Reforged AF - Blocked on Step 1?

[Karah]

It's never taken more than 2 runs to obtain any item from limbus. no argument would ever change the fact that you're extremely lucky it wasn't forced.

[Ravenmore]

Forcing people to sink millions of manhours to get a random drop is a waste of life....
And a tell-tale sign of being an archagent of the Devil.

Letting people do a bit "more" grinding to bypass the potential at years of more grinding...
Was genius. (But not really because it's no different between the implementation of the +2 for Relic gear.)
This lets more people get better/relevant gear.
Which allows for more people to do harder/relevant content.

This is a MMO.
Playing with other people.... is kinda the point.
And allowing for more people to play at the same tier together... is always good.
(remember when skirmish gear was added? 113!? that's "better" than the delve gear! ... only it isn't. It's the same tier of gear as a r15 piece... and depending on the piece, one will be better for your job than another. But what was really so beautiful about the skirmish gear was that it gave more people access to "delve" level gear... which allowed for more people to do Delve... The AA redux is the same. "don't like delve? Like 'oldschool' BCNMs? Well... now you can get 119 weapons and gear without Delve too!")
The more people capable of having competent gear... the better the game will be.

To start with they are giving half of the set away though login points and the other half is extremely easy to get from a couple of runs. Really the AF items are so piss easy to get when you don't have to worry about the win and can skip time chest going for item chest while able to do it every day. People were begging SE for time sinks and things to do solo, so I'm kinda shoick SE didn't force you to have +1 already as well but that wouldn't be in line with how they handled relic +2. With the random drop thing people here on these forums seem to be really happy with it with how much they bring up the good old days of 1 to 5% drop rates of the 75 cap era.

[Damane]

There is a TON of stuff to do in this game. I want to explore it at my own pace, not be forced to do it for such a silly reason. I planned to do CoP at some point, but now I have to do it in order to get my armor.



I don't really care about the past, I'm talking about the right now.

I did CoP missions in like 1-2 days for my mule ¬.¬, like seriously its not THAT big of an investment, especially now with enhanced movement speed.

[Xantavia]

There is a TON of stuff to do in this game. I want to explore it at my own pace, not be forced to do it for such a silly reason. I planned to do CoP at some point, but now I have to do it in order to get my armor.

The biggest problem is that if you upgrade to the top gear before doing the 2nd expansion released, you are removing all challenge from the journey. I was about halfway through the expansion when they removed level caps from the zones and changed the max level to 80. I found the early parts much more memorable and exciting when the wins weren't practically guaranteed. Once the challenge was gone, it felt much more like a checklist of "go here, go there, stomp this mob". But that is just me.

[bungiefanNA]

There is a TON of stuff to do in this game. I want to explore it at my own pace, not be forced to do it for such a silly reason. I planned to do CoP at some point, but now I have to do it in order to get my armor.

Different expansions have different rewards. AF+1 was one reward for progress in CoP. If you want that reward, or an upgrade of it, you need to have that completion. Availability of the materials from an event generally doesn't change the behaviour of PCs that unlock new options when your progress is that far.

You are forced to progress similarly if you want final boss defeat rewards like Rajas Ring or Suppanomimi. If you want the reward, do the activity the reward is tied to. You don't HAVE to have AF+2 right now.

[Llama]

You don't have to beat Cop. Just need to have Sea access, just did it like 3 weeks ago. Took me about 3 days.

[FaeQueenCory]

It's never taken more than 2 runs to obtain any item from limbus. no argument would ever change the fact that you're extremely lucky it wasn't forced.

Except that that's a horribly selfish sentiment.
"It only took me one run to get the items I needed, so everyone else better do it in one run or F them."
Some people go 1/1, others go 0/600.
Random drops are bad.
Especially when there's no control over the random drop. (ex of good random: base mythic weapons, any job random, but F100 will drop lead's job weapon every time.)

To start with they are giving half of the set away though login points and the other half is extremely easy to get from a couple of runs. Really the AF items are so piss easy to get when you don't have to worry about the win and can skip time chest going for item chest while able to do it every day. People were begging SE for time sinks and things to do solo, so I'm kinda shoick SE didn't force you to have +1 already as well but that wouldn't be in line with how they handled relic +2. With the random drop thing people here on these forums seem to be really happy with it with how much they bring up the good old days of 1 to 5% drop rates of the 75 cap era.

0_0
People sure do like beating that strawman.
It's a fine paste now.
If not a mist.


Since it seems that neither of you understood my point... which the Devs seem to... because that's why it was done.
And I'm gonna bold it just to make it all noticeable.
Giving more people the capability to get the same tier items in multiple ways allows for more people to play together, and seeing as how this is an MMO, that's kinda the main point to the game being played.

It's not about a time sink. (even though some people delude themselves into thinking that's what people want... though I'm sure ONE person out there surely does...)
It's not about being elitist. (even though that's kinda the stance you make when you drop statements like "I did it in 2m in X way, you should play this MMO EXACTLY like I do"...)
It's about equality and giving more people the ability to be equivalent to each other.


(and Login campaigns are a horrible example of "equal opportunity".... They aren't permanent. They won't be here forever. They don't always offer the same items. Am I right, Zeid?
What about the new player tomorrow? or the one 3mo from now? Or any of the many bajillions of legitimate reasons people might not be able to do the login campaigns?
Basically: stop being selfish. Check yo privilege, not everyone has your resources.)

