Question to Square Enix. Any new Automaton Frames in store?

[Shinron-PUP]

Personally, I'd like to keep this short and sweet to avoid any unnecessary hostility and "notorious" puppetmaster rage debates over what's best for the job because there's no answer; it's completely something that's influenced by personal opinion.

I would like to know if there're any new pets in mind for Puppetmaster, this being more of a thread for the Dev team to answer rather than the puppetmaster community, but I feel that a new pet is well deserved for the weary eyed players which spend so much time asking for a bone from square enix... What I feel we really need is a fresh start, and this is feasible through a new pet. Of course, this comes with more problems in which square enix needs to fix, but I'm noticing the longer Puppetmasters are subdued to the same repeticious style, that being our current pets, the more time we spend fixing the old things including AI workability and flexibility during a fight let it be with a NM or a normal mob. Now let me say this... I understand that many puppetmasters are more than likely tied over with the current pets they have, but I doubt you or any other would complain to any faction of advancement or improvement to the puppetmaster versitality in which makes us so unique so I hope that all of you can remain at least optimistic to the ideas I put out for pets.

A Monk type pet or another Pet "Head" piece in which prioritizes enhancing magic are two pets I would look foward to because a Monk pet would hopefully introduce the concept of using two hands to fight instead of one like all of our other pets and be able to hopefully hold his own like Valor Edge but still be able to dish out damage like Sharp Shot allowing for the master to worry less about his pet. As for the Pet "Head" piece, I would hope it would have high elemental capacity where you could possibly switch intoit quickly no matter what attachments are currently on the soul souther frame or red mage frame set up and quickly cast enhancing magic then switch out once you have what you need like protect, shell, and haste (This would also call for Square Enix to allow our pets to cast enhancing magic outside of battle like NPCs.) Possibly even be able to switch into it during battle...

Feel free to add pet ideas and hopefully a Dev will comment telling us whether or not a new pet will be coming out soon. They have been being seemingly benevolent lately answering our many questions about Puppetmaster fixes and patches so hopefully they'll comment here too.

[brayen]

While i do support the idea of new frames/heads to allow a better variety of elemental loads and potential to the job, i think it might be more then we can get at the moment. In the recent manifesto update by SE there was no mention of it so i would assume for the coming year there is no plans for this, regardless of how fun it is to think up of new frame/heads for puppet. For example i would love to see 2 different valoredge frames, current one for more defensive play and another for more offensive play like rep the shield and clippers for two blades or something(not gonna get into it)

[Lushipur]

What we really need is more elemental affinity. By Fixing existing frames or adding new.

Some new frame archetype would be cool too. But we have lots of attachment unused cause there isnt space.

[xbobx]

There isnt. they basically said that when they mentioned they were adding new attachments to differentiate the puppets more.

[Kristal]

It would be cool if Harlequin could be repurposed as a MNK frame at higher levels. That way, no new models have to be added for each new head/frame combination, except for perhaps some new animations for the H2H fighting style. (Attacking with both arms, rather then twice with one arm.)

[bliz1643]

hello, felllow puppetmasters i think the ideas of a new frame is wonderfull, if not a compleetly new frame letting us do somthing with the Harlequin frame making it into a (quested & upgraded) relic style frame for 2 handed dd frame would be awesome! then the tanking frame could be updated to a more specific tank! i love the fact that se wants to give us more attachemnts to our automation but we are still limited to 12 slots, would be cool if they were 12 body slots 6 head slots or somthing.

on a side note i never do see any replys from "delv" to the pups :( please show us some answers :)

[Kristal]

on a side note i never do see any replys from "delv" to the pups :( please show us some answers :)


You mean like this (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/11567-ATTN-Community-Reps-Dev-Team-PUPs-of-Vanadiel-DEMAND-a-response-on-Automaton-A.I.%21?p=151366&viewfull=1#post151366) or like this (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/11567-ATTN-Community-Reps-Dev-Team-PUPs-of-Vanadiel-DEMAND-a-response-on-Automaton-A.I.%21?p=151415&viewfull=1#post151415)? :D

[Dfoley]

In all fairness most the replys we get are on the JP forum, and almost all the questions/requests they answered were JP questions. Very rarely do devs post in the ENG job forums, and our questions are even more rarely read in these forums when compared to the JP counter parts.

I am still waiting on the translation on parry, shield block, and activation rate of barrier module that was posted on the jp forum like a month ago.

