Making the case for improving Afterglow

[Nezha]

Although it's currently not relevant to most players, the Afterglow effect should be improved to scale with ilvl content. Afterglow was introduced before ilvl and in its wake became no more useful than it was before its introduction.

With this said, I understand afterglow was meant to be a trophy of accomplishment and "exceedingly difficult" such that very few can obtain it, but if that is the case, the afterglow animation should be more visible and the relic/mythic/empyrean equipment icon icon should at least look unique in comparison to the 99-I version (similar to Sagasinger or Girru) if it's mainly for show. Otherwise the bonuses they bestow should be stronger than what you could get subbing bard and singing Valor Minuet I/Sword Madrigal or allow it to apply to allies, which would encompass alliance members and pets.

Furthermore there is a lack of balance between the effects of empyrean's afterglow versus the mythic and relic: Attack+15/Accuracy+15 is hardly comparable to Crit. Hit Rate +5% as far as DPS balance is concerned.

In truth, I would have finished my afterglow regardless as I am dedicated to Puppetmaster, but at least make an "exceedling difficult" task worthwhile for those that would accomplish it , and the friends that would help.

[Alhanelem]

The after glow is primarily intended as a "shiny" thing to make you stand out in looks. Its effects are intentionally low such that people don't feel like they're forced to go after the most incredible grind in the entire game. It's also not a difficult task, just an extraordinarily lengthy one.

So no, afterglow shouldn't be made more powerful. There's nothing they could do to it that would make either not unfair or a total waste of money. It is not attainable by even most people who can complete an R/M/E.

Yes, I've done a relic and no, I would not spend the 750+ mil or 250+ days of doing ADL every day, even if the afterglow did more than it does now.

As for the icon / appearance, I think it looks good as is (I've played with them on the test server when that was still a thing) and the item says afterglow on it, who cares about the icon?

[Nezha]

I spent a paragraph showing that that point was well understood, and falls through in light of the barely visible effect and same copied image as REM 99-I. I'm looking for a DEV who can make the case that Afterglow should not be improved in light of evolving content, and other grind content like job points that although they intended not to be necessary is slowing becoming just that, not saying afterglow ever will be, but I see no real reason it could be improved to fit ilvl 119+ content.

[Alhanelem]

I'm looking for a DEVYou can't post on these forums and expect anyone that's not a representative to not respond.

Afterglow is primarily a cosmetic enhancement and does not need to be changed. In spite of what I said, if you want it to be flashier I wouldn't really be opposed to that but if they want to make it gameplay significant they need to make it more accessible (though I question if they would invest any resources in modifying something so few people can even pretend to have access to). Your comparison to job points is flawed because anyone can obtain job points- they're not difficult to obtain and not really THAT time consuming to get if you know what to do. They will also get easier over time whereas afterglow probably won't (e.g. you can only enter Dynamis once a day in regards to relics specifically and I don't see that changing)

[Nezha]

I didn't compare Afterglow to job points as a comparison of difficulty , but instead their change of original intent due to evolving content, although you have a point in that gifts makes obtaining JP easier in light of the fact that JP is slowly becoming necessary, yet afterglow likely won't (but isn't that what everyone thought about mythic years ago?). In any case , I did expect others to respond, and I encourage it, because forum debates sparks changes in FFXI.

[Crevox]

The stat scaling for the stats in question have not changed that much since their introduction. +15 attack is still just about as valuable as it was when afterglow came out, ditto accuracy, and crit rate.

There's no reason they should be any higher than that.

[Sapphires]

You can see an afterglow player a mile away, I think it would be less aesthetically pleasing to have the effect stronger (less transparent) than it currently is.

Also you should consider that there are other afterglow owners (or people working on it still) that find the visual effect in its current state visually pleasing.
FFXI does not do per pixel soft particle rendering so a more intense (less transparent) effect would make it more noticeable when the individual afterglow particles clip through the model, creating a worse looking effect.

