I have zero MMO experience and most of the community acronyms still go over my head. (And seem silly in general.) Im playing almost solely for the impressive display of worldbuilding and excellent soundtrack, but some of the story beats and characters are starting to click for me as well. Im liking the game more than I feared to say the least, though I do wish the Trusts system were available far sooner because much as I havent been minding doing dungeons with parties overall, Id still prefer a more traditional experience.
Im presently involved in the level ~40 main quests for A Realm Reborn, so I have a long way to go. And with Pokemon around the corner (and maybe Jedi: Fallen Order too) its going to be a long time before I reach the end of Shadowbringers. It doesnt help that Im infamously glacial at RPGs and very much like it that way. My friends Kiria and Thom resubbed to the game recently since Im playing it for the first time. Theyve already amply passed me by with their new alt characters!
At the risk of repeating something you have already heard Heavensward could have been its own FF game and it would be among the better ones.
Wasnt a compressed version of ARR content supposed to occur with patch 5.1? ---