[Covenant]

I fully support the idea of either a single, or series of new Frames head/bodies that drop in ALL endgame fields to include Dynamis relicautomaton(super paladin) and animators, mythic automaton(super WHM) and animator, einghar automaton(super BLM) and animator, and empreyean automaton(super RDM) and animator.

Each automaton and animator work as a set. As a set they'll provide extreme lowered overload(nil). Increased potency to particular style of attachments and spells. Each head/body will increase the elemental attachments slots and slot overall. Each head/body will feature increased stats over the standard body/heads. Each new set will feature improved functionality(ex faster attack, double/triple attack, damage down, faster casting, faster casting cycles, etc). Finally each set would offer each a unique weaponskill to automaton appropriate to job type.

As an additional head/body request, id like to suggest a salvage automaton, that is a Bard Type with full party support. This tricky since bard automaton could have 2songs and a pup/bard could add an additional 3rd song. But since corsair is getting 3 rolls why the he'll not?

As an aside all the new frames/head would feature new graphic updates.

[Camwin]

Do you know what PUP needs less than anything? A party buff frame. We are DD's in and out. We are not some support job. As an addition if we did get a frame like this, we would never be able to use any other frame in party situations at all. As cool as the idea may be, there is no logic nor reason for it.

[Killvearn]

Do you know what PUP needs less than anything? A party buff frame. We are DD's in and out. We are not some support job. As an addition if we did get a frame like this, we would never be able to use any other frame in party situations at all. As cool as the idea may be, there is no logic nor reason for it.

I'm not entirely sure that a support automaton will be useless, in low man situation for example, and yes it will be really cool (imagine a slot machine like system for cor or a musical box for brd), but i agree that having that will probably means less space for the others.

[Shinron-PUP]

Do you know what PUP needs less than anything? A party buff frame. We are DD's in and out. We are not some support job. As an addition if we did get a frame like this, we would never be able to use any other frame in party situations at all. As cool as the idea may be, there is no logic nor reason for it.

I'm sorry but completly discarding the faction of a new pet, even if it's a buffer pet, is a blasphemy to Puppetmaster in itself. Puppetmaster is not even now considered an end game job so the possibility that we would become a support job just because square enix throws in a buffer pet is indoubtably rediculous. Square Enix has unintentionally, but none the less, always did such a great job to make sure that anything Puppetmaster may come to endeavor in would not ever exceed or even become good enough to be qualified as a necessity for any end game or party situation. The job has been insimilated into Final Fantasy 11 seemingly for only one soul purpose: To solo, and this is what is the jobs greatest down fall because it can't even do that correctly. Don't get me wrong, soloing is my favorite part about the job, but that's no reason to neglect the job in other situations it may encounter. With that said, it's important to keep an open mind... even if this pet, that may not ever even happen, is a buffer pet that makes the job become a support job in parties, at the least consider yourself lucky you're needed at all.

[Telford]

PUP is a dd plain and simple, and like the other 11 physical dds in the game we have to compete for space in parties/end game but making us gimp brd via an automaton is not the way to go. Trying to force a job into a role it wasn't meant for or not taking advantage of all it has to offer is a bad idea and leads to unhappy players. THFs are annoyed when they're only invited to be a TH whore, SMNs didn't enjoy being a cure 3 spamming pseudo-whm; MNKs found chi-blast rotations boring and DRGs have more to offer than 5/5 angon.

Pups do have things to offer to endgame, but leaders dislike deviating from established methods and sadly PUP is the least played/understood job; not because its bad but because of the complexity of the job, combined with the high start-up cost and the fact that it's the only job that doesn't make a viable subjob which leaves it untried by the majority of the player base.

PUP is a dd, its why hopefully we all stuck with it to 90 because we all enjoy punching stuff while commanding a little robot to hit/shoot/nuke/and keep us alive so we can keep punching. We would all enjoy the popularity and fast invites of brds but it should be because our job shines at what it does instead of copying someone else.

Below is a long explanation I once posted on alla as to why under our current AI a brd automaton wouldn't work:

[Shinron-PUP]

It's wierd to think that people would ever stray away from the idea of something that would, at the least, be praised more by end games and parties. The job from day one has always strived on the aspect that it has absolute and utmost versitality like an Onion Knight... We can mix our pets in different combinations and seize them at our whim to defeat our foes with little thought because we can adapt and kill. A bard pet may call upon a new aspect to the job in end games, but who says that you have to use it if you do not want to. We're not puppets of other players; for we make it clear that we're the masters in the relationship... The game is to be enjoyed and you can easily tell anyone who tells you to swap pets to a bard type or any other enhancing type pet to eat one. That's one of the things in which I really struggle with when it comes to others and this game because people allow these pretentious "Elite Players" and "Elite linkshell leaders" to have complete domain over how they experience and play the game. Play puppetmaster the way you see fit and don't give up another chance to experience another side of puppetmaster just because you don't want to be seen as a support job.

