Has the new content direction spoiled ffxi for anyone else?

[Shiyo]

Farming VE duo intense was 100x more fun than grouping up and playing with a all ranged + paladin party on higher difficulities, so I picked to duo it and have fun.

I didn't mind how it was slower(but bearable) to get hallmarks, but the hilariously low amount of gallantry I received was stupid and I shouldn't be punished for playing in a way that I find MORE FUN(lowmanning). Full groups has ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS been less fun in this game, but all it meant was more difficulty besides VW/legion/gallantry. Any system that punishes you for trying to do things with less people is bad, you should be rewarded for lowmanning and killing things with less people(unless you're a bst, then you should be banned from the game for soloing any content that can cause congestion/make people wait).

Gallantry system should NOT be player based as all it does is encourage multiboxing. Playing with a full group on the highest difficulty hasn't been fun in any ambu I've done yet, however I've enjoyed lowmanning every ambu I've done. I shouold not be punished for my preferred playstyle.

[Elexia]

Gallantry system should NOT be player based as all it does is encourage multiboxing

You do realize this has been a thing since...at least 2004, right?

I shouold not be punished for my preferred playstyle.

Maybe it's because I grew up in Japan, but being rewarded for playing with other players doesn't mean you're punished if you choose not to do so, because it's not a punishment not being offered a bonus by not meeting requirements, you aren't getting the bonus because you choose not to, it's as simple as that. So maybe where you're from "punishment" has a different definition.

Full groups has ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS been less fun in this game

In your opinion. Some of the most fun I've had were:

64 Man Dynamis back when people went in at minimum level (not everyone was max level yet) which later turned into 32 man Dynamis as per Dynamis Linkshell.
18 Man Limbus
18 Man Einherjar
18+ man Sky and Sea god player swapping
18 man Abyssea bosses and Rani.

I could go on and on. It simply sounds like you just play with terrible people either personality wise or skill wise, because a game that PROMOTES grouping for more than a decade..it's kind of inevitable. If you don't make good connections or join good linkshells you have fun in...that isn't the game's problem. There's always a "preferred setup"...that's when there's the...

"MAKE YOUR OWN GROUP, START BEING A CHIEF." Comes into play.

These days, with almost no playerbase it's simply an incentive/bonus to play with more people, however you are not losing anything by going in with less people, you just aren't gaining a bonus. It would be a different story if you need a full party to get ANYTHING, for example going into say VD Ark Angels solo you forfeit all drops.

That would be a punishment.

[Jin_Uzuki]

People who can multibox will multibox regardless anytime they can, I'm not sure what's the argument is here there.

We shouldn't design party content in a game based around playing with a lot of people because some people play multiple characters?

[Shiyo]

People who can multibox will multibox regardless anytime they can, I'm not sure what's the argument is here there.

We shouldn't design party content in a game based around playing with a lot of people because some people play multiple characters?

If you kill an escha-zitah boss it drops 1 pool of loot for everyone regardless of how many people are in your party.

If you do VW/WOE every party member gets their own loot pool full of items you can trade.

If you do ambuscade every player gets their own tokens and EVERYONE gets more currency per member in the party up to 6 that can be spent on gear or items you can trade.

Notice the differences?

[Elexia]

If you kill an escha-zitah boss it drops 1 pool of loot for everyone regardless of how many people are in your party.

...That's how quite a lot of monsters work in the game in a lot of content, there's no bonus beyond "Did you meet xyz requirements to drop more loot? yes/no. No where near the same concept.

If you do VW/WOE every party member gets their own loot pool full of items you can trade.

VW has personal loot and "universal loot" purely dependant on RNG and staggers. Different concept.

If you do ambuscade every player gets their own tokens and EVERYONE gets more currency per member in the party up to 6 that can be spent on gear or items you can trade

Ok.

Notice the differences?

I notice you have no idea what you're trying to argue to be honest.

[Nyarlko]

If you kill an escha-zitah boss it drops 1 pool of loot for everyone regardless of how many people are in your party.

If you do VW/WOE every party member gets their own loot pool full of items you can trade.

If you do ambuscade every player gets their own tokens and EVERYONE gets more currency per member in the party up to 6 that can be spent on gear or items you can trade.

Notice the differences?

Escha NMs also give personal loot if you have Spoils+ vorseals. I've gotten gear and abjs from personal loot before, so its definitely not 100% shared loot.

VW only gives personal loot.

UNM only gives personal loot.

Ambuscade gives personal currency for loot.

I fail to see much difference between Ambuscade and the rest other than Ambuscade removing the randomness of drops, as far as rewards go.
The concept of providing extra/bonus rewards for doing something specific like going in larger parties is not a new concept to MMOs in general, or even FFXI itself. (Ref: VW procs, Aby procs)

[Jin_Uzuki]

Not to mention multiboxing these contents means you don't have to fight for loot with 5 other people. All those +2 lixir and escha ores go to you. In fact, there are more advantages in multiboxing escha than Ambu!

Most multiboxes tend to control 2 characters. They have no reason to not party in Ambu or invite more people. More gallantry and they don't have to fight for loot anyway. (Maybe HP scaling?)

[Nyarlko]

Not to mention multiboxing these contents means you don't have to fight for loot with 5 other people. All those +2 lixir and escha ores go to you. In fact, there are more advantages in multiboxing escha than Ambu!

Most multiboxes tend to control 2 characters. They have no reason to not party in Ambu or invite more people. More gallantry and they don't have to fight for loot anyway. (Maybe HP scaling?)

Isn't the only scaling involved for Ambuscade based on the difficulty level? Pretty sure there are no adjustments based on party size.

[Shiyo]

Escha NMs also give personal loot if you have Spoils+ vorseals. I've gotten gear and abjs from personal loot before, so its definitely not 100% shared loot.

ALL THOSE ARE UNTRADABLE.
NONE OF THOSE INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF LOOT YOU GET PER PERSON BY SIMPLY BRINGING A MULED BODY.

[Elexia]

ALL THOSE ARE UNTRADABLE.
NONE OF THOSE INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF LOOT YOU GET PER PERSON BY SIMPLY BRINGING A MULED BODY.

So.......

The fact your server is low population is your issue and not with the event itself, because it really isn't a big deal.