Removal of Mercenaries

[Isola]

The entire point of MMO is that content should last as long as possible and people do them as much as possible too, not the other way around.

You cannot take this stance, AND say mercs are a good thing. This IS mutually exclusive.

Mercs ruin content. Period. This is not debatable.

Buying it from anyone (or anything) is still buying it and killing the content faster.

[Sirmarki]

It's not, lol. Buying gears from NPC directly(without another group actually enter the content and do them) shorten content's lifespan. Merc service actually prolong content's lifespan because endgame groups continue to do content after gears capped.

It is, you can't differentiate it. Pay an NPC for the item, or pay a player = the same result. There is no content to shorten - they (the buyer) aren't engaging in any content. The player enters the zone/party and lots an item and leaves, or stands there and waits for it to drop, and then leaves. The only people doing the content is the fixed/set group of mercs, they have no other interest in anything over than gil generation, within their own setup, so pretty much zero community interaction.

SE produced Ex gear for a reason...

[Afania]

It is, you can't differentiate it. Pay an NPC for the item, or pay a player = the same result. There is no content to shorten - they (the buyer) aren't engaging in any content. The player enters the zone/party and lots an item and leaves, or stands there and waits for it to drop, and then leaves. The only people doing the content is the fixed/set group of mercs, they have no other interest in anything over than gil generation, within their own setup, so pretty much zero community interaction.

SE produced Ex gear for a reason...

How can you not tell the difference between paying a player and paying an NPC? You are only discussing the difference from buyer's pov but not from entire game.

If buyer buys 3 Ou items from NPC for 30m total, buyer didn't engage the content, nobody kills Ou, the gil that they paid to the NPC are gone from the economy, forever.

If buyer buys 3 Ou items from merc for 60m total, buyer didn't engage the content, but merc has to enter the content and kill Ou a couple of times for those items, then the merc will use those 60m that they made to buy su5, HQs, REMA currency. So crafter's SU5 got sold, ambuscade PT made money from currency, and Ou got killed more than a couple of times that SE didn't waste their time design Ou. It benefits crafters, ambu PT, and SE game designers altogether. Game content gets longer lifespan because at least merc still enters Omen and kill Ou repeatly.

Someone mentioned buyers got screwed because they are paying more to merc. But if you don't buy gears, then price doesn't affect you. If you buy gears, then you are only asking gears buyable from NPC so it benefits you. And if you hate people afking and get gears, guess what? It's a (tough) price that they have to pay for afking and get gears. If you're not happy with the price from merc, then farm your own gears.

Atm it seems to me that people just want paying NPC for gears "because it's cheaper" which benefits buyers. Does paying NPC for cheaper ex/rare gears benefit those who don't buy gears? No.

The only people doing the content is the fixed/set group of mercs, they have no other interest in anything over than gil generation, within their own setup, so pretty much zero community interaction.

I spent pages explaining how merc is not the reason why people only play with their own clique, it seems that you haven't get it.

Even if SE ban every single account that merc, people will still play within their own setup. Merc is not the only reason causing this. I know more than a couple of people who don't merc, they still play with mules and alts and never join any PUG, nor invite anyone into their clique.

tl;dr: In an ideal world, of course everyone should farm their own gears and play with people. The fact is that some people just aren't going to invest that much time and effort in a video game to play it the hard way, whether merc exist or not. In that case, merc is the best option we get. So at least those not-serious players get a goal to work on so they don't quit, and vet players get things to do in old content so they don't quit. The community size sustained as a result. This option is way better than casual player and serious player both quitting because they can't group or run out of things to do.

[Xilk]

I think trying to stop players from merc'ing is a rather silly idea.

[orionis]

So, to our original poster Mr. Orionis, have you considered these responses to address your concerns? any further evaluations or specific tid bits of detail to add?

Well opinions differ, but just how many of the people who have commented are involved in mercing? Some have already admitted it.

[orionis]

I think trying to stop players from merc'ing is a rather silly idea.

Can you elaborate a bit more?

[Xilk]

FFXI is a multiplayer game that demands alot of player interaction.

Mercenary services fall completely within this paradigm. Its meaningful player interaction.

It takes a silly amount of player restriction to try stop this, and there is not compelling reason to do so. You may as well try to ban selling outside of bazaar or ah.

"oops, nope you can't actual make trades to help ppl out!" "Cutting deals is only allowed if you register all deals w/ Goobernment!"


its like telling people they can't loan money to a friend or buy 2nd hand goods.

[Sirmarki]

Mercenary services fall completely within this paradigm. Its meaningful player interaction.

I wouldn't call joining a merc party, paying/casting lot on equipment and then leaving, a "meaningful player interaction". They have about as much interaction with them, than they would buying a shield from an NPC.

Items that are meant to be sold don't carry the "Ex", like I said it's there for a reason.

[Xilk]

You do not need to participate if you do not find it satisfactory. The quality of your experience is up to you and your companions for the endeavor.

Stating that you had a bad experience with Mercenary party, therefore SE should try to ban other players from having a any experience, with it, good or bad, is absurd.

[Isola]

Stating that you had a bad experience with Mercenary party, therefore SE should try to ban other players from having a any experience, with it, good or bad, is absurd.

I don't think I saw anyone say that.

Mercs are bad for longevity. If you like the game, you can't like mercs. but, there really is no way to get rid of them, it's pissing into the wind.