With the upcoming expansion Dawntrail, Final Fantasy XIV is starting a completely new story arc for the first time since 1.0. However, there will be no new entry point for the add-on. Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida discussed a skip system with MeinMMO and brought a message for newcomers.
Why is a new entry point a topic? In Final Fantasy XIV, there are now several hundred hours of content that is current and can be played, some of which must be played. This includes, for example:
- Main story
- Class or job quests
- The 72-player instances Eureka and Bozja
- Boss fights of various difficulty levels
- Six 8-player raids in two difficulty levels each
- Six three-part alliance raids
- Five ultimate raids
Anyone wanting to play the latest content must have reached the current maximum level, completed the main story quest, and progressed sufficiently in gear progression.
In March, Naoki Yoshida announced that he would not introduce a skip system for newcomers with Dawntrail. MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz believes that could be perhaps the biggest mistake of Yoshida’s career.
Yoshi-P in a dilemma: Community or comfort?
The director and producer of Final Fantasy XIV has been Naoki Yoshida since 2010. He is aware of the challenge that new and returning players face. He discusses this in an interview with MeinMMO: It always gives me headaches when we are working on a new expansion.
In fact, he and his team had already started developing a skip system two years ago: With the push of a button, players should be able to skip the entire Hydaelin and Zodiark
-saga from 2.0 to 6.0.
The system is reportedly already finished and implemented. Whether it is indeed a concrete new entry point, as World of Warcraft offers with new expansions, he left open. However, since there are already so-called adventurer stories as a soft story skip, the system is likely to be intended as such a new entry point.
What are Adventurer Stories?
In the in-game shop, so-called Adventurer Stories can be purchased for real money. This allows the main story to be skipped up to the start of any expansion.
There are also specific Adventurer Stories for the classes. These can be used independently of the story skips. However, if you only skip the story, you will not have a class at the required maximum level.
So, anyone wanting to start directly in Endwalker at this moment must purchase the Adventurer Story Shadowbringers and one for a class of their choice. However, this does not mean they have reached the endgame: All story and combat content from Endwalker must be played first.
However, Yoshida was long indecisive. Ultimately, he decided not to implement the new system. The decisive factor was what he observed in the community:
When players invite their friends, there aren’t really many who tell their friends:
Oh hey, come to me! You can skip the game by just using this item, and then we can play together right away.Rather, players who have already experienced the story want their friends to have the same experiences. So they tell their friends about it, invite them to the game, and say:
Oh, we can play together. I will follow your progress. Just let me know if you have any problems. We can always play together, walk [through the world] together and engage in combat content. And at some point, we can even play the latest content together.When I look at the current state of the community over the past two years, during which we’ve been working on the expansion, I realize that many players have gone through exactly this process.
Naoki Yoshida, 28.05.2024
Naoki Yoshida also mentions that many popular streamers, such as Asmongold and Preach Gaming, have started with Final Fantasy XIV in recent years. Their fans do not want their favorite content creators to skip the story. They want to see how the streamers experience their journey as Warriors of Light.
Thus, the dilemma was that Yoshida is sure that many players would use a built-in story skip after Dawntrail. However, he also believes that this could destroy the positive atmosphere that players have built through experiencing the story:
I really didn’t want to destroy this sense of community. So I thought about it long and hard, and I was very indecisive. But that is the reason why I decided not to open the system.
More about the restart in Final Fantasy XIV:
Having the same experiences and suffering with the story
Final Fantasy XIV is repeatedly praised for its brilliant storyline. For players whose primary focus is on endgame content, the length is likely more of a thorn in their side. Final Fantasy veterans, storyline enthusiasts, and (J-)RPG fans celebrate it:
You start in the base game as a newcomer in one of three starting cities. For the first 15 levels, you are primarily a runner – it’s the tutorial, after all. However, you gradually earn more fame and honor as an adventurer until the ominous Scions of the Seventh Dawn take notice of you.
The group recruits you due to your special abilities: You can fight monstrous summoned deities called Primals without succumbing to them. Additionally, you also assist the Scions in the never-ending conflict with the Garlean Empire, which would love to colonize your homeland.
Throughout the story, you experience all sorts of adventures alongside the NPCs – they really grow on you. The story is captivating, and naturally, players who have already experienced it want their friends to be equally engaged. Many find it important:
- Does my buddy suffer like I do when that truly lovable NPC sacrifices themselves?
- Is my favorite streamer also as surprised as I was during the unmasking of the Crystal Exarch from Shadowbringers?
- Will my friend cry like a baby at the end of Endwalker?
These shared experiences connect the majority of the community. That’s the nature of consuming a few hundred hours of the same epic story. Naoki Yoshida knows this and wants newcomers and returners to play the story.
Enjoying the story at one’s own pace
Anyone wanting to start anew or return to Final Fantasy XIV faces the mountain of content described above. There are likely enough players who just dive in and enjoy every second. Those with little interest in the story may skip all cutscenes for time reasons.
When asked what Naoki Yoshida would like to say to newcomers to motivate them, he replied:
What I would tell a new player just starting is to take your time. Enjoy the story at your own pace.
A large part of the content is now designed so that it can be enjoyed alone. And even if they don’t want to play alone, they can ask their friends to accompany them, and they can play the content together.
I think this is [in Final Fantasy XIV] something entirely different than in other MMOs. But of course, it’s also not the same as a standalone game. It just takes time.
But yes. What I would really tell new players is to enjoy it at their own pace and embrace the adventure.
Naoki Yoshida, 28.05.2024
For returning players, Yoshi-P has a message – but an unusual one: He advises them not to spend money on Final Fantasy XIV right away.
Naoki Yoshida has previously advised players, for example, not to always have an active subscription for Final Fantasy XIV. One should play the content they enjoy, and when they are done, unsubscribe and play other games. That he is not so keen on particularly high subscription numbers, he repeated recently in an interview with Screenrant.
To him, it appears that returning players should take advantage of the regularly recurring return events. Here, they do not have to pay for their subscription and can play for a certain number of days. Then, according to Naoki Yoshida’s logic, they can decide for themselves whether they want to return.
Anyone fearing the long road to Dawntrail now has the official permission of the director and producer to work through the previous content at their own pace. If the development team continues to stay true to itself, the new content will also be playable in a few years.
MeinMMO editor Sophia Weiß also had time around the interview to try out the two new classes from Dawntrail. In our report, we present them to you and for whom they are intended. And why Sophia might change her main after eight years: I tried the new expansion for Final Fantasy XIV and fell in love with the new class like from Sword Art Online
