Why is there a staggered release only for the first tier of Savage and the Ultimates?

[Pepsi_Plunge]

Then why are the Ultimates released at a later date? You can't say 5.2 is when they decide everyone has had enough time to catch up because the 5.3 Ultimate will be released a few weeks later.

Ultimates are released later because you need to clear the Savage-Tier first just to be able to enter it - and you need also to gear up with BiS for it, which means you need not only clear it, but also get all your equipment which can take a while.

I don't know what you are talking about 5.2 or 5.3 though. There is no so called "5.3 Ultimate" planned at the moment. We don't know how many Ultimate-Content we will get this expension and even if there will be more we don't know when. Maybe the one now will be the only one we get.

[SaberMaxwell]

Ultimates are released later because you need to clear the Savage-Tier first just to be able to enter it - and you need also to gear up with BiS for it, which means you need not only clear it, but also get all your equipment which can take a while.

I don't know what you are talking about 5.2 or 5.3 though. There is no so called "5.3 Ultimate" planned at the moment. We don't know how many Ultimate-Content we will get this expension and even if there will be more we don't know when. Maybe the one now will be the only one we get.

Two confirmed, possibly 3. 5.3 is a safe bet for the next Ultimate as Weapon's Refrain came out in 4.3, and SE is delightfully consistent with content patterns.

I was able to predict Alex Ultimate because of that. Earned a couple mil in bets lol

Besides that, absolutely. Ultimate needs BiS (well, i470 is the recommended minimum at least) to tackle, and if it was released simultaneously with Savage it would be a bit of a spit show considering even world firsters can't hit i470 week 1.

[Vnolan]

Problems on launch day and job balance are also good reasons for a staggered release, but then why doesn't it apply to the second and third tiers of Savage?

The Savage tiers are staggered because there was a time when they weren't.

Only the first tier is. If they follow the previous pattern, 5.2 and 5.4 will launch with both versions at the same time as the Main Scenario quests and other content.

Ultimate is later in the tier to stagger content so raiders race to finish then have nothing left they're interested in until next raid patch.

Ultimates are released later because you need to clear the Savage-Tier first just to be able to enter it - and you need also to gear up with BiS for it, which means you need not only clear it, but also get all your equipment which can take a while.

Ultimate needs BiS (well, i470 is the recommended minimum at least) to tackle, and if it was released simultaneously with Savage it would be a bit of a spit show considering even world firsters can't hit i470 week 1.

I mean relative to the odd-numbered main patch it releases in, not the previous even. Ultimates release two weeks after the odd patch.

[SaberMaxwell]

Ah. Well as an Ulti raider I'm personally glad for the two week grace period; I get time to enjoy the Nier raid, the patch story, and crafting before my group begins it's 17h/week prog, during which my downtime will decidedly be anything but XIV.

[SaberMaxwell]

Double post cuz phone:

To be honest I'm not sure why subsequent tiers don't get the two week grace period. I'd like it as it gives time to look at NM's mechanics and make predictions for what Savage's mechanics will be.

[Crushnight]

Double post cuz phone:

To be honest I'm not sure why subsequent tiers don't get the two week grace period. I'd like it as it gives time to look at NM's mechanics and make predictions for what Savage's mechanics will be.

The only reason i can come up with is that our gear is significantly better enough to handle later tiers than expansion launches and judging by the jump in stats from ilv440 gear to ilv450 gear i can see why they may think like that.

[Raven2014]

eh ... have you consider the reason is as simple as "Ultimate only comes out because it's only done now" ? Seem most of the responses so far implies the dev already have all the contents finalized and made ready to go, but gating them for one reason or another.

I mean, as recent as the last live letter they said they're still in the process of tuning the fight. Ultimate is supposed to be tuned to within razor thin of the current gear set's ceiling, and not even the dev would have a proper clue where that ceiling in at the beginning. So not only they need to give people time to gear up (even for statics that clear week 1, under extreme bad luck it can still take a full 8 weeks to bis out the whole team), they also need to give these players the time to optimze. It's not just about giving the players time to prepare, it's also about collecting the data from the top players so it can be used to tune Ultimate, because like I said, making an assumption of what the players can do is a fool errand even for the developers.

I bet the data from the top speed skills are an important and mandatory data needed to create Ultimate, so if there is a reason why it only come out now that would be one of the main reason, if not "the" reason.

[ForteNightshade]

Double post cuz phone:

To be honest I'm not sure why subsequent tiers don't get the two week grace period. I'd like it as it gives time to look at NM's mechanics and make predictions for what Savage's mechanics will be.

Funny enough, Layla Bell actually asked about this for Stormblood. If I recall, Yoshida said he never thought raiders would want subsequent tiers to be delayed like they did for Deltascape. Supposedly they were going to look into it but evidently nothing has come of it since.