Alluvion Skirmishes

[detlef]

I'm seeing some really good augment with +1 and even NQ stones. But in addition to that, the event is actually pretty fun. It's definitely worth a try if you haven't given it a chance.

[Demonjustin]

I've tried the new Skirmish, it's not terrible but I still don't like random. To be honest, the entire time I played FFXI over the years it's been on a POS laptop that barely runs even it. In the new Skirmish I have issues on top of the general lag from the zone being overcrowded due to being so new. If I liked the reward system, I might suffer through it if for no other reason than RDM finally got some of the melee gear I've been dying for. After all, that's what I've done with this game for years. That said, I don't like the reward system, so it's just adding another problem for me on top of others I already had.

I will be updating my sets on AH.com if anyone's interested in checking them out. But until I get a new PC, I won't likely be playing this game. Even then, unless the randomness is insanely better than before, I won't be sticking around for long. My experience thus far hasn't been terribly promising with augments, but I've not given it a ton of time, so it's entirely possible I'm not being fair to it.

In the end however, none of this changes the fact Delve's system is still far superior and worked. If there were a new form of Airlixirs with Delve II it would've lasted much longer and since they do that with Skirmish already with stones, the same design would've worked just fine. The fact they've not done anything like that annoys me greatly, I as though they tossed away the best system they had for the second best, which is a very disappointing choice.

[detlef]

I always preferred the days when gear was gear, what you saw was what you got. That guy has an Armadaberk? Well you knew exactly what it was.

But I've come to a realization that there are just too many types of stats and boosts that each player and playstyle is looking for that you couldn't really satisfy people as easily. You want melee RDM gear but a lot of people would want the typical enfeebling gear. Or 5 pieces of nuking gear. Or a balance of matk and macc. Or WS gear. Or enhancing magic duration gear. It's hard to satisfy such a wide breadth of demands these days and it can't just be solved with JSE because not everybody plays the same way. So I can see how this augment system could help address this situation, especially if you can get worthwhile bonuses with NQ and +1 stones.

I do wonder what effect it'll have on the popularity of other events though.

[Demonjustin]

The thing is, while they solved these problems with this event, it's still random. Implementing a Delve like progression system for augments rather than the one they have now, allowing us to pick the augment path that we want and giving us a large number of them based on the different stones we use? It doesn't seem that hard, nor does it seem gamebreaking. In fact, it seems like it'd give this event the most longevity and make the best stats obtainable to everyone willing to invest, rather than being obtainable to only those lucky enough.

[detlef]

Yeah, that's definitely a good way to do it. I can't fault you for preferring that route, I'm on the fence myself.

[Kaeviathan]

I'm just typing to keep the post on the list of recent new posts.

[Selindrile]

There's no doubt that the random system and separate slots is a huge improvement over the predecessor, but, this new gear obsoleted so many things, and it's still such a pain to throw away millions in +2 stones and make no progress, them feeling like they were just wasted, I'd much prefer a building system, and finding a way to build in item longevity.

Someone said they learned from their augment-wiping mistakes but, that said, they may as well have wiped the last set of augments because the new augmenting system is so much better I doubt anyone is keeping their old, lower-cap augments on skirmish weapons.

Also the armor is all so frigging amazing that I want to have several sets of each... which is rather a painful way to feel about it, coupled with the random augments it's enough to make me pull my hair out.

That said, the actual process of doing the skirmish is SUPER FUN (to me) I love being the guy at the book spawning mobs and supporting them. But the gear, cool as it is, makes me feel bad in as many ways as it makes me feel good.

[Glamdring]

yeah, the play system is ok, hell I LIKE seeing mages getting some love again, but the reward system... not so much. better would be if the stones were a currency and you could use them to purchase the augments from the table, choosing the augments, and stack the stones, by that I mean use 2 +2 to buy higher in the range, etc. that satisfies the players who prefer to build towards a particular build, like the Trial of the Magians system we used to use to build your melee rdm mentioned above. just put in the time. of course, with SE wanting time sinks I guess having to spam it to get the random augment you actually want is better for SE.