Do we really still need to suffer the JP Midnight idiocy?

[Kraggy]

I thought the 'modern' FFXI was supposed to have been rid of this asinine roadblock mechanic, but it seems not .. AUM18 is still infested with it, for one. :mad:

[Eckamus]

If you are referring to ToAU missions, the Japanese Midnight waits will be removed at some point. Unfortunately no time frame was given, but with any luck will be in the next update.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/50884-Treasures-of-Aht-Urgan-Missions?p=581072#post581072

[Kraggy]

/sigh

Thanks, yes I'm whining about ToAU .. having got past 18 (the first in the list mentioned in that article you linked) I've now hit 25 (the second one) and it looks like there's two more waiting to slap me in the face in a day or two.

XI is the only game of the 7 MMOs I play which ever had this cynical roadblock mechanic on simply progressing story content .. weekly raid locks aren't uncommon of course, also a fatuous time-waster .. but I was under the [false] impression SE had removed this player-hostile "keep them paying to play" tool from XI.

From that post it seems SE aren't in any rush to decote a programmer for a day to

s/JPmidnight/VanadielMidnight/g

throughout the XI code.

/sigh

I won't even ASK about the equally obnoxious "you must zone before ..." mechanic, even though no doubt it was a typical PS2limitations 'feature'.

I started XI in April '05, God knows why I'm still here. :confused:

[Stompa]

XI is the only game of the 7 MMOs I play which ever had this cynical roadblock mechanic on simply progressing story content .. weekly raid locks aren't uncommon of course, also a fatuous time-waster .. but I was under the [false] impression SE had removed this player-hostile "keep them paying to play" tool from XI.


It is not cynical, it was intended to support realism. If you are waiting for exotic legendary armors to be crafted for you, or waiting for the Mission Hero/Heroine to recover after a battle, or waiting for a Mission NPC to return from a faraway sub-quest, etc. it would destroy the roleplaying atmosphere completely if the game just ignored these plot mechanics and jumped ahead.

So I can totally see why SE added wait times, for roleplaying realism. They have recently been forced to remove most of these wait times, because of people being unable to wait a few hours for some plot-related advancements.

I didn't mind waiting, personally, because it made Vana'diel feel more realistic to me. I just went fishing, or slaying fiends, while I waited for the plot to progress.

Obviously it would be more realistic if the NPC says "it will take X number of Vana'diel days" but this may have been more complicated for the servers, than simply setting all changes to occur at JP Midnight. Wait times never really ruined my life though, lol.

:)

[Zeldar]

Stompa says quit whining and trying to make them change the game, lol...its fine the way it is !

[Kraggy]

It is not cynical, it was intended to support realism. If you are waiting for exotic legendary armors to be crafted for you, or waiting for the Mission Hero/Heroine to recover after a battle, or waiting for a Mission NPC to return from a faraway sub-quest, etc. it would destroy the roleplaying atmosphere completely if the game just ignored these plot mechanics and jumped ahead.

So I can totally see why SE added wait times, for roleplaying realism. They have recently been forced to remove most of these wait times, because of people being unable to wait a few hours for some plot-related advancements.
:)
Your reply was exactly what I expected, 'realism' in a FANTASY game is an oxymoron.

Clearly there's nothing substantial in your argument, clearly SE don't agree with it otherwise they'd not be removing it, would they?

However, if YOU want to 'play realism' you could always, you know voluntarily wait 24 hours just for the 'realism' factor.

[Elexia]

Your reply was exactly what I expected, 'realism' in a FANTASY game is an oxymoron.

It's really not, you can have a thing called "realistic fantasy". In terms of XI the world is setup like an actual world, so the 'wait times' are just based around JP midnight in terms of server, but in terms of Vanatime:Realworld time you're actually waiting significantly longer "in game wise" than you are in real time. So for your character a week or more may have passed based around what is happening in the story. Does it have a place now? Up to you personally, are they changing it? They've been changing it, so "suffering" is a weird term when it's not that big of a deal.

Remember, this was designed back when people weren't so impatient and the game in its prime still had plenty to do to keep you occupied that you could go off and do, especially ToAU era when Sea was still fresh as more and more people were finally gaining access ontop of the new assault progression at the time.

So SE "not agreeing with it" is a poor argument point as, it's 2016, meaning it was there for 10 years at minimum or else they would have removed it much sooner.

[Stompa]

Your reply was exactly what I expected, 'realism' in a FANTASY game is an oxymoron.

Clearly there's nothing substantial in your argument, clearly SE don't agree with it otherwise they'd not be removing it, would they?

However, if YOU want to 'play realism' you could always, you know voluntarily wait 24 hours just for the 'realism' factor.

In Vana'diel we have a living "cybernetic ecology."

We have seasons of the year, the trees blossom in season, they sallow out of season. We have weather, which again varies according to area and season. Some areas have specific rainy months, every year, for example.

The moon rises and falls, in all of the waxing and waning forms. The moon affects the ocean's tides, and this affects the fishing, the fish become sleepy or active depending on the moon and tides.

Citizens of Vana'diel celebrate seasonal festivals, which occur in time with the natural cycles of the year.

We have hundreds of cooking recipes, with ingredients that can be farmed from the natural environment, and blended to make exotic dishes. The effects of the dishes vary according to the properties of the ingredients and the mastery of the Chef.

There are hundreds of species of fresh and saltwater fish, which all have their own unique bite patterns. Only a master fisherman can catch the strongest rarest fishes.

We have carpentry and other crafts, for making beautiful furnishings and gears. We have clothcrafting, to weave beautiful clothes. Again, the wood, ores, skins and weaving materials can be farmed from the natural environment, and made into crafting materials.

We raise pets, which need to be given love and attention, and fed the right foods.

All of the above things are realistic, and similar to normal life on our Earth. But because it is a Fantasy game, we also have all the monsters and magic, gods walking the lands, etc. All these things are part of a classic fantasy storyline.

But the point is that Vana'diel is a living cybernetic ecology, it has a realistic clockwork natural world, and this forms the basis for the magic and monsters which are overlaid ontop.

I was just saying that I personally didn't mind waiting, and I can see the reason why wait-times were originally built into this realistic clockwork world. It was part of the surrounding roleplaying realism. That's all.

[Castanica]

It's there to slow you down, make you go do other things. This is a sub game, they want you to be here as long as possible.

The ones that annoy me are when there are numerous ones in one mission line. Most have been removed however, I don't think there are enough these days for it to be rageworthy.

[Vinedrai]

It's there to slow you down, make you go do other things. This is a sub game, they want you to be here as long as possible.

This.

Realism and lore are only excuses to justify the roadblocks.

[Sicycre]

Hello, everyone!

I am happy to announce that waiting time adjustments to the "Treasures of Aht Urhgan" missions will be made in the next Version Update scheduled for Wednesday, August 3!
Details on this can be found here (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/51114).

[Castanica]

I find it odd that in the AMA they said they don't have a roadmap, while every update it shows they obviously do.

[Morier]

I find it odd that in the AMA they said they don't have a roadmap, while every update it shows they obviously do.

No need to make a road map when they have already said what will be happening til March.

[Castanica]

Click the link above, that clearly shows a fairly decent amount of stuff that isn't purely ambuscade.

Yes I know they said the basic backbone of content till next march is ambuscade, that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of other stuff planned that is just as important.

[Zeldar]

They fly by the seat of their pants more these days. The problem they had with the roadmap was that people expected them to actually stick to it (go figure.....) I dont think they want to be tied down to it since things change monthly now.