[Olor]

Besides giving Rajas Ring at the end, which everyone should get, it is also a requirement that you have to complete it to Reforge your gear.

Oh god... that's terrible. One more funblock.

You really have to have beaten CoP to reforge the AF gear?

Why is such a random requirement in place? "Go do this really old content, all of it, in order to prepare yourself for current content, even if you already have the items"

It's just so bogus for players like myself. I was so happy I managed to get the pages and stuff together for the reforged AF in preparation for when I hit 99, and again it looks like I'm nowhere close because I have to go back to do tons of old missions in order to be able to get current content gear.

It just never ends. SE makes it so stupidly difficult to start this game as a new player. There's SO many things you have to go back and do, even at a high level, just to be able to play the game.

I'm just sitting here, just thinking about all of what I'm gonna have to go through. It just makes me not even want to play... I've already done SO MUCH, and every time I think I'm ready to actually level to 99 and enjoy myself, there's something more, some other chore I have to go complete first.

Just... sigh...

THIS. Seriously SE - WHY? I've been back more than two years and I am not even halfway done COP because (guess what!?!) I like playing with other players, not solo questing ancient content.

[Kensagaku]

@FaeQueenCory
While I agree that yes, this is an MMO, and it is centered around people playing together, being able to just be elevated to the end devalues the experience for those who had to put the hard work into getting there. Why did they strive if everyone was going to be on the same level with no effort? What is the point of achieving something if anyone can achieve it by whining that they're not as good as others? Why bother when you can just sit back and complain until you get the same tools that you would have gotten only a little bit earlier by working hard?

My point is that work effort should equal reward reward. Right now, things like the login campaign and the other "easy mode" tools are an example of do nothing for a reward. And this is from the guy who came in at the end of the ToAU era; I didn't even have it nearly as bad as those who came before, and I still think this is ridiculous. So people have to do a little bit of mission work, whoop de doo? If they don't like doing it solo, they can look for other people on the server who haven't done it yet. There are at least a handful of people, judging by the few that have spoken here, who haven't done these missions and are looking to do them. Maybe there's more. Post on server forums here or in the ffxiah.com forums, and they might even find people to do these with. I know the pain of doing missions solo, as I did a large majority of Wings of the Goddess solo. It was fun for its own reasons, but I did experience the blah of running it solo, mostly because I didn't bother to try and get people to help. I didn't feel like waiting. The only reason this game turns into a non-MMO is when people don't try to band together and work together. They're only doing so to get to the next shiny thing in many cases, especially if they can skip steps.

@The OP
Look, I respect that it's annoying that you have to get Sea access. It is quite boring compared to the old times, where you did CoP with the caps. There's just no fun or accomplishment in stomping a 40-cap mission at level 99, because you can just sneeze in the general direction and win, so I understand the annoyance. I finished mine just before the caps were raised, and it was memorable because of the time spent organizing groups and the work I put into beating these big bosses with a good combination of jobs. Freakin' Ouryu, despite being easy to others, was a pain because of my party setup of two blms, a blu, a whm, and some misc dds because that was all we had. It was... a train wreck for the first run. XD;

But while I do understand what a pain it is to go back and do these missions, it is the same thing I mentioned in the above section; to get something, you have to work for it. It's not just handed to you. If you want to get your AF+1 and AF109/119, you have to complete Chains of Promathia at least up to unlocking Limbus. I know it can be a pain, but the work is a requirement that everyone has had to meet to get to this point, and because you don't want to do it doesn't mean that you should take the work they put into it and throw it aside because you don't want to do a little bit of extra work. To put it simply, get through the work. Yes, it's a time sink, but isn't that what MMOs are anyway? Games to pass the time? Granted, it's easier with other people and more fun that way, but judging by a few of the posts here on the forum, there are a few people who have yet to finish them as well. Look around for people who haven't done them either, and make it an experience together. For fun, you can try and do some of them level capped, just to see how crazy it was back in the day. Or you can rush through them together, exploring the world together and enjoying the unfolding storyline. As many of the others have said, Chains of Promathia was one of the best storylines in the game, and by not going through it, I feel you're missing out on a pretty epic bit of in-game story.

In short, take the time to do the work. Make the reward worth it, and not just another shiny bauble you received because you bludgeoned a monster's head in with a staff for a few hours.

[Mefuki]

This is a MMO.
Playing with other people.... is kinda the point.

This is kind of off-topic but I've been seeing this kind of comment more and more and I just wanted to say: Not everyone that starts playing FFXI does it because it's multiplayer. Personally, I started playing because I liked the battle system, the wealth of gear and character customization options and the fact that it was a huge game with a fleshed out world that would be updated regularly. Sure, me and my friends started playing together at the same time but it never was the main reason why I started playing or why I continue to play.

And now, the fact that SE's mindset is currently low man party-centric and are so concerned about accessibility of content means I get to play more or stop and start playing all day, all at my convenience. AND I get to do it when I log in; not 2+ hours from then because everything requires an alliance or static to do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not AGAINST playing and partying with people, I just think it's really nice that I'm able to have the option to play by myself and if someone wants to join me, they can too. Think Diablo III or Borderlands 2, as much as dislike the utter worthlessness of gear, the gear treadmill as a whole and lack of options in those games, I really like that you can play single player but it's also mulitplayer when your friends or whoever wants to join in.