White Raven earring given out at The Rising event 2018

[Naria]

I am a 1.0 player. I do have a legacy subscription, but I don’t have White Ravens as I never beat or even attempted the harder version of the fight. I was shocked this morning when I saw that they were giving them away for the Rising.

I’m usually not for permanent exclusives in games. When rewards or costumes that are pre-order bonuses or timed exclusives that I have are made available to the general playerbase I’m okay with it.

I’m not okay with them giving away White Ravens.

To understand why I think you must understand a little bit about the community and culture of the player base in 1.0, which was very different than it is now. As 1.0 moved through the Seventh Umbral storyline there was at least for me and other legacy players I’ve talked to a sense of comradery with the development team. There was feeling that the playerbase was by supporting and playing and posting on the forums helping Yoshida and the others save the game. That Hydaelyn was a world that both groups had shared fun, excitement, and yes a great deal of frustration in but together we could make it even better. That the greater gaming community which had not got past all the terrible parts of 1.0 to see potential beneath it could also experience our enthusiasm with us. Perhaps this feeling is arrogant as I certainly wasn’t losing sleep for game development.

Now there were a lot of exclusives given out in this period. There was the 1.0 goobue mount, which came out when the game was still free to play. There were titles like the Wanderer’s Shadow, which involved sneaking past level 99 mobs, frequently in party, to hit every aetheryte and aetherial gate in the game--I didn’t manage this one either. There was the Seventh Umbral storyline itself which now only lives in YouTube videos, memories, and screenshots. One of those exclusives was White Ravens.

To me White Ravens—and the other 1.0 exclusives--are tied up in that feeling of comradery produced the 1.0 journey. That journey from the disappointment I felt on launch day to the hope I felt those last few months before the end to sheer excitement of the that last crazy week after the server save and the evening I spent talking my roommates ears off about the End of an Era trailer.

Another person in this thread said that as long as I have my discounted sub as an exclusive I have no right to complain, implying that I and any 1.0 player who feels the same is just being silly. Perhaps this is true. Yoshida and the others have given a great deal of acknowledgment and exclusives to 1.0 players. Some pixals on a new character won’t give them or change the experience I had. If this event had a pair of “Black Ravens” or "Nashu's earrings" as a reward I wouldn’t feel disappointed.

Expecting that everyone would always approve of every decision a group with mutual interest makes is a feat better left to mythical unicorns than humans. I’ve certainly had other disappointments in FFXIV but my support for the game and team continues. Hydaelyn is still that world I love, however, this disappointment is a bit bittersweet.

[Kallera]

I do not have he earrings, but I do have other exclusive items from 1.0, and I'm also disappointed in the devs' decision to make the White Ravens available like it was some cheap trinket. I haven't agreed with a good number of decisions regarding the game since then and I even came to enjoy 1.0 when I played it, but this feels like it is making a sideshow of not only the event, but the players, and I simply don't appreciate that.

[Oriens]

I get the argument from both sides.

As a legacy player: 1) They have never been a part of my glamour 2) I still have my earrings so I don't care if others have theirs.

Let's all enjoy the anniversary! (even though the current patch sucks ^_^

[Kidria]

Honestly this is the event that has a decent right to give away these items.

I heard of the White Ravens and knew how they came about. It's a special item, aye, and a special requirement was needed for them. But after 5+ years, having them given out I think is actually okay. The Rising is meant to celebrate coming out of 1.0 and into the far more successful 2.0 and beyond. It's a celebration of the game's anniversary. I can see why people from 1.0 are upset, but at the same time, I can see the potential reason for the earrings to be given out.

This isn't meant to invalidate the 1.0 crew in any sense, even if some people may feel that way. I think it's a way of them trying to take down the "1.0 vs 2.0+" wall that comes up at times and move past it. I guess you can tear into me saying since I "wasn't there I won't understand" (I was there but I didn't stick around either) but in the end the 1.0 people still here aren't meant to be venerated. We're all players of this iteration now.

Edit: And given the tag line of the "Calamity coming back," no it won't be as hard as the original fight, but maybe it'll give us who didn't experience it in 1.0 the chance to glimpse what did occur, thus further narrowing the "1.0" and "2.0+" groups.

[Iscah]

Can we possibly wait to get the details before getting too worried about them being given out “cheaply”? Maybe they will be easy prizes, or maybe that’s what the Stormblood stuff is for, and the earrings do have to be earned.

[Rangar]

Salt stocks on the rise, SE seems to do nothing but disappoint people

[Zumi]

I played 1.0 have Legacy but do not have this item. It was very hard to get because unless you did something on the first day it was out it was almost impossible to find a group for it. Back in 1.0 there were no duty finder or party finders. You had to constantly shout in town for about 5 hours to find people to do anything in the game. After 5 hours of shouting in town we had 3 people join so we gave up trying.

I am actually glad they are having these available in the new event. Because in the old 1.0 fight it was almost impossible to find people to do the fight.

[Nixxe]

If not for people complaining about them, I'd have no idea they exist. If you're OK with people getting replicas, which would grant them access to the actual cosmetic reward, then it seems more like you're trying to force the feelings you have about those earrings down everyone else's throats, but that's not how it works. Your feelings will never be anyone else's feelings, but everyone else's feelings (or the lack thereof) cannot diminish your own unless you let them. MMORPGs are ultimately in the business of selling experiences, not goods (though that's not to say they never sell any goods), and your experiences cannot be taken from you by what comes after the fact.

[Deithwen]

Yes, I feel the same way. Similar challenge for a similar reward. Ultimately it would have been nice to see The Raven, Nevermore recreated for 2.0 and available from the Wandering Mistral.

Even then, perhaps it should have been a replica, not the exact original. Best of both worlds.

I would have loved that, as I didn't get the chance to play FFXIV 1.0
It's sad they took the lazy and easy path =/

[ElazulHP]

I'd be ok with keeping these as a 1.0 reward item and just swapping in something or making it a replica item or something. It's earrings. Do people really care about earrings? You can even see them half the time unless you're zoomed in super close to someone.