part of the quest, but it ought to be easy enough to include a flag, and Storm Sergeant Recruiter Wedge says, "Back off, guys, we've already nabbed Storm Corporal Biggs, you can't have him" and move along.
Short version? Forcing everyone to follow a single gameplay paradigm is bad, since people play MMOs for a variety of reasons. What works for one person (like me, who has loved everything but the number-soup errors and gilspammers) does not work for another.