Empyreans in general are weaker than mythics, so the crit% bonus empyrean afterglows receive somewhat offsets this.

Afterglows don't need to be better in the effects they confer, that just makes marrow/cinder/dross/scoria more expensive for people trying to make the base RME weapon.
We don't need more people competing for those rare materials at such a high volume.

[Zarchery]

Big problem with this is that if you make Afterglow useful, people will start to want it. Then their feeling of entitlement will kick in and they'll demand that the requirements be lowered.

[Ramzi]

I guess my mindset is just not hardcore enough to understand why someone would work so hard for something that offers really no tangible statistical bonus except being "rare". Hey look at me, I gave up my life for a year to have this shiny weapon. I mean WTF? Why would anyone think this is worthwhile? Could build 3 mythics with that gil.

[FrankReynolds]

Big problem with this is that if you make Afterglow useful, people will start to want it. Then their feeling of entitlement will kick in and they'll demand that the requirements be lowered.

I'm against updating afterglow at all, but I hope they add more quasi-useless stuff like afterglow to events. Give people with too much time on their hands more aesthetic upgrades to waste their time on so that they can leave the core mechanics of the game in a reasonable state for everyone else. I'd like to see Afterglow type items in every gear slot for every event. That way the normal people can do each event a reasonable amount to obtain whatever gear they want and the no lifers can do the event 1,000,000 more times to acquire the shiny (but functionally the same) version of the gear. In events like dynamis etc., afterglow just creates competition for the currencies / upgrade items, but if they made the items required for afterglow type stuff different from the items required for non-shiny equipment, it might actually motivate the try-hards to team up with the casuals a little more.

[Alhanelem]

I guess my mindset is just not hardcore enough to understand why someone would work so hard for something that offers really no tangible statistical bonus except being "rare". Hey look at me, I gave up my life for a year to have this shiny weapon. I mean WTF? Why would anyone think this is worthwhile? Could build 3 mythics with that gil.
Play FFXIV. People will fork over an arm and a leg in that game (and many other games) for cosmetic enhancements. A lot of people put a lot into the look and feel of their in-game avatar. You're not the only one who doesn't understand this, so don't worry. it's just an issue of some people caring about form as much as function, while others are more practical.

What really happened here was the 250 marrow / other items were the original intended value for the trial, but it was decided that it was just too much; rather than simply change it, they decided to offer two paths, one for normal, sane people and one for people willing to do anything to stand out. They may have also figured that given how much effort is required just to obtain the weapon, that it wasn't reasonable to have the trials be just as if not more arduous.

[Ramzi]

I played FFXIV and I don't recall there being any cosmetic enhancements that are too difficult to obtain. At one point some of the more rare minions were going for a lot of gil, but I'm talking 500k or so... not 750 mil. I've been away from the game for a while though, so maybe there's glamour items that are really expensive that I haven't seen.

[Urteil]

I want the GM glow.

[Alhanelem]

Hm. somehow my post didn't get posted.

I played FFXIV and I don't recall there being any cosmetic enhancements that are too difficult to obtain. At one point some of the more rare minions were going for a lot of gil, but I'm talking 500k or so... not 750 mil. I've been away from the game for a while though, so maybe there's glamour items that are really expensive that I haven't seen. Treasure Hunt chests could have rare materials in them, rare minions as you noted, there is often great expense in obtaining dyeable versions of originally non-dyeable items;The elemental horse mounts are exceptionally rare as well, and those are untradable; and the granddaddy of cosmetic items, furnishings. How about a rare drop from the hardest poss in the game plus a bunch of other uncommon materials to make a furnishing? Yes, its not all QUITE on the same order as aftgerlow, but the point is more that in that game, there are many cosmetics among the rarest items in the game.

[Byrth]

Afterglows still glow, so they're just as desirable and practical now as they were at 99. I don't think they need an update.