Alliance content isn't fun

[Shiyo]

This games combat system does not function and completely falls apart in alliance content. In alliances, the game turns into 90% of people standing around doing nothing while the remaining 10% are on damage dealers mashing 1 Weapon skill over and over. You cannot use the only fun and interesting part of the games combat, skillchains, inside of an alliance because you gain TP too fast to multistep with 3+ damage dealers. It turns the game into the WORST combat system in a MMO. There is no thought, no skill, no rotation, simply hitting 1 button while the majority of people stand around afk doing nothing. It's incredibly boring.

There's also the fact that in alliances, you need 1 tank per 18 people, while in parties, you need 1 tank per 6 people. This makes it so only a very, very few people are able to play tanks.

In smaller parties, you can skillchain, your supports don't just stand around - they can heal after buffing and replace the White mage entirely or contribute damage and be in the skillchain with your damage dealer. Skillchaining is very fun, an efficient way of dealing damage, and takes teamwork and strategy(not a lot, but more than mashing 1 weapon skill over and over) to pull off. It's exciting and feels good to and satisfying to work together and never mess up a skillchain.



However, you're now designing content only for aliances. Dynamis D, and especially wave3, is VERY clearly designed for alliances.

The games combat works and is the only teamwork based MMO combat inside of ~6 person parties. Why would you completely abandon your games unique combat system by designing content for alliances only?

This games player base is already incredibly small, and I'd be impressed if more than 30 people per server can kill the megabosses in Dynamis D, which is around ~3% of the games player base.

Do you really think it's a good idea to use your incredibly limited development time to create content for less than 5% of the games player base? I don't think so.

You are taking the game in a very, very bad direction. You tried this with delve and nearly killed off your game, why are you making the same mistake? Re-think what you're doing, and stop designing content for alliances, design it for 6 man parties again. You did this with omen and ambu, why did you randomly stop? The road you're taking this game down is very bad for the game and not enjoyable for most of the players.

Do not release the update in september, completely revamp it and change dyna-D into 6 man content you "can" bring alliances to, but only if "you" want, DON'T make it mandatory, as you're doing right now. Alliance content is bad.

[Afania]

You are taking the game in a very, very bad direction.

Personal opinion and preferences.

Alliance content is good for the community because it prevents small elite gorup/clique type of endgame "linkshell" with 4 real people and 8 mules clearing everything, then keep the LS size small to maximize drops. Look at some of the small group recruitment post on AH.com:

Need nirvana/epeo/idris. Need multiple jobs geared at elite level, must have mules, only roll with 9 but no more than 9. The list goes on.

Now THAT is bad for the community, because only 5% of players can join endgame LS like that. Everyone else thats not THAT elite left out.

Now that alliance contents are out, I look forward to endgame linkshell start recruiting more people and take lesser geared/more casual players into endgame community.

[xiozen]

Personal opinion and preferences.

Spot on observation Afania, can't agree with this sentiment more.

While the OP has clearly explained why he/she prefers non-alliance content that doesn't change the fact that many players (in my experience with this game) actually enjoy the challenges that it offers.

Granted, it's not for everyone--however if you feel that FFXI doesn't meet your personal preference as an MMO, there are "other MMO's" out there... one that comes to mind is FFXIV... it's combat system in alliance raids ... oh wait... require you to do pretty much the same thing... spam weapon skills... or high-powered spells... FFXIV doesn't offer skillchaining like FFXI; even so, if you really look at what skillchaining requires--you should come to realize in alliance related content that's really not feasible.

[Afania]

While the OP has clearly explained why he/she prefers non-alliance content that doesn't change the fact that many players (in my experience with this game) actually enjoy the challenges that it offers.

This. People frequently state their opinion as facts.

"Alliance content is bad direction!"
"Small servers can't form alliances!"

That's opinions, assumptions but not facts.

[Sirmarki]

This. People frequently state their opinion as facts.

"Alliance content is bad direction!"
"Small servers can't form alliances!"

That's opinions, assumptions but not facts.

I wasn't implying that 'small servers can't form alliances' but more the fact, due to the lesser numbers of people, it would be more difficult.