Also, I don't think that anyone is really talking about have necessarily a "Bard" type pet... Morely we seek to have a pet that can access spells like Protect/Shell/Haste... And although, I may have skimmed over your post about why "Bard Pet" is not good, you seem to be looking at all the spells that're going to seemingly be compacted under certain elements. Constructing a bard automaton, I doubt, would even be anything like Bard and it wouldn't make any sense because without a way to manually activate the automaton's spells, alot of the spells would be overidded in a heap of other useless spells.

[Covenant]

Most cases for bards come down to either accuracy, evasion, def, ATT, mp song, or haste songs. All songs are elementals anyway. ACC=DEX, Eva=AGI etc. So making a automaton dance or sing particular songs is as simple as maneuvers. As I said, going pup/bard might offer a 3 song option.

Of course going the bard route will drop damage. It's the same for WHM automaton as would be for bard, granted WHM better at healing. SE could easily add some unique songs to these particular automatons not seen before.

[Shinron-PUP]

Most cases for bards come down to either accuracy, evasion, def, ATT, mp song, or haste songs. All songs are elementals anyway. ACC=DEX, Eva=AGI etc. So making a automaton dance or sing particular songs is as simple as maneuvers. As I said, going pup/bard might offer a 3 song option.

Of course going the bard route will drop damage. It's the same for WHM automaton as would be for bard, granted WHM better at healing. SE could easily add some unique songs to these particular automatons not seen before.

I agree... and that's why I say that bard would be completely constructed differently than in any way that automatons are controlled now and it would have no resemblance to the day to day bards we see in parties. Square Enix is not privy to liminations in which they have already set and can make a new automaton go in any which direction they choose and who knows... maybe this time they might make a pet that will meet our expectations

[Telford]

I don't fault anyone for not reading the entirety of my very long post, but it boils down to under the current AI (and thinking SE will rewrite the entire AI just to include one new automaton after years of doing nothing about our current complaints displays more optimism then I have to give) choosing from the large number of possible buffs available would be very cumbersome and require running around like an idiot waiting on maneuver timers, recast timers, and deploy/retrieve timers trying to position the automaton so the right buffs only hit the appropriate players.

When soulsoother came out PUPs tried to fill a healing role, strapping on /whm and our ample supply of mage gear. If we were in a party where the tank didn't take too much damage, and the mob didn't enfeeble too much we could just make it work but it was never ideal, not much fun and not what we signed up for when picking pup. But I do enjoy healing and have fun doing it on my whm.

By the same token I have to ask why is it so important to be on PUP that you would try to cram it into a role so completely removed form what it fills now instead of either playing the jobs that already exist that can fill the buffer roll better than we could ever hope to, or ask the dev team for enhancements to our current repertoire that will make the endgame community sit up and take notice?

While new puppets would be great to have, we currently have two puppets collecting dust and I would much rather see stormwaker finally get spells beyond lv 75 and poor harl repurposed so hes a viable option at any level and not just what you use until you get the real frames.

[Sanders]

The only "justification" I can think of for PUP getting a new head/frame is that BST gets new pets and SMN gets new avatars (forgive me for excluding DRG here). Aside from that opinion, I don't think we have a good argument for anything new beyond attachments (even though SMN defacto gets new BPs).

[Alhanelem]

I would like to see new frames/heads, but I'm not super optimistic that its getting any consideration right now. I think we should at least be able to get different heads/frames that are different cosmetically or in elemental capacity while still having the same base effects as the existing ones to make the automaton a little more customizable.

[Pyrobunny]

i want a acrolith

[Karbuncle]

Why not simlpy allow us to +1 or +2 our current frames? For enhanced Attachment Elemental Slots, Enhanced Based Stats/performance/etc. For instance, It could be Magian'd or a quest through the Aht Urghan NPCs.

Allow us to +1 our frames at level ~60, and +2 them around level 90.

On a side note, How about an Attachment that prioritizes the Strongest WS, that would be fun!

Edit: Omagawd i have 3 Gold Medals now! w0000000000000?!