As you mentioned, if you have a static group and a community you can put together, then there isn't really a problem. Getting to build that community on the other hand presents a lot of problems and time..

[Afania]

Yep, what I usually say when I see your wall of text.

Sounds like you don't like to read text...... which is not my problem.........Do you find your college text book and essays "crying" as well?

If I have a lot to say to the point that I have to type multiple paragraphs, what you think about paragraphs and text is not my business. I think you're just mad that I disagree with your opinion anyways.

As you mentioned, if you have a static group and a community you can put together, then there isn't really a problem. Getting to build that community on the other hand presents a lot of problems and time..

For the level of wave3 bosses, getting into a static or community will be mandatory regardless of the server. The amount of work to build a successful PUG alliance to beat wave3 is entirely way too high even on Asura.

There are tons and tons of well geared high end endgame LS currently attempting wave3 clears with full alliance and still fails. If they fail, PUG will fail harder. So essentially clearing wave 3 has same difficulty on every server if PUG is a very very bad option. And PUG is the only advantage Asura has over other servers, if it's not an option, then Asura isn't easier, it's the same.

Many people often said building a group is difficult on small servers because the population is small, I'm not sure if that's the case at all. Someone on my server started with social ls that invites everyone. Now they are a LS with 64 members, that I often can't to get in, and eventually they became an aeonic LS just by pulling people from these massive pool.

Many other established endgame community also opens their door to anyone that's geared for endgame. All you need is to send a tell and you will be invited. So being in a community/static shouldn't be an issue.

A lot of new or returning player never take the necessary steps to get into established groups on their server for endgame. These step are: 1) Join an active social LS to gear up, ideally bigger/established social LS with members already in endgame group and refer you. Getting referred by someone already in a top end LS is key here. I know more than one extremely big social LS on small servers, so they exist.. 2) Send a tell to established endgame group and offer your jobs to contribute. Ideally get a reference from people that's already in.

Due to the size of small server, the "get reference" step, which is essential to get into very established groups rather than groups still growing and struggling for consistent clears, become extremely easy because it's easier to meet and pt with important people in town on small servers.

Instead many returning player just sit in town waiting for shouts, find no shouts, listen to reddit recommendation and transfer. Some people ended up being successful after they transfer, but these are the minority. Many of them still struggle to get efficient ambu VD wins and suffer from long queue time, and they ended up having to lv SMN to get into top end groups or buy wins.

Not saying you are the latter but I find these people often pop on the forum, claim small servers are dead, Asura ftw, on the same time they still complain on forums and chat about wiping in easy content like VD, UNM, Omen or ask "what job should I level to get into endgame", or complain about 20 min ambu queue time. While I never ever experience difficulty clearing those 139 content nor need to gear WHM GEO RUN SMN to do the hardest endgame in game on small server, nor have difficulty clearing anything I want to kill in game, on a small server.

Because of that, I can't help but find Asura promotions on forums are slightly biased. It's not a heaven like everyone else describes.

The door to endgame on small servers are always open to those who's nice, it's almost too easy to get in from my personal experience. When people pop on the forum claiming "small servers are dead" "it's harder to find enough people", it can't apply to everyone. It's experience from people who is never in the community to begin with, not experience from those who's in. For those that's in the community, the experience is drastically different: Tight-knit community, efficient higher lv content clears, low queue time, helpful and respectful members, list goes on. The benefit outweigh the slight AH inconvenience most of the time unless you have different work schedule from every group.

For those who is not in the community, the door is basically wide open to anyone bother to send a tell.

[Shiyo]

yeah need epeo when it's worse than aettir against every NM in the game besides like 3

[Stompa]

I personally have avoided alliance content whenever possible since 2005.

I joined a /shout Ohat run, and I had bst75 and whm75, so of course I was going WHM. We had to get 18 hats and of course my hat was last. I spent like 12 hours having a dozen DD screaming "Paralyna!" and "Cure!" at me, all at the same time.

And we got hats for the first 15 people and then suddenly they all remembered they had to go for important appointments, or their dog was suddenly very sick and had to go to the veterinarian. So I didn't get my hat, but I did get a Stereo Migraine on both sides of my head for about three days.

That was actually the last alliance I remember going to. Anyway, the week after that, I took my bst75 and went with four of my bst75 friends, and we farmed 5 clusters and 5 hats in an evening, with just five person party. It was fun. Charm the eyes, throw them at Haku, <Run away!> and keep stoneskin and blink up at all times. Happy memories.

It is hard to be a WHM in alliances, or at least it was in those days. When you are six people, the WHM can keep track of who needs what, who to prioritise, etc. In Alliance, it is more chaotic imho.

Also, I didn't like alliance because of the Lag, it makes my head hurt, and it wrecks my poor little Personal Computer.

Normal party size is less Lag, and just feels more natural to me. There is a party rhythm, an equilibrium, the party becomes like one person, instinctively knowing what works best and at what times. This is what I loved about the old XP/Merit Points parties, which were the backbone and soul of FFXI, until recent years.

My happiest parties have been three-man pet runs, with three bst or three pup. I had so many awesome adventures with three-man pet runs. I also like to solo on Bst and Pup, but it is always more fun to team up with other bsts and pups.

I think it important to remember that this game is designed to appeal to everyone, and some people love the alliance battles, with the whole Blunt Instrument, cudgel-bashing approach.

Some people love 18-man, some people love 6-man, some people love 3-man, and some people love to solo. Some people like all of those, or a combination of those.

When something is alliance-only , I generally won't do it, so that means I won't have that gear.

I would rather go and try to 3-man something less difficult, with my best friends. But I still hope that other people, who enjoy alliance content, will have fun, because FFXI is for everyone.

[Nyarlko]

Even if you don't like alliance content like Divergence, you can still benefit from it. Just entering on a job unlocks the +2 upgrade for that zone, and only need 3x ppl to enter.

I only managed to do it twice early on, but it's also possible to lowman farm by disbanding inside and calling Trusts. XD The downside to this is that the loot/claim is not zone-wide (like Legion.. gawd, I wish it was like this..) so each "party" gets it's own loot/drops and don't share claim of monsters, so there has to be some trust between players if you're planning to split the loot afterwards and have to be very careful on pulls. The more successful of those runs was... RUN / SCH+GEO / BLM+BST, with the SCH and BST both making self-SC for MBs on trash, then we joined back up for the boss. Barely squeaked it out in time, but we did get the midboss down. ^^ Then immediately got splattered by Wave2 off a bad pull. lol The point being that it is possible to get most of the benefits w/o dealing w/ large PUGs, as long as you have well-geared (not necessarily BIS, just appropriate for the clvl,) friends who are willing to experiment and have the right job combos.

ALL of the new loot from Wave3 is sellable/buyable on the AH, except the points earned towards the upcoming DREAM weapon augments. If you want your "Ultimate Weapon" to become more "ultimate", then you must do the current "ultimate" content yourself. I'd say that's actually pretty fair.

[Afania]

Also, I didn't like alliance because of the Lag, it makes my head hurt, and it wrecks my poor little Personal Computer.

I generally agree with you, I lag in 18 man dyna so much to the point that every action and macro swap will take 1+ sec, that seriously hinders performance and enjoyment. By design, alliance content is horrible itself.

That being said, from community perspective, I still think alliance content is good for the community.

FFXI endgame has been favoring small groups for very long time. Many group that I know of, has minimum members for max gain per merc or run. It's very common to see an endgame LS with core member of just 9 to 12 people and several alt. They don't accept any new members, except people with multiple top end jobs, alt and multiple REMA.

On the other hand, groups that accepts more lesser geared members and run events at 18/18 got punished heavily with less drops. And it has been that way in past 6 months.

I don't think it's fair in any way, personally.

Dyna has been out for over 6 months already, and multiple mid sized groups basically farmed their ass and made a lot of money by keeping the group lowman and BLU burn all things. They completed +3 at much faster pace since every members got more drops. By comparison the bigger group that had to go 18/18 due to the size of LS had to farm drops at much slower pace due to so many people needing clears on different jobs.

Now that wave 3 is out, it's basically the other way around. Big groups with tons of manpower got more advantage, and that's quite fair for people who struggle to include more people